Trevor Sorbie Beautifully Straightened Hair Goodies

Hello Everyone! So the Olympics are over. Half of me is so happy to finally have time to breathe after working at them, the other slightly disappointed that it's all over. The Closing Ceremony was absolutely amazing! I especially loved Fatboy Slim and of course The Spice Girls. I really thought they stole the show, and how fabulous did Victoria Beckham look? *girl crush alert*. So after two weeks of sport, I now have my life back and can sit here with my laptop and cup of tea and get back to blogging. It's taken me a while to really get stuck back in it but I can assure you I'm now here to stay. 

If you're a reader of my blog or just know me well enough, then you're bound to know that I'm absolutely obsessed with hair care. I love to try out new things all the time and the best feeling is when you find a product that makes your hair look amazing. I first came across Trevor Sorbie around three years back when I was watching Imogen from ImogenFoxyLocksExtensions on YouTube rave about how fantastic the heat defence spray was. I bought myself my first bottle from Boots for £5.10 and voila! I was in love. With my love of the spray came my love of all products in the 'Beautifully Straightened' range, and apart from my trusty James Brown 'Scandalous' shampoos and conditioners (read my review here) the Trevor Sorbie haircare products are most definitely my holy grail must-have hair care saviours. 

I was in my local Boots recently in the haircare section and just as I'd picked up some Trevor Sorbie heat defence spray, I noticed a big white cosmetic bag on the bottom shelf. To my surprise, it was filled with a selection of four different products from the Beautifully Straightened range, including the smoothing balm which is always sold out in the store near me. Not only was it filled with product, but I actually really liked the bag. I'm jetting off to Marbella in two weeks time, and it will be perfect to store all of my girly holiday essentials inside. The inside is silk with a cute floral vintage design fastening up all the pockets which equals extra storage (hooray! More room!). I paid only £19.99 for it which is a fantastic price for what you're actually receiving. Four full sized products which are great, plus a good sized pretty cosmetic bag. Result. 

Protection Shampoo - If like me your hair is a little worse for wear, then you need all the help you can get by using products which offer protection against heat and other nasty things that affects it growing healthily and strong. The fact it can start working wonders right from the minute you use the shampoo is a real weight off of my shoulders. I find that it lathers up like a dream, and a little goes a long way, even with thicker hair. 

Protection Conditioner - This has the same effect on the hair as the shampoo, only it adds moisture and repairs dead ends. To know that even before you use any type of heat defence that your hair is protected is a real godsend. I love the way that the protection conditioner adds shine to my hair too, and doesn't give it that awful slimy feeling when you wash it out. 

Protect, Flatten and Shine Spray - Definitely my ultimate Trevor Sorbie product. When I don't use a heat protection spray I can really tell the difference in the look and feel of my hair. I use it before blow drying, straightening, curling, waving, pretty much anything. I love the fact it tames frizzy hair and reduces the appearance of split ends too

Smoothing Balm - This is constantly sold out whenever I try to buy my own! I'd never really used any kind of serum in the past as I tend to find them a bit greasy and thick. But this smoothes my hair and leaves it with such a nice gloss which doesn't have too much a greasy feel to it. 

Do you use anything from the Trevor Sorbie Beautifully Straight range? What is your favourite product?

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L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray Dupe; Superdrug's Volumising Hairspray

Hello Lovely Ladies! I finally have a spare few hours to just sit down on my laptop with a large cup of tea and blog. I've been ridiculously busy working for the London 2012 Olympics, and have hardly had time to think, let alone blog. But I'm back! On my way home from work on Monday, I popped into Superdrug to pick up some essentials, by essentials I mean new make-up brushes and some Radox bubble bath (mmmm).  Realising I'd almost run out of my trusty L'Oreal Elnett Hairspray, I quickly took myself to the hair styling section but to my absolute horror they had all sold out. All of them. The small ones, the large ones, the medium ones, all of them. Panicking like a lost chicken, I looked around for something similar. I can always tell when I don't use Elnett hairspray. My hair doesn't look at bouncy and always drops within a few hours, but I ended up buying this little beauty.

What caught my eye was the fact that the can itself is very similar to L'Oreals Elnett, barring the fact it doesn't have the infamous old-fashioned women's face on the front. One thing I hate about other hairsprays is the spray can cap they spray with. I find that the hairspray itself doesn't spread nicely and you end up with crispy bits of hair (yuck). The Superdrug hairspray cap is an exact replica of the L'Oreal Elnett hairspray so was excited to see if the results when I curled, straightened, waved, rollered and backcombed were the same. I paid only a fraction of the price too it set me back a mere £1.99. Elnett costs me about £5.50 for a large can which to some people may be considered a lot just for some hairspray. I've used it since I can remember and it's never failed me. I really believe that the more you spend on a hair product, the better the result (barring Mark Hill's Glam range which I don't like). Anyway, back to the Superdrug Volumising hairspray...

"Creates body and lift, 24 hour hold. Micro diffuser spray. Superdrug Volumising Hairspray is a high performance ultra fine spray to hold your hair without stiffness, giving you voluminous hair, 24-hour hold and protection against humidity. With a fine micro diffuser spray and Pro Vitamin B5, it disappers at the stroke of  a brush to leave your hair looking and feeling soft and shiny."

