Beauty - Caring for Dry Skin

I've done a skincare blogpost before, and I mentioned in it that I have dry skin.

A huge cause of dry skin is the weather. In Ireland this year our summer has been more like winter, with plenty of rain (rain, rain and more rain), wind and cold temperatures, and this of course takes it's toll on your skin. Dry air will leave skin feeling extremely thirsty. Indoor heating and all this nice warming up against the fire (although super nice!), wrecks havoc on the skin further as it will strip more moisture from the air - and your skin. While we obviously can't unfortunately change this unseasonable weather, we can do something about how we react to it. If possible try to keep the thermostat at a cooler temperature.

Setting the shower to a hot temperature soothes your body after a long day of work, but it certainty won't do your skin any favours. It dries out the natural oils in your skin a lot quicker. Standing in the shower long enough for you to have deep thoughts about the universe/life/other important shizz or to belt out your favourite tune is also a no-go area. Dial down the temperature to lukewarm, and try to keep your showers as short as possible (not a bad thing thanks to these pesky water charges). Save the sing-along for the car or your bedroom! 

While you're in the shower too, it's worth noting that even though some shower gels and soaps smell super nice, some are more than a bit harsh on your skin and will send your skin's moisture straight down the drain. Use a mild, fragrance free shower gel on your skin (Simple do amazing ones) that will moisturise as it cleanses. That Simple shower gel will set you back a mere three euro.

Have you noticed that your favourite jumper might be to blame for your dry skin? Often it's the fabric, fabric softener or the washing powder you're washing your clothing in. Lots of everyday products can irritate the skin - from dryer sheets to perfume. "Free" is the key word to bear in mind when it comes to choosing products - fragrance-free and dye-free, or look out for ones specially formulated for sensitive skin, I know there's many washing powders that are available for baby's sensitive skin such as that Fairy's one there.

Dry skin may be an underlying cause of a health condition as well. If it's scaly and red, it could be a symptom of determitis or psoriasis. It could also be the symptom of diseases such as diabetes or an under active thyroid gland.
Disclaimer: I'm not saying it is, but if it refuses to go away, it might be worth getting checked out!

Here are a few of products I have tried out in the past that I find work well on my dry skin, some for face and some for body.

Face

So obviously it goes without saying that if you have any bit of dry skin at all, you need to have a good face moisturiser in your life, especially to act as a base when you're applying makeup. I've been using this Simple Kind to Skin Light Hydrating Moisturiser on my face before applying makeup for the last six years. I find that usually one layer is enough, but if my skin is especially dry I apply it in three thin layers. I have done a more in-depth review of this product on my skincare regime blogpost, please see HERE. It currently costs €5.29 in Boots. If you have sensitive skin I would highly recommend you to try out the Simple range, I cannot recommend it enough and most of the products are under ten euro as well, so it won't break the bank.

E45 Cream is something of a cult product when it comes to dry and sensitive skin. It's unperfumed and uncoloured. I personally find it a little too greasy so I wouldn't recommend it to use as a base before applying makeup for that reason. I prefer to use a light layer of it during the day after cleansing when my face is makeup free, if you apply a heavy layer it will cause pores to become clogged hence causing spots. Though if you use a light layer it does help your skin to be super smooth and supple. It costs €7.99 at the minute in Boots.

I tested out Garnier Moisture Match 24 Hour Ultra Hydrating Rich Cream which is specially formulated for Dry to Very Dry skin, mainly because my sister had bought it and at the time my skin was extremely dry. The packaging as you can see is quite girly and pink. It smells absolutely fabulous, quite flowery. It is absorbed very quickly into the skin and makes your skin super soft and smooth. As the name suggests, it is indeed very rich so like with the E45 cream I would really not advise to wear this as a base under your foundation or it will slide right off. Often products for dry skin are also formulated for sensitive skin as the two conditions often go hand in hand, but this is the exception, as it did sting my sensitive skin quite a bit. It costs €4 in Boots if you want to give it a try.

Body

Nivea have a good reputation for being leaders in skincare so it will come as no surprise when I say the two body moisturisers I use on a regular basis are by the brand.

