Monday Moodboard #2

Currently surviving (not very well, might I add) off about two hours sleep, and frankly, I'm outrageously tired. I've a sore throat and would like to just complain all day and feel sorry for myself. Instead I thought I would scour the pages of Pinterest and Tumblr and make another Monday Moodboard. Except its Tuesday, so this will go live next Monday. It's all so confusing for a simple mind like mine.

(None of these pictures are my own. All are sourced from Pinterest)

An All-Natural Hair Miracle - Lani Hair Oil

Hola! Seems like forever since I posted, but now I have a new camera it's all about getting back into blogging. As of now I've a huge pile of products needing photographing and it's SO overwhelming. I need a little photography elf.

I thought I'd come back with a review of one of my current favourite products. And yes, it's another hair oil. I am completely obsessed but for good reason...

The ingredients used in Lani Tropical Hair Treatment (£10.95) are simply; virgin coconut, kukui nut, macadamia nut and camellia seed oils, so it is completely 100% natural and suitable for vegans. When combined these oils all have antioxidant and vitamin packed benefits for looking after the condition of your hair for both long and short term results. The coconut oil (which I'm pretty sure we're all obsessed with now?) means Lani smells heavenly, and completely reminiscent of beach holidays, meaning you get "Beach babe hair in a bottle."

On their website they suggest that every 100ml bottle will last 6-12 uses, which of course depends on how much product you use on your hair. I'm about half way through, use it relatively sparingly and have done about 8 applications so far.

My preferred method of using Lani is to slather the ends of my hair in product, put my hair up in what I call a "Pineapple bun" on the top of my head and let it do it's thing whilst I sleep. And I can pretty much guarantee when I wake up my room will smell like heaven, and my hair will look well, greasy until it's washed off... But that is when the magic happens. My hair looks shiny, feels deeply conditioned and the frizz is non-existent. Being such a wonder product, styling my hair afterwards is made so much easier and quicker thanks to the need for less tools and styling products.

Honestly, my hair has never looked so good and soon as I reach the bottom of this bottle I'll be repurchasing. I can't get enough of this stuff!

Sephora Haul

Like the rest of the beauty-obsessed world, I got SUPER excited when Sephora started to ship to the UK, and after a small amount of scouring I was left underwhelmed. Most of the brands weren't available for UK shipping, and not to mention the £75 spend to qualify for the £10 flat rate shipping. Then there's the tax... But finding out the delivery rate had been lowered; I caved. Yes, I do have very little willpower.

Being someone that reads a lot of American blogs and beauty sites I feel like I'd heard an absolute ton about this Japanese wonder-brand and the huge cult following in numerous countries. The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is something that boasts a lightweight, "aqua" formula, with light-medium coverage and still allows the skin to breathe. Think Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua but in a fancier bottle and much harder to get hold of. This foundation really is a thing of wonder and offers very lightweight coverage whilst staying put all day and not looking like you're caked in makeup. Not that I'd suggest buying foundation online and from America, I spent a good hour looking at colour swatches and definitely got lucky.

Being faithful to my Nars Pro Prime eyeshadow base, I felt like I was cheating a little buying Tarte's eye primer. I haven't actually used this yet, as for once I'm waiting till I've finished one before starting another. There's a first time for everything, right?

The LipSurgence lip pencils by Tarte dragged me in straight away given they have a matte finish, and how much I love applying lipstick in a pencil applicator. I bought the shade flush which is a highly-pigmented, deep berry pink that can be worn heavily or blotted down to a natural flush (no pun intended.) And stays put for a good 5-6 hours before needing reapplication. If you eat a ton of burgers however I'd give it a much shorter lifespan.

How sweet is the packaging on these pencils? Definitely want more! 

Seriously, believe the hype on this one. Anastasia Beverly Hills throws it out the ballpark once again with this stay-put formula. I bought one of the newest shades, Medium Brown, as all the others were too dark, and this is an ideal match for my brows, being not too dark or red. This dinky little pot packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation, and I find it best used with an angled brush once the excess has been wiped off. The best part? It completely stays put, like doesn't budge at all. They should have contemplated calling it Bulletproof pomade. Because it sets so quickly, you do have to work a lot quicker than you usually would with brow products. Something you can overlook for perfectly defined brows.