I'm so in love. I noticed when I used this one that there was a reasonable amount of body and volume, although if I'm honest, not quite as much as L'Oreals Elnett. It smells lovely too, not of chemicals and science labs like some hairsprays do. I completely agree with the fact that it protects against humidity. On one of the many days it rained, my hair didn't budge at all. It lasted a entire day through work, and I even got compliments on how volumised it looked. That sucks, I never got complimented when I used Elnett. When the day came to an end, I brushed through my hair and the spray virtually disappeared. There's nothing worse than being left with that powdery feeling on your hair after you've used hairspray. Now for the best bit. Even after I'd brushed it out of my hair, I was still left with body and texture. 

All in all, I think I've found a new hairspray to use in the future. I'll still be buying the L'Oreal Elnett hairspray but I think the Superdrug Volumising version is nearly as good but for less than half the price. 

What hairsprays do you swear by?

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July 2012 Glossybox

Hi Everyone! Hope you're well, I have been so busy working for the London 2012 Olympic games this has been my only chance to blog and show you what I received in my first ever Glossybox. Monthly beauty boxes caused a lot of hype in the beauty blogging world around this time last year so I'm aware I'm very late when it comes to trying them out for myself. I think I always put the idea off as I didn't want to be disappointed with what I receive in my box after waiting for weeks, but the beauty blogger in me decided to try Glossybox out, probably the best known of them all and as far as I know, the original beauty box. The original is always better than the copy! I placed my order and eagerly waited for the delivery to come.

It came three days after placing my order online which is pretty standard and opened it straight away. I couldn't believe just how small it was! I can't complain for only £10 + £2.95 postage and packaging but from photos Glossyboxes look alot bigger! Come to think of it, it would be a bad idea to make a bigger box as there are only miniature products  inside them. I absolutely love how it's wrapped so beautifully, it makes you that little more excited to open the box but still careful at the same time when untying the ribbon. I'm not that pleased with what I received as all the products don't seem as well thought out as some other peoples boxes and I hear people got given the infamous HD Brows palette. Jel.  


Collin Resultime Regenrating Collagen Gel £47.25/50ml - I like the idea of this being a regenerating collagen gel to make my crows feet lines a little less visible. I'm apprehensive that any type of collagen gels work to the degree which they promise so I'm excited to try and review this. It can be used daily as a serum or as a mask while I sleep. I'll report back if I find this to be good!


Awapuhi Wild Ginger Texturising Sea Spray £18.95/150ml - I absolutely love to use Paul Mitchell products, I really enjoy using the cleansing purple shampoo. I'd never seen the new Wild Ginger range, and this promises to create a tousled, beachy style by adding texture and body to hair. I love the look of loose waves, so I'm excited to tell you what I thought of it.


Monu Extra Rich Night Cream £36.95/50ml - I think that this more or less has the same effect as the Collin Reslutime Gel which I received. It's a luxurious treatment which intensively nourishes and firms while you sleep. As I mentioned I'm always sceptical as to whether firming creams work, so I'll test this cautiously. 


Jelly Pong Pong Lip Frosting £10.00/15ml - I haven't ever been keen on the idea of a lip frost, as I find the finished effect the look a bit old school and remind me of Year 3 and 4. But I love that this is multifunctional and can double up as a blush, and I absolutely love the way it smells.


Kryolan Satin Powder £4.95/3g - This was the only product I was a little excited about as I love having colourful eye make-up especially throughout Summer. I love the look of it and the colour is a rich burnt orange,so am really looking forward to trying it out.


Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Skin - This was a bonus product added to Glossybox this month, and after using Elizabeth Arden in the past and liking it I'm looking forward to trying the sample sizes of skincare.

Overall, I'm not too disappointed with what I received in my first Glossybox. I'm not giving in and will give it another few goes to wow me. What did you get in your Glossybox this month?


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TRESemme: Salon Sleek Straightening Spray and Glossing Spray

TRESemme is a brand I've always been told to stay away from by hair dressers because the products aren't that great. Now I'm not one to judge someone by their profession but I love Tresemme products especially their heat protection spray as I can really tell the difference when I have and haven't used it. 

If you read my blog then you'll know I have an absolutely huge obsession with hair treatments, and I've been experimenting with several oils such as coconut oil, argan oil and most recently moroccon oil. By far the best I have used has been the coconut oil (I'll do a review soon). I wanted to find something which still had the benefits of the hair oils which I could use when I style my hair but without a greasy formula which weighed my hair down. I started looking at more budget priced products and found these two which happened to be on offer at Boots. (Two TRESemme styling products for £7)

 Straightening Spray ♥ 

I'm a religious user of heat protection spray when I straighten, curl or blow-dry my hair as I always put off going to the hairdressers for a trim. I usually reach for the purple spray from Tresemme  as I just found the GHD and Paul Mitchell products to expensive to upkeep with hair masks and oil on the side too. But this is just as good, if not better at not only protecting hair but also keeping frizz down. It claims to be able to 'train hair to be smoother and straighter' but if I'm honest I think that would be down more to hair masks rather than sprays. It leaves a lovely shine on the hair too as it hydrates throughout the day with the added Argan Oil. This is definitely a product I would re-purchase instead of other heat protection sprays and I would recommend this to people with thicker hair or hair extensions.

Glossing Spray ♥

I've only briefly tried gloss sprays in the past, and that was from the Tigi Bed Head range. I didn't particularly like the texture as even the smallest amount seemed to make my hair greasy rather than glossy. This one I picked up from Tresemme is PERFECT. Even though it admittedly has a greasy formula it isn't one that makes your hair look unwashed. It's a double bonus product as it protects from frizz which makes it a perfect accompaniment to the straightening spray.

Have you tried any great hair products recently? Let me know.