Pretty Head – UK Make Up Reviews

You may know from reading some of my other reviews that I have long, dry and frizzy hair, which is subject to a lot of straightening and so I am always on the lookout for products that will make my hair look nice, protect it and help solve the dryness issues. My friend who has very long, perfect (grr!), shiny hair told me that she uses Aussie Miracle Luscious Long Deep Treatment once a week to keep her locks looking gorgeous and so I decided to give it ago. I bought mine from Boots for £4.45 (think of the points!) for 250ml, which is the sort of price you would expect to pay for any of the Aussie 3 Minute miracles. There is however the option of buying a 20ml sachet for 99p, so you have the option of trying a sample size before you commit to buying a big bottle. The bottle looks very simple, it is white with a sticker on the front and back containing the instructions for application. As suggested by the name, this treatment apparently works in just 3 minutes and Aussie claim that “the Australian Eucalyptus extract and Avocado Oil contained in this treatment, should help to deeply moisturise, revitalise and nourish your long hair”.

So after shampooing and conditioning with my regular (Pantene) products, I applied a big dollop of the treatment onto my hair and left it for about 5 mins – well I thought I had better give it a load of time to work as I have such thick hair. The treatment is white and has a thickish consistency somewhere in between that of shampoo and conditioner, not a liquid but not totally thick. One thing that I was disappointed in at this stage was the smell; after trying a few Aussie products I have fallen in love with the fruity almost bubble gum like smell given off by them, however this treatment smelt a bit funny, not totally unpleasant, but not the nicest either. After leaving it on for about 5mins I rinsed off with warm water and awaited the results!

To be honest I can’t say that I was totally amazed by the results, my hair did feel soft and didn’t look as dry as usual, however it wasn’t shiny and I don’t think that the results would have been noticeable to anyone but me. However after doing this once a week for 2 months, I would say that there was a marked improvement in the dryness, however there still wasn’t a shine! I wouldn’t buy this product again as I prefer the Avon hair mask (previously reviewed on this site), however I don’t feel like I have wasted my money as it did have a positive effect on my hair. As previously stated you can get a 20ml sample size for 99p, however I only got positive results with repeated use, so a one off try it isn’t really an accurate reflection of the treatment’s effects.

Pros: It helps with dry ends

Cons: It doesn’t really make a huge difference and £4.45 is a lot of money to pay in this economic climate for a product that only half works. Also it doesn’t smell too nice.

It’s that time of year again when we are all reminded of how important it is to help support breast cancer charities and there are loads of ways to do this. From fund raising and buying the pink ribbon to buying Tickled Pink things in Asda, the ways we can all help are endless. I was delighted when I found out that Estee Lauder were again doing their bit to raise awareness of breast cancer and this being a make up site of course means that we will be supporting them all the way (and getting ourselves some lush products in the process)! According to the Estee Lauder website (see link below) ten of the company’s most luxurious and sort after beauty brands will sell products to help raise money for research to eradicate breast cancer. So go on check out the webiste and I will be reviewing some of the products as soon as they come out!

http://www.esteelauder.co.uk/about/breast_cancer_awareness_index.tmpl

Note: I have just found out that Avon have just launched their range of products to help raise money for breast cancer charities! Please take a look!

Got a product you can’t live without?! Or do you regret spending your hard earnt cash on something? Either way we would LOVE to hear about it! Send your reviews and piccies to faye@prettyhead.co.uk and we will do our best to publish them! xxxx

After reading a magazine over the weekend which branded this cream as a must have I felt that I should write this review! About 6 months ago I was stocking up on makeup in Superdrug when I noticed this under eye cream for £1.63 for 15ml! Worrying about under eye wrinkles at 21 I thought I would give this cream a go seen as it was cheap and claimed to help reduce the appearance of fine lines, puffiness and dark circles, which are things that I really suffer from, apparently due to allergies.

The cream comes in a cute, handbag sized tube (as seen in picture) which has a nozzle that allows for easy application to the under eye area. The tube isn’t highly decorated and Superdrug doesn’t make a big deal out of this cream so it might be hard to find in store, there are limited instructions on the back, but really it isn’t hard to apply a cream under your eyes twice a day. The tube doesn’t come attached to any cardboard, normally only used to make the product look attractive, like some other brands do, so this is quite a positive step from Superdrug for the environment. Having just checked online, the price of this cream has gone up to £2.44.

So back to the cream, the magazine I was reading hailed it as a mini miracle for a barging price, however I think my £1.63 would be better spent else where! The cream is very thick and white and yeah you do see a reduction in dark circles with just one application, but this is only because the white cream paints them white! As soon as you wash it off they are back again! Also I used this for 2 months, which I know isn’t that long, but still I saw no reduction in the fine lines I had under my eyes. One good thing I will say about this cream is that it didn’t sting when I applied it, something that normally happens as I have quite sensitive skin. Also I suppose it is a good thing that it includes sun screen, but hey it is Autumn so not really needed at the moment. Personally I see this cream as a waste of money and I think that the article in the magazine only liked the cream because it was cheap and because of what it claimed to do, I doubt anyone bothered to try it for a long period of time. I would not recommend this cream for people wanting a permanent reduction in dark circles and fine lines/wrinkles on the under eye area, however if you have sensitive skin and are looking for a sun screen that doesn’t sting, this might be suitable for you.

