Glamorous Hair With SHOW Beauty And SHOW Beauty Lux Volume*

Time flies when you're having fun doesn't it and thanks to the bank holiday and the indulgences of Easter, it's hard to believe that's it been nearly two weeks now since I was invited down to the SHOW Beauty concession in House Of Fraser.

I love bargain beauty when it comes to haircare as much as the next person, and in my bathroom you'll see everything from bargain basement £1 shampoos, to pricier trichologist led brands and guess what? they all do the job they are designed for pretty well, they all leave you with clean and presentable hair but in a lot of cases they seem to lack that bit of pzazz.

Why should an everyday task like washing and styling your hair be boring and mundane, like so many other tasks in beauty we all want to be spoilt and pampered, and we want to experience just that little bit of luxury on a daily basis.

If that's what you're looking for then SHOW Beauty is the brand for you. Founded by the ever glamorous and stylish socialite Tamera Ecclestone, with designer lead fragrances, and exquisite packaging, SHOW beauty provides a range of haircare products that take the mundane to the magnificent.

Last week I was invited along to Intu Metrocentre to find out more about SHOW Beauty, their products and to celebrate the launch of their new Lux Volume range.  After being greeted with bubbly and canapes,  I  had a good chance to talk to some of the lovely ladies from SHOW about the new launches, and about exactly what makes SHOW so special.

Yes the products look amazing but packaging alone doesn't sell a product, and it's clear that the brand concentrates as much on its formulations as it does on it's designer packaging and fragrances. All of the products are formulated with highest calibre of ingredients, including the caviar and white truffle extracts that pop up in the new Lux Volume range.

The whole aim of the range is to care for and repair you hair whilst giving it that body, bounce and fullness, without weighing it down or leaving it heavy or sticky. The lovely people at SHOW kindly gifted us a full size shampoo and conditioner that retail at £30 each to try, so I will be reviewing both of these for you and another SHOW product that I own in due course

As well as offering a wide range of luxurious products that you can use to pamper yourself in your own bathroom, SHOW also offer a range of pampering styling options that are available in both their standalone salons, and in some of their department store concessions.

They offer a wide range of quick, styling options from a basic revitalising blow dry to up do's, curls and braids that are perfect for that special occasion be it a wedding, a party, a prom, or even for a date with that special someone.

All of the bloggers and journalists that attended last weeks event were lucky enough to receive a complimentary express styling session courtesy of the SHOW Beauty team. On the night I saw everything from top knots, to waves, up do's and curls, but seeing as my hair was looking a little bit windswept my stylist suggest some crown braids.

I really struggle when it comes to braiding my own hair so it was fabulous to see a real master (or mistress ;) at work. My stylist used SHOW's fabulous non chalky Dry Shampoo which contains tapioca and rice starch, and a host of amazing smelling botanical extracts including kiwi, mango, aloe, and ginger lily, to give my hair a bit of texture, before finishing off my beautiful braids with one of SHOW's most popular products their non sticky, weightless Finishing Spray which contains vitamin B, lychee, and wheat proteins.

Unfortunately I didn't actually take my own camera so all of these photos were taken on my mobile, thankfully though one of my fellow bloggers, the lovely Amy Rebair took this amazing photo of the back of my hair, which really shows the intricacy of the braids, and my multi coloured hair eek :)

Source

I absolutely loved the style that the team created, and I'm going to be honest and say that it broke my heart to take it out. What surprised my though when I took the braids out though, apart from the amount of the volume that the style had given my hair, was how soft it felt, there was no stickiness or stiffness, which shows the quality of the products that the team used.

SHOW Beauty isn't just a haircare brand, you're buying into a lifestyle, and way of thinking. This brand is about real indulgence, whether you're having your own spa like, pampering experience in your own bathroom, or whether your treating yourself to blow dry to cheer yourself up after a rubbish day at work or spoiling yourself with a special up do for a day at the races, this brand is all about you, and making yourself feel special in one of the easiest ways possible, with a good hair day.

You can find out more about SHOW Beauty stockists, styling services, and products via their own website, and you can also find concessions with styling services in selected Harvey Nichols and House Of Fraser stores including Intu Metrocentre. If you aren't lucky enough to have a counter near you though you can also buy SHOW Beauty products online from various retailers including Selfridges, Harrods and lookfantastic.

