My fave hair products of 2009

I just thought I'd mention my favourite hair products of 2009.

As you all know I suffered from hair loss in 2009, which was quite distressing and seems to have been brought on by stress.
I've noticed that since I cut my stress levels and have been taking things easy my hair has stopped falling (I'm scared if I say it's all good that it's going to jinx it), but yeah I have more strands coming back now and you can see them sticking up, and they're all different lengths.


I think that one thing that really did help with my hair was regular massages with essential oils.

Every night (or every two nights) about an hour or two before washing my hair I'd prepare a blend of jojoba, castor, rosemary, cedarwood, geranium and lavender oils.

I'd mix around (I didn't actually measure the amounts) 1 1/2 teaspoon of jojoba oil, 1/2 of castor oil (as it's very thick) and say 3 drops of each of the essential oils.
I'd mix them all together in a little plastic dish, then apply to my scalp and work it in.
I'd massage my scalp for about 10mins at a time, making sure to give the scalp a good, firm pressure.
I'd then leave it on my head for an hour or two before washing.
I did this for a few months and well my hair has been growing faster than usual, and I've had several cuts and it's grown back quite quickly.

Right, enough of that and to the products I loved in 2oo9.


I've been using Kerastase Oleo-relax serum for about 4years now and it's one of the only serums I've sworn by and keep coming back to.

For my hair it keeps it moisturised, shiny and tame, my hair can go crazy in the rain but this keeps it from looking like a complete frizzy mess.

However because of the lack of hair it could make it look a little lank, so I decided to try the colour version, which is chroma Riche.
It does seem to suit my fine, flyaway hair and protects my colour, but I like the shine oleo-relax gives me.
I'd recommend chroma riche for finer hair though, as it doesn't make my hair all lanky and it's good if you want your hair to have some volume.

To another Kerastase product and it's Chroma Thermatique, which is meant to protect coloured hair from electrical appliances.
As red hair colour fades quicker than other colours I need something that will give my colour staying power, so I don't have to keep putting dye on my hair.
This cream absorbs easily and quickly into the hair, without a sticky residue (you don't even know its there).
I'm not sure how much it protects your hair, I think the scientists would have to prove it, but I've had far fewer split ends since using this stuff, so I'd recommend it.



To yet another Kerastase product now, which is the Bain Miroir 1, which is a shine revealing shampoo for coloured hair.
It's a nice creamy shampoo, which smells nice and lathers up nicely.
It feels moisturising without the build up which some shampoos give.
Best of all it keeps my colour fresh.

I popped into a hair dressers about 2months ago, and explained about my hair loss and lack of volume, and the hairdresser looked and felt my hair and recommended Tigi's Rockaholic Livin the dream daily conditioner.
He understood that my hair needed something that wouldn't leave a residue, and would give volume while protecting the red colour, and this conditioner does just that for me.
It also contains green tea, goji berry, gotu kola and multi-minerals, which was really appealing and it also has a lovely fragrance.

The product that saved my life through the lack of volume I had was Aveda's phomollient.
It's a lovely, light, foam mousse and it doesn't have a stiff feeling, nor a horrible built up.
It smells lovely,because it contains honey (think of The body shops honey water from years ago).
Also I don't like blow drying my hair very often and this mousse gave volume and thickness without having to get out the old blow dryer.

I have two other sections of the products I loved in 2009 which are going to to makeup and skincare, which I will do as soon as.

Hope you're all well, and a Happy New Year to you all :D x

Food Post: Banoffee Pie

Hi everyone, I haven't bought much makeup lately even thought I do have some from before I need to post about, but tonight I thought I'd post about something else that I really Love. Food!

I made a very simple Banoffee Pie. I got the recipe from HERE. It's very easy to make, and you don't need all these weird ingredients for it either.

So here's my take on it.


I did try to take it out of the tray tidily, but failed,lol, it might look messy, but it is very yummy, if you like sickly food that is :)

So that's my first post on food. :)


Also, I'm thinking of going a lighter red, possibly the red/blonde colour (below) , so it doesn't make my scalp so noticeable with my hair loss. I always have to make sure I have no blonde roots, because the contrast of my bright white scalp and dark red hair makes it quite noticeable.
You can buy this colour from Superdrug if your interested.(Pic taken from superdrug site)
I'm hopefully going to speak to a new doctor tomorrow about my hair loss, and I'm going to as if a thing called Adrenal Fatigue could be the cause of it.

