Sunday 26 June 2011

Bumble and Bumble Creme de Coco Masque

Long time, no blog!  I suppose I'm going to have to accept that with my work often taking over my life, my blogging will come in flurries - thanks for sticking with me!

I think I've found my holy grail hair care treatment and have struggled to find the words to describe its awsomeness.  It's Creme de Coco Masque by Bumble and Bumble.


My hair is thick, there's lot of it, it's unruly, very dry and can be frizzy.  I have tried many hair care products over the years; some have been lovely, others less so.  However, none have come even close to the awesomeness of the Creme de Coco Masque. 


It's a lovely, thick cream with a rich, almost banana smell.  It's easy to use - just slather it on just washed hair, leave it for 7 minutes (I usually shave my legs whilst I'm waiting), then rinse off.  Nothing more required!


I am left with the softest hair I've ever had.  It's so easy to manage and style, and it feels so much nicer than just using a normal conditioner.  My hair also looks really glossy and shiny and doesn't get greasy any quicker than it normally would.  For me, this really is the bomb!

I feel that I've finally found a fantastic hair care product that works for me - brilliant!  However, there is a big drawback, and that is the price.  At £20.50, this is not an everyday treatment - it's an expensive luxury and one that I really can't afford now I'm trying to save money.  And yet, despite trying to make the tube I have last, I seem to be unable to stop using it.  I've got three weddings and a hen night to go to this summer; I really should save it for using just before these events, but I can't.  Every couple of times I wash my hair, I just gravitate to this.  It has also made me want to try more Bumble and Bumble products, but they are all similarly priced!

So, I've got my HG hair care product, but with a pretty hefty price tag, it's not something I'll be able to justify popping in my basket every couple of months. 

Have you tried any Bumble and Bumble products and did you love them as much as I do?

Sunday 12 June 2011

Money, Money, Money

Hi all.  Well on this miserable, rainy Sunday I'm sat here working out my finances.  I've blogged about my attitude to money before, and I think it's essential to keep a good grip on your income and expenditure, to save up for things and to only spend what you can afford - whatever your budget may be.

When I was a teenager I used to get £5 pocket money each week from my parents and supplement that each Saturday by working in River Island - for the princely sum of £2.42 an hour!  After 4 hours, and less than a tenner earned, and 70p bus fare each way, it was a pittance - my Mum occasionally would give me a lift as she felt so sorry for me (but she was also proud I was working hard).  But it was my money and I worked bl**dy hard, folding jumpers to earn it.  Even then, I was careful with my money and managed to save up for a holiday with my friends (OK, that took working all through Christmas and Easter school holidays to achieve) - I would buy my clothes mainly in Mark One (in the days before Primarni) and sometimes my makeup from down the market!  When I got a car, I used to get up early on Sunday mornings to do car boot sales (something I still do from time to time) to earn extra cash.  I've always enjoyed to feeling of a hard day's work and counting your pennies at the end of the day - it definitely makes you appreciate your cash more.

Anyway, recently we have decided to save up to buy a new house.  Without boring you about our current home, we want to move to a house and one that it located in a nicer area.  It is now time to get serious with saving again for the next couple of years to help to build up a new deposit.

Saving now is harder than in was a few years ago - at that time we had rubbish jobs and never had any money, so were used to living on a tight budget, and continued to do this as our incomes rose.  However, I haven't really saved in earnest for about five years now.  Although I now have a good job and earn a reasonable income, I've got out of the savings habit and it's hard to get back in.  My recently developed love of high end skin care and makeup really doesn't help - in fact, a large amount of my spare cash has gone on beauty and fashion over the past year.  I hate to think how much I've spent - this is definitely the area I need to work on the most!

I've been quite generous in my budget for beauty - £80 a month sounds quite a lot doesn't it?  Especially as I used to do it for £25 a month back in the day.  However, I've been regularly getting my legs and under arms waxed (£45 a pop), my hair dresser costs between £50 - £120 a time depending on what I have done, and that's not including any cosmetics or skincare products.  I have a feeling that my £80 won't stretch nearly as far as I'd like!

So I've decided to do the following:
  • cut back on the waxing - only get my top leg, underarm and bikini done and only in the summer.  I can go au naturelle the rest of the year, or just use a cream.
  • Go back to home hair dye - I do need to cover my greys, but an expensive colour and highlights is a luxury I simply can't afford.
  • Shop my stash, especially my sample stash.  I was worried I was running out of facial moisturisers the other day, but realised I have 3 on the go and one unopened pot.  I shouldn't need to buy any more for ages and there are plenty of other products like this.
  • Have a blog sale!  I've never done this, but I've definitely got things I want to part with that someone else might like.
  • Investigate making some of my own products - I particularly want to try a home made eye makeup remover.
  • Shop smarter and take advantage of bulk buys and offers (and not just spend those No. 7 vouchers just for the sake of spending them).
  • Read blogs by bloggers who consistently use cheaper products and pick up some great money saving tips.
This is still going to be tough!  I'd be grateful if you have any beauty money saving ideas you want to pass on...share them with me please!

And now for my number one money saving beauty tip - I always keep a pair of scissors in my bathroom to attack plastic tubes of product that have run out.  There is usually a few more applications in these tubes, and it is worth getting every last drop out to get your money's worth - and I always do!

Thanks for reading! xx

Thursday 9 June 2011

Look What Arrived - Murad Goodies!

Sorry - I know I've been really slack at posting recently.  It's another one of those working to 7pm each night periods at work - when do they ever stop?!  I've not even wanted to look at a computer when I get in.


Anyway, I recently won a giveaway from Caroline from Beauty Mouth.  You have to read her blog, she is a trained beauty professional and gives the most amazing advice, as well as no BS reviews of products.  The giveaway I won was for the Murad Body Care System which is a three part system including Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements, Firm and Tone Serum and Body Firming Cream - in total almost £200 worth of high end products designed to help with cellulite and stretchmarks.  You can image my grin when I saw I'd won it!

The Body Care System arrived yesterday in 2 cardboard boxes, prompting Mr TBBB to ask me what I'd been buying.  I swore I'd won it in a giveaway, but he really didn't believe me.  "Looks expensive" he said - you betcha!  Looking at the Murad webite, it's £58 for the serum alone - let's hope it's good!

You can read Caroline's comprehensive review of the sytem here.  Like Caroline, I'm also not too bothered about cellulite, as I'm blessed with little of it (don't hate me - I have enough belly fat, stretch marks and bingo wings to make up for being almost cellulite free).  However, Caroline's report that the supplements cut her appetite in half very much interested me.  I have lost quite a bit of weight over the past couple of years and I'm at my slimmest for a decade.  However, with my sister's wedding in August, I could do with losing as much as possible another few pounds - as I'm always stuffing my face, these could be the answer. And the firming serum and cream also won't go amiss, as I can always do with a bit of firming.  So it has really arrived at the perfect time for me - just the right time to do some good before the wedding.

I must admit I was slightly unimpressed when I previously reviewed some Murad products I got for free before (from my Mum).  I think it was mainly because the retail price is so high it's outside of my orbit, that I do expect the products to absolutely miraculous things to justify the price tag.  I've got high hopes for these based on Caroline's review.  I'll update in a month or so on how I got on.

Thank you to Caroline and to Murad for having this giveaway!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails