Crystal Nail Files

Crystal nail files - they're awesome.

You can buy these babies at jewellers and at chemists and random stores.

They tend to cost between $10 to $20 and are worth the price because you never have to replace them (unless you break it or something - note: Don't try to use the tip as a screw driver as it snaps - I have learnt this).

Sometimes they come with colouring like those in the picture, sometimes with hand painting. They're a really nice gift too.

They work extremely well and the joy is that you don't have to replace or sharpen or anything, saves you from continually buying a new nail file when yours is "flat".

Highly recommended.

Solarium

Solarium.

Already some of you are thinking 'um NO.'

And you're absolutely right, but... it's something I've tried and maybe a little bit of you is curious, so I'll write about it... with my head hanging in shame.

So I was curious. There's something dangerous about the solarium (massive understatement) but there's also something about the danger that makes it appealing.

Sometimes I used to go as a bit of an "I'm angry at myself - take that body!". Or perhaps that was just my excuse to go.

I had one summer of super tanned-up-ness. Yep I'll admit, I liked how I looked. But realism came into play and I stopped going.

What's it like? Well you find your local place, make a call, appointment booked. Easy peasy. Plus it's really cheap which is a concern. One session is like $15.

So when I first went I spoke to the counter person about it... I said it was my first time etc.

She suggested that I go to one of the lie down ones. They have levels - the rooms at this place were labelled with numbers.

So I went to room 1 which is the least one.

You go in, lock the door behind you, strip off to whatever you are comfy ( I went nekked - if I was gonna do it I may as well go the whole way). Then you pop on the glasses thingy's (picture at top).

If you want to, you can buy some cream stuff that makes you tan easier. Your choice there. It's definitely not a sunscreen or anything. And really - you're going to the solarium... it would be a bit silly to wear sunscreen... (mind you while saying that I feel really really stupid).

Ok so you're nekked, goggles on, door locked, you lie in the tube thing. Now there's always those horror movies that have people getting locked into the tube and fried. That doesn't happen. They have an automatic switch off after like 10 or 15 mins, so even if someone buckled you in there, you'd just be lying in a dark tube. boo hoo.

So I think I had to press a button to start it, then you climb in with your goggles on and you just lie there til it switches off. Then you get up, give the thing a spray and a wipe with the provided implements, pop your clothes on, go out and pay.

Right so the procedure itself is pretty straightforward. When you take off the goggles and look in the mirror sometimes you look a bit splotchy but it's just your eyes adjusting.

When you leave... to be honest it feels like you've been sitting in a microwave. Your body feels all unnaturally warm. And not like "sitting by a heater" warm. It's weird but not painful or anything.

Ok so I did that first session and all was okay. Went home, saw a bit of a tan develop over that day and the next couple.

But of course. It wasn't enough.

So next time I went again and went in the same room, but I think this time I went for a bit of a longer time. I think it switched off but I switched it on again... which is not like a big no no... it's a personal choice.

Oh and I should mention at this point that the chick I talked to recommended coming every week an a half HAHAHAHAAH I was like "ohhh ok" thinking "wow you're crazy why don't you just inject me with cancer now"

Anyway, so I went the next time... couple weeks after the first. Did the extra time.

Sigh.

I got SO burnt. Between my boobs was a crisp... I peeled. My butt..... oh my poor bum. It was stripey. HAHAHA. Yes literally stripey. See the lie down beds - they kind of have these waves to them - thus the stripes.

So I had stripe burn on my bum :( Oh the shame. Lucky the only person that saw that was my boyfriend, who of course had a chuckle, but also did the "well it kind of serves your right". Deserved.

So that was not a pleasant experience. Plus it hurt to sit down. I admit it!!!!!
Oh and if you've ever been burnt really badly on your cleavage... that really hurts. :(

I felt so stupid.

But I went back.

After I healed of course. But this time I put sunscreen on my cleavage hahahahah. Oh and I also purposely made sure that I moved around a bit in the tube so I wouldnt' be a zebra.
All was well.

Then I discovered the standing one (as pictured).

Ohhh goody.

So the standing one is basically an upright coffin but more spacey. Sorry I couldn't think of any other way of describing it, and since it's a solarium I'm discussing here.... it kind of is a coffin isn't it?

I digress.

So the standing one has benefits. For starters - no stripey-ness. With this one you walk in, close the door (don't worry it doesn't lock, it kind of doesn't really even close if that makes sense? No it doesn't... ok so you pull it shut but it doesn't click or anything).

So no stripey. You stand in there with your arms up, so your armpits get done too. Also in the tube you tend to not be so tanned on your sides because the rays are coming from above and below. With the standing one you can move around to ensure full coverage... plus it has sides, so you are fully covered.

Also - it's kind of nice to have the freedom to move a bit more.

Umm this one is stronger though. I would stand in there and have sweat dripping off me. But it was "worth it" sweat.

The stand up booth became my favourite. Plus not as many people seemed to like it, so I could always book in.

I no longer got burnt... I even started using the stuff that helps the tan along (even in a tanning booth your legs often still refuse to tan).

So as I said, I was looking beautifully tanned. Go me. And I wasn't needing to mess around with sprays every couple of days. yay for me.

BUT.

What can I say? I'm not a stupid girl. I knew it was really bad for me - and that feeling of being microwaved when you leave? You just 'know' it's not right.

It just isn't worth it.

I couldn't continue to go knowing what I was doing to myself. And I also knew that I was becoming a bit hooked. I also became so tanned that it was starting to get to that "over the top" look.

It just wasn't right. There's no other way of saying it.

So I'm saying to you - even if you read this and think 'oh hey it's kind of easy and has results'. It's just not right.

Give it a try if you want to, just know that you're intelligent and an intelligent person makes intelligent decisions.

Go buy a spraytan.


PS you'd be amazed by how many GUYS go to the solarium. Just putting that out there.

Arriving pimple, leaving pimple.... Ella Bache Creme Intex no.2

A friend of mine put me on to this one.

It doesn't look like an "acne cream" and nothing about it says that it is, but it really does work well.

What it does is basically calm down the skin without drying it out like most acne creams do. With a general acne cream you get it drying out that specific spot but also affecting the skin directly around it, which means in most cases you end up with more of a scar, which takes longer to heal, and you have to wait til it's been completely dried out before you start to repair it.

