Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Protective Primer

Hey there!

If you've read our recent post about the Smashbox, Ojon and Bumble and Bumble event in Boots then you will also know that we were really impressed with the products we were shown.

I've been working my way through my stash recently but I'd also been looking for a hair product, preferably a spray that could cover the requirements of a heat protector and also a leave in conditioner. Did such a thing exist? Well I found this little beauty on the shelf:

The Bumble and Bumble (Bb) Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Heat/UV Protective Primer was something that stood out to me from the shelf; the neon coral is one of my favourite colours and seeing as it was in a spray form I just couldn't resist!

There are 2 sizes of this product available in store,the 250ml bottle costs £19 and there was a smaller bottle available too. On line it shows up as a 60ml bottle costing £7 but I'm pretty sure in store there was a smaller size for a larger price - it's a little confusing!

The protective primer is sold as a sublime pre-styler for a total transformation of your hair.

The product is infused with six featherlight oils to soften, detangle, defrizz, tame flyaways, ease styling, and protect against breakage, heat and UV all in one go.

That's quite a claim really isn't it?

It's therefore claimed to be for people with dry, coarse or brittle hair - mine is definitely dry so I figured it would be worth a go for me!

You need to apply this to damp hair before styling, using the spray was super easy and it creates a mist rather than dumping a load of product onto your freshly washed hair. As I've mentioned many times on the blog I don't use many hair products aside from hairspray when I curl my hair, I don't find they work well with my hair and give much of a positive effect at all. Some oils have been ok, but can seem to coat my hair rather than actually penetrate it and do some good.

So far though, this one has been an anomaly!

Spraying this on my hair after washing and before drying is such a simple thing but it makes such a big difference. My hair feels so much smoother and in much better condition after only a week's worth of usage.

Even though it's just a spray I can't believe how different this product is from so many others I have tried before it. It's supposedly for dry, coarse or brittle hair. My hair is dry from being so long but it isn't generally coarse or brittle, and it can easily become greasy from applying products to it, no matter how 'lightweight' they claim to be.

This spray has genuinely had such a great effect on my hair that I would definitely consider trying out more products from Bb, I will certainly be making a wishlist in time for my birthday later this month!

Have you tried products from Bumble and bumble? What's your favourite?
Do you prefer spray type products or serums?


L xxx

Fitness Friday: Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

Hi there!

I've been a bit more adventurous with food recently - not that I've been eating weird things but just trying to vary it a bit more than usual.
I've been doing well making eggs with veggies for breakfast and replacing usual carbs with quinoa and cauliflower rice, but snacking is something i need to work on.

I found this recipe on The Daily Hiit blog (link here) and after reading it i knew that I had to try it.

I'm by no means a baker - I am so much better at cooking meals and proper food, when it comes to cakes I am (luckily!) rubbish so don't generally bother.
This recipe however involves no baking whatsoever, its a freezer only type bake - winning.



Here's the main ingredients - almond milk, protein powder, almond meal, coconut oil and peanut butter.
For the topping you need coconut oil and chocolate chips - as well as some kind of chopped or flaked nuts for sprinkling on top.
(For amounts you can read the original recipe, i won't bore you with that!)





Melting the ingredients in a microwave took about 1.5 minutes with regular stirring. I'm always wary of using the microwave to melt things but this didn't seem to cause any issues.

Adding in the dried powders and mixing thoroughly gave a batter type mixture that easily filled the square tin. So far so good, no issues and nothing that i can do wrong:





Next you just have to melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips together to create a super glossy mixture that you just want to dunk marshmallows in!

Pour this on top and you might get something that looks like this:



The instructions then suggest 20 minutes in the freezer.....I would say mine needed more like 2 hours. Not sure why this was but at 20 minutes it was still very gooey like the image below, and after 2 hours it was much more like the bottom image and had set:

Small setting issues aside, these are 100% amazing - if I say so myself.

After I made them on a Sunday around 11am I ended up eating about 4 throughout the day....oops!

I wouldn't recommend it as I felt extremely sick afterwards but OMG you need to make these!!!

