November Favourites

I've been trying lots of new products in November, and this is a selection of my favourite products that I was reaching for most last month. First is the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment which is basically a treatment to be used in between shampooing and conditioning. I've only used this a couple of times so I can't comment on the hair growth aspect, but it does leave my hair feeling soft, strong and super shiny! I'm using the whole hair growth range at the moment, so I'll update with that in due course to see if it's working. Another hair care product I'm loving this month is the TRESemmé 24 Hour Body Plump Powder. I'm not really one for hair styling products as I usually just let my hair do its own thing, but recently I've been loving a tousled, slightly messy look and this product is perfect for just adding a touch of texture and volume without feeling like my hair is weighed down in product.

I recently bought a few MUA eyeshadow palettes, but the Undressed Palette is the one that I have been reaching for nearly every day. The quality of the shadows are amazing, and I rarely stray from a neutral eye so this is perfect for me. I finally succumbed to the Real Techniques Stippling Brush which has been calling my name every time I'm in Boots! It was on a buy one, get one half price deal so I couldn't resist any longer. I use this to apply liquid foundation and find it gives such a lovely finish, I can't imagine applying foundation without it anymore! I also use it to buff in cream blusher. Another highly blogged about product is the Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick 107 which completely embodies Autumn/Winter for me. It's the perfect berry shade, and I love the matte finish. It has a creamy formula, doesn't highlight imperfections and has amazing staying power. Lastly, I've included LUSH King of Skin which is a solid body butter applied when skin is wet, rinsed off and gently patted dry. This has been my saviour recently with the harsh winter weather, and it smells lovely - full of moisturising cocoa butter and shea butter.

Quite a few favourites from me this month, I found it really difficult to narrow it down for this post! What products have you been loving recently?

TRESemme Liquid Gold vs L'Oreal Mythic Oil

Firstly, I have to say that my hair is a wreck. Six years of dyeing and bleaching have really taken their toll and I'm now left with dry and damaged hair. Over the last year, I've stopped colouring it and I've been straightening/blow drying a lot less, so it's in better condition, but still not great. I have bleached ends which are my main problem area, and the rest of my hair is quite fine and limp.

I was really wary about using oil on my hair worrying that it would weigh it down and just make it look greasy. I decided to try TRESemme Liquid Gold Restorative Complex and I also received a sample of L'Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil via What's in my Handbag.

Liquid Gold on hand

TRESemme Liquid Gold retails at £6.99 for 75ml, which is quite reasonable compared to the likes of hair oils such as Moroccan Oil. The packaging is fairly simple with a plastic bottle and pump applicator. This claims to instantly nourish your hair, reducing frizz and improving your hair's manageability and overall condition. As you can see, the consistency is quite runny and the oil is an amber gold in colour, hence the name. It's infused with argan oil which I've heard great things about! I usually use 1-2 pumps and apply it to the length and ends of my hair whilst it's still damp.

It does feel lightweight, but it doesn't seem to help with shine or manageability, and the ends of my hair still feel quite dry after I've used it. I even tried to use this as an intense treatment one night by using around 5-6 pumps, soaking the ends of my hair in it overnight and by morning, my hair was still frizzy and not very manageable. It just feels too lightweight to do my hair any good, but if your hair isn't as damaged as mine then it might work for you as an everyday treatment.

Mythic Oil on hand

I was sent a sample of L'Oreal Professionnel Mythic Oil via the What's in my Handbag which offers free weekly samples of various beauty products. Not sure of the exact RRP, but it's £13.55 on Feel Unique and £11.95 on Lookfantastic. Obviously I can't comment on the packaging since I did receive this as a sample. Again, this is marketed as a lightweight hair oil which instantly nourishes the hair to leave it feeling supple and shiny. It has avocado oil and grape seed oil which contain essential fatty acids.

I use a couple of drops of this on the ends of my hair whilst damp, and I have to say that this stuff makes a huge difference! It basically eliminates any frizz from the ends of my hair, makes them feel so soft and manageable and I almost forget that they've been bleached. Usually the day after I've washed my hair, my ends will feel horrible - brittle, dry, prone to breakage - but even the day after using this, they are still soft and almost frizz-free. I think it's safe to say that Mythic Oil has definitely won this battle!

Have you tried any hair oils? Which is your favourite?

Superdrug/Boots haul!

Today I finally landed myself a job after 4 months of trying. So I decided that was reason enough for me to have a little shopping spree! I've been lusting after SO many products for months now, so I finally got my hands on certain bits and bobs that I've been wanting.

