As you probably know if you watched my ‘What I Got For Christmas‘ video. John very kindly got me a L’Oréal Steampod for Christmas.
I say it all the time, hair is not my forte. I’m lucky enough that I have a decent mop on my head, so I don’t always think too much about it. I can straighten and curl it and that’s about as fancy as I get. I have quite the chubby face, so I wear it down most of the time, it’s kind of my comfort blanket. My previous straighteners was a GHD (that was around eleven years old). So a new one was definitely overdue.
After doing some research and listening to some of my awesome blogging buddies, the L’Oréal Steampod was decided on. I got the second generation one.
‘The Steampod 2.0is a revolutionary hairstyling tool from L’Oreal. A combination of steam and pro-keratin technology helps to tame hair movement and leave it silky smooth, whilst protecting from heat damage’, according to L’Oréal.
There’s loads of videos and blogposts already on it. But I thought I would throw my opinion into the mix. And also give a very basic demo of it on my hair. I have a lot of hair, but it is quite fine and it tends to get limp very quickly. As always you can watch the demo and hear my thoughts by clicking on the video above. Or, you can click here to go directly to my YouTube channel.
John got my L’Oréal Steampod directly from Peter Mark salon here in Dublin. I believe it was Liffey Valley. It’s generally cheaper online though. I found it on Look Fantastic here for the best price.
Let me know what you think. Have you tried the Steampod yourself? What’s your favourite hair tool or product?
First up, how pretty is the rose gold packaging on the new Flormar Triple Action Mascara?
I have to be pathetically honest, this would nearly push me to buy it…don’t tell anyone I said that 🙂
I very luckily got given the new Flormar Triple Action Mascara at the Irish Beauty Show this year. The Flormar stand was mobbed but I managed to squeeze myself in 🙂
The mascara itself has an adjustable plastic wand, which is an interesting concept. In theory, you get three types of mascara in just one tube. The packaging itself is sturdy and easy to manoeuvre. The wand manipulates without too much persuasion. You just twist the top of the lid for your desired shape. According to Flormar it also contains Argan oil to help condition your lashes.
There are three settings.
Lengthening.
This is the wand in it’s full capacity.
Here are my lashes before application with no curling.
Then the Triple Action Mascara applied with the lengthening wand.
The setting for the curling spooley is one twist away.
You can see the shape of the wand has more of a twitsted centre.
Again, here are my natural (boring) lashes.
Then the Flormar Triple Action mascara applied with the curling wand.
You can see there is a slight difference in how the different spooleys deposit the mascara. The left is the lengthening and the right is the curling.
And the final twist on the top will give you the volume wand. The wand is twisted completely now.
Here are lashes with no product on them.
And here is the Flormar Triple Action Mascara applied with the voluminous adding wand.
I am a die hard waterproof mascara junkie. I have straight and not very long lashes.
For me the Flormar Triple Action Mascara is ok. If I curl my lashes it’s good. It has a wet formula, so you can build up the layers and it doesn’t clump too much. It didn’t flake on me either which is another plus. The changeable wand is a novel idea, and does change the way the mascara applies to your lashes. I think my favourite version of the wand is the lengthening, that gave me the most oomph.
Have you tried it? I’d love to know what you think.
The Flormar Triple Action Mascara can be found in all of the Flormar stockists around the country and you. If you head to their website here, it should have a list of stockists. It will set you back €9.95.
If you don’t follow me on social media, firstly eh why? 🙂 and secondly you won’t have seen that I took the chop with my hair this week. I decided to go to Lisa in Zinc Hair and Beauty because I had heard such great things about her. I can attest to that and say I had a really great experience there and I would definitely recommend them! I was happy to find out my hair is in pretty good shape too, so it sparked the idea to talk about my current hair care favourites in a blog post 🙂
I am by no means an expert on hair care, these are just the products I am using at the minute and seem to be working for me. I have alot of hair, although the hair itself is quite fine. I also get oily roots really quickly so products can weigh my hair down and make it look flat and greasy. I have to be careful.
First up is my shampoo and conditioner.
These are from the Joico Body Luxe Range. I got sent these at Christmas and only got around to using them in the last few weeks. I have really been liking them. These are designed for fullness and volume. I usually wash my hair twice with the shampoo and then add a little conditioner to the ends while finishing off the rest of my shower routine. My hair feels lovely and soft after using them and not at all weighed down.
After washing and to add a bit more conditioning…because I can’t get enough of it 🙂 I’ve been using the Mane n’ Tail Olive Oil Complex Spray Therapy.
This is for shine, detangling and it’s a heat protector, score!
My hair comes out by the bucket load, honestly I shed like a dog, so something like this is great. I apply a layer to my towel dried hair and then use my trusty Wet Brush (I actually have a full review of this here).
