Straight To The Point

Hi Guys,

I know it’s been a while (again) but I have decided to only blog about items I feel are worth writing about, rather than posting for the sake of a “once a week” post. So this time I have come across something which has made me want to blog literally the next day.

About 10 years ago I got my first pair of GHD’s (still going strong- touch wood). Although they were a lot of money, they were the best around at the time. As technology has moved on many stylers released have caught up with GHD. To be honest I am disappointed that for their price tag they have not come up with anything new or exciting except a range of colours. For a much lower price other brands are coming up with something just as good, sometimes better. I have said it before but I will say it again- it’s not always the brand and you don’t always get what you pay for so do your research before splashing out.

The Remington Pearl Straighteners and Heat mat
£36 from Amazon

These are the Remington Pearl Straighteners. My cousin who lives abroad wanted some new straighteners;  she’s not very high maintenance and asked not to spend too much so I did some research and came across these. They arrived last week, and yesterday I tested them to see if they hold to their gleaming reviews.

The digital display and control settings panel

The Pearl comes with a heat mat which you can also store the straighteners in, the tool itself is a lovely pearl white design with a temperature control setting on the side.  They can go up to 235 degrees (if you are worried it won't be hot enough for your own hair). 

I washed and blow-dried my hair as normal and then used these. I was in a rush, but they heated up quickly with a bleep to let me know they are warm.

I am so used to my GHD’s that it felt slightly weird not to have to grip so tight (these pretty much glide through). I only had to go over my hair once and the results were great. Considering a day out and about in British weather my hair remained straight until evening.

The Results
Please note I never wear my hair dead straight,
I curve in the bottom. 

It is now the next day, I have slept on my hair, and it’s still straight. I rarely get these results even with my GHD’s or a salon blow dry. I have not even had to retouch my hair this morning, even after tying it up to go for a shower and taking it back down.

I am so amazed that I think I will invest in a pair myself; they seem great to take travelling as they adapt internationally and the price tag makes it worth the risk of anything happening to them. If something is to go wrong they also come with a 5 Year guarantee which is a bonus. I have not yet tried them to curl or in another country, but I may do a short follow up post after my holiday and let you all know how I get along with them.

As much as I Iove my GHD’s for been loyal to taming my hair through the years I think that innovation has moved on and in order to keep up they may need to come up with something new, or possibly lower their prices to meet with competitors. My next venture will be the Remington Pearl wand. 

Do you always get what you pay for, or are you paying for the brand? 

K xx

Please feel free to post any skin care tips, products or comments you may have which could benefit others. 

Change- The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Hey Beauty Queens, 

Today I am going to touch on something we have all been through; the phase of being bored of our wardrobes,make up choices, and hair. Sometimes a change is needed but does it always work out for the better, or do we look back and think “why did I do that?” 

I have recently experienced the dilemma every girl faces at one point in their lives- hair boredem. We grow our hair out, cut it off, change the colour, get extensions, cut a fringe, but how often do we think about the after math of the decision? I have spent years trying to lighten my hard to colour hair and the highlighting process became more and more addictive, soon I was the picture I was afraid to be- bleach blonde. It was the transition of going back to dark which was difficult, even after two salon visits the colour repeatedly came through. 

After much google and youtube searching I came across my golden (and less damaging) solution- L’Oreal Casting Creme Gloss. I have only had to use this semi permenant colour once to cover the blonde, and then once more to top up in a scare of the colour fading in the sun. Despite a number of negative reviews I have read, I can not speak highly enough of this dye. As a semi-permenant colour it has kept my hair in much better condition than others, and the colour has been locked in and lasted longer than I antiscipated. As my hair is naturally dark, the fear of my hair going too dark didn’t occur however I have heard this particular dye is not great for lighter hair colours (sorry blondes). 

About a month after being back to black hair, I started craving another change. This time around I thought long and hard of ways to go around this without damaging my hair, or committing to a haircut I might later regret. I came up with the perfect soloution- dip dyed extensions, although they were not easy to come by the search was worth it. 

Purchased from Hairfauxyou.com

I ordered these particular extensions from Hair Faux You, which is an american based company in California. They cost me around £55 with delivery once I had converted the cost, which is much cheaper than a full set of 18 inch hair extensions would cost in the UK- result! It took around two weeks before my product was delivered, however I antisipated this would happen with worldwide delivery at a low price. 

The hair is human hair, which means I can style them to blend in with my own, just what I always look for in hair extensions. Although one pack is quite thin, my hair is naturally fine so it blends in well, for those of you blessed with thick locks two packs might be more sufficient. 

These are slightly fidlier than putting in normal extensions, as the dip dye will blend in with the bottom of your natural hair and show the difference in colours, however I have managed to find a way around this. My trick is to section the bottom half of my hair and pin all of it under (using a hairnet might also be a good idea). I then clip the extensions in as usual above and below the hair which is pinned under. This way none of my black hair shows through the brown dipdye. Voila- nobody knows the difference between your natural hair and the dip dye. 

I love the final look of these extensions, even though it is a high maintenance process to blend the hair in; it is totally worth rocking a new look without committing to any damage. I would love to know your opinion on the following: 

Is committing to a new change worth the end result? 

Please feel free to post any skin care tips, products or comments you may have which could benefit others.