Christmas Countdown - Hair

Continuing the gift guide theme for this week, I've moved onto gifts for hair.  Truly, for me, there are only two contenders this year, and they're expensive, admittedly, so hold onto your hats ...

Cloud Nine The O - Gift of Volume.

Coming in at a whopping £199, this is an amazing gift.  I first saw TheO way back in June, and was astonished at the technology on display.  Essentially, TheO is a set of heated rollers, but with a big difference, the round base you see at the back there remains cool, and the rollers are popped into it one by one to heat up, which takes approximately exactly four seconds per roller.  I've not seen anything like it, and this pack which contains TheO, three sets of rollers (normally bought separately) a carrying case and a bottle of amplifying spray is actually good value.  TheO normally retails at £149 alone.  I'm actually trialling one of these at the moment, so look out for a full review very soon.

And now you've seen that, feast your eyes on this:

GHD Midnight Deluxe Set

I've seen this in the flesh, and I think that hands down this is one of the most beautifully packaged gift sets I've laid eyes on this year.  Presented in a gorgeous taffeta-covered trinket box, the set contains a travel hair-dryer, sectioning clips, a gorgeous little mirror, a heat-resistant carry case (which rolls out into a mat during use) for the - also included  - new GHD "Gold" styler.  This new styler promises smoother gliding over the hair and cooler handles. At a cost of £149, I think anyone would be delighted when unwrapping this, me included!


The Fine Print: Again, links provided for information purposes only, and are not affliate links.

An open letter to a hairdresser ...

When I made my first visit to a hairdresser for blogging purposes last year, I wrote this:

"I find the thought of trying out a new hair salon pretty terrifying, I've been known to hang around outside salons for ages trying to pluck up the courage to actually walk in and make an appointment!   As a result, it's entirely possible I don't visit the hairdresser as often as I might."

And, even this year, when I've been to many hair events, met many hairdressers, and even judged a national hairdressing competition, I stand by those words.  I've met, talked to, and had my hair done by many amazing hairdressers this year, and for every individual who has worked miracles with my insane thatch, sadly, I do still find the ones that reduce me to a quivering jelly of inadequacy and incoherence.  In fact, I do - still - find the thought of walking into a new salon absolutely terrifying, because, not only do I live in fear of the Bad Haircut, I also live in fear of the Bitchy Stylist.


In all honesty there is only one thing worse in a hair salon than the Bad Haircut/Style/Colour and that is the hairdresser who, if you draw their attention to the problem, makes it feel like it's entirely YOUR fault.


This, therefore, is an open letter to every hairstylist who has ever belittled a client in the name of protecting their own reputation:


Dear Hairdresser,


In today's recession-hit times, a new hairdo becomes an even bigger investment of both time and money for your clients. A new client walks over your threshold in a strange mixture  of anticipation of an hour or three of pampering, and utter terror that things will go wrong.  We save up our pennies, and hope that this time - oh, this time - will be the time we come out of the salon with the haircut of our dreams, that we will, in fact, come out looking like Nicole Kidman, Nigella Lawson or Kate Moss, and not like the frumpy knackered accountant who walked in.  Ironically, we all know it won't happen, but, under the circumstances, we'll generally settle for "looking better than we did when we walked in".  It's a compromise we'll usually all be happy with.


Occasionally, things do go wrong, and, when they happen, I'd like to suggest the following steps not to take when the disgruntled customer walks over the threshold:


1) Do not greet the customer with the words "What did you do?".  Nine times out of ten, the only thing the customer will have done is exactly what you told them to do.  The only thing this question will elicit is the feeling that you have assumed the customer is an incapable idiot.  It will also make them anxious, and, also, make them defensive.  Things will not go well during the conversation if you make the customer uncomfortable just for walking through the door.

2) Do not, whatever you do, sneer at whatever the customer says in response to the question posed in step one.  It's bad enough that you've already made the customer feel incapable of looking after their hair, do not then compound that feeling by making your dislike of the poor creature with the terrible hair you created plain to see, as well.

