Why Neom Candles are Better Than Diptyque

I was in London at the weekend and I'd tweeted several times expressing my intent to buy a Diptyque luxury candle; I'd seen them on various different blogs - each review raving about how good they were and how wonderful they smelt. I was expecting great things, especially for the £20 price tag for the smallest candle. I walked into the home department of Selfridges and started picking up each candle to see which one was my favourite. I smelt each one several times, but none of them jumped out at me as being an outstanding scent; Feu de Bois was one which I found particularly 'odd' shall we say - why would you want a log fire smell in your house, when you don't have a log fire? Some of them were nice but not '£20 for a small candle' nice, I considered Baies, Pomander and Ambre but then I turned around and realised there was a Neom stand; another candle brand I've been dying to try for ages. 
Neom pride themselves on using only organic and natural ingredients in their candles, whereas it's actually quite difficult to find out what Diptyque put into their candles - which suggests to me that they're synthetic (please correct me if I'm wrong, and point me in the direction of some information about this!). I went around the Neom stand smelling their candles, their fragrances are equally as strong and bold as Diptyque and some of them I really did not like but I finally found one which stood out to me as being the perfect home fragrance for me. The travel candles are £5 cheaper than the small Diptyque candles but they do have a shorter burn time (Diptyque mini candles burn for around 30 hours, Neom travel candles will burn for around 20 hours) so this was a bit of a deal breaker for me - I had to have the Neom one instead.

Neom Serenity Travel Candle £15
I chose 'Serenity' which is vanilla and sandalwood; it's not as overpowering as some of the others I smelled. Vanilla can sometimes be a little overbearing in a candle but the sandalwood seems to tone it down to a gorgeously soft relaxing scent. Neom only make their candles with vegetable wax and pure essential oils which means that they burn without releasing harmful chemicals, toxins or soot. The black ring you usually get round a candle - yep that's due to all the artificial ingredients in a candle, and you're breathing all those artificial toxins too. 
I've burnt mine for 12 hours so far and there has been no sight of any soot or blackening of the glass - it's burnt so cleanly; I've never seen a candle burn so clean! I have my travel candle in my front room which isn't a big room but maybe a little too big for a travel candle as they are more suited to small rooms such as bathrooms. Nevertheless the candle enveloped the room with the beautiful scent of a spicy kind of vanilla. For a small candle it packed a punch in terms of the scent it emitted; it fragranced the room far better than any Yankee Candle I've had.
Don't get me wrong, Neom is an expensive brand and I'm not normally one for spending a fortune on candle; I often think you'd get more enjoyment out of burning £5 notes but with this I have really been converted to organic candles. The essential oils content is so apparent and I absolutely love it. When I've finished this I just know I'll want to buy a 3 wick candle, it's a luxury that I'm going to make sure I save money for!
I do wonder whether some people buy Diptyque because they actually like the candles or whether they buy them just to say they have a Diptyque candle and they can take pretty blog photographs with it - surely people wouldn't be so daft?!

TRESemmé Platinum Strength Deep Conditioning Treatment

I've haven't used a good hair masque for absolutely ages, I've just been sticking to a simple haircare routine; shampoo, conditioner and a bit of dry shampoo if I've needed it. I asked on twitter if anyone could recommend a good intensive hair treatment, a couple of people suggested the TRESemmé Platinum Strength Hair Masque, given that there was 1/3 off this in Superdrug I thought I'd give it a try. I have blonde hair which is subject to colouring and heat damage so it can start to look damaged and dull very easily, I need something that is going to inject my hair with moisture and restore some life and shine. I've been using Tigi S Factor Serious Conditioner every other wash and then using this TRESemmé one twice a week.

The claim on the bottle is that it could 'visibly repair up to 2 years of damage', but upon looking a the small print this claim is only applicable if you are using the whole system; ie. shampoo, conditioner and treatment. I also find it quite difficult to believe that it can repair severely damaged hair, I would imagine that once your hair is split you cannot repair that... but I could be wrong?

TRESemmé Platinum Strength Deep Conditioning Masque £5.99 Superdrug 

My thoughts: After using this for a good 3/4 weeks I have felt a difference in the feel of my hair and how manageable it is. My ends felt very dry when I was just using a regular but by using quite an intense conditioner more frequently (the Tigi S factor one and this one) but they now feel much better and I can see a visible difference the ends of my hair aren't as visibly split and it feel much softer immediately after drying (before, it tended to look very frizzy). My hair is quite thick and using a 50p sized amount on the bottom half of my hair weigh my hair down at all, although I wouldn't recommend using it on your roots because it would be far too heavy I think. I would also air on the side of caution if you have very fine hair as this may be a little too much for your hair.

