Experiencing The Gift Of Style With Paul Mitchell And Gary Hedley Salons

Although I've been a little bit safe lately when it comes to hair, I love experimenting with new styles, and I love finding out more about new brands and new products. I guess that's why I love blogging so much it's given me so many opportunities to try new things. One such opportunity came last night when I was lucky enough to attend the Paul Mitchell "The Gift Of Style" event in Newcastle city centre.

Founded in 1980 Paul Mitchell is probably the quintessential, professional, salon brand. With a clear animal friendly policy since day 1, they are also heavily involved in charitable organisations, and community events and programmes throughout the world. They now retail in over 30 countries, and produce a wide range of hair products ranging from shampoos, and conditioners to styling products, and styling tools.

The theme of yesterday's event was The Gift Of Style and it was to celebrate the launch of the Paul Mitchell Christmas gift selection. There are gifts in the range to suit all price points, and all hair and beauty concerns. Prices start at just £4.75 for a mini product from the range, going up to £99.95 for a Paul Mitchell Neuro Smooth Hairdryer. Certain Paul Mitchell salons also sell a range of New CID Cosmetics so you can cover most of your beauty needs in the one place.

There really is something for everyone, but if I had to choose, I would probably go for one of the Art Of Style Gift Sets. They are 9 sets to choose from depending on your hair needs and hair type. Each one comes in a quirky, reusable toiletry bag designed by Australian fashion illustrator Sarah Hankinson, who has previously worked with Harrods, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. The sets contain between 2 and 3 products each and retail at £18 each.

Paul Mitchell at it's heart is a professional, salon brand, so it isn't one of those brands that you can buy in your local store or supermarket. It is stocked in a few retailers including Look Fantastic, but by and large they retail in professional hair salons, that use their products on a daily basis on paying customers.

Yesterday's event was held at one such salon, and one that's proud to be a Paul Mitchell Signature Salon - Gary Hedley Hair. Starting in 1995 with their original salon in Newcastle's prestigious Eldon Garden shopping centre, they now have a further two salons, one in the small village of Burnopfield, and another one in Mosley Street, right at the heart of Newcastle city centre, and within easy walking distance of the famous Bigg Market and the Theatre Royal.

A previous Paul Mitchell event took place in the Eldon Garden branch but this time the focus was their bright and airy, Mosley Street salon. The weather last night wasn't the best - it was cold and windy so me and the lovely Becca chanced it and turned up a little bit early. The staff couldn't have made us more welcome. our coats were taken and we were offered drinks, and ushered into our gowns and our comfy salon chairs.

Since the theme of the event was Christmas and the festive season, we were treated to a dry style with a party, glamour theme. Gareth my stylist was lovely and so easy to talk to. He asked my a bit about my hair, and what I normally do for special occasions. Curls and waves are normally my thing, so we decided to go for a glamorous up do. I love up do's but because of my poor muscle strength I usually can't do them myself so I took advantage of Gareth's expertise.

As well as showcasing his own talents it was also a good opportunity for me to experience some of the Paul Mitchell for myself. He only used two for my dry style, a hairspray, apologies I forget which one, and the Paul Mitchell Dry Wash. I've used dry shampoos for years now and whilst I've liked them a lot, none of them have made me go WOW like this one did! I will be doing a full review of this in due course but on my first impression it blows everything else out of the water.

So using products, heat tools, brushes, bands, and grips, he twisted, twirled, and teased my hair into the most fabulous up do. My hair is quite thick but he managed to coax it into a fabulous twisted bun, that looked fabulous and most importantly felt really secure, and stayed where it was put. I loved it, it was such a glam look and so different from anything that I would normally do x

After I'd been primped and preened it was time to circulate and enjoy some of the salons fabulous hospitality. A topless waiter! brought round orange juice, Prosecco, canapes, sushi and mini mince pies and I had a good opportunity to look at the kits and the products, and have a natter with some other bloggers.

We also had the opportunity to talk to some Paul Mitchell representatives and some of the Gary Hedley staff. Unfortunately Gary Hedley himself, was unable to attend the event due to illness, but his friendly, and talented staff are an obvious credit to him.

At the end of the event we were given a really generous goodie bag containing an assortment of Paul Mitchell products and a fabulous New CID Cosmetics I-Gloss in Tickled Pink. all of which I will be reviewing for you in due course x

I would like to thank everybody from Gary Hedley and Paul Mitchell from a lovely evening, and I'd particularly like to thank Gareth for my hairdo x

To find out more about Paul Mitchell products and salons please have a look at their UK website. You can also buy Paul Mitchell products from various retailers including Look Fantastic and Hairtrade.

