Shock horror! Drugstore hair products!!

My name is Debbie and I'm a hair product snob.  There I said it!  Personally if I ever find myself with a lump of cash that I don't need I am going to buy myself Frederic Fekkai Overnight Hair Repair which is £138.  OK, I probably wouldn't, but if that £138 really really was spare I'd be sorely tempted!

I have wanted to use Kerastase shampoo and conditioner for ever but always baulked at the price.  Then last year I managed to justify it on the basis that I was getting my hair cut every 4-6 months and colouring it at home.  I love Kerastase products and would happily use nothing else.  But I have had a complete change of heart regarding salon visits and my hair.  On April 18th I spent £50 on highlights and glossing (thats the nice way of saying they cover up your grey roots that would show between the hightlights).  Then yesterday I just had the "glossing" bit done and a tiny trim, £62, and whilst I was there I booked T-section highlights and glossing for 7th July which is going to be another £60 I'm guessing so I really, really can't justify my Kerastase habit any longer.  

Fortunately Em had a sample of L'Oreal EverPure in a magazine which I pinched.  I have to say I have been sort of drawn to this range since I first saw it.  Just in case you don't know here's what they say:
 Non-sulphate cleansing system. Indulgent care to help protect over-processed, frizzy hair.

Specifically designed for fragile and brittle hair, EverStrong Reinforcing & Vitality is a Reinforcing System that combines non-sulphate cleansing and conditioning care. The formulae are enriched with botanical rosemary and juniper oils. Hair looks shinier, smoother and protected. For extra care use L'Oréal Paris Hair Expertise EverStrong Shampoo with EverStrong Reinforcing & Vitality Conditioner and EverStrong Nourishing Intense Mask

I decided to try EverStrong because it seemed closest to the Kerastase range that I was using.  I have used it for the last week and whilst I don't think it tames the frizz quite as well as the Kerastase did, I think that given I bought the shampoo and conditioner for £9 together in Boots compared to a joint price for the Kerastase of £34.80, the difference isn't worth the additonal £25.90 - gad that's a Dior Extreme Addict lipstick right there, in case further justification were needed!  Considering this is sulphate free it works up a nice lather, it smells lovely, sort of herbal which, considering it contains rosemary and juniper oils is hardly surprising - mmm hair that smells of gin, quick squirt of Juniper Sling and I'm good to go!!  The biggest downside I have found is that with the Kerastase and a good blow dry - this takes me 20 mins and I don't stint on the products;  a smoothing gel, an anti split ends serum (see below!) and a squirt of Kerastase to thicken, the next morning I can "refresh" my hair, using EverStrong I really could do with starting from scratch again the next day, it just doesn't stay as frizz free as it does with the Kerastase.


As if all that weren't bad enough there's this:

 I know!!! Shocking isn't it.  TRESemme stuff.  My god who'd ever have thought it.  Tell you what though, this bloody stuff works!  It smells lovely, like sherbert sweets - covers up the ominpresent whiff of gin! - and it works.  I rub a couple of pumps through my wet hair before styling and then rub a single pump onto my hands and then lightly froof the ends of my hair once its dried and it really tames the frizz.  This costs a budget busting £5.99 and given the amount you need this could last me well into my 80's.

Big thanks btw to Claire of Jolie Laide Beauty Blog, whose review of EverStrong I read and who then answered my questions on twitter, she helped me to decide it was definitely worth trying, thanks Claire; my hair loves you, my wallet loves you, but more importantly my husband worships you and your frugal good sense!!

Hairdryer update

You might remember this post when I bought my Tresemme hairdryer, where I was rather sniggering about the benefit of ions.  Well, today I am eating my words.  Yesterday I dried my hair and it looked crap all day, thick, frizzy and clumpy.  I wasn't sure if maybe I hadn't rinsed properly or had gone mad with the styling products or maybe my errant hormones had decided that they were no longer satisfied with trashing my skin they were taking my hair out too.  This morning when I picked up the drier I noticed that the "ion" button had slid into the off position.  I slid it back and dried my hair.  Which looks like a totally different head of hair, it took 5 mins less to dry (when you get up at 5.45am every  day that counts) and it is sleek and smooth and only needed a quick blast with the ghd's to tweak it.  So maybe there is something in all that "ions" malarky after all!

In other matters last night my skin was all over the show.  Its that time of the month so the roseacea is having its way and I had 2 massive lumps on my right cheek as well as an attractive scattering of pimples across my nose.  As part of my new nail care regime I am eschewing nail varnish (it. is. killing. me.) and slathering on olive oil at all times.  And as I sat in bed checking out the wreck that was my face I thought "what have I got to lose?" and applied a thin layer of olive oil to my face too.  When I woke up this morning I was expecting perhaps puffy eyes, as I realised too late that smearing your eyes with oil might not be the best plan in the world, but actually my skin was looking pretty good, roseacea was down a smidge and it seemed to have enjoyed its night coated in oil.  Just thought I'd mention it, next time you skin is feeling dry and stressy it might nip into the kitchen and find your olive oil!  Have a nice day ladies.

TRESemme - Hair dryer

Not for one minute do I believe all that "TRESemme - used in salons" bs. If it was we would all have seen it, right? And have we, no. Ergo, bs. Thank you. Buuut, I was in Asda looking for a hairdryer as my current one has started making that high pitched screech which indicates that its demise in a massive fireball in my bedroom is imminent. There was a Nicky Clarke one and a Toni and Guy one, both at around £30 and with 2000w motors and a TRESemme one with a 2150 watt motor and "4 x more ionic" which of course as we all know is vital in a hair dryer, my god would anyone buy one that was only "3 x more ionic"? I sincerely hope not, can you imagine such a world? No, I have no clue what "4 x more ionic" means either, more ionic than what? Presumably its a lack of ionics (ions?? trying to dredge up some of Tom's GCSE chemistry, or should that be physics?) that makes your hair frizzy, as anything ionic is supposed to reduce frizz although I suspect that all this ionic shizzle could be coming from the same place as that massive L'Oreal discovery "boswellocks" or whatever it was, by my reckoning about three letters in excess of the truth.


Love the artists impression of ions shooting out of it!!

To be fair its a good one and well worth £15!! It's not too heavy and is very powerful, I tend to "blow dry" old laydee stylee, Em blasts the hell out of hers just to get it dry and then does the whole lot with the straighteners and she can now get her hair completely dry in 6 mins, which is good considering just how massive her hair is. She has commented on how much less frizzy her hair is blasted with the new dryer compared to the old so those ions are doing their thang too I am happy to report, would recommend this dryer next time you are in the market for one!

Actually I am going to have a bit of a rant now. Recommend Obsessive Cosmetics Disorder, or maybe a bit of cjane from the list above if the last thing you need right now is me ranting. Adverts for mascara that carry the words "styled with lash inserts" or whatever it is they say. Why the hell don't they just advertise the mascara saying "if you wear false eye lashes and use this product your eye lashes will look like this, if you dont they will look like normal lashes with some black stuff on them, get over it" Or shampoo that gives you fantastic hair advertised by Cheryl Cole whilst she has a whole second head of hair sewn into her own, it would be like Fern Britton advertising magic slimming knickers and then showing them on Fearne Cotton, very similar but frankly not the same thing. I think what I am objecting to is that adverts aren't even pretending any more, stuff doesn't deliver so they use inserts and digital alteration to suggest how good the product could be, if only it worked! Sorry rant over. Forecast for most of the UK looking fab for the weekend so enjoy!