Hair favourites

I thought this post would follow on quite nicely from my previous one, reviewing the Babyliss air styler, so I thought I would share my two current hair staples. I’m sure I’m not the only one when I say that during lockdown I haven’t been making the most effort with my fashion choices or beauty regime. However, there are a couple of products that I’ve continued to use throughout and I will be sharing these with you. So I thought I would star with hair care products today.

First is the Schwarzkopf got2be detangling spray which I purchased from Boots a couple of months ago. Now I am always after a detangling spray simply because my hair is so thick, it just gets so tangled. I often find it hard to locate a detangling spray, there never seems to be many out there, so when I saw this one I snapped it up. I simply spray this on damp hair and then use my tangle teezer to work all of the knots out of my hair, and it works a treat! This product is super affordable and usually hair brands, like this one, can be found on offer. Definitely a product I use every time I wash my hair therefore a firm staple for me.

Secondly is this Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo in Bloom from Sainsbury’s. Firstly I must say this smells incredible! Not floral, as the name would suggest, just fresh and super lovely. Not only does this smell amazing, it does a great job at putting washing your hair off for that extra day. It leaves a little bit of white residue but it easily massages into the hair, and then you’re ready to go. This product is super affordable and I believe I only paid a bargain £1.50 for it! If you’re looking at trying a new dry shampoo or your current one is nearing the end, I highly recommend giving this one a whirl.

Babyliss Smooth Dry Airstyler

I brought this product on a bit of a whim a couple of months back as I saw it on offer in the supermarket. I had always wanted to give one a go but always thought they wouldn’t really work on my super thick hair. However, I was intrigued and used some of my built up Nectar points to buy it. I’ve been using this instead of my normal hair dryer ever since and have not looked back! I never used my hair dryer that often, usually more in the winter then letting it air dry in the summer months. When using this I try to let it air dry a little more than I would, if I was going to use my normal hair dryer, as this requires a bit more precision. I then tend to split my hair in half down the back and then use one of the clips pictured to further section each half of my hair. This is also when I cover my hair in a heat protector, my current one being from VO5. It’s super simple to use, I just hold the brush with the prongs facing upwards and slowly move it down the lengths of my hair. If anything, I would say it takes a little longer to dry my hair using this but the results are so much better. My hair is practically straight afterwards and I would normally tend to loosely tie it in a low ponytail overnight. It may need little touch ups in the morning if I want to wear my hair down but it’s perfectly fine to leave if I want to style it into a low pony or bun. Overall I’m super impressed with this hair tool and would highly recommend it! Like I said it takes slightly longer but in the long run, it saves time as you don’t always need to then use your hair straighteners afterwards. This tool is also super affordable so if you’re looking into getting something like this, then definitely take a look at this one!

Current Hair Care Favourites

Since recently braving the chop, I've also recently been trying out some new hair care products which have been in my stash for a little while. I love trying out new hair products as I do have my staples however, it is nice to delve into something new. These three products photographed have been staples in my hair care routine recently, some new and some old.

Firstly the Mark Hill Bedazzled Anti-Humidity Shine Spray (what a mouthful). I've had this in my stash for a little while now but had never really tried and tested it out properly. So recently I pulled it out and gave it a good old bashing for a period of time and guess what? Yes, you guessed it, I love it! It's such a simple product to use, I simply spray it all over my hair with literally no care in the world. Once I've covered all my hair, I just run my fingers through it and voila, finished. It smells divine, which is such a bonus, and just keeps all those fly aways in place with added shine. It's great for those "can't be bothered hair days" when it's freshly washed and I can't be bothered to style it - this spray just makes my hair look like I've actually made a little effort. It's also great for those "sleek hairstyles" as it puts all hairs back in their right place.

Next the L'Oreal Elvive Colour Protect Conditioning Protect Spray, another great mouthful. This product is a firm staple for me and for any of you who also suffer with knotty hair. This is a God send and just makes my hair so much more manageable. I simply spray this all over my hair, after washing, and my tangle teezer just glides through effortlessly. It also leaves my hair feeling extra soft due to the conditioning elements in this spray. I struggled to find the perfect detangling spray but this one definitely ticks all the boxes.

Finally the Avon Advance Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil which I have used before but that was a long time ago. My mum actually got this free with an order she placed recently however, she passed it along to me and I took it with open arms. I remember loving this product in the past and my love for it remains. I simply use 1-2 pumps of this product, again after washing my hair, and apply it just to my roots. It really does help keep the ends of my hair in tact and not split. Again, this product also helps keep my hair super soft in between washes.

Overall these three products are firmly stapled into my current hair care routine and really seem to be working well for me and my newly, short hair. If you also love any of these products then let me know but I'd also love to hear your hair care favourites which I may not have previously tried :-)

Mark Hill Protection Spray & Anti Humidity Spray

If you didn't already know, I'll rub it in and just mention that I've just returned from my second summer holiday in Kos, Greece. Now being by the pool and beach all day calls for some saviour hair care items and before I went on holiday I found there products with hope that they would help me out.

