August 27th: Curled Hair!

Saturday 27th August was a momentous day for me: it was the first time I achieved anything resembling a curl using my flat iron! OK, so it was only the ends of my hair, and OK, so they had all dropped out by lunchtime, but it's a start. Baby steps people, baby steps. I'm hoping this is one of those times where practice makes perfect and will persevere!

Top - Zara
Beads - eBay

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Review: Cloud 9 Original Iron

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Cloud 9 and asked if I would like to review one of their products. I had heard about Cloud 9 and how they were supposed to be better than GHD, bu could that really be possible? I jumped at the chance to find out and opted to test out the Original Iron straighteners (though I'm now wondering whether I should have chosen one of the curling wands, such is the quality). Spoiler alert: these are fabulous! It's no wonder though, Cloud 9 was founded by the hairdresser originally behind GHD, Robert Powls. In fact they are still based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, where GHD started back in the day. A true Yorkshire brand.

The iron arrived well packaged in it's sleek black box and I love the turquoise on the inside. I also liked the fact that a fancy carrier bag was included in the shipping box - if I was giving this as a gift I would definitely make use of that. Inside the box was my irons, and a lovely heat proof bag in which to keep them. This will definitely be very handy when I take them with me on holidays and weekends away.

So, on to the iron itself. Could it sort out this mop?

Time to find out. (For reference, I washed and roughly blow dried my hair the night before, then slept on it.) I clipped the top section of my hair out of the way and got to work. The iron has a range of heat settings so you can select the temperature you want. It heats up just as quickly as my GHDs and features mineral infused ceramic plates to ensure a healthy shine to your finished look.

Once the bottom section of my hair was straightened I moved on to the top section, and a few minutes later I had straight, shiny hair.

Overall I am very impressed with this iron. It is definitely on a par with GHDs and so if you are looking purchase a new straightener then consider Cloud 9 to be a very worthy alternative. Now I just need to master curling my hair with my iron!

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Review: Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara

I was looking for a new mascara a couple of months ago and I thought I'd try the Big Eyes one by Maybelline.  I've long been a fan of The Falsies that Maybelline make so I knew I liked their mascaras.

Big Eyes has a double ended wand - there's a little mini brush for your tiny lower lashes and a regular size brush for your upper lashes.  When I'm applying make up without my glasses on (but also without my contact lenses, so I can't really see what I'm doing) I find the smaller the mascara brush the better, so that was one of the reasons I chose this one.

The mascara is great: it doesn't clump and I find a coating on both sets of lashes with the mini brush, then a layer on my upper lashes with the larger brush provides just the right amount of build up.

I would definitely recommend giving this one a go if you're in the market for a new mascara, and selected Maybelline products are currently on buy one, get one half price at Boots.

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Beauty products I Will Always Repurchase

I am not always brand-loyal when it comes to beauty products. I am a sucker for trying out the latest thing I’ve read about online, or whatever is on special offer in Boots or the Supermarket. However, there are a few items that I will return to time and time again because they work and the price tags don’t break the bank. So in no particular order, here are my most repurchased beauty items.

My Most Repurchased Beauty Products

Vaseline Lip Therapy

                                     

The humble little blue tin costs a little over £1 but it is the best thing I have found for keeping my lips soft and smooth.

Vaseline Essential Moisture lotion

Another inexpensive product that I can use all over. I love that it comes in many different sizes so I have the small tube in my handbag, the smaller size bottle on my desk at work and a large bottle in the bathroom cabinet. I use it as a hand cream, face cream (not sure you’re actually supposed to do that, but I’ve been doing it for years and it’s not doing any harm!) and a body lotion (though I do like the spray can version for that too) so it’s a truly multitasking product. I pick it up in the pound shop when I can too, to keep the costs down even further.

Max Factor compact foundation

I have always been a compact foundation girl – I don’t have time for faffing with messy loose powders or cream/lotion formulations. Compact is where it’s at! I have a long history of finding a great one and then it gets discontinued, and I am fully expecting that to happen to this product at some point, but until then I will continue to repurchase (especially when Boots have 3 for 2 or buy one get one offers on their make up ranges).