3) Do not then use any of the following phrases: "well, it's not ... horrendous/dreadful/terrible/disgusting/awful/as bad as you think".  What this phrase actually means is that whichever adjective you've chosen to describe your clients hair as "not" being, is the first word that sprang to your mind, and now you're denying it to yourself.  If your client has plucked up the courage to complain about what you've done to their hair, and the best thing you, the stylist who created the situation can think of to describe it is "not horrendous" then, well ... it suggest that actually, you've got a pretty dreadful hairdo, to be honest.

4) Please, please, please at this point, do not patronise the client.  If you've already committed the errors in points 1), 2) and 3) then patronising your client at this point will just put the tin lid on things.  Calling her love/darling/sweetheart or anything of that ilk is just going to make your client angry.  You know her name, please use it.  Also if you can possibly avoid it, try not to contradict your client at this point too.

Things you might want to do:

1) Apologise.  No one wants a disappointing haircut/style/colour.  But, if your client has taken time out of their day to come show you their disappointing hair, then the least you can do is apologise for them having to come back to see you.  Clients, particularly upset ones can indeed be a pain in the backside to deal with, but I guarantee that the majority of people who do complain are in genuine distress about their hair, and it would be nice to show you have some empathy with them.

2) Listen to the client.  Why are they unhappy?  Is it something that can be fixed quickly, there and then?  If it is, offer to do it.  Are they unhappy because it genuinely is something that went wrong, or is it something very simple that won't take much to sort out.  If you do not listen to what your client is telling you, and assume that everyone who comes back into your salon is purely after something for nothing, then you are just going to make the clients with genuine problems very, very unhappy.  Remember that no one knows their hair like the person attached to it, and if they say there is a problem with the condition, then it's likely that they are right.

(We all know the statistic that a happy client tells one person about a good experience, but an unhappy client will tell seven people, right?)

3) Be prepared to offer the client a second opinion.  And if you do, be prepared for that client to want the person who offers a second opinion to fix the situation - particularly if you went through the stages 1-4 above.


4) Be gracious.  Please don't treat a complaining customer like a criminal. 

5) fix the problem.  I think this one is fairly self explanatory.

Love and kisses,
Lippie xx

An open PS to clients: Don't be a pain in the bum when complaining, stylists are only doing their job, remember?

So there you have it.  Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add?

Review - Andrew Barton Salon Covent Garden

I've been a bit obsessed with hair this year, I can't deny it. I've had four visits to different salons since Christmas (which is at least three more than usual, I'm notorious for leaving it far too long between visits), and, hand on heart, there's only one of them I'd definitely go back to.  And that is this one.

I was invited along for a pre-birthday hair makeover by the Andrew Barton team last week - in spite of all my other salon visits recently, it can't be denied that I've been in a bit of a hair rut the last year or two - and I was delighted to pop along to see what they could do.  If the name seems familiar to you, that will be because Andrew Barton himself is the hair stylist responsible for those amazing transformations you see on Ten Years Younger.  Unfortunately, Andrew wasn't available on the day of my visit, but I was left in the more than capable hands of Tracey and Declan, and neither myself nor my hair have any complaints about it!

The salon itself is monochromatically decorated, with hints of wit - have to say I adored the flock wallpaper with the dog silhouettes all over it -  being a fan of the monochrome, I felt right at home! I found the salon quite restful, and it was nice to have a little respite from the pounding dance music that a lot of salons pour into your ears in order to make your visit appear cool'n'trendy.  Prior to my appointment, I'd attended a consultation with Declan and had a colour test (the salon only uses Redken products, and I hadn't had a colour with Redken products for a while) to ensure I wasn't allergic to anything.  Declan and I had a good chat about the state of my hair (back to it's usual insanity), and my attitude towards styling (non-existant). Declan took all of this in his stride, and suggested a style that works with my hairs own natural tendencies, and also discussed some colouring options.

On the day itself, I was delighted to be recognised by other staff members who I'd chatted to briefly during my consultation visit, and was gratified to see that Declan, my stylist, and Tracey, my colourist, (who hadn't been available on the consult day) had obviously chatted about my requirements in the meantime - or if they hadn't, they were remarkably in tune with one another! - we decided to not change my colour too drastically, but even up the ends and the roots, and add in a few subtle highlights to break up the colour around the front.  There was nothing drastically wrong with the colour as previously done, but I'd been aware that my hair was looking rather "block-y" and heavy recently, and I wanted to add some movement.  Both Tracey and Declan got what I was trying to explain right away, and I have to say that they are both extremely talented at taking some vague, mumbled instructions about "boringness" and "heaviness" and taking on board both appropriateness for lifestyle, and appearance, and turning that into a hairstyle.

