Katie, Author at Lady From A Tramp

I have been in 2 minds about trying Moroccan Oil as I thought it was insanely expensive for what is essentially a jar of posh cooking oil. (artistic licence on that one!).

The reviews and results were unequivocally good, but £30.45 is a hell of a lot of money to pay by most peoples standards.

While on holiday in Marrakech I was introduced to pure Argan oil by the female producers in their small co-op Berber pharmacies high in the Atlas Mountains and thought it was about time to get on the ‘moroccan oil’ band wagon. A 100ml bottle of pure Argan Oil for hair use cost me £4 so you can see why I find £30 to be excessive! The ladies were sweet and took their time to show us their extremely long and extremely well conditioned hair and their tips to get the most out of oil treatments (longer DIY post to come soon!)

After a week in the 120 degree heat my hair loved the deep treatment from the oil and it was left softer and silkier than any other conditioner I have ever tried – I was sold!

Now time to enjoy some gratuitous holiday snaps…..

A traditional Berber Village


A Berber lady working the husks in the co-op Pharmacy

A mini production line for treating the husks

As tradition in Morocco, when a guest in someones home (the pharmacies are in houses) you’re given glasses of hot sweet mint tea

Once my hair has improved in condition, I find the pure Argan Oil far too heavy to use regularly so I now save my precious bottle for those times when your hair needs some lovin’.

At Christmas, my lovely husband bought me a Moroccan Oil minis kit from www.lookfantastic.com , who stock a good range of Moroccan Oils (and far too much other amazing hair goodies – bye bye pennies!). I tried the oil with trepidation after a wash & condition, just applying the tiniest amount to my ends, knowing that the pure A.O was too much for healthy-ish hair.

I followed my usual blow dry routine and I was so so impressed. Not only did my hair feel less dry and strawlike but it looked amazingly healthy and nourished! The ends were so well behaved and sleek, I had no need to use serum after my blow dry. That alone for me is a huge improvement.

I have played round with quantities and how I place it through the hair and I have found a 5p size blob, spread between two hands and then worked from my ears down to tips gives me the best results as I have layers in this area and it makes sure all the tips get a coating. The final results are just fab! I hate to admit but this is my holy grail of hair products and I have been out and re-purchased the big 125ml bottle (100ml bottle for £30.45 here on lookfantastic.com).

My mother is by biggest hair critic and even she can tell the difference to the quality of my hair, so if it’s noticeably different to others it must be good right?

I use the moroccan oil every time I wash my hair and feel that it handles better with the oil, the ends are easier to curl under and the tips don’t get so ratty on the 2nd day. I have also applied a small amount on the 2nd day before if I just want a bit of extra taming. It smells absolutely devine too!

Now let me say, this is by no means a deep treatment oil but it is a daily godsend for styling and conditioning. You’d eat through a 100ml botle far too quickly trying to do a Deep Treat with this oil, but your hair does soak it up a lot quicker when it is in need of more nourishment.

All in all, I am SO happy that I tried the Moroccan Oil and im glad its made its way in to my daily routine to replace loading up my hair with silicone based serums which hide rather than tackled my frizzies.

My only complaint is the price. I think it’s a diabolical price for 100ml of oil. I did re-purchase the oil in its full size bottle but only after trying it. I would never have bit the bullet and paid the £30 without trying it first. I have used roughly 25ml in 2 month so it’s not too bad but I know the price puts a lot of people off – I hope this review will help encourage people to take the plunge and try it!!

I can’t wait to try the rest of the Moroccan Oil range, the deep conditioners and styling products are calling out to me… but as ever, I’ll have to save up some pennies before I can review them for all my lovely readers.

Just a small review about Lush’s Bubble Gum Lip Scrub < note that this is a link to the American Lush as our UK site is still down after the Christmas hacking!

I’ve looked at it since it was launched and always felt it was a bit gimmicky so never bothered. As this was to be my first Lush purchase for myself so I thought I’d give it a twirl.

Oh man, I wish I’d bought this years ago dammit!

The smell and taste of bubblegum is strong but not overpoweringly so and the sugar crystals provide enough gentle exfoliation to turn the flakiest kisser in to a smooth plump pout without it being painful and ‘raw’

I like to apply this morning and night right across my lips and slightly extending in to the skin to make sure the lip line is smooth too. I follow it up with a slather of a thick lip balm to provide further moisturising.

The scrub itself leaves a little deposit of oil on the lips after scrubbing but its no where near enough to rely on as a balm.

