Trying OSMO

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by masquerade21 in Bargain, Beauty, Christmas, gift ideas, gifts, Hair, review, Reviews, Shopping, under £15

Tags

Bargain, Blinding Shine Conditioner, Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher, blinding shine shampoo, gift ideas, Hair, hair products, hair styling, how to get really shiny hair, Inspiration, OSMO, OSMO Shine Gift set, product review, review, shine, suitable for extentions, Wonder 10

I was recently sent one of OSMO’s 2014 gift packs and I would like to thank Laura at AJPR for sending this to me to review.

I was able to chose which range I would like to try a product from and I chose to receive something from the shine range as currently I have a few hair products which claim to enhance or add shine that I have been using, so I knew I would be able to measure up how OSMO compares performance-wise.

Laura sent me the OSMO Shine gift pack:

When I opened my parcel to reveal this decent sized, heavy and glitzy box it did feel a bit like a present. I thought yeah, alright, hair care products maybe aren’t on the top of every wish-list, they’re not on top of mine, but I would be happy to receive this as a gift – I wouldn’t unwrap it and be disappointed, I’d be quite satisfied and curious to try the products out.

The contents of the Shine gift set are shown on the box as:

Blinding Shine Shampoo 350ml

Blinding Shine Conditioner 350ml

Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher 125ml

So I was surprised when I opened the box to find the 3 above mentioned products plus a 4th product:

I felt what can only be described as ‘well chuffed’ at finding this bonus product, I love surprises! Now it has only this instant occurred to me that maybe this bonus surprise product isn’t in every box and it may in fact be a perk of being a blogger sent the box to review but, as the surprise was actually in the box, I think it is a genuine surprise product and I give that a big thumbs up. ( The reason I subscribe to glossy box is because it’s basically a grown up lucky bag – surprises are always going to score high with me) EDIT: I have checked, my surprise was indeed a genuine surprise and not a blogger perk, which makes me wonder what surprises the other OSMO gift packs have.

The surprise product is called Wonder 10 and you spray it evenly over damp hair, leave-in and style as normal to :

Repair dry and damaged hair
Nourish and protect for radiant shine
Provide thermal protection from styling tools
Deliver soft, silky & more manageable results
Colour Protect
Create body and movement
Detangle (incredibly apparently)
Prevent static
Condition (both natural and synthetic hair – so the bonus is a double bonus if you wear extensions)
Smooth split ends and control frizz

Now, Wonder 10 is the one product I haven’t used yet as this week has been more about dry shampoo and less about soft, silky manageable hair- because I have been rushed off my feet – but I’m trying it out after washing my hair tonight and will update this post tomorrow. Due to how well my other OSMO products have performed I have high hopes for this little wonder bottle. I can tell you right now that it smells amazing – I have no idea what it actually smells of but whatever it is, I would genuinely wear as perfume.

(EDIT: I have now tried Wonder 10 and I agree that it conditions, controls frizz and static, and detangles very well. My hair does also feel silky. Body and movement is a hard thing for me to measure as I have thick hair so it’s always full of ‘body’. Likewise colour protect, nourishment, thermal protection, repairing dryness and damage I can’t really comment on – my hair is my natural colour so no protection is needed (what is colour protection anyway? preventing fade?) The easiest thing for me to say is that my hair feels and looks good, so as far as I’m concerned Wonder 10 is delivering results.)

I did find time somehow to try the shampoo and conditioner, maybe because I put them straight on my bathroom shelf when I got them – I was happy because they are not run-of-the-mill and look quite decorative in my bathroom:

I have a stupidly tiny amount of storage space in my bathroom so I always have products on the window sill and littered around the bath so I really really like it when something actually looks good on display. It makes my bathroom feel tidier so the OSMO bottles get top marks for how they look, that shelf wasn’t so great to look at when Head and Shoulders was up there.

I also think they look like expensive salon products so you might be surprised when I tell you that the price for my whole shine gift-set is around £14 (most places have it for £14ish but I did manage to find it online at fragrancedirect.co.uk and loopyhair.com for under a tenner.) I only did a quick search so if you find any good deals let me know because I am now an OSMO fan.

