Items in Review! #2

Hey everyone!

So please don't hate me for skipping out on Saturday, I am super sorry about it! I worked all weekend, which I may talk about on Wednesday depending on how the rest of this week goes, and it was just crazy busy. I was honestly falling asleep at about eight at night for the last three days, so not a lot of fun! However, I'm back now and off for a week so don't you worry about me missing posts this week! At least, I hope not! So, about a week ago someone mentioned wanting to hear about the dry shampoo that I have started using. Now, I'm a big believer in spreading knowledge and giving people a good chance to try new things!

 

The one that I was most excited to try was the Batiste brand that I've heard a lot about from my adventures on Youtube and watching a number of fashion/make-up videos that some people have done. So when I found it at our local Homesense, I was excited to be able to give it a shot! I decided to go with the "Cool & Crisp " smell, as I'd read that the smell can be a bit over-whelming and I'm not the kind of person who likes that. According to the instructions, it doesn't seem that difficult and takes a matter of minutes to apply. Now, I have thick hair so I've always stayed away from these kind of products on the belief that they weren't going to work and just feel cakey on my hair. I'm glad that I finally decided to give into my addiction to Youtube opinions and try it out!

I really did love it and I did notice a difference, which shocked me. I've only ever used it in the "next day pony tail" method, since I am still unsure how confident I would be with my crazy wavy hair down. It is a really good smell, nothing as strong as I expected but just enough that you don't mind breathing as you spray it in. I would recommend following the instructions about the distance from the spray and your head as this morning when I used it, I accidentally held it too close to my head and I looked like Storm from the X-Men; white hair and all. If you are like me and have terrible depth perception, never fear! It is really easy to brush or comb out, and even easier to rub into your roots like they tell you. It is pretty fool proof and a definite travel item. It would be amazing if you're spending the night someplace and need that morning hair pick-me up, or just in between proper hair washing.

 

Prior to picking up the Batiste dry-shampoo, I decided to try out Tresemmé since I use the shampoo a lot of the time. I'd heard a lot of negative reviews about it, but it had been on-sale (I believe) at the Great Canadian Superstore and I figured that it was only a few dollars to see if I liked it any better. This time I was glad that the reviews were wrong! I found that it worked really well for a next-day pony tail, although it did make my hair feel a little more gritty then the other brand. As for the kind that I picked, I basically looked at the colour on my shampoo bottle and grabbed the same dry-shampoo, so maybe a different kind would be better for my hair or take away some of the gritty feeling when I touch my roots.

One feature that I really do like with this one, over the Batiste is the fact that I can spray it all over my hair and just brush it through. I have a very hard time trying to spray directly in the area of my roots and this is just a very easy to way get it where you think it needs to go. The only thing is, again, be careful how close you put the spray to your hair. Tresemmé isn't as forgiving with the white flakes that sometimes remain if you put the spray too close to your head, and as you can kind of see in the third image, the nozzle clogs rather quickly. That is after only a couple of uses, but they do give you a way to clean it out rather easily with water. So fingers crossed that will work out!

I've not tried any other kind of dry-shampoo but I would reccomend if you are intrested in buying one, find as much information as you can! The ones that I've got work really well for my hair, but they might not work for your hair as well as a different type. If you aren't a fan of strong scents, I would suggest Batiste over Tresemmé as the smell is definitely lighter and does not linger as long. However, if you are looking for something quick and easy, Tresemmé is probably a better choice for you. I alternate between the two, mostly so my hair doesn't get too used to a certain kind and it looses the effect, so I like seeing the comparison. I think both of them work really well, but I've heard a lot of good things about other good brands and even other types (for example, a foam one that is more like a mousse). I would highly recommend giving one of them a try and seeing what is right for you!

That is it for today! If you have any questions, I would be more then happy to try and give you an answer in the comments below! Also, if you have suggestions, as always, you can post them in the comments and I'll take a look into reviewing the item on the next Monday I blog!

I hope you all had a good long weekend (Memorial Day in the United States, and Spring Bank Holiday in the United Kingdom) and I will see you all on Wednesday!

Cheers! x

-A

A little shopping trip!

Hey everyone! :)

I cannot believe how quickly the week has gone by, already it is Saturday night! It is absolutely crazy to think that this blog is only a week old, but I am glad to see that I've kept up with a kind of routine of posting! On that note, I mentioned the other day that I had gone shopping and I felt like I should put up some pictures of the things that I picked up. It isn't a very long list since I am a university student who is saving up money to afford school and text books in September. Therefore, a lot of the things you're going to see are going to be from the store I work in, simply because it is better to get a discount for things then have to pay full price. Wonderful, now I sound like a crazy couponer don't I? Well before we get further into that hole, let's begin with the first store.

The first place that I picked some shirts up at was SmartSet. This has to be one of my favourite stores, simply because they always have trendy and nice things in there that generally last for a long period of time.

