Empties #10

I'm like a broken record saying I must do these more often and not have such a pile to talk about, but I have a box under my bed so I don't notice it getting full. And I'm also in denial about how much I spend and use so it doesn't help. But none the less, these posts always give a good indication of the things I really love and will get again. Especially when they pop up in every single feckin empties I do - sorry about that!

First I have the massive pile above of hair stuff. I wash my hair daily so I tend to get a big pile of shampoos and conditioners in no time. Favourites of mine are the Ultimate Blends in this brown and also in the red (which I currently have in the shower at the moment). Normally my hair loves this sleek restore duo, but this time I found I was switching up different products to give my hair a little break. I found it to weigh my hair down and it was annoying to be fecking around with. Would totally pick these up again though. Same goes for one of my all time favoruite brands, Aussie. I've nothing to say about them, as they can do no wrong in my eyes.

Blousey was a 50% off christmas sale buy in Lush. I really liked this and would love to have it again, but for the crazy price of €20 I doubt I'd get it a second time. I loved the smell of this and it did leave my hair so soft. Why you so expensive Lush!? My two regular dry shampoos are bought all the time to give some extra oomph in the mornings, but I have been switching dry shampoos a lot in the last while. I might do a quick post/Instagram photo with some info on it.

Lastly in this pile is the Ziaja shampoo that I just did a post on, so I wont go repeating myself! But if I find it in the shops, I'll be picking it up again. Such a big bottle too, it lasted ages!

More Ziaja stuff.. Its hard to deny that I really love the brand! These cocoa butter shower scrubs are amazing and if you see them, don't hesitate to buy them! (then tweet me where you found them!) I've actually asked my local chemist to please put in an order of them and stock them. They are so cheap and work so well, its no shock to say I prefer them to any S&G scrubs! Theres also the lovely Olive Leaf cleansing oil that I used in the shower. This isn't a must have product, but if you like a bit of extra spoiling yourself, then I'd recommend it. It always left my skin lovely and soft, not to mention a gorgeous scent that lasted a good while after.

Aussie no rush shower gel was lovely to try and if it was on special offer in Boots I would pick it up, but theres a lot of others that I would reach for instead of it. I was dying to try out all the scents though! And lastly theres the two Soap&Glory sugar crush body scrub and orangasm body wash. The scrub as I said earlier isn't as good as my new Ziaja love, but it was nice all the same. If I never had something else to compare it to, it would still be my favourite. And as for the shower gel, it can do no wrong, That scent needs to be in everything. Mmm.

Random essencials now. If you hadn't guessed it, Impulse hint of musk is my all time fav - and you can get it in Dealz too! Major stocking up did happen! Also over the past few months I've been getting really in to roll ons. I don't think they are as good for protection as deodorant sprays, but they don't stain, don't effect my asthma and don't clog up a room. So I don't mind having to apply them a little more often. 

I'm not sure whats been happening over the last month or so, but all my skin care went at the one time and I seem to be flying through it. I think its because I'm now wearing a lot of make up daily and in the evening I love to spend a good 20/30 minutes taking it all off and giving my skin a seriously good clean. Ziaja is again making an appearance here, can't get enough of it! The cleansing milk is easily a Boiderma dupe and so is the micellar water. I've not bought the cleansing milk again as I've been using my No7 cleansing lotion, but I've gone though about 5 of the micellar waters - I love them! Also my all time fav face scrub is from Ziaja, I honestly freak if I've run out of this stuff. (Yes, yes I did cry outside the chemist one evening in town when I went to buy it after not having it for 3 weeks and the place had closed for the night. Not a proud moment. But a very much sleep deprived one.)

When I can't get my hands on the Ziaja water, I use the Garnier one and its still quite good. If you were going on price alone then its better value for money. Also I'm beginning to use a eye make up remover again over the past few weeks as my eye makeup has been very heavy. I love the Garnier one and have just this week bought another to keep up the stock!

Waxpert pads are a big love of mine and although I can sometimes forget about them, they always make such a noticeable difference when I do start using them again. I'm going to be getting another pot when I place my next order on Cloud10. Lastly is a random little mask that I added in. I used it so long ago that I've forgotten why I didn't really like it. I think I thought if I put it in then I'd remember but nope, its not coming to me. So do ignore it!

And finally a selection of used up body creams that I've had for ages and used up. I think they are all grand but I'm not sure if I'll be buying any of them again for a while as it got to be a bit of a chore trying to finish them. Don't you just hate when that happens!!