Have you tried anything from SHOW Beauty before? Let me know your thoughts in the comments x

*Press / Blogger Event

A Review Of Batiste Pixie Lott Dry Shampoo*

From once being seen as a slightly, niche and dare I say it lazy product, dry shampoo, is now classed as a hair care main stay and must have. Brands come and go, and whilst I'm always keen to try new releases and formulations, my heart belongs to probably the oldest and most well known of all the dry shampoo brands, Batiste.

I think I've tried pretty much every scent and formula that they do and by and large I've loved them all. Towards the end of last year and the start of this year there seemed to a flurry of new fragrance releases from Batiste but then it all went quiet; That was until April when Batiste announced details of their biggest launch and collaboration to date.

For their huge 2014 campaign Batiste have teamed up with singer, songwriter, actress and Strictly Come Dancing star Pixie Lott. Not only is she starring in a series of TV adverts, but she's also appearing in a print advertising campaign for the brand, shot by legendary photographer, Rankin. The images are amazing as you would expect from such a renowned photographer and the aim was really to show Pixie and the brand in a fresh new light

Picture Courtesy Of Rankin And Batiste 

As well as being the face and the hair of the brand, Pixie has also collaborated with Batiste to introduce her own self titled variety of  Batiste Dry Shampoo. It wasn't just a matter of putting her face and name to it though, she was also instrumental in choosing both the fragrance and the artwork that appears on the can that bears her name and image.

This can like so many in the Batiste line is heavily influenced by the 60's and 70's op art and psychedelic period. An era maybe familiar to Pixie through her work in the 1960's set BBC crime drama, Inspector George Gently. I think I'm a flower child or hippy at heart and love this type of blue, turquoise, lime green and white geometric style print. Pretty much every Batiste can is a work of art in it's own right, and this one is no different.

As well as choosing the design of the can, Pixie was also instrumental is choosing the fragrance. Described as  fun and floral, this product contains all different types of fruit, floral and even foodie notes, including bergamot, lemon, cedarwood, mixed florals, sandalwood, musk and even milk!

For me I'm not really sure that the fun and floral tag line really works, It's definitely a more complicated fragrance than these few words suggest. Like a lot of the Batiste fragrances it's quite heady, you definitely get the spicy wood notes, and a hint of the citrus and florals, but you also get quite a bit of musky, warmth, giving it a very comforting and warming fragrance.

Fragrance is such a personal thing though and you might get something completely different from it, that's the wonder of our noses I guess :) I have to be honest and say that there are fragrances in the Batiste line that I prefer over this. I'm very much a fresh and floral girl, and whilst it's pleasant and unobtrusive it's just a bit too warm and musky for me.

Smell is a big thing when it comes to dry shampoo, as one of it's major roles is too remove odours from the hair, and this definitely does that without any problems. The majority of Batiste Dry Shampoos are categorised by their white colour and slightly chalky texture and this one is no different. I personally don't have an issue with it, just apply a little at a time, and make sure you rub it in, and then brush it out - the only time I've ever had an issue is when I've applied too much at once. 

Another tip is also to apply it to the underneath of your hair as much as possible, so the product gets right to the roots where it needs it most, and you avoid a lot of the hair that's actually on show.

I'm not going to say I'll never deviate from Batiste when it comes to dry shampoo, I love trying new things too much to do that but I know that this brand works for me, and gives me the results that I want and at the moment that's enough for me, even if this fragrance didn't quite cut the mustard. If you have any questions please leave me a comment x Thanks for reading x 

(*PR Sample)

Feeling Fresh And Floral With Batiste*

You wouldn't think it from the weather this week but a new month means were one step closer to Spring. I love all the seasons in their own way but Spring really is something special. I'm going to sound a bit cheesy here but there really is something about the new born lambs in the fields and the flowers starting to bloom again that really lifts your spirits.

Spring also means a change a fashion, and probably since the year dot one of the key fashion trends of Spring / Summer has been the floral print. As well as the classic Liberty prints, designers as diverse as Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and Roberto Cavalli have all based designs and collections on the humble flower.

