My hair ...

My most frequently asked question on my blog and in 'real life' is 'What colour do you dye your hair?'

In fear of repeating myself over and over again, I am going to fill you all in unanimously.

I get my hair professionally coloured using L'Oreal Richesse in Saffron Mahogany 6.5.  It's a deep auburn shade and I find that after a few washes it's the closest that comes to my natural colour.  When I say natural colour, I mean my purest state of hair that existed from the ages of 4 to 20 before I started dying it and stripped it of any goodness and rich colour.  It helps to start with that I am a natural redhead so it really enhances those tones, if you are lighter or darker haired, this shade will appear a lot different, I've seen it on some brunettes as very plummy.

Now for the bad news.  This is a discontinued colour and up until now I have been buying surplus tubes of it on eBay.  However, my dear hair fairy Stacie (who is the best in Glasgow) tells me that all of the products in her salon are changing so as of the not too distant future I WILL have to switch to another shade.  Of course she will try and match to this colour as best possible but I have grown a bit of a sentimental attachment to this one :(

I try and change up my shampoo every couple of months but the products that consistently re-appear in my hair care regime is Kerastase.  I use their Nutritive range (in the orange bottles), I find it works well at moisturising my often dry hair and gives a gorgeous shine.  When I am stuck in a rut with my shampoo and conditioner, I always know I can rely on Kerastase Nutritive.  I use Bain Satin 2 (shampoo) with Lait Vital (conditioner).  Every once in a while I also use a treatement from the same range, Masquintense.   Kerastase can be a little pricey but I think they are worth it.

Whether I am styling my hair up and down, I like to add a bit of volume and I usually do this using mousse.  Hair mousse used to be the devil in my eyes and I would avoid it at all cost but now I find it gives an extra boost of volume and keeps my hair in shape.  I am currently using Charles Worthington Volume Boosting Mousse which does the job well but sometimes makes my hair feel a bit heavy so I am still on the search for a fabulous volumising mousse.

I have avoided using straighteners on my hair for a while to see if it makes a positive improvement on my hair but to be honest I have noticed no difference at all other than frizz!  To avoid frizz I now use Macadamia Oil.  It smells lovely and smoothed over your hair it leaves it silky and glossy and never gives you that greasy appearance that most serums do if you use too much.   Even when I am using heat tools I will still use the oil before hand to help protect my locks from the heat.

Once I have dried and styled my hair, I usually like to give it a final boost of volume and have found a brilliant product.  For longer hair this is supposed to add a bit of wave and give that candyfloss hair effect which I love.  It's Tigi BedHead Sugar Shock...  I spray it into the roots and give it a bit of a scrunch and it gives that extra bit of va-va-voom and texture to my hair.

Finally, I always like to 'set' my hair, just like Granny used to ;) For day to day I avoid a heavy hairspray and the best one I've found for a light fix is Trevor Sorbie Beautifull Moisturise Hairspray.  It smells lush and is so light but gives enough hold to keep your hair in shape and in place all day.  I have just run out of this which is disappointing and explains the stock photo.  I will need to restock soon as I seriously love this hairspray.

That sounds like a heap of products lumped on my hair and I guess it is but I do try and rest my hair as much as I can and usually all of these products combined is reserved for nights out or a particularly dressy day.  

What products do you swear by?

x

Tigi Catwalk Your Highness

A few months ago I received a press release for a new Tigi Catwalk collection: Your Highness .. as you may have figured - it's a range of volumising hair products.

I am ALWAYS looking for products that volumise because as much as my hair is still quite thick, it certainly lacks the va va voom it once had. I struggle to find a product that works so when I noticed the release in my inbox I quickly got in touch and asked to try a sample of one of the products. So, this was sent to me free of charge for review purposes.

The Your Highness range includes a shampoo, conditioner, shine spray, boost spray, hair spray and the product I was sent, a gel creme.I was little disappointed when I received the gel creme. I never use any kind of gel in my hair but I needn't have been so glum ... it applies more like a serum. It comes in a purple (lovely packaging btw) pump action bottle.

I apply this when my hair is still damp, just before styling. Tigi recommends 2-3 pumps depending on hair length, however, I find that 1 pump is more than enough! The gel is quite runny and is a uv shade of purple. Once applied through hair, I comb it through before I start drying and styling.

According to Tigi the gel creme contains ablend of Jasmine, Violet and UV filters to help protect hair while making it feel thicker and healthier.

So what do I think? Well, at first, I wasn't sure if I noticed any results as my hair felt so smooth and soft... not something I associate with artificial volume. It wasn't until everyone started complimenting me on how gorgeous my hair was looking that I realised it was really making a difference. Not only did my hair look and feel fuller but the shine was lovely, making it look so healthy and full of life!

I use this product all the time though and will definitely look to purchase once the current bottle runs out. You literally feel like you don't have any product in your hair yet the results are there. It's like having naturally bouffant hair! ... and you gotta love the bouffant! Love!

Now I have seen results from this product I would like to try out the rest of the range particular the hairspray and boost spray.

Just for clarification, the fact I was sent this product free of charge does not influence my opinions in this review. This is my honest experience of using the product over a continued period of time.

x