Hair Hack- How to condition your hair properly

A short post on a little trick I’ve discovered. Again, a disclaimer that I did not rip off anybody’s idea. I thought of it on my own so if you’ve seen it somewhere before, all I can say is that great minds think alike.

After shampooing, we know we have to use a hair conditioner to seal in the moisture. However, we are not supposed to apply it to the scalp. Hair conditioner and hair masks applied too close to the scalp can make the hair look limp and oily. They also clog up the hair follicles and cause hair loss so the rule of thumb is to apply them to hair below the ears.

So what’s the problem?

Applying hair products to hair that falls below the ears is just a guide and if you apply hair products to these sections of hair, then it’s likely you’ve applied them too close.

I don’t know about you, but this has bothered me for a long time until I came up with a little trick and I’ve been using this little trick for years ever since then.

After washing my hair, I tie it up in a pony tail with a waterproof hair tie. Those curly telephone cord looking ones will do just fine.

Squeeze out excess water from the hair and then simply apply the hair conditioner/mask to the entire pony tail. This way, I know I’m not getting too close to the scalp AND it gets the hair off my face so I can do a facial mask at the same time. You can also use the same trick for when you’re applying other haircare products (e.g. hair oil).

It also works for short hairstyles. You can just section your hair and tie them separately then condition them.

I didn’t condition my hair when I sported a short hairstyle though. The hair ends are “new” so they have not aged as much as the hair ends of longer hairs. And rougher hairs make styling much easier. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but those with shiny silky hair can’t really make their hair stand up as well when their hair is short.

Anyways, this is my little tip: To tie your hair up in a pony tail before conditioning. Hopefully this has been helpful to you.

That’s all for this post. (^O^)／

The Body Shop Strawberry Beautifying Oil

Another dry oil review. This time it’s Strawberry Beautifying Oil from The Body Shop.

It’s dry oil for body, face & hair. Moisturised, smoothed, illuminates.

Or so they claim on the front. The following is what is written on the back.

Dry oil with cold-pressed strawberry seed oil and three precious nut oils: kukul, sweet almond and Community Fair Trade marula oil. Apply to damp or dry skin and dry hair.

As you can see, I’ve already used up about half of mine.

I bought it during the last warehouse sale and it was no doubt, cheaper than the stores, but it was manufactured in Oct 2012. All product from The Body Shop expires 3 years from their manufacturing date if you don’t open them, so mine should expire by October next year.

I’m glad I didn’t buy those that were even cheaper, but were expiring in 6 months because some of them had a different colour and smell than usual.

Digressing a little here.. It’s a bit annoying that they’re selling these products that have obviously gone bad (despite not having reached their expiration date) during a warehouse sale. I mean, we as customers are paying, no matter how discounted, for stuff. They’re not free.

Anyways, my bottle is alright. The oil works well on my hair. I love how it is poured and not pumped because I could control how much I dispense out. A little amount, about 5 drops, usually is enough for my hair ends. I use it on damp hair and then blow dry, and that’ll leave my hair softer. However, using too much will make my hair limp and oily so a little goes a long way.

I’ve tried it on my skin and it is not moisturising enough. It’s not as good as my Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse and I find that it also cause my face to break out if I apply on my face. I wasn’t expecting much in that area with my sensitive skin and I bought it for my hair so that wasn’t really an issue.

All in all, a pretty okay dry oil for hair but not so much for skin. I also dislike the strawberry scent. It smells more sour, quite different from their strawberry shower gel. It is quite expensive selling for $20 over (can’t remember the actual price) for only 100ml and I don’t think it wowed me enough to make a repurchase. I’m sure there’s dry oil out there much cheaper that can do as well if not better so I can’t recommend this.

That’s all for today. I hope this was helpful. I don’t write bad reviews to put down any company or anyone, it’s just my honest opinion and there can’t be improvements without feedback right? ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse

Here’s a review of Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse. It is a dry oil that can be used on hair, face and body to soften and moisturise.

Here’s a photo of mine, placed on a piece of tissue paper to show the design on the bottle.

This product has been around even before Argan oil was popular. You can say that it’s one of the pioneers. ^_^

As you can see, I’ve already used up a lot of mine (only a fifth of it is left).

