Hair tips

Happy Sunday to all! It's been too long since we've shared anything here, so I'd like to write a part 2 to my previous post about Taking care of your hair.

This is a follow up to updAte you on the effectiveness of the products after a long period. So in that previous post I was using L'occitane's volumising shampoo, And it has been about 3 months now. The effects of the shampoo is, in all honesty, really terrible for my hair!

It was over drying my hair that it became so hard and stiff. I was using the Moroccan hair oil treatment with it at the time ( also seen in the previous post), which was the only thing that made it soft and bearable. But I had to use it everyday in order to save my hair, even skipping it a day will result in a big unruly stiffened mess on my head, because of this shampoo. However I do have to say that I think it is helping with the volumising effect, as it promises. My hair does feel fuller, but it was giving more texture in them rather than more hair growth - I guess that's why it was so stiff.

And this is where Organix repairing awapuhi ginger conditioner comes in! I got it after I finished the Moroccan oil treatment, and I must say this conditioner is far more effective! And it really does leave my hair silky soft and luscious even after shampooing with the volumising shampoo! 

I definitely feel better about my hair now. If you asked me if I'd get L'occitane's shampoo again, I might if I'm going to use this conditioner, but I think I'm more likely to try out the other organic products instead.

Hair Tips:

1. Trim your hair at least 1-2 inches after every 3 months, if every 6 months trim at least 3 inches. This gets rid of the dead ends and let's the new hair grow out healthier without the frizzy split ends

2. If you follow my steps of hair care, here is what I do daily: shampoo, condition in shower - leave it on for 5 mins so do a scrub down while you leave it in. Then after shower, towel dry hair, and when its still slightly damp, slather on organix vanilla silk serum (seen in previous post). Blow dry, then slather on more of the serum - the first application was to protect hair from the hair dryer, then the second application is to keep it moisturised, this should be done even when using curling iron too.

3. Never colour or bleach hair! This is the worst thing you can do to your hair and scalp!

4. If you can afford it or have time for it, do a hair mask or treatment for your hair at least twice a month. At a salon or even a home one with a drugstore product is good enough.

Hope this helps you to a better hair day!

Cheers,

E.L.

Taking Care of your Hair

If you have been following our blog, you would know that I've tried dyeing my hair about a year ago due to greys, and as much as I liked the idea that I can cover my age, and my reviews on the hair dyes still stands - I regret dyeing my hair!

The chemicals in hair dyes are terrible for your hair and scalp! And honestly I'd really rather have my greys than what the dyes did to it! So until I explore natural hair remedies to cover greys - that are not harmful to hair or scalp - I have been trying all ways to recover the softness in my hair.

I am all about departmental brands or herbal natural remedies when it comes to beauty aids - mostly because I cannot afford the luxurious brands or facials every month etc. If you can then great for you! Go do that because yes it is true, money can really buy you better skin, better hair, better health and better everything!

So for the middle class folks like me, we have to experiment... and I did. So here is the best result thus far in repairing my damaged hair.

My Hair 2 months ago-

Ok bad photo, but good enough to see how frizzy and split my hair was... you can see the ends of my hair are now brown as it gets that way after the chemicals in your hair dyes are stripped over the months of washing.. 

At this point, I was using Dove intense repair series. It was wonderful when I used it before dyeing my hair.. but after, not so much. Considering that the intense repair series is supposed to help hair that are damaged by chemicals, it did not really help. 

So I tried getting a hair trim at my neighbourhood saloon - bad move! The silly scissors that is half-comb and half-blade that is used for thinning the hair [to get the layered effect] is really bad, it gives split ends! And that was what the saloon used and I ended up with plenty of split ends... But still workable.

I then decided to bite the bullet a little, and bought Organix hair products. I've always seen this brand on the shelves, and for frugal people like me, this is much higher priced than most other products in a pharmacy. But I was desperate, so I got the Moroccan Argan Oil leave on conditioner and Vanilla Silk Serum at about $15 each. I also ventured a little further for my pockets, I went to L'occitane and bought the Volumising shampoo.

Ok firstly, I wouldn't suggest the L'occitane shampoo to everyone, I got it on impulse and got sucked in by the store's warm and sweet smelling and dreamy marketing strategies. It's really expensive considering it's only a 500ml bottle of shampoo [that's gonna end up down the drain anyway] at $53. But I do like the idea that it's supposed to be for volumising, because I have very thin hair, and have quite bad hair fall.

I liked this collection as they are all organic products, and I'm quite conscious these days about Parabens - especially after using Korres [no parabens in Korres products is the biggest selling point - ok to digress a bit.. Parabens is an ingredient in plenty of beauty products that has been causing some controversy as research has shown that breast cancer cells have shown a presence of Paraben in them - although no solid proof has linked that the ingredient of Paraben in beauty products are the cause of breast cancer.., but then again, if you can avoid it, why not right?] So none of these contains Parabens, and the all natural and organic oils etc sounds all so delicious for my hair!

So my routine is - Shampoo, leave on the conditioner, towel dry hair and apply serum to hair. The bottle for the conditioner says for ultimate effects, apply conditioner then wrap in warm towel - but I'm too lazy. I started doing the conditioner like once in 2 weeks, and the serum after every shower. But these past couple of weeks I've been doing it every evening.

Hair now-

Okok bad photo, I just took it while in the office... but hey even so, you can see the difference! I can feel the difference too! My hair is back to it's softness from before the hair dyes! And it's far less tangly too! 