L’Oreal Hair Expertise Colour Shampoo and Conditioner

Since I started colouring my hair myself I have been more aware of the colour fading. A bit of Googling led me to this shampoo and conditioner combo which is sulphate-free and seems to look after my hair colour well.

got2b Guardian Angel Heat Protection Spray

I bought this heat protector the first time purely because it was about £3 in Asda, and I ended up loving it. It does the job, it seems to help smooth out frizz too, and it isn’t expensive.

John Frieda Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Treatment (leave in conditioner)

And speaking of smoothing frizz, this leave in conditioner truly can perform miracles. Spray it on your just washed, freshly tangled hair, leave it for about 30 seconds or so, then comb through gently and feel the knots just disappear. Magic.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils

I have so many of these but the black (Zero) and the brown (Bourbon) ones get used up the fastest. They do exactly as the name suggests - they glide on - and they are the best eyeliners ever.

What are your most repurchased beauty products?

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Review: Straight’n’Go

Last week I was sent a new product to try out: a Straight’n’Go. It’s basically a ceramic coated, double sided hair brush that you use in conjunction with a hairdryer to pull your hair straight as you dry it.

The Straight’n’Go comes with a little travel pouch and instructions on how to use it.

As you can see, it’s kind of the same shape as a flat iron but it has brush bristles. You pull it though your hair as you would a flat iron (as I’m kind of demoing below) but at the same time you direct your hair dryer at the vents in the brush (which I’m not demoing below as I had my phone in one hand to take the photo!).

It works pretty well and I think you could definitely pack it for a weekend away and use it with the hotel’s hairdryer to save packing your own heated tools.

The Straight’n’Go comes in black or hot pink, and costs just £9.99. You can buy it here.

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New Year, New Hair

It may be past mid-January (how did that happen? January is usually the month that refuses to die, yet here we are, more than halfway through it already) but I still feel like it’s a new year. I decided it was time for a change to my hair, to go back to my roots (as it were) and go dark again. As much as I loved my lighter colour, keeping up with it was proving costly and time consuming so one box of L’Oreal Mousse Absolute in Natural Darkest Brown later and I’m back to something resembling my natural hair colour. A big thank you to my little sister for helping me with the process.

This also means that I can use my hair extensions again (yes, having cut my hair shorter in October I now want it long again…it’s a girl thing) and enjoy the option of longer length hair when I want to.

The L’Oreal hair colour was really easy to use – the colour and developer are in conjoined cans and mix themselves when you press the pump. This probably isn’t a new thing but it was a revelation to me, someone whose only experience with home colouring was back when I was a teenage in the 1990s and you had to mix the stuff yourself, then put a plastic bag on your head whilst it developed to stop the drips… hands up who else remembers doing that!

With the mousse there’s no dripping (though you will need an old towel that you don’t mind getting stained with the dye) and it’s all so much easier. The results, as you can see, aren’t bad for someone who hasn’t coloured her own hair in about 15 years.

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How To Use Make Up To Look Better When You Have a Cold

The Friday before Christmas I caught a cold. Now don’t go feeling too sorry for me, I wasn’t that bad but the constant drippy nose was more than annoying. I spent the weekend make up free because, really, what the point when you’re not going out and no one is going to see you?

However, by the time Tuesday rolled around I was feeling much better and I had to go back to work anyway, but I was still blowing my nose a lot. So here is my recommendation for a base that will stand up to several nose blows, and a trick to make you look more awake than you actually are.

First up, foundation. I have been using Max Factor’s Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation recently which I bought because it seemed to give good coverage, it was a semi-compact formula and it wasn’t too expensive (£12.99 in Boots and it was on a buy one, get one half price offer at the time). I found that by applying that, then putting Seventeen’s Miracle Matte powder over the top the result was a long-lasting coverage, even when blowing my nose a lot.

Secondly, the trick for making you look wider awake than you actually are. I claim no credit for this one as I saw it on Tati’s YouTube channel a few months back. Basically you need a white eye pencil (I like Rimmel’s Soft Kohl Kajal one, again because it’s cheap (£2.99 in Boots) and because it goes on easily and lasts) and you line your lower water line with it. This makes your eyes look bright and awake, a great way to fake it when you have a cold.

What do you do differently in your beauty routine when you’re feeling under the weather?

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This Week...

With all the hot weather we’ve been having recently I have been wearing shorts and wearing shorts means exposing my legs. My very white, pale and pasty legs. I long since gave up on fake tan for various reasons, not least being the smell and the fact that I am incapable of applying it without it streaking.