I was speaking to a lady the other day that lost some of her hair, and it turned out that she was suffering from this. I took a look at the symptoms and seem to have most of them, even the putting weight on the waist symptom :( but it could be from eating too much pudding,lol.

Sorry if my health issues are boring to read about, but it is sort of the reason for a lack of posting, and crap waffling posts too.

Anyway I hope you're all having a good evening, I'm off to eat my banoffee pie now ;)

Growing Hair...

Hey all, just a quick night post.

I've been ill the last few days, I had the swine flu vaccine and it made me really ill, so I haven't been able to post or anything, and because I've been sleeping all day I'm my sleep pattern has gone a little strange.
Anyway, if you have been reading my blog you'll know I've had alopecia (hair loss) and have been trying to get my hair to grow back in certain places and stop falling out any further.

Well about 6 weeks ago I was in boots looking at the hair loss stuff, and I saw a cute little bottle and I thought it looked really girlie, so I took a look, read the contents and liked what I read, so bought it.

And here it is.


It's Schwarzkopf Activ f Dr. Hoting Hair retention care system for women tonic.

On the box it says it slows down and reduces hair loss, encourages hair growth and strengthens hair (great for my fine hair).
It can be bought for £12.99 at Boots and there is also a Shampoo available too for £9.99, but I only bought the tonic.

It has a very sweet smell which I find sickly, sort of like a bubble gum or something, however it is nicer than the male versions of hair loss tonics that stink like a mans deodorant (which is nice on men, but becomes heady and overpowering on women I find).

This tonic is definitely less harsh on the hair too than Alpecin (mens hair loss system) as they contain moisturisers that Alpecin does not.

It contains Carnitintartrate, Echincea and Taurine which I think are the ingredients that stop hair loss and promote new hair growth.

Looking at the ingredients I see that it contains castor oil and I've heard a lot of people swear by it for hair growth and eye lash growth, so maybe that's one of the things that helps.

I really like that this tonic has a nice quite fine nozzle, so its easy to say where the liquid is being applied to.
I usually apply it to the parts of my scalp where the hair has thinned out most, then massage it in.
It can be applied twice a day, but I usually apply straight after washing when the pores are still open (not sure if it makes any difference, I was just trying to be clever).

It's hard to say whether it has worked on me due to a lot of other factors as I've increased my vitamins, started eating healthily, massaged my head with essential oils and used organic shampoos that contain no sulphates.
I have got new hair sprouting though :) Yipee, and less falling out (touch wood).
My hair is also growing quite quickly these days too, I've had several hair cuts in the last 2-3 months, and it just seems to grow back.
I had my fringe/bangs cut 2 weeks ago, and already they have grown out and I need them shaped again.

I hope that anyone who is experiencing hair loss finds this interesting and helpful :)

Today and Yesterday Haul, Plus my hairloss.

So this is a depressing post for me, but I want to write it just in case someone else out there has started suffering from this, also I'd like to read back on my thoughts and feelings one day.
So in a way, it's a selfish post.

On Thursday night I lost a holy hell of a lot of hair, a huge bunch came out when I was washing it. I spent the whole night crying, and mum was shocked at the amount too.
I was meant to start back at college on Friday, but didn't go in because I was very broken up about my hair, and had spent the whole night in a state.

It is a really hard thing to go through, especially when you love your hair and are quite vain about your looks ( I don't look in the mirror every minute, but I like to make an effort).
So on Friday me and mum went to Boots and I bought some Alpecin shampoo and liquid stuff which is caffeine based. We'll see how it goes, I'd love to write back here in a few months and say it worked so it would give other people some hope.
I've popped some pictures on here for you so you can see my hair loss, I didn't want to show my baldness but I feel that I need to show, for people to sort of understand ( I don't want pity or anything, I just want to show what happens).