Original Price $35.00 Sale Price $19.99 size. XL

I really love this shirt since it is light and summery feeling. You know when you put on a shirt and it just feels like it is summertime? That is the same feeling that I get in this shirt. It is longer on the back since I'm self-conscious about my bum and am always tugging things down over it. It's a mixture of dressy and flirty, due to the see-through nature of it; meaning you could wear it to work with a pair of dress pants or with a pair of leggings to hang out with some friends. I'm a big fan of multipurpose outfits since you get more value out of it! :)

Original Price $16.00 Sale Price 2 for $26.00 size. XL

I decided while I was in the store that I should find something to go under a few of the see-through shirts that I've been buying recently. Generally I stick to plain white so that people can't really tell what I've got under it and don't notice that the shirt is see-through. Considering the colours in the shirt (which you can't see very well in the picture, I'm sorry!) I thought that picking this darker blue would be a nice pop of colour under it. I love the royal blue colour and I have another shirt in a similar colour that I wear to a lot of special events!

Original Price $16.00 Sale Price 2 for $26.00 size. XL

So this shirt was brought with the same intent as the first tanktop, just to go under clothing. The picture that I took does not justice to the beautiful colour. It is similar to that of the long-sleeve shirt and the best way I can describe it would be a light green, almost mint, colour. It is really light and could easily be worn under anything for a pop of colour! I love it and the feel of it is really nice as well, not too clingy but not overly loose either.

The second store that I went to was Winners! Now this is a store that I love because of the amazing deals that you can get from it and the fact that I get a discount since I work at one of their branches. So it is always nice to find amazing savings there! :)

Workshop Andrea Jovine Original Price$16.99 size. L

So if anyone has ever been into a Winners or Marshalls before, you'll know that they often get items in that aren't so well known. I wanted just a plain black t-shirt since I'm looking to find a colourful Maxi skirt and want a plain top for it. So I found this when I went into work today and it really was just a simple thing. Not to mention the fact that I do a lot of theatre and I always struggle to find something black in my closet for that. Now, I'll never need to worry again!

Black Professional Line Anti-Frizz System Original Price $4.99 size. 500mL

So stepping away from the clothing now, I decided that it would be a good idea to pick up a new shampoo. My grandmother told me that sometimes it was a good idea to switch up the kind of shampoo that you're using so that your hair doesn't get too used to it and the product doesn't build up. If that is true or not, I have no idea. I liked the look and smell of the shampoo but I'll let you all know how it goes when I've used it a couple of times! :)

Original Price $6.99 size. 296mL

I am super excited to try out this new conditioner, as lame as that sounds! I have always been stuck using whatever was in the shower because I've never found another one that I really loved or wanted to try. This one caught my attention due to the addition of lime and the look of the bottle. Call me crazy but I make a lot of decisions based on packaging and I liked this one straight away. So again, I'll let you know how it goes when I start using it and if it lives up to the promises of recovering and rejuvenating my hair!

Cool & Crisp, Fresh Original Price $7.99 size. 200mL

This is a product that I've read rave reviews about and seen a lot of people using for their hair. It is a dry shampoo and I've never tried one before. I had bought a different one and read terrible reviews for it, so I've been scared to try it (I'll show it next since I bought it the day before this one). So when I found out that this was sold at my job for what seemed like a really good price I thought why not. I have super high hopes for this dry shampoo and again I'll give a little review of it once I've seen it and compared it with the other one and the other reviews given. I decided to go with the Cool and Crisp scent as I'm very worried about strong smells and I heard they were super strong smelling a lot of the time. We'll see I guess huh?

Finally, I bought the last item at the Great Canadian Superstore! Yes, I bought something other then food at the grocery store. If you've ever been into the Superstore before, you'll know that they have a huge range of make-up, hair care, and health products, so I figured that it might be a good idea to check it out while I was there. Why not right? You never know what you're going to be able to find there.

Smoothing for straight/normal hair Original Price $4.29 Sale Price $3.80 size. 200mL

Last, but not least, is the second bottle of dry shampoo. I've been going to the gym a lot lately and I didn't want to take a shower every morning before going when I'd be taking one the minute I got home. My hair tends to get oily and greasy rather quickly if I don't wash it at night so I'm hoping that a dry shampoo would help to at least make the next day pony-tails look better. I've read terrible reviews about this product, but I'll keep you updated about it's usage. It was a good price and I was just desperate. We'll see if I just wasted the money or if it is worth it to keep on hand.

Whew! A really long blog post, and I hope that you all didn't get bored through it! At least you had really nice pictures to look at? Before anyone asks, yes that is a carpet for the background, but was the only solid and flat area that I had on hand. It worked well for tonight but the next time I'll try and find a better place or a better lighting source so that the shadows aren't as bad. I'm learning, I'll get it eventually, I promise that much. Thank you so much for keeping up with week one of the blog, keep your eyes pealed for a post. I've decided to try and post something every other day, so next week it will start up on Monday! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you all after Mother's Day! 

Cheers! x

-A (somelittlebirds)