4 Must-Have Hot Hair Tools

Best Blow Dryer

For years I believed all hair dryers were much the same, however, I’m first to hold my hands up and say, I was wrong! So very wrong.

The Paul Mitchell Express Ion Dry V.2 dries hair up to 60% quicker. Though it’s big, it’s very light weight  and left my hair far shinier than usual.

Best tight curler

Ginalli Milano  19mm ( 3/4″ ) cilindrico clipless curling iron was a huge hit in Paris as it took home the GrandPrix Award as the most innovating iron. 

You will be amazed at how fast you can create a spiral up-do, or flowing curls with this 3/4″ inch barrel.  It takes a little practice to get use to it and gives a renewed appreciation for the protective glove which comes with this product. Available from Amazon.com

3 Barrel Waver

How many of you out there have heard of the triple barrel curling iron?  Or, as some refer to it as the triple barrel waver, 3 barrel waver, and triple barrel curling iron.  Whatever you refer to it as, it is a most unusual curling iron that does a fantastic job at creating what is better known as the “S” wave.

The O by Cloud Nine heated rollers

Love this new innovative product, which really does allow you to quickly create a big hair a la Cheryl Cole and is so simple to use. The rollers hold the heat well and the effects lasted throughout the day.

Buy from http://www.the0.co.uk/

2011 Spring/Summer Trends: Bright Makeup

Love how this most eye-popping shades are made wearable due to the refined application tricks. Can wait to try this out!

Lips are equally dramatic

MAC’s PeaCocky range which launched in February has everything you’ll be looking for to pull off the 2011 trends.

A manicure that lasted longer than my last relationship (14 days!)

It won’t let you down. Break its promise  or fade after the delight of your initial introduction. With Shellac nail colour, it keeps its promise, ensuring your manicure lasts for 14 days.

In a time of recession, many women are going the DIY route with their nails. Who wants to spend €30 or more on a manicure that chips after two days?  Or have you ever gotten a manicure and then reached for your keys and ruined it?  This is why I’m completely smitten with Shellac, the manicure that requires no drying time and lasts two weeks with no issues whatsoever, but can only be done in a salon as it requires a special UV lamp for drying.

Shellac is fret-free and convenient.  Shellac paints on just like a regular polish using specially formulated base coat, two layers of color, and top coat. After each coat of polish is applied, you put your hand under the timed lamp while the other hand is being painted. As soon as the manicurist is done with your nails, you can dig into your purse for your keys without any concern of smudging or chipping. They are 100 percent dry in the same time it takes for a normal manicure.

I tried scratching at my nails, and even rubbing them along a brick wall–the polish stays put with a gorgeous, shiny finish. Expect your nails to look exactly like this for two weeks. Mine endured sinks full of dishes, harsh cleaning chemicals, and many hours of typing for 16 whole days.

Removing the polish is equally innovative. Try as you might, normal nail polish remover will not do the trick. This stuff is strong. You must return to the salon, and after 10 minutes under CND’s remover wraps your lacquer will literally glide off. These fun little stickers keep acetone concentrated over the nail, so chemicals won’t bother your skin. There is no rubbing and no sticky polish with cotton sticking to it, plus your hands are free to read a magazine while you wait. Your manicure will come off immediately after 10 minutes.

Click HERE for a list of Irish salons.

Nars helps us brighten up the Valentines blues.

For Spring’s bright, playful look, Nars introduces a Tainted Love limited-edition gift set.

The Tainted Love set contains:
Angelika Lip Gloss
Angelika Multiple
Schiap Nail Polish.

In true NARS fashion, the set is housed in vibrant packaging that makes them as exciting on the outside as they are on the inside.

Angelka is a cotton candy hue with gold particles – *lust*.

 

Are sulphate shampoos causing your hair loss? Why I’m saying Yes To Carrots!