I always try to use at least half of a product before doing a review because first impression almost always lies. >_<

Anyways, after using most of this bottle, I'm pretty sad that I only kept one of the three bottles that I bought during an opening sale. Gave one to my friend, Harmony, and one to my sister. Sharing is caring but sometimes I just wish I kept everything to myself. Lol. This is awesomeness in a bottle.

It works exceptionally well on towel dried hair. A little goes a long way for this product. I used one pump on the ends of my shoulder length hair (and the rest I rub on my elbows and knees to soften the skin) before blow drying and it just makes my hair so smooth and nice for the the rest of the day.

You can also use it on completely dried hair but I find that most hair oil works better on towel dried hair as it sinks in better and won't just stay on the surface making the hair look oily and lank. It'll also protect the hair from heat damage if you apply before blow drying.

As it can be used on hair, body and face, I had to try everything before writing a review.

Hence, I tried it on my legs and it leaves them with a glow so normally I'll use them when I'm wearing shorts. However, I find that it cannot entirely replace body lotions and butters because it's too light weight. I tested it out by using it only and nothing else for a week, and my skin was a bit drier. Guess I still need my body butters at night.

As for the face, the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse caused me to break out a little when I used it on my face. I’ve sensitive skin so it’s not for me, but I’ve read glowing reviews on Makeupalley about how this works well on their faces.

It has a distinct scent that not everyone can accept. I like it. Harmony like it but you might not. The scent does not linger so even if you don’t like it, it’s not going to stay around for long anyway. I still feel that it’s best to try it out in the store first before making a purchase.

I just checked the other day, and Watsons and Guardian sell them for S$70 (USD56), up from the S$68 (USD54.40) last year. I bought mine at a sale; 3 bottles for S$84 which makes it only S$28 (USD22.40) per bottle. Practically a steal!!

I love it and will repurchase once I’m done with my bottle. I’m saving it though because I’m trying out other dry oil for my body and hair to see if I can find something as awesome for less money. More bang for my buck. Lol. So far not much luck. If you remember, I wrote a post about the Miracle Solid Oil from The Body Shop here and I gave it a thumbs up. Honestly, this is better because if you use this in the long run, the hair will become silkier. And to me, this smells much better.

That’s all for this post, I’ll be posting about the other oils I’m using in the next few blog entries. Hopefully that’ll be helpful. ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil (Miracle Solid Oil)

I have been wanting to do a review of this product for a long time but procrastination got the better of me. （；￣ェ￣）Better late than never right?

It’s the Miracle Solid Oil from The Body Shop’s Wild Argan Oil series.

I got it when it first came out. According to Instagram, I owned it for 19 weeks.

At first I only wanted to get The Radiant Oil also shown in the picture above, but the sales assistant recommended this to me. She’s from the Bukit Panjang Branch and I noticed that all the sales assistants there are friendlier and more helpful without being pushy about making a sale. I love shopping there a lot more than the Choa Chu Kang Branch and JEM Branch.

Anyways, thank goodness for her recommendation because I love this more than The Radiant Oil. In fact, I love it so much that I gave one (among other things), to Pearlyn for her birthday.

To use it, all you have to do is to rub clean fingers over the surface and then use it to smoothen hair ends. A little goes a long way with this product.

It can be used on damp or dry hair. I find that either ways will give my hair a healthier shine. It’s a body and hair product so I use it for my elbows, heels and knee caps too. I love how soft it makes skin feels. This is awesomeness in a tin.

What I don’t like about it is the scent. I’ve no idea what Argan oil smells like but I don’t like the scent of this product. It smells weird to me but that’s something I’m willing to overlook, especially when it’s not overpowering.

This 50g of goodness retails for $19.90 before discount. I highly recommend everyone to try it out. The Body Shop has storewide 30% now, if I’m not wrong. I got mine for 25% off at around $15 (USD 12). It’s already a pretty good deal but it’s even cheaper now. This is something that I will repurchase and I highly recommend as a gift to anyone with dry elbows and heels, or to those who simply wants shinier hair.

That’s it for this post. Until next time… ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Favourites for the month of February ’13

It’s early March & I’ve complied a bunch of stuff that are my February favourites.