The weather in Kos was really very hot therefore not only did I prepare my skin, obviously, I wanted to protect my hair too. That's where the protection spray comes in handy. It's in a super handy travel sized bottle and is just the easiest product to apply ever. You simply just had to spray it over your hair where you think you needed to "protect". So every morning I would just spray this mainly around my scalp and on the ends of my hair. Not only does this product to claim to protect your hair from the heat but also aims to protect the colour of your hair too. I loved using this product everyday, it smells fresh but it doesn't linger. It sunk into my hair super quickly and really did seem to protect my hair. The ends of my hair can become very dry and I really think this product locked the moisture in and protected it.

Next the humidity spray which helped me out more in the evenings. With the hot weather obviously, my hair turned against me slightly and became slightly frizzy after washing it. I found that when it was dry I could spray this lightly onto my hair, have a fiddle and a ruffle with it and voila. It kind of gave my hair a bit of texture to play around with too which I liked. I did find that if I used too much of this product it could make my hair look slightly greasy, so I just made sure that I applied it lightly. It kept my frizz at bay for the evenings whilst on holiday so I can only thank this product for doing exactly as it says on the tin!

Overall I'm really impressed with this range from Mark Hill and will definitely be using them again on my holidays in the future. I'd never heard of it until I purchased them and I'm so glad I did. It's nice to buy something with no background opinions and love them and that's exactly what these were for me. If you're heading on your holidays, I would definitely recommend these :-)

Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer

Anything to help reduce the amount of time I spend blow drying my hair is a bonus. I have quite long and thick hair and if I want to dry it completely then it is definitely one long mission. I normally half dry my hair and then let the other half dry naturally. Although if I want to properly style my hair and don't have very long to do so then this product comes in super handy. Or even if I wash my hair late at night and don't wish to go to bed with wet hair.

Recently browsing Feel Unique I came across this Redken product as it had some money off. I was pretty much sold as soon as I read that this saves time when blow drying. This product also protects your hair from heat up to 450F, which is perfect considering after using this product you're about to apply heat onto it. So all you have to do is simply spray this onto damp hair, before you're about to blow dry it, and then you're ready to go. That's it so it's a really simple product to use.

I've been really impressed with this product and have really found the time I spend blow drying my hair has been reduced. The smell of this product is nice but not over powering at all and doesn't really linger around. It leaves my hair feeling really smooth and ready to style. I hated not fully drying my hair and wanting to style it. Then when I went to straighten or curl you'd hear the sizzling noise and instantly think "uh-oh!". But I know when I use this product I can completely blow dry my hair fully and then probably style it in the same time as I used to just blow dry without this product.

This was such a great buy for me and I have absolutely been loving using it. It is quite a pricey hair product but in my eyes definitely worth it. It's also currently on sale on Feel Unique here. Let me know if you've tried this product and your thoughts. Also if you've tried any other products from Redken so I can have a read up on them :-)

L'Oreal Ever Strong Nourishing Intense Mask

This is a relatively new purchase for me and normally I wouldn't do a review so quickly but I've definitely used this enough times to tell you guys all about it. So I was browsing in Boots for a hair mask as ever since I last got my hair dyed it had just felt horrible and dry. Therefore I needed something to help with that and I also wanted something that does the job pretty quick. I'm really not a fan of those hair masks which you have to shampoo your hair, then put the mask in, then leave it for 20 minutes and then rinse it off. That's probably what I need but it's way too much effort for my liking.

I came across this one in Boots, last one on the shelf and it was on offer, bonus! I'd never heard of it before but everything it claimed sounded what I needed. It's a nourishing intense mask which contains no sulphates and respects and reinforces the hair. It also works between 3-5 minutes which is incredible and just what I wanted. I mentioned this was on offer, I think it had like 1/3 off, and it was only just over £3, bargain. Basically this mask could do me no wrong, so far.

I think the same night I purchased this product I then went and used it, can you tell I was excited. I had my bath and used this mask, came out, dried my hair and was pretty impressed. Not only does this mask smell nice by the way, always a plus point, it left my hair feeling so soft and as if all my dry ends had disappeared. It amazes me how well products like this one work in such a short space of time. I've used this mask multiple times since and the results haven't changed. It leaves my hair feeling nourished and non brittle. I also find it hard sometimes to detangle my hair, due to it's thickness, but I really think this product helps that aspect too.

Overall I'm really pleased with this hair mask and how effective it is in such a short amount of time. It means I can have a nice, relaxing bath and not have to worry about faffing with the long wait of a hair mask. I look forward to using this product and will definitely be checking out the other hair care products from this range. Let me know if you've tried anything :-)

Macadamia Natural Oil Hair Care Travel Set

Another brand that I've always heard a lot about but had never tried myself until I spotted this set in TK Maxx. It's a great travel set full with 6 mini products and at a really affordable price. I'm always on the hunt to try and find products that will help minimize the dead ends on my hair. I thought this set would be a perfect way to try a new brand and also try and tame my hair slightly.

