Dove Style+Care Heat Protect Spray Review

Over the past few months I've been trying and testing out a new heat protectant spray from Dove. This spray is part of their Style+Care collection and claims to protect hair up to 230 degrees.
  This product has been so easy to use, you just apply a few sprays evenly through towel dried hair and then style as usual. I usually spray this on and then comb through my hair just to ensure that the product has been evenly distributed throughout.
  Whilst using this product I've found that it is so lightweight and it doesn't weight your hair down so you can easily use other styling products afterwards without causing your hair to become flat or even slightly greasy. It doesn't even feel as though you have added more product to your hair.
 I've also noticed a difference in the quality and appearance of my own hair. After using this religiously for a few weeks I noticed that my hair looks so much healthier and it helps it to become silkier and glossier. Also I've found that from using this product I have suffered with less spilt ends whilst still finding myself using a hairdryer almost everyday.
  The product itself also smells amazing, which you can still smell throughout the day on your hair and this is one of the many advantages of the product. It just feels and smells so luxurious although it is incredibly well priced at only £4.59 for 200ml which lasts an reasonable amount of time. I think I bought this product around October time and I'm still nowhere near the end of my first bottle.
  I'm also loving the packaging of the product and like the way that Dove has kept it simple with just a little bit of colour to brighten it up slightly. As with their other products, they use white bottles but have added something extra which makes it appear pearly which I really like.
  You can even use this product on dry hair to protect it from the heat damage caused by curling or straightening your hair. When you hair is dry you are directed to 'mist' the product over your hair and then style as desired. I think this makes the product stand out a little from the other heat protectors out there because I am yet to use one which recommends use even on dry hair.
 Overall I think this is a great addition to the Dove range and is a brilliant product if you are looking for something that is going to protect your hair, smells gorgeous and can even help to make your hair look healthier and glossier. I know for certain that this product has secured its place in my collection and for only £4.59 you can't really go wrong with this product!

If I Had £100 to Spend: Clothing

In the past I have written a few posts about what I would spend my money on if I were given £100. I've written a post of the makeup and shoes that I would buy with £100 and so thought it was about time that I did the same with clothes. So I took to the internet to search for some items that would make their way to my wardrobe if I was given the chance.

1. Aztec Print Skater Dress from New Look £25

The first thing I would buy would probably be this Aztec print skater dress from New Look. When shopping for dresses I usually stick to the fit and flare or skater style dresses because I think that they flatter my figure the best. I am also a huge fan of Aztec print and so it's good see that it is going to be on trend again this summer. I love the colours of this dress and think it would be great for summer both during the day and could be dressed up for the evening.

2. Tribal Print Crop Top from New Look £5.99



Sticking with New Look, next I would buy this gorgeous blue tribal print top for a bargain at £5.99. It is very similar to the Aztec patterns and so is right up my street and I think it would look great with a black skater skirt for the summer evenings. I would also wear this with my new sky high heeled sandals to complete the outfit.

3. Black Crepe Wrap Skort from New Look £17.99

My next purchase would be something a little more experimental. I came across this skort on the website and instantly loved how it looked. However I am not entirely sure that it would suit me so this would be one of those risky purchases which may end up going back. I love the idea of having a skirt and shorts incorporated into one because it means that you don't have to worry about flashing people. On the website I fell in love with the mint green colour but I would probably go safe first and try out a black pair before I started to experiment with other colours.  

 

4. White Top in Slub Jersey from H&M £6.99



The next thing I would buy is this simple white top from H&M. Recently I have been a huge fan of simple, comfortable tops and my favourite have been from H&M. At only £6.99 each they are a complete bargain and there are so versatile and a staple for all seasons.

5. Grey Marl Jersey Top from H&M £9.99

 

 

 

I am a huge fan of the baseball style tops and after buying one from H&M last summer I am glad to see that they are back. I bought mine oversized and it is so comfortable for the summer even when it is hot and they are so easy to wear with leggings, jeans or shorts. I love my grey marl and maroon one so this black and grey one would be a welcome addition to my wardrobe.