This one basically stops the pimple bit from growing and seems to let your own skin deal with that bit. That's sounds a bit fluffy I admit.

Well I pop it on when I can feel a pimple is there, and generally it never comes up.

In cases where it has already come up and I couldn't resist a squeeze... oh wait... read that as I was in front of the mirror and my fingers 'accidentally' fell around the pimple and it popped. Cause of course I would never break the rules and squeeze on purpose.

Anyways - this is where this cream is the best. If it has already popped it calms the whole area, seems to get rid of the pimple bit, but at the same time heals the whole thing in much quicker time. And your face doesn't feel horribly dry or as if it's been through some nuclear experiment just on that one poor spot.

Give it a go, I find it works.

H'suan Wen Hua - Lush Hair Moisturiser

Cool so I'm sure you all know of Lush natural products.

This is the "H'suan Wen Hua" hair moisturiser.

It's not tooooo exy and it's not bad.

It's no kerastase masquintense, but it's pretty ok.

Only issue I have with this one is that it has a weird smell!! And the smell kind of lingers even after you have rinsed it, shampooed and re-conditioned. So that's somewhat of a problem. It smells kind of like what you would expect someone to say is an "oriental" smell. Haha sorry I say that extremely sarcastically.

How to describe it... Kind of spicey, little bit joss stick (traditonal incense - like what a temple smells like).

Anyway it's not the usual fruity or perfumey smell that you expect from your hair so be warned.

But again - the product is okay and the price is quite alright and if knowing it's all organic hand made blah blah does it for you - then give it a go.

James Brown Intensive Moisture Mask hair treatment

So firstly - sorry for using an image clearly from someone's website. Oops. It was the only one I could find (ok I didn't really look very hard).

So 'James Brown Intensive Moisture Mask'.

They have just started selling this at Priceline and it has a really well written blurb thing on the tube that makes it sound awesome. Blah blah something about working with the stars and having mastered hair and putting heaps of effort into it blah blah.

This product achieves less than a normal conditioner. It's rubbish so please don't waste your money.

Really.

Waste of money.

Kerastase Masquintense Hair Treatment

I've tried many many hair treatments and this one is still the absolute best.

Slather it on, leave it as long as you want, and your hair feels like silk.

It's also been particularly amazing since I've had my hair permanently straightened.

You can't go past it and it's the one I would recommend to anyone.

Only thing that sucks about this is that it costs like $60.

It's worth it.

Liquid "taffy" pore strips

Liquid pore strips - wow! Sounds like a great idea hey. Especially because buying them individually really adds up to be quite expensive.

So myself and my bestie decided to give it a go.

mmm yeh... look they don't really work at all. I found that they kind of stung a bit going on (and I don't have sensitive skin usually) and they were messy (which I can live with.... but) it tends to get bubbles in it when you put it on, so already you are not covering all of the skin.

And most of all? They never really pulled anything out. I mean don't get me wrong - perhaps these are not supposed to work the same way the strips do, where you pull it off and then marvel at the little "hairs" that you got out and think about how awesome it worked. You won't get that with this. And maybe it still does pull things out, but you just can't see it? I don't know, but personally I'll stick with buying the strips.

I find the Biore ones the best. And just due to labelling, I like to buy the "ultra" ones... or whatever they are called. Whichever ones sound like they do more!

Wet your nose just a bit, then pop one on and press it down. Then leave it until it feels hard and pull off from the outer direction slowly. Then admire the magic.

I use the nose ones for my chin too - I either turn them upside down, or just leave it right side up - whatever will cover the area I want most. Sometimes corners of mouth, sometimes lower chin.

Then sit and marvel at how awesome it is that that little strip could get all those thingys out of there. It's magic I tell you!

Antibacterial hand sanitiser WITH MOISTURISER

Everybody likes to be clean, and now that they have brought out all these hand sanitisers my initial thought was 'cool, clean on the go' - I have one at my desk at work and while I was travelling overseas I had one with me. I also like to have them around when I'm sick so there's less chance of me making other people sick, or making myself sicker (it can be a vicious cycle).

But the problem with most of them is that they are SO drying. My hands were looking terrible and I just didn't want to use them anymore. Same with using the soap in bathrooms - when I used the soap at work no matter how much I wash that soap off - my hands are left feeling really horribly dry.

Sure - I could use a moisturising chaser... but that's just annoying and I'm quite lazy.

So I was in Priceline the other day looking for something to buy with my trusty $9 earned from using the clubcard... of course I ended up spending double that. But this was my great find.
It's Kleenex brand natural antibacterial hand sanitiser.

'Natural' oh la la. On the bottle it says the usual "kills 99.9% of germs" but then it says "MOISTURISES SKIN" yay!!

oh and also dermatologically tested etc.

So I've used it and thus far it is really good. It has eucalyptus oil in it, so when you first put it on it has a very strong smell... bit like eating those eucalyptus drops... but that quickly dissipates and your hands are left fragrance free - but clean and not dry!

Give it a go - $2.99 at Priceline. Why not be clean AND moisturised at the same time?

Laser Hair Removal

My long term relationship with laser hair removal is still going strong. I suspect it's a love that will endure throughout time...

Where to begin?

Well I decided to do laser hair removal because I hate body hair (it makes me feel unfeminine) and I also felt I was spending a LOT of time grooming to get rid of body hair.

I had my arms, full legs, armpits and brazilian done.

Before laser - I shaved, waxed, depillitated (I'm not sure if that is a word... but I mean emjoi, the one with lots of tiny tweasers), used those creams (total waste of time)... I even tried using a single tweaser for hairs on my legs once. It was a long exercise.

None of those were good enough. Shaving - well that's clearly temporary and produces more hair anyway. Plus I somehow always felt manly doing it hahhaha. Waxing - well it hurts for starters, and more so - you have to let the hair grow back before you can get it done again. Gross. I already said I didn't like hair. The creams I won't even bother talking about. The emjoi - well you can't use that everywhere now can you. And in most cases... it bloody hurts. Ohhh and I shudder just thinking about the times where it caught my skin and I had to pull it off. ohhhh shiver down my spine.....