Ok, onto the other thing that's more exciting Henna :) I decided to get this today because when my blonde roots come though it makes me look even balder, so from now on I'm going to be using Henna or organic dyes.
The picture below shows the henna colour on my hair, it makes it shiny :)

I also bought a L'oreal Double Extension Mascara, I'll use this tomorrow and tell you how it feel and how well it works :)

If anyone has experienced hair loss or knows someone that has, could you tell me what has worked as I'm willing to try anything, thanks :)

Oh and I'm thinking of using a clip in fringe/ bangs to cover up my stupid bald patch, I'll let you know how it goes, I'm not looking forward to using one but I don't want people staring at me either.

Sorry for this very boring, very unglamorous post, but I needed to vent .

Going NUTS!!!!

So with the healthy diet thing going strong, and I am now eating a lot of nuts too (I'm turning into a squirrel), I've been reading up a lot on Almonds as they're the ones I prefer to eat.
I've found out that these lovely nuts are little miracle workers (kinda).

So what's in these Almonds?

• They're a great source of Vitamin E.
• They have a good amount of Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc, Iron, Fiber and are a good source of the healthy monounsaturated fat.
• They contain more Calcium than any other nut (so a good way for vegans to get their calcium).
• An once of Almonds contain 12percent of your daily recommended intake of protein (which is good for me as I'm a veggie).
• They're a great source of folic acid
  

• They also contain the controversial anti-cancer nutrient Amygdalin, also known as B17.

Benefits:

• Eating a handful of almonds a day can promote lower cholesterol.
• Can help weight loss
• Can reduce heart disease.

• Build strong bones and teeth with the phosphorus in almonds.
• Almonds help with controlling diabetes, as they have the power to lower blood sugar content.
• Provide necessary antioxidants to help clean up the free radicals in the body.
• They can increase brainpower, stabilize your mood and even relieve the aging process. They contain phenylalanine, which helps our cognitive processes and supports healthy neurological function. They also contain nutrientriboflavin and L-carnitine which are brain boosters and give good memory.

Then we come to the oil and the Indian traditional medicine Ayurveda who have been using Almond oil for the following benefits for hundreds of years.

• Strengthens brain and nerves.
• Relieves tension.
• Strengthens brain power.
• Good for heart.
• Keeps body warm in the winter.
• Nourishes skin.
• Prenatal and postnatal care.
• Helps build stronger bones.
• Good for infants.
• Improves body strength.
• Constipation
• Helps hair loss when massaged into the scalp, can also prevent hair graying.
  

So anyway after reading all this good stuff about almonds, I've been looking into Almond Face masks. I have a lot of blackheads on my nose, that just don't go away, they've even withstood the wrath of dermalogicas Microfoliant, so now I'm going to start this almond face mask twice a week, as I've heard that almonds will draw out impurities like blackheads.

So I mixed some ground almonds with honey and milk, into a nice paste and I applied it to my face for 20mins.
My nose does feel smoother, but time will only tell.
I shall keep you updated as to whether this mask works.

Anyway that was a much longer post than I expected to write. and it did take some time finding all the benefits for you and things.
I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and hasn't sent you off you to sleep :P

NOTD and quick Natural pic.

Here I'm wearing Barry M's Nail Varnish in Raspberry 273. I really love this polish, I always get compliments when I wear this colour.
I always wear a base coat under these coloured nail varnishes as they stain my nails, so I usually wear a base coat by No7 or a Rimmel one, depending which one I find first in my nail varnish box.


Next thing I'm gonna show is me with hardly any makeup on (scary) lol, I actually went out like this today. My skin and everything seemed pretty good today, so I only wore a bit of concealer and and Macs Gel blush in just a pinch.
On the eyes I wore some Mac Bamboo e/s all over, Samoa Silk e/s on lid, haux in crease and a tiny bit of flip e/s in the inner corner of my eyes.
Also some plush lash mascara.
And to glam it up a bit some Mac Cremesheen in speak louder.
That sounds like a lot now I've written it out, but I had put it all on about 6hours before taking the pics, so that's probably why I looks like crap,lol.

Ooh and in the pics, you can see some of my new hair growth, I'm really happy about this. The silica and B vitamins I have been taking must have helped my hair a bit :D
Excuse the hair too, it wasn't styled, I just left it to dry naturally.

