Magik results!

Hey, it seems that my recent 'hauling' did not end with fashion.

I have suddenly hunted down and stashed various goods in a final (some may say, desperate) frenzy as my mission grows ever closer to a year of age.

These include to name a few, a Kiehls eye cream; the Origins mushroom moisturiser; the Liz Earle cleanser; the Lush Mask of Magnamity and these little gems here.

Last night, I used a couple of these products. It was, in fact, a return to a couple of products that I raved about in one of my earliest posts, a shampoo and serum from Dead Sea SPA Magik.

The shampoo and conditioning products that I have mainly used for about the last eight weeks or so, have been the Rainforest shampoo and body butter from the Body Shop. Now although I have no complaints over the product and, indeed, am impressed that the products have lasted me so long. It seems my hair has now decided that it is stalemate time. For the last ten days or so, my hair has appeared increasingly blah. Lifeless and dull, I guess.

It may be that all it needed was a good clarifying shampoo but of course, since I've used these paraben free products such as Phyto and The Body Shop, I have suddenly become a bit too fearful of more "chemical" products. It is a silly psychological side effect but still I kept putting off finding a nice harsh shampoo because to me clarifying surely equals lots of scientific, tough, unforgiving ingredients to give the barnet a proper going over and clean the locks properly.

Giving the holy grail status that the Morrocan Oil Treatment has so deservedly earnt (in my opinion), I was very tempted to try the rest of their haircare range. With my main qualm being only the price.

So there I was in Holland and Barrett the other day, looking at face masks when the Dead Sea Spa Magik products caught my eye. I remember been so impressed last christmas with the products especially the serum that really you have to agree, I had nothing to lose by forking out just two pounds ninety five for a couple of sachets. One of the shampoo and one of the serum (they come together, the shampoo one is meant to be a freebie).

Now last time I remember my focus was on the magic serum (It really is called Hair Magic Serum and apparently it was voted best conditioner by Woman magazine) and the gloss and shine that this was to deliver. I also wanted the 'thirst quenching' ingredients that the products claim to contain. This time my hair is probably more hydrated maybe even slightly weighed down with conditioning products.

Therefore my focus was on the revitalising promise. I do remember the life that this brand gave my hair before and it just seems lately that my increasingly flat mop of hair, especially the roots, is crying out for some life and to be frank to, dance again.

Dead Sea Spa Magik claims this shampoo revitalises hair and wow, it really did. Again! My hair actually had proper volume (even after my normal mandatory application of moroccan oil) and looked a lot thicker after using these products. And in a strange but good way even though it looked like I had more hair (I love the way it bulked my layers out and made them look longer), my hair actually felt lighter and freer. It seemed easier to get the brush through and style.

And as if this was not good enough, it looked glossy. Yay. I think the serum may have had a hand in that.

I used the magic serum as a conditioner and massaged it right in to the scalp and down the length of the hair. I then left it about five minutes before rinsing out. Trust me, this stuff is magic and it probably would not be advisable to leave it in too much longer.

I shampooed generously twice and I still have maybe half the sachet of both the shampoo and serum left which I will be stowing away very safely.

I am really torn now between the moroccan oil haircare purchase plan or just buying the full size of these products. They really do seem to be that good.

Oh and yes, these Dead Sea products do claim to be made from the mud, salt and mineral extracts of the dead sea with some certified organic ingredients and no parabens.

So a volumiser, a clarifier and a moisturiser; these products could be billed magic and amazing. Maybe that is where my worry lies. In the long term, are such results too good to be true?! What do you think? Have you tried this brand? Do these products sound of interest to you? What haircare is making your hair sing and dance at the moment?

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Umberto Giannini Haircare!

There is currently an offer at Boots on the Umberto Giannini range. You can get two products for £7.50. I'm not sure how long the offer lasts and if it is just online or not but it might be an offer that you may want to consider.


I recently took advantage of a different offer on this range, I think it was three for ten pounds. Anyhow I walked away with three products, all of which I use almost daily.