 

6. Asos Culotte Shorts in Monochrome Floral Print from Asos.com £15.00

After admitting I am a huge fan of skater skirts, I noticed that my wardrobe is lacking in the shorts department. Aside from a few pairs of denim ones, I noticed that I am lacking in any printed or patterned shorts. I then found these lovely shorts on the asos website and love them because they are not tightly fitted and look almost like a skater skirt. Similarly to the pair of skorts I found, these would mean that I would not be in any danger of flashing people and I love the monochrome floral print on these and they are so reasonably priced at only £15.

 

7. Sleeveless Crop Top in Watermelon Print from Asos.com £18

My final purchase would be this watermelon print top from Asos. When I saw this whilst browsing the website it caught my eye because I thought that it was quite quirky and different from the other tops that I own. I would probably pair this with a skater skirt and dress it up a bit for a night out or just wear it as part of a causal day to day outfit. I love the colours in this top and think that it is perfect for summer and the hopefully warmer weather

 

Total Spend: £98.96

 

I've had a lot of fun going through some of my favourite websites looking for new additions to my wardrobe. If I were hypothetically given £100 to spend I think I would buy some classic pieces that I know I would love but I would also love to try out some different items and be a bit more experimental with the clothes that I wear.



My Ring Collection

It's no surprise that whilst I have been growing up, I have been steadily building collections of different items. One that I am quite proud of is my massive shoe collection, but one which has been quietly growing is my rings. I am not a massive jewellery person but I have to admit that I am partial to a nice ring or two. Instead of necklaces and bracelets I seem to have a healthy collection of rings, which I am now about to share. 

Whilst looking through my collection I realised I have a lot of small, cheap rings which I decided not to feature because a) I don't really wear them and b) I thought it would be more interesting to share the rings I wear on a regular basis and the more interesting ones. All of these rings are stored on this manikin hand which I got as a birthday present probably about 5 years ago now (wow.)

This first ring is one which I bought from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago. As it is not actually made from sterling silver I haven't found myself wearing this product very much at all. The biggest selling point for me was the detailing and the size but it has now started to go a bit tarnished at the top which is disappointing.

The next ring was another from Dorothy Perkins. This was in one of their many jewellery sales and I really loved the way that the design was quite simple but I like the way it was made into quite a big ring. I think I picked this up for about £2 which was a bargain. My only regret about this ring is that I have not worn it half as much as I thought I would.



Out of all of the rings I own, this one will probably always be my favourite. I've had this since August 2009 and up until the past year I probably wore it almost everyday. I bought it from a shop in Tunisia whilst on holiday there for around £10 I think. I love the detailing and the size of this ring and an added bonus is that it is made from silver, so it hasn't turned my finger green or anything like that. I wear this as pictured, on my right hand.
The next ring that I am featuring is this beautifully intricate floral one which I picked up in Dorothy Perkins (I think!) within the past year. I've noticed my collection heavily features floral, twisted and detailed rings and so these easily become classics for me. I'm not entirely sure how much I paid for this particular ring but I would imagine it would have been somewhere around the £5-£6 mark. I usually wear this ring as a single statement piece, similarly to the way that you would wear a statement necklace and I think that it works really well.
Next up is one of my smaller rings, which again up until about 3 months ago, I wore religiously. Unlike in this picture, it's usually found on my middle finger of my left hand and it was actually a Christmas present a few years ago. I like that it is slightly different from the other rings I own and I think that it's the perfect size.
My next ring is one of the newest to my collection. I picked this up from a shop called Spangle, which sells sterling silver and gold jewellery. I love shopping there because their pieces are quite unique and so reasonably priced too. This sterling silver ring cost me around £12.95 and I love the detailing and the fact that it is another small ring to add to my collection. I've worn this almost everyday since I bought it and it was definitely a good purchase on my behalf. It has been a nice change to wear a smaller ring as opposed to some of the larger ones in my collection, but it still reflects my love for floral and intricate designs.

