Thursday 4 April 2013

Browsing For New Brows | Illamaqua Brow and Lash Gel | Review




No matter how much time I have to get ready in a morning, there is always one step I can never leave the house without completing - my brows. I'm a lover of really strong defined brows, but as I've been lightening my hair I've found myself having to adjust my brow routine to be a lot softer and lighter. 

Naturally I have very fine, blonde brows. When my hair was dark (practically black) it was easy to just whack on some MAC Espesso powder and not even have to worry about what my actual brows looked like underneath. Now I've switched to lighter shades my actual brows are a lot more prominant, and so I've been on a 'brow mission' to get them, quite literally, back into shape.

I've been leaving them to grow out, only plucking hairs that are no where near where I want my eventual thinkness to be. I've also been trimming them - brushing them upwards with a spoolie and trimming hairs that go above the top of my brow line. But my biggest issue is that I have 'downward brows', i.e. the hairs in by brows grow down towards the arch. This means it's always a struggle to get my brows looking even remotely presentable. So I scoured the blogosphere for a good brow gel and I finally settled on the Illamasqua Brow and Lash Gel.





I've been told this gel is like 'superglue for your eyebrows', and that it keeps your brow hairs locked in place all day. My initial worries were that it would be visible on my brows and that it might leave clumps, like mascara can do on lashes. Thankfully these worries were put to rest as the product really does live up to it's rave reviews as being one of the best lash gels on the market today.

The product is a clear gel, which personally I prefer as I feel coloured brow gels can sometimes be more visible. You get 8ml of product for £11.50 (I got it slightly cheaper as the Illamasqua website have a 10% loyalty discount) compared to the 8ml for £12.50 that you get with MAC Brow Set - so price wise it's cheaper than it's most obvious competitor. The applicator spoolie isn't too big, so you don't feel like you're loading your brows up with product. It sets clear and most importantly it doesn't set clumpy or shiny - it's literally undetecable. 

It's certainy a strong gel, you do feel a bit like someone is pulling your brows up at first, but once you get use to it it's not really noticable. Over all it does what it promises to do, which is to "create flawlessly finished brows" and "to hold your look in place."


[On my natural brows]


Worth the hype?

Yes! It is a really great, not too expensive product that will keep your brows tamed and controled. In my opinion it is the best brow gel I've ever used, and definitely trumps MAC Brow Set by a mile!


What are your experiences with brow gels/waxes? Which ones would you recommend?

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Shiny, Softer Hair! | Wella Professionals Oil Reflections | Review




Hair oils have really taken off over the last few years, replacing sticky, heavy serums as the new 'go to' products for tammed and conditioned hair. Moroccan Oil is perharps the most well known and well loved oil in the Blogger/Youtube community, and although I've used both the originial and light versions I've never been completely satisfied with them. I feel they sometimes leaves my hair a bit sticky, and the smell it's exactly my favourite. Step in Wella Professionals Oil Reflections!

I picked up this product last month at the salon I frequent after my stylist advised me to use it whilst I'm lightening my hair, and with it being only £11 I decided to give it a go. In all honestly I wasn't expectiong much. I've used a number of hair oils over the last two years and I've found the majority of the ones that are in this £10 price range are bulked up with all sorts of other ingredients and silicones that weigh down hair, and tend to have an overpoweringly sweet smell. But this product really suprised me!







The scent is sweet, but not overpowering - it smells of almonds which is one of my favourite scents ever! So it was definitely a winner for me on that front. But what I love most about the product is how light it is. I put 3 pumps in after washing (2 pumps in the mornings I don't wash my hair) and a pump at night, as well as additional little pumps throughout the day if I feel like I need it. Now this seems like a lot of oil right? And taking into consideration the fact that I have fine hair I should in theory look like a grease ball - but I don't! It's truly incredible. My hair doesn't feel greasy, weighed down or sticky, it just feels smoother, softer and in better conditon.


Worth the hype?


Yes! I can't recommend this product enough! It really gives great results and doesn't leave any sticky or tacky residue - you wouldn't even think you had any product in your hair at all. The smell is devine (if you like sweet smells, that is) and just adds the finishing touch to an already great product.


Have you tried any hair oils? Which ones are your favourites?