Staff were friendly, professional, and very easy to chat to, there was no pretentiousness, snootiness or patronising of the clients, all things other salons are occasionally guilty of (sometimes all three in one go, with an added side order of rubbishness. I'm naming no names, but this post might remind you of how annoying any and all of those things are).  It's the small touches that make a salon friendly, and re-visitable, and the Andrew Barton salon has these in spades.  Everyone took a turn in manning reception, anyone and everyone offered to make drinks, and I noticed all of the team taking their turn in cleaning up after themselves too, it was nice not to see a stressed out "junior" doing all the donkey-work.  Most importantly, these guys seem like a team, one who genuinely enjoy working together and, after a few disappointing and/or stressful visits to salons this year, it was a refreshing delight to see and be part of.

As for my hair, well, I love it. It's a bit darker than I anticipated (considering I had highlights!), and a little shorter than I was expecting after the consult, but both the cut and the colour work very well, it's very shiny, and just it feels so much lighter and bouncier, it's almost like a new head of hair! It's garnered lots of compliments, so, sometimes, I guess it's okay to just trust the stylist. You just need to pick your stylist carefully ...  

Andrew Barton isn't a cheap salon - although considering the location, it's reasonable in context. Colour services start from £60 and go up to around £170 dependent on both the service requested, and the technical level of your stylist.  Ask for Tracey and Declan, tell them I said hello.  And warn them that I'll be back.

The Fine Print: Service was provided free of charge as a pre-birthday review opportunity. I'll pay next time though, you betcha.  And I'll be stealing that wallpaper. And possibly one of the backwash chairs. All pictures in this post - aside from the one of my ugly mug - were shamelessly stolen from the Andrew Barton website.

100 Years Of Hairdressing - Andrew Collinge

Two thousand.  At the end of the 80's, that's how many perms that were processed by Andrew Collinge's salons every single week. When I point out that all the salons are based in (and around) Liverpool, you might understand why that particular little statistic brought a smile to my face when I heard it the other day.

I grew up in, and lived in, the north west up until around five years ago. When I was younger, (before the likes of Toni & Guy showed up), you had a choice in hairdressing, you either went to one of the local blue-rinse brigade of salons - usually called something like Bab's or Curl Up and Dye - or, you saved your pennies and went to an Andrew Collinge salon, usually in either Chester or Liverpool.  Having long been a hair snob, I usually saved up, and went "fancy". I must have been to at least half of the 8 salons in the chain, over the years as well as spent quite a few hours in the graduate academy, sitting as a model for the trainees who were learning blow-drying!

I learned a lot about hair from those salons, how to do an easy zig-zag parting, about styling products, that blonde highlights are not my friend, that a "restyle" rather than a trim will cost you an extra tenner at the till, and that salon products are usually better - but not always - for your hair than Vosene.  In fact, the first ever "designer" hair product I bought was Andrew Collinge's Design and Shine.  Lo! An expensive hair habit was borne ...

So it was that I was beyond delighted to be invited to Andrew's house (along with some other lovely bloggers!) to have a chat with the great man himself recently.  Amongst some interesting snippets of gossip which I'm not at liberty to repeat here, Andrew gave us some great tips and hints about haircare, some of which I'll repeat here:

Hair needs to be nurtured, treat it gently!  A cool rinse will work wonders for shine and condition.
Hair doesn't need to be washed every day - every 2-3 days is optimum, he thinks, and I agree - in fact, washing every day can lead to your scalp becoming over-stimulated which will make greasy hair even greasier in the long run, as your scalp gets used to daily massage.
Semi-permanent colours work well on greying hair, used regularly, they can have a staining effect on the greys which will help them blend in better, whereas a permanent colour will just lead to a white-rooted "badger effect".  Not sexy, if you ask me.

Andrew also very kindly demonstrated some simple hairstyling tricks for us - which was amusing as he only had one hair-brush and one hairpin to create most of them with!  Still, the fishtail plait he created was beautiful, and really simple, and the updos he did for everyone else were likewise.  I got a hint of backcombing, and some tricks about how to deal with my "mental" hair.  Andrew actually used the phrase "look at the little baby curls!" when I was showing him why updos just don't work all that well for me.  Thanks, Andrew!

