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Friday 22 November 2013

HolyGrail#1: Softhood by Hairflair

Lately I've been on a hair journey, and have been trying to grow my relaxed hair (chemically straightened) longer. I've tried and tested many products along my journey, (which if you want to know more about then let me know in the comments) and also have been such a fail whale with maintaining a routine.
I am literally so bad with a routine, I do it for like 2 weeks and get bored and move on to something different. But maybe the trick isn't to treat it like a routine, but as something fun? (Eh, reverse psychology'd myself!)

One of the major steps on a hair journey is reducing the amount of heat you put on your hair. On my journey I came across this product, which I think it is safe to say is one of my holy grail products since being on my hair journey, and it is the 'Softhood' by Hairflair.

I purchased this product from Amazon and it cost £14.95 plus p+p, but lucky enough I had a £20 gift voucher, so it didn't cost me anything. The delivery was quick, as like most Amazon orders - and the product was not harmed in any way. 

When you open the box it comes in a zip pouch and when you 
take it out, it looks like this. It has a chin strap, a draw string to tighten and secure it to your head, and when I first tried this on I felt like I was gearing up for war or at least winter. 


The long nozzle/hose attaches to the hair dryer, set it to the lowest setting and voila! You have your own mini hair salon in your bed room, or in my case the kitchen (because for some reason I always do it in the kitchen).



I use this for EVERYTHING
-To roller set or curl my hair: Using rollers or pins and product
-To dry (of course) 
-To steam my hair: by putting a product in my hair, usually a deep conditioner and then putting a shower cap on my head and sitting under it for like 15 mins... 
and most of the time to keep warm, cos its super warm underneath

 This is what it looks like on, sort of.

Disadvantages:

- Its loud. Well of course it is, its covering your ears but I don't mind this as I usually use it when I have free time to leisurely relax around the house, and if I was still a student I'd probably do it whilst writing and researching for some essays. Multi-tasking at its finest ;). But maybe thats just my hair dryer?

-Its hot. I thought it being on the lowest setting would be really cold. I was terribly and utterly wrong. It works just as well! But its not too hot on the head, my complaint is about the little holes on the nozzle/hose that runs up the softhood that lets the air out and heats up my neck and shoulders or just anywhere it touches really. Which is why I wear my dressing gown - but this is most certainly not a deal breaker!

-You really have to secure this bad boy on your head, otherwise it will fly off and not in the fun Mary Poppins way either, in the wtf? sort of way, know what I mean?

I love this Softhood, because I can be handsfree, anything to make my life easier is something I'd throw cash at. I haven't had it for too long, so I don't know about longevity, but if it did break, I would definitely re-purchase!

So if you would like to purchase one and have an alien head like me for a while, then click here!
I promise you won't be disappointed! :D



Jade
xo


Thursday 14 November 2013

#LiquidFoundationProblems

I didn't used to be a liquid foundation wearer, just give me my Mac Studio fix powder and I was good to go. I then dabbled into the liquid section of foundation and found myself beginning to wear it more often.

I first started off with Mac's Studio Fix fluid in NC45 which is pretty standard for everyone, after a while I thought to myself I need to start looking after my skin better so let me try a mineralized foundation and that worked really well for me for a while until I decided I wanted to graduate away from Mac foundations entirely - don't get me wrong Mac foundations are amazing as well as affordable, but I'm sure there are other amazing foundations out there too!





















My problem with Mac foundations and other foundations I have used is that for my skin colour it is far too orange, which was another reason I wanted to look for another foundation. So I had an 'ahhhh' moment (imagine floating angels and instrumental music in the background and maybe throw in a American black choir in there too) when I came across the Benefit stand in Debenhams, they had just come out with their new foundation 'Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow' in Hazelnut.


I don't know what it is about the concession stands or just make up shops in general, the lighting, the professional hand of the make up artist, I don't know! But all I know is when they applied the foundation on my skin it looked FANTASTIC - I was completely sold - when I got home on the other hand and tried to re-apply it myself it was still frickin' orange!!!

So I went on the hunt again, and there was my holy grail, a little to the right of Benefit and directly in front of Mac. Urban Decay. Luckily this time, instead of being the impulsive shopper I usually am I waited till I got home to see:

a. The longevity of the product
b. To see if anyone noticed my nice flawless skin


Before purchasing the product especially considering the price of the foundation £27. This became my go to foundation for every occasion, it has great coverage, it was weightless, did not have to reapply as often and I always got compliments, another positive point is lasts a while which is great for my purse as it is quite pricey.

Then I went on holiday and got darker, and now it doesn't match my skin anymore :\ *cries*

Alas, I'm on the hunt again!

Any recommendations will be great in the comments below, although I went into Inglot the other day and their foundation was an exact match to my complexion so I may have to venture down to Westfield and bagsy myself one. Who knows!




What's your favourite foundation?

Jade 
xo


Friday 1 November 2013

DIY: Earring Holder

As I write this, I'm sitting in my pj's, sipping some herbal tea and trying to come up with something to post about - when it strikes me. I can show you what I tried to make the other day.

Watching youtube videos and browsing through pintrest for inspiration, I saw a DIY earring holder so I was literally on the hunt for a photo frame that was big enough to fit my entire collection of earrings, I kid you, not I hunted high and low even when I went to America to look after my sick aunt and still came up trump!

So the thought of doing that disappeared, just like many other DIY projects I thought would be a great idea (e.g. re-painting my mirror to some cool effect, re-decorating my bedroom to make it have a vintage look). Until one faithful evening, my mother and I went to Sainsbury's to pick my grandmother up some candles and low and behold in the sale section (because I'm a cheap motherf*****) I saw the perfect frame!

I can't remember how much they were but I picked up 2 of these bad boys and some string, and got to making some magic. 


And here is the finished product!


I just need to hammer some nails through the wall and hang them up and I'll be sorted.

What do you think?

If you want to try this at home, you will need:
*Frame of some sort
*String - quite thick because earrings are quite heavy
*Selotape 
*Scissors

One thing I'll add is, I used selotape to hold up the string, and obviously its not sturdy enough and I don't know what to use to make it stronger - I was thinking maybe staples? I dunno but suggestions would be super helpful!

Happy belated Happy Halloween!


Jade
xo