Review: Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask.

Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask*

Wow- It feels like it has been ages since I last did a beauty review, so bear with me if I'm a little rusty! Today I have a review of a hair mask from the much-raved-about brand, Moroccanoil. I must say I was very excited to be able to try this out, but once I had given it a fair trial, I was left feeling quite underwhelmed. Not because it is a bad product- it is actually quite a good product- but I don't think it quite lived up to the hype :(

The Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask* is for medium to thick, dry hair, and it claims to provide deep hydration and conditioning and improve elasticity. The product itself is a cream-coloured liquid that is quite thick in consistency, which I find is common with most hair masks.

This hair mask smells amazing- I can't quite put my finger on what it smells like, but I'm guessing it is the oil itself. It has a slightly nutty, medicated scent that isn't at all over-powering that it leaves you smelling like you have tipped a bucket of ointment over your head- instead it leaves your hair smelling fresh.

I use this product once or twice a week after I have shampooed my hair. The directions say to apply a generous amount to towel-dried hair and leave to penetrate for 5-7 minutes before rinsing it off. I always leave it on a little longer (about fifteen minutes) whilst I am relaxing in the bath or watching TV.

I can definitely feel a difference in my hair once I have rinsed the product out and dried my hair. It is usually a dry, tangled mess but the hair mask makes it a lot easier to comb through and my split ends look a lot less damaged.

The Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask definitely does it's job, however I didn't find I liked it any more than some other hair masks that I have tried that are a lot cheaper. This isn't a product that I will repurchase right away, but I may treat myself to it every now and again as I love the smell of it. You can buy this product from Hairtrade for £22.60 for a 250ml tub. 

Have you tried any Moroccanoil products?

*DISCLOSURE: PR Sample. My opinions are still 100% honest and my own.

Outfit: Twisted Fairytale.

Dress: C/O AX Paris* | Boots: C/O Tribeca Shoes* | Jacket: C/O Daisy Street* | Headband: C/O Crown and Glory*

This was probably one of my favourite outfits to shoot, ever. These photos were actually taken to use as part of an exciting collaboration that I absolutely cannot wait to share with you even though I am not allowed to for a week or two yet :(

I felt a little fairy-like wandering around the woods in the middle of autumn in a purple dress with a bunch of flowers on my head- but I loved it. I adore the cut-out and sequin detailing around the waist of this dress- It is perfect for a night out, but I also love taking a girly dress like this and "grunging it up" with a leather jacket and some boots for the day time.

I hope you like my outfit! :)

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Christmas Gift Guide 2012: For Her.

With November coming to an end and Christmas now less than a month away, I thought I would put together a series of Christmas gift guides for those of you who are like me and tend to leave their Christmas shopping uncomfortably late! I am starting with gifts for her; your mum, your sister, your best friend or even you :)

1. Lush Christmas Gift Box: Lush £6.50-£99.95

I don't think you could go wrong with a Lush gift box. They always offer a wide variety of selections ranging from super cheap to a little more on the dear side to cater for different budgets, so there really is something to suit everybody. What's more, you don't even have to wrap it up, as the products come presented in a pretty box, complete with a ribbon and a gift tag!

2. iPad 3: Carphone Warehouse from £379.00

If you're looking to splash out a little more or you're looking for one big present to ask for yourself, why not go for an iPad? A tablet is a perfect gift for us bloggers; it would make for easy access to emails and comments and on-the-go blog reading, as it is much more compact than a laptop.

3. Enrapture Encode Totem Styler: Debenhams £37.00

This is something I already own myself and I can safely say that it is a hair tool that any curly hair-loving girl would be glad to receive. With an endless amount of heat setting options, any hair style can be achieved, from tight ringlet curls to soft, natural waves.

4. Name Necklace: Names4Ever Prices vary

This is something else that I have myself (see my review here) and I absolutely adore it. Names4Ever offer so many different styles of name necklace to choose from, along with name earrings and engraved rings also, and they would make a beautiful gift for somebody special.

5. Christmas Candy Gift Box: Cybercandy from £9.99

 Have somebody with a sweet tooth in mind? Cybercandy is an amazing website that stocks sweet treats that are a little harder to get hold of in the UK. They have put together some different sized selection boxes for Christmas which would make the perfect gift for a chocolate-lover.