Theres a Seventeen foundation, as normal in these posts! my all time favourite one for colour and some serious heavy coverage. I'm a little oily so I do touch up a little during the day, but I wouldn't hold it against the foundation itself. I think this is about my 7th or 8th. Just bought another two this week as well. Clearly, I have a problem! Same goes for the Wet'n'Wild powder, I really love it and will be picking it up when I'm next in Penneys. Currently I'm trying to finish off the many half used powders I have stilling around the place.

Lastly two very random ones. A Nima brush that I've loved for so long, but finally have to say goodbye to and a Beverly Hills toothpaste. I got the toothpaste at the beauty show and can safely say I don't think it does any of what it claims. I was going to write a ranty post about it, but its only toothpaste after all. Wont be buying it again though, purely because its claims are full of shit.

Man, that was a really long post, fair play if you read to the end you little rockets! :D

My Hair Care Routine

Not everyone has nice things to say about my hair, especially when they see thats its dyed a few shades. But what you might not notice is that there are hardly any split ends and if you feel it, its silky. (I have gotten many a 'oohhh!' when people touch it. Its so satisfying to hear that!) I don't do lots with my hair, I'll admit it. Apart from dying it and washing it daily, I never really bother to style it unless I'm really jazzed about an event. After a few questions of what I use and how I keep my hair in such good condition considering its dyed, I though that I'd do a post on it. Sure why not!

Firstly I am actually a natural blonde and in the summer months when my natural shade is on show, it will turn a strawberry blonde with light highlights from the sun. However this will be the first summer in about 4 that I've had my natural shade on show. I'm letting my hair grow out (although the itch to dye it is crazy!) so I'm not harming my roots with bleach which is a plus. But the ends of my hair are dyed purple every second or third week, depending on how faded its gotten. So if your into changing your hair colour, I'd suggest just the ends. Not as harmful and you can chop it off if you get really sick of it and don't want to take the colour out or redye it!

I like a few brands of shampoo and conditioner, one being Aussie. But I will use basically anything on my hair, I'm not fussy. The only thing that I stay away from is Head and Shoulders as it strips colour very quickly with any colour. Right now I'm really loving Aussies volume shampoo and their wonderful 3 minute conditioner mask. I have limp hair that is continuously knotty - and with the harsh water we have in the house, it doesn't help. But these two, especially the conditioner, always helps to keep my hair less knotty. Next on the list of things to try out is the Ziaja natural olive collection. I hope it works on my hair just as well! If my hair is really sleek and flat after these products, I will sometimes use a Lush hair/face product mid week that contains salt to give it some texture. It always works a treat.

After a bit of a hair cut, done by yours truly (you can see I'm not too bothered about messing up the hair, as it always grows back!) I made sure that my split ends didn't come back with the help of some hair oils. The one I'm using at the moment is a Tresemme one and one pump does perfectly. I use it daily and have noticed a massive difference in my hair, so I'd highly recommend picking up one. It can be hard finding an oil to suit your hair, so you could be on the hunt for a little while. (But for the most part, the ones you pick up in Boots are all under €10, so its not too bad.)

I've also started using a vo5 heat protect spray as I like to blast my hair with the hair dryer in the morning. If you have long hair you'll understand the need for this, or suffer the horrible wet clothes and back for half the day. I really like this and although I've only been using it about a month, I think it might be helping. Less static and frizz after brushing it out anyway!

And for my dye, I love and always highly recommend the Live XXL in purple. I have gone through easily 20 or 30 boxes of this stuff and it has the best colour pay off of all the alternative shades and brands out there. Because I only dye the ends of my hair, I tend to leave this in for a few hours or even overnight for an intense colour. Don't worry, my hair has never been worse for wear, changed shades, gone green or fallen off! Although I wouldn't recommend using it for that length of time if your doing your roots and close to the scalp. 

Lastly if I'm having a shower but want to give my hair the day off, I'll use a dry shampoo and a little Aussie leave in conditioner spray. Right now I'm loving the Herbal Essences dry shampoo, but I do switch it up a lot. This is about my 5th bottle of this particular one. And as everyone is a little obsessed at the moment over hair brushes, I have been a long time lover of my Denman brush. It seems to get out my knots the best and is dead handy to clean. You can pull off the head and out of the teeth by the row to clean them all.

Thats all there is really, just lots of oils, conditioners and protectors! Have you any favourite hair products or maybe something you could suggest for me to try out? I love new hair things!

Fragrance Direct Haul

Its not often that I do online shopping, prefering to go and see the products in real life. But when there are all the deals to be had, it would be rude not to pick up a few bits. Most of what I have in this haul is things by the Body Shop and I've a bone to chew on here, I am a massive fan of their things, buying lots for myself recently along with a lot of Christmas presents for others. But the main issue is that their Irish site and in store there are never any sales or offers on the way there is on UK sites. Its such a pity as the euro prices of their things make it more of a luxury once in a blue moon buy. Its disheartening to read UK bloggers talking about the amazing 40% off deals they got. Alright then, rant is now over! 

