HAIR | The refreshing thing about Trevor Sorbie Brighton

Trevor Sorbie recently held an event in Brighton, which I was unable to attend due to some epic dental work that left me looking like the elephant lady for an evening. I was quite gutted about missing out, but had no need to be as they invited me in to have a cut and colour!

I was booked in to have my colour done by Kate Wilson, who is the salon owner and director of colour. On  arrival I was offered a huge range of drinks (including pimms!) and led to my seat so that I could have my consultation.

Initially I had gone in hoping to have my hair lightened to look like the amazing Mila Kunis as seen below. I like the more subtle ombre and like the way it looks a bit like it has been highlighted by the sun, not to mention the shine!

Kate looked at the image and then had a look at my hair and was honest with me. Basically she admitted that she could colour my hair like Mila Kunis, but because of the condition of my hair it would not be as glossy and shiny and would probably snap off.

After talking to me about what I want for my hair in the long run (a long thick glossy mane similar to my pre uni hair) and establishing my hair history (too much bleach, home dyes and glue in extensions), Kate gave me two options. I could have a drastically different look there and then, but at the cost of my hair dreams, or I could play it safe and start making improvements in the condition of my hair. I bet from the many posts about me wanting to improve my hair you can guess which I went for!

I have to admit I found Kate's approach very refreshing, it shows pride in her work and a great deal of care for her clients. This kind of honesty is rare, she could have simply just given me what I wanted and let me walk out with brittle and dry hair. I know my hair was in a worse condition last year when I got my dip dye and the colourist didn't even bat an eyelid, as a result my initial dip dye was very brassy and yellow. Again when I went to Dove and they re-did my dip dye for their campaign, they were happy to put more peroxide on top of it.

My hair before - I don't know where the random red tone came from!

 Kate started off my applying a long lasting semi permanent dye to my hair and leaving it in for about 20 minutes. She explained that she had to take it darker in order to cover over my patchy home dye colour (I am no longer dying my hair at home.).

Kate applying a long lasting semi permanent hair colour

Kate then sat down and spoke to me about how we were going to get my hair back on track. Firstly I am to only use the products below on my hair. Kate kindly gave me the Trevor Sorbie Salon X-clusive Nourishing Shampoo, Conditioner and Protective shine spray as well as the Kerastase Initialiste Advanced Scalp and Hair Concentrate (which is a leave in scalp treatment) and the Kerastase Densi -Recharge hair and nail supplements (a capsule and pill to be take daily with a meal to help improve my hair and nails). We also made an appointment for me to come back in six weeks for another cut and colour to monitor the progress. I am no longer allowed to home dye my hair because of the amount of damage it causes, but this combined with using the products should result in my hair improving significantly.

Once the dye was washed out, they then applied an Intense Boost treatment which they rough dried into my hair, washed out. I also had a vegetable dye put on to my hair to help add shine.

Then the lovely Sacha gave my hair a much needed cut to give it some shape and get rid of any dry ends to encourage growth. This was followed by an amazing blow out.

After all this pampering my hair looked lovely and unbelievably shiny. Although I left the salon with something completely different to what I had planned, I am definitely pleased with the results and can't wait to see my hair transform, with Kate's help, in the future. Trevor Sorbie is now my salon of choice!

On another note, although Kate said there wouldn't be a drastic change in my look, there is quite a noticeable difference in these comparison images below.

Love Lilla x

HAIR | Enrapture Totem Styler Review

Enrapture Totem Styler*

The Enrapture Totem Styler is so awesome, that I decided to create my second EVER vlog about them.  I will apologise in advance, I ramble a lot, so any constructive criticism is welcome as I'd like to get better!

Anyway, it's not a short video, so I thought I'd summarise for those of you that don't have the time to 

watch it.

I was lucky enough to be sent these to review and I was ecstatic about it. Ever since I saw the review on  ETCLLYMLRS I knew I needed these in my life. The Totem Styler is by far the best curling iron I have ever used. The barrel is quite large at 25mm, meaning it creates lovely voluminous curls. 