What about this year? well florals were back again on the catwalk and featured heavily in the Spring / Summer 2014 collections from labels such as J Crew, Valentino, Miu Miu and Erdem. As per usual though you don't need to fork out for that price tag to get the look, ASOS alone comes up with around 1000 hits when you search for florals! These as just some of my high street and online floral picks.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

It's not just clothes though florals really are everywhere at the moment. Shabby Chic is probably the buzz word when it comes to home styling. It's vintage feel and look and vintage floral inspired designs are must haves whether there from Cath Kidston or from IKEA like my duvet cover.

It goes without saying that florals play a major role in the beauty industry, more and more products are botanical based and more and more floral prints are popping on product packaging, in product design and on beauty accessories such as this cute floral design pocket mirror*

I said in my recent Batiste Monochrome review that Batiste are a brand that like to follow fashion, and they've done it again with the recent introduction of Batiste Floral.

I'm really impressed with the designs on Batiste cans and the illustration on this one is gorgeous. It's a pale lemon with pink roses and bright green leaves scattered - not dissimilar to my duvet cover if the background was yellow - obviously.

When it comes to it's abilities as a dry shampoo having reviewed so many Batiste products  before, I guess I don't really need to say anything bar it does exactly what it claims to, they are nothing if not consistent. - where they do vary is with the fragrances. Batiste Floral as you would expect has floral notes at it's heart and features a combination of rose, violet, blossoms and lily of the valley. Perhaps more unexpected though are fruity top notes of melon, orange and peach. When you think about it maybe it's not that unexpected, all the top fragrance houses mix up their fragrance families to product unique scents and that's exactly what Batiste have done here. As you've probably gathered I'm useless at describing scents but you definitely do get a sort of fresh fruitiness at first leading to a sort of fine fragrance floral aroma afterwards. The smell of this one definitely reminds me of something but I can't put my finger (or my nose!) on what. At first I thought it was DKNY - Be Delicious and whilst I can see why I thought that (it has a similar combination of fruits and florals) I don't think that's the scent I'm thinking of. No matter, if you like floral fragrances but you don't like in your face say rose or violet, then you might like this fruity floral -it's definitely up there with my favourite Batiste fragrances of all time, and the can makes a lovely edition to my room x

Batiste Floral* is a Superdrug exclusive and retails at £2.99 for a 200 ml can x

(*Press Samples)

Embracing The Monochrome Trend With Batiste

They may not be a fashion brand but you can always count on beauty brand Batiste to be right on trend with their packaging and their fragrances. Over the last few years they've followed fashion trends with dry shampoo cans featuring lace, animal print, and Cath Kidston and Meadham Kirchhoff inspired cherry blossoms, and their latest introductions are no different.

One trend that keeps popping up every season is monochrome. Okay you don't automatically think black and white when it comes to spring and summer, but think about it - the majority of us probably wear black and white at least once a week. It's a classic combination that just works and always looks perfect whether you wear a black suit with a white blouse, a pair of this seasons gingham check pants or even a pair of black trousers and a plain white t-shirt -The shops, magazines and catwalks are full of it.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Yet again Batiste are where it's at when it comes to fashion with their new release Batiste Monochrome.

Photographed artfully (lol) against my lovely zebra print scarf and some lovely black and white striped everton mints , the can is decorated in a retro, almost op art black and white design.

Okay I know it's not all about the packaging, so what about the product inside, well like every other Batiste variant it does the business. It's a fab for freshening the hair and for adding volume whatever the time of year. In fact due to the electrics blowing in the bathroom over Christmas I probably used this more that I would in the summer - have you tried washing your hair in the dark? - not easy x 

Apart from the cans what differentiates all the different varieties of Batiste is the smell. I have to be honest and say that this one isn't one of my favourites. Monochrome has a very heady, almost spicy fragrance which include floral notes of iris, lilac, orange blossom  and hyacinth, alongside heady and warming notes of pepper and musk.  

Batiste Monochrome Dry Shampoo is a Boots exclusive and retails at £2.99 for 200ml.