Part of the reason I’m a fan is because their products do what they say on their bottles and these products made my hair shine. The shampoo did all of the stuff that I would expect and gave my hair a noticable shine (I did take pictures as I was planning to compare results with my Vo5 Nourish My Shine shampoo but trying to show a difference in shine was asking a bit much of my camera.)

The shampoo made my hair nice and shiny. Curiously, it smells like an aftershave or cologne which is unusual for a women’s shampoo, but quite cool. My hair smells quite nice when I use it, it just doesn’t smell of something generic like strawberries.

The conditioner didn’t really have much of a scent to speak of which is no issue for me – not really any need for both of the products to smell. It conditions well and leaves my hair very soft.

My hero product is the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I actually used this without having used the Blinding Shine Shampoo or Conditioner as I wanted to see how well it worked on its own. It works amazingly. Anyone who uses GHD straighteners will understand this next part, you know when you have nice freshly washed hair and then you use your GHDs and instantly your hair is all shiny-shiny? The illuminating finisher is just that in a bottle – spray and be dazzled – instant shine. If you use too much you are in danger of going from shiny to greasy – I know because I enjoyed spraying my magic shine bottle a little too much until my hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in a week but if you have enough restraint not to get carried away then you will love the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I didn’t notice a scent until I sprayed some on my hand just now to tell you guys – if you sniff it it smells medicated but I don’t actually smell anything when I am just spraying it on my hair. It’s also not sticky or heavy in the slightest so it’s a pretty perfect product. The Wonder 10 is also not sticky – I just tried it on my hand.

Well that’s all I have to say about OSMO for tonight – if you pop back tomorrow night I’ll update this post let you know how I got on with Wonder10.

Lastly- Would I buy this gift set? Yes, without hesitation.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Visiting Hair by JFK

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by masquerade21 in Bargain, Edinburgh, Fashion, Hair, Nails, Reviews, Scotland

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

avant-garde, award winning, bang bar, Bargain, Beauty, beauty salon, bring your dog, dog-friendly, edinburgh, fringe trim, Hair by JFK, hair salon, hair styling, JFK, manicures, nail salon, review, salon review, student discount, students, unique, unusual

A few days ago I attended a blogger/student event at Hair by JFK in Edinburgh. I took my friend Roxanna with me and we were both glad that we went along, it was a fun night.

When we arrived we were whisked downstairs for some wine, cake-pops and sushi.

While having some nibbles we were told about all of the treatments that we were generously being offered; manicures, fringe trims, hair styling(French braids etc) and makeovers by a professional make-up artist.

The first ‘station’ I came across was the nail station:

One look at all of those sparkly colours and I decided that I was getting my nails done. The lovely Katie Jane did my nails for me, she was very quick and friendly and I was very happy with the finished result.

Four full days later and my nails still look perfect. What’s more they look like I’ve actually had them done, not like I’ve done them myself. I’ve not had many manicures but sometimes when I do get one I think it doesn’t look any better than something I could do at home but Katie tidied my cuticles and applied the polish flawlessy with the tiniest gap between the polish and the edge of my nails. If you are in Edinburgh and you would like to get your nails done then I really couldn’t recommend Katie enough.

While my nails were drying I met Connor the extremely photogenic hairdresser:

He was nice enough to give me a much needed fringe trim, I got my hair cut a few weeks ago (you can read my review here) and it’s the first time in years that I’ve had a fringe. It grew so quickly that I had already resorted to clipping it back and I had heard that some hairdressers won’t give you a fringe trim unless you are a regular (shocking I know) so I was really at a loss for what to do with it. Lucky for me and for anyone else out there with a fringe, Hair by JFK has:

The Bang Bar! A dedicated service for getting your fringe cut. Jump in for 5 minutes and walk out with a tidy fringe! On Fridays it’s free! Well sort of, Hair by JFK would like you to make a donation to The Edinburgh Dog and Cat home, donate whatever you can and you can walk out with a freshly cut fringe and a warm and fuzzy feeling from doing your good deed for the day.

Oh and by the way, you can even take your dog with you to get your hair cut. Seriously-it’s a dog friendly salon, there was a dog there when I was there. How cool is that? Not only did Connor give my fringe it’s much needed trim, he thought that, seeing as I was already in the chair, he would throw a few curls into my hair for me. Thanks Connor 🙂

After my hair and nails had been done I had my first chance to get a good look at the salon while Roxanna was getting her make-up done.