Unlike traditional irons they have three separate sections on the barrel, that can each be heated individually, allowing you to create various different styles with this one tool. Each section has its own control that allows you to select 1 of 3 heat settings. Setting 1 produces waves, 3 tight spiral curls and setting 2 creates a curl between the two. 

The stand is easily removable and the styler heats up very quickly, it also has a 3m long swivel cord so you can style virtually anywhere. Should anything go wrong with the Totem Styler it also comes with a three year guarantee, which I think is awesome. In the box you also get a travel case that doubles as a heat mat.

The Totem Styler generally retails at £74.99, but can often be found on special offer at one of it's stockists. Currently Superdrug are selling it for £33.49 - BARGAIN! Trust me - you need these in your life! I used them on my sister and her friends hair and then had to buy her a set for Christmas because she wanted them so badly!

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Stargazer Tropical Green Hair Dye

Stargazer Tropical Green Hair Dye

HAIR | Lilla Loves at T-H-X Launch Party

ice tank studios / imogen thomas and i / louise and millie from mic / louise avec moi  / keisha et moi / millie with me and my sister / cocktails after /goody bags/ jt and i

Last week I was invited to the T-H-X launch party at Ice Tank Studios in London! I was quite excited because this is the first launch I've attended. Luckily I was joined by my sister and JT as well as a few celebs such as Millie Mackintosh and Louise Thompson from Made In Chelsea, W.A.Gs Danielle Lloyd and Imogen Thomas, ex- T.O.W.I.E Maria Fowler and my favorite Keisha Buchanan from the Sugababes. It was an absolutely lovely night filled with Presecco and white wine they served lovely canapes too!
T-H-X are Tesco's own hair specialist and have just developed a range of affordable hair styling tools including straighteners, curling tongs, wand and a blow dryer. I was lucky enough to receive a curling wand in my goody bag and will be reviewing them in the upcoming weeks!

Love Lilla xx

t-h-x curling wand

COMPETITION | Curlformers Blogger Competition

Curlformers are running a bloggers competition to win a £100 ASOS Voucher and I am lucky enough to be the judge! Details of entry are below and the Terms and Conditions can be found at the bottom of the competition post on the Curlformers blog. I have also created a sample post which can be seen below.

How to Enter

·      Write one of the following types of blog posts

o   Create an outfit post (with links to all products) including a curly hairstyle of your choice stating which Curlformers you would use to achieve it with a link back to the product page.

o   A post with a montage of curly hair/hairstyles images stating which Curlformers you would use to achieve it with a link back to the product page.

o   A how to/tutorial demonstrating how to create your favourite curly hair style stating which Curlformers you would use to achieve the initial curl type with a link back to the product page.

o   If you have Curlformers please fill free to create a post with your Curlformers tips and which Curlformers you frequently use.

·         Let other bloggers know they can enter by pointing them to this page.

·         Send your entries to Nazilla.Allahiary@freshegg.com

·         A sample post can be seen below.
The Competition closes at 23.59 12/11/2012. Entries received after that date and time will not be considered. 

   Curlformers Blogger Competition

loose wave curls - curlformers long and extra wide /dress - missguided /shoes - misguided / tights - misguided

      I'm off on holiday next week! So thought I would look at an outfit to go out in one evening. I like to wear my hair down, it gives me more confidence, especially if it is full of volume and shine. To achieve this look I would blow dry my roots to give them a boost and then apply Curlformers Long and Extra wide to the ends of my hair and then leave them to dry. 

      Once dry I would remove the Curlformers and separate the curls using my fingers or a wide tooth comb and apply a bit of shine serum all over and some hair spray. Curlformers curls last longer than 'tonged' curls so my hair will maintain the curls throughout the night and as there is no heat used so create the curls they are softer and shiner than 'tonged' curls too.

      I'm going on holiday near Marbella, and Puerto Banus is glam central, so I have teamed together this beautiful sequined dress with these red soled killer heels. The dress covers my arms, which I am quite conscious of and the cross over style will flatter my shape. To add a bit of fun and 'me' to the look I have added these cute tights with the heart 'seam' at the back.

      Hope you like the look and good luck to anyone who enters the competition!

       Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Macadamia Natural Oil Travel Set

I realise that my blog has been heavily dominated with posts about Macadamia Natural Oil post recently, so sorry but I am obsessed. This Travel Kit was a birthday present from a friends. 
The kit contains:

• 60ml Rejuvenating Shampoo
• 60ml Moisturising Rinse
• 60ml Leave-In Cream
• 30ml Healing Oil
• 30ml Deep Repair Masque
• Oil Infused comb
• Stylish Travel case

I have to admit I haven't used the Rejuvenating Shampoo yet as I am really happy with the Flawless shampoo. 

The first thing I used was the Moisturising Rinse. I think the name, or more so accurately the word 'Rinse' is misleading. I thought that the consistency would be more of a liquid but it is more like a regular shampoo. You only need to use a little bit of the product and leave it in your hair for 30-60s, which is great as it really does condition your hair in that time.

I have also started using the Leave-In Cream and as a result will be buying the full size version. I found that the Leave-In Cream really suits my hair and works great combined with a curling product to allow me to leave my hair to dry naturally. My hair usually looks really frizzy and shapeless if I don't blow dry it, but with this product I find my waves more defined and glossy.

As for the healing oil; this is by far my favorite oil. I have previously tested various Argon and Moroccan oils and personally found that the Macadamia Healing Oil is the best. It smells nice than the other oils, and I found that it soaks into my hair better, without leaving it feeling greasy.

Obviously I have previously used the Deep Repair Masque and loved it! The comb is a fantastic wide tooth comb, which makes easy work of brushing wet hair and is great to keep my natural waves looking smooth without frizzing them up.

I can definitely say that this travel pack will be joining me on my holiday in October.

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | TRESemmé Instant Refresh Waterless Foam Shampoo Review

TRESemmé Instant Refresh 

Recently my friend was clearing out her cupboard and gave me a few products she wasn't using. This was one of them.

The TRESemmé Instant Refresh Shampoo is similar to Batiste in the sense that it is aimes at reviving hair between washes. My hair personally does not agree with Batiste, I find that it doesn't fully remove the grease so a couple of hours later my hair will look awful again. Additionally it makes my hair all clumpy and matted at the roots.

What I like about the TRESemmé Instant Refresh is that it is just like a mini wash in a pump. The waterless foam removes oil from the roots without drying out the ends. I used two pumps, rubbed the product between my palms and then applied by combing my fingers through my hair. The hair then becomes damp, which means I can quickly restyle with my blow dryer; making it a lifesaver in the morning because I often wake up with crazy hair stuck to my head!

This is going to become a firm staple of my hair care routine!

Love Lillaxx

HAIR | Macadamia Flawless Shampoo Review

Macadamia Hair Flawless Shampoo*

After reviewing the Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque, Macadamia Hair sent me out a bottle of their new Flawless Shampoo. It is a sulphate and paraben free shampoo, which is perfect for me as my scalp can be very sensitive and then the condition of my hair condition quickly deteriorates.

When the shampoo arrived, I thought the packaging was lovely, the directions are simple; Just lightly emulsify 1 to 2 pumps in between hands, apply to wet hair and gently massage spreading Flawless over hair and scalp area. Continuously massage throughout the hair for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on hair type. Add a splash of water to assist in the spreading if needed and rinse thoroughly.

The application process focuses mainly on the scalp and roots, I personally stopped spreading shampoo to my ends to stop them drying out a while ago.

So there I was casually about to wash my hair, I squeeze my first pump out of the bottle to discover the shampoo has a shaving gel consistency. I then applied it as directed and was a bit unsure about how I felt about the product.

Once I had rinsed it out of my hair though, it left my hair feeling really clean and conditioned. I find a lot of shampoo leaves my hair feeling rough and dry.

In the press release, Macadamia Oil claims that the shampoo has the following benefits; and I would definitely agree.

• Refines hair texture
• Optimises styling process
• Drastically cuts down blow drying time
• Perfect for all hair types
• Surfactant-free and Paraben-free
• No stripping suds
• No-frizz detangler
• Incredible finish
• UV protection reduces colour fade
• Creates volume
• Adds shine and lustre

My hair blow dries a lot more quickly and was a lot easier to style, I also noticed the improvement in the volume of my hair. As I continued to use the shampoo I also notices that my scalp was less itchy and flakey, my ends were less dry and my hair was lasting longer between washes.