Nivea Rich Nourishing Body Moisturiser: This comes in a navy plastic container as you can see. It contains Hydra IQ formulation which is a patented intense moisturisation technology specially formulated by Nivea which penetrates deep within the skin to foster new aquaporins (these are water channels in the skin that allow water molecules to travel in and out of skin cells), thus regulating the skin's moisture balance and reducing moisture loss. It also contains almond oil which has been used in skincare for centuries due to it's moisturising properties.
I'd use this product for a deep moisturisation if I spend a bit too long in the shower or if my legs feel dry after shaving them. I wouldn't be a fan of using this moisturiser after I shower and shave before applying tan. The proof is in the name that is guy is super rich and heavy and if you apply fake tan even three or four hours after it will rub off as it takes it's time to completely absorb. If you have no choice, shower and shave and apply this then apply tan the following day. The smell is fabulous though (like sun cream, which makes me weep for our lost summer!), and this smell lasts long after the moisturiser has been absorbed. It costs €3.54 in Boots.


Nivea Express Advanced Moisture Care Lotion

This is like the above product's sibling, same container design, only in white. It's designed for normal skin, but I use it on my dry skin as it's less rich so it's much faster absorbed into the skin, which means of course it can be applied once you come out of the shower to moisturise before applying tan for the night. Nice smell, it doesn't last quite as long as the above product's smell and is just more barely there.  It will set you back €3.66 in Boots right now.

Fashion & Beauty - Floral Girly Outfit and Look of the Night

Welcome back to my blog!

Before I start, I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who checked out my last blog post I posted last Thursday - the travel diary on Liverpool. I was so nervous hitting the 'publish' button as it was the first blogpost of it's kind I had done on my blog, but I had such a great response for it so needless to say I was delighted! I am planning another travel blogpost very soon as well - on Edinburgh - so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Anyways, this blogpost centres around the outfit and hair I wore for my best friend's birthday celebrations in the middle of July.

The dress I'm wearing is from Irish website Dresses.ie, and  I actually won in an Instagram competition a week before I wore it out.  I think it's so pretty and summery. Their Facebook page is HERE, on it you will find a link to their website (AKA a massive urge to buy most, if not all of their clothes, LOL!). As an Irish blogger, I really think it's important to support Irish brands so I was happy to do up this blogpost. This dress is still avaliable to buy too - yay!

The wedges are from Penneys, I bought them a while ago for €12. They are actually really comfortable to walk in so I managed to keep them on my feet the whole night. I really like them a lot.

The tan I'm wearing is Cocoa Brown Day to Night tan, I've done a review of this tan  plus the Tough Stuff exfoliating scrub HERE.

My cute feather necklace was bought for £1 in Primark in Edinburgh when I was there a few months back.

For makeup, I used many of the items before in many other of my blog posts. After cleansing my face with Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Wash (review HERE), I applied Simple Kind to Skin Light Hydrating moisturiser (review HERE as a base to my face and Nivea essentials lipbalm (review HERE) to my lips (where else?!) and started to work on my eye makeup. I didn't go too mad with the eye makeup, I just applied Primark eyelashes in Volume (they're part of a five piece set of eyelashes), and applied Natural Collection Liquid eyeliner on top, flicking slightly outwards for a feline-like effect. As per usual, the foundation I used for night-time was Max Factor Skin Luminiser foundation in the shade Light Ivory. I applied Kubiss concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes before setting my whole face with Primark Beauty loose powder. I defined my eyebrows using Primark Beauty eyebrow kit. I then applied Catrice Defining Blush (Review HERE) to the apples of my cheeks. I applied Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipstick in 'Pinkerbell' to my lips before blotting with a tissue to make it a bit more wearable and less bright and 'out there'.

For my hair, after washing it I applied some of the Macademia oil hair mask (review of that product is HERE), left it in for 2 hours while my tan was drying, washed it out and was left with curls but I defined them more using my Remington curling wand, wrapping it around my hair in big sections.


                                                                          Products Used:

Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff Exfoliating Scrub, E4.99, Penneys.
Cocoa Brown Day & Night Tan, E7.99, Penneys.
Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Wash, E4.75, Boots.
Simple Kind to Skin Light Hydrating Moisturiser, E5, Boots.
Nivea Essential Care lipbalm, E2.09, Penneys.
Primark Beauty False Eyelashes in 'Volume', part of a set of five for E5.
Boots Natural Collection Liquid Eyeliner, E2.75, Boots.
Maxfactor Skin Luminizer Foundation in '40 Light Ivory', E15.99, Boots.
Kubiss London concealer, E2, local chemist.
Primark Beauty loose powder, E2.50, Penneys.
Primark Beauty browkit, E2, Penneys.
Catrice Defining Blush, E4.75, Penneys.
Catrice Ultimate Colour Lipstick in '140 Pinkerbell', E4.49, Penneys.