I do think this is good for a high street hair treatment but I don't think it matches Morocconoil light treatment which I haven't repurchased for a long time due to it being expensive; if you're looking for a nice conditioning treatment at a good price then I'd definitely recommend this TRESemmé one.

Tangle Angel Brush Review

The Tangle Angel and its innovative design make it easier to manage knotty hair keeping it silky smooth and easy to style. Tangle Teezers seem to be the go-to detangling brush among most beauty bloggers but just recently I was kindly sent a new detangling brush, which for me beats Tangle Teezer on lots of points - a lack of awareness of the Tangle Angel has to be the only reason for it not being the favoured detangling brush. Suitable for all hair types, this is not only a detangling brush but it can also be used as a blow drying brush because its bristles are heat resistant (the fact that you couldn't use the tangle teezer with heat was one of its biggest downfalls in my opinion). It comes in five different colours; pink, blue, pearl, silver and black and is possibly the cutest brush design you've ever seen - it reminds me of something that might come with a Barbie doll!

Tangle Angel* £15.99 Tangle Angel Website What I love about the Tangle Angel: - It has two places in which you can grip it; on the handle for everyday use and around the wings for a more controlled grip. - Contoured bristles which detangle the hair on several levels rather than just tackling the first couple of layers. - Heat resistant bristles mean that you can use it with heat styling tools - this is a massive plus for me because you can just use one brush for all instead of having to switch up half way through. - Anti-static properties mean that it reduces flyaway hair when brushing.
I've been absolutely loving using this, it detangles really well and I love, love, love the fact that you can use it with heat tools without the bristles becoming mishapen. If you were to buy two separate professional brushes; one for detangling and one for blow drying and hair styling, you'd be spending at least £20-25 whereas this one is only £15.99 and it does both things. I would recommend this brush 100% to anyone who has hair that is hard to manage or that breaks easily with regular brushing. Tangle Angel also do a similar brush for children called the Tangle Cherub which has all the features of the Angel but in a smaller compact size.

Glam Glow Super-Mud Clearing Treatment review

There's been quite a bit of a pattern on my blog just recently with regard to skincare reviews, I've been trying lots of things to get my skin as clear as it could possibly be; I've addressed active spots & scarring so the last thing on my list is blackheads. The absolute bain of my life, believe me. I have always suffered with blackheads on my nose and chin and they can make applying makeup in those areas an absolute nightmare, I long for a smooth canvas to apply foundation to. 
Glam Glow is one of the more expensive face masks on the market, at £39.99 for a 34g tub it isn't suitable for everyones pocket but I've been dying to try it for ages so I decided to buy a 2.1ml sample sachet which involves a lot less of a financial commitment at around £4 on eBay. Let's face it, almost £40 is a big commitment for something which might not work or you might only use once and never use it again.
Glam Glow Super Mud has been massively hyped up both by bloggers and magazines and it's claim is that it will clear up lots of common skin concerns such as spots, blackheads, visible pores, razor burns and even ingrown hairs. It helps to brighten and even complexion, de-clogs and minimises pores while speeding up the healing process of your skin. A full pot of this should give you 17 applications or 1000 on the spot treatments.  

The mask is actually really thin, which isn't what I expect from a clay mask; when I saw how small the sachet was I didn't think it'd cover my nose let alone my whole face. A little goes a long way with this mask though and it's really easy to cover most of your face with very little product. It is really dark in colour and has some little bits in it which feel a bit like a scrub (I believe these 'bits' are tiny pieces of leaf). It dries quite quickly and feels ever so slightly tingly whilst doing so. 

Glam Glow Super-Mud Clearing Treatment uses 'Pore Matrix' technology with Activated-X charcoal which is a carbon which absorbs and attracts toxic mass upto 500 times its volume meaning that it can attract substances from from the toughest areas of your face. It also contains K-17 clay which extracts and holds on to excess sebum (awful word), bacteria and toxins. These two ingredients create the 'Pore Matrix' which shows extraction areas in the darker spots, ready to be washed away with clean, warm water. The look of the mask when it's been on for 15 minutes can be seen below; it looks pretty gross because it highlights my problem area which is my nose and surrounding area but I actually quite like that it does this because it makes me feel like it's actually doing something. Most clay masks just dry up and go really really tight. Although they look it, these areas don't feel wet - they're actually completely dry.

  I left this to work its magic for 15-20 minutes and I wiped it away with warm water and a flannel. It comes off incredibly easily; probably the easiest face mask I've ever taken off. It left my skin feeling really smooth even after just one application. My nose wasn't completely smooth; I could still feel some of the rough black heads but for a first application I was really impressed. I applied La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Plus afterwards and it tingled a little bit, which made me think that my pores were still open from the product extracting the oil from them. 2 days later my nose still feels very smooth which impresses me because usually treatments which seem to work wonders for my nose don't have long lasting effects.
I am so tempted by the full sized tub of this, the only thing stopping me is the price; I should have got it when Beauty Mart had their sale on but I just never thought on... kicking myself now! £40 is just such a big commitment for me, I don't have money trees in my back garden unfortunately!

Heal Gel Face for Acne Scarring and Redness

Last month I posted about the fact that I'd been using Salcura Antiac to help fight blemishes, which helped massively with the persistent breakouts I kept having on my cheeks and on my jawline. It had managed to get rid of the offending blemishes but I was still left with redness and scarring where they had attacked my face. I also had a bit of dryness on my cheeks from the aftermath of spots which I was looking to sort out. 

The much talked about Heal Gel Face is actually an aqueous gel containing the best ingredients to soothe, repair and protect your skin. It's a base layer treatment to help replenish dehydrated skin and restore elasticity; I don't have a problem with my skins elasticity as I am only 23 but I do think my skin is dehydrated. I have tried Hydraluron which is to be used underneath your normal moisturiser but Heal Gel can be used on its own with similar results. It was the fact that this is said to be great for acne scarring and redness that really caught my eye though, and so many bloggers have been raving about it so it must be good, right?

Heal Gel Face* £48.00 Cult Beauty 
My thoughts: I've been using this every single day since the day I received it, morning and night I've been using it in place of my usual moisturiser and before I apply La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Plus. A pump and a half is enough for my whole face and I make sure that I massage this in properly so that it can get to work without having to 'soak in' first. The formula is so lightweight and non-greasy, as I said you only need a small amount to cover your face and the pump action dispenser means that you needn't waste a drop. After using this for over a month I have seen a noticeable difference in the redness on my cheeks, they look much less angry and I never feel any tightness - which can be a symptom of dehydrated skin. As with most new skincare products, I worry that it'll break me out but I've only had one active spot appear in the time I've been using this and I don't think that Heal Gel is to blame at all. On the whole my face feels a lot smoother and I've found that I feel much more confident without makeup; the redness hasn't completely disappeared but it is well on its way. 
There's no denying that it is an expensive product, and the no-nonsense packaging doesn't infer that it should be priced high end bracket. The development and the ingredients are what warrant the expensive price tag, and it is said to also help a lot with eczema and psoriasis as well as targeting fine lines and wrinkles. I can't speak for these benefits but this has lots of reviews elsewhere from people like Sam and Nic from Pixiwoo who said that Nic had used it on her cesarean scar with very pleasing results! I'm not suggesting that you rush out and splurge on this if your pocket doesn't allow for it but if you do have trouble with acne scarring and dehydrated skin and you can afford this, I would recommend trying it.

Lush Handy Gurugu Hand Cream Review

So for Christmas my step-sister, Shikha, asked what I would like for Christmas, I always struggle to think off the top of my head what I would actually like so I just said 'get me anything from Lush' which I think is a pretty safe bet no matter who's asking! You could literally buy me anything from Lush and I would love it I think. One of the things she bought me was a tub of 'Handy Gurugu' hand cream; Lush is heavily featured on lots of beauty blogs but it's usually bath products or face masks, I don't think I've ever seen a Lush hand cream reviewed on any of the blogs I read - so here we go.

Handy Gurugu Hand Cream £8.25 Lush

Lush customers had been crying out for a more intense hand cream, and this is what they came up with; it's a 'powerful super moisturiser for extra dry hands'. My hands aren't excessively dry but they have suffered a little this winter so I've been using hand cream a lot more than previous years. The product is incredibly thick for a hand cream - it's a good job it's in a tub because I do not think this bad boy would be in a position to be squeezed out of a tube. It does not move in the pot at all, it looks solid and you have to kind of scoop a bit off the top with your finger to use it. It contains a blend of creamy nut butters, chamomile and evening primrose oil to provide instant relief to dry, sore and irritated hands. 

I've been using this after I have washed my hands or had my hands wet in the kitchen sink and I really love it. Despite the fact that it looks really thick in the tub, it melts into your hands effortlessly and leaves them feeling really soft and nourished and the smell isn't at all overpowering, I think it's actually quite comforting. If you have extra dry hands then a good idea would be to apply an extra thick layer before you go to bed and wears some sleep gloves; I would imagine this could work wonders! There's 100g in the pot, I've been using it over a month and barely made a dent in it so although it looks quite small tub, a little goes a long way! The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it's in a pot, which is why I only use it when I've washed my hands; using it on the go could mean you're dipping your fingers in it and leaving it less than hygienic... 