I find that the one product that made the biggest difference was the Moroccan Argan Oil conditioner. It really left hair so soft and silky. The serum is pretty good too, just that if applied to completely dry hair, it gets really sticky and heavy - so don't use too much of it. The Shampoo is good too, but it doesn't lather as much, of course considering that it is supposed to be mostly natural ingredients - its volumising effect has yet to show much results but who knows, maybe in a couple months!

Cheers,

E.L.

p.s. see my follow up on these products here

Korres - Beauty products

Korres' values are about using natural Greek herbs to make up at least 80% of their beauty products. Basically stressing the fact that they are trying to use less of artificial, chemicals that can be harmful to our bodies. You can learn more about their research and motives for their all natural products here.

Before S.T. left the company, she worked with Korres on a marketing tie-up, which resulted in Korres giving us a ton of complimentary samples and cash vouchers for our staff. Awesome!

The samples includes a White Tea Facial Cleanser, Thyme Honey Mask, Showergel Basil Lemon, and Shampoo Aloe and Soapwort.

I've tried the samples and was in all honesty not very impressed with the products.

The White Tea Facial Cleanser was really nothing special, it wasn't drying as the product promises, but it didn't really leave my skin spectacularly soft either. To be honest, it did not lather so well, and at the end I felt like it did not clean as much as it should. So I used more of it, then it felt cleaner. But I washed my face again right after with my Simple facial cleanser. I felt it wasn't spectacular but did its job moderately, and felt my Simple Facial cleanser was actually better.

The Showergel Basil Lemon was also quite average. The smell was nice, and it did lather better than the face cleanser, but overall my skin wasn't buzzing with excitement. I think I felt softer and smoother after the first time I tried my Netrogena Rainbath..

The Shampoo Aloe and Soapwort was actually a disappointment. It did not leave my hair silky and soft at all.. it wasn't drying either, but it just felt like it did the basic minimum of cleaning with some lingering smells of freshness. To be honest my hair is shinier, softer and silkier using my Dove Intense Repair shampoo.

The Thyme Honey Mask was good. I tried it on my arm, it felt more like a moisturiser than a mask. It's supposed to be applied thickly all over the face and left on for like 10-15 mins than rinse - I think - but I wiped mine off and it feels like the softness retained better. Skin did feel softer and moisturised, just that the smell can be quite off putting to those sensitive to weird smells.

All their "soapy" products claim to be "Formulated with vegetable-derived soap substitutes—deeply cleanses and refreshes without dehydrating the skin." And products also claims to be Paraben free - Paraben is a common chemical used as preservatives in beauty products, it became a controversial product when it was found that paraben is present in breast cancer tumors. So I guess for that fact alone, it is quite a good factor to be a Korres convert - but just to note that it is not proven that Paraben is a cause for cancer - not link has ever been found.


I may not be tooting Korres effectiveness in its beauty outcome, but I will give them credit for pulling off the all natural products with their not-horrid results. I guess I had high expectations, considering that they do charge alot of money for their products, with facial creams at $90 over - I thought they would blow me away at their results. But I guess being limited with their all natural ingredients it is rather hard to pull off miracles. After all beauty these days do not come naturally...

I may not have found their showergels and shampoos much to toot about.. but I do have to say their Multi-Vitamin compact powder is really making me contemplate converting from Chanel forever!

 It is apparently loaded with Vitamin C and E, so good for skin, and it has this new skin mimetic ingredient which [I guess] mimics your complexion to have a more natural coverage. It's for oily skin as it is mattifying - I have a problematic T-Zone so I feel this helps! And actually I'm in love with how light-weight it is and how natural it looks! Of course it has no Paraben and artificial dyes or fragrances - so it treats your skin well.

I have not found a compact powder that can compete with Chanel's which are always flawless, but this one can be quite a competitor as it has all its goodness as a factor. Of course Chanel's Natural matte powders or their Lumiere collection is flawless - it literally feels like silk on the skin and so light but full natural coverage. Well... for the price of Korres MVpowder which is $61, it feels more worth it to buy Chanel's refills which are at $60. I got Korres this time round as I had the cash vouchers. So in all fairness, if I did have to purchase a full priced one, I will still go back to Chanel.

Hope this helps you make your decision on Korres!

Cheers,
E.L.

Simple & Elegant hairdo ~ E.L.

I've been doing this hairstyle ever since I caught one of my friends doing it in the exam hall, I was sitting behind her during the paper and she did the whole hairdo in 2 seconds even without anything to secure it in place! I was so impressed!

So now I'm sharing it with you here, unlike my friend's hair, it does need a hair-tie rubber band to secure it in place. It's so easy and quick to do this! And it works for hair at my length and longer, for straight or curly, thick or thin hair.

This is a great hair-do if you're having a bad hair day, it can quickly give you a neat look. If you want to use it for a special occasion you can jazz it up with fancy pins or even a hairband.

So I used only a single hair-tie rubber band and it stays in place, but if you find your hair slipping out, you can always use bobby pins that are the same colour as your hair to hold it in place.

Have fun!

Cheers,
E.L.

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Chanel Inimitable Mascara

By far the best mascara I've ever used, it does exactly as it claims to! (Unlike a lot of other brands that keeps tooting that their so-called revolutionary formula will curl and hold lashes they still fail.) This mascara not only curls, it lengthens, volumizes, separates AND holds lashes in place throughout the day. Of course for greater impact use eyelash curler before applying and it will give you the biggest baby-doll eyes you'd never thought possible. It's also extremely waterproof and smudgeproof - actually so much so that I recommend a good dose of eye make-up remover at the end of the day.

It may be quite pricey compared to other retail brands, but so worth it considering the fact that it stretches my very sparse lashes beyond its limits. Well, it isn't as though the retail brands are that cheap either these days anyway....

Cheers,
E.L.