When I was younger, I loved having my hair done so I would often be seen rocking blonde highlights or blonde hair as I preferred how I looked with blonde hair. Nobody ever told me that I had to look after it and use particular products in order to maintain the colour. There were a few occasions where my blonde turned a brassy shade or even a faint shade of green from swimming too often. Fast forward a few years later and I like to think that I now know how to look after blonde hair in particular by making it brighter even weeks or months after getting it done.
I've been reaching for the Pro:voke Touch Of Silver Brightening Shampoo (£3.19) which is bright purple in colour that helps neutralise brassy, yellow tones with its toning violet pigment and helps brighten the colour in as little as one wash. It's recommended to use as part of a three-step regime as well as to only be used twice a week for no longer than three minutes. It's suitable for natural blondes and bleach blondes, platinum or white hair so regardless of what colour blonde you are, you can most definitely use it.
I personally don't use it twice a week as I tend to use it nearly every single time I wash my hair which is three times a week and I often leave it in my hair for ten minutes. As my ends are often bleached blonde, I find that they can look brassy quickly hence why I leave it in for a lot longer than the recommended time just to brighten them up quicker. You can end up with a slight purple tinge if you leave it in for too long or use it more often although I haven't had that happen just yet, touch wood! I absolutely love using this and I use it almost immediately after getting my hair done and by the time that it needs doing again, my hair dresser always comments as to how blonde it looks. If you're not using a purple shampoo and you have blonde hair then you need to start using one!
I'm probably a little late to the party on the whole two sided mascara - one to prime your lashes and the other to blacken them and add some intense volume. However after falling head over heels in love with the Lancome Cils Booster XL which is essentially just a white mascara that preps your lashes beautifully ready for a black mascara; I decided to try out an alternative to it considering it is rather expensive and all, so I looked no further than at the mothership that is L'Oreal which ironically own Lancome so I was hoping it would be a near dupe.
I picked up the L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara (£11.29) which is a two step mascara - a white base coat that acts as extensions for your lashes with it containing Ceramide R which contains naturally derived fibres whereas the black coat literally coats each lash with a intense colour wrap to darken them and to create the appearance of lash extensions.
Now as much as I would love to say that this is a direct dupe for it's Lancome counterparts, it sadly really isn't as there is just one factor that lets it down which is the scent. I'm not sure about you but I like my mascaras to smell like mascaras however the white base coat of this instead smells very similar to nail glue and rather strongly too. Regardless of the off-putting scent, I cannot fault as to how well it performs especially when you spent the time to carefully apply the layers and build it up. I personally love to coat my lashes with the white base coat until they're literally white and have so much more volume than before and then using the black side to carefully cover up the whiteness, ensuring I coat every lash. Whilst it does give incredible volume and length, it doesn't quite resemble lash extensions as they are more often than not clumped together. In order to create lash extension looking lashes, I tend to go in with the No7 Extreme Length Extend Mascara afterwards to define my lashes and separate them. By using a separate mascara afterwards, it helps to create the appearance of lash extensions that look full, defined with plenty of length and volume. Whilst it can be a little time consuming, the effects are definitely worth it so whilst I may not be repurchasing the Lancome version anytime soon, I can definitely see myself repurchasing it's L'Oreal counterparts time and time again.
Everywhere you look now, coconut oil is being added to almost anything and everything. It's literally become the ingredient to use when it comes to beauty products and you could find it in a multitude of products including teeth whitening, skincare and even nail varnishes! Back when I first started blogging, I used to be hooked to the Superdrug Coconut Oil which may not have been the purest coconut oil around but seeing as it was cheap as chips, I made do. Fast forward a few years later and I like to think that I'm now getting better as to what works for me which is why I bit the bullet and invested in the Vita Coco Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (£9.99) I say invested as there is no way you can get through a whole pot of it at once!
Vita Coco is a brand that most of us are familiar with as they are the brand leaders within Coconut Oil due to their thirst quenching drinks. However, they launched their very own coconut oil last year which is 100% pure, raw, extra virgin, cold pressed; essentially the purest form of coconut oil you can get in a super market. You can use it for literally everything such as cleansing your skin with, removing your makeup, cooking with, oil pulling, moisturising your skin, as a intensive hair mask, as a hair oil and it can even be used to shave with too!
My personal favourite method is using it as an intensive hair mask. I tend to scoop out a big spoons worth and rub it between my hands, distributing the oil into my hair as and when it melts. This is the part that can take a while due to it being cold pressed, it takes a while for it to melt entirely into an oil. Once I've applied enough into my hair, I throw my hair up into a messy bun and get on with my day. I prefer to apply this on a day when I'm not at work or in the evenings as it gives the appearance of greasy hair. I like to leave it in for hours before washing it out entirely to reveal deeply nourished hair with an unbeatable shine that feels silky soft.
It might be worth mentioning that I have also tried oil pulling with it too however I wasn't too keen on the taste and managed about seven minutes before spitting it out completely. There's just something about swirling a solid that melts into a liquid in your mouth that is a little off putting and vile. If you have any suggestions on how I can last a little bit longer on the oil pulling front then they're most welcome!