Overall I would recommend this to anyone with very dry hands, I usually buy my Dad and my Nana (who both get dry, sore hands) a tube of Body Shop Hemp hand cream but I think this would be a nice little change for them. At over £7 a tub it's not cheap but I believe if something works, paying a little extra won't hurt.

Tigi S Factor Review

If you've been reading my blog for a good while, you'll know that I'm a bit of a haircare junkie; always looking for the next big thing to give me silky smooth, shiny locks. Blonde hair has to be the worst hair colour to try and get a shine on but over the past 3 years of being blonde it has become my mission. I've tried lots of different shampoos, some costing a fortune, others costing the measly sum of £1... and I have to admit that haircare is probably my favourite thing to put to the test. 

Recently I was sent the 'Serious Lustre' set by Tigi S Factor which contains two products; a 'Serious Conditioner' and a 'Smoothing Lusterizer' both packaged together in a cute little white bag (gotta love a bag that I can cram a load of products in reuse). This is the ultimate duo to fight frizz and rescue dry and damaged hair... I use heat styling on my hair pretty much every day so you could say that the ends of my hair are a tad dry and damaged; the amount of hair which falls out on a daily basis is quite alarming to be honest.

 Tigi S Factor Serious Lustre Nourishment Set* £22.45 Look Fantastic

Tigi S Factor "Serious" Conditioner First of all, I love intensive conditioners; there's no better feeling than washing your hair and popping a treatment on let it work its magic. The S factor "serious" conditioner contains sunflower seed oil to give your hair the injection of moisture it needs to get it looking shiny and healthy My thoughts: I like how this dispenses out of the tube, it comes out of a long tapered end which means that you get just the right amount of product out without wasting any. The conditioner is really thick and creamy, I use it once every other wash on the bottom half of my hair and after about a week of use I started to be able to see a difference. I leave it on for between 3 and 5 minutes when I apply it and it leaves my hair really manageable to style and it doesn't seem to break as easily.
Tigi S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer
This is to be used on either wet or dry hair in place of a serum and is packed with cyclomethicone to target and eliminate frizz from root to tip.  My thoughts: The main thing I absolutely love about this is the smell, it smells exactly like strawberries and cream... it's sooo nice! I use this on my hair both when it's wet and I find that using a 5p sized amount is perfect. I still prefer my frizz ease serum for when my hair is dry but using this on wet hair has made my hair really soft, shiny and manageable... also how cool is the shape of the bottle?!
If you're looking for a set to 'rescue' damaged hair then I'd definitely look into this because not only do the products work, they also work out to be a bargain in this gift set because if you buy them individually from the Tigi S Factor range it would cost double the price of this gift set. The individual products are bigger but I think if you're looking to try something from the range this is ideal, these work out at just over £11 each which I think is very reasonable for luxury hair products!

The Best of Body Butters

Is it just me or do you seem to get lots of body butters at Christmas time? They seem to be in so many of the lovely gift sets I receive and before I know it I've got a massive oversupply of body butters! Not that I'm complaining because I do like a choice of bath and body products but I thought I'd share my little body butter collection with you today and tell you a little bit about each.

Treacle Moon 'Her Mango Thoughts' - I actually did a full review of this around this time last year, I was raving about how much I loved using it, this is my second tub as I grabbed it when they were on offer in Tesco. To me it smells just like Lilt and it even though it's really thick it absorbs really quickly into my skin leaving it feeling lovely!
Caudalie Vine Body Butter - This is the most luxurious of the 4 body butters, for me it's ideal as an after sun product because it relieves tight feeling skin, it's lightly perfumed and packed full of grape and shea butter... I think the packaging is also really nice, simple but pretty.
Ted Baker Body Souffle - The largest of the 4 tubs, this one holds 300ml of product and it's full to the brim. It's the thinnest in consistency of the 4 because it's a 'souffle' but seems to leave a bit more of a greasy residue than the others. This tub will last absolutely ages though so 
Champneys Skin Comforting Body Butter - A 300ml pot of this is only £5 at the moment in Boots so if you're in the market for a body butter and you can find one in store, I'd highly recommend this one for the money. It has more of a mature scent but one that reminds me of being in a spa; it's more of a powdery scent rather than a perfumed or fruity scent. It's quite a thin consistency for a body butter but I find that it's perfect for melting into your skin after a hot bath/shower.  So I suppose you could say that I've currently got enough body butters to moisturise a small army, but who doesn't like a bit of choice?! I actually can't believe that none of these are from the Body Shop, when I think 'Body Butter' I automatically think of that brand but for some reason I don't actually own any!

