Monday 20 July 2015

The True Price of Beauty


How many times have we looked in the mirror and thought to ourselves, I wish....

Whether that be whiter teeth, bigger boobs, less wrinkles, thinner, curvier, the list is endless. For me? I hate my nose, I wish it was straighter. 

I'd like to share some information with you today, did you know that 4 out of 10 people who are in a relationship would consider cosmetic surgery to keep their partners happy! I found that quite shocking, if my husband turned to me and said "I think you should get lipo," he would probably get a high five to the face! (although I did ask my husband if he'd have surgery to keep me and he said yes!) In a recent survey, the top "keep partner happy" procedures were:
  • 19% Dentistry
  •  11% Hair Removal
  •  9% Liposuction
  •  4% Implants
Scarily, dentistry is one of the least regulated industries and this came top of the survey! I always wondered when I've past salons with teeth whitening services if they really are qualified, surely that kind of thing should only be done in your dentist's office? But you shouldn't think your safe just because you go to a dentist over a salon, as the whole industry is poorly regulated make sure you do your research and make sure the person carrying out your procedure is fully qualified (and that goes for ANYTHING you have done, not just teeth!).   

Now that's the big stuff but the small stuff matters too! Do you use home hair dyes? And do you always patch test before you use it? I'm pretty sure there's a lot of you who don't but it's actually so important, even if it's one you regularly use. A colleague of mine coloured her hair from blonde to brown and she had an awful reaction to it, her scalp and neck looked burnt and sore. She was lucky, a lady DIED in 2012 from a hair colour reaction. It was reported that she had a black henna tattoo in 2007 and this increased her reactions to her hair colour. There is a reason there are henna warnings on hair colour boxes as black henna (which is ILLEGAL in the EU) contains a chemical known as PPD which causes lasting damage to the skin and increases reactions to this chemical. Years later, this chemical was in her hair colour and because of the tattoo she reacted badly and lost her life. If you go to a salon to have your hair done you will be required to have a patch test every time so why wouldn't you do this at home!


It's not just hair colour that can cause reactions, fake tan and even wax can cause reactions too! How many people do you know who have had a bad experience at a salon? A friend of mine went to a salon to have her legs and bikini line waxed as she was going on holiday a week later and the salon required her to have a patch test which she did, and the test area went a bit red. She pointed this out when she went for her treatment but they said it would be fine and she had it done anyway. Unfortunately, she came out in a horrible lumpy rash in all the areas she had waxed (yes legs and bikini line!) which required a trip to the GP and needless to say it was not a good look on her holiday. 

So what can you do?

  • Always have a patch test (and ask for one if not offered! I would probably seek another salon if one is not offered)
  • Always go to consultations before your appointments
  • If you get a reaction go to your GP and DO NOT use the product again
  • See a specialist to pin point the cause of a reaction so you know what to avoid     
Finding a good salon is imperative! There are lots of great salons out there but there are also some bad ones. 


There are lots of things you can do to make sure you are going to a reputable salon. When I first moved to a new town I asked my work colleagues where they go to get their hair and beauty treatments done and where to avoid too! Word of mouth is a great source of information for many things.


You can also look online, social media is huge and many salons have their own Facebook and Twitter pages where their customers will leave comments and a quick Google search might bring up customer reviews.


You can also check qualifications. No salon should be offended if you ask about the qualifications of the staff. You can even casually ask about their training and what it was like. A conversational piece, if you like. 


And if it all goes wrong? In serious cases keep any appointment cards as proof you were there and take photos of injuries and also photos of how any injuries progress (such as bruising, rashes etc) as evidence and find yourself a good solicitor!

    





I know this isn't my usual kind of post but I hope you found it informative as I think it's important. 

For more information click HERE

Thanks for reading,

Wench x


* I was approached to do this post, I didn't HAVE to and I was not compensated for it.

Sources of information and thanks to:
  
Hudgell Solicitors
www.searchlaboratory.com 
www.bbc.co.uk 

Thursday 16 July 2015

Be A Boots Millionaire!



Source  https://secure.38degrees.org.uk
Would you like to be a Boots Points millionaire?

That's £10,000 to spend at Boots! To be in with a chance of winning you have to download the Boots app (if you haven't got the app already) and click on "My Latest Offers" and just click on the offer to be entered into the giveaway! Of course you have to have an advantage card too! 

You have until the 4th August to enter so that's plenty of time but get it done now! As well as one person winning a million points Boots are also giving away smaller prizes of 50-5000 points or double points for taking part to thousands of customers! 

Exciting stuff right? What would you spend all those points on?

Thanks for reading!

Wench x

Monday 13 July 2015

Mask Monday! #6


Eve Lom Mask

Just another manic monday! 

But it's also mask monday so that's alright! Today's offering comes from Eve Lom and it's their Rescue Mask which you may have seen me mention briefly before as I got it as a free sample from the Latest Free Stuff website. 

First things first, the smell was HORRIFIC, you need a strong stomach for this one. However, if you can get over the smell the product itself was very effective. It's a clay mask so it tightens as it dries and your pores feel like there getting a good clean out, and afterwards my skin looked a lot brighter. 

When I get samples like this I usually only use half so I can get two goes out of one sachet (I'm a cheap skate and like things to go further) but as I put this on I knew I wouldn't want to use it twice as the smell for me was too much. It's a really strange almost minty smell but not a nice minty smell. It does contain Camphor, so that's probably where that comes from. It says its a deep cleansing mask, which I agree with, it also says it's soothing and calming, which I don't agree with because of the smell and it also says it's good for puffy, tired, morning after eyes which I can't really comment on as my eyes weren't puffy when I used this. 