It is a very very cool salon.

The Hair by JKF logo is a zebra with a green mohawk and their philosophy is ‘Hair styling for the individual’ so I spotted a few zebras and several inspiring and unusual hair style ideas:

With amazing styles like those above all around the salon, I wasn’t too surprised to find this either:

Once Roxanna was done getting her make-up done it was my turn:

We were both glammed up and ready for our big night out at…McDonalds! Well, it was a school night and I had work in the morning, and it was the nearest place to the train station that was open…and I love McDonalds.

My night didn’t quite end there though, when I got home I opened my JFK goody-bag to find:

How amazing is the calendar? That is the image that goes with September, it’s a dog/hairdressing calendar all the way through – told you they like dogs. Thank you very much to the team at Hair by JFK for the lovely treatments, the cool goody-bag and for being so friendly and welcoming. I’m sorry we were the last ones to leave!

Thank you also to Kelly at AJPR for inviting me along 🙂

For anyone who wants to know (that should be everyone who gets their hair cut in Edinburgh) you can find Hair by JFK at:

1 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh
8 South Clark Street, Edinburgh
http://www.hairbyjfk.com

P.S If you are a student then your really should go check Hair by JFK out – they have their own student card and loyalty scheme with loads of discounts available.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

AMAZING offer that you will want to know about!

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bargain, bargain hunting, Beauty, best deal, budget, cheap, Christmas, Clinique, Clinique Happy Fragrance, cosmetics, Deal, Dramitically Different Moisturising Lotion+, Eyeliner, Eyes, face mask, Fashion, free samples, Free Stuff, gift idea, gift-wrap, High Impact Mascara, make up, Mascara, Moisture Surge Overnight Mask, Moisturiser, no minimum spend, offer, Online shopping, Perfume, Sale, scrimping, shopping, special offer, twitter, while stocks last, women

I have just found out about a very well known brand’s best ever offer. It’s so good that I took advantage of it immediately and now have some great products winging their way to me. It comes with free gift wrap and everything so I have treated it as an early Christmas present for myself – I might even wait to open it and leave it under the tree.

I found out about the offer via a tweet from the brand, here is what they said :

‘Our biggest offer yet! Receive 5 Treats with every order. Hurry, while stocks last!’

So which brand is it?

CLINIQUE! They are giving out 5 free samples with every order – NO MINIMUM SPEND 🙂

I just bought a £12.00 eyeshadow brush and got the following samples free:

Dramitically Different Moisturising Lotion+ 15ml

Moisture Surge Overnight Mask Mini 7ml

M-Gel Lotion 15ml

High Impact Mascara 4g

Clinique Happy Fragrance Sample

Those were just my 5 choices but there are other options.

My £12.00 eyeshadow brush was the cheapest item I could find in a hurry (I wanted to get my order in quick!) but I am going to go through the site just now and find the cheapest item that they offer so I’ll post an update soon.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Marie Meili – My New Favourite Lingerie Brand

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Fashion

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

ASOS, Bargain, Beauty, best, bra, bra set, brazilian briefs, briefs, budget, bustier, Fashion, favourite, feminine, Fun, good value, gorgeous, Inspiration, Lingerie, Marie Meili, mix and match, online, Online shopping, Pretty, Push-up bra, shopping, style, thongs, unique, women

Hey 🙂

So I was just torturing myself by browsing the ASOS website and looking at all the pretty things that I can’t afford right now when I stumbled across lingerie from Marie Meili.

Their stuff is gorgeous!

Now, I can be a bit of a cheap-skate, especially when it comes to lingerie since it’s not like you can go around showing it off. I usually try not to pay more than £10 for a bra (yes I really am that cheap) but the Marie Meilli stuff is all so nice that I was adding loads of it to my saved ASOS items without looking at the prices. Luckily for my bank balance the prices are pretty reasonable if you are a normal person willing to spend more than £10 on a bra and justifiable if you are a scrimper like me. When I have some cash to spend on lingerie I will buy some from Marie Meili and review the quality, fit etc. but for now I can only show you how unbelievably pretty their stuff is. All the sets below are from ASOS and all the pieces can be purchased individually or as a set.