Lifestyle - Liverpool Travel Diary

I went to Liverpool in February and so have decided to do a travel diary if you will about my experiences I had for the few days I was there.

I've decided to break this travel log up into several points for easier reading: tourist outings, places to eat, and where I stayed and how I got there.  I apologise if it seems a bit long, I just wanted to give you an in-depth description. I haven't written a travel log for the blog before so go easy on me!

Tourist Outings

• To get an idea of the city, myself and my sister (who I travelled with), decided to go on an open-top double-decker bus. They have these in many cities around the world, I've been on ones in Dublin and Belfast too, and they are an easy, quick and fun way to get a general gist of the city you're in without walking round for miles with no clue where you're going. The bus journey was about 40 minutes long and took us all around the city, where we were given a running commentary of important places of interest. The best thing about this trip was that it's so cheap (only something like £8) and you can get off the bus at any point and get on it again at a later stage if you so wish at no extra cost.

• So obviously you just can't go to Liverpool without checking out some of the Beatles attractions. The fab four were born and raised in the city, and it's impossible to get away from their everlasting presence there. I'm a massive fan of the band myself so a trip to the Beatles museum - called the Beatles Story - was definitely in order! I'm haven't been a student since May last year but I managed to snag student entry price ticket into the museum (don't know how I managed that but yay!). Inside the museum there is lots of memorabilira, in detail facts about the band, from their childhood, early musical experiences (I didn't realise that John Lennon had his own band before the Beatles, called the Quarrymen!), various albums, plenty of photos and clothes that they wore, some of the band's musical instruments, and re-creations of some of the places in the city they played at. For more information please check out their website http://www.beatlesstory.com/. Below are just a few photos I took from inside the museum. (The picture of me is in a part of the museum that was a recreation of a yellow submarine, as based on the band's hit song!).

• Speaking of the Beatles, we were on the bus that I've mentioned above when one of the stops to get off at was a pub called 'the Phil' or the Philharmonic Dining Rooms (to give it it's full title). I was thinking what's the relevance of this but it's actually where  a certain dude called John Lennon used to frequent when he was a student at the Liverpool College of Art and still popped in when he joined the Beatles and became famous. He was quoted as saying that one of the downsides of his fame with the Beatles was not being able to go to the Phil as often as he would have liked. As you can see from the photo of the interior, it looks pretty snazzy, and has a very rustic feel to it, with stained glass windows - definitely feels where pop royalty would hang out! We felt so cool having a drink in John Lennon's pub you would not believe - we were like 'his arse could have been sitting on this chair' LOL! We went to it on the first day of arriving in Liverpool after we got off the bus tour and ended up going there for a drink pretty much every evening we stayed there. We even tried out some local ale, though it tasted like piss, quite frankly! It's situated on Hope Street. They also serve food as well. Further information on the pub is available at http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thephilharmonicdiningroomsliverpool/.

• We took a trip down to the Albert Docks which is obviously the dockland area of the city. Because of it's close proximity to the sea, Liverpool has for centuries been an important sea port and maritime port (many of it's people were  involved in the navy and the ship-building industry, so much so that the city even has it's own maritime museum - which I'll talk about later). The day we went down the docks was very sunny and beautiful and it seemed so peaceful around that area. It is home to a number of important tourist destinations, including several museums, which I'm later going to discuss.

• Museum of Liverpool: This museum is one of several museums located in the Albert Docks. This is a general museum, catering for all topics, it's not specifically war or anything like that. I didn't realise this at the time, but the exhibitions seem to change every so often, so the ones on at the time when we were there in February are obviously not on now. When we went however we checked out the exhibition detailing Liverpool's role in World War I, which was full of interesting information. There's also a children's interactive section as well, so it's great for all the family. I didn't find it that amazing though, but it's free entry, so if you're there, you may as well check it out!