Hope you guys enjoyed a little nosey at what I bought. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my camera will be back within the next week and I can get busy on new posts. iPhone photography is definitely NOT my thing.

Guest Post | The Pyjama'd Traveller

I came across Ellie on Twitter via this article she did for Your Zen Life; I found her to be completely inspiring, and most definitely wise beyond her years. When I asked for guest posters on Twitter and Ellie replied I just knew she'd come up with something amazing. Instead of asking her to do a beauty post, I asked that she shine some of that amazing positivity over here, and she definitely delivered...

The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that do that. UTA Hagen once said, “Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary.” 

You don’t have to follow suit or conform to anything that you don’t want to be, to conform kills your creativity, that spark of who you are. Who is anyone else to judge you for what you want in life. Don’t put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. Likelihood is that they’re just jealous that you have the courage to be real and go for your ambitions with a determination like no other.

Think about it like this, where would you rather be in ten years’ time; sat at home thinking of the ‘what ifs’ or be out doing something incredible? It’s okay to make mistakes along the way to figuring ourselves out but we live in a culture where our every move is under a microscope, every event goes onto Facebook and pictures are uploaded within seconds of anything happening. It makes life seem suffocating and like we have no room to mess up. But we learn so much from our mistakes, they teach us about ourselves and they tell us what we really want out of life so do the courageous thing and go for it anyway. You just have to be brave enough to know that other people’s opinions don’t matter and they shouldn’t affect us. Our journey through life and the mishaps along the way are our business and our business alone. Everyone always wants to be there during your successes but look around and take a note of those who are there when you fall flat down, they’re the ones you want to surround yourself with.

It’s not immodest to know who you are and know what you can do, once you believe in yourself you become unstoppable. Never limit yourself as to what you can achieve because you feel pressured by the world around you to be a certain way. Go for something and if it doesn’t work out, present your mistake to the world in all its glory because we’re humans and that’s just what we do, we make mistakes! Society has made us think we need to be 100% perfect beings who never screw up but that’s just not possible because that’s not how we’re made! Don’t be afraid to be a dreamer, a do-er or a try-er.

Be out there, be spectacular, be courageous, be inspiring, be different. 

You can follow Ellie on Twitter, here. And find her blog, here. 

Hope you all loved this post! 

Giving Moroccanoil Competition - Redken Shatterproof Shine

How did every body's long weekend go? Mine was hectic to say the least. To put it this way, I'm glad to be sat down at my laptop watching Despicable Me with some cake and lemonade. Rock and Roll...

Without a doubt, when I think of hair oils, Moroccanoil is the first thing I think of. With it being my first foray into oils on my hair (well, all oils for that matter) and being one of the greatest things to ever happen to my hair, I truly thought it would never have any competition. But after voicing my opinions on being in a beauty rut, and coming across a silicone free formula by Redken, I ventured out into the land of hair oil, and was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, how gorgeous is that diamond inspired bottle? It isn't completely opaque though, if you hold it to the light you can see how much product is left - genius! Much unlike Moroccanoil, Redken's Shatterproof Shine has a dropper in the lid to get it out the bottle, and I have to admit, this is the one thing I don't like about this. Given its very runny texture, it has a tendency to get a little messy at this point. Pumps are much friendlier for hair oils. Companies, take note. 

The oil itself has a gorgeous scent, (which my non-technical nose would suggest to be apricot) and luckily, it disappears as soon as the oil has soaked into the hair, meaning you're still left with the clean, fresh scent of your shampoo. Whether it's used on damp or dry hair, this soaks in instantly and leaves behind tame, frizz-free locks with a beautiful, natural shine. I tend to use one dropper pre-blow dry, and two droppers post-blow dry and have found that my hair requires little/no styling afterwards, which is where Redken wins in the hair oil stakes. Whenever I've applied a lot of Moroccanoil, I have to wait overnight for it to soak in, Redken's is much less high-maintenance, and will leave hair looking healthy and conditioned immediately.

If we overlook the poor applicator it's very very possible I just went and found a new favourite hair oil. I would truly recommend this to anyone in the market for a new hair oil, and given it's only £23.95 at the moment on FeelUnique, it would be wrong to say no, right?

Have a great week guys! Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon as that camera of mine starts working again.