Also - I used to get ingrown hairs a lot (particularly bikini area) and they are just horrible. AND Because my hair is dark - even if I shaved or waxed - I'd still have those little "dots"... does that make sense? Like there was always that little bit of something you could see there - and I HATED IT. I also hated having any kind of red dots come up. ARGH.
(Ps laser gets rid of all of this. Boo yah.)

So... thus I came to the option of Laser hair removal. None of my friends had done it, so I didn't really have anything to go by. I remember doing research... but for some reason I can't remember what research that was. I think I just asked friends of friends if they had had it done... (most hadn't) and then I resulted to checking out heaps of websites until I found one that felt right.

Check out http://www.avana.com.au/

So I found my place, called up and made an appointment. I was like 15 mins late because I couldn't find the place. This one is in Canberra and if you know the area - it's on Ainslie Avenue - but I didn't realise that that actually has the Canberra Centre right in the middle of it (so the road somehow continues on the other side....). I circled for ages and then had to call them to ask. So yeh it's near the fountain on the side of the Canberra Centre that has the library and theatre etc - it's in that little U-shape road bit that used to have the clapping cube in the middle. Note "used to" - that's now on the other side of CC.

I went in and the lady was SO nice. I believe her name is Jennifer and I feel super bad that I can't remember that for absolute sure - cause she is so lovely and I was seeing her often over like 2 an a half years... you'd think I would remember her name. I'm terrible.

She sits you down and basically explains the whole procedure to you, costs involved, and then does a test go on your skin so you can see how it feels. This is of course with zero commitment.

So I'll break this up into different parts to explain it:

1. Pain
   This is a funny one to explain, because it's different with different parts of the body, and for girls, with different times in your hormonal cycle.
   On the most part - it feels like getting snapped with an elastic band. Not so bad you might be thinking... but you need to remember that this is not a single snap - this is continuous snaps!
   
   It hurts more for areas with thicker hair - so for me that was underarms definitely. Also hurts more for like skiny areas and bony areas - so for me that was arms... and knobbly bits like ankles etc.
   
   The pain is definitely tolerable. It's only painful for a second and then you are fine. PLUS - if you really are sensitive, you can pay a wee bit extra for this numbing cream. I never used it.
   
   There was only one time where I actually was like "ouch that really hurts" - and that was when she was doing my armpits, and I don't really even know why it was more painful at that time... probably something to do with hormones. That was maybe my fourth or fifth session.
   
   Does it hurt in umm "sensitive lady areas" - yeh it does. Sorry ladies. But again, it's bearable, and I still thought my armpit hurt more.
   
2. Before your appointment
   So if you were getting a wax - before your appointment you have to make sure that your hair is long enough.
   Not the case with Laser.
   In fact, it's quite awesome.
   
   Probably the day before/morning before - you shave the area that is going to be lasered. If you haven't already thought of it - this is awesome. Why? Because it means that you can basically shave all the time in between - and you never have to let the hairs grow back. mwahahahaha you can be hair-free throughout this entire process.


3. Process
   So check out the picture I attached below.
   No - that isn't my arm hahahaha.
   
   Ok so that's basically what the laser thingy looks like. You wear those sexy sunnies like they give you when you go to the dentist.
   
   You'll notice it's not the biggest machine hey - it is however on a cord that comes from a biggish machine.
   Also - this leads me to the next point - because it's pretty small - they have to draw on you so they know that they didn't miss any bits.
   She drew on me with a highlighter, basically lines down the area so that she had little rectangles to do. (don't worry she wipes the highlighter off after) It looks funny though.
   
   The machine makes this weirdo "whoosh- clunkk" noise each time she presses the button. "Whoosh clunkk... whoosh clunkk..... whoosh clunkk"
   
   Oh whoops I forgot to talk about getting your gear off. tee hee *blush*. So you go in, and there is just the admin area, and then a slidey door into the actual laser area. She locks the front door and pops a bell on it (should someone want to enquire or whatever). Then you go into the slidey door, put your stuff down, and she goes into this further slidey door cupboard kind of thing while you get your gear off. She is extremely good at giving you ample time to do this. Then you go sit on the chair thingy and place the towel over your lap. For me because I was getting legs, arms, brazilian, armpits - I would be sitting on the chair wearing a singlet top or a bra and nothing else.
   Then she comes out at just the right time when you are all seated and covered etc. I don't know how she does it... but it was always just the right timing!
   
   Ok so she comes out, gives you your trendy glasses to put on, and then you guys decide where you want to start first. Some people prefer the more painful bit first, others build up to it... whatever. I didn't really care.
   
   For smaller areas she doesn't have to draw on you - like armpits... they are done in a jiffer. Full legs however required some drawing.
   
   For your delicate lady area - she gives you like this kind of soft paper thingy to put down over the area so you don't feel so exposed. Though really, you are. hahahhah. But you know that the door is locked so at least you feel safe in that respect. Plus she is super respectful and somehow makes you feel comfortable despite being in an awkard situation.
   For this area, you just sit as you would normally - you might have to have your leg out a little, but not really. Oh and if you would like there to be hair in certain areas... landing strip etc.. she can easily accommodate for that.
   Umm and if you need the um back area done, you just flip over and she does that. Again, she somehow makes it not so uncomfortable (though of course it's still uncomfortable.. but you know what I mean). She usually would amp up the conversation about movies or something at this time, so there is a bit of distraction.
   
   Oh that reminds me - they do say you can bring in music to calm yourself, or a magazine to read. I never did either. It felt weird to read a magazine with someone so close in your vicinity. I just made conversation instead.

1. I couldn't figure out how to get the bullets to work
2. oops
3. .......
   
4. AftercareSo if you had a hair that you hadn't shaved... after the laser it looks kind of "fizzled". It's kind of nice to see cause you know that the process worked.
   
   But otherwise - you probably can't really see any difference right after the appointment.
   
   So these fizzed hairs will just drop out. Not in a dramatic way... just randomly when you aren't looking hehe.
   What will happen next, is you will see kind of umm "stubble" form. This is the bits of the hair that were under the skin, and now need to be pushed out. This is kind of a crappy time. Yep you can exfoliate, and this helps with some of them.. but they are a different kind of thing than your usual hairs... or dead skin. It's funny cause I got a bit fedup with them and got out the tweasers to take some out - and you pull on it... and it just kind of comes out. Weird? Like there is no "pull" to it at all. Nothing is holding it in, it is simply being expelled by your skin.
   