That really is value for money. Normally when I take advantage of such offers, I walk away with at least one product that is soon relegated to the back of a drawer somewhere!

So to my three utterly fabulous products . . .

Firstly, there is the Glam Hair Morning After Dry Shampoo.
This works and even on my dark hair leaves no white flakes (unlike certain other brands that I have discussed before) unless I really, really, really heavily spray.

This product has a beautiful fragrance which is maybe a little overpowering (air freshner) at first but soon settles down to pleasantly and gently scent the hair for a good five or six hours.

I have been using this product quite often sometimes more to scent my hair then to clean it and I still have a fair amount of product left. Full size Umberto Giannini products seem to come in fairly big quantities and I would hope would last a reasonable amount of time.

This dry shampoo gets a big thumbs up from me. It really has renewed my confidence in the whole dry shampoo concept.

Secondly, there is the Glam Hair Backcomb In A Bottle.

Ok, this is currently my fovourite of the three products. I use it all the time and it gives my hair some pisazz. The whole thing about this product is that it is meant to give you the backcombed, big hair look without any actual backcombing. Now I very rarely use volume/backcombing products but this one works. You spray it at the roots of where you want the big hair look, ruffle and play with the hair on the top a bit and ta dah, height and glam hair. Result!

Now I have been using this product quite haphazardly just to give me more glamorous looking but natural hair (contrary, I know, but true) and to cover my extension seams or clips (yep, I have gone back to clip ins. More on that soon). This product is brilliant for helping to conceal tell tale signs of such fakery. It gives my own hair the actual height to ensure that nothing betrays me beneath. However, I am not sure if this product would work as an ideal replacement to more conventional styling methods/tools in more structured looks where bumpits or technical 'backcombing' is needed but for plain, simple bigger hair, this product delivers. Again, I have noticed no residue and very little product seems to need to be applied. Love, love, love this product.

And finally, there is the hair treatment, Spa Rituals Overnight Magic Hair Repair.

Don't we all want the healthiest hair in the world? This one contains bergamot (something I seem to like in my perfumes), lavender (the scent that overwhelmed me and took some getting used to but now seems to 'signal' bedtime) and honey. This concoction is billed to condition, nourish and beautifully smooth your hair while you sleep. Hmm, like Sleeping Beauty!

Well I am a sucker for hair treatments and this one appealed to me because you use it every night. However, no rinsing whatsoever is needed in the morning. Supposedly you can just get up and go with newly revitalised hair.

Note: With this product even I am only using the recommended pea size amount (and we all know how I like to pack the product in) as I still fear this product could build up.

Now I wasn't that sure when I brought this product as I have brought a hair beauty balm type product from this brand before (the Overnight Beauty Moisture Balm) and was not absolutely overwhelmed with the results.

However, this time I have been using this product mainly on my natural hair -now my sewn ins have gone, there are no extensions to be matted at night etc- and I think this product could be doing something. It is hard to tell but my hair seems to feel quite soft and the colour pretty awake as soon as I wake up in the morning. There certainly seems to be fewer frizzy and wiry bits. I am sure in the very least it is keeping my hair quite smooth which then means less product and heat is needed in the morning which can only be helping the condition of my hair which can only mean another thumbs up for the Umberto Giannini brand.

I really recommend viewing the products in this brand even if none of my suggestions seem something for you, the brand is huge and the product names very inspiring (an 'enviable body blow dry' or 'catwalk beauty hairspray' anyone?) so why not try something and then tell us all about it?!

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Cheating my way to silkiness!

One fact about me, dry shampoo has always disappointed me. I did a review earlier in the year http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/batiste-dry-shampoo/  and my biggest concern was that I had trouble brushing the flakes out and when you have brunette hair and you are using the tropical Batiste or Boots own brand, this can be a bit unsightly and annoying. Even if I was using a Brunette Batiste, I'm not sure if I like the idea of flakes in my hair.


