Macadamia Hair | 'Flawless' Review

One of my new year’s resolutions for 2014 was for me to get into a proper haircare routine and learn what works for my hair to keep it looking healthy and clean. This led me to a mass product buying session from brands like Bumble & Bumble, Oribe, Dove, and Herbal Essences to name but a few. One brand I’d heard about but never tried anything from, Macadamia Hair, caught my eye via FeelUnique one evening and I ended up purchasing an absolutely fabulous product that I wanted to share with you briefly - Flawless.

Flawless has fast become my HG haircare product. It’s a 6-in-1 cleansing conditioner that you can use in replacement of regular shampoo/conditioner in order to cleanse, condition, detangle, eliminate frizz, enhance volume and reduce blow drying time. Wow, one product that promises all that? Miracle worker! 

I recently applied Flawless because I wanted to give my hair a real deep clean after a hard week at work in a hairnet. After performing my regular shower routine I then liberally applied Flawless to my wet hair, and was surprised at the firm gel like mousse texture of the product itself (for some reason I thought it was going to be like a hair spray given the packaging!). I left it to work its magic for 5 minutes and rinsed it out thoroughly from my hair. I then ran my Macadamia oil infused comb through my hair once rinsed to detangle and I didn’t feel my hair snag on the teeth or pull when I combed it though - result! 

Now, I’m not a big fan of blow drying my hair so I cannot comment on the reduction to blow drying time, but I can tell you that my hair feels the freshest, and most cleanest it’s been in a while, not to mention it’s silky soft and so full and bouncy - I’m seriously impressed with Flawless (and my oil infused comb!) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to save some time in their haircare routine without compromising on the quality of the product they’re using, or, if you’re someone like me who wants a deep clean every now and again then this is for you - I absolutely love it, and, dare I say it, feel like I have flawless hair! 

I purchased my Macadamia comb and Flawless as part of the ‘Flawless Cradle’ for around £21 from FeelUnique. I don’t think FeelUnique do that particular set any more but you can buy it here. Or you can just buy Flawless itself here for around £20, it’s definitely worth the money!

What’s your HG haircare product? 

Favourite haircare brand?

Revlon Parfumerie Scented Nail Enamel

Allow me to introduce you to a quick insight my current beauty delight: Revlon's latest additions to its vast collection of fabulous products, Parfumerie nail polishes. I developed something of an obsession with scented nail polish when I went to Florida in 2012, spying a set of scented Crayola nail polishes (no, they weren't crayon scented, they were orange, bubblegum, apple and blueberry!) on the beauty shelves of Walmart and since then I've been on the hunt for a more grown up version. Imagine my excitement when I saw that Revlon were the answer to my scented nail prayers!

Revlon have brought out 24 shades and scents in their Parfumerie collection, three of which I currently own (Ginger Melon, African Tea Rose, and Beachy), where each nail polish scent smells akin to its name, for example my Ginger Melon above really does smell like I have melons on my nails once the polish has dried. You really don't need to build up the layers with these polishes to get them to smell how they're supposed to, two coats was all that it took for me to catch the scent of melons and even then the scent is not incredibly overpowering (because let's face it, who'd want their nails to smell strongly in everyday life, even if the scent was something amazing like candy floss or mint leaves!).

Truth be told I'm quite desperate to get my hands on some of the other colours/scents, particularly Wintermint, Pink Pineapple, Chocolate Truffle, Apricot Nectar and Spun Sugar. The bottles are adorable, the range of colours is appealing and the gimmick of scented nails still enthrals me, what's not to love? Oh, yes, the price - £6.49 for a single bottle is quite steep, but I don't think it'll stop me from trying a couple more...

Are you a scented nails fan?

Slimming World | Month Three - March

Much like February, my weight loss focus in March fell by the wayside as I chose to pour my energies into enjoying life and not having to worry too much about being strict with myself. Again, much like February working shifts left me with the inability to attend group during 3/4 weeks of the month and that has once again affected my focus...oh, and the small matter of a week long birthday celebration, dinner in Frankie & Bennys, 2 birthday cakes, cocktails and our 4 year anniversary of togetherness!

