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.

;)