Andrew also reminded us that he still has a haircare range available in most supermarkets - you can have a look at it here at Superdrug - it's recently been repackaged to celebrate the Collinge family's 100th year in hairdressing, and, as I never feature a product without testing it first, I've been using it for the last couple of washes.  Now, I'll be honest, I genuinely can't remember the last time I bought shampoo in a supermarket, so this was a bit of a leap of faith for me. I tried the Smoothing range (pictured above) which is the same as is used in his salons, which promises smooth shiny hair without frizzies.  I've been amazed, my hair has never been so shiny, I was out with a few people yesterday, and I got lots of compliments, which almost never happens!

I'm not, however, a massive fan of the packaging, the bottles are big (500mls for £4.99), and can be tricky to handle with wet hands - a pump dispenser would be great, I'll have to dig a couple up from somewhere - and the range does contain SLS, so I'll have to alternate it with an SLS-free product to avoid the itchies, but this is some seriously good shampoo and conditioner right here, and at such a bargain price!  The range also includes A "Purity" collection alongside the salon range (pictured left) which features more natural products based around quinoa proteins which I'm looking forward to trying too.

Again, the products are available in most major supermarkets, and Superdrug sells it online, alongside the styling range, which still includes good old Design and Shine!

I just want to say a massive thanks to Andrew for being brave enough to invite a load of "nutters from the internet" (MY phrase, not his!) into his home, and for being such a gracious and charming host. Blogging has taken me to some wonderful, random, and unexpected places recently, but this has to be one of the most relaxed, and informative sessions I've been to!

Incidentally, the top picture in this post features me, circa 1990, modelling one of those very perms Andrew was referring to in the first paragraph ...

New hair - new lipstick!

I had a spectacularly crappy day yesterday, so getting my hair done was a real treat, here's the finished result:

Have no idea what's going on with my face there, but here's the before and after:

It's a bit darker, but more of a coppery dark than previously, the layers have been recut, and I had a fringe cut back in.  I like it so far, but I'm looking forward to seeing it in the daylight. I went to the Rush salon in Baker Street, which is a great salon, a little noisy for me after a tough old day, but my stylist Nicola was great, it was so nice to be with a hairdresser who listens!

I went a bit crazy swatching lipsticks in Selfridges afterwards, I tried ALL the Tom Fords, but, I'll be honest, I wasn't really taken with any of them. There were two - Pure Pink and Pure Coral, I think - that I might have considered, but for the price, I couldn't justify either to myself.  I really liked the new Armani pink lipstick collection though, and I think I'll be picking one of those up soon (506 and 507 really caught my eye), has anyone tried them?  I did splurge on a new Guerlain Rouge G amongst other things, I'm wearing in the top picture there, in shade 62, "Georgia", which is a lovely pink shade, but I'll show you that in a bit more depth later ... Didn't have any Rouge G's last week, and now I have two!  Pretty soon I won't be able to lift up my makeup bag ...

Can't believe how much I'm looking forward to the weekend!

My Hair!

It's that time of year again, when my hair just absolutely gets on my wick.  I've not had it cut since last December, and my last colour was a (slight) disaster ...here's how it looks at the moment:

Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly good hair, it's in good condition, it's long, it's healthy, the colour (finally) is okay.  It's just ... dull.  And shapeless.  It just kind of hangs around, getting in my way, and I spend half my time with it tied back, just to keep it out of my way.

So, this week, I'm heading to the hairdresser to get it changed up a bit.  What do you think I should do with it?  First person to mention pink mohican (yes, Seona, I'm looking at you), gets a filthy look, but serious suggestions are welcome!  I decided, however to consult some experts on what this seasons trends are.  Some of them I've replicated below:

“Spring colour uses a palette of apricot, honey and vanilla tones. These suit paler complexions and fairer hair. For the brunettes, rich russets and caramels peak through natural chocolate tones. For summer, blondes have paler violet tones and bright platinum streaks. Some vivid shades of copper or magenta may be placed in strategic areas of interest to be on show or peek-a-boo colour. Darker hair is sun streaked using a technique called sun blushing. It is taking highlights a couple of shades lighter than your natural colour subtly under your parting to minimize any re-growth. This is a very popular technique in our salons especially as the credit crunch means frequency between visits may be lessening.”- Gina Conway, Ambassador of Hairdressing, Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa, Wimbledon and Fulham