I saw a review on Fleur de Force’s You Tube channel of the Sally Hansen Air Brush legs product a few weeks back and decided to give it a try, having heard many good things about it before. I’m sure you’ve all be using it for years so late am I to this particular party, but just in case you haven’t been, it’s fabulous. It’s essentially make up so there is no smell and it washes off (fairly) easily with soap and water (a little light scrubbing with an exfoliating pad or wash cloth may be necessary). The formula is water resistant however so if your legs get splashed you won’t end up with white patches. It isn’t supposed to transfer to your clothes but I’ve found that it can do, especially if used over sunscreen. Whilst I therefore wouldn’t recommend using it with your super expensive pale coloured dress, it is just make up so it does wash out of most fabrics.

I have been using the Light Glow colour and find it gives my legs a natural lightly tanned looked, matching them to the tan that has developed naturally on arms.

You can buy Sally Hansen Air Brush legs at Boots, but they wanted £10 for it last time I looked and Tesco had it for just £4 a can last week.

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How To Apply Make Up When You Wear Glasses

I am blind. Blind as a bat. Blind as in a -10 prescription for short sight. Which, if you know anything about short sight, you will know is high.  But that doesn't stop me wearing make up.  However, applying it when you can't really see what you're doing can be tricky.  Here are a few tips.

On days when I'm wearing my glasses I tend to wear less make up than if I've got my contact lenses in.  This is partly because it's probably a work day and I'm short on time, but also because my glasses are already accessorising my face so I feel like I don't need as much make up.

Foundation
I tend to just go in blind and apply my foundation using touch alone, and then put my glasses on and smooth out any patches that are not properly blended when I can see what I'm doing.

Eyebrows
As long as your glasses don't cover your eyebrows there's no reason you can't fill in your brows with your glasses on.

Eye shadow and liner
Sample sizes and miniatures are you friend here - both products and brushes.  I mentioned the Urban Decay 24/7 liner pencils a couple of weeks ago and these are great because they come in a set of 5 shorter pencils as well as the full sized ones.  I can only see things clearly without my glasses if the thing is a few centimetres from my face, so the closer I can get to the mirror the better.  Sometimes my forehead touches the mirror when I'm applying my eye liner!  I also have a set of small brushes from Boots No7 which are great for getting closer to the mirror.

Mascara
I tend to skip mascara when I'm wearing my glasses as I find my lashes can catch on my lenses leaving stripes of mascara down them, but if you do want to apply it then again a sample size will give you a short brush handle with a full sized spoolie end.  I have quite a collection of sample size mascaras which have been part of a gift with purchase from the higher end brands, such as Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Blush
I just put my glasses back on and apply my blusher as usual.  My frames are quite small so I don't find they get in the way.

Reveiw: Treseme 7 Day Keratin Smooth

So, remember last week I mentioned that had discovered a miracle hair product that kept my hair smooth and straight for days at a time? Well ladies, that product is the Treseme 7 Day Smooth Keratin Treatment. The range includes a shampoo, conditioner and blow dry treatment. I have the shampoo and the blow dry treatment and have been using them for the past couple of weeks. The blow dry treatment works fine on its own, but they say that using the products together produces the best results. But don’t they always say that to make you buy the full set? I only have the shampoo as it was on offer and I got it for free with the blow dry treatment. I’m not sure I would bother to purchase that again.

However, I can definitely recommend the blow dry treatment. It claims to last through up to four washes and I tried that out this past weekend, washing my hair Friday night with my regular shampoo and conditioners. I just did a blow dry and it was maybe a little smoother than my hair would otherwise have been, but I odn't think it made that much of a difference.  I think that if I wanted my hair really smooth I would tend to use the Treseme product each time I blow dry. However, I have been caught in the rain a couple of times in the last week and it seems to stop my hair curling up the way it usually would when it got wet.

You wash your hair and use 8-10 pumps of the treatment on towel dried hair. Then you blow dry and straighten (the heat of the straigteners activates the product) for a super sleek and smooth look. I thought this would perhaps work to keep curls in my hair too, and it does to a point. It doesn’t hold my curls fully, but second day curly hair with this is beachy waves rather than the frizzy mess it would be without it.