   The "stubble" period goes for a week tops I think. And I only got it the first session I had - after that it didn't happen again. It's worth enduring - but probably something to keep in mind if you want to have your face lasered. Stubble moustache not sexy.
   
   So after stubble stage (first week-ish) you go into NO HAIR stage. This is awesome. Cloud 9. Then about 6/7 weeks in... the cycle gets you to that stage where the hair grows again. You can just shave those suckers away. You'll have to shave for the appointment anyway. Each session you have... you'll notice less and less hair regrowing at this six week period. It's awesome.
   
   After the laser process itself has been done, she slathers you with this moisturising shielding and calming stuff. It feels really nice, and if your skin is a bit warm from the process, this does it a treat.
   
   This stuff is also really important because you can't go out into the sun when you are having laser done. You are much more susceptible to getting burnt etc, so you have to put sunscreen and cover up.
   
   This is something to keep in mind when you are thinking about when you want to start doing laser.....
   

TimeThis is one of the most important things. As gets explained to you in that first session chat thing.... Your hair grows in 8 weekly cycles. So in a nutshell... you have to have laser done at a particular part of the cycle - so you HAVE TO GO IN EVERY 8 WEEKS. If you miss an appointment you really screw yourself over because that ultimately means you miss the boat and it probably won't be as effective.

So you know it will take quite a span of time - when should you start your first session? First thing in winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That way you don't have to care about the sun whatsoever - and by the time summer rolls around - you are hairfree and fantastic.

How many sessions? Well they say 4 to 8 but it took me about 10, maybe even 12. But it depends on your hair growth and how picky you are....

The time it takes for each session is hard to say - it depends on how much you are getting done. For me they were like 1.5/2.5 hours. If you were just getting your armpits done... probably 15 mins.

After my first session... when I got through stubble stage etc... and reached the regrowth stage... OMG I was so shocked already.... at least 2/3's of my hair didn't grow back. WOW. And after each subsequent session... less less less. I love you laser hair removal.

PriceOk this is unpleasant, but it has to be addressed.
Total overall cost for me to get full legs, brazilian, armpits and arms.... I don't know. At a guess.. argh.. I don't really even want to admit it to myself. Possibly $7000. Possibly $8000.
Lets just say each session was at least $600 for me.

And this is all with discounts too. You get a discount for the more "items" you do. So it's a buy in bulk discount. I think 30%.
Your first treatment is 50% off.

I didn't do this, but I really really really should have - if you prepay for a certain amount of sessions - you get another big fat discount on top of it... like 20% or something. That would have saved me heaps... but I was unsure how many I would need, and I didn't have that much money all in one go.

Ok so from memory (and don't quote me on this) - per session underarms is like $100. Brazilian $150, Full legs $750... arms I can't remember. That's before discount.
So you can see how this adds up.

Keep in mind you are doing a session every 8 weeks too - so you really have to budget for this.

I"ll be honest - it really did put me in debt. BUT.

ResultsWithout a doubt, totally worth it.
Yes it cost me a fortune, but I feel like the benefits totally outweighed that. No more ingrowns, now more upkeep, no need to think about "have I shaved my legs?" "can I wear this singlet top?" - nothing. I never even think about it. And I have nice smooth and soft everything - no lumps on my legs, no little black bits on the armpits, no red marks, no nothing.

It's been a couple of years since I had it done... and still no real regrowth. I get the occasional single hair come up somewhere - I just twease that sucker off.

I would probably go back for a "retouch" (where they just do like single hairs, little patches... and the price is substantially cut). But I don't feel I need that just yet.

It feels so good to never have to worry about it. So So so good.

Anyway - I know there is more I will probably want to add to this as I have written this quite quickly so you can expect more information - but if you have any specific questions, just add it as a comment and I"ll make sure I put some info in for you.
PS: Something I forgot to add - laser works best on people with fair skin and dark hair. A friend of mine who has red hair was very very VERY disappointed when she couldn't have it done :(


UPDATE 22/09/2015:  Thought I'd add a follow up on this one. I STILL HAVE NO HAIR. Pretty good huh!!
I get the occasional one single hair on my leg or something... and I pluck it out. But otherwise, I have not needed to do ANY shaving or waxing or anything since having this done.

If people tell you that your hair will grow back in "two years"... I'm evidence that it doesn't. Perhaps one of the "lucky ones" with my fair skin and dark hair.
Getting this done was one of the best decisions I ever made and even though it was really expensive at the time... so worth it.

Revlon Colour Ball

Need to dye your hair but don't want to ruin it with permanent dye?

I use these Revlon Colour Balls. They are surprisingly hard to find, which is very annoying, but if you check around - certain hairdressers have them. If you live in Canberra - THE hairdressing has them, also Off London.

So you can buy these in a big pump tub as pictured, or for individual ones, you get them in the "ball".

If you like to change colours often, go the ball, if you stick with the same colour, may as well get the pump.
I like to use a chocolate brown colour. Cause I'm sure you were dying to know. hehehe
So you get your ball - PUT ON SOME GLOVES! and basically - just whack it onto your hair and smoosh it around. There is no science to it, just make sure it's covering all your hair fairly even.
I think it says to leave it for 10 mins or something on the packet. Sure. You could do that. I on the other hand, like to live life dangerously. I usually leave it for at least 20 mins, up to an hour! The thing about this colour ball business is that it's not just dyeing your hair, it treats it at the same time. So leaving it in longer doesn't hurt. Though don't go crazy and leave it for hours and hours. That's just silly now isn't it?
My hairdresser who introduced me to this product told me it was ok to leave in for an hour, and a friend of mine who is a hairdresser agreed. So it's not just crazy me saying it's ok.
One thing to note though - the time you leave it in might depend on the colour you go. I once did a red one and left it in for longer... oh wow. With those kind of colours it just really really takes when you leave it longer. But with the chocolate brown that I normally do - it's the same colour as my hair, so leaving it longer is not obvious.
Then you just rinse it out etc.
Some people like to use it in the shower as a conditioning treatment. Those people are rich and can happily put it on for 2 mins and then wash it out. I am not one of those people, I like to get my money's worth out of it!
So the reason why I keep using this and love it so much? It doesn't damage your hair for starters - which is really good for someone like me who is growing their hair and also has it permanently straightened (or if you are planning to do any chemical process to it and need it in good condition beforehand).
Also - it's beautiful. It really perks your hair up - improves the condition and really adds depth and health to the colour. It's really great when you have dry ends - you know how they tend to be just a little bit lighter than the rest of your hair?
So you end up with really really healthy looking hair, and it's a treatment at the same time.
It's hard for me to tell you how long it lasts because I usually go the same colour that I already have - but as I said it's not permanent, so you probably need to re-do it every 3 months or so. More often if you want to. When you have the pump at home... you can just do it whenever you feel like your hair needs a pick me up.
Price - I actually can't remember! But it's not "extravagant".
I'm going to grab some this week so I'll try to update with the price.
All in all - I really really recommend this product.

