[Review] Kérastase Reflection Chroma Captive Shine Intensifying Hair Masque

Today I'm going to review Kérastase Reflection Chroma Captive Shine Intensifying Masque. My hair is quite dry and is damaged from all the years of dyeing it, bleaching it and from heat styling so I am always on the lookout for a good hair treatment. Over the years I have tried many products which include drugstore brands and specialist brands but the one that I always go back to is Kérastase. I have been buying the "Kérastase Reflection Masque Chroma Riche" for about 1.5 years now and have not looked back, however it has been sold out on Lookfantastic for awhile now so I thought I would try another one of their products. I bought the Shine Intensifying Masque for £19.65. Each 200ml tub is roughly enough for me to use for 3-4 months depending on my usage in the week which is either 1-2 times. This masque is suppose to be for medium-thick sensitized coloured hair, just right for me then.

I love that the shine intensifying masque is
actually a pink product however it does have a
strong perfume smell to it which will not be to everyone's taste. 

After shampooing I will gently wring my hair of excess water and then apply the masque to the ends of my hair, I leave it on for about 2-3 minutes or if I'm going for an intensive treatment I will leave it on for 20-30 minutes (however the weather in the UK right now does not permit me to do so). After washing out the masque my hair felt immediately softer and smoother. The smell also wasn't as overpowering when finishing drying and styling my hair. I wasn't so sure if it made me hair shinier but it definitely made it softer which was what I was looking for. All in all I was quite happy with it although I have to say I prefer "Reflection Masque Chroma Riche" but that may just be because of habit and to me the smell isn't as overpowering as the Shine Intensifying masque. Another thing I like about Kérastase masque's is that they do not leave my hair greasy unlike other brands that I have tried which were either not hydrating enough or so hydrating it left my hair greasy. Available on Amazon.

Rating out of 5:     

Hong Kong 2012

It has been awhile since I last posted on my blog and this will be another quick summary post. First of all I have graduated (and with a 2:1)! Now, had I announced this 3 months earlier my reaction would have been bitter sweet, slightly scared but happy nonetheless however now I am actually feeling kind of sad that I don't have University anymore. That feeling when students went back last week was so weird, for them their holidays were over and it was back to studying but for me life stays still. Needless to say I haven't found a job yet but.. In all honesty I didn't even want to find one straight after finishing my studies. In mid July I went to Hong Kong for 2 weeks with the bestie and that was fun. Here are  a few pictures from the holiday:

At Times Square

Walking in Causeway Bay area

At our first hotel

Our second hotel Cosmo Mongkok :D

Breakfast room service

First night at LKF

There was so many Japanese resturants!

Some of my greentea loves

Langham Place in MK

Last night spent at LKF

I want to go back! I can't even write about my holiday right now, just flicking through the pictures makes me feel down. Coming back from there I had a serious case of holiday blues and it didn't help with reality kicking in straight away. I came home to find my car had a massive dent in it and then my mum told me that I will have to sort out my rent and council tax. What!? I hadn't even started unpacking yet. Anyways the holiday mindset was still in tact and I just spent most of the time clubbing and going out. Now, however the finance makes it difficult and my state of mind won't let me live like a bum forever. Lately I have been getting more overtime at work but in turn this has demotivated me to find a full-time job. It is not that I haven't tried but my heart was not 100% in it. I have had a few interviews but no good news. It certainly doesn't help when friends who have already found a job are forever complaining about how tiring and boring it is. Another friend recently went through 4 stages of the interview to find that she had failed at the 5th stage. 'Perseverance is key' however there is only so much one can take before throwing in the towel. This will definitely, of course, not be the end of it. But I will have to slowly build up my motivation again and confidence to find that damn job! I don't exactly know what it will entail right now.. But believe you me, I shall find it..!

Race for Life

I signed up to do the race for life run for breast cancer and today it finally came! I was so nervous yesterday night, worried even but after finishing the race I felt so proud of myself. I did 5k in 40 minutes, the most I have done on my treadmill is 1.5k! Originally I was just going to do it myself but thankfully I had my friends with me (who signed up seperately) and who motivated me on the run. I didn't quite hit my target goal but it was close enough and I hit my target! I'm thankful for everyone who sponsored me as I know a lot of people were doing this race as well. I got home and my mum asked me, "did you do that for me?", "yes mum", "aww thank you" :)

Michy's 7 days 7 dresses

This is my entry for Fashion Champagne's 7 days 7 dresses competition with New Look, it took awhile but it was actually fun to do. These are the 7 dresses I would wear and where I would wear them. Click on pictures for a better view! :)

Black skater dress - To the cinemas

Lattice floral dress - To the park

Grey floral 2-1 dress - To Uni

Black & white dipped hem dress - To the beach

Little Mistress angel sleeve dress - Clubbing

Zebra print 2-in-1 maxi dress - Night out

White bow back lace dress - Lunch date

[Review] Jurlique Rose Finishing Powder

The Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder was recommended to me by my Auntie who also also has combination-type skin. However my skin leans more towards dry-combination and so these days I concentrate more on moisture-rich creams and leaving my oily t-zone dependant on oil wipes (Clean & Clear oil wipes is one of my essentials) and my MAC oil blotting powder which is the best powder I've used so far but I do still have to blot about 2-3 times a day, therefore I am always looking for better products.