You can buy Treseme 7 Day Smooth Keratin Treatment at Boots and it is currently included in the 3 for 2 hair care promotion.

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Review: Ped Egg

The Ped Egg is something that has been around for a while but I’ve only just got around to trying it out. This post discusses feet and I know some people are grossed out by that, so feel free to skip right on by if that’s you.

For everyone else that’s still with me, here are my thoughts on the Ped Egg.

If you don’t know, the Ped Egg is a foot file, distributed in the UK by JML. I got mine in Boots. Basically it’s a foot file that catches the bits inside its little egg-shape tray attachment making it mess-free and really easy to use. There are two buffing pads supplied in addition to the main file so you can buff your skin once you’re done removing the hard bits.

The file itself is gentle but does a good job of removing hard skin from your feet. My heels tend to get really dried out, especially in the summer so I decided it was time to really do something about it, other than applying moisturiser and putting on socks at night. I’m kind of lazy so I’ve been attacking my dry skin over several nights but you could just keep going with the Ped Egg and remove it all in one go (which is probably what you’re supposed to do anyway).

So yeah, it pretty much does what it says it will do but the egg shape makes it really comfortable to hold and the way it catches all the bits means it’s practical too.

Buy the Ped Egg for £9.99 at Boots.

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VO5 Gel Wax Review

I used to use VO5’s Gel Wax about 10 years ago, to smooth out my hair after blow drying. I don’t really know why I stopped using it, but I did.

A few weeks ago I got my hair cut and pair particular attention to the products my hairdresser used when doing my blow dry. She always applies Tigi Bed Head Control Freak Serum and a good dousing of Queen For A Day spray before drying. I’ve been using a volumising spray for a while but decided to get some gel or wax or something to use too. I was in Boots and went straight for the VO5 Gel Wax because I had good memories of it. Reading the back of the tub I was pleased to see that it said you could use it on wet or dry hair and it was only £3.89 so I bought some.

The formula has changed a bit since I last used it and it goes kind of stringy when you scoop some out of the tub. It smells good though, very professional-hairdresser-y if that’s a thing. I usually apply my volumising spray first and comb it through, then rub some of the gel wax between my hands and apply that with my fingers. I then blow dry my hair with my head upside down, using a round brush to pull it straight when it’s almost dry. I find the gel wax really helps to define my layers, something I was really struggling with achieving until recently. Occasionally I smooth a bit more on after straightening to give further definition. I really recommend VO5’s Gel Wax for style definition and will continue to use it on my hair.

Buy it at Boots.

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Review: Vaseline Spray and Go Essential Moisturise

When I saw that Vaseline have launched my favourite moisturiser in a spray can, I knew I wanted to try it out. I use copious amounts of the Essential Moisture version of Vaseline’s moisturisers but always found it took a while for it to sink in. The new Spray and Go version promises to solve this problem, but does it work?

I tend to take a shower right before bed and I like to moisturise my legs afterwards. However, I hate going to bed with that slightly ‘sticky’ feeling that moisturiser can leave you with, especially when the weather is as warm as it has been recently. So I gave the spray a go and was very impressed. It gives a really fine layer of moisturiser but still plenty to make your legs soft and silky. By the time I have applied regular moisturiser to my face, my legs are completely dry. I would definitely recommend this product, though you may want to stand on a towel whilst you apply it to avoid the bathroom floor becoming slippery!

Buy Vaseline Spray and Go Body Moisturiser at Boots for £4.99.

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The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Bouncy Hair

So you know how when you go to the hairdresser and get a lovely big, bouncy blow dry and it looks fab but there’s no way you have the time or patience to recreate it at home? Well what if I told you that you could get almost as awesome results by cheating your way to it? And that it involves sleeping? Interested? Read on!

(Disclaimer: this works really well on my hair. It might not work so well on yours.)

You will need:
Hairdryer (if starting from just-washed hair)
Brush
Snag-free elastic
Straightening iron
Hairspray
Mousse/styling spray/any other favourite hair product (optional)
Heat protector spray (not optional – those straightening irons are HOT)

1. If you’re doing this from just washed hair, put in some mousse, styling spray, whatever else you usually use (or don’t use anything: it’s your hair, you know what works best on it) and roughly blow dry it. If it’s still a bit damp that’s fine, but you don’t want it wet or it will just stay wet. This will work from day old hair too, so skip this step if you didn’t just wash your hair.