Coloured Dry Shampoo!!

I said it needed to be made and it has been!

Welcome Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder - available in Brown, Blondish, Black and White at Mecca Cosmetica.

The picture seems to have more colours so I imagine if you look online you can get more of them.

I haven't tried it yet but I'm excited that someone has come out with it.

A friend of mine mentioned that a lot of the Dry shampoos tend to have way way too much fragrance - I'll have to pop into Mecca for a sniff to suss these out.

PS they are $72. *heart attack*

Ok so I won't be buying this product just yet - but if one company has come out with it - the cheaper brands will soon follow.

Keep an eye out!

Eyelash extensions

Eyelash extensions..... beautiful aren't they?

Makes you think wow, that's awesome. I could amp up my beauty quota with this fabulous addition.

Don't do it.

I repeat. Don't do it.

Yep I've had this done and by all means, it looked freaking amazing. But it is SO hard to maintain and it's so expensive that it's SO not worth it.

Alright, so I believe this cost me at least $150, if not more. You get a choice of how long the lashes will be - generally you don't go super long because you'll look like a show girl. And probably a male show girl. You go with the shorter ones, short to medium. And yes, you can trim them after it's done... if you are game.

I went short to medium length. Then you have to decide how many you want, and how thick you want it to look. I think I went a "full set" but that doesn't mean they go on every lash, the beauty therapist does their thing and decides when you have enough. I think you get charged according to how many they use... maybe.

So you go in and immediately you can tell that the beauty therapist is thinking "wow this chick has money to burn". You have the initial chat about lenght, fullness etc.

The procedure itself, they have to clean off any makeup and then basically they are glueing each extension on to an individual eyelash of yours. The fake extension bit - you get told all this stuff about it being awesome "so soft" "just like real". I felt them before they went on and yep that's all true. (there's more to it though).


So it's a long process with the poor beautician girl glueing away at your eyelashes. It's a long time to have to have your eyes closed and, like with the perming, you can tell there is chemicals near your eye.

So when it's done again, as with the perm, you have difficulty opening your eyes. But this is way worse. Your eyes feel like they are glued together, and kind of feel a bit heavier than they were before. It took a fair bit of gentle wiping to be able to get my eyes fully open, and my eyesite was all blurry by this stage.

I look in the mirror and WOW amazing. At this point I'm thinking - this is so cool!!
But something in the eyes of the beautician when I'm paying tells me there may be more to it.



After care. Sigh.

1. You have to sleep on your back because your eyes CAN NOT touch the pillow. Even if you have a satin pillow. You MUST sleep with your face up. Why? Because if you go smooshing your face into the pillow, you will kink the extensions. And there is no coming back from that. I had many nights of no sleep, then gave in and kinked an eyelash - I had to pull it off.
   
   Oh and when I say pull it off - you *can* get it off and keep your normal eyelash, you just have to be careful.
   
   
2. Even though I had the short/medium - I couldn't wear glasses or sunnies because those babies kept banging against the lenses. It doesn't sound like a big deal but trust me it was super annoying.
   
   But hey, I looked awesome. Boo yah. Who cares....... But wait.
   
   
3. Remember how I said the extensions were soft and lovely? They are. But glue isn't. And to get that sucker to stay on your eyelash, it takes a good 3mm of glue at least. And that 3mm section gets harder and harder every day. Suddenly you have these mega hard eyelashes that you can't touch, you can't sleep on, and you can't even hug someone for fear they will smoosh your face into their shoulder and heaven forbid - kink or knock off one of your precious precious lashes.
   
   
4. Sure. You can get "refills". But they cost a fortune. And the time you need to get it done is annoying. So you end up with some falling off every now and then. Yep you'll definitely know it has fallen off because suddenly you see this way thicker than normal eyelash in the sink, and it's as hard as a toenail. And you see a gap in your "full" set of lashes. Yeh you can get away with that for the most part... but after a while it starts to become obvious... which leads me to....
   
   
5. You pull them all out.I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted sleep, I wanted to have normal huggy human interaction, I wanted to not feel as if I had a giant layer of plastic above my eye.I had to pull them out individually.I kept all my original lashes, but washed a couple hundred dollars down the drain. I believe I held out with them for 3 weeks?? That was pretty good because I really wanted to get rid of them well before that. And a little bit of me died everytime one fell out or got kinked. Sigh.
   
   
   

But I did look pretty..... so pretty............ *sob*

Clear eyes

Clear eyes eye drops. I had heard good things about these and basically every woman's magazine I pick up has a suggestion that you use these "every day" so that you look more alert and ultimately... more beautiful of course.

I never really got it to be honest. Sure, I bought them on the advice of magazines. But I buy EVERYTHING on the advice of magazines. I'm a classic sucker.

I bought them, tried them for a couple of days.... and thought... my eyes look the same why am I wasting time and putting something in my eyes that maybe I shouldn't be using so often.

BUT THEN.....

One beautiful morning I woke up from a big night out and started getting ready to head to a work offsite. Looked in the mirror and yikes - I had little red squigglies all over the whites of my eyes. I looked like a seasoned drug addict!!

It was Clear Eye's moment to shine. AND IT DID. I popped a couple drops in each eyes and wow, no more red bits, just nice and normal looking eyes.