Here are just some of the sets that I loved:

Marie Meili Ambitious Set £28.00 from ASOS

Marie Meili Safira Set £37.00 from ASOS

Marie Meili Wilma Set £15.00 from ASOS

Marie Meili Tanith Set £28.00 from ASOS

The set below is my favourite 🙂

Marie Meili Varia Set £27.00 from ASOS

So anyway, I think these sets look really cool and I thought you might like to know about them. I just hope that I haven’t shot myself in the foot by telling everyone about them and then having them sell-out before I can buy some. I suppose if everyone likes them as much as me then ASOS and Marie Meili will be sure to go on working together so I shouldn’t really have anything to worry about.

Do any of you own Marie Meili lingerie? Would you recommend it? What is your favourite brand of lingerie? Leave a comment and let me know.

*This is not a sponsored post*

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Inside the September Glossybox (The London Edition)

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bargain, Be A Bombshell, Beauty, Blusher, box, Breviewed, British, budget, Cheeks, cosmetics, Cream, edition, Elizabeth Arden, expensive, Eye Liner, eyelashes, Eyeliner, Eyelure, Eyes, fake, false, Fashion, glossybox, good value, Hair, London, London Edition, make up, Mystery, Perfume, Pre-glued, Rimmel, September, Serum, shopping, surprise, Toni&Guy, Untold, women, work

Hey 🙂

Here is what I received inside my September Glossybox :

I have tried the perfume, the blush and the false eyelashes. I really like the perfume and the blush, Untold isn’t overpowering or barely there, it’s just the right amount of noticable. I would call it a heavy scent, I don’t know what scent to compare it to but it is not fruity and smells expensive. I think this will be my new perfume for work.

The Rimmel Stay blushed blusher is a great colour for me, it looks like a dark coral when it comes out of the tube but blends to a light barely there pink. I would go for this if you want your blush to look as natural as possible.

The eyelure lashes are great because you just peel them off and press them on, no glue required. For a false eyelash virgin like me though, they are a bit too big and dramatic, not really my style.

I’ve still to try the eyeliner and the Toni&Guy serum but I’ll update this post once I have tried them.

Glossybox Breakdown

Full size items

Eyelure Pre-glued lashes (£5.06)

Tony&Guy HairMeetwardrobe Classic Shine & Gloss Serum (£7.19)

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Onyx Eye Line ($14)

Rimmel Stay Blushed Blusher (£4.49)

Sample size items

Elizabeth Arden Untold (5ml aprox £4.80) (50ml=£48.00)

Thanks for checking out my blog, I know it’s been a while since my last post. I got a new job and I’m moving house next week so I have been too busy to blog but I am now back to daily posts so stop by again tomorrow 🙂

Likes and Comments make my day 😉

Inside the July Birchbox

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Bargain, Beauty, beauty protector, birchbox, blanc cachemire, blush, Chia, Chia shots, conditioner, detangle, Eyeliner, Eyes, Fashion, french, gel, German, Hair, hair products, inkwell, instain, july, leave in conditioner, long wearing, make up, new look, protect, protectrice, purple, review, shopping, skin, Skincare, skinfood, the balm cosmetics, waterproof, waterproof gel Liner, weleda

Here is what I received inside my July Birchbox :

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Beauty Box Bonanza! Glossybox, Miss Glossybox and Birchbox

21 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bargain, Beauty, beauty box, Beauty Boxes, birchbox, budget, different beauty, Fashion, glossybox, july, make up, Miss Glossybox, Mystery Boxes, Nails, self indulgence, shopping, subscriptions, summer

Hey 🙂

So I recently started a new job and guess where my first pay check went? Well a lot of it was eaten up by beauty box subscriptions. I have wanted to try so many beauty boxes for so long that I went a little OTT and ordered 3 different beauty boxes in one night. Of course, I rationalised that I could blog about them, so they are for research purposes too, not purely self-indulgence. Well that’s my story and I am sticking too it.