• Merseyside Maritime Museum: As the name suggests, this museum is dedicated to everything maritime (sea) related. There's lots of information about the navy, more on Liverpool's role in the wars, and a very interactive view of life as a seaman throughout the ages. Oddly enough, it's designed to feel like a ship on the inside, which I found a little bit strange but quirky at the same time. They had an exhibition on at the time on the doomed ship Titanic, as much of the ship was actually built in Liverpool and many of Liverpool's people went on to board the ill-fated liner. I found that in particular very interesting as I have quite a fascination with the Titanic. There's lots of interesting facts about the ship, the process involved in making the ship plus actual diaries from survivors. It's free entry as well, which means you definitely must check it out. Highly recommend this place. And yes, that is a giant anchor outside the front door! Standard. More information can be found here: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/. 

• International Slavery Museum: So obviously as the name suggests, this is a museum dedicated to the lives of slaves but it also contains alot of material on those who campaigned for slavery and black people's rights, such as Martin Luther King. It also has a lot of information about different African cultures, which I found particulary fascinating. Very interesting museum. It's free entry again, and More information can be found here: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/.

• Bombed out Church: We actually passed this one and thought it was a fancy cathedral so we popped in to have a look. As you can see from the picture, St Luke's Church looks very pristine from the outside. However, inside it's a completely different story and we soon discovered it was bombed out in the Blitz during World War II in May 1941, so it's basically just a shell, there's nothing inside. The church was bought by the City of Liverpool after the blitz and they've attempted to turn it into a place of peace and tranquility, but all that I gathered from it was that it was a silly tackfest operation, with many Chinese lanterns for sale. Definitely didn't think it was that impressive. 

Places to eat/shopping:

• St John's is a huge shopping center in the center of Liverpool city and has plenty of food venues, clothes shops and makeup outlets. We went there a lot for lunch too because it had a really good restaurant that had traditional fish and chips with mushy peas (was so good!) for only £4.

• Nandos: So I'm from the west of Ireland which means that I never get the opportunity to go to Nandos unless I'm in Dublin, but with a massive Nandos right beside St John's shopping center, I took full advantage and went for it! Well if it's good enough for Beyonce... I love the chicken in Nandos, it's amazing, but I'm not so keen on the chips, they remind me of Mc Donalds fries as they're just so thin, and really don't fill ya! But if you have eaten in Nandos before you know that one of the best things about it is that you can have unlimited drinks while you're there and can keep refilling your drink as many times as you want. 

• Italian restaurant: So on the first evening we arrived in Liverpool we went to a really fancy Italian restaurant called Bella Italia for dinner. It was in close proximity to the train station and we were starving so we said sure why not. I'm a huge fan of Italian food and love my lasagna and spaghetti bolognese, so I had pretty high expectations for this place. And it did not disappoint! The spaghetti was hands down the best spaghetti I've ever had in my life, no word of a lie. Honestly the best food ever. Though it was £15 which is a bit on the pricey side it was so worth it. For more information please see their website http://www.bellaitalia.co.uk/italian-restaurant/liverpool/.

• Asda/Iceland: If all else fails and you subsequently end up with severe low funds like we did (oops!), you can always check out the local Iceland store located in the St John's shopping center. A big bag of chips for 59p? Yes please!

Where I stayed:

• I was on a budget so I was looking for cheap but nice enough places to stay in the city. We ended up booking the Everton Hostel, on Everton Road. It was so affordable to stay there. It was £10 per night to stay there Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then on the Monday it was only £5 per night. Great bargain! It had free WiFi and free breakfast too. It worked out handy for us as it was located right opposite a bus stop that would take you directly to the city center. The staff couldn't be more helpful too. Their walls were painted with various Beatles murals, including a cool one of John Lennon perched on a globe (below),which I thought was so quirky! For more information please check out their website: https://evertonhostel.com/.

How I got there:

• My local airport, Ireland West Airport Knock, flies directly into John Lennon International Airport. The cost of the flight varies depending on what day you're flying out on and is obviously dearer at weekends. The time we flew in February the flight from Knock to Liverpool was E20 and the return flight was E35, but it can be cheaper depending on the time. We flew with Ryanair because they were the cheapest airline to fly to, and the flight takes about an hour.

• On a side note, the airport is obviously named after John Lennon, and boasts a statue of him. I really thought the tagline for the airport was super cute too - lyrics from Lennon's song Imagine - 'above us only sky'.