If you like something a bit warmer and dare I say a bit sexier than maybe Batiste Monochrome is the fragrance for you, if your like me though and you prefer a softer floral then maybe something else will suit you better for example Batiste Floral, another newish introduction which I will be reviewing next week x If you have any questions please leave me a comment xx

(Batiste Monochrome Dry Shampoo 200ml And The Yummy Everton Mints Were Provided By PR For Review / Promotional Purposes)

Going Wild With Batiste

A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely parcel from a PR company to celebrate the launch of the latest addition to the Batiste Dry Shampoo family.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a sucker for animal print I love the stuff from cardigans, to swimwear you name it I've got it. Inside the package was an amazing pair of animal print Tipsy Feet

If you don't know what Tipsy Feet are, where have you been ! Basically Tipsy Feet, are flat ballet pumps, that fold down into a small pouch

When your feet start to hurt on a day or night out, simply pull the pouch out of your bag, unfold the shoes, and unfurl the pouch to make a little bag to put your heels in :) I'll definitely be taking these to the wedding on Friday in case my heels get too much :) I also got this cute little fella in my press pack,

Isn't he sweet, he's too nice to put on my keys so I need to find a home for him away from my fur babies :)

Anyways all these animal print products were kindly sent to me to celebrate the launch of the new Batiste Dry Shampoo, Batiste Wild

The first thing that you notice about this product is the packaging which in case you haven't already guessed is animal print in design, it even features a claw scratch mark on the can, miaow indeed

Designed to bring out your wild side, Wild has an amazingly sexy oriental based fragrance, with notes of cocoa, vanilla, and musk. If you like Thierry Mugler Angel this is the product for you. Alas it isn't one I'm a fan of so I probably wouldn't purchase this particular version purely based on the smell. It still does everything you would expect from a Batiste product including getting rid of odours, adding volume, and refreshing oily roots, only with a much more daring complex fragrance. Batiste Wild is exclusive to Boots and retails at £2.99 for 200ml. Any questions please leave me a comment xx

(All The Products In This Post Were Provided For Review / Promotional Purposes)

Pump Up The Volume With Batiste

First of all a huge apology - I've had this product for a little while now and I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get the review up - I'm trying to do a few catch ups before I go on holiday :)
As you guys already know I am a huge fan of Batiste dry shampoo (click here, here, here and here to see some reviews), so when I heard that they were releasing a new variant I was of course keen to try it. I was very kindly sent a 200ml can of their latest product Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume.

As the name would suggest this is a volumising product. It still does the same job as the other dry shampoos in the range - refreshing the hair, and getting rid of oily roots but at the same time, it can help make the hair look thicker and more volumised, without hours of backcombing and without washing your hair. The process is simple all you do is spray the product into your roots, rub it through and then comb or style your hair as normal.

The product looks pretty similar to the other dry shampoos in the Batiste range, with a similar floral smell it's basically a white powder, the particles in XXL Volume though do seem to be a tiny bit bigger than in the other products in the range, so you will experience a bit of fall out. I actually made the mistake of applying it whilst I was wearing a dark top, not a good move, it was covered in white sprinkles. Obviously if you have really dark hair you will need to be careful with this to avoid an ashy finish.

 If I leave my hair to dry naturally I have very big, very wavy hair but as you know I like my hair straight, I don't have curly hair but I do have very wavy hair which I like to keep looking as sleek and as shiny as possible- Here is a before picture for you please excuse the lack of make up here

Yup that's pretty flat and lacking in volume isn't it, so I sprayed a bit of XXL Volume into my roots particularly around my crown, I then massaged it in and scrunched it a bit and volia!

Excuse the gurning expression I really don't know what's going on there - shocking and a little cringe worthy! but you can see that my hair certainly has a lot more volume and uplift. What surprised me is that unlike a lot of mousses and backcombing products my hair didn't feel sticky, if anything it actually felt a little bit dry, which worried me when I came to wash it out. I needn't have worried though it washed out really easily without leaving any product build up.

If you want a little bit or even a lot of extra volume in your hair this product certainly does the trick. My only real drawback has to be with the white colour and the fall out I don't think this product would work particularly well on darker hair, I think the white residue would just be too noticeable. It was ok on my hair which has a lot of blonde in it but since I'm going back over to the darkside on Tuesday I don't think this product is for me in the long term. Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume retails at around £3.99 for 200ml. If you have any questions please leave me a comment xx

(Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume 200ml Was Provided By PR For Review Purposes)

Hair To The Throne With Batiste and Superdrug

Unless you have been living under a rock you'll be fully aware that on 29th April this year we have a Royal Wedding to look forward too. Will I personally be tuning I hate to say it but no - I'm personally not too bothered, in fact I would go so far as to say to say I am only interested in the dress, which will no doubt appear in the Internet in seconds of the big reveal, can you believe 3 dresses have been created in case the press get hold of any images before the big day - insane. Despite not being a Royalist I am however as patriotic as the next person and am a firm believer in regaining the national flag. If you want to show your patriotism in a useful and practical way you could certainly do worse than pick up a can of Batiste Dry Shampoo