The first thing that I set my sights on were the body butters. If your looking for just one thing to try out from the Body Shop then it has to be one of these. They are so wonderfully thick but easy to apply and sink into your skin making it beautifully soft only after one or two uses. I got mine in shea butter as its one of my favourite scents, I was delighted they had it! One of these tubs cost me £2.99.

I also picked up the tea tree oil thats just perfect for all the face uglies that are forever popping up on my mug. This was I think £0.99 compared to the guts of €10 so I was delighted to be able to try it out. Since getting the haul in the post, I've been using this loads and I have to say it works really well, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Years ago the Body Shop had a shampoo and conditioner with the scent of nettles. It wasn't for everyone but I really loved it. When they discontinued it I searched high and low online but never again could get it. Since then I've not been too interested in trying out anything hair care, but when I saw these little bottles for £2.99 I decided to pick up 2 each and give them a go. A regular bottle is €9.95 for the biggest bottle. I've not tried them out yet, but if I like them I'd consider forking out for them. I just love my hair care products! 

I also got a little tea tree skin clearing toner for £1.99 as I'm all about that spot fighting stuff. I'm still trying to find the holy grail products to finally work for my skin. And I've gone though bag loads, so fingers crossed this one might work for me. 

Again, all about the hair care. I love a good hair mask and this pantene one is something I've not had in years! I used to love it, but theres so many out there I kind of forgot all about it. For £1.99 I couldn't pass it up and I've used it once now. Its just as lovely as I remember.

Lastly I nabbed an Aussie spray leave in conditioner for coloured hair. I have gone though about 7 bottles of this stuff since being introduced to it years ago by a friend. Its perfect to throw in before heading off for the day, before bed, or just a quick spray to make brushing your hair easier. I'm a massive fan, but it can be about €6, so seeing this for £2.99 was a bargain. 

You'll be able to find most of what I've talked about above over on Fragrance Direct. But because lots are really cheap, things can sell out fast. Keep an eye on the site, they are always adding loads of new bargains!

Provoke Touch Of Silver Sensations And Aussie

I have been colouring my hair on and off for years now, from deep plums, blues, pinks to my current slightly peroxide blonde. Now (and I have the pictures to prove it!) I am naturally a blonde, dirty blonde if yo will but I love the light look right now. When I dye my hair I never give it much love at all. I throw in some shade of blonde that I got in a bottle in Boots, not even bothering with a particular brand , just whatever is on offer or what colour looks like it might suit my mood that hour. Its a good way to pick permanent hair dye, right? I think so too. Just before the bloggers Christmas dinner back in December I decided I would dye the top half of my head in the same Cat just whatever falls in to my basket passing way that I do. But after it going a brassy white blonde from not being cared for, I went on the hunt.

Que Provoke touch of silver sensations shampoo and conditioner for gray, blonde and white hair. It protects from fading, dullness and gives it back a slightly softer and nicer shade. What I really like about this besides it working, is the smell. It doesn't have the normal fruit or floral scent that nearly all hair products have, it has a more high end just-went-to-the-hairdressers kind of smell. And bonus points for the salon look and smell but the next to nothing price! The fancy eye catching bottles and the purple colour of the product itself. Thanks, I'll just take the shelf full and be on my way.

 Anyway it really does work, I have the proof on my head after all! After only about 4 days using this I could visibly see a difference in how my hair looked. The grayish-green hue that had once been was gone and a softer, but still very white blonde look, was left. I also used the conditioner every second day as my hairs condition was less then loved from getting blow dryed and violently brushed (thanks tangle teaser) all over the place. However I noticed while the colour of my hair was looking better, the texture and general health of my hair was still downhill and the conditioner wasn't working.

I would highly recommend the shampoo for anyone who has coloured hair and wants to keep it looking amazing, but the conditioner in my opinion did nothing at all and was a waste of money. Instead I ran to Tesco and nabbed my life saver, go to hair care range, Aussie. I like to change up my shampoos and conditioners, trying new things is great fun! But really Aussie has my heart and I would think it would take a very special product to change my mind on that. Get the 3 minute miracle colour conditioner to go with this shampoo or even go the extra mile and get Aussie recharge colour leave-in conditioner. 

As always hope your all having a great day and week! Loved writing a review for this as it was an amazing thing to find that worked so quick for me, hope I find more to share with you all soon! x