Sure - I still had the lazy swagger of someone who had too big a night, but I *did* earn myself a comment from a mate at work of "how come I'm so hungover and you're fine".

Conclusive evidence.

Don't believe when magazines say you should use this everyday (unless you go on a bender every night). Save this one for those occasional mornings where it really can make a difference.

Eyelash perm

Eyelash perm!

Clearly this is not a picture of MY eyes, but you get the idea. So I've only had this done once.

Cost about $30 to $50 depending on where you get it done. It only takes say 30 mins?

You go in, they ask you which of two styles you would prefer - one is getting the curl from the roots, the other is curling the ends. Curling the ends is probably more dramatic, but you get that kind of look of your eyelashes trying to go back into your head. Too annoying for me. I opted for the curl at the base, which "opens" up your eye more.

So you go in, lie down, they clean off your eye makeup, they pop this roll thing above your lashes, then paint some stuff on and you sit there for a while waiting for it to work, and then they wipe it off.
In a nutshell.



So you have to lie there with your eyes shut for quite a while. It's awkward, and I can imagine it would be uncomfortable for some people. I made conversation with the beauty girl about movies. I'm sure she was thrilled.

She then went on for a while about "I don't really get why people get this done, it's such a waste of money". I always enjoy someone bagging out what I'm doing whilst I'm getting it done. hehehe

Ok so it didn't happen to me, but I could feel the strength of the chemicals close to my eye, and I imagine if that substance got in your eye it would sting really bad. Again - it didn't happen to me.

Next they wipe the stuff off, and you can open your eyes again, though it's somewhat hard. Your eyes can still feel the effect of the chemical, and you've been lying there for a while so you kind of want to have a nap.

She then popped out the mirror to show me. Umm they looked exactly the same so on the outside I was like "wow awesome! Thanks!" but on the inside I was thinking "wow total waste of time and money".

Went home, looked at my eyes again - yeh still no real difference. Oh well at least I gave it a shot.

The next day I went to work, with mascara on... and my boss (male) says to me "oh wow did you get your eyelashes trimmed?"

Ok first things first - my reaction was a bit of a "what on earth are you talking about??"

Then he told me this story about how he didn't understand why girls needed to trim their lashes and "how much could they really grow anyway" and how there was a girl on his train everyday that got out her "guillotine" and trimmed those lashes every morning. Again "how much could they grow in one day....?"

hehehehhe yes. I laughed.

I think we all know what he was talking about. hahah so cute. He really was quite relieve when I explained the contraption to him and sent him a wiki link to it. He was genuinely concerned for this girl's safety using that guillotine on the train!

In so saying - I wouldn't risk curling my lashes on the train - one bump and you surely rip those suckers out. Yikes.

Ok back to my point. HE NOTICED.

I went to the bathroom to have a look-see and WOW. They looked frakking amazing. My eyes were so wide and my lashes looked sooooo good.

I loved it.

It lasted for about a month and I've got to say that I had at least 6 unsolicited comments about them - and from people that had no idea I had had something done.

So a definite thumbs up for me.

But, I have to admit I haven't had it done since.

Why?

Well time and money. It doesn't last that long and it costs money and takes time. If I was a wealthy socialite yep I'd get it done constantly, but I'm not. So I guess I'd just save it for a special occasion.

Dry shampoo

Dry shampoo.

So it's been around for a while now and really... I'm a bit over it.

Originally when we first discovered it, we used Klorane because it was the only one we could really find. I read somewhere that dry shampoo works a lot better on blonde hair (I am brunette) and I can really say that I believe that. The problem with dry shampoo is that although it works in the sense of shampooing your hair and being dry (snigger hehe) - it tends to also be visible.

Ok lets go from the beginning.

Dry shampoo is an awesome alternative when you want to get an extra day or (if you like to live life dangerously) two out of your hair before doing a full wash. Especially awesome for girls who have to go to a lot of initial effort when styling their hair - blow dry, straighten etc.... and just want to keep that for a little longer.
Also VERY awesome for those of us with bangs/fringe, because that gets oily first, and we don't always want to pin it back (even if it does look super cute sometimes). So yeh, it's great.

Also great for travelling and camping when you just don't have time and you want to look good.

How to use it?
You just spray from 20 to 30 cm's away, point at the roots cause you won't need it in the lengths, then you massage it in, leave it for a couple minutes, brush it out. Some people also like to get a dry towel and give it a rub.

The problem with it, as previously mentioned... and the reason I got tired of it and don't use it as much anymore...

Well the product itself is white... Yep that seems pretty obvious and yeh I know you massage it in, but I've used several products and the problem remains... no matter how well you towel it and brush... you kind of get like "dust" looking things in your hair, which actually can look a bit like dandruff and ends up giving you the opposite of what you wanted - your hair looks dirty.

Now if they made dry shampoo coloured... this problem could potentially be solved! I mean if you are blonde you don't see that because it blends in, but if you are brunette it's a problem. So how about someone makes a brown version.... or maybe it's already in the works???

So my opinion - I'm tired of it and I think it has flaws, but on the odd occasion I still give it a whirl. Mostly because I already bought the stuff and want to use it up.

I've tried Klorane, as previously mentioned (pictured at top) - this is the standard, quite good, stable choice.

I also tried Batiste - this one comes in different "flavours"/smells. Rubbish.

You can get mini ones for travel, I tried Lee Stafford. Hmm. Mediocre.

I also tried Toni & Guy - expecting some kind of awesomeness. No different to Klorane.

Currently I'm using Et Absorb - this one claims to give your hair a bit of a moisturising treatment at the same time. And of course I'm a sucker for any such claim, so at the moment this is my favourite. Seems to work the same as Klorane and Toni&Guy, but it's "moisturising" my hair at the same time. That's an extra tick.

I also like the way the bottle looks!

Baby wipes

So this is a pretty easy, brief one to talk about.

I use baby wipes to clear off my makeup and if my face is a bit oily etc - instead of using those makeup wipes. It's like ten times cheaper, and I figure - if it's good enough for baby, it's good enough for my face. No alcohol, no anything that will give rashes... and so soft!

I've tried several brands and now get a box from Big W (about $15) that lasts me ages. It's Wipeeze Little Angel brand. They are soft and don't have any alcohol, and of course, cheap.