Next in my collection is a ring that I received for my 18th birthday. It is my first and only ring from Pandora and it was such a lovely shock and surprise when I got it. Again this is a sterling silver ring that lives on my right hand and it actually something a bit different from my other pieces. I love the combinations of colour in this piece and the simplicity of it, and also the studded balls add different layers to it too. It cost around the £50 mark, but I think it has been worth the money you pay. It is a really special ring to me and so although I've worn it in everyday situations I have also kept this for special occasions as I don't want to damage it whilst I'm at work.
Last year whilst I was on my first ever holiday abroad with my friends we went to the small shopping centre to do some traditional tourist souvenir shopping. In one of the shops I found this gorgeous ring costing a mere 10 euros. I decided there and then that it would become a tradition to buy a new ring in every country I visited, especially because I had done the same previously on a holiday to Tunisia. I love the embellishment on this ring and the symmetrical pattern and the fact that it is of course silver.  
This next ring, to date, is the cheapest and what I consider to be the biggest bargain find in terms of rings that I've found. Dorothy Perkins often have jewellery sales and so when I saw this for £1 I didn't think twice about buying it. I didn't even care that it was gold and not silver like all my other jewellery, I just loved the way that it looked as though there is a leaf wrapped around your finger. As an added bonus, it fits on every one of my fingers aside from my little one, so it is so versatile.
Moving back to the trend of statement rings, this next one was another gift a few years ago. I'm not sure how much this cost but it has the twisted, curly detailing that I love and a oval stone in the middle. I am really loving the colour mint and especially the mint green/light blue shades and actually forgot a little about this ring. This ring is also adjustable so I am able to wear it on almost any of my fingers but I think it looks best when it is on the finger next to my middle one. Over the summer I think I am going to start to get some more wear out of this piece because I haven't worn it as much as I thought I would.

Another recent purchase has been this next ring. Again this sterling silver is from Spangle and is studded with Cuban zirconia around the front of the ring. This particular ring cost me £19.99 and is usually worn on my middle finger on my left hand. One thing that it a little annoying about this though is that it often twists around so that you cannot see the stones, but I love the simplicity of it and that it isn't too big or overpowering.  
I think this next ring is also an addition from Spangle. I bought this a few years ago now so I'm not sure how much I paid for it but I think it was around the £12 mark. Again, this has a really simple design and I love the cut-out hearts that make up the shape. This is also sterling silver which means that it hasn't turned my finger green and it has been a great everyday ring which I've also worn for special occasions too.
The final ring in my collection is one that I picked up from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago now. It is actually a double ring, which is worn across two fingers. In my case I wear this on my middle and ring finger on the right hand and I love the floral pattern of it. I also love the way that the silver isn't perfect and that it looks slightly tarnished in places as it adds more texture and depth to the piece. I also like the added diamantes which gives the ring a bit of sparkle. The ring itself is also another adjustable one, which means that it is so versatile and will fit most people. 

 

I've really enjoyed going through my collection and having a proper look at the types of jewellery that I buy. I think it is obvious that I am a huge fan of silver, floral and intricate designs. There is a mixture of larger and smaller pieces ranging in prices and it's been good to rediscover some things that I had forgotten about.

 

 

Max Factor 'The Face' Review

 

So whilst I was shopping a few months ago Max Factor were giving away a free gift when you spent over £15 on makeup. Around the time the winner of the TV show 'The Face' had just been announced and so the gift was tied in with that. As I was running low on both foundation and powder I easily spent £15 and was quite intrigued to see what was inside and to test out the products.

Inside the box were three of Max Factor's products as well as a few leaflet tutorials to bulk out the rest of the gift. The products were one of the relatively new 'lipfinity' lip products, a false lash effect mascara and a nail polish.

 