First up is the Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette. Sleek is a brand I had never really heard of until I started reading beauty blogs, and I've been dying to try one of their eye palettes ever since! I bought this from Superdrug and it cost £6.99, which I think is very reasonable considering there are 12 shadows inside. I opted for the natural palette as I'm not a huge eyeshadow wearer anyway and when I do wear it, I prefer neutral, understated colours. There are 8 matte colours and 4 shimmer colours, so I think there's something for everyone! Really excited to use this, it might even convert me to the "dark side" and I'll be going eyeshadow crazy!

The second item I bought was from Boots, and it's the Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub. I have never been a huge fan of Clean&Clear, Clearasil, etc etc, as when I was younger I used a lot of their products to try and battle spots, but they ended up making everything worse. However, I have read some great reviews on this and I've noticed that my nose is full of blackheads which refuse to budge despite numerous attempts using pore strips and various other scrubs! It cost £3.99, but I think Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment!

The next thing I picked up was the TRESemme Liquid Gold Restorative Complex which cost £6.99 from Superdrug. I received a sample of Berber Oil in a Glossybox and I've loved it, but it is a little pricey for the full-size bottle so I thought I'd try this more affordable version! My hair is flat, fine and very dry at the ends due to years of bleach abuse, so I need all the extra moisture I can get.

I also picked up a Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti from Superdrug, which cost £5.99 as it was on offer. I think they're usually £7.99. I was really after the Peach Parfait shade, but both Boots and Superdrug were sold out of it so I went for Tutti Frutti instead. I've only recently gotten into lip products, I've always been a lipbalm-and-go kinda girl, but now I'm venturing into lip colour! I'll still be keeping my eye out for Peach Parfait, as I think it looks right up my street colour-wise.

The next item I bought was the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade Fair - 1. I'm worried this may be a little too pale for me as even though I'm quite fair, this looked reeeeally pale when I swatched it. Again, I've heard amazing reviews about this product and I'm really excited to see if it lives up to the hype! It cost £4.19 from Boots.

Next up is the Topshop Lip Stick in Powder Room. I fell in love with the shade Coy after seeing Kate wearing it on her blog, and I just knew that I HAD to have it. So off I went to Topshop today, desperately scouring their make-up stand and Coy was nowhere to be found. :( But I found Powder Room and thought it looked gorge, so I purchased that instead and I'm very glad I did! Not going to say too much as I want to do a full product review on this. It cost £7 from Topshop.

The rest of my purchases were a variety of nail polishes! Again, I've never been into nail polish really. My nails have always been short, bitten and naked, but after seeing so many pretty nails on beauty blogs, I've decided that I need to start prettifying mine! First up is the Barry M Nail Paint in shade 317 Blue Moon. I thought this would be a gorgeous pastel baby blue, perfect for summer. I also bought Barry M Nail Paint in shade 318 Peach Melba again a lovely pastel shade (I adore pastels right now!) of coral. I also threw in my basket a Barry M All in One Basecoat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener because I don't even own a topcoat polish! Each of these polishes cost £2.99 and can be found in Boots and Superdrug.

Another product which was brought to my attention by beauty blogs is the nail polish brand Essie. I'm aware that they have only recently launched in the UK, so I bounced into Superdrug today like an excited little puppy to see if I could find my most coveted shades (I wanted Mint Candy Apple, Tart Deco and Fiji). Much to my disappointment, my local Superdrug had no Essie stand at all! So I gave up and went to Boots, but I was very pleased to see a brightly lit, gorgeously inviting Essie stand in there. I spied Fiji straight away and as it was the very last bottle, I snapped it up. I decided against buying Mint Candy Apple, as I had already purchased the Barry M blue moon and felt that the shades were quite similar. Tart Deco was sold out, sniff sniff. :( The Essie polishes retail at £7.99. I also quickly popped into TK Maxx and found a little trio of Essie polishes for only £7! Bargain. Although I have no idea what shades they are. After intensive googling, I think the brown is Little Brown Dress, the pearly topcoat is Kisses & Bises, and the amber clear coat I'm still not totally sure on.. But hey, a bargain's a bargain!

Finally, I picked up a Models Own Nail Polish in shade Golden Peach. The golden shimmer of this coral polish caught my eye instantly, and I beelined for it. This cost £5 from Boots, and I'm very excited to try this. I think it'll look ace with a tan!

So, that's my haul and first blog spot conquered in one! I'm very excited to use all of my new products, I think I'll be painting my nails 3 times a day just to use all of my polishes! I'm planning on writing full product reviews for these once I've given them a good trial run.

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think? And most importantly, WHAT SHADE is that clear amber Essie nail polish?! Seriously, I don't even know what it's for!