These come in a box of packets, and a big tub - the big tub ones are too thin and I didn't like them. They look like this:


So to be clear - you don't want this container - you want the 12 pack BOX - usually it's either green or orange. (Yep I know the pic I put at the top is pink, but it's the best I could find!)

Baby wipes are soooooo good for when you've had a big night out and are too lazy to wash your face fully.

Also good for when you travel....

and when you just want to "freshen up".

I've been using baby wipes for about 6 years now, and still love them.

When you are buying them - be careful of alcohol and fragrance content as they can dry your face. Also be mindful of price - if you are buying the expensive ones then you kind of may as well just buy the makeup ones!

Silica Supplement for Hair Growth

Ok so I've always wanted really long hair but my hair grows excruciatingly slow and I started looking up what I could do to make it grow faster.
My search brought me to the Silica Colloidal Gel supplements.

The brand I saw the most of in the chemist is the one pictured. I've noticed they've since come out with more products and are working on some of the "problems" with the current ones.

I got the liquid one. It's exy... well if feels exy. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I think somewhere between 20 and 30 dollars.

You have to keep it refrigerated.

So um what did I think of it?

Well for starters - I didn't take it long enough for it to ever have an effect.

Reasons I stopped drinking it (and stuff they have potentially since worked on):
- It has a disgusting texture. I think it's to do with the "colloidal" business. Something about it being in the liquid. I am one of those people who hates orange juice in pulp because of how it feels in my mouth and going down my throat. This feels like you are swalling chalky residue. Even when you put it with say cordial or something, you still get that weird texture. I couldn't stand it.
- It tastes weird
- I think it may have messed with some other medications I was taking? Don't quote me on that, but I like to be careful.

So I can't really give a good review of this product because I gave up on it almost immediately. I think it's still sitting in my fridge actually - but everytime I see it I kind of shudder.

Oh here's another example of the texture - it's like when you go to take a panadol but you don't swallow it quite right, and it starts to dissolve in your mouth in a kind of paste way. Really gross.

So silica gel. How about someone else tells ME if this works?

In the meantime, to solve the problem I originally started with - how to get my hair to grow faster? I just got over it and waited it out. 12 weekly haircuts instead of 6 weeks, and I used a lot of leave in's and such to maintain good health.
I'm still trying to grow it. I think I've just accepted that the length others can have in two years, will take me 5 to 6.
Lucky I'm not on Search for a Supermodel - cause I would be the chick that refuses to cut her hair for the show.

;)

Bepanthen lips

Ok, so Bepanthen is an antiseptic cream like Savlon - but it's the version for babies. You can buy it in the chemist and in places like Priceline, often Kmart etc will have it in their baby section.

Bepanthen differs from Savlon because it's a lot more creamy, and less harsh. When you get a tattoo, this is what they recommend you put on it.

It's an antiseptic, but it's also somehow moisturising.

I began using Bepanthen when I got a tattoo, so I had a tube around the place for several years (ps you buy one tube and no matter what you use it for you seem to have it forever).
So it's great for tattoos, for rash, for abrasions, all the usual.

I was having a lot of difficulty with my lips - they just kept flaking all the time, or the skin would do that horrible thing where it comes off and kind of nestles in a group at the corners of your mouth. Have you seen that? It looks horrible and you don't notice until you wipe your mouth or something and then you have to think of all the people that saw you like that!

So my lips kept cracking and I was trying lipsticks, lipgloss etc, I even tried not using anything for a while because I figured - guys never use lipgloss and their lips always look fine... I thought (and I still suspect) that when you start using lip chap, your lips stop producing whatever they need to stay moist, and so you need to keep using the chap.
It's a cruel cruel cycle.

Anyway, I was trying everything and nothing was working. Oh I even got benefit lip exfoliant and lip treatment. I would have had to exfoliant freaking every day for that to stop it all. Good stuff but it just wasn't solving the overall problem.

Then I read in a magazine someone saying that they use bepanthen at night. So I put a little on that night before bed.
Didn't really do anything.
Disappointing.

Next night I decided to SLATHER IT ON. So I put a bit more (but not so much that it was going into my mouth and I could taste it).

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

I've used it every night since, and it keeps my lips in tip top condition for the entire next day. Sure I still need to use lip gloss (I usually use Elizabeth Arden 8 hour lip chap), but I don't have to put it on anywhere near as much, and sometimes I forget for the whole day - yep my lips feel a bit dry - but they never crack and I never get that gross white skin residue.

So Bepanthen - in the long run it's very cheap to buy, and it's an awesome product.

Plus - you can use it on so many other things!!! It NEVER STINGS, so it's great to put on all kinds of wounds.

Love it!!

Aspirin face mask

Ok so this one I heard helps to reduce your pores and keep them nice and clean.

You get about 6 aspirins, a tiny bit of water, and moosh them all together. I use a mortar and pestle, but you could really just do it with a spoon and bowl - it's just a good excuse for me to use that thing as I don't use it for anything else. Though it does look pretty.

So enough water so that you can smoosh that aspirin into a paste.

Then just pop it all over your face (not around your eyes of course).

Leave for 5, 10 mins... however long you want really. Though note that if you leave it for too long you start getting aspirin powder fall off your face.

Then you rub it off your face (it also acts as an exfoliant at this point).

Done.

PS I've heard that if you have really sensitive skin then this is not for you.

As for me - I found it awesome! It really does help with my pores. I usually do it and then follow with some pore strips, or the other way around.

My pores are visibly smaller and they feel "cleaner" and seem to be less oily for a while. It also seems to help me to not get any pimples.

So a thumbs up for me - I do this one maybe every fortnight. It's so easy and aspirin is SUPER CHEAP.

Highly recommended!

Hairspray leave in conditioner

Does this product exist? Cause if so I want to get my hands on it.

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to beauty things - if anything can combine processes, I'm on it.

So how about a hair spray that doubles as a leave in conditioner? Then I can spray away and know that I'm also improving my hair. Go me.

I'll keep an eye out....

Milia removal

What's milia? It's little lumps on your skin that you get under your eyes.

Sometimes they are caused by high cholesterol, sometimes it's genetic, sometimes it's just whatever? Oh and eye creams can cause them too.

I think I get them through the genetic path.