I’m constantly searching for hair products that do not contain sulfates or silicon. My reasons are as follows:

Sulfates, which are very common in shampoo and skin care products, strip your hair (or skin) of natural oils causing it to dry out. In fact, they even aggravate the problem of hair loss. And silicone shampoos or conditioners can weigh your hair down and make it look flat and greasy, especially if you’ve naturally curly hair.

Sometimes with natural shampoos and conditioners you only get a day or so out of your hair before you need to wash it again, however when I used Yes To Carrots Nourishing Carrot Shampoo I found I got up to four days (I know, I’m scummy, but believe me with hair as long as mine you don’t want wash it every other day.) I apply the shampoo, massage my scalp and leave it there for a couple of more minutes almost like a mask for my scalp.

I also use the conditioner from this line which I adore, though it might be a little light for my very thick hair, or perhaps I should leave it on for longer.

Overall I’ve been so impressed with this line that I’ve repurchased their body wash twice and image I will purchase it again. The smell is absolutely gorgeous, one of the nicest, cleanest scents I’ve ever come across.

Yes to Carrots Eye and Makeup Remover is next on my ‘wish list’!

To buy try amazon or click here for Irish retailers

The Ugly Truth Vibram FiveFingers Workout Shoes

When it comes to working out, you’ll endure all sorts of humiliation to reach your goals. (See: pole dancing on a Power Plate.)

Confidence, meet your match. Vibram FiveFingers, new fitness shoes with space for each toe (like gloves for the feet), are about as sexy as tractor tyres.

Engineered for running, walking and yoga, the shoes act like a second skin, with thin, flexible rubber soles that grip any surface. They’re lined with stretch polymade fabric and require no socks.

The benefits are similar to reflexology: they stimulate acupressure points (aiding ailments like fatigue, poor digestion and muscle tension), strengthen muscles and improve balance, agility and posture.

What’s more, they help you run faster. Minimizing the time you can be spotted wearing them.

Available from www.amazon.co.uk

Daily Candy.

Two weeks’ notice. Lash Lab’s New Semipermanent Mascara Treatment

Along with an empty bank account and perpetual hangover, smudged lashes are a holiday inevitability like crying during A Charlie Brown Christmas, sweating off a sugar cookie binge, etc.

Since the pain of removing waterproof makeup turns you into a Grinch, simplify your routine with Lash Lab’s new semipermanent mascara treatment — it stays on a full two weeks.

Technicians mix the treatment to order, and a variety of wand thicknesses means you can decide between naturally blessed and Twiggy-thick. They even curl your hairs pretreatment. After just 30 minutes, you’ll have budge-proof eye makeup that will make you look wide-eyed and fresh during even your most cringe-worthy shenanigans.

Unleash the tears of joy.

This post first appeared on Daily Candy.

If you think Blondes have more fun it’s only because you’ve never been a Redhead.

Throughout history, redheads have been feared and revered, loathed and adored, degraded and exalted. It’s one hair colour which provokes such a definite response.

For many years I hated being a redhead. As a child I would search the shelves in toy stores for a doll with my hair colour, to no avail. As a teenager I’d flick through Vogue and Elle in search of a runway model with red hair. Neither were there any redheaded newsreaders, celebrities or movie stars. It was as if red hair was still seen as something ugly, something which people didn’t want to see or emulate.

And then in the late eighties Pretty Woman and Julia Roberts came along, at last, someone with red hair who was deemed beautiful. I wanted to be just like her (albeit not a hooker). So I permed my hair, bought knee-length boots and waited for my Richard Gere.

Yet it was the 90s before I saw red-haired dolls in the shops, and even today they’re still uncommon.

Redheaded Barbie

However, there are many beautiful redheads who are now celebrated and adored, from Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks and to natural redheads like Juliane Moore and Debra Messing who never faltered from their roots…

And those we wish had stayed red, like Lindsay Lohan…

…to new flaming redheads like Rihanna.

We’re slowly beginning to realise that what makes us different is what makes us beautiful.