Dry Shampoo I hear your cry what's that got to do with being British well Batiste have introduced the fabulous Batiste Brit Dry Shampoo

Exclusive to Superdrug, Brit is packaged in a funky Union Jack designed spray can, and has a fabulous fresh, clean scent, ideal for keeping you hair fresh and clean on the upcoming Bank Holiday weekends. Batiste Brit retails at £2.13 for 150mls and is exclusive to Superdrug.

Not only that but Batiste have teamed up with Superdrug to offer you the chance to win your own Crown Jewels - £1000 of Love To Shop vouchers - so you can purchase your own diamonds, clothes or as much make up as you want - check out the Superdrug website before 16th May to see how to enter x
Any questions please ask x Over the next few weeks I have a couple more Royal Wedding posts planned showing you some of the fabulous and some of the bizarre merchandise so keeping checking back x

(Batiste Brit 150ml Was Provided By PR For Review / Promotional Purposes)

More Batiste - It's Tones Time

As you know I am a huge lover of Batiste dry shampoo and I was recently made aware about their new launch Batiste Tones. I know a lot of people have a few issues with the white residue of traditional Batiste varieties so hopefully this product is the answer. Batiste Tones comes in 3 varieties - Light and Blonde, Medium and Brunette Hair, and Dark and Deep Brown. As well as freshening up the hair and helping with oiliness, Batiste Tones obviously contain colour, so they can also be used to hide grey hairs, and to hide regrowth on coloured hair.
I was sent the one for Medium and Brunette Hair

and the one for Light and Blonde Hair

This is probably my biggest issue - it was a hard choice as to which colour to go for - as you know my hair is notoriously two tone I have natural mid brown hair with lots and lots of ash blonde streaks.

Thankfully I was sent both colours to try but I have to be honest and say neither of them really worked on my hair colour. The Medium and Brunette was straight away too dark for my hair admitadly it covered the blonde but that isn't really the look I personally wanted If however you were covering grey I can really see the advantages of this product - these pics were take after I'd had my hair coloured - sorry they aren't great

Before

After

Powdery is the obvious word with this I had a lot of brown powder fallout which wasn't great if your wearing a white top, and it also had a tendency to stain your skin a bit, and your hairbrush :(
The Light and Blonde still wasn't perfect, it did cover to some degree but it still left a powdery residue - I did a few before and after pics before I got my hair done last week so there were plenty of roots to cover

Before

After Spraying

After Working Through

As you can see after the initial spray it looks super powdery, after working it through a bit the powder is still evident, but it looks a bit better.
If you have darker hair I think Batiste Tones will be much better for you than the traditional sprays which may leave a white residue. However if you have multi coloured or toned hair like me I really don't think these sprays are that great an investment - these are probably the two colours that are the closest to my own hair but I just couldn't make them work for me :(  Batiste Coloured Dry Shampoos are available in 3 shades and retail at around £2.99 for 150ml spray. Any questions please ask, and please check out the Batiste website for more details x

(Batiste Dry Shampoo in Light and Blonde, and Medium and Brunette Were Provided For Review Purposes)

Product Rave - Batiste Blush Dry Shampoo

I've recently posted about my love for Batiste Dry Shampoo - I don't know how I ever lived without it to be honest. Essential for freshening up your hair, and taking away the excess grease, as providing volume it's a great product, and it's really became a must have for me over the last few months

I've reviewed a few of the fragrances and types here but my favourite has to be the Blush fragrance. In a pretty pink floral patterned can it has a gorgeous heady floral smell, not too dissimilar from Michael Kors - Michael Kors fragrance. I would even go so far as to say that if you wear this, you don't actually need to wear a fragrance, the smell really does linger. Of all the Batiste fragrances and styles this is probably the one that I will continue to repurchase. Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush is available in a 50ml on the go size for around £1.52 and in a 150ml can for around £2.35. For more information on the Batiste range please check out their website and keep an eye out for a review of the new Batiste Tones which should be up in the next week or so. Any questions please ask xx

(Batiste Blush Dry Shampoo 150ml Was Provided By PR For Review Purposes)