Umberto Giannini Incredible Body Hair Spray Product Review

I have tried lots of different types of hair spray ever since I decided to care for my hair which was about the age of 17. I never use to do anything with my hair until I one day decided to have my hair out at school and live like a girl. I use to tie it up in a pony tail all the time, no fancy plaits or ribbons or flowers, I was quite a tom-boy at school.

I use to have really thick hair, so thick that my hair bobbles would snap often and it was difficult to manage. Now, it is thin, and very flat. I actually call it boring but in reality, it is very manageable.
My hair use to be long and then I went through alsorts of colour and cuttings, usually a fringe/bangs every year and let it grow out, then a totally new style once a year. Now it is all natural, no hair dye, no fringe/bangs, no layers. I decided to go au naturel and sort out my skin whilst I am at it!

I hate blow drying my hair, it takes too much of my time just adding heat to dry up the hair strands, damaging the hair and then split ends grow quick, I have to protect it by using heat protecting hair spray.

I blow dry my hair if I need to get to bed as soon as possible which is atleast 5 nights out of 7 per week. I usually get home from work and shower, then need to be up in work in less than 7 hours time so you can imagine, I don't have much time to waste. I am on-the-go all the time, running from one place to another.

I am a full time nurse, I work day and night shifts, sometimes even a mixture in the week. I also do part time modelling so I am here there and everywhere, and I also have a business in Nu Skin so I do run up and down the country juggling all my jobs. I always make sure my hair is maintained well and is washed every single night.

I always use a heat protecting spray to protect the hair from heat damage, but I am a little picky on what I use. I have tried alsorts of brands and this one by Umberto Giannini has been my ultimate favourite so far. I have purchased about 5 bottles of these in the last few years and always prefer this one. Let me tell you why....

Pro's:

• it doesn't dry my hair out whereas some I have tried makes the ends dry so quick
• the scent makes my hair smell clean
• this volumises my flat hair
•  professional product from an award winning hairdresser
• You can get a travel sized bottle from big stores of Boots to try
• affordable price
• doesn't leave my hair feeling sticky, rough or greasy
• makes the hair look smooth and healthy

Con's:

• only available in the UK
• only available in big stores of Boots or Umberto salons
• this particular bottle is discontinued in some stores but there is a similar product available

 This was priced about £5.49 which is very affordable, especially when it does so much for my hair! One bottle would last me about a month and half atleast which is decent!

I discovered this product when I had my hair cut 3 years ago at the Umberto salon and I loved how it made my hair feel volumised. I find it difficult to find a spray which would hold my hair well and keep it volumised but this lasts for half a day and is the best so far.

I would spray it on my damp hair before I blow dry it, and also in the morning if I know the sun will hit my hair then I would give it another spritz as I don't know how long the heat protectant would last for after it has been touched by the hair dryer the night before.

The product comes out from a pump which is situated at the top of the bottle. The product sprays evenly and I use about 10 spritz all over my hair as my hair is so long.

It doesn't make the hair sticky like some I have tried, therefore I am not afraid to spray on more.
The scent can be quite strong at first but it isn't strong on the hair the next day, which is why I like it even more. I hate it when products have a heavy scent, it puts me off using the product and the range!

Unfortunately this bottle is discontinued, but the newest one which does the same trick is a purple coloured one. There will be another product review on that soon! I promise!

This hair is suitable for fine to medium hair, long or short and great for if you want a lift in your hair! Great for if you are creating a volumised hair-do!

XOX

Pond's Intense Moisture Cleansing Foam Product Review

The first time I ever tried a Pond's product was 2 years ago when I was in Hong Kong. I needed a cleanser so I popped into my favourite drug store in Hong Kong SaSa to buy a bunch of skin care that I needed during my stay there. I usually buy anything which will last me for the whole duration of my holiday, nothing too pricey and something that doesnt weigh a lot incase I end up staying over at my friends or family's place. I dont like heavy or bulky packaging, it makes the bathroom look so busy and it's annoying so I try to keep it as simple as possible.

Looking at this bottle, its clear liquid inside, for 165ml of the product at just $54hk , its a real bargain!
The simple packaging and light container really did make me curious. There were different types to suit different types of skin but for me, the intense moisture one was the most suitable for me as my skin was slightly dehydrated due to the humidity in Hong Kong!

It claims to:

•  Formulated with mild formula and
• wonderfully moisturise the skin
•  deeply nourish and plump the skin
•  skin emerges infinitely regenerated. Your skin can be renewed, refined, resilient and radiant upon using it. 

I couldn't wait to take it home to use it!! It sounded so perfect for what I needed and for such a good bargain price I couldn't refuse to buy it!!