“This spring/summer sees colour become more natural yet playful. The inspiration for these looks are from Marc by Marc Jacobs’s S/S10 runway collection, which is full of brightly coloured bows. Colour is softly progressing from autumn/winter through to spring/summer 2010. The rich hues of deep coppers have infused to coral peaches like an expensive piece of fabric. Keeping the root area natural or richer and working mutational soft tones through the mid lengths and ends. If you have naturally wavy or curly hair a great technique is to colour each individual curl as they naturally fall, this is a brilliant way to add definition. It’s all about creating texture but still keeping the colour shiny and well conditioned. For shorter styles keep the colour sold and richer if darker think cacao meets espresso, if your lighter keep your blonde locks in fab condition; high shine is the key.  Remember your hair colour is an accessory so make sure it enhances your eyes and skin tone and makes you look amazing.”

- Amanda Dicker, Artistic Director, The Chapel, L’Oreal

“There are three main colour trends for S/S10, these are:
1. For ‘Notice Me Individuals’ colour takes on a bold experimental edge with splashes of intense colour from Geranium Red to 24 Carat Gold Blonde in hidden obvious sections contrasting with a muted all over tone.
2. The ‘Soft Touch’ is where hair is coloured in pretty shades of woven strands mimicking a sun kissed effect on a darker shades as well as lighter shades.
3. Our glamorous ‘Sensual Silhouettes’ is where hair colour resembles the Hollywood starlets from the past and of course the present. All over shades of one colour, whether blonde or brunette, are gorgeous.”
-  AJ Blackadder, Technical Director, Andrew Barton Salon






 “Rich chocolate is in for s/s, along with copper, rusts, and strawberry blondes - really rich multi dimensional shades are back. Caramel blondes, strong chestnuts, shades with a lot more warmth in are key.  Lavender slices underneath a blonde give the element of movement that is so essential this season. The emphasis is on multi tones especially for blondes and coppers - at least 3 or 4 shades, but keep to the same tone so it's not a huge contrast - so no more than 2 levels difference between the three colours and stick within same shade, e.g. red copper, copper gold and rich copper. We're moving away from bright light white blondes so really look for gold shades and depth.”
- Brett Walker, Manager and Head Colourist, Michael Barnes Salon

“For spring/summer it’s all about blondes and rich chocolates. The colours are quite natural and full of warm tones, the blondes are leaning more to baby blondes with pastel highlights while the browns are very rich and luxurious with caramels running through. Although there is a big wave of rich deep Ribena purples making a come back, the sun will reflect these reds beautifully, the purples are more for the younger clientele.”
- Tracey Devine, Salon Director, Angels

Do you change you hair with the seasons?  Do you follow hair trends?  And finally my hair, HALP!

Get A Movie Star Hair Cut!

I've mentioned my love of Cult Beauty - and the Cult Beauty girls themselves! - a few times before.  If you've not had a chance to look around the site yet, please do,  there's a treasure-trove of rare, and usually wonderful  beauty items to be found on there, I've filled (and emptied!) many a virtual shopping basket on the site, and there's always something I've never heard of that pops up and arouses my interest, which is no mean feat these days!

At the moment, they're running a competition to win a haircut from Tara Smith, who is legendary in Hollywoodland circles for her skills.  Don't believe me?  Ask Demi Moore, Anna Friel, Natalie Imbruglia, Yasmin Le Bon, Neve Campbell, Rosario Dawson, Marisa Tomei, June Sarpong (how did she get on this list? - Ed), Angelina Jolie, Teri Hatcher, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Kidman, Angelica Huston, Patricia Arquette, Rosin Murphy or Toni Collette, all of whom she's worked with in the past. She's also done the hair for both the Sex and the City movies!  And you have to admit, she has a pretty fine head of hair herself ... Ordinarily, a haircut with Tara would cost £450 - if you can even catch her in a salon - so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you ask me.