Also with other sulphate free shampoos I found that sometimes they could leave my roots feeling greasy, but the Flawless shampoo made my hair feel brilliant. This is a brilliant shampoo, and is now my regular shampoo.

HAIR | Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque Review

I recently came across a sample of the Macadamia Natural Oil deep repair masque, so I thought I would review it. My hair was feeling a bit dry and yucky after the Dove Colour Radiance challenge, I don't think the range really agreed with my hair, so I went and got a trim off my mum to minimise damage. 

On the morning of my friends wedding I decided to give the masque a try - in the stress of getting ready I forgot to take any photos! I left the masque on for seven minutes and combed it through my hair, before I washed it out as instructed on the packet - the masque smells amazing.

When I dried my hair I was really surprised at how much of an affect it had had, my hair went from looking dull, dry and straw like to soft, smooth and shiny. I know that there are loads of amazing oils out there but I would really recommend this masque. 

I've washed my hair a couple of times since using the masque and it is feeling so much better as a result of using the masque. They recommend that you don't use the product more the two times a week, which I think would be sufficient, especially as it is £23.95 per 250ml, despite this I will be purchasing it.

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Final Week Dove Colour Radiance Challenge and #giveaway

I've finished the Dove Colour Radiance Challenge. My personal favorite item from the range is the leave in conditioner, it's so light that you can use it to help refresh your hair in between washes, not to mention is has UV filters so protects from sun damage. The regular conditioner did the trick as well despite my early doubt. My personal experience with the shampoo is that it made my head itch, which is normal as I have to use 100% natural shampoo, but as this is low in sulphates it took 3 week or so before it started itching which is a miracle.

Anyway, the lovely people at Dove sent me some of the range out so that I can run a competition and give you guys the chance to try the range for yourself!

                         

a Rafflecopter giveaway ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

HAIR | Dove Radiance Challenge Week 3 Overview

Here are my five photos from week 3 of the Dove Radiance Challenge. My colour has only really started fading the last few days and I think it's only really noticeable to me. The lighter bits at the ends are definitely not as subtle now, but I quite like it. They are still less harsh than they were to began with.

My scalp is starting to take a dislike to the shampoo, this is common for me and to be honest I'm surprised it's taken so long to show a reaction! I'm really pleased with the condition my hair is in and how well the colour has lasted. On to the final week now!

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Dove Radiance Challenge Week 2 Overview

OK so the top picture is my official Dove photo, you can see all the other girls on their Facebook page. I have to admit they are not the best pictures, the photographer made me over smile, but hey they would have been worse when I was bigger. As a result someone commented in Portuguese that I need to see a dentist! To be honest I was bullied about my teeth a lot at school so I'm kinda over it, it hasn't bothered me. In fact I was quite lucky as I only had two negative comments on my photos, I was really upset to see some of the awful comments on the other girls photos. Considering that the Dove brand is about real women I was very disappointed in the amount of women on women hate.  I think it is awful and pathetic that women can be so horrible and negative towards each other. We aren't models we are real women, even models aren't perfect, unless they are photoshopped. I guess the internet gives people the anonymity to say horrible things to people to make themselves feel better, but that doesn't make it right.

Anyway, about the products. When I start using shampoos that contain sulphate my scalp usually becomes a dry itchy mess, so I'm again very surprised that the Dove Radiance Shampoo* hasn't affected my scalp. Another common problem with these shampoos is that after 1 day my roots will be crazy greasy, but my hair is lasting up to 3 days which is a miracle! Conditioners are working really well, I alternate between the two and my hair is really soft. But my favorite product by fair though is the Leave In Conditioner! Its great to use to restyle my hair between washes, and because it is so light it doesn't make my hair greasy. My colour is holding well, although I am getting a major urge to make the tips more blonde as I want some crazy colour in my hair! So on to week 3!