Anyway sorry about this FOTD being pretty crap, but I'm bored and felt like posting anyway :P

Abit of Everything Haul.

Yay, I went shopping today :) Bumped into an old friend I hadn't seen for a while and yeah, just decided I wanted a bit of everything today. And here's what I got:




I popped into Holland& Barrett (Health Shop) and bought some Biotin and coconut water (I remember The Gloss Goss saying she liked this stuff).
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to have a workout tomorrow (because I'm lazy and my arse is starting to sag :( lol ) and this Vita Coco is meant to help with hydration after a work out.
So this coconut water will be my little incentive. I found this info on a website that says this about it, to give you a better idea:

Vita Coco is a delicious, refreshing and nourishing drink containing only the pure water from young green coconuts. Vita Coco is rich in alkalizing minerals including, potassium, magnesium and calcium and is wonderful for rehydrating and energizing the body. Vita Coco is naturally isotonic, making it the perfect sports drink and is excellent for replacing the electrolytes lost when working out or during sports. Vita Coco contains No preservatives, No Colouring and No Added Sweeteners Refreshing, Energizing Coconut Water Rich in Minerals Great, Naturally Isotonic Sports Drink Perfect for making Young Green Coconut Kefir No Preservatives, Colours or Sweeteners Vita Coco is great in smoothies, on ice or as a frozen treat!

Info from here: http://www.red23.co.uk/Vita-Coco-Young-Green-Coconut-Water-330ml_p_791.html

The Biotin I bought is for the hair loss crap I'm experiencing, I heard that it can help hair to grow, so its worth a try.
On the jar it says "Supports Healthy Vision& skin health, Releases Energy from foods" so if it doesn't do anything for my hair, it ought to do something for my skin and energy levels anyway.

Ooh a quick mention about whats happening with my hair anyway, I visited the hairdresser a few weeks back, and there are little teeny dots on my scalp which she said is the hair growing back and coming through the follicle, so YAY. I cant wait for it to grow back :)

I also bought some L'oreal Castings Hair dye in Mahogany Rich Auburn, haven't tried this Mahogany red before so I hope it suits me.

I've been reading up about French women's beauty secrets and apparently they love cellulite creams and firming creams, and since I will be 26 in October (I'm scared, I still feel and act 18) i decided maybe I should give these cellulite things a go, I don't have cellulite, but I hope this L'oreal PerfectFirm Pro prevents it anyway.
This cellulite massage system has a little roller to massage cellulite areas (as massage helps circulation and I've read that cellulite is helped by this).
This massage roller really kneads your skin, I wasn't expecting it to feel like that, but it does feel like it's doing something.
Then after you've done some roller massaging you pop the firming post massage concentrate on to the areas you've worked. It contains Co-caffeine Cx which is meant to improve the appearance of cellulite.
Once again I've read somewhere before that caffeine stimulates circulation in the skin, and well some people actually rub coffee granules into their skin, not sure if it works but i bet they smell like a nice Coffee Cafe afterwards :)


The next thing I had was the Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-on (you're going to think I'm proper Caffeine addicted now). I can't wait to try this, I suffer from really bad dark circles mainly because I inherited them, and then they're made worse by allergies and insomnia,lol. I will keep you updated on whether it works or not anyway.


I also had a face cream which is the L'oreal Triple Active day cream, I'm so scared of getting old and wrinkly now I'm getting older that I feel the need for face creams all the time. This cream has vitamin E, ceramide and UV filter. This cream is meant to 'protect against daily stresses and help retain a more youthful appearance', so we'll see how that goes.
When you buy a cream you imagine waking up a new person, but then you look in the mirror and still see your ugly mug looking back, well I do anyway hehe.
(Damn those pretty models, I thought all this beauty stuff would make me look like them)




Eyeko Eye shadow


Eyeko Lip Balm


I did a little eyeko shop too, as I bought a pile of the creams a couple of years ago which I still haven't used them, they're still in their little gift bag things I bought them in.
Anyway I bought an eyeshadow and a lipbalm and I'm quite disappointed with both :(
The eyesahdows don't have much pigment (apart from the dark pink and light pink ones), they're also very chunky in texture and hard to get out of the pan, I'll wear them in the week to see how they go anyway.
The Lip Balm sounded nice ( I have the creamy cupcake one) Its a clear balm with little bits of glitter in , however it's not very moisturizing and doesn't really last.