I think maybe I'd add a little more almond meal to the mixture next time and it would set better, but these taste so good I don't care that I'll have to eat them out of the fridge.

Do you make your own snacks and bars like these? Do you have any other similar recipes?

I really want to make some more snacks like these - cleaner than shop bought and even more tasty!

L xxx

Topshop Lipstick in Nuclear

Morning!

Quite often I buy things and don't post about them (which is scary really as I think I post quite enough!) and this lipstick is one of them. I've had it kicking around in handbags for a while but even though I wear it regularly I hadn't posted about it, so I decided to change that.

I bought it on a random shopping trip, as most of my purchases are, and it became my first ever Topshop make up purchase. I've heard lots of things about their products and so many rave reviews for things such as nail polishes to highlighters. I thought it was time for me to investigate too!

The lipstick I picked up is called Nuclear and it's from their regular range - i.e. not limited edition.
The packaging was a little odd, the box itself was fine but I did wonder why it was sellotaped shut. Is make up crime in Cardiff that high?!

I wouldn't be surprised actually, this is much more preferable to buying a lipstick and finding out someone else has already used it. Not that this is just a Cardiff thing but as it's where I live and shop most it does seem to be a problem!

I also love the starry pattern on the outside of the casing - the matte black background and shiny stars are pretty but still chic, good work Topshop. The lipstick is a sheer colour which is what I love for daywear, I do sometimes love a bold lip for day but normally for an occasion so I stick with sheer mostly.

The black packaging is quite elegant when the lipstick bullet is twisted up, and I think it looks quite expensive considering the actual price tag of £8. Below shows with and without flash:

The formula is really creamy and sheer, it's hydrating without being too heavy and contains enough colour to know it's there without being over powering. I'd say there's also a certain level of buildability too as you can definitely get a more intense colour if you apply a few layers as shown below

Here is what it looks like on the lips in day light (shocker that we actually had some!)

As you can see it's sheer with a glossy finish and I'd say a good few hours wear time. You'd need to reapply after a meal but then I would say you have to do that with most sheer lipsticks.

Also a little nod to the name - Nuclear. Anything sciencey and coral just screams at my attention and I couldn't leave the shop without it. It's super wearable and the perfect foray into lipsticks if you're not yet acquainted with them, and if you're like me, perfect for an understated lip for work.

It's definitely a winner in my books and I will be browsing their collection next time I'm in store to see if there are any similar offerings.

Have you got any favourites from the Topshop product range? Do product names grab your attention as well or is it just me that's a sucker for them?

L xxx

Holiday Pirates

Hey All

This is probably a bit of a weird post to write but I decided I wanted to share this with you guys if you haven't heard of it. Holiday pirates is a site that finds amazing deals and shares them. You don't book through the site it takes you to the website links to book. My brother had mentioned it to me a few times and it took me a while to look at it myself.

He is forever tempting me with links to great deals he finds on there. Most people around me knew I was desperate to go to Iceland. It was one of those places that head my heart before I'd even been, so when he text me the link to the holiday pirates site for a deal to Iceland for two people for £180 I was very interested. I sent the link to my other half like wow look at this bargain (we'd not mentioned holidays together and he was away with work at the time so our relationship was still kind of up in the air as to what it was) to me surprise he text back saying it looked good and we should look into it.

Holiday pirates is all about finding bargains. This deal was great as I realised you could fly from Bristol to Reykjavik for about £60 pp return. The deal on the site was for a youth hostel so I wasn't keen on that for the first holiday so got browsing for other hotel deals.

I love using holiday pirates for inspiration on where to go, what sites to use to book and what deals are currently available.They also give ideas of different things today. On the site recently I saw a Beer and Spa deal in Poland (link here) for two nights, with accommodation for £49pp.

I love getting lost in sites like this looking at the deals available and planning loads of holidays in my head.

What sites do you use for holiday inspiration?

I can see my brother getting my to download this app was a dangerous choice, it's just to tempting to book them!

Love M

xxx