Mark Hill Glam Goddess Hot Air Review

One of the main things I struggle with is getting any kind of volume in my hair. I’m pretty uncoordinated so if I’ve never been able to get the hang of blow drying my hair, and can guarantee that if I do attempt it I will hit myself in the head/face with either the hairbrush or dryer at least once!

I've been wanting something like this for a while now, and originally went into Boots to get the BaByliss Big Hair, however I saw that this was down from £59.99 to £28.99. I took a bit of a risk getting this as I'd not heard of this before and couldn't find any reviews either. It would either turn out to be a huge bargain or big waste of money.

The box contains a large barrel brush, as well as two curling wands with the option to use them with or without the clips.

I will definitely be reviewing the curling wands at a later date, but my focus for this review is the brush.

On the front of the box is a QR code that brings up a youtube tutorial when you scan it, which I love. 

The styler works as a hair dryer, so the brush has holes/vents to direct the air flow. This way it blow dries your hair without all the faffing around. I dried my hair in layers working from bottom to top and, as you can see, the small section of hair I have done has already gained some much needed lift.  Naturally the hair at my roots falls flat against my head, so it's great to see a bit of volume there for once!

This is the final result, and it is a vast improvement from how it usually is - I don't have to worry about straightening it after either. 

I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect a lot from this, however I'm really pleased with the outcome and am glad to say this turned out to be a bargain! Before I dried my hair I used volumising mousse, however I didn't apply it to my roots so I'm sure I will get so much more lift if I apply it there next time.

One thing I will warn you though is, if you have long hair, you will need to keep pay attention when you use this as it's so easy to catch your hair in the air vent and rip out a load like I did towards the end. 

I'm really glad I got this, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the curling wands work out compared to normal wands.

What's your go-to hair tool for adding more oomph to your hair?

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Jewellery Haul

Just before the new year I attempted to find some bargains in the sales (typically everything I liked was full price!) and came across these beauties in New Look.
As much as I love the look of gold jewellery, I only really wear silver. I've been really struggling to find nice statement jewellery as everything nice seems to be gold.

Finally I came across these so I snapped them up straight away. I've also been looking for collar tips too so stocked up on a few of those too! I don't feel so bad that they weren't in the sale as I know I'll be getting a lot of use out of them.
The collar tips are £4.99 each and the necklaces were around £13.

I can't wait to get styling with these, and will definitely be featuring them in upcoming outfit posts too.

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Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2013 is already here! Is it just me that thinks 2012 went by way too quickly?

I'm really looking forwards to this year, and I'm hoping to achieve a lot more than I did last year. I will definitely be back to blogging regularly! 

I have come up with a few new years resolutions for 2013, and I'm going to try my hardest not to break any of them! 

 New Years Resolutions

Utilise Wardrobe

I recently had a huge clear-out of my wardrobe to make room for new buys, but ended up re-discovering items that I didn't even realise I owned! I've realised my problem with clothes is that I'm too lazy to look at what I already have, so I get stuck in a rut playing it 'safe' and wonder why I never have anything to wear! I'm going on a spending ban with clothes so I'm forced to make outfits out of clothes I already own.

Stop Hoarding

I am a massive hoarder, and my boyfriend recently looked around my room and said to me "...You just love stuff, dont you?!" I really need to be ruthless and get rid of about 60% of the crap I'm holding on to. I do not need to hold onto boxes from products I've bought, and I definitely do NOT need 3 desks in my room (sadly I'm not exaggerating). Even Tereza has told me I need to make this one of my resolutions haha.

With regards to clothes - any items of clothing that either I cannot make into an outfit or that I have not worn by April (excluding summer wear) will be sold or donated.

Fitness

This is the one resolution I make every year but always break!

I NEED to strengthen my core at the very least. I also want to make fitness a part of my daily routine - even if it's just a small amount a day. 

Blog

Of course I need to blog more! I've neglected my poor blog for too long. I also want to take more outfit posts and focus a little more on fashion, and make it more 50/50 fashion and beauty focussed. 

Live!

I need to do more with my life. You only get one, so I want to do as much as I can with it. Whether thats socialising more, going on more days out or focussing on the future. As long as I waste as little time as possible I'll be happy. I spent way too much of 2012 doing nothing, I definitely want to look back on 2013 and say I spent it well!

I wish you all an amazing 2013 and hope it brings you everything you wish for!

Have you made any resolutions for the new year?

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Searching for a New Holy Grail Foundation - Part 1

Its no secret that I am a little obsessed with mineral foundation (provided there is no Bismuth Oxychloride anywhere in the ingredients). However you may have seen a post I wrote recently where I talked about my skin starting to become acne prone.

Although I've pretty much now got my skincare regime sorted, the outbreak has left me with quite a few pigmented scars which my current favourite foundation just doesn't cover.

My Previous Holy Grail

Up until now I have been using Funky Fresh Minerals as my foundation, and it has been my Holy Grail. I first heard about it on Sarahs blog Sugarpuffish and, knowing that it was free from Bismuth Oxychloride and that it was such a bargain, I had to try it. The great thing about it is that it covers any slight redness of the skin, gives a nice flawless coverage without being too heavy. I never had a problem with its ingredients so it never broke me out or irritated my sensitive skin.

Ingredients: 

♔ Titanium Dioxide (Cl77891) ♔ Zinc Oxide (Cl77947) ♔ Kaolin Clay ♔ Iron Oxides (Cl77491, 77492) ♔

The only problem now is that it just doesn't cover the new scarring that's been caused. So now I need to find a foundation that gives full coverage, isn't greasy and won't slide off my face (as there's no point in it being full coverage if its just going to reveal what I want it to hide a few hours later). Not only that but it needs to be one that doesn't contain any ingredients that irritate sensitive skin or cause any breakouts on acne prone skin.

Ingredients I'm Trying to Avoid:

♔ Bismuth Oxychloride ♔ Dimethicone ♔ Lanolin ♔ Isopropyl Myristate ♔ Alcohol ♔

♔ C and D dyes ♔ Talc ♔

I'll be posting reviews on all of the foundations I'll be testing out, as I'm sure I can't be the only one trying to find this kind of foundation. I've already been researching into it and the most difficult part seems to be trying to find ingredients online, so I will be posting the ingredients of each product I review from now on.

If you sensitive or acne prone skin I'd love to hear your foundation recommendations!

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