Ahh this is never ending, I also bought Collection 2000 nail varnish in dynasty, which is a lovely lilac colour. I'll wear it in the week and post a pic :)




The other thing I had was a pair of Hilfiger jeans in a khaki type colour. I'm going back to college soon, and I wanted to dress kinda preppy cool (or I could look preppy fool, knowing my luck) for my first day back, so I've been looking for a pair like this to put on with some brogues and a boyfriend jacket.
These jeans were only £12 :) from £16.99 and their RRP was £65, so a nice little bargain. They are an inch too big, but I'm going to adjust the buttons to get them to fit my waist.



I also bought something quite juvenile hehe, a skipping rope,lol.
I need to get fit and stuff, and the best sort of cardio to get your heart pumping is skipping so I bought a skipping rope in tesco for £1.77. So tomorrow I shall be skipping my arse off. :)
I did 10seconds of skipping earlier and was buggered, so I'm going to work on getting my stamina up :)

The next thing I want to post and talk about is my birthmark, so I might do that tomorrow, it will be exposing myself in a way.
Anyway hope you've had a nice Saturday :) x
(Me knackered after shopping, about to relax with a cuppa, oh and I didn't wear that hoodie shopping, that is just my comfy chillax hoodie).

Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick and Todays outfit :)

So I just thought I'd post a picture of moi wearing the YSL Rouge Personnel I bought on Saturday, even though I think this lipstick has been discontinued I really like it. I paid £6 for it the other day in the village shop that sells makeup really cheap :) The outfit today is just something I slapped on more or less, I didn't have much time to get out the door an be gone, so I picked whatever was nearest to hand, lol. I'm usually more organised when dressing, but not today.


And here's what I used:

Last night I found my Chanel Mat Lumiere Foundation, that I'd completely forgot about (its in a tester size).
The beige colour is a bit dark on my skin, but it did blend in quite well, and if I put some St.Tropez tan on it will match very well.
I do actually like how it feels, it's quite light and satiny, and it does give a really nice flawless finish, so I was really pleased I'd found it, as my skin was needing a little more cover today as I'm looking quite pastey.

I want to buy the Bourjois Clubbing Mascara tomorrow, so if I do I'll try to review that, and compare it to the L'oreal Extra Collagen Mascara I'm using that the moment (I usually use Macs Plush Lash Mascara).
Ooh and tomorrow I'm having my hair cut for the first time since I was diagnosed with Alopecia, so I'm really excited about it. My hair needs a damn good trim.
When I was diagnosed about 10 weeks ago (or more) with alopecia I wasnt sure if I'd lose all my hair, so I left my hair be for a while. I'm not certain it won't all fall out, but the thinning has eased a bit and I think I've found new growth :)

Argh, I need to organise what I'm writing on these blogs better, so I know I've said all I wanted to. I'm sure I will get better at it though, in time :)

Must start Blogging..

Right, so I haven't really blogged at all, even though I want to. I received some Naked Honey stuff yesterday from MAC (I'll write about those tomorrow though).
Tonight I'm pretty excited about something else though ..
I'm off to have acupuncture tomorrow, I've waited a while to get an appointment.
The reason I am going for the acupuncture isn't a positive thing though, I have Alopecia (I'm losing my hair).
I'm not sure how bad my hair loss is going to be, or when it will re-grow, however I'm giving everything natural a shot, I've been taking colloidal Silica for over 8weeks now (it takes over 10 weeks for it to work).

I'm also using the Boots Expert Hair loss treatments for women, however I'm not sure if its working, but it does preserve the red hair colour I use, so that's some good news.

Then on Saturday I decided to buy some Nettle capsules, after hearing some good things about it online, so I really hope its enough to bring my hair back. I want it to be thick and crazy like it use to be.

Anyway I best get off to bed, I'm too excited about the acupuncture :D
If anyone reads this(I don't have any readers yet, due to me only lurking for sometime), let me know if you've ever experienced hair loss and how it affected you, also if you found anything that helped. :)