2. Brush your hair and put it into a high ponytail. Make sure the elastic is nice and secure. For extra bouce/waves, double the end of the ponytail over rather than pulling it through on the last loop of the elastic.

3. Go to bed and enjoy a lovely night’s sleep! (You could also do this in the morning to get a hairstyle for the evening: in that case go to work/college/wherever!)

4. Take out the ponytail, spray with heat protector spray and comb through.

5. Part your hair wherever you want your parting to be and then user your straightening iron to smooth out the kinks left by the hair elastic. Do this on the top layer of hair only so that it looks smooth on top, leaving the kinks underneath will add volume.

6. Spritz with hairspray and you’re done!

Review: John Frieda Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Treatment

I like to use a leave in conditioner at least once a week and when I was looking for a new one to try recently I spotted the Daily Miracle Treatment in the Frizz Ease range by John Frieda.

My initial impressions of this were good. I used it on Saturday night and it smells lovely. It left my hair lovely and soft, tangle free and it seemed to dry straighter and smoother than it usually does.

I don’t wash my hair every day, just every other day and although I would usually only use a leave in conditioner weekly (a good one is more expensive than my usual conditioner and using it just once a week makes it last way longer) I decided to use this each time I washed my hair for a week since it’s called Daily Miracle Treatment and is clearly designed to be used regularly.

Sometimes I like to let my hair air dry because I am lazy to give it a break from heat styling and so Tuesday night I spritzed on the product and did just that. My hair dries with natural waves but they tend to just go fluffy and then look a mess. With the help of the Daily Miracle Treatment the waves dried much more defined and would have been OK to wear as they were. Had I not been about to go to bed. Such is life.

Another thing I like about this product is that it has heat protection built in to it, so it’s perfect for using right before you blow dry.

I will definitely be repurchasing this once I’ve used it up and having used it regularly all week am quite tempted to keep using it every time I wash my hair, rather than just once a week like I’d planned.


John Frieda Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Treatment is £5.89 at Boots.


Note: This is not a sponsored post, I just really liked this product and wanted to share it with my readers.

Review: Garnier BB Cream

I got a free sample of Garnier BB Cream in one of my magazines this month and, having tried it and watched a review video of it on You Tube, I decided to buy a tube. I like to give my skin a bit of a rest at the weekends and BB cream is lighter than foundation but still gives some coverage. Just a note that if you are looking for this in Boots, I found it on the skin care aisle with the face creams and moisturisers rather than with the make up. Other brands have their BB cream on the make up stands (Rimmel, Maybelline etc) but there isn’t a Garnier make up counter in my local Boots and so this BB Cream was on the skin care aisle.

I like the coverage that this product gives – I didn’t put that much on but it still covers blemishes pretty well and I guess you could use more and build up the coverage. It feels very light on the skin and almost as if you are not wearing make up at all.

There are various types of BB Cream available from Garnier, but I bought the Miracle Skin Perfector for Combination to Oily skin because it is oil free and I often get shiny patches on my T zone. For completeness of this review, I tried it on Saturday on its own, and on Sunday using my mattifying primer and my make up fixing spray, both of which I would usually use with foundation. By Saturday evening my forehead was a little shiny but not too bad, and nothing that some face blotting papers wouldn’t fix. The BB Cream had stayed in place pretty well all day.

On Sunday evening there was no shine and the product had stayed in place really well.  With primer and make up fixing spray the BB Cream held up as well as foundation.  I will definitely be using this as an alternative to regular foundation on weekends from now on, and perhaps as a lighter option if we get some good weather this summer.

Garnier BB Cream is £9.99 at Boots (and had £2 off when I bought it last week)

Note: This is not a sponsored post, I just really liked this product and wanted to share it with my readers.

Review: Alberto Balsam Shampoo and Conditioner

When I was younger there was a shop in my hometown called Av-A-Gander. Now of course you can immediately see what they’ve done there, but that shop had been around my whole life and to me it was just called Avagander, all one word, and I didn’t think about what it meant: that’s just what it was called. Av-A-Gander was an awesome shop: they sold everything at discount prices: stationery, confectionery, beauty supplies, some electricals I seem to recall. You name it, you could probably get it there. Once I was old enough to start buying my own beauty products Av-A-Gander was my first port of call because it was cheap. I particularly remember buying some orange coloured shampoo by Alberto Balsam for about 59p a bottle. (Everything in Av-A-Gander was x9p – 29p, 59p, 99p – it was one of those kind of shops.)