The boxes I ordered were all July versions, I got GlossyBox, BirchBox and Miss Glossybox ( this box is aimed at younger teens and is only £7 plus P+P while the other 2 boxes are £10 plus p+p) so at least one of my boxes was for research purposes as I have yet to see any Miss Glossybox reviews so I thought I would post one 🙂

But first, here are all three boxes together in their arrival condition:

Inside these you will find:

Stop by the blog tomorrow for a full review of the July Miss Glossybox, here is a sneak peak before you go :

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

The Minimum Wage Dress

20 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Fashion, News, Shopping

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

18s, age groups, ageism, £3.68, Bargain, Beauty, Bizarre, black, budget, cheap, clothing, cut out, cut-out dress, dress, dresses, earnings, elastane, employment, Fashion, Figa, Figa Store, Frugal, green white, Inspiration, knot detail, Minimum wage, minimum wage dress, minimum wages, new look, occasions, Online shopping, pink, polyester, profit margins, salary, Sale, saving, saving up, She Likes, shelikes.com, shopping, style, summer, under, under 18, Under £10, under £5, women, work, working hours

Sometimes when you work you think of prices in terms of hours, for example ‘those shoes will cost me 5 hours pay’. I recommend this style of thinking if you need to look after your pennies because when you think of the hard work you have done to earn your money when you are considering a purchase it really curbs your spending.

Well in most cases it does, but if you happen to shop at Shelikes.com thinking in terms of ‘price vs. hours’ probably won’t put you off your purchase.

That’s because they have just introduced ‘ The Minimum Wage Dress.’

This dress costs just £3.68 ($5.68) (€4.30) (Prices converted on 20th June 2013) In the U.K £3.68 is the minimum wage for under 18s so for minimum earning 16 and 17 year olds this dress costs one hour’s pay. The dress is supplied to shelikes.com by Figa Store.

It comes in 4 colours as shown below:

The dress is described by www.shelikes.com as :

The Minimum Wage Dress – Only £3.68! A dress worth keeping! This spectacular cut out dress is the perfect choice for all your summer occasions. Featuring a cut out design & knot detail. Versatile & easy to wear, team with colour popping heels for the evening, or wear with hi top trainers & a customary denim jacket for the day.

Approx Length – 28.5″ (72.5cm)

95% Polyester 5% Elastane

Machine Washable

So what are you’re thoughts on all this? Do you think it is a wonderful idea? Do you wonder about the profit made on this dress? Would you like to know how the company can sell it so cheap? Do you think more companies should be selling items like this? What do you think about the dress itself? Do you like the style? The colours? Should they broaden the range of Minimum Wage Dresses available?

Also what are your thoughts on different age groups having different minimum wages? Personally I think it is very unfair, if you do a job I think you should be paid as much as the other people who do the same job, age should not be a factor. Do you agree/disagree? I would love to get your comments about this.

Thanks for checking out my blog, if you liked this post then please hit the ‘like’ button. If you would like to share your thoughts then please comment, I love reading what you have to say 🙂

Affordable Maternity Denim

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Budget, Fashion, Shopping

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Affordable, babies, Bargain, Bargains, cheap, clothing, Denim, Fashion, jeans, Maternity, Motherhood, new look, Sale, women

Hey 🙂

Just wanted to let any pregnant readers know about a new maternity denim range.

The range is by New Look. I’ve had a quick look and they have a great range of maternity denim that includes cropped jeans and shorts as well as other denim styles, I’ve included a few below for you to have a look at. The prices are great and range from just £8.00 to £34.99 so your purse doesn’t have to shrink while your belly grows.

For anyone who wants to know, I am in no way in collaboration with New Look, I just saw a post about this on Facebook and thought that I would share the information 🙂

Thanks for checking out my blog 😀

Summer Steals Series : Sandals Under £15!

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by masquerade21 in Budget, Fashion, Shopping

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

ASOS, Bargain, beach, Beauty, cheap, clothing, Debenhams, Fashion, feast your eyes, flat sandals, Frugal, holiday, Inspiration, jelly sandals, new look, Quiz, Sandals, Shoes, shopping, style, summer, Sun

Hey 🙂

Need some sandals? Or just feel like Window/Blog shopping? Then feast your eyes on this great sandal selection. Each and every pair costs no more than £15.