Becoming a redhead has never been easier as at last there’s an incredible range to choose from, I’m particularly excited by John Frieda Precision Foam Colour, a new range which offers an extensive colour chart of reds.

Detailed review of this new ‘easy to use product’ which promises ‘salon results’ to follow in the coming weeks.

Voya – helping us start the day over.

You know how sometimes changing your outfit can make you feel better. There’s nothing like a pink tulle skirt to lift my spirits. Or my wanna-be cashmere jumper with the red heart. Or a pair of shoes so gloriously high they almost tilt me over the edge I’m already teetering on.

In the same way the perfect yin to the yang of a bad day (and today was one of those days) is to shed my skin, or at least the top layer. It almost feels like starting over. Washing away the day. Hence, I’m a big fan of exfoliators.

For my face I have long favoured chemical exfoliators (such as skin brighteners containing salicylic acid), and for my body I’ve use various physical exfoliators (including exfoliating gloves, towels and scrubs). These products help shed old dead cells leaving skin dewy and smooth. Or at least that’s the idea.

However, of late, I’ve found the physical exfoliator I was using left my skin dry, so I’d reduced how often I used it and ultimately tried a new brand – Voya Body Buff (Time to Shine). I wasn’t familiar with this brand but I liked the fact that the ingredients were organic – made from hand-harvested seaweed.

The scent is certainly natural, almost sea-like but very light, and the consistency is creamy with moderate grains.

When I first lathered it on my skin I thought it was fairly similar to other exfoliators I’d used so my expectations weren’t particularly high. But after I showered and dried I noticed something which made me very happy. My skin was silk to touch without even the slightest hint of dryness. In fact I was so impressed I also used this body product on my face which yielded similar results. I’m looking forward to trying products from the rest of their range.

Price: €10

For full range see: www.voya.ie

One-hundred years old and looking good!

Elizabeth Arden is 100 years old and to celebrate the skin care giant have launched a limited edition Eight Hour Cream in a vintage-meets-5th-Avenue pots, which I think you’ll agree will make the perfect stocking filler this Christmas.

This little pot of cream can be used for everything from chapped lips, dry cuticles, unruly eyebrows, cracked feet, glossy eyelids (i.e mix with dark eye shadow to achieve a sexy smoky eye effect) and is great to keep your skin hydrated on long flights.

Serums – Skincare’s new Superheroes

Serums have undoubtedly become the superheroes of skincare.  Demand is growing so quickly for high potency serums that Olay’s waiting list reached 10,000 for its new serum Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum. After using this product for a month it’s easy to see what all the fuss is about, it really does work just as well as many of its more expensive counterparts (Cost €38)

How do serums differ from face creams?

A serum does not replace your moisturiser, rather it should be layered beneath your daily face cream where it will act like a bespoke troubleshooting treatment. They are designed to be intensive, penetrating beyond the top layer of the epidermis, creating real results which can be seen the morning after you’ve applied a serum -even for the first time, and it allow you to give yourself the type of treatment which was previously only available in salons.

Some of the Best Serums on the market.

Sisleya Radiance Anti-Aging Concentrate  (€310)

Sisleya Radiance Concentrate is a very high-quality anti-aging product with convincing results.

Cliniques Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle and UV Damage Corrector (About €40)

This ‘cocktail’ of potent enzymes, peptitdes and antioxidants help smooth existing lines and protect against future damage.

Chanel Sublimage Essential Revitalising (€320 )

Inside Katherine Heigl’s make-up bag

Yves Saint Laurent Anti-Cernes Concealer No. 1 in Ivory Beige, $28.50; amazon.com.

Pout Flush Blush in Pink, $22; victoriassecret.com.

Shu Uemura Velvet Perfect Adjusting Powdery Foundation in No. 754, $32.50; shuuemura.com.