What are you asking for this Christmas?

*DISCLOSURE: Sponsored content.

My First Blog Birthday/ Christmas Giveaway! *NOW CLOSED*

Here is my one year blog birthday giveaway, as promised! Since my blog birthday fell at the latter end of November, I thought it would be perfect to make my giveaway Christmas themed! There will be two prizes- one UK prize and one international prize- and they will be made up of a Christmas stocking filled with sweets and some of my favourite products! I have already bought a few of the items but I still have a lot of shopping left to do! The international giveaway will contain products from brands that are a little harder to get outside of the UK :)

Anyway, on to the boring (but important) stuff:

-Enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter forms below. If you are in the UK, use the top form; if you are international, use the bottom form. Please don't try to enter both as I will be checking entries.

- The giveaway will be open for two weeks and will end at 00:00AM (GMT) on Sunday, December 9, 2012.

- If you hadn't already guessed, this giveaway is international!

- You must be over 18 to enter or have your parents permission to give me your address.

- This giveaway is to say thank you to my loyal and genuine followers. New followers are welcome to enter but any entries made through accounts that have been created solely for entering giveaways will be deleted.

I think that is everything! Thank you so much for following and reading my blog over the past year... Good luck! :)

UK-Only

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

International-Only

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Outfit: Back to School.

Blouse: C/O Glamorous* | Skirt: C/O Lavish Alice* | Shoes: C/O Missikon* | Blazer: Miss Selfridge via Charity Shop | Hat: H&M | Rings: Miss Selfridge 

I felt like I was dressed for school today as I stepped out in a blazer with my blouse tucked in to my skirt! I adore this outfit though, I have wanted a leather-look skirt for ages (since the hype around the Primark ones), and I think this Lavish Alice number is the perfect companion for my cut-out polka dot blouse which I have had for a while. I love the little antique-gold stars around the bottom, I think they make it stand out a little from other leather skirts :)

I hope you like my outfit!

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Pink and Purple Dip Dye.

When I did my pink and purple dip-dye a few weeks ago, I had a few people ask me how I did it so I just thought I would type up a quick post on it. 

The hair dye I used was Directions, which can be bought online or at "alternative stores" (Afflecks in Manchester or Quiggins in Liverpool if you are in the Northwest). It is pretty cheap, costing around £3.50-5 for a 88ml tub, which contains enough product for 3-4 uses for me. Directions hair dyes come in loads of different bright colours, and they're really handy as they don't need to be mixed and can be kept for up to a year after opening. The shades I used were "Plum" (purple) and "Rose Red" (pink). The disadvantage to this product is that if you have dark hair, you will have to bleach it before you use these hair dyes as they won't show up on darker hair colours (although they will tint it, if that's what you're after).

I didn't want to bleach my hair any further so I just used it on the dip-dye that I already had, which was more of a copper shade than true blonde. I was happy with how the colour turned out, although the purple didn't show up amazingly well, but it was applied where my dip-dye got darker.

I achieved the look using my fingers (wearing gloves, of course!), and dry hair. Using a tint brush may be easier for some; it's up to you! I started with the purple shade first, rubbing it in to the top part of my dip-dye and making sure that I really worked it in around the transition between the purple and my natural hair colour so that it would gradually change colour and so that there were no harsh lines. I then rinsed off my gloves and started again with the pink dye, this time applying it to the ends of my hair, again making sure I really blended it in and overlapped it where it met the purple dye. Once I was finished I wrapped my hair in tin foil in sections to prevent myself from making a mess everywhere.

I rinsed the hair dye off after fifteen minutes, which is what the tub recommends. Please be warned that you will be stood hanging your head over your bathtub for quite a while; the water NEVER seemed to want to run clear- I was still having purple baths a week later! Directions hair-dye is semi-permanent, meaning that it will last around a month in your hair. I found that I needed to re-dye my hair after around three weeks as it was starting to fade and looked like I had dyed my hair a strange, pukey colour, haha!

I hope this post helped you if you are planning on doing this. I think I want to try a different colour next time, what colour do you think I should try?

Happy Blog Birthday to me!