First up, the Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque

This is a very much hyped product on YouTube among the beauty gurus and I bought one from Sasa to try. Set me back S$54 for a 240ml tub.

It’s cruelty-free, paraben-free and alcohol-free. Most importantly, it works like a dream. ^_^

There’s a white lid inside.

As you can see, I’ve used quite a bit.

It smells musky and I’m sure a lot of XMM won’t like the scent but I LOVE IT!! You have to smell it before buying because the scent will linger on for the whole day.

Next item is also a hair product. It’s Clairol Herbal Essences Radiant & Soft Shampoo for Dry/Coloured Hair

I can’t resist citrusy scents and the shampoo really made my hair softer.

Last of all, a nail file. A leopard print glittery nail file.

Makes DIY home manicures all the more fun. I bought it at a sale, cost $1.50 from Mini Toons.

Three items only for my first ever monthly favourites. =D I’m trying out new eye creams and hair serums, if they work, they’ll be in the March Monthly Favourites.

P.s. Ever since January, I’ve not been updating this blog as nothing interesting happened so nothing to be shared here.

The Body Shop Christmas Haul 2012 (Part 2)

Shortcake and I went to get more stuff from The Body Shop and we had a lot of fun looking at all the Christmas items. They gave us 2 umbrellas too.
(⌒▽⌒)

P.s. I did another The Body Shop Christmas haul earlier and you can read all about it here.

That’s the beauty of not celebrating Christmas. Both of us just get what we want, and don’t have to waste money getting stuff for other people and desperately hope that what they give us is what we want. =_=

That was quite a mouthful. (ｰ ｰ;)

As per the norm, The Body Shop packed several items together and sell them for cheaper so that shoppers can grab a bag/box and wrap it up as a Christmas gift.

After choosing for a long time, each of us got ourselves a bag of shower products.

Going a little on a tangent here: I don’t know why people think it’s a good idea to gift somebody else with a bag/box of pre-packed body gel or body butter.

While I don’t have experience on what to give and what not to give for Christmas, what I do know is that there are so many things that could go wrong. The recipient might not like the scent or the texture. (And in my opinion, it seems sort of lazy & insincere to just grab a pre-packed bag.)

Shortcake and some other friends have complained to me that their most NOT WANTED gift is a bag of items from The Body Shop.

Also, fyi, everybody knows how much the box/bag of products cost.

Even if they don’t know, it’s impossible not to walk pass a The Body Shop store in Singapore. They are EVERYWHERE. I doubt anyone can resist the temptation to see how much their gift cost after walking pass the 3rd (or gazillionth) store -.-

So unless the recipient specifically says that they want a bag of items from The Body Shop, or they are up for trying new items, it’s a big no no.

I’m not saying not to get anything from The Body Shop. I just think they are only great if you’re getting them for yourself.

The bag/box items are a great idea for people who are interested in several items of the same line, yet don’t want to buy the full sized items without trying them out first. There are also boxes with full sized items too.

It is important though, that you discern that all the items in the bag/box is what you need or you would end up paying for products that you don’t even want.

Okay, end of rant. I did buy tonnes of stuff there.

These are the items that both of us bought.

Now that they are spread out like that, it seems like we didn’t really get much items after all.

These are the items inside my bag (mine is orange). Cost $19.90 per bag.

All the items in the bag are mini sized: A loofa, a bottle of body gel, a tube of body polish and a tub of body butter.

Surprisingly, their loofa is orange scented and the citrus smell feels very refreshing. I’ve only tried the body polish and I’m not sure I like it as an exfoliater. It doesn’t seem to exfoliate much.

The ribbon outside the bag. Because it’s cute.

I’ve also gotten the Ginger Sparkle Soap from this year’s Christmas series.

They are one for $6.90, three for $12.90. Of course I purchased three. I would have bought more but the sales person told me that I can only keep them for a year. The ginger scent is so delicious, I hope they will include it next year Christmas.

I’ve already started using a bar as hand soap. I just feel that bar soap cleans better as the lathering process sort of kill bacteria too.

Had to use flash in order to see the logo on the soap.