Excuses (or rather, realities) aside I maintained at the end of February, seeing no change in the scales. This actually made me quite happy because it meant that I hadn't put anything on, which is obviously the wrong way to go! I was then determined to come back with a vengeance and did well to lose 2lbs which got me my Club10 Award. Club 10 means that I've lost 10% of my starting body weight so far and have gained many health benefits from doing so. I can already feel myself walking faster (so simple, but so true!), and I have more energy in the mornings too. Here's to the next 10%!

I then had 3 weeks off plan, worked a lot, and celebrated my birthday and anniversary. I finally got on the SW scales again on the 28th of March to be faced with a 10.5lbs gain. This was not a shock, but a kick up the bum! I took it as it came, went home and got rid of all of the rubbish in my fridge and treat cupboard and got straight back on it, munching on chicken, tuna and cheese salads, overnight oats, mullerlight yoghurts and fruit.

Blue dress pic is a 2st lighter me than in red dress pic!

I've begun April with a fantastic loss (I will save the surprise for this month's round up in a couple of weeks time!) and I'm so determined not to report back to you in 4 weeks with a similar story to how February and March have gone. I thought I'd pop up my first progress picture too, considering I've now lost 2 stone and can see it in myself, I wonder if you can too?

My goals for April are:
- Get my 2.5 stone award
- Drink 2 litres of water a day
- Try a new recipe every week
- Keep a daily food diary
- Stay to group every week
- 100% on plan, everyday

Wish me luck! Come and follow me on Instagram too, I post lots of SW, beauty and life pics on there (@louisekwilliams).

Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation

Well, it's safe to say that I've ended my spending ban early - oops! It all stems from receiving money for my birthday from various relatives and it burning a hole in my pocket. Je ne regrette rien! Anyways, I made a trip to Boots last week to buy some shampoo and came out with one of Bourjois' newest foundations, the 123 Perfect, which contains 3 correcting pigments to help reduce redness, dark circles and eliminate dull, tired looking skin. I picked this up primarily for the anti-redness elements as I've been noticing how red my cheeks and nose look in certain lights and it's been bothering me, and because I'd not bought a 'drugstore' foundation in a long while and always turn to Bourjois for excellent bases.

In a nutshell I'm really loving using this foundation. I've given it a week's trial and safe to say I will be using it right up until the last droplet. I picked up the lightest shade (Light Vanilla) which is actually a good colour match for my skin tone and doesn't make me look orange tinted at all (which is what some shades with a yellow undertone tend to do, even though they're aimed at paler skin!). The formula is very lightweight and the coverage is definitely medium, although I have found that you can build it quite nicely without it looking streaky. One thing I love about this foundation is that it feels like a liquid to powder formula, and it feels very fresh on the skin, not at all cakey. I like to apply this with my fingers as I've found it sits better on my skin, and I can work it in better when my skin's suffering from being incredibly dry. It does cling to the dry patches on my nose, as I found out earlier in the week, but I think that was down to my negligence of my skincare routine rather than the formula of the foundation itself.

Bourjois claims that 123 Perfect has a 24hr hydration qualities, which I do not feel it does per se, but as I mentioned I do have very dry skin around my nose and using this foundation has not dried out any other areas of my face as other products have done in the past. 123 Perfect also contains SPF 10 (brilliant as we move into Spring) and notes that the formula of this foundation is such that it is akin to a second-skin like finish which allows your skin to breathe. I fully support this claim, when I touch my cheeks whilst wearing this foundation I don't feel like I'm touch makeup at all, just my own skin as it should be, soft, blemish free, smooth and most importantly, with reduced redness. I would seriously compare this foundation's finish to Chanel's Vita Lumiere Aqua foundation

Another foundation hit from Bourjois for me. I'm really glad I picked this up and the price tag wasn't too bad either (£10.99). The only thing that slightly puts me off is the smell - this foundation reminds me of Play-dough I used to mould as a child...nostalgia and a fresh face? Why not!

Have you tried this foundation?
What's your favourite foundation?