In this set you get 6 mini products which are; Rejuvenating Shampoo, Moisturising Rinse, Nourishing Leave In Cream, Healing Oil Treatment, Repair Masque and a wide tooth comb. This set really includes everything you would need to give your hair a complete pamper. Every product in this set has worked amazingly with my hair. Whenever I used even just one of these product I could tell the different. The shampoo and conditioner worked super well together and really left my hair feeling soft and sleek. The Nourishing leave in cream which was just applied to the ends of my hair left the ends of my hair soft and with added moisture, not leaving them dry like normal. The healing oil is simply amazing too. Again just applied to the ends of my hair but you can really tell the difference. It softens everything out, not leaving my dead ends all spiky and out of control. I must add as well all of these products smell so good!

It's great that all of these products work so well together, you could literally use all 6 of these products in one pamper session and it would leave your hair in heaven. The comb is great for my long hair which gets super duper knotty after washing it, so I'm not constantly tugging at my hair and pulling it out. I am now definitely a fan of Macadamia hair and will be on the look out for more, different products from them to try out!

This is an amazing set and I would definitely recommend it to those who were like me and hadn't tried anything from the brand before. As I've said I purchased this from TK Maxx so it's unlikely that they still have it in stock. Instead I'll leave a link straight to the Macadamia website so you can have a little browse at all their products they have to offer: here. I'd love to know your thoughts on this brand if you've tried it before :-)

VO5 instant oomph powder

I'm all for an easy hair product that does what it says and this is exactly one of them. I actually picked this up in a 'cheapy', random shop and it was 99p! I couldn't resist, I'm always on the look out for hair products that help volumise my hair. I've got long, thick hair so not very voluminous without a little help.

This product is basically a white powder which you apply to your roots, give it a little rub in and then voila - volume! It really is as simple as that. I section off the top parts of my hair and apply a small section of this to each section. Obviously the more you apply, the more volume you get so depending on the look you're after depends on how much product you actually need to use. A small amount of this really does go a long way so for just a bit of volume for everyday hair you don't need too much. It would also depend on your hair type, my hairs thick so I think I would have to use more than someone with thinner hair for example.

There is one down side to this product and that is the feel of your hair after using it. It's not a huge flaw but it doesn't leave your roots/where you've applied the product feeling the nicest. Yes it gives amazing volume which is great and I'm not saying this flaw stops me using it. It's perfect for a night out and a small amount does great for day-to-day, I'd just love it to not leave my hair feeling slightly sticky. It's a weird feeling, if you use it then you will understand, ha ha.

Overall this is a great product and really does give great volume. The downside, although not great, doesn't avert me from using the product so I definitely recommend it :-)

Review: Enrapture Jumbo Waver

So if you follow me on Instagram (if you don't you can find me at: natalieellis23) then you'll recently know that I purchased, finally, a Enrapture Jumbo Waver! Yay! After seeing so many bloggers use this product and the outcome I just had to get my hands on a pair. I actually picked this pair up on eBay and they were only around £20, yes I know bargain. I just couldn't justify going to spend £75 on a brand new pair, I just couldn't do it. Well anyway it said that they had only been used once before so I didn't think I could really go wrong.

When you first open these the first thing you think, well I thought anyway, was how the heck am I meant to use these? It looked simple enough but for me to do my whole head of hair, and yes there is a lot of it, I thought it was going to be impossible. There are different heat setting on this waver depending on how defined you want the waves. I put it on the highest because my hair is ultra thick and I wanted the waves to be really defined. So I sectioned my hair as I went along, doing it bit by bit and actually found it really easy to use. Although it did make my arms ache slightly towards the end of finishing my hair. Roughly I think I held the waver on my hair for around 10 seconds and then started moving it down and this seemed to work pretty well.

I've read some reviews on this product and people saying that it only took around 10 minutes for them to complete the look, now either my hair is uber thick compared to there's or they know a trick that I don't..? To complete my whole head of hair it took me between 20-25 minutes which is rather a long time, considering I usually literally only spend a couple of minutes. I'm not saying this is a downside to the product, I'm just saying that I don't think I would do this on a daily basis due to the amount of time it takes, personally.

A plus side to this product is that once you've completed your look for the day and then sleep on it that night, the second day waves are still pretty much in tact! Obviously they're not as defined but I still love the look. It just makes them look slightly more messy and beachy which I love as it simply needs no styling, maybe just a little taming!

Overall I really love this product and love the fact that it doesn't just last the one day, considering the amount of time spent. I'm not sure I could justify buying a pair for £75 but definitely am glad I got them for the price I paid. If you haven't yet tried these then I definitely recommend them and if you're like me then have a good hunt on eBay first :)

Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend xo