Next thing is the price, a full sized 100ml jar of this stuff will set you back £55! Way, way, waaaay out of my price range! To me, it's just not worth it but if you have those kind of pennies you can get yours HERE.

What's your favourite face mask?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x  

Friday 10 July 2015

Freebie Friday! #10




A new month means new mag freebies!

Cosmopolitan are giving away a black mascara or a choice of 3 lipgloss shades from make up brand new CID all together worth £60.

Marie Claire are giving it's readers a free Ciate set containing a top coat and colour worth £10 each. 

Elle are giving it's readers a skincare set from theorganic (yes all one word not a typo!) pharmacy worth £13.
  
In Style are giving it's readers a free sample of St Tropez In Shower gradual tan.

Are you going to pick any of these up this month?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

Wednesday 8 July 2015

My Favourite Blogs and Youtubers






Today I thought I'd share my favourite beauty blogs and youtube channels with you! So without further ado and in no particular order here we go!

1. Bubzbeauty - This was the very first beauty youtube channel I started watching! I was looking for hair tutorials at the time, I even used one of Lindy's hair styles for my wedding! She also has a vlog channel and her little family is just adorable.

2. Miss Budget Beauty (blog here- Mikhila has a blog and a youtube channel both of which are updated regularly with amazing content and I love how down to earth she is. I found most beauty blogs seemed to concentrate on high end brands that are generally out of my price range so I love this! She also has a separate channel for less budget friendly purchases!

3. Velvet Gh0st - I love watching Gabriella and her make up always looks so good. She also has a vlog channel and there's just something about her videos which is just addictive!  

4. Cute Girls Hairstyles - When I see the thumbnails for the hairstyles on this channel I always think they look so complicated but when you watch the videos they break it down for you and usually you find it's really easy, when you know how! 

5. Makeup Savvy - I love this blog so much, it's very rare that I ever skip a post from Fee, her photos are amazing and her writing makes for easy reading but still gets straight to the point. Lots of enabled purchases come from her!

6. Makeup Pixi3 (youtube here) - Georgina's blog really helped me set mine up and I learned a lot from her blog series about using Blogger. She has lots of reviews and also a youtube channel. I love her mummy monday posts as my son is only a few days younger than hers! 
 
7. Miss Makeup Magpie - I like that this blog has lots of variety from high end to drug store and Gemma's reviews are detailed without being essays! She includes lots of swatches so you can get a really good idea of colours! 

Who are your favourite youtubers and bloggers?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

Monday 6 July 2015

Worth The Hype? Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish




If I'm considering a new product I often look at blog posts about it or you tube reviews before I take the plunge but many products burst into the forefront and are massively hyped about, but are they really worth it? 

I decided to buy the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish as I'd seen countless recommendations for it and at the time I bought it, it was on a really good offer. Is it worth the hype? Short answer, no! Now don't get me wrong it is good, yes, it removes make up, but for me there are plenty of cheaper products that do the same thing and there just wasn't anything super special about this, and for the RRP £14.00 there really ought to be. I ditched the muslin cloth as I find them scratchy and I can't abide how filthy they look after just one use and I'd much rather use my trusty flannel. It was in fact very comparable to my Nip and Fab deep cleansing fix (more on that HERE) in that you can use that like a hot cloth cleanser (and that's just one of many uses), it works just as well, it even smells very similar (both contain eucalyptus) AND the best thing is, the Nip and Fab is almost half the price with a RRP £7.95 for 300ml of product whereas the Liz Earle only contains 100ml. No brainer really!

Get Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish HERE

Get Nip and Fab Deep Cleansing Fix HERE (currently on an amazing online offer - only £3.97!) 

Have you tried anything from Liz Earle?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x       

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Superdrug's Vitamin E All Over Body Cream




There are lots of blog posts out there about shiny, new, hyped up products. But what about those that have a permanent place on your shelf? 

It might not have shiny, bright packaging and it might not be all singing and dancing with a list of crazy benefits as long as your arm but Superdrug's Vitamin E All Over Body Cream is just one of those products that quietly gets the job done. Even my baby boy thinks so! That's his phantom hand in my photo, I did take a nice normal photo but I thought this one was far cuter! 

This tub sits on my bathroom cabinet and quite often gets over looked for newer, crazy scented lotions and potions but in the nice weather we've been having recently my shoulders got pretty nastily sunburnt and the first thing I thought of was this stuff. Yes, it doesn't have sunburn listed as a usage but it's really calmed it down and keeping it moisturised (fingers crossed no peeling!) I use it for all kinds of things, when I have a cold and my nose is all red and sore from over blowing, after I've used the sun beds (which I only sometimes do before I go away, so I'm not glow in the dark white), when I've shaved my legs to prevent a shaving rash (when I can be bothered shaving my legs that is!), oh and as an all over body cream too! 

I really like this cream as I find it sinks into the skin really quick as I tend to find with other body lotions they sit on your skin and leave that horrible moist feeling that lasts for ages. It's also full of good stuff for your skin like vitamin E (you don't say!) vitamins A, B, F and H, coconut oil, and horse chestnut extract. I'm one of those people that will look at the ingredients of something to see if it's really in there and it all checks out with this! It has a scent to it which I like but it's not overpowering or perfumey (new made up word there for you!) It's also on offer most of the time and it's a bargain at full price (£2.99 for 475ml) and because it's Superdrug's own it BUAV approved which means it's not tested on animals and contains no animal ingredients (so much so it's suitable for vegans).

I'd go as far as to say it's a skin saviour (cliche alert!) 

Get yours HERE or at your local Superdrug (currently on offer at £1.99!)  

What's your skin saviour?     

Thanks for reading,

Wench x