This combo seems to give me the less amount of breakage, it doesn’t tug on any knots and I’ve definitely noticed less hair in the brush afterwards.
If I know I am going to be washing my hair early in the morning or early in the day, I love to do a conditioning treatment the night before. I call it a treatment, I literally mean put loads of conditioner into my hair and pin it up when I’m going to bed 🙂
The last few months, I have been using the Alfaparf Precious Nature Leave In Spray. I spoke about doing this on my Snapchat a while back. I love giving mini reviews over there. My username is ‘Beautynook’.
It’s a leave in conditioner so it doesn’t make my hair hard and unmoveable when going to sleep. You know when you put a conditioning treatment in and then your hair is like a rock so it’s super uncomfortable? If I’m super fancy, I’ll even apply some, then throw a towel into the microwave for a couple of seconds to heat it up and then put my hair into it, the heat helps the conditioner on it’s way and your hair feels extra awesome then when you wash it! The Precious Nature Leave In Spray is made specifically for coloured hair. It’s also sulphate and paraben free.
The last thing I wanted to mention is this Joico Hair Shaker.
This is a liquid to powder texturising spray. Now I know texturising sprays don’t make your hair feel particularly nice, but if you’re looking for extra volume, they are a fab addition to your hair care collection. I don’t like backcombing my hair if I can help it, it’s so bad for the condition of it and it makes my hair fuzzy. The Hair Shaker is cool because it applies to your hair as a liquid, so you can move your hair freely into your desired style. For me that’s pretty much straight or wavy I’m low maintenance ha, and then the Hair Shaker dries to a powder finish to hold the volume you created in place. I’ve used hair powders in the past and they are just messy and leave your hair looking dull because the powder is white. Charles Worthington do a texturising spray that I love too and you can buy in Boots.
There you have it. All the hair care products I have been truly using and loving over the last couple of months. I would have included dry shampoo in this too, but the one I’m using has been discontinued…devo!
Sometimes I forget that most people aren’t as obsessed with makeup and beauty products as much as me.I assume that everyone knows all the little tips and tricks that I’ve picked up along the way being a self confessed beauty addict.
This is not always the case, so I’ve set up a new little section to Beautynook called Beautynook Tips (unique name I know 🙂 I just want to keep it simple. Some of it may be common knowledge, some of it may not be, let’s just see where the wind takes us 🙂
So my first Beautynook Tip is going to be How To Keep Your Eyelashes Curled All Day.
I myself have pretty straight boring lashes, nothing to brag about or be proud of, so on a day to day basis I always put a little extra effort in to make them look a bit more full and curled.
Here are my lashes with no product on them:
Pretty bog standard right?
First up I like to give my lashes a really good curl.
I have used so many different types of lash curlers over the years. Some cheap, some not so cheap and my favourite by far have to be the Shu Uemura ones.
Not the most affordable, they will set you back around 20 euro, but whatever way they are shaped they just do a really good job at getting into the base of the lashes and doing the job well. When curling your lashes try to get as close to the base as possible (without hurting yourself of course). When you have all your lashes in the curlers, tilt it upwards slightly to help with the curling. Give the curlers a good few squeezes while you have them clamped on your lashes and hold them in place for a good 20 seconds or so to get the full benefit.
If you find your lashes won’t take a curl particularly well, try heating you lash curlers gently with a hair dryer. Give them a blast for about 5-10 seconds, you don’t want to get them too hot, but if they are heated slightly that will help with the process.
So eyelashes curled…check.
You can see that makes a huge difference already right?
Personally for me, most of the time, I find normal mascaras don’t cut the mustard when it comes to holding the curl in place all day long. This is a personal preference but I tend to go for waterproof formulas. I think as a general rule they hold a curl better and they don’t transfer onto my oily skin. At the minute I am using the Maybelline The Rocket Volum’ Express Waterproof, and I really like it.
I am not too particular about mascaras. If it does the job well, I will use any brand or price point. I am always on the look out for recommendations though so if you have one that you love be sure to let me know 🙂
When it comes to applying mascara I have found that applying from the base of your lashes, and wiggling the wand up to the tip is the best way to apply it. Use the bristles at the end of the wand to get into your outer lashes and fan them out for a more voluminous look. It applies product to every lash while helping to lift them into place before the mascara sets. I know waterproof mascara is more difficult to get off, but if you have trouble keeping a curl in your lashes, give it a go and I promise it will help. Just use an oil when cleaning and it will come off without too much trouble.
So mascara is added to the top lashes.
Ok this step might be a bit over the top. I use a different mascara for my bottom lashes. I know I know how high maintenance of me 🙂
I use the Mac Extended Play Lash mascara on my bottom lashes exclusively for a couple of reasons.