This powder is a natural product and is talc-free. The back of the box reads "A silky translucent facial powder that refines the complexion and helps reduce unwanted shine. Leaves skin fresh and radiant". Now the first time I tried this I used it over make-up and used quite a lot too.. Big mistake! My face ended up being really dry and cakey and I was ready to throw the product away (or rather leave it somewhere collecting dust) but I decided to give it another chance but this time I used it on my face without make-up and I now knew that a little goes a long way. I wore it to my birthday BBQ and I only had to blot once. I used it on my t-zone and it left my skin matte but not cakey. I did use the puff to apply it but a brush would probably be better and you can control the amount better too.

The ingredients

All in all I think it does do what it says, to leave skin shine-free but I think it would be more suitable for oily-type skin or oily-combination type skin as this was too drying for me. Not being able to use it after make-up is quite useless to me but I will still use it when I'm at home or just going to visit family. RRP is £24.50 which is quite pricey but my Auntie had a 20% discount voucher.

Rating out of 5:

The Big 2-1!

Birthday cake

It was my 21st birthday on Saturday! On the Tuesday I had celebrated with family and a BBQ, and luckily the weather was still hot! But wait... If my birthday was on Saturday why did I celebrate on Tuesday?... That is because I have work on Saturdays :( So officially my 21st was spent working, however I finish at 8:15pm so I planned on going clubbing after. I just told my friends to go pre-drinks themselves and then I'll meet them in the club. Luckily 2 of my close friends are also my work-mates so I went with them to the club and one of them is on a diet so she wasn't going to drink and could drive there, however as a result of waiting for her to arrive at my house I spent the last few minutes before midnight having my friend V.P singing happy birthday to me in the back of the car and having L.L running around like a headless chicken in the car park, in the rain looking for change for the parking fees. Hmm it sounds quite lame but these memories made it quite memorable to me lol. Anyway as you expect when you're meeting friends at the club and when they have already drank it can be quite messy therefore I have not got a group photo but rather a collection of toilet pictures and blurry club photos, some friends I couldn't even catch. Ah. All in all it was a good night for me, free entry, free drinks and a night out with my friends? :) Even though the event was not as live as I thought it would be, possibly because it was absolutely pouring outside, but I had a good time.

Got home from work to find a lovely surprise left by G.C.

Me and V.P usual camwhoring :p Before going out

With V.P and L.L

With S.H and G.C

x

[Review] Vichy Laboratoires 3in1 Calming Cleansing Solution Review

Today I will be reviewing Vichy's 3 in 1 calming cleansing solution or what I just like to call my make-up cleanser. The bottle says it is suitable for sensitive skin and eyes and the 3 properties is that it 1. Cleanses; 2. Removes make-up; and 3. Soothes. It is a very watery solution but I absolutely love it! First of all it takes off all my make-up leaving my face feeling fresh without drying my skin and irritating it. If anything my face actually looks softer after using the cleanser. I use this before my actual face cleanser and this is currently my 2nd bottle.

Ingredients: Aqua, Hexylene Glycol, Glycerin, Poloxamer 184, Rosa Gallica, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Disodium Edta, Propylene, Glycol, Panthenol, Dihydrocholeth-30, Polyaminopropyl Biguanide, Parfum.

The only downside and the reason why I switched make-up cleansers is because you have to use cotton pads with such solutions and everytime I take off my make-up I use about 3 cotton pads each time (for my eyes I use simple eye make-up remover), and the bottle itself costs £10.50 in Boots however after experimenting I have come back to Vichy. My last make-up remover was Shu Uemura's Cleansing Oil and though it was absolutely brilliant at removing make-up, I found that even the one for dry skin was too drying for my face and so the costs work about the same. All in all I would definitely recommend this for combination/dry skin types and Boots is having a 3 for 2 offer across all skincare right now!

Rating out of 5:

[Review] My Beauty Diary Mask

I finally decided to go and try the much raved about "My Beauty Diary" masks and purchased the "Sweet Girl" set from Sasa which contained 3 different type masks for only around £16:

1. Chocolate Truffle Masks x8 - Moisture and soften
2. Aloe Vera x7 - Hydration and nourishment
3. Bird's Nest x7 - Whitens, nourishes and renew

I absolutely love sheet masks and you don't have to wash off the product afterwards, I just use a cotton pad and dab the excess product and then use my usual night cream which is Yanwaili's Anti-Blemish Brightening Cream. Usually I don't use cream after doing a mask but my skin is suffering from dryness at the moment (I have combination skin).

Okay so the first one I tried was the Aloe Vera one and it was okay, I left it on for 20 minutes and my skin was hydrated but the morning after I didn't really see much difference. However the next one I tried was the Chocolate Truffle mask and it smells heavenly! I thought it might be a brown mask but inside it was a clear white gel, I only left it on for 15 minutes (I'm ill and I had to blow my nose T_T) but my skin looked and felt so soft afterwards. I have yet to try the Bird's Nest one but it sounds promising! My skin can be quite sensitive and it goes red really easily but these products didn't irritate me. I just recommended this set to a friend who wanted to try My Beauty Diary.

Update: I've tried all 3 and they are okay but they are not my favourite masks to use. Your skin does feel moisturised after but the effect doesn't last the next morning. However I think that for the price its a good as it will get.

Rating out of 5: