bloomzy /

New Hair, Don’t Care!

After literally months of debating it, I have changed my hair colour.
I went back to Bleach, as they’re the only hair colourists I trust now.
If you don’t remember (shame on you!) my hair was a vibrant red before.
I wanted to go darker, back to my natural colour, so they matched up my roots.
My natural colour is a very dark brown (almost black), so it was a big change!
As they matched my roots, it means there’s pretty much no maintenance involved.
I wanted it a bit different though so I asked for an ombré dip-dye on the ends.
I’m hoping to go back soon and get the ends bleached/lightened a bit more.
Bleach may like using bleach, but they know how much and when to do it.
I’m so happy to have darker hair again, it’s been forever!
I was genuinely shocked when they matched my roots up and I realised how dark they were.
It’s been a long time since I saw my natural colour properly, but I think I’m gonna like it.
bloomzy /

My Visit To The Cheeky Parlour

Just before Christmas I treated my friend Anna to a trip to the Cheeky parlour. I had heard of the mini beauty salon in Shoreditch and was dying to visit with a friend. Located on Redchurch St, above Aubin & Wills, the salon fits into Shoreditch perfectly. The idea behind the parlour is brilliant, offering walk-in manicures, blow outs and food. You’re handed a small paper card when you enter, and this is filled in throughout your visit. Whether you have a manicure & coffee, or a hair style & cake, it is jotted down onto your card. Now this may seem dangerous to a beauty addict, but with such great prices it’s not scary at all.

We had a manicure (only £10!), with nail art (£1.50 per nail). Now the amazing thing is, every manicure comes with a free polish! Yep, you get a 10ml pot of nail polish, in the shade you choose for your manicure. If that isn’t a bargain then I don’t know what is. So my whole manicure, with nail art, cost only £13. We ordered a couple of coffees and they were brought to us as we chatted and relaxed at the nail bar. Afterwards we retired to a comfy sofa and waited for our nails to dry, whilst we browsed the menu. I was pretty impressed with the food on offer, all of it sounded delicious and reasonably priced. We had mini red velvet cakes and chilled out, whilst drinking in our surroundings. Finally we checked out all the Cheeky products on offer, before paying.

The concept behind the Cheeky Parlour is any beauty lovers fantasy. Prices are reasonable, and the treatments offered are perfectly executed. The parlour is perfectly Shoreditch, on-trend and great for visiting with friends. All-in-all I will definitely be going again, and taking friends & family with me. I may even go for a hairstyle next time, if I have the occasion to.

You can find Cheeky Parlour on Redchurch St, Shoreditch.

bloomzy /

Review: TIGI Catwalk Session Series Finishing Hairspray

Catwalk by TIGI Session Series Finishing Hairspray*

Hairspray is something every beauty addict has in their haircare collection.
It’s become a staple for not only beauty lovers but pretty much everyone nowadays.
That means there are tons out there, all promising different things. So which do you go for?
TIGI’s Catwalk series promises to offer model and fashion show worthy results.
That was the one thing that made it stand out for me from their other hairsprays.
Pros:
+ No nasty chemical smells
+ Didn’t feel as if I had any product on
+ Holds my hair in place for the whole day

Cons:
–
Notes:
That’s right I have no cons for this product!
You know I am an honest reviewer and always try to show the pros and cons (even if the cons are teeny tiny ones) of a product when I can, but I didn’t find any cons at all with this one. That doesn’t happen very often. Hairspray is a product I stopped using for a long time, because I found that a lot of the products out there left my hair feeling a bit gross. I’d find my hair stuck in place (rigid) with some, or others would leave it greasy etc. This hairspray didn’t do any of those, in fact it did it’s job without me feeling like I had anything on my hair. Now that’s impressive. It also didn’t have that strong chemical smell like some hairsprays do – you know, the kind that makes you feel that you have to fumigate your bathroom after one use. This is a great hairspray in my opinion, and for £13.50 it lives up to the high price point. Quality over quantity I say.
You can buy TIGI Catwalk Session Series Finishing Hairspray at Dirty Looks.
Currently on offer for £11.50!
bloomzy /

Review: TIGI Bed Head Oh Bee Hive! Dry Shampoo

TIGI Bed Head Oh Bee Hive! Dry Shampoo*

TIGI is a brand created by hairdressers, for hairdressers.
Chances are you’ve seen it in pretty much every salon you’ve been to.
I don’t often buy products from salons, but I have tried TIGI in the past.
I’ve always been impressed with the brand so I was excited to try one of their dry shampoos.
Dry shampoo is a life saver for me as I use it to perk up my hair in-between washes and to add volume.
I use it pretty much everyday so I feel as though I can be a pretty good judge.
Pros:
+ Very light
+ Smells lovely
+ Good size product
+ Made my hair easier to style
+ Doesn’t leave powder residue
+ Freshens up hair with only a small amount of product

Cons:
– Didn’t offer as much volume to my hair as I’d hoped

Notes:
The first thing that hit me when I tried this for the first time was the scent. It smells absolutely lovely and the fragrance stayed on my hair afterwards too. I thought this made it stand out from other dry shampoo products and definitely was a big bonus in my books. It’s worked well at freshening up my hair in between washes too. Unfortunately though I didn’t feel that it added as much volume as I had hoped for, which was a shame as it’s one of the main reasons I use dry shampoos. Still, the product was very light and didn’t weigh my hair down. It also didn’t leave any powder white residue, which I’ve found can be a problem with other brands. The bottle is cute and you get quite a bit of product, so no complaints there. At £12.95 it’s one of he higher end dry shampoos out there, but I love the fragrance, packaging and how it gets rid of any excess oil, so I would consider it. The only thing holding me back was the lack of volume it offered.
You can buy TIGI’s Oh Bee Hive! Dry Shampoo at Dirty Looks.
bloomzy /

Giveaway: Try it first…

For a while now I’ve been collecting samples for a giveaway.
I think it’s a great way to discover and try new products and brands.
This means I can offer someone the chance to try out some well known products too.
I’ve included a variety of items, some for skin, hair, make-up and even some false eyelashes.
Disclaimer: The Redken, Topicrem, NYX, Facefacts and Dr Bronner’ sproducts were PR samples sent to me.
The rest of the samples are items I have bought myself to add to the giveaway, or were given when making purchases.
What can you win?
A collection of skin, hair, eyelash, make-up and beauty samples.
As shown in the photo at the top of this post.

How to enter:
+ Be a follower of ‘Bloomzy’ via Bloglovin
+ Earn extra entries on Twitter, Facebook etc.
– Entrants who do not follow the rules will be disqualified
– Twitter accounts created purely for giveaways will be disqualified.
The giveaway is open for 2 weeks (ending 27th Oct at 12am)
This giveaway is open internationally.
Good luck!

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Bob, Bacon, Bling

Cryptic as that title may sound, it pretty much sums up my last couple of weeks.
It’s been a busy few weeks but I’ve been relaxing and treating myself now and then.
I went to Sundown Festival with my bestie Jemi and had my nails done by Effy Nails.
I’m now convinced that I need to hire Rachel to be my personal nail artist – I’m hooked!
I was sent some luxurious fruit gelato by Divino, which I promise I didn’t eat all at once.
I got my hair done at Bleach, as this week marks the start of something special so I had to look good.
I rocked the amazingly gorgeous Avantgarde tights that Renka sent me – see my package video here.
I ate out several times this week with friends and the fiancé…it’s my weakness, I must be stopped!
I also indulged in some new candles from Kringle and Oliver Bonas – gingerbread, and vanilla.
Finally on Sunday I had a day to relax to myself before the start of a hectic week.
I can’t wait to let you all in on my exciting news, so keep an eye on my Twitter.
bloomzy /

Review: Battle of the Dry Shampoos

Superdrug Chocolate Brownie, Batiste Paisley, Klorane Oat Milk*

Recently I’ve been trying out a selection of different dry shampoos.
My main purpose for using them is giving my hair some volume, and a little perk in between washes.
I’ve been using 3 main ones over the last few months, so I decided to do a little battle between them.
All 3 come from different price ranges, from cheap, to average, and luxury.
Let me introduce them and tell you their pros & cons:
Superdrug’s Chocolate Brownie Dry Shampoo – £1.99
– Currently on offer at ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ –
The main reason I bought this was because it was part of a deal where you buy 1 and get 2 free! You’d have to be crazy to turn that down, right? Well anyway, this particular dry shampoo is made specifically for brunette hair. At the time I had dark red hair, so I figured that would work fine too, and it did. I found though that the coloured granules (?!) stained the skin surrounding my head and hands when I rubbed it in. It also got on my clothing, so no impressed.
Will I be buying it again? Nope sorry! This only gets a 3/10 from me.

Batiste’s Rice & Elegant Paisley Dry Shampoo – £3.99
I received a Batiste sample in a goodie bag earlier in the year, and I’ve bought a couple of cans myself since then. This isn’t a tinted dry shampoo like the last one, but it does have a slight scent to it unlike the others. I’ve found that this one is good value for money and really perks my hair up in-between washes. I’ve only tried ‘Paisley’ so I don’t know what the others are like, in fact I don’t even know if there’s any difference between them all. The only downside to this one is that you really have to rub it in, or you might look as if you’re greying (if you have dark hair).
Will I be buying it again? Yes, I give it a 9/10.

Klorane’s Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk* – £7.50
Finally we have the most expensive of the three. Klorane is a natural haircare brand that I have been using for a while, and adore. I have used both of their dry shampoos, and the oat milk is my favourite of the two. It gives my hair amazing volume and doesn’t really leave any white marks. It is expensive but it is also great quality.
Will I be buying it again? Maybe…probably…after I’ve saved. 8/10!
The winner is obviously Batiste in this challenge.
Their dry shampoo does what it says on the can and doesn’t mess around.