For £4.99 this is a perfect little pot to keep in stand by for lip emergencies. The tub will last me a very long time as a little goes a long way. It is very easy to use while it is full but I think I might struggle as it gets near the bottom, without the aid of a long nail or something to fish the grains out of the bottom.

Make Over or should that be MAC Over?

For Christmas, my father in law bought me a voucher for a MAC session!

Oh how excited I was about all that lovely MAC make up!

Lets be honest now ladies, MUCA (My code for – make up counter assistants) do have a reputation of being snooty orange faced clowns right? Remember that Fast Show sketch? (YOUTUBE)… well this was playing heavily on my mind.

I have about 70% of MACs regular range of eyeshadows and pigments and a healthy dose of their lippies and gloss’s so I didn’t want the kind of make up lesson you’d give to a 15yr old with her first lippy, but I also didn’t want to be brushed aside and given the same look I could do every day.

Sunday 6th February at 11:00 – Judgement Day! Dun dun duuuun!

When I sat down with my MUCA, she was amazing. She told me she’s known as Pink Sarah and what an absolute doll she was! I wish I could have taken her home with me! She put me at ease instantly when I told her I didn’t want to look like a clown. We had a good laugh over my trepidation about the session and she did her best to put me at ease.

I explained to Sarah that I have very rosy cheeks and as such my main goal for the session was to finally find a properly matched foundation to give me maximum coverage without looking like a mask so that I could wear blushers!

Sarah ran through a few foundations and let me choose which one I felt most comfortable with (NW20) and I have to say I’m insanely impressed! I have not tried MAC foundations before, with having problem skin I avoid introducing new (and expensive) products which may cause flare ups but almost 2 weeks on of daily wear I have nothing to write home about.. Yes that’s right, ive worn it every day! The first time in about 4.5yr! It’s a BIG achievment for me and my stupid face!

Sarah asked me what kind of style of eyes I go for and after I explained my usual style and colour preference she asked if I was feeling brave enough for a bold purple ‘daytime’ look. Confident that she’d not make me look like Krusty the Klown I was game for her to go to town on my eyes!

WOWOWOW! < That’s all I can say! I associate bold purples with night times but Sarah worked her magic on me and I had a beautifully vivid smoked purple eye with bold tones running through. She was attentive to ask about my eyewear (I’m a speccy 4 eyes) and explained how to create a bold eye that was maximised by my frames. It was a revelation to me as I’m prone to applying my eyes as if I was wearing my contacts and then just shoving my glasses back on!

All in all I was very very happy wth my session and felt relieved I’d been brave and gone through it. I was grateful she didn’t try to teach me to suck eggs, but I did pick up a few tips I’d not thought about before that Ive used again since. She wasn’t pushy or forceful when it came to deciding which products I would like to buy (£98.50 of goodies for the record… ooopsie!)

Sarah was an absolute sweetheart and I have to say, after previous VERY frosty service from the MAC ladies she was perfect in every way. This was reaffirmed when on returning to MAC a week later to swap a dupe eyeshadow I’d bought after the session, she made a beeline to me and gave me the warmest greeting I think ive ever had and checked how I felt after id got home with the make up she applied. Such a lovely lady!

For all you North East ladies, I cannot recommend Sarah (Ask for Pink Sarah) in Fenwicks in Newcastle highly enough. She is amazing and a real credit to the brand, if this is the quality of representation they offer. The other girls on stand could take a leaf out of her book for customer service.

I was actually so impressed with Sarah I have wrote an email of commendation to both Fenwicks & MAC directly!!!

After a slight absence from MAC-love (due to shoddy service)…I’m back with a bang! Now where is that Chrome eyeshadow and Venetian lipglass!!

Baby it’s Cold (Cream) in here…..

Sorry for the picture, I had to borrow it from Google

This is probably quite late but I have been giving it a few weeks to settle in to my routine to see how I get on with it!

After doing a bit of blog-loving and googlizing (yes it’s a word, I say so!) for a new cleanser and moisturiser combo suitable for sensitive skin, I came across lots of reviews for Ponds Cold Cream used as a hot cloth cleanser.

Having super sensitive skin, when I get a flare up, I layer my face in Aqueous Cream or calamine so I was hoping it would have the same thick, cooling effect.

After a trip to Mecca (aka Boots) I settled upon their own brand Cold Cream as I thought it was less money to waste should it not be right for me. I dutifully trouped off to Asda living and bought a giant pack of baby muslins for £3 and cut them down to face size seeing as the Boots ones were so expensive.

I’d been reading up on what I needed to do so I gave it a whirl in the following order. By no means is this the definitive how-to but this is how I got my best results……..