I wanted to write a post today that revealed a great product that you can use instead of fallible dry shampoo. I was very excited about sourcing a 'find' and an 'exclusive' of my own. I found a spray with a fine mist instead of lumpy flakes to silken my locks. A perfect subsitute for dry shampoo, I wanted to post. However, I now realise that unfortunately it would be a step too far to advocate the product in question that way.

Lately I have been trying to wash my hair as and when it needs it. Apparently the longer your hair goes between washes and the more frequently you employ such gaps then the more your hair manages to maintain itself and the less washing/ 'baddie' products are then needed. Get in!

Sounds a great idea except for one thing . . , my hair is not very cooperative. It can look fresh, clean and soft before I go to bed one night and the very next morning, I can wake up with greasy roots, quite crunchy ends (Sorry but it is the horrific truth)and little time to spare. Eurgh, what a great start for the day ahead.

At that time of the morning, I never have time to wash, dry and style my hair from scratch so I have to look to my hair products (yes, what I was trying to avoid in the first place) for a helping hand and yes, I have quite a few hair products but that doesn't mean I can rely on them to save the day.

Most of my products -bar the dry shampoo- are to actually flatten my hair further because it is so puffy after a wash.

However I have recently been employing one little product to help and it is Hair Extensions Maintenance Spray from ion moisture solutions.

I used to use it on my clip in hair extensions to freshen them up and make them silkier and softer as they aged.

One day I noticed that it can be used on natural hair too and blimey, does a spritz of this make my hair soft again! I've been trying to find out how it works but have drawn a blank so far. However I think it works as a bit of a moisturiser and you can see from these photos that my hair just looks so much healthier and less wiry (indeed silky) after a spritz of this.

BEFORE

AFTER (spritzed, fingered through, left 2mins and brushed)

I'm so impressed that I was tempted to use this as my dry shampoo subsitute and tell you all about it but no, I can't.

This spray just doesn't do enough for the roots to equal a dry shampoo. My roots may feel a little softer after some of this but they still fall on the wrong side of lank.

I have worn my 'I need a wash' hair out after a spritz of this and I got away with it maybe because the rest of my barnet looked so fresh but it is not enough because I do not feel that I have clean hair and you can see I'm right if you look at my roots closely enough.

Saying that I am glad that I have this spray, it is a great product to have. It has a nice pleasant fresh, possibly slightly floral, scent and there seems to be no product build up. I can not recommend this product enough if you want to silken/detangle hair (extensions or real) as a 'pick me up' occasional product.

I think it could work as a daily moisturising treatment too for the lengths and ends but the only thing I would say here is that I have only used this product occasionally and am a bit wary of the ingredients listed alcohol denat, butane, isobutane, propane, cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone. I am tempted to use this product daily because it makes my hair so soft but at the same time, I'm sure many would see these ingredients as 'baddies' and could this mean evantually with such frequent use, it would dry the hair out instead of rejuvenating it?

Going back to occasional use, you could maybe even use this product to change your hair style from day to night. After all, it seems to break down product ok and leave your hair soft but personally I find it is more of a maintanance/polish product rather then a cleanser.

When the lank roots need a wash, I think they need a wash more because of physiological waste such as sweat and oils. This ion spray will not clean such hair but then it was never designed to, extensions don't have to deal with physiological issues!

Dry shampoos do though and dry shampoos haven't really worked for me yet so I'm just starting to wonder if there is such a thing as a short cut or even a quick fix just to get you through the day when it comes to matters of beauty.

I got my Ions Hair Extensions Maintenance Spray from Shear Beauty (http://www.shearbeauty.com/). It is currently £8.99 there. You could google other retailers too.

So for me right now, it is either get up earlier and wash my hair properly as required, or try out the Big Sexy Hair products that Nicoletta http://nicolettasbeautyspace.blogspot.com/ has recently posted about!

Do you believe short cuts ever pay off? What do you think of dry shampoo?

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