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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Coconut Oil and a skin update!

Going back, do you remember I was trying to embrace beauty au naturale? Unfortunately my obsession with natural remedies turned out to be a bit short-lived after a horrible rash materialised and all fingers (well, mine) pointed to something annoymous in my new natural routine.

Well, it now turns out that I may have been a little hasty and the skin reaction may have had nothing to do with oils and everything to do with . . . eggs!

I was consuming more eggs (I hardly ate any before) then usual to increase my protein intake and I was also using some hair treatments which involved slathering my barnet in a couple of smashed eggs (a beauty secret from back in the day) and it now looks that this may have been what my body did not like hence the not so attractive rash.

So watch out and you may notice in the near future that I start referring to lavender, rosewood, other oils and the alike again as I'm thinking of slowly reintroducing them in to my skincare routine.

One ingredient that I did not cut from my routine was Coconut Oil even though it is fair to say that Coconut Oil and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship.

Regardless, it is only fair to say that Coconut Oil is an investment. It can be used in so many ways that I am sure most people will find one way or another that suits them. There is no need to leave it standing wasted on some shelf just because it has not worked one way for you, use it another.

Hair Treatment

This is why I initially brought Coconut Oil. Muhsine (http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/2009/06/coconut-and-vitamin-e-oil.html http://bubblegarm.blogspot.com/2010/03/hair-masks.html) and others have discussed the intensive conditioning treatment that this oil can provide for your hair.

In the colder months, I was using it as a hot hair treatment. My coconut oil was solid and needed melting down. So I would melt a couple of tablespoons in the microwave and then let them cool a little and apply to preshampooed hair which you leave in for a while or overnight and then rinse out.

The treatment worked fine, the scent wasn't great but tolerable and besides my hair was shiny. However, it was difficult to rinse out. I would often blowdry after the treatment and the result would be hair that looked good but felt as if it was coated in some horrible residue. Even when I managed to get the Coconut Oil out, my hair would quickly go lank and need washing again within 24 hours. For me, rinsing with water was often not enough and I had to actually shampoo the oil out. So in later hair treatments, I would just apply the oil straight to damp, unshampooed hair to minimise the products going in to my hair but then I'm not sure if the Coconut Oil was absorbed quite as well.

In summary, I would suggest using this oil as a hair treatment and seeing if you can find a way to work it and then repeating the process as an occasional treatment.

Body Moisturiser

There is no doubt that when I apply Coconut Oil to my skin, it intensely moisturises as good as any body butter. However, it leaves the skin (and floor!) very slippery and seems to absorb slowly. It is a fab overnight treatment with a "unique" scent.

In the winter when the air temperature has not melted the solid coconut oil down, I usually take a slab and apply it like a Lush massage bar. As soon as my little slab of Coconut Oil made contact with the skin, it started to melt for me. In the summer when the air temperature has done the melting, I use Coconut Oil like a body oil. The results appear to be the same whichever way I apply!

Coconut Oil is also good when used as a balm, soothing particularly sore or dry bits of skin, in the same way that Eight hour cream or Vaseline might be used.

Body Scrub

This is my favourite way to use the coconut oil. I jut mix some liquidfied oil in with salt and use it as a scrub in the bath. This works really well. My skin feels as if it is been worked by the salt and then soothed by the coconut oil. You can also change the ratio of salt to oil, when you are making the scrub yourself, according to how much each specific skin area needs exfoliating. I usually keep the salt and oil seperate then mix it as needed during application. I might take 1/4 of a handful of salt for my kness and then just 1/8 for my decolletage.

I must admit that I do like the fact that the oil gets rinsed away when you use it as a scrub as - and I know that I'm always talking about this- the scent is one I only tolerate, nothing more. I certainly do not embrace it!

I got my Coconut Oil from Holland and Barrett. I think the packaging has changed but this product number (13182) and weight (453g) is currently reduced from £11.99 to £5.99 on their website. http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=690&searchterm=coconut%20oil&rdcnt=1

So that is how I use my oil. What do you think of Coconut Oil?

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Moroccan Oil In The Spotlight!

Ok, so many of you will already know that I think the world of Moroccan Oil. I have mentioned it in posts a few times. In fact, I believe it has been THE post a few times. Well today, I tried to pull together everything, I have said and found, in to a little rave for my you tube channel. I would love it if you Guys wanted to check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpbcrH0eiWs I'm in a bit of a sticky mess where I kept trying to show it to camera so er, your viewings would make it all worth while  ;)and for those more bloggy inclined, do not panic, I have some more posts up my sleeve and one should be up tonight or tomorrow. I hope you are all well. Remember comments or requests always make me happy. So comment here or tweet me. X