Fine Hair | High Street Heroes

I'm a firm believer in 'you are what you eat' and the same goes for 'you'll get what you pay for,' so whilst I don't skimp on skincare, I'll tend to save money in other places; predominantly hair care. However recently I've noticed the high street offerings are as good as, if not better than their pricier companions...

September Favourites

It's that time of the month again; a little roundup of products that have pleased me during the month of September. I hasten to add I haven't worn much makeup, in fact my priorities this month have been hair and skin since I'm not at work and I've really only been using two products if I really must put make up on.

First up then is the Maybelline Fit Me concealer (review here) - non drying, good medium coverage, this has been a god send for me as of late. I had a reaction to something (it's one of two things,) and I erupted in little under the skin spots. Not very painful, but  quite annoying. If I had to go out anywhere that wasn't Lidl, then I plopped some of this on to make my skin somewhat presentable. 

To give my pale skin a bit of life on bad (ill) days - I also added the Soap and Glory Cheekmate (review here) to my lips and cheeks. It just gives the right amount of rosy glow and only a tiny amount is needed. Definitely one to look out for next time you're in Boots!

The John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo* and Conditioner* (review here) have really been keeping my hair at it's best, providing a decent amount of volume whilst keeping hair light. I've also taken a shine to the Blow-Dry Root Booster Lotion* which sprayed on towel dried hair has given the crown of my hair serious lift! 

I've spoken of my love for Vichy products quite briefly, but one product that I always go back to is the Vichy Purete Thermal Hydra Soothing Toner. It's hydrating, soothing and doesn't tighten the skin. I recently broke out and picked up a new bottle of this and it's really helped calm the skin down completely. I should also mention that I've already had four bottles of this and one bottle of the Hydra Perfecting toner - which is really good too but aimed at oily/combination skin. So yes, it's a really great toner.

Another skincare godsend is the Super Facialist Calming Creamy Cleanser from the Rose Hydrate range. This is a thick cream that smells of roses (and not artificial smelling either,) and just does a marvelous job of cleansing the skin yet keeping it calm as possible. I should have known it was going to be great since I adore the moisture mask from the same range. 

Last but not least was a cheeky Origins purchase - the Super Spot Remover. I wasn't kidding when I said I had broken out like crazy - all around the chin area. It was bumpy, almost like a spotty stubble (sexy description, right?) and whilst I'm glad they weren't the huge under skin spots that tend to be very painful, they were sore for the first few days. This has helped reduced the redness significantly and the spots are now on their way out (pale skin, spot 'scars' tend to hang around a lot easier on me) and this also came with a Gift With Purchase, which is always an incentive to buy!

So that was my round up of favourites for this month, I'd love to know what yours are! 

Peace!

John Frieda | Luxurious Volume

I mentioned before that I like to swap and change my hair care depending on what it needs, pretty much like my skincare. I colour my hair, so most of the time I use products targeted at keeping my colour looking its best. However since I have fine hair;(but lots of it,) I also 'suffer' from hair getting weighed down and looking flat - not exactly what anyone wants, am I right? I loved the Pantene Aqua Light range for keeping hair light, but for extra volume I needed something a little extra. I was kindly asked whether I'd take a look at the John Frieda Luxurious Volume range*, and since I've used their Brilliant Brunette range (before I dyed my hair,) and Foam Hair Dye before I thought I would give it a go as I enjoyed using both ranges so much.

I'm always a little dubious with hair care (and skin care,) promising the world, I think everyone is a little cynical these days and watching exactly where the pennies go which is completely understandable. I actually started testing these products whilst the humidity came in (over September and October in Devon it can get really humid and gross,) so it was even better to see if the volume held its place and provided what my hair needed.

The Touchably Full Shampoo and Conditioner used just on their own proved to be a god send, both with blow drying (of course using a heat protection too,) my hair afterwards and with letting it air-dry (my preferred method,) and provided a much needed boost all over, not just mid lengths. Both shampoo and conditioner smell fresh and feel lightweight in the hair, which added to give me the extra volume I wanted - and of course it seems obvious mentioning it, but it does leave hair squeaky clean. Score.

Next up I tried the Fine to Full Blow Out Spray, which is meant for all over volume. Applied to towel dried hair and sprayed from root to tip and then blow dried as usual - this does give a nice boost of all over volume much like the shampoo and conditioner, without making hair feel product heavy. I quite liked using this when my hair was generally misbehaving and flat all over and paired with the shampoo and conditioner worked a treat.

My favourite of the bunch however is the Blow-Dry Lotion Root Booster - as mentioned I have fine hair but lots of so whilst my mid lengths down can be full, the crown of my hair can lie flat - which is the most common occurrence for me. Used in a similar way as the Blow Out Spray, except just focusing on the roots this time - once blow dried I noticed a huge difference in the volume - but I did add a few cheeky extra sprays before my hair was completely dry. Big hair be mine!

My verdict then? I really enjoyed using this range, in particular the shampoo, conditioner and root booster - and I'll definitely be purchasing the dry shampoo which I heard is amazing too. It's worth noting that these come in mini sizes so you can try small before you buy the full size and they'd come in handy for travel too. You can pick up this range from Boots and Superdrug, so keep an eye out for the usual offers! It's also worth mentioning that John Frieda has a YouTube channel, where you can see the products being used and get helpful tips too. 

Have you tried the John Frieda Luxurious Range before? 

Peace!

*PR sample. To see my full disclaimer, you can see it here.