Anyway at one stage they were really annoying me (they still do but I've kind of given up). I tried to remove them myself - I read on the net that you can poke a hole in one and then kind of "roll it out". Lets just say I was highly unsuccessful in this venture.
So. Next step was to go to a beautician. They do it as part of your facial... before they go ahead and do all the exfoliating, masking etc.
Except when they do it they do it a lot more hygienically then I could! Very light prick and then it comes out - though obviously I couldn't see it coming out. But the girl showed me and it's really just a little round tiny white pea, tiny.
You are just left a tiny bit red there for the day and then it's fine.

So is it worth it?

Depends.

You have to get it done like every month - that really adds up $$ wise. $80 a month adds up.

They say that if you get it done regularly it can get rid of most of them, but then you will need to come back for more facials to maintain that.

Ok so for me that just ended up adding up to too much.

So what I do now is just try to ignore them for starters hahahah, but I also make sure that I don't use eye creams - I use the serums instead - much much thinner. Since religiously sticking to that I haven't gotten any more milia, but it still means I'm stuck with the ones I had.

Verdict? If I had all the time in the world and all the money, sure I'd do it. But I don't.

Thermal straightening / Straight perm

I just had my hair permanently straightened in Sydney at one of the asian salons - if you want the name contact me. Very fancy place and everyone that worked there was SO nice.

Ok so it's thermal straightening and it's permanent. It only stops being straight when your hair grows out.

Basically - the structure of the hair is changed permanently.

The process takes HOURSSSSSS. My appointment was at 10:15am and I walked out of there at 2:30pm. Lucky for me I had a cushiony thing on my chair and got to walk around a bit. And thank goodness I have an iphone so could play games/facebook etc.

So the steps:
1. Light wash (they don't rub your head too hard as that can then make your scalp sensitive for the chemicals)
2. Apply the rebonding stuff - a thickish white cream. All over the hair, probably 2mm from the scalp
3. Steam thingy - like the heat one that they put over your head
4. Check how it's going - if your hair is in bad condition, or you have any bits that have been bleached etc, they will react to the rebonding way quicker than the rest
5. Rinse
6. Blow dry/straighten
7. Apply straightening stuff - another thickish white cream. This time you can't move your head much - they kind of paint it on and have bits of tin foil. It's painted on the hair so that the hair sits very straight on the foil.
8. Rinse, wash etc
9. Soft blow dry - they just wiggle their fingers through it very gently.
10. Very light run through with the straightener.
11. Cut (if you choose to)
12. DONE

So after that you can't get your hair wet for 3 days. Definitely can't wash it. You have to make sure that you don't tuck it behind your ears, or basically do anything with it that could change the shape. No tieing it up, no hair clips etc.

Those 3 days for me - well it poured with rain the night that I got it done - clever me though, I was totally prepared - had an umbrella in my Louis ready to go. Boo yah.

My hair is probably two inches below my shoulders, possibly three. I still have layers in it (which is crap because the straightening looks better with no layers, and you need the weight to kind of hold it down) - so I had to be careful that my hair didn't kind of "sit" on my shoulders, because then it would stay like that. Eww.
So I kept keeping bits coming to the front of my shoulders and bits to my back.

Sleeping is fine, you just kind of don't have to worry about it for that time. I was concerned about it, but meh, I was tired!

I have one layer that ends maybe two inches from the full length of my hair - I kind of knew this one would be annoying - it will tend to kick out a little, but that only really happens at the back so it's not too bad.

Ok so..... I finally got to wash it this morning.

It felt gross when it got wet. Like straw. And after I shampooed, yeh still straw. But as soon as I put conditioner in - voila! It felt great again, and I could definitely tell the difference. It was like when you have GHD'd your hair, then step into the shower and the water is flowing over the straight hair.
It felt awesome.

Then I popped in some leave in conditioner, and lightly blowdryed, just running my fingers through my hair.

OH MY GOD. SO AWESOME.

It is STRAIGHT AS. I love it. And I can part it whatever way I want - it's not like the straightening set it into one style only.
I could have run the straightener over the top level lightly, but I didn't even bother. Go me, it looks great, straighter than I ever could have done it myself.

My hair used to be really wavy - my dad has the white man afro, and my mum has asian straight hair. This resulted with very puffy wavy hair for me. Like out of control puffy. Every time I used to wash it, it would explode into giant 80's wavey hair, but puffy and out of control. It looked terrible. It's not that I couldn't straighten it. However - I had to wash, sleep on it, then straighten it in the morning - otherwise it would be frizzy. Pain in the bum.

I am SO happy to be able to do this quick quick blow dry and I can walk out the door with my hair looking totally 'done'.

$280.

Lets see how it continues after this - I'll update!

*********************** UPDATE - Feb 2011 ***************************

So the salon I went to was:

Kippo - Pitt St, Sydney: It is very fancy with mirrors everywhere.. beautiful place.

I went back again in about November 2011 because my roots had grown back through (aobut 5 inches of regrowth... I really left it for ages).

So what happened with regrowth - it wasn't really noticeable until it got to about 3 inches, and then I could see the difference, there was more body in the regrowth and it just wasn't as smooth and nice. Also if it got wet it just exploded with frizz. It was also quite hard to straighten that bit to match the rest.

I had two days interstate for a conference and it was raining the whole time and I looked at myself with my new "mushroom do" due to the 5 inches of regrowth and thought that's it! I called Kippo on the morning of the second day and they fit me in THAT DAY. Who does that?? Like seriously. I thought it was the biggest long shot ever. And they were SO nice about it. I had a plane to catch that afternoon and they were so mindful of timing.

Look they are just lovely. Hands down just lovely people.

So we went through the process again - it was quicker this time cause of less hair.

Results? Absolutely awesome. Even better than the first time. God it felt good not to have to try so hard with it again. And now? I don't even straighten or blow dry at all!! I just run a leave in through it, then finger comb it into the shape I want... and it just dries beautifully. It's amazing. AMAZING.

Only side comment I would make about having your hair straightened - don't cheap out on products. I use Kerastase masquintense at least once a week, and I regularly give it a "treat" where I leave a treatment in for an hour or so. I also ALWAYS use a leave in conditioner. And I use very good shampoo/conditioner. At the moment I am liking Sebastian Laminates.