Stila Convertible Eye Color in Berry, $18; sephora.com

Hylexin Eye Cream, $95; hylexin.com

Stila Lip Polish in Shimmer, $20; sephora.com
Pout Eyesheer in Calypso, $20; pout.co.uk
Tarte Dual Gloss in Lois & Clark, $19; tartecosmetics.com
L’Oreal Feather-Lash Mascara in Black, $8; drugstore.com

(See InStyle for more)

Take the shine off.

There’s a big difference between sporting a ‘healthy dewy glow’ and looking like your face has underground oil rigs that have just sprung some leaks – namely on your nose, forehead and chin. We’re all familiar with that unattractive sheen which makes us glow in photos, and which always occurs at the most inopportune times like during your first date with Mr Right, or as you sit in the waiting room before your big interview or on your wedding day.  Instead arm yourself with the ‘shiny girl’s saviours’ which promise to take the shine off your face (in the best possible way).

After your make-up application is complete fix it in place with a light spritz of Urban Decay All-Nighter Long Lasting Makeup Setting Spray (Available from Boots).

When the sheen strikes the last thing you want to do is apply more face powder as it just gives a chalky finish which can end up leaving your make-up looking blotchy and heavy, instead try Paul and Joe miniature Blotting Paper (asos.com)

Or The Body Shop Tea Tree Facial Blotting Tissues (also comes in Camomile for sensitive skin) or Dior Blotting papers, one sheet is enough to blot the whole face during touch-ups or when humidity hits.

Kate Moss reveals how she creates her famed bedhead rock chic look

Kate Moss’s famed bedhead rock chic look is created by dry shampoo, in particular, Klorane’s Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk (£6.95) which she says is her all time favourite and she’s not even getting paid to endorse it. She’s a genuine devotee.

Other celebrity fans of the product include Britney Spears, Kirsten Dunst, Chloe Sevigny, Kristin Cavillari and Mischa Barton. Even if you’re not an A-lister this is a life-saver-in-a-bottle which no woman’s handbag can be without. It boosts volume, turns up the lights on highlights, adds texture, breathes life back into hair which insists on falling flat and banishes greasy roots. But most importantly it means you don’t have to wash you hair daily, which may sound scummy, but I’m all for it if it means giving me back an hour for myself that I’d usually spent on styling my hair.

The Miracle Mask, my best find for 2010, refines pores – incredible.

Every night I generously lather on anti-aging creams and each morning I slap on copious amounts of sunblock, in between there are face masks, eye creams and high-tech facials, all doing their little bit to help slow down the aging process, but in reality I won’t know if these products are really working until many years down the road.  I hope my face won’t be blueprint of the late hours, excess wine drinking, hangovers and ten years of smoking  which were my twenties (I know, insert much eye rolling) –  instead I hope the healthy eating, expensive face creams, fitness and moderate wine drinking of my thirties will pay dividend – but we’ll have to wait and see.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found a product which worked instantly.  Let me introduce The Miracle Mask (NUDE skincare) which dramatically refined my pores after only one use.

Oddly, this product’s label didn’t make any claims about refining pores, however, it did promise to ‘dramatically improve skin’, but they all seem to promise that so I didn’t take much notice. In truth I just carelessly dabbed some of this mask onto my face, vacuumed my bedroom while I waited for it to ‘work’, and then washed it off some minutes later.  In the time it took me to clean my bedroom floor I was, unknown to me, getting a new skin.  My opened pores were reduced by at least seventy per cent and my skin felt taut and new without the dehydrated tightness that often accompanies products like this which contain AHAs, though these AHAs are from milk, which means they’re natural and this may have made all the difference.

Lots of products have the word ‘miracle’ in the name but few have earned the title.

What it is: A facial mask for instant radiance and skin-brightening results.

What it is formulated to do: Nude Miracle Mask exfoliates and stimulates skin for a revitalised complexion. It contains natural alpha hydroxyl acids, which benefit the skin with their light exfoliating and moisturising properties, reduction of fine lines and wrinkles, skin lightening and firming, and increased collagen production.