I’ve used up a fair bit of the soap and the logo is hardly discernible. I like how they imprint the logo on the soap.

The bar of soap has tiny exfoliating beads in it. I find it odd that the sales person did not mention that the different flavour Christmas edition soaps are for different skin types / purposes.

Again, I’ve to say, using bar soap is cheaper than liquid hand soap.

P.s. Our house also has a lot of small bars of Crabtree & Evelyn soap koped from hotels and we simply use them as hand soap.

Both of us bought a bottle of Sweet Lemon Whip Body Lotion each.

I tested it out at the store and it smells wonderful. Admittedly, I’m drawn to this lotion because of it’s convenient pump bottle that resembles the Vineyard Peach Body Lotion that I already have at home.

The review for that Vineyard Peach Body Lotion is here, if you’re interested to know more. Shortcake tried mine and she really liked it a lot so she bought a bottle of Vineyard Peach Body Lotion as well.

A bottle of Vineyard Peach Body Lotion cost $21.90 while a bottle of Sweet Lemon Whip Body Lotion cost $19.90. After the store wide 20% discount, they cost $17.50 and $15.90 respectively.

With the sale going on, I’m wondering if I should get more body lotion in different scent to keep at home. X_X

I wanted to get their Banana shampoo & conditioner but they’re OOS so I could only get a big bottle of their shampoo for oily hair from the Rainforest series.

The sales person said that they are slowly replacing the other shampoo series to the Rainforest series. Maybe I should go and try my luck at other outlets to see if I can get my hands on some banana shampoo.

Last but not least, I couldn’t resist temptation and bought a pot of Dragonfruit Lip Butter.

It smells so delicious!! Sadly though, the store wide 20% discount does not apply for this lip butter as the proceeds are for charity. =(

And that concludes my very lengthy haul post. ^_^ I’ve realised that I still have items that I want but have not yet gotten. Next time when I hunt other stores for their banana shampoo, I’m going to get their ginger scented aromatic oil and possibly more soap too. Now that I think of it, I may use up the soap very fast. One bar per month and I will use up twelve bars a year!!

Avocado for the skin

Despite what the name suggests, this post is not really about avocados. It is about how much of a glutton I am.

I bought 3 avocados, and ate one and a half.

（；￣ェ￣）They were meant to be use as a facial mask.

All you have to do is to cut the avocado and dig out the flesh, mash it up and apply on your face for 15 minutes.

By the way, for the face, you’ll only need half.

I can’t really say if the avocado facial mask works, as I think that it requires consistent use weekly before I can report if I develop any adverse reaction to the mask.

Right now, it’s pretty okay for a facial mask, but not so much as a hair mask. The pulp got stuck in my hair and I had to shampoo twice. =(

What I can say though, is that avocado is an acquired taste. Obviously I love it, but I can see how some people might not like it.

P.s. For people who are interested in making their own avocado moisturising mask and still don’t understand what I’m saying, YouTube it.

Other than understanding how the mask works, on Youtube, you can also see how irresponsible some people are. In one of the videos that I saw, the person said that she had an allergic reaction to the avocado halfway through her tutorial.

Are you serious? So without testing it out beforehand for the effect of the mask, she had the intention to just film and put up the video. I don’t know about you, but I would never trust what she says in her videos again.

The shampoos and conditioners that I’m currently using

Last Sunday, I went to a salon with Eggie. She did a hair treatment while I coloured my hair black and did a scalp & hair treatment afterwards. As usual, the stylist tried to recommend some hair products and he looked kinda grumpy when I didn’t buy anything from him.

Anyways, that was what spawned this post. I’d bad experience with buying products from hair salons before and his attitude wasn’t really convincing.

He didn’t believe me when I told him that I’m already using a lot of hair products and there was no need to buy another one from him.

Just on shampoos and conditioners alone, I already have all these.

And I’m not proud of it. In fact, I am disgusted by my lack of restrain. Why can’t I just finish one bottle first before opening another one to try?!

Right now, I’m sticking to L’Oreal Color-Vive shampoo and conditioner for my coloured hair.

I resolved to finish the entire bottle by using them daily.