 My most favourite part of this product is the foam! yes - the foam!! The cleanser comes out from the pump which is situated at the top of the bottle, and it comes out like a foam!
What I have in my hand is just 1 pump of the cleanser! A little goes a long way!

The foamy cleanser sits nicely on my skin, so soft and I love using it in the cold winter season as my skin is super sensitive and it doesnt irritate it. Infact, it loves my skin even more at those kind of seasons!!

One bottle lasts me for atleast 3 months when I use it day and night which means I am spending less than $20hk per month day and night!! BARGAIN!





I also purchased another bottle in the same collection but for whitening as I like to use whitening products during the winter to lighten my dark spots or scars and prepare for when my skin starts tanning again. I use to suffer with oily skin and therefore had lots of spots/pimples, and of course - I use to pick them !! Which has now resulted into scars!! It's just one of those ' I wish I didn't do that' phase....

To be honest, when I used this whitening one, I didn't see any huge whitening effects, I used this with some skin whitening face masks and I could see some slight difference in colour but nothing too dramatic, but that could possibly be because I was also using other skin whitening products with this cleanser.

There is also a foamy effect from the pump for this product!

Pro's:

• I love the soft gentle cleanser rich foam
• each bottle lasts for a while
• affordable drug store product
• smells nice
•  not too heavy to carry
• simple packaging
• gentle for my extra dry and sensitive skin in the winter season

Con's:

• unable to buy from UK but there are other Pond's products available in UK
• does make my skin feel dehydrated after using it sometimes
• does not melt make up effectively therefore I advice to use a make up remover before using this cleanser

This is one of my most enjoyable cleansers I have ever used in my life - even though it does not always give my skin the right amount of moisture! I am so glad I found this and I buy a few bottles when I go back to Hong Kong! I highly recommend this for beauty junkie lovers! 

Korean Snail Slime Face Masks

Snail slime face masks

Who ever would have thought you create snail slime extract face masks?! People in south Korea swear by using snail slime products!!

I am not a dermatologist, I just enjoy looking after my skin and ensuring it is maintained looking well.

I guess there's people in this world who would try anything to look good by looking younger or treat old scars. One of them being me by the way lolz. 

By using snail slime extract, it is actually quite a beauty craze at the moment in some countries especially in Asia. People would use snail slime products such as hand cream, face masks, night cream, serums. 

I have tried the Holika Holika snail hand cream , and a few face masks from Korea and I quite like the results!

I got these face masks for my birthday from a friend and I was very reluctant to try them. Infact, I was scared but I really wanted to see what it would do for my skin! After reading up so much reviews about them in magazines and beauty blogs, I didn't want to miss the opportunity! 

I expected it to be really slimy, cold and gooey but it actually isn't. Some have no scent, and some have a strong scent. I don't actually know how much of the snail slime is actually in the face masks as there are a lot of fake products out on the market!

I like certain brands of skin care, I like to read up on ingredients before purchasing any product that I use on my skin. I would rather know what I am putting on my face rather than trying the products before knowing. The skin is important to me therefore I do make sure I am using the right ingredients to maintain its good state as much as I can. 

Snail slime claims to:

•  Helps to reduce the visible signs of skin-ageing
• Refreshes & rejuvenates 
• Excellent skin-regenerating properties
• Helps to stimulate cell growth, restore optimum skin-moisture levels and improve elasticity
• Suitable for all skin types 
• have a complex mix of proteins, glycolic acids and elastic that that protect the skin from damage, infections and harmful UV rays

So why wouldn't we want to try this?!
I have sensitive, dry-combination skin and there has not been any problems for me, my dry patches of skin on the face has felt more moisturised and plumped, the skin tone is more even, less redness and not caused me to have break outs or redness. The fine lines are diminished after a few masks, but not straight away - it's an on-going fix up. 

From the ones I have tried, I do favour the TonyMoly ones the best. The masks cover majority of my face and it feels nice and cool on my face. I love using a face mask atleast once a week, especially after a hard days work and I just need a fix up to help my face feel moisturised.

I think it is a wonderful idea to get a beauty junkie a mixture of high end face masks, or ones with good ingredients that would benefit the skin so much more than wasting your money on products with poor ingredients. I would recommend giving TonyMoly ones a try. The first ones I used was TonyMoly ones and ever since, I have compared the rest to those ones and am glad I did!!

You can get snail slime products from healthy stores such as Holland & Barrett, SaSa, or online.
I will be reviewing some snail slime face masks soon!!

Holika Holika Green Detox Cleanser Product Review

This is a product from Holika Holika collection.
I was so excited to try this as it was a detox cleanser!
I bought this in Hong Kong, Causeway Bay back in December 2012. I started using it whilst I was in Hong Kong and I brought it over to England with me.