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Behind the scenes of the Curlformers Photo Shoot

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to hang out at the Curlformers photo shoot at the Electric Hairdressing Studio in Brighton. Whilst I was there I also took over their Twitter account to tweet about the shoot! I love Curlformers so much, my favorite type is the Wide and Extra Long, as I like casual beach curls! The photo shoot consisted of two days of capturing pictures for eight products. Each model had their photo taken before the Curlformers were put in, with a full head of Curlformers, with a few taken out and then finally once the hair has been styled after they were removed.

I learnt some exciting news about up coming product so keep your eyes out! Also I learnt some great tips from the hair stylist on set, which I believe Curlfomers will be blogging about in the coming weeks. One that I found really useful was to part the hair in zig zags, which I will be trying next time I use them.

I had a fantastic time on the day and would like to thank the Curlformers team for inviting me along.

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | Dove Challenge Week 1 Overview

So I survived my first week of the Dove Colour Radiance Challenge. Above are the five pictures I submitted to them. In an earlier post I said that I wasn't impressed by the Colour Radiance Express Treatment Conditioner because my hair still felt very dry after using it, I take this back! My hair is already back to feeling nice and soft. It was obviously just very dried out from the colour treatment.  

I'm actually very impressed with all the products that Dove have given me to use. I usually worry about shampoos, as if they contain sulphates my roots get greasy in a day and my ends dry out. But I'm pleased to say that the low sulphate shampoo has done the trick. Both conditioners have worked wonders on hair and I think I am obsessed with the Leave In Conditioner, it's so light and great for refreshing dry hair between washes.

Also my colour has lasted very well which obviously is the whole point of the range.

Love Lilla x

HAIR | The Dove Colour Radiance Live Challenge Picture #1

OK, I know, I really need to start applying make up before I take these photos! Here is my first photo for the Dove Colour Radiance Challenge. Last night was my first time using the Colour Radiance Range*. Not only is the whole range made as colour revitalisers but they also have a UV filter, to help protect your hair from the sun.

 I was a bit skeptical about using the shampoo as I usually use a sulphate free shampoo.So I was very pleased to see that the Colour Radiance Shampoo was low sulphate. The shampoo not only smells great but felt really good to use on my hair, and instantly de-tangled any knots.

My hair was feeling a bit dry after my colour so I decided to use the Colour Radiance Express Treatment Conditioner instead of the regular conditioner in the range. The instructions said to leave it on for 1-3 minutes which I did. Once that was washed out, I applied the Colour Radiance Live Leave In & Care spray - which again smells amazing and is incredibly light to use. As I knew I was going to need to wash my hair this afternoon because I'm working out, I decided not to use heat on my hair ( I learnt a lot from 30DaysNoHeat) so whacked them in Curlformers overnight!

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed because my hair still feels quite dry and straw like despite using both the Colour Radiance Express Treatment Conditioner and the Colour Radiance Leave- in Conditioner. It is more than likely that my hair just needs a bit longer to recover from the colour.

Love Lilla xx

HAIR | The Dove Colour Radiance Live Challenge

As I said in my last post I have taken up the Dove Colour Radiance Live Challenge. The lovely people at Dove invited me up to the Salon at Dove HQ where they pampered me to death!
Firstly their HQ is amazing, it was an early start for me, but when I arrived they had fresh fruit, croissants and juice waiting for everybody! There were 5 or 6 of us being treated to a professional colour. We all had our 'before' shots taken and then met our hairstylists. The plan for my hair was to do my roots and balance out my ombre hair so there wasn't such a contrast between the top and bottom.
While the colour was in my hair I was also treated to a lush lilac manicure and a couple of glasses of Presecco (so glad I chose to train it instead of drive!). My hair was then washed out, blow-dried and left in curlers before it was styled for my 'after' photo. All the photos and video footage from the day will be posted on the Dove facebook page later on this week! I absolutely love my new hair, it looks so much softer than before and I like the subtle transition between the two colours.
Now for the challenge I will be testing the whole of the Dove Colour Radiance Live range* for four weeks and sending them five photos a week to see how well it keeps my colour. I will keep you guys up to date as to how it is going and will introduce you to each product as I use them.

Love Lilla xx