The downside?  Well, in order to enter all you do have to do is buy a minimum of  five items from Tara's hair care range (and I'm not going to lie to you, that does seem just a little excessive) but the products all cost less than £5, and, whilst I haven't tried it myself (yet!) I have heard good things about the range generally, and excellent things about the Base Coat Serum in particular. Personally, I've been delighted to notice that all the shampoos are SLS-free, which is great for what is, essentially, a fairly budget-priced range. I'll be picking some items up soon, and I'll keep you posted on what I think.

The competition is running for six weeks, and the prize can be taken in London, New York or LA. But, er, there are no travel costs included, sadly!

Will you be entering?  What would you pay for a movie-star haircut?

Onix Blowdry - Two Months on ...

Most of my readers now that before Christmas I had a three month blowdry at Comptons, and I loved it.  I gave a follow up post a little later but after a few requests, I thought it was time I gave an update on how it looks now.  Going back to the picture I took of my hair on Saturday, this is how it looks now:

I have to say though that yes, my hair is not as straight as it was when I first had it done, and it's no longer wash and go to keep it completely straight.  The above picture was taken after a swift five minute blow dry using my fingers instead of a brush or comb. Here's how it looks if I let it air-dry now:

As you can see, there's a little curling at the ends, but it still looks natural, and it's still a whole heap better than it was before the treatment.  I still haven't used my straighteners, and I only use my hair-dryer for special occasions.  Still not using any styling products either, which is wonderful and it STILL doesn't fuzz up in the rain.

I'd recommend this treatment - and Compton Hair- to anyone who's ever been fed up with wavy/curly or just plain fuzzy hair, it's been a life-changing experience for me!  Having just that little bit of extra time every day is wonderful, I love it.

Review - Philip Kingsley Elasticiser

I was recently invited to a PR event where we were introduced to look at some new brands, and one of the products we were invited to try was this pre-shampoo treatment for dry hair from Philip Kingsley. I’ll be honest, I thought Philip Kingsley was a celebrity hairdresser, and I was a bit embarrassed to discover that he’s actually a trichologist (and has been for 50 years!) who believes that healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp.
Elasticizer was first introduced 26 years ago, and it’s still going strong, mainly because it works.  Here’s what Kerry had to say about her experience using it:
“Rarely do I get to take a bath with something so exciting... 
My hair is highlighted, over-straightened, overdue for a trim, dry, porous and frizzy.  So the promise of shine, bounce and manageability was impossible to resist and I had read good things about this product.

You can either apply the elasticizer, comb through and then shampoo out immediately or leave it on as a mask for 10-20 minutes.  I really wanted this to work, so I decided to give it a full 20 minutes to do it's magic.

You need to apply this product on wet hair before shampooing, which I thought sounded a bit strange, but actually wasn't too bad.  I applied liberally to my wet hair and covered it with the nice little branded shower cap included in the box.

The product had a nice thick, rich texture.  Moisturising, but not greasy feeling.  This is perfect for my hair, which does need a rich conditioner, although it might be quite heavy on fine hair and the instructions do suggest being a bit more sparing with the product if this is your hair.  There is no particularly strong scent to the product.  It doesn't smell 'scented', but neither does it smell of yucky underlying ingredients.

Although I did apply the product pretty liberally it didn't look like I'd used much out of the pot, so I reckon it would last you quite a long time, at least 10 treatments I would think.

After 20 minutes, the product rinsed out easily, not leaving any residue even before I'd shampooed it out.  As per the instructions, I used shampoo and conditioner in the normal way.

I then dried and styled my hair with all my usual products.  My hair was noticeably softer and silkier to touch.  It styled much straighter and more easily than normal.  In fact, it was almost too silky to style!!

The next day, it still feels very soft to touch and has only started to frizz a little on the ends, although it has been a pretty damp day (and my hair does need cutting).  It does suggest using the product regularly for the best results and I am sure I would notice a definite improvement in the condition of my hair if I used this as a weekly treatment.  In fact, that's exactly what I will be doing!!”
How do you look after your dry hair?

Onix Blowdry - the aftermath ...

As you probably already know, I had an  Onix keratin treatment/Brazilian blowdry at Compton Hair earlier this week, and I was very, very pleased with it. Well, I let it airdry the other day, and it was with some trepidation I did it, I can tell you!  I was still convinced that the very second I washed my hair, all the FLOOF would be back, and I'd have to break out the straighteners again.