No Fuss Slimming World Meals

So I've been doing the Slimming World plan since the end of September 2013 and I feel like I have come so far since then so I thought I'd write a little blog post to update you on my progress and to show you some of the things that I love to eat and STILL lose weight! I'm now in week 22 and feeling the benefits of losing weight in so many ways, I knew I was ready for it and I knew I could get my head into the Slimming World plan because it's so easy. 
So far I have lost 2 stone 11.5 pounds... in the last 22 weeks there have only been 2 occasions where I have gained weight; my birthday week which I put 2lb on and last week when I put on 0.5lb. I don't think that's bad going at all, I've had a few maintains but overall my average weightloss per week has been 2lb. It doesn't feel like I've been on Slimming World for nearly half a year, and I think that's because it's not a drag, it's not a total pain to be doing. You can still live your life and lose weight at the same time. I'm never hungry and I mean NEVER, I eat properly and my plate is always full of food. I even have chocolate.
Here are a few of my favourite things to eat...

 Sausage and Mash - Using Tesco Healthy Living cumberland sausages (1 syn each) and Bisto beef gravy (1.5 syns for 100ml). 

 Huge Ocean Salad, couple of syns in the extra light mayo but mixed that with tomato puree (free) to give me a very low syn seafood sauce.

 Spaghetti bolognese made with extra lean mince and a jar of Dolmio (half a jar is 5.5 syns). So easy and so delicious; I don't like the spag bols made using SW recipes so I'm more than willing to use some syns on this.

 These chicken breasts are packed with garlic in the middle which is absolutely gorgeous and feels so naughty... but it's not! They're from Iceland's new 'Posh Grub' range and they're 2.5 syns for both breasts! Served with actifry chips (used fry light instead of oil) and a big salad.

Who doesn't love a big bowl of stew in this horrible weather, I can eat this until it comes out of my ears because it's complete free as I used a stock pot instead of gravy granules and it was absolutely beautiful. Packed with superfree foods and really comforting.

Here we have 10 syns worth of chocolate, some Cadbury Bubbles bar and some Cadbury Caramel. It might not seem like much but if you really enjoy chocolate it's well worth the syns, I've learnt that chocolate is not for chewing it's for savouring!

 My all time favourite - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, these are 3 syns per cup and worth every single syn in my opinion!

Finally when I'm really craving a takeaway (which isn't a good idea if you want to stay within your syns for the day) I go to Iceland and pick up one of these Chicken Jalfrezi frozen ready meals, it doesn't come with rice it's just the curry but they're only £1.50 and it's 3.5 syns of pure luxury when you haven't eaten a curry for ages! You can make curries using Slimming World recipes but I find these are quite complicated and I don't always have time for that! So there were are these are a few of things I eat, and I've still lost almost 3 stone!! I think I've decided that my ultimate goal is 5 stone so I've got just over 2 to go... Hopefully I'll have lost at least another stone before I go to Florida in May as I expect some serious damage will be done during those 2 weeks!!

Seventeen Lasting Fix Nail Polish in Midnight Sapphire

Today I'm bringing you a nail polish which I bought the other day on another one of my trips to Boots, I had a voucher for £1 off a £5 spend on makeup... how could I let that expire without using it up?! I've been looking for a budget navy nail polish ever since I've seen navy shades on the likes of Sam from Pixiwoo, Sam was wearing an OPI shade which usually retail at about £11.95. I love OPI nail polishes, don't get me wrong, but I've been on a bit of a high street rampage at the moment, determined not to spend a fortune on the stuff I want. I looked at all the stands in Boots and the only Navy shade which stood out to me was one from Seventeen which is one of Boots own brands.

Seventeen Lasting Fix Nail Polish in 'Midnight Sapphire' £2.99 Boots Although I really wanted to try a navy shade, I was a bit worried that a dark colour would make my nails look short and stubby but I actually really like how it looks. It looks classy and shiny, I think. The applicator brush is just a regular size which for me makes application a little more difficult, I like wider brushes which you often find with Rimmel polishes. It also says that you should get up to 5 days wear with this, you don't and it's as simple as that. I applied this last night and by 1pm this afternoon it was already chipped and I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary with my fingers. Having said that, for £2.99 I don't expect miracles and I'm willing to overlook this because I do really like the shade.