I really wanted to write this post yesterday, but typically, yesterday was a very busy day and I didn't get a chance to.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen that yesterday marked my one year blog birthday! I still can't quite believe that it has been 12 months since I sat down and decided that I wanted to try and make something out of this tiny space on the internet. So many amazing opportunities have come to me since then; my favourites being working with some great brands, winning a trip to France with Diesel, and of course meeting lots of other lovely bloggers! :)

Of course, I wouldn't be where I am now without my amazing followers. When I first started, getting 500 followers was my ultimate goal, but here I am with 1,290 GFC followers and counting! This may still be a tiny number to some, but to me it's huge! I love reading the comments you leave on my posts (which I know I have been crap at replying to lately, but I promise as soon as I get the time I WILL reply) and talking to you on Twitter; if I didn't have that interaction I don't think I would still be blogging now.

As I actually only realised that my blog birthday was coming up a few days ago, I haven't had time to organise a giveaway. However, I am planning to launch a Christmas-themed giveaway for my blog birthday in the next few days, so look out for that! There will be a UK only prize AND an international-only prize, since I noticed that none of my international followers have won a giveaway yet!

So thank you so much for the support, and here's to another year of blogging! :)

Outfit: Feeling Festive.

Jumper: C/O Clothes Box* | Jeans: H&M | Jacket: Miss Selfridge via Charity Shop | Boots: C/O Tribeca Shoes* | Ring: Coleyyyful

I'm bringing you a more laid back and casual outfit on this lazy Sunday. With it being half way through November, I thought it was an acceptable time to throw on my festive jumper. I was sent this jumper a while ago and it instantly got me excited for Christmastime. I love the plum/maroon colour of it and I think the print adds the right amount of festivity without looking over the top (I have seen some crazy Christmas jumpers in Primark this year- I'm talking Rudolph with Santa's beard!). The material is super soft and cosy and I love how it is slightly bat-wing, too. My blazer was an amazing thrift find that I picked up yesterday- I have been wanting one like this for ages! It is originally a Miss Selfridge number but I picked it up for a bargainous £5 in a charity shop!

Have you dug out your Christmas jumpers?

 *DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Outfit: Velvet Lace.

-Scheduled post

Dress: C/O Matalan* | Shoes: New Look | Earrings: Dorothy Perkins | Rings: L-R Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins | Nails: Barry M Raspberry

With party season well under way, we are all shopping for the perfect outfits to wear for all the Christmas and New Year celebrations. Matalan are going all out this year and bringing out some beautiful party dresses for Winter 2012 and I was given the opportunity to style one to share with you :)

You can never go wrong with an LBD, which is why I chose this classic number. The lace detail sets it aside from your average basic bodycon dress and adds a classy twist to it. Even though it is figure hugging, the high neckline and the above-the-knee length make it a more conservative dress, which I think would be perfect for wearing to a meal with family or friends. I find that the intricate velvet lace detailing means that there is no need for you to accessorize too much (which makes outfit planning SO much easier), but I decided to add some gold rings and earrings to match the gold detail on my shoes. 

Have you got your festive party outfits sorted?

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Review: Brand Village- DSUK

-Scheduled post.

Today, I have another bag to show you- it seems that my once non-existant collection has grown recently! This time it is from Brand Village, a website that stocks handbags, purses and travel bags from brands such as LYDC, Anna Smith, DSUK and Gessy.

The bag I have is the DSUK Light Taupe Snake Print Tote Bag* (£45). In honesty, I have never really been one for snake print; I think it can often look quite tacky. However, I find that the mild taupe colour of this bag tones it down a little bit. It is the perfect size for carrying around on a day-to-day basis and has the usual side pockets on the inside for keeping your phone and keys safe. 

One thing that often bugs me about bags is that a lot of them have magnetic closures or pop fasteners instead of zips, so I am constantly worrying about the safety of my purse and other belongings. However, this bag comes with a detachable zip-fastened divider which I like to keep inside to keep my valuables secure. There is also a longer strap included in case you prefer to wear your bag on your shoulder, which is always handy!

Two very tiny issues I have with this bag is that the DSUK charm on the handle cannot be detached, and also the suedette colour block strip on the bottom of the bag gets scratched and scuffed quite easily. Apart from these minor aesthetic defects, it seems like a very practical and good quality bag. 

Do you own anything from Brand Village?

*DISCLOSURE: PR Sample. My opinions are still 100% honest and my own.