What it is formulated WITHOUT:– Parabens- Sulfates- Synthetic Fragrances- Synthetic Dyes- Petro-Chemicals- Phthalates

What else you need to know:The perfect pre-party mask, this incredible treatment is recommended for all skin types except the very sensitive.

(Sephora.com)

Here’s a link to Space NK’s Miracle Mask http://bit.ly/bJnJZu if anyone knows somewhere in Ireland to purchase this please let me know and I’ll add it here.

Link to Miracle Mask site http://bit.ly/9LAuZw

For more independent reviews: http://bit.ly/9LanfG

Holding my breath for a ‘Summer’ tan in October

“Do you want to try our new ‘blast-tan?” inquired the beauty-salon owner, who looked like she’d just stepped off a plane from Barbados.

“I do!” I said, not fully understanding what I was getting myself in for.

The ‘blast-tan’ is a spray-on tan which involves standing naked inside a porta-potty-shaped chamber and holding your breath while spray-guns attached to various parts of the chamber shoot fake-tan onto your body, in much the same way a car is spray-painted. An alarm buzzes every few seconds to remind you to turn, or lift your arms, or shoot a leg forward. After a few minutes you will be transformed into a bronzed goddess.

The last thing the salon owner said to me before I stepped into the chamber was, “try not to breathe, hold your breath if you can because it can be a little nauseating if you inhale.”

So, I couldn’t take in oxygen while trapped in a metal chamber. No biggie. A minor last-minute disclosure. Nothing to panic about, I told myself as the door shut firmly behind me.

Something else she’d forgotten to tell me, it was quite dark inside this thing.  As I heard the motor rumbling into gear, getting ready to blast me with coloured dye I began to panic a little. For starters, what if I wasn’t able to open the door to get out?  Would anyone hear me scream?  Just then a cold liquid shot out onto my back with a lot more force than I was expecting, I glanced around and the spray-tan squirted directly into my eyes. So now even if I wanted to get out I couldn’t because I was temporarily blinded. At which point the machine started spraying my front.

Just hold on for a few more seconds I told myself, there’s no point in having the back of my body tanned and the front white, even if I am blind.  Now what did she say about turning right or was it left after the front was tanned?  Was this the point I was meant to lift my arms up? The instructions were swirling around inside my head like a jumbled mess.

I took in a much needed gasp of air. And then I knew what ‘tan’ tasted like. Blinded and choking, I decided if I was going to get out of this thing alive I had to do it now.  I fumbled around for the door handle and as I stepped out of the boot the tan-guns sprayed again sprinkling the floor outside the chamber.

I wiped my eyes and looked down at my tan. I was about 550 shades darker than before and bronzed in places you don’t need to be, however the sides of my legs and arms were still pasty white.  My ‘look’ gave a whole new meaning to the expression ‘streaky tan’ and let’s not even talk about the fact that I forgot to put on the shower-hat provided. Bronzed high-lights to match my mahogany striped skin.

I spent the next ten minutes skating around the wet tanned floor trying to clean it. Then I dressed, exited into the lobby where the salon owner admired my ‘gorgeous’ tan. I shot her one look of my blood-shot racoon eyes and she said my ‘treatment’ was on the house.

So from now on I’m just accepting that I’m from the northern hemisphere, I’m meant to be white.

Frownies – patches that reduce wrinkles while you sleep

The Promise

• Frownies are a simple method to reverse deep expression lines Frownies repair wrinkle-damaged skin without dangers of injections or toxic chemicals
• Dramatically reduce lines and wrinkles safely and naturally
• Trains the underlying facial muscles to regain the strength and tone they have lost
• Use daily or nightly; leave on for a minimum of three hours

The Results

There are many things I’d do for beauty and going around with tape stuck on my face is one of them. Yes, no shame, no gain.