I had long forgotten about the brand until, a couple of months ago, I was looking for shampoo in Morrison’s and spied numerous types of Alberto Balsam shampoo and conditioner. What actually caught my attention I think was the label on the shelf that said ‘4 for £3’. I remembered liking the brand way back when and for that price thought it was worth taking a chance, and I’m glad I did. The products smell lovely and fruity (I am currently using the Sun Kissed Raspberry pictured above, and I also bought the Tangerine scented one that I can’t find online). The conditioner says to leave it on for a couple of minutes and it’s well worth doing that as I find it leaves my hair lovely and soft and shiny. I think these products are £1 a bottle when bought individually. I bought the Alberto Balsam shampoos and conditioners at Morrison’s, but they are also available at Superdrug and from Alberto Balsam’s website.

Note: this is not a sponsored post, I just like the products and wanted to recommend them to my readers.

Review: Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain

I had read about the Clinique Chubby Sticks and heard that the colour wasn’t that good with them. When the new Intense ones came out I was really tempted to try them, but at £16 a pop I decided they were too expensive for what is essentially a lipstick. I did a quick search online to see whether anything similar but cheaper was available, and that’s when I discovered Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain.

The Revlon product is currently on offer for £5 (regular price £7.99) at Boots so that makes them much more affordable. I am quite impressed. The balm stain doesn’t moisturise as well as real lip balm (I won’t be giving up my pocket tin of Vaseline any time soon) but they are pretty effective at hydrating your lips and the colour is fantastic. It coats your lips but doesn’t go patchy or dry like lipstick can sometimes do. It tastes of peppermint when you first apply it, which I wasn't expecting, but it isn't a problem and the taste only lasts a few seconds.

I bought the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain in Crush, which is a lovely deep purpley-red (image here is Lovesick) and I have the Rendezvous classic red shade on my shopping list for the next time I visit Boots.

(Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money and was not paid to write this review.  I just liked the product and wanted to recommend it to my readers.)

Outfit: Pattern Mixing in Triplicate

Hurrah for a fairly lazy Sunday! We slept late and after breakfast I headed off to Tesco for some groceries. I got back and was unpacking the shopping and thinking about making some dinner when the young man’s mum called in. We had a cup of tea with her and a chat for an hour or so, then had a late lunch.

This afternoon the young man went for a drink with his mate and I popped to the mall for a new sports bra and a short length underskirt (I can’t find the one I had anywhere but you can guarantee it will turn up now I’ve bought another one). I had a look at the dregs of the sales and then came home.

This morning I bought some got2b Powder’ful in Tesco. I’d heard good things about it, but I have to say that so far, I’m not impressed. It didn’t have much of any effect on my hair at all. It may be that my hair is too full of product right now though, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and try it again another time. Having failed to get big hair with the Powder’ful, I blasted my head with Batiste XXL dry shampoo and here’s the result:

I think my new shorter layers help with the volume so I know what to do when I want big hair from now on!

Stripe sweater – H&M
Jeans – Next (gifted)
Leopard print scarf – c/o Moodys
Zebra print flats – George at Asda (eBay)
Silver hoops – gifted
Silver cross necklace – gifted

Total Est. Cost £18

Review: Batiste XXL Dry Shampoo

I have said previously that nothing can add volume to my fine hair. Well, I take that back: this dry shampoo can! I bought a can of it when I was looking for the brunette version and Boots were sold out of it, and being a sucker for anything that promises volume (I will never learn) thought I’d try the XXL one as an alternative.

I came to use it one Sunday morning and spritzed it as liberally as I would any other dry shampoo, with my head upside down. I massaged it in and the strangest thing happened. My hair took on the feeling of being very dry and as if it was tangled – they way it gets when you back comb. I flipped my head the right way up and my hair was huge! I tried brushing it out and my hair just got bigger! I decided to roll with it and the volume decreased some throughout the day. I’ve used the dry shampoo again since, just more sparingly, and I love it. I would recommend only using it on a day you know you will be washing your hair that night or the next morning though, as it does feel ever so dry.

Batiste XXL Dry Shampoo is available from Boots.