This is how it turned out:

This is my hair, airdried, without any styling product, and just after my having raked it out with my fingers.

Here's a close up of the crown, so you can see how shiny it still is:

Seriously, my hair has been gleaming all week, people in the office have commented on it!

I couldn't be happier with my new hair, it's a whole new lease of life for me!

Organic Wednesday - Surya Brasil

To continue with Hair Week at Get Lippie this week, we're going to have a look at Surya Brasil's Amazonia Preciosa hair masks, and we have another guest blogger, the lovely Helen, who is going to review the product for us.

About Surya and Amazonia Preciosa

Surya's Amazonia Preciosa line is an incredibly natural range of haircare, all products of which are ecco-certified.  According to the website, each of the products contains: 

• No sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, artificial colouring or fragrance
• No parabens, solvents, GMOs or other components that are harmful to health
• Ethically wild crafted raw materials from the Amazon Forest
• The Preciosa essential oil is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
• The Andiroba essential oil is certified by IBAMA, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources
• All flasks and packages are made of recyclable material.
• Innovative, mild preservative system. No formaldehyde releasers or potential xeonestrogens.
• Five formulas utilizing Brazilian fruits and nuts to address different hair types.

All the products are suitable for vegans, and are tested on humans rather than animals! Today, we're going to look at the Brazil Nut hair mask which is specifically formulated for dry and damaged hair.

Helen Says:

"Whilst the whole of the UK was watching the X-Factor final on Sunday night, I decided to wash my hair.  This was prompted by the fact that Ms Lippie had passed over a hair mask to try out for her Organic Wednesday slot.  Now I know that she often complains about her ‘difficult’ hair, but I do think that mine puts up a good fight in that category. It has a mind of its own on most days, and any dampness causes a ‘frizziness’ overload.  This Surya Mask was made especially for dry hair and mine was certainly in that state having just come back from a ski holiday where I wore a helmet all day, every day

After washing my hair with my normal shampoo, I took the top of the tube and squirted some onto my hand.  It had a pleasant nutty smell – reminding me a bit of a Christmas stocking from my childhood – the flavour/aroma was Brazil nut. The understated packaging didn’t indicate how much to use so I used a walnut sized lump to start with. As my hair is very short and doesn’t normally need much product, I thought this would be enough, however, this amount disappeared virtually straight away. I'm not sure if I didn’t use enough or my hair was so dry that it needed more help than usual.  I then added extra, using an amount about the size of half a small apple in the end. It went into my hair very easily with no greasiness or stickiness, but unfortunately the smell faded quickly – it would have been nice to smell like nuts for a while.  After 15 minutes sitting in the bath with a towel wrapped around my head, I rinsed off the remainder of the mask.  This process happened very easily with no residue left after a very short period of rinsing.

As for the results, although my hair was definitely softer and more controllable afterwards, it was not a life changing transformation. I must confess that I have had better results from other leave-in conditioners previously. However, the mask was very easy to use and to rinse out, had a pleasant smell and texture and did not feel ‘gloopy’ when on my hair. If you are looking to use a mask with no chemicals in it, it works well enough, but I think I will be sticking to my usual conditioner."  

So there you go.  Have you tried Surya?  The masks are available from Liberty, and cost £10.  I estimate you'd get about four treatments from one tube. I actually have someone else trialling this particular mask (I'm trying to limit the amount of products I use at the moment) and I'll bring you their thoughts on the product when I have them.

Thanks for your input, Helen!

The Small Print: This product was sent to us for review purposes.  All reviews are honest, no matter how the product arrives at GLHQ.

Excited!

Get Lippie is going to be all about HAIR this week - if you're reading this on Monday afternoon then I'm actually visiting Zoltan Vargyai at his Covent Garden salon (Comptons) RIGHT NOW - okay, after my doctor's appointment, I will be - and I'll be experiencing the next generation of Brazilian Keratin hair straightening treatments! I've been desperate to get my hair professionally straightened for years and this appointment is something I'm looking forward to hugely.  I'm hoping that I'll look a little less like the Wild Woman of Wongo in the mornings afterward ...

Full story and details on Tuesday ...