I use it every night in the shower on my face and wherever I have spots, which is mainly on my back. I guess a lot of people have that problem too but don't talk about it right?

Unfortunately this product is discontinued now, not too sure where you can purchase it from unless you go to Korea where it is manufactured from!

This product comes in just one size, it was roughly about UK £5 which is very affordable for 75ml of product, it lasted me for about 4 months using it every day in the shower.

It claims to:

•  Green complex fermented with chlorella extract makes skin clear 
•  Olive oil ingredient removes makeup clearly
• Green tea relaxes stress and creates lively face

(found from Korean online store )

I love the smell of this, its a strong smell of sweet green apple, even though I did expect it to smell like green tea?  But I didn't recognise a hint if green tea at all.
The cleanser is slightly discoloured, lotion is very watery-like and doesn't seem like it sits in the skin. I have tried this on a piece of cotton pad and soaked it on my face, it hasn't felt like it benefited my skin at all. If anything, it has given my skin a reaction, sometimes red patches.
I have also tried this on my pimples and it hasn't made it go less red, it feels like it hasn't done anything to it either.

I think this is a fun item to try but with no benefits. It totally isn't isn't suitable for me because I can't see any good changes to my skin.
It has made my bathroom look interesting with the korean text all over it, but I sadly don't understand korean but I made sure I asked the shop assistants at the store how to use it.



I have tried to use this to remove my make up but it defiantly is not a make up remove product. Maybe just on lipstick but defiantly not for mascara!



Pro's:

• gorgeous fresh sweet scent
• the design of the bottle makes it feel like it is a very natural and good benefit product

Con's:

• the consistency is too watery and slides off the skin like water- makes me wonder, how much of this product actually sits on the skin and benefits my skin?!
• the product starts forming bits at the bottom of the bottle when you keep it still for a few days
• hard to find to buy
• not a great make up remover

I won't be purchasing this again and won't go through the stress of trying to find it because it simply did not benefit me at all. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone because even though it is an affordable drug store product price, save the money and buy something worth your while!

Superdrug Samy Fat Hair Thickening Shampoo & Conditioner Product Review

 

My hair use to be thick but due to stress and bad health, it has thinned out a lot over the years and I really do miss having thick hair again *sigh* We always want what we can't have don't we?

I try and buy hair thickening products to make it thick because for me, I think my hair is boring. It's so flat and lifeless, but straight and shiny.

One of UK's famous and easily accessible drugstore is Superdrug , you often hear UK beauty/make up guru's talk about this store. They sell the majority of the make up brands, skin care at affordable prices - they don't sell the designer items though. It's very family friendly. I remember when I started getting pocket money, I use to love going in Superdrug because it had so much choice and items for me to test out and discover!! Was defiantly a childhood favourite store and still like going in there nowadays!

I chose to buy this shampoo and conditioner set because it was sulphate free, and it was to thicken the hair. I have been cutting down on buying sulphate hair products for the past year or more because the sulphate damages the hair and can cause hair loss and that isn't what I want.

Each bottle is £5.59 and they are 300ml each which would last me for a good 2-3 months. 

I wash my hair every single day so I go through bottles of hair products quite quickly!
 Also my hair is very long so I need to look after each strand of hair hehe!

It claims to:

• thicker, fuller, stronger, healthier looking hair.

Pro's:

• affordable price for a big bottle of shampoo/conditioner to last for atleast 2 months (depending on how often you wash your hair and the length of your hair)
• makes the bathroom look interesting with the bright red bottles living in there

Con's:

• makes my hair so sticky after washing it out
• the lotion is thick gel like and it does not sit in the hair well, it just glides off
• the scent reminded me of soap and I don't favour that in my hair but it didnt last long in my hair which was good I suppose!

 I used both the shampoo and conditioner together to get maximum results, I even tried to use different shampoo/conditioners to see if it would make my hair any different but unfortunately it didn't. Infact, it made my hair feel very unmanageable and uncomfortable.

The lotion comes out from the top of the bottle which means you would need to tip the bottle upside down, when it comes to using it at the very end, it would be abit diffficult to get every last drop out! unless you fill it with some water then shake it all out! 

Sometimes there are offers on this range like buy 2 for a certain price or buy one get one free. It is also usually a huge sell out so it is difficult to get hold of sometimes.


Unfortunately I won't be buying this again, I bought the whole range to try but they didn't give me the results they promised so no point in repurchasing again. I couldn't wait to finish using the shampoo and conditioner to be honest!

I also bought the hair wax, volumising moose and spray hold. If anyone is interested in buying them off me then let me know! I would be happy to sell them at a discounted price!