Outfit: Chi Chi

Dress: C/O ChiChi* | Shoes: C/O Tribeca Shoes* | Clutch Bag: C/O Marc B* | Jacket: Miss Selfridge | Nails: Barry M Raspberry

This is my first time dabbling in to the world of peplum- I have always been a little afraid of the peplum trend; I didn't think I would be able to pull off the shape, but since getting this dress I think I am starting to warm to it. I love the sweetheart neckline and the rose pattern on the material, and I think the gold colouring makes this dress perfect for Christmas and New Year celebrations over the next couple of months. ChiChi is another website I have recently become obsessed with. They sell the loveliest selection of party dresses and evening gowns- There's something about this time of year that makes me go a bit mad wanting every sparkly dress on the market! Anybody else?

*DISCLOSURE: Starred items are PR samples.

Review: Celliana

Long time no blog! These past couple of months have been hectic, I definitely hadn't prepared for so much drama to happen at once haha. I have decided to put aside a little bit of time each week to dedicate to blogging and scheduling posts so that I don't have to worry about finding time to write every single day. I am going to mark scheduled posts so that you know- It may take me a little longer for me to reply to comments!

Anyway, today I have a piece of jewellery to show you which was sent to me by the lovely Sarah from Celliana, a fairly new costume jewellery retailer which sells some beautiful and unique pieces.

The piece I was sent is the Rose Gold Long Armour Cuff*. I have been wanting an arm cuff for a long time and I love the unique cut-out detail on this one. Not to mention that it is a rose gold colour, which I know is popular amongst many of us bloggers! It feels light to wear on your arm but also good quality- it can be bent in shape to fit your arm without you having to worry about it snapping, even though care needs to be taken to maintain it's condition as it will begin to tarnish if it gets wet.

If you would like to check out Celliana, you can visit their website here. I always finding myself browsing through their pages as they sell some unusual and statement pieces that I have never come across before. I think their prices are very reasonable, too! :)

Do you own anything from Celliana?

*PR sample. My opinions are 100% honest and my own.

Outfit: Fringed

Top: C/O Oh My Love* | Disco Pants: C/O SheLikes* | Shoes: C/O Daisy Street*

I have finally got my hands on a pair of disco pants! Mine are from Shelikes, and even though they are a little on the long side for me, I love them- you don't realise how flattering they are until you try a pair on! I also adore this new top from Oh My Love- the fringe trend is another one that I am late jumping on to the bandwagon. I love this outfit combination for nights out, especially for this time of year when I don't fancy baring my legs. This is also the first time I have been able to show off these shoes even though I have had them for a while- how fierce do they look?!

P.S. What do you think of my new hair? It's definitely a big change for me! :)

*DISCLAIMER: PR Samples.

Razorpit Teneo Razor Sharpener (and giveaway!)

If there is anything that us girls hate going shopping for, it's essentials. Shopping for clothes is so much more fun, right? One thing that I always hate purchasing is razor refills- I find them incredibly overpriced and always pick the ones that are on offer, even if they did shred my legs to pieces. That's before Razorpit Teneo* came to my rescue.

This little device claims to help you save up to 90% on razor blades and get around 150 uses with one razor blade. Apparently, when razors stop working as well, it isn't because they have turned blunt, it's because they are dirty. The Razorpit has a rubberized surface which you apply a little bit of your shaving product to and run your razor blades (it works with any razor!) along against the direction of shaving. This cleans off the excess dirt, prolonging the use of your razor! I have been testing mine out for a few weeks now, and although I don't think it returns my razor to it's original sharpness, it has definitely gained me a few more uses out of it! It also doubles as a docking station to store your razor in when it is not in use.

The Razorpit Teneo Razor Sharpener retails at around £20.00 on Amazon, but I also have a brand new one here to give away to one of my lovely followers :) If you would like the chance to win, just follow the rules below!

-Enter the competition using the Rafflecopter form below.

-The giveaway will end in one week's time on 12/11/2012.

-This is a giveaway for my readers; if you enter through an account made purely for entering giveaways, your entry will not be counted.

- This giveaway is international! (Yay!).

-You must be over 18 to enter or have parental permission to give me your address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck lovelies!

Do you hate buying essentials too? Have you heard of the Razorpit?

*DISCLAIMER: PR sample. My opinions are still 100% honest and my own. Sponsored giveaway.