One it doesn’t budge and my bottom lashes notoriously smudge. I don’t find it very beneficial for my top lashes it’s not volume enhancing enough for me.
Also the wand it small and dinky.
You can get in to separate and coat all your little bottom lash hairs easier than with a big giant spooley like the one on the Maybelline mascara. I love having mascara on my bottom lashes I feel it opens your eyes and make you look more awake.
Bottom lashes done.
So lashes are done, but we can do one more step to make our lashes look a little fuller. Tight lining your upper water line really helps darken up your lash line and make your lashes look more voluminous. It’s not hugely noticeable here but I promise it helps. I will be honest and say it doesn’t feel very pleasant when you do it, but after a while you get used to it 🙂 Of course use a waterproof formula eye kohl or gel as you want it to stay put for as long as possible.
I tend to tight line my bottom water line too most days, I personally just feel I look a bit better with it done, so I’ll show you the finished look below.
There you have it, my first installment of Beautynook Tips. It seems like a lot of steps but I reckon I can knock this out in about 5 minutes now and once the mascara is on, it doesn’t budge until you take it off. These are tried and tested products.
If you have any tips or tricks you want to share be sure to add them in the comments below. If you have anything else you would like me to cover, let me know too.
Thanks for reading as always and have a great day 🙂
https://i2.wp.com/beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Tip-Top-Lashes-All-Day-Long-17.jpg?fit=1600%2C1168&ssl=111681600Gemhttps://beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Logo.pngGem2015-07-02 14:45:002016-04-14 13:47:24How To Keep Your Eyelashes Curled All Day
You might have noticed I don’t get negative very often here on Beautynook. I try talk about things I like and feel positive about usually because that’s how I like to do it. Every so often something crosses your path though and you can’t keep the béal shut. The TRESemmé Keratin Treatment 7 Day Smooth is that for me.
I had high hopes for this product. I picked it up excitedly in Boots, brought it home and washed my hair straight away. It claims to leave you with salon smooth hair with less frizz and more manageability (who wouldn’t want that!).You apply 8-10 pumps on medium length towel dried hair, without putting it on your scalp and comb it through. It has a cream like texture so it’s just like putting conditioner in your hair.
Next, you blow dry your hair until it’s completely dry.Then the instructions say to activate the thermal technology, straighten your hair in small sections, using a hair straightener at its highest setting. You need to repeat the process 3-5 times over each section. I can say honestly I abided by the instructions wholeheartedly.
So when you’re finished drying and straightening your hair of course it’s smooth and straight, you spent a long time straightening it, good stuff! However this stuff is meant to make this look last for up to four washes with minimal styling. When I bought the TRESemmé Keratin Treatment 7 Day Smooth, I bought it because lets face it I wanted less hair frizz but also with also with my blogger hat on. I thought it would be such a cool thing to recommend to people. I had plans on taking pics of my long fabulous locks and saying, you can get this too, but honestly this stuff did nothing for me whatsoever, taking a picture of my hair would be a complete waste of time.
I wash my hair every couple of days, so after a couple of days of putting on the treatment I washed it again. I have naturally straight full hair so I was not expecting anything amazing. I do get frizz at the crown of my head so I really expected this to be at least minimized…nothing.
I gave it to the mammy, made her stick to the regime and watched closely as she abided by all the instructions, left her for a few days, she washed her hair as normal and let it dry as she normally does. She has finer, shorter hair than me with more frizz. Her hair did not look any different, she handed it back to me and said “this stuff is shite”! (apologies for the language) :p
I hate being negative, but I felt it necessary with this product as it claims to do alot.
Have you tried it, or anything similar that actually works? Be sure to share it with everyone, don’t be shy 🙂
https://i1.wp.com/beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/irish-beauty-blog.jpg?fit=1449%2C1600&ssl=116001449Gemhttps://beautynook.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Logo.pngGem2014-07-09 13:09:152016-01-26 16:05:56TRESemmé Keratin Treatment 7 Day Smooth-Not So Smooth
As you probably know if you watched my ‘What I Got For Christmas‘ video. John very kindly got me a L’Oréal Steampod for Christmas.
I say it all the time, hair is not my forte. I’m lucky enough that I have a decent mop on my head, so I don’t always think too much about it. I can straighten and curl it and that’s about as fancy as I get. I have quite the chubby face, so I wear it down most of the time, it’s kind of my comfort blanket. My previous straighteners was a GHD (that was around eleven years old). So a new one was definitely overdue.
Then the instructions say to activate the thermal technology, straighten your hair in small sections, using a hair straightener at its highest setting. You need to repeat the process 3-5 times over each section. I can say honestly I abided by the instructions wholeheartedly.