Beauty - Pixie Lott Daisy Festival Look

So I was floating around Pininterest the other day (highly recommend it for bloggers if you want to get any inspiration in many genres, like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, etc) and came across this photo of the singer Pixie Lott and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to do my own recreation of it. I think it's super cute for summer festivals and it didn't look that difficult to do either, so I said sure why not.

Even though I'm a budget blogger and use inexpensive beauty brands in every one of my blog posts, I decided to make this look ultra ultra affordable!

Starting off, I cleansed my face using my Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel foaming wash (review of this product HERE), and applied some Simple Kind to Skin Light hydrating moisturiser (also reviewed HERE) as a base and Nivea Essentials lipbalm (reviewed HERE) to my lips. I don't usually apply foundation before eyes, but your face will need to be fairly matte and oil-free so the face paint will stick on it and won't rub off.

Pixie's freckles are showing in the second picture there, indicating that she's used a light base. Many people use BB creams or tinted moisturiser for the summer, and you can use that for this look if you so wish, but I was working with whatever I had in my make-up bag so I used Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in the shade Ivory,which was reviewed on my blog last week (see HERE). It comes with an SPF 18 as well which is great for the summer (even though it's kinda wasted on Irish weather!). I applied Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer under my eyes (also reviewed this last week) and set them both with Catrice All Matt Plus powder.

I then started on the face art. I bought a pack of five face paints in the 2 Euro shop, they came with their own paintbrush. The daisies don't have to look like Pixie's, she looks to have them applied fairly randomly so that's what I did on myself, it doesn't have to look perfect, I quite like the 'undone' makeup looks anyways at festivals.

For eyes, it looks like Pixie has gone for a brown eyeshadow on the lid with a gold shade in the centre. I used the brown and gold shades from the Penneys (Primark) own beauty brand eyeshadow palette - it contains 10 eyeshadows for €3.50. I've nearly finished m
y review on another 5 of Penneys own brand makeup products so I'll have that up on the blog shortly. She has quite alot of kohl eyeliner applied so I applied New York Color Kohl Eyeliner to my waterline and my tightline (inner eye), and made it work double duty and so applied it to my eyebrows as well! After curling my eyelashes I then applied lashings of New York Color mascara.

For the rest of the face, I applied a light dusting of Catrice Sun Glow Shimmering Bronzing powder.

When I first saw the picture of Pixie, I thought she had applied a red lipstick, but it looks now like she had just applied quite a dark enough looking lipgloss. Anyways, I applied Penneys own brand orange-red lipstick (€2). I know some people might not be keen on wearing a red lipstick, and that's totally cool, you can wear whatever shade you desire, but personally I like wearing a bright lip.

Beauty - Review of Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation, Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer and Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer

I ran out of my usual daytime foundation, Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation, three weeks ago and nipped into my local Boots store one evening to find a replacement foundation.

I reviewed the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation on my blog (See HERE), and while I thought it was an OK, natural-looking foundation, it didn't exactly make me want to rush out to buy another Rimmel product.

But Boots were doing a pretty sweet offer that soon convinced me - spend over €12 on any Rimmel make-up products and recieve the Fix and Perfect Pro Primer worth €8.99 absolutely free! I posted a picture of these three products on my Instagram HERE, and a few of my followers said they got the same sweet deal that was on offer three weeks ago because of my post, so please do check out my Instagram if you're interested in keeping up to date in detail with my purchases because I update that a lot more frequently than I update this blog! But anyways,  I picked up the Match Perfection foundation, which was on special offer as well at €6.99 (in Penneys and other stockists it was retailing at €9.99), and the Wake Me Up concealer for €6.99 that I have heard such good things from fellow bloggers about.



Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer
This comes in a plastic white tube as you ca
n see, nothing too fancy packaging wise. It smells beautiful. It applies just like a balm, and sinks into my skin quickly. I usually apply my Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Moisturiser before applying this primer as my skin is often prone to dryness.
It is a super good primer and does live up to it's name in that sense! I find it works especially well combined with the Match Perfection foundation and doesn't make my skin appear oily or dry when on at all, as it mattifies and moisturises throughout the day. A great buy.





Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation
I picked up this foundation in the shade 100 Ivory. It isn't the lightest shade in the range, Porcelain is, but I felt that a porcelain shade on my face literally drains my face of any colour whatsoever and just isn't that flattering. The packaging is pretty similar to the Lasting Finish foundation in the sense that it's a glass tube with a plastic cap. The similarities don't end there - it also smells pretty similar to the Lasting Finish makeup - nice and fresh. It applies very smoothly to my face. I have used this with and without the primer mentioned above. Like I mentioned, it works best with the primer, but works pretty damn well on it's own too. In my honest opinion though, I don't see a huge difference between this and the Lasting Finish makeup, I find they're both very natural-looking foundations that last a few hours in the day, but wouldn't last all day unless worn with a primer.




Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer
From blogging for a last few months and checking out other blogs on both Instagram and Facebook, whenever this Rimmel concealer is mentioned it stands out as one of the best affordable concealers out there at the moment, so of course I needed to check it out to see would it suffice on my crazy skintone! I picked this up in the shade Classic Beige. Like the other Rimmel products, it's packaged quite basically, but the orange cap has come in ever so handy as it's easy to find in the makeup bag! It has a stranger smell than the other products, not as fresh and beautiful, more neutral for sure. I applied it under my eyes to test out it's effect. It works quite well. I wouldn't say it gets rid of the bags under my eyes completely, but covers them naturally, which I think is still quite good as it would look very unnatural if it covered them completely. It lasts for a good while too. I've used it on any blemishes too, and found that it conceals them quite well too, but you have to use quite a bit. But overall, a good natural-looking, affordable concealer that's well worth a try.

Beauty - Garnier Ultimate Blends Shampoo Review

I apologise for my lack of blogposts the last few weeks, but I'm now back with a review of this Garnier Ultimate Blends shampoo.

So I randomly picked up this shampoo in the supermarket a few weeks ago. Apart from their skincare products, for some reason I have never really used Garnier's shampoos but I try new products out all the time because of the blog so I said sure why not to this shampoo. My hair has been dull and dry recently because I use heat on it a lot.

First thing's first - very cute packaging. It claims to be "the marvellous transformer". It contains argan oil and camelia oil. I've already mentioned argan oil in a previous blogpost on my hair care routine HERE, so please check that out.

Camelia oil is a Japanese oil and is a rich source of Palmistic and Omega 6 linoleic fatty acids. Despite it's bad reputation, some fats are very essential to human health.
For those of you that don't have a nutrition background like I do - palmistic fatty acid is the most common fatty acid, and like many other fatty acids, is an effective emollient. In basic terms for hair care, these are usually oils that form films on the surface of hair, where they often act as anti-humectants or sealers. They are lubricants and provide increased slip (decreased drag), between adjacent hair strands, which in the simplest of terms - makes detangling much easier! They also reduce tangling in general by smoothing and flattening the cuticle surface, which also adds shine and gloss to the hair.
I've sure many of you have read up on the benefits of Omega fatty acids, or at least have heard of them. Omega 6 is classed as an essential fatty acid. and as your body is unable to make them, must be obtained from food. In terms of hair though, it has a similar role to palmistic oil in the way that it acts as an emoillient, but it also has a necessary role of it's own - moisturising the scalp and supporting hair health, which in turn leads to more optimal health growth.

I'm sure many of you have watched Japanese Geisha films and wondered how they get their hair so glossy - camelia oil is the most probable reason! The benefit of the oil in haircare has been long documented - because it contains the two fatty acids I've mentioned above!

Before using this shampoo in the shower, I washed my hair with Johnsons' Baby Shampoo to clarify my hair and get rid of any build up of hair care products. You don't have to use Johnsons', that's just the shampoo I use as it's gentle to my hair and works just as well as the more expensive clarifying shampoos. This shampoo smells absolutely fabulous, which I love while washing my hair in the shower. I used a generous enough amount, and it made a great lather on my hair. When I rinsed my hair it immediately felt glossy.

When my hair was dried, it honestly did feel so smooth and silky. The first time I used it I was going out for the night, so after straightening my hair it stayed silky and smooth for the whole night. Amazing!

I will say though that two days after it does make your hair appear super greasy, so I really would only use this for going out, and I stick to my regular, trusted regime of clarifying first with Johnsons' Baby shampoo and washing my hair then with Head & Shoulders shampoo.

Better still, it doesn't contain parabens, which are harmful chemicals often in shampoos, linked to cancer.

Definitely does live up to it's claims of being the "marvellous transformer"!

It costs €4.19 in Boots.