The first product that I decided to test out would be the  lipfinity lip colour in the shade 340 Essential Natural, which to be honest hadn't appealed to me before. The product itself consists of two parts, the colour for the lips and then a clear topcoat which is very similar to a balm. The reason why this product had not appealed to me before is because I am not the biggest fan of lipgloss, I much prefer a lipstick or balms.
  However, I decided to give this a go and one of the best things about this product is the packaging. I love the way that they are very sleek and sophisticated and I think the classic colours and combinations make them look luxurious. Although the concept of having two parts to this product may be good, I find that it is a bit unnecessary to have two tubes, where other brands have managed to fit them into one, such as the Rimmel 1000 Kisses lip stains.
  Having two tubes is such a hassle if you throw away the original box because you have to make sure you remember both of them and there is no way you can make sure they stay together.
  Inside the coloured part of the product is a lip gloss with a doe foot applicator which makes application really easy although it would be quite difficult to use one of your own brushes to apply. I've also found that for all the packaging there isn't much product inside. With these retailing at £8.99 it is quite a substantial amount to pay for a product of this type. I can think of some more affordable and quite simply better products than these so I'm not sure I would actually buy these.
  Still focusing on the colour, the shade that I received within the gift is a beautiful pink/nude with the slightest bit of shimmer in it. The idea is to apply this first to your lips and then follow up with the clear balm. Although I really love the colour, I'm not so sure on the formulation. I found this to be really sticky and just doesn't feel luxurious or nice at all. In addition, I've found that it takes a long time to get dry enough to apply the next stage and just having your lips stick together is really not what I expected or wanted. Even when the colour is dry it still has the same feeling. However, the colour does dry to a beautiful matte shade and if the formulation was better I think you would be able to wear this without the balm. It also has no scent to it, which means that if you are not a fan of perfumed products, this might be an advantage to you.
  The balm itself is very simple, in that it is identical to most bog-standard clear balms. You simply apply this on top of the colour and it rehydrates your lips and gets rid of the awful sticky sensation. Admittedly the finished result looks good and the colour is lovely, but the hassle of using two different products and the terrible formulation means that unfortunately I am not a fan, especially because of the price you would pay for one of these. The product itself does last a reasonable amount of time, but yet again if you want to touch this up you have to go through the whole process again with the colour followed by the balm.
 

The next product in the set was a nail polish from Max Factor's glossfinity range. These nail polishes retail for £5.99, which is slightly more expensive than their drugstore competitors such as Barry M and Rimmel. This particular shade is called cobalt blue and as the name suggests is a dark, almost navy blue. I haven't actually tried this product out properly yet, but from my first impressions I think it is a beautiful shade, which I'm guessing would need a couple of coats and if it lasts for up to 7 days as the packaging suggests surely it has to be a winner. There are so many colours to choose from in this range and I love the simple packaging with the gold text and black lid, which ties in with the colours of the previous product and keeps the product looking luxurious and sleek.

 

The final product in the gift set was one of Max Factor's mascaras. Immediately I was really excited to try this out because mascara is one product that I find I experiment more with, and I was interested to see if I liked this more than my current favourite mascara, the Maybelline Falsies.
   Again Max Factor has put a lot of effort into making the packaging simple yet sophisticated and the tube is actually quite big, so it seems as though you are getting a lot of product. This retails at £10.99, which is a little more expensive than other drugstore mascaras but not excessively. One thing I noticed about this mascara is that it is waterproof, which may explain the price but was also an added bonus because I don't think I've ever tried one of Max Factor's waterproof mascaras. I then also realised that was the shade black/brown, which is something completely different to what I would usually buy. Usually I would try and find the blackest shade a brand sells and so I didn't really know what to expect.

  However, I did find that when I tried out this product I couldn't see a huge difference between a black shade and this one. I think it definitely made my makeup less dramatic, but it still made my lashes look defined and slightly longer, albeit not as much as my regular mascara. I'm not sure if I would voluntarily buy another brown shade purely because I prefer the effect a black mascara has, especially because my eyelashes are quite dark anyway.
I was really impressed that the product wasn't clumpy either and the huge brush made sure that I was covering each of my lashes. I did find it was a little more difficult to apply to my lower lashes though, but I did find that I only needed to apply one coat of this.

Perhaps the one thing that disappoints me with this product is the removal. I knew because it was a waterproof product taking it off at the end of the day may not be the easiest, but even after using make-up wipes that claimed to remove waterproof makeup there was still a lot of product on my eyes. I then used my cleanser and a cotton pad to try and remove as much as a could and still found I couldn't remove it all as I found out the next morning when it was all around my eyes. The hassle of taking this product off proved too much for me and so for this reason I probably won't be repurchasing this and even though the black brown shade was something different and the product itself isn't bad at all, I still think there are other drugstore mascaras which are better.
 It has been a real eye-opener to try out some new products from a brand that I love for their foundations and powders, but unfortunately I have not fallen in love with any of these products to the extent that I would go out and buy more of them. Probably the most disappointing was the lipfinity glosses because purely on first impressions and seeing the box I thought it would be a product that would become a summer staple for me. However, the search will continue and I am excited about trying some new products out soon.