Pros: Cheap and offers some protection from the harmful UV rays of the sun.

Cons: Does not live up to its claims, there was no reduction in fine lines and dark circles were basically painted white.

I had a family wedding coming up and decided to splash out on some more expensive makeup so I would look my best for the photos, I have dabbled with quite a few different foundations over the years, none of which ever cost more than £10 as being a student I couldn’t afford luxuries like expensive makeup! So with my birthday money in hand I went to Boots looking for a new, more expensive foundation. I chose Boots because not only do they stock their own range of cosmetics, they also stock all the other popular brands such as, Clinique, Maxfactor, Rimmel and Maybelline. I had already decided to try a brand of foundation that I had never tried before and after having an allergic reaction to some Clinique products I decided to head over to the No 7 counter first. After trying a lot of the foundations on the back of my hand I thought that the best match for my skin tone was their Stay Perfect foundation which comes in a compact and retails at £12.95. This foundation comes in a wide range of colours, suitable for all complexions.

The foundation comes in a black cardboard box with gold writing which is also how the compact itself is decorated. You get a sense that this is a more expensive brand of foundation as the compact comes with a mirror and application sponge, things that the cheaper brands do not include. The foundation itself is quite hard so getting it onto the sponge can require some force, it is however easier to get it onto your finger if u want to apply it to certain places this way, I presume this is because the heat of your skin melts it a bit. As you may have gathered from reading my other foundation reviews, I have quite bad dark circles under my eyes and a few blemishes so finding a foundation which provides good coverage is very important to me. This one did just that, my dark circles and blemishes were not visible and I hadn’t even applied concealer or setting powder! Once setting powder had been applied I had a totally flawless complexion which I was very happy with! The foundation stayed put all day, even with an outfit change and lots of hugging or relatives and 12 hours later it still looked like it did when I first applied it. The only complaint I would have is that in all the pictures that were taken that day I look rather like a ghost! But this is my fault, I should have fake tanned then got a darker foundation.

I would recommend this foundation for anyone with a bit of money to spend, who wants a flawless finish and a foundation that will last all day. I have had this for 6 months now and only use it for special occasions like nights out and so far it hasn’t run out.

Pros: Lasts all day and provides a perfect match and a flawless finish.

Cons: The price, but I def think in this case you get what you pay for.

Having dabbled with acrylic nails for the past few years I haven’t really had a need for nail varnish, however I am currently trying to let my nails recover from the constant damage that acrylics do to them and so thought I would try jazzing them up a bit with nail varnish.

I used to buy Rimmel nail varnishes and have over the years tried pretty much every different type they have and I am never pleased with the result. So I thought I would pay a bit more in the hopes that the effect would be better and the first shop I went into was Boots. To be honest I went in thinking about what colour I wanted instead of what brand (anything that wasn’t Rimmel!) and it just so happened that the exact colour I was looking for belonged to the Boots no 7 range. The colour I chose “Rose Truffle” is a gorgeous raspberry red, which looks lovely and not too tramp like! It cost £5.95 for 10ml, which is a good few pounds more than Rimmel’s polishes, however as I would soon discover it was so worth the money, as the saying goes you get what you pay for! Also on a money note, if you normally have acrylic nails you pay upwards of £15 every few weeks for in fills, so £6 for a nail varnish that will last a good few months doesn’t seem too extravagant. There isn’t any packaging surrounding the bottle; however there is a sticker on the top that contains all the relevant information such as the ingredients, that it is hypo allergenic and flammable.

Using the nail varnish is pretty straight forward; you unscrew the top and apply one or two coats, depending on how dark you want the colour to be. The first thing that I noticed was that this nail varnish didn’t have the characteristic nail varnish smell, which is a good thing! Also I think it must have something to do with the shape of the brush, but application was very easy, it literally glided on and one sweep of the brush would coat my whole nail without any mess. This meant that as I am right handed, painting the finger nails on my right hand was a lot easier than normal and resulted in a lot less mess.

The Stay Perfect range does not state just how long the nail varnish will stay perfect for, however 2 days later, when all Rimmel varnish would have started to chip off, the No 7 Stay Perfect nail varnish was still going strong and looking just as good as it did when I first applied. Normally you are advised to apply two coats of colour and a clear top coat to ensure that the varnish lasts, but I only applied one and the colour lasted for a week before it started to show signs of wear!

I would highly recommend this nail varnish as it really does stay perfect for a very long time, it just goes to show that you get what you pay for!

Got a product you can’t live without?! Or do you regret spending your hard earnt cash on something? Either way we would LOVE to hear about it! Send your reviews and piccies to faye@prettyhead.co.uk and we will do our best to publish them! xxxx