Before I coloured my hair, Clairol Herbal Essences “Long term relationship” was my go-to shampoo on most days, simply because it smells so nice. And it makes my hair slightly smoother.

As you can see, I’d finished a set and am currently on my second set. It’s one of the products that I will always repurchase.

One of my other favourite shampoo & conditioner is the banana series from The Body Shop. I’d written a review in a post earlier here and I love it so much, I bought another set.

I haven’t opened the new bottles though. Been trying really hard not to. σ(^_^;)

Also one of my favourites, it’s the Kerastase Bain de Force shampoo & conditioner. I am currently using them once a week to strengthen my hair.

It smells delightful and always makes me feel great after a shower. Best of all, I find that it does help to make my hair stronger and less prone to breakage. I love it, but it’s way more expensive even when used once a week. =/

A word of warning though, I’ve read some reviews & comments online, and apparently, some people find that it makes their hair brittle and lifeless. According to one of the other commenters, it’s because there’s protein in this shampoo for hair that is damaged and weak (like mine) and those with perfectly normal hair cannot use it.

It’s best to ask salons for recommendation when choosing Kerastase products as they have different range to target specific hair problems.

The Kerastase website has a list of salons that are selling their products. Their salon treatments are better than a lot of other treatments that I’d done, but they’re also very expensive.

Even if you find it expensive to go to their salon for a hair treatment & just wanna buy the products online, at least do your research first before making a purchase. All the Kerastase products that I’d purchased are worth the splurge. ^_^

Next up is the Rainforest series from The Body Shop.

The shampoo is for oily hair and the conditioner is for dry hair. I don’t like the conditioner as I feel that it didn’t really do much.

As for the shampoo, honestly, I’ve only used them once or twice so I can’t give an accurate review, but I do love the smell of nettles. It just smells so refreshing.

However, I don’t think I’ll repurchase them after I’ve run out though simply because I feel that they didn’t “wow” me and that there are cheaper alternatives out there that work with more significant results.

Last of all, it’s a shampoo that I purchased at one of the salons I’d visited. It’s total crap.

For people with permed hair. And those who wants oily hair. Terrible really. I don’t think it suits me and that the particular salon should have recommended me something based on my hair condition. That’s why I seldom buy anything from salons after that.

And those that I do buy, I always purchase on a second visit, so the staff’s attitude factors in too.

Okay, so that’s all for this entry. I feel that I ended up writing a lot even though I’d intended for a short post. These are just the shampoos and conditioners that I’m using. Maybe I’ll write another post on hair masks and treatments.

(^O^)／

Recent Purchases

Can this be considered a spree even when I didn’t buy all of them in a single shop? The products bought came from The Body Shop, Watsons & Guardian.

And some Lovemore masks.

2 boxes for $14, 4 pieces below bought separately. All from Watsons.

I’m especially excited about the Dreams Unlimited Body Wash from The Body Shop.

Harmony recommended it to me and she says that the scent lingers on long after shower, so I’m pretty excited to try it.

Initially I went in to The Body Shop to buy a concealer as I’ve ran out of my usual L’Oreal one and encountered a store wide 20% sale. So I bought a lot of things and I didn’t forget to buy my concealer too.
ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

The Body Shop Tea Tree Concealer

Will share more on that in another post once I test it out.

Oh, and recently I am using the Aloes range of toner, moisturising gel and cream. Picture below.

Bought them on Tuesday and I’ve been using them ever since. I’ll do a post on them in a few days time.

P.s. On the second day of using them, my skin condition improved but I want to test it out for a full week first before writing a review. Can never be too cautious with skincare products.

Last of all, I’m obsessed with only shampooing my hair once every two to three days. It sounds icky, but I truly believe that this helps to improve the condition of my hair and believe it or not, shampooing once every three days is very common. Ehem..

So I’ve included two TRESemmè hair products. A waterless foam shampoo and a dry shampoo. Picture of them below.

It would be truly awesome if they work.

That’s all for this post. I reckon it’s a spree post, with a whole lot of ramblings on my part.

Purchases

Bought Watsons brand of hair mask as they had a one for one promotion.

I have not tried them yet. They cost $7.90 for two 500ml tubs. Very cheap but I hope that they’ll work on my very dry hair.