1. Apply a layer of CC to your face avoiding your eyes. I use a thicker layer depending on how much make up im wearing or how dry my face is. It’s quite a prescriptive method so you can tailor it to suit your own skin

2. Leave the cream to sit on the face without rubbing in for long enough for the hot tap to get super hot. Soak the muslin cloth in the hot water and drape it over the face. Pat gently to make contact on cheeks and forehead. NOTE – please make sure the hot cloth isn’t too hot otherwise you’ll burn your pretty little face!

3. I usually sit on the side of the bath until the cloth no longer feels warm and then I used the cloth to wipe off all the CC residue still present on my face. While wiping, I do a light sweep over my eyes to remove make up and I haven’t had any stinging or redness from doing it and no trouble with contact lenses in.

4. I finish with a brisk splash of cold water which, despite probably not being true, feels like it tightens everything up on my face and makes me feel a bit cleaner… if that makes sense?!

The CC leaves a very fine film of moisture behind on the skin which you can feel gently sinking in to your skin for some time afterwards. If I’m feeling particularly dry and dehydrated I apply an extra moisturiser but most of the time find that the left over CC is more than enough to keep my skin feeling plump young and moisturised.

Why oh why didn’t someone tell me about this before! Damn you all!

I’ve been using the Boots Cold Cream since the beginning of the year and I have to say I havent had any face-wash related allergy flare ups or issues at all and as a result I’m not going to try to the Ponds cream. It’s practically twice the price and I find it hard to believe it’s twice as good as this bad boy!

To make it a fair review though, here’s the pros and cons!

Cons

1. The smell is overpoweringly flowery and has that “grandma” smell about it. It does subside very quickly but the strong smell in the jar might put others off

2. The jar is beautifully retro with a 1920s vibe (to me anyways) but it is a nightmare to scoop out the cream if you have to do more than 1 dip. It tips over very easily and with it having a flared fluted top, I suspect it will be hard to get the dregs out when its almost empty. My jar has rolled off my bathroom counter while trying to use it more times than I think I’ve dyed my hair (A LOT!)

3. Maybe Boots could stock good value muslins along side the cold cream on the display?

4. The product is not marketed and just lives on the bottom shelf in the beauty aisle. On quizzing my beauty obsessed friends none of them had heard of Boots own brand cold cream or even its uses.

Pros

1. The price! What more do I need to say about this? It’s a super duper bargain and Boots have got this spot on.

2. Despite the con above about the packaging… the jar is beautifully styled and very retro. It looks like a little treasure next to the sink and doesn’t look budget at all. I was expecting a utilitarian tub similar to Aqueous cream

3. The moisturising effect from the CC can be felt several hours later unlike most moisturisers I’ve tried

4. This truly is a gem for us sensitive skinned ladies. I don’t know what it is about it but it seems to tone down some of the red on my cheeks and forehead I usually experience after cleansing my face.

All in all, this is an amazing product and I just wish I’d known about it sooner! It has turned in to my Holy Grail product. I have purchased the No7 hot cleanser to try once my CC has run out… but the question is…do I want to mess with perfection?!

Well done Boots… WELL DONE!

Products Mentioned – links

Boots Cold Cream – £2.42
Boots Muslin Squares – 6 for £7.14
Asda Muslin Squares – 3 for £3 – I got about 12 squares from each cloth!!!

I happened upon this body lotion by accident! I had a scary bad reaction to a sample of their Angles On Bare Skin and due to being so freaked out I emailed their customer service to let them know how severe it had been.

The customer service was fab and within a couple of days I had in my hands a lovely complimentary gift box of ‘soothing’ items to try.

Well after literally being burnt by Lush before I decided not to subject my face and delicate skin again and have not used any of the items I was sent except for the Dream Cream lotion.

I find the smell of most Lush items very off-putting which is why I have never bought anything to use on myself (except my lip scrub!) but the smell of this lotion was reasonably tolerable so I thought I’d go in for a little swatch on my hand to see how I fared. The cream soaked in evenly and was nice and thick and did indeed feel soothing. After an hour my skin looked as God intended it so I slathered some cream on to my scaly dry elbows, the dry skin sucked the cream up like there was no tomorrow!

I’m quite excited to be able to wear this lotion but I do n’t think I’ll over do it as I was more conscious of the smell when it was loaded on both arms. Early days but my elbows feel better already!

Watch this space!!!

Review : Moroccan Oil Treatment

Review : LUSH Bubblegum lip scrub

Review : MAC Make Up Session

Review : Boots Cold Cream

Review : LUSH Dream Cream