Now that I’m in my 30s  I’ve started to notice frown lines so I gladly stuck on these frownies every night for a week. They may not do much for one’s sex kitten status but  they do  smooth out brow furrows to such an extent that you can’t even see see the lines anymore. With consistent use you will see results but don’t expect to see a dramatic change after one use.

Ten Minute Hair Miracle

In ten minutes it promises it will:
1.) Repairs dry damaged hair 2.) Adds shine 3.) Smoothes & controls frizz 4.) Seals & protects hair color 5.) Detangles 6.) Prevents split ends 7.) Stops hair breakage 8.) Creates Silkiness 9.) Enhances natural body 10.) Flat iron spray & thermal protector

Directions
It’s amazingly easy to use: Shampoo and condition hair, towel dry, spray product

Results

It’s a TEN! What a find. At first I couldn’t imagine that one product would actually do all that this one claimed to. I tried it for a week with no other styling products, and since that week I’ve been converted. Especially good when I get out of the pool and my hair is dehydrated and unmanageable. I have very thick  curly hair that I blow dry straight and then use a GHD so it’s not in great condition naturally, after only ten minutes this product showed real results, I also found it brought out my highlights.

A sleek solution – one simple hair product which conditions, styles and protects.

Moroccanoil.

Imagine taking a Troll doll and scrubbing its hair with Daz, then tumble drying it on full speed. The result? An electrified, back-combed afro of hair, which is a fairly accurate description of what my hair looks like when I let it dry naturally.

If, like me, you have a not quite straight, not quite curly mane of hair otherwise known as frizz then you’ll be excited by what I’m about tell you. There is a cure and it’s called Moroccanoil – a bottle of sweet smelling magic that will turn the untamed beast that lives on top of your head into a bundle of silky, shiny, easily managed gorgeousness. So gorgeous, in fact, that it would make Cheryl Cole swoon with envy.

Multi-functional

Moroccanoil works with all hair types but is especially effective on naturally wavy tresses, hair which easily frizzes, or reacts badly to drizzly Irish rain. It can be used as a styling, finishing or conditioning product and if that wasn’t enough, it also protects against sun damage, humidity and other harsh environmental factors. The perfect rehydration treatment for colour damaged hair or for those of us with an addiction to ceramic straightening tongs.

How I use it

I apply a little to my split ends before I wash my hair and then I apply some more before I untangle my mop and blow-dry it straight – the result is sleek healthy looking hair. Or if I’m in a rush – which is most of the time – I apply a generous amount of this product to my towel dried hair and then on my way to work turn up the car heater to high, by the time I arrive I’ve a head of salon curls. Though be careful to keep it away from your roots or you’ll end up looking like Mrs Doyle from Father Ted. And in the words of Mrs Doyle, “Go on, go on, go on…” and treat yourself to this oil which was also included in this year’s Oscar goodie bags.

Price: 35 euros, available from www.cdwow.ie

The Must Have Glitter Eye Shadow

For years I’ve been trying to find a glittery eye shadow that (a) is as glittery on my eyes as it is in the container because often I find I’m disappointed with the quality of glitter post application, and (b) that the colour stays true instead of fading once applied and, (c) is so light weight it won’t aggravate my eyes or cause tearing.

So I’ve tried many of the expensive brands over the years and in the end I just gave up and thought the problem was perhaps with the applicator (me!) as opposed to the products. Then last week I was in Boots and came across My Face Blingtone eye shadow collection, what particularly caught my eye was the Crystalline Green colour – the perfect match for my hazel eyes.  So I purchased the green and also an incredible iridescent blue called Caribbean Queen as they were running a special offer, two for €15.

At home later the night I tried it. I didn’t even use a brush, simply rubbed some on my eyelid to see what the colour would be like on – I was amazed by the results. How was it possible that one careless application could look this good? Then I applied it using my eye brushes and the results were near professional. This is the perfect shadow for someone who’s given up on glitter.