If you're in the North East and you're looking for a new hairdresser or even just somewhere different for a one off special style, then I would definitely recommend you check out Gary Hedley Salons, you can find more details including locations and guide prices on their website.

Have you ever tried Paul Mitchell products before? Leave me a comment and let me know your favourites x

A Return To The Darkside

I've been debating it for a little while now but today I eventually took the plunge and get rid of the blonde in my hair

I know it's not the most interesting of colours but my hair looks much healthier and glossier now so I am a happy bunny -  you can still see a slight natural tone change where the blonde streaks were but I think this stops it from looking too flat. I always love to have darker hair with a tan, but I always worry that it washes me out in the winter so Vikki my hairdresser says we can put some caramel highlights in when my tan fades

Excuse the hideous facial expressions I don't know what it is lately but put me in front of a camera and I start to gurn lol - these were indeed the best of a bad bunch - concentrate on the hair though, a nice chocolate colour don't you think?

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)

FOTD, New Hair and a Ramble :)

Hiyas I've had a busy 24 hours or so (well for me anyways;) yesterday was the dentists and this morning was my doctors appointment. I had a little chat with my doctor and we have decided to keep my medication at the new levels. It's definitely reducing the pain which has to be a plus point, but I am feeling tired and a bit more zonked out that usual - it's a vicious circle really but I think I'd rather be spaced out than in pain. It was a really productive appointment we talked about new CFS research and he assured me that my shakes and tremors are normal - these have been getting worse over the last few weeks so much so that my arms were physically jerking the other night - still if it's normal in CFS / ME at least I don't have to worry that it has a more sinister cause.
Anyways after the doctors I had a few hours rest and I managed to finish my Zuneta post for tomorrow (I'll post a link for you to comment on tomorrow ;)- then it was back out the door again to the hairdressers - I managed to put on a little bit of slap before I went out so I thought I'd show you as part of some before and after hair pics :)

Before

Silly pic I was in a stupid mode lol



Today I Wore

First Light Mineral Foundation - Breeze In The Beeches*
id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium Beige (mixed together)
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
Boots No7 Concealer Palette (all colours mixed)
The Balm Time Balm Concealer - Light*
MAC Prep + Prime Eye Base - Light
MAC Cremeblend Blush - So Sweet, So Easy
MAC MSF Porcelain Pink
MAC Pigment - Vanilla (to highlight brows)
Jemma Kidd Make Up School Iridescent Eye Silk - 02 Mercury (on lids smudged under lower lashes)
Indulge In Beauty Urban Eyes - Modern Eyes Palette - Grey / Lilac only
Max Factor False Lash Effect Waterproof Mascara - Black
MAC Lipstick - Viva Glam Gaga

During
Silly salon pic - check out my hair accessories x


After




OK new hair - more blonde highlights, and a side fringe which will make it easier for me to grow out my bangs - I love a full fringe but it is sooo high maintenance
- my make up is the same but I touched up with Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Baby Pink, and MAC MSF Natural in Light x Hope you get the idea it's started to flop a bit now - it's too hot again honestly it was like a sauna in the hairdressers especially being all gowned and foiled up - anyways sorry I keep going AWOL but I promise I will put up a couple of posts tomorrow including a link to my Zuneta post (did I say I was blogging for Zuneta tomorrow ;), and a post on a pressie my mum bought me :)Oh I almost forgot thanks for all your nice comments regarding my recent health posts and so on- I'm so sorry I haven't been able to respond to many comments yet but I will I promise x

(*provided by companies for review purposes)

New Hair

Spot the difference between todays and yesterdays posts - yesterday wavy today poker straight and with bangs (I love that word) :) what a difference a hairdresser makes x Apologies for the crappy pics - I washed my make up off to take all the bits of stray fringe hair off lol

Schwarzkopf Bonacure Hairtherapy Review

A month or so ago I was lucky enough to be sent a few products from the new Schwarzkopf BC Bonacure Hairtherapy range to try - having used Schwarzkopf products before in the past I was keen to try this new range. I have consistently used these products for over a month to give you an honest balanced review :)
Schwarzkopf is a salon professional brand with over 111 years of hair and hairdressing experience and the BC Hairtherapy Products are one of their newest launches.
The whole concept of the BC range is to "rebuild beauty from within" by treating not just the surface of the hair but to use amino acid technology to rebuild the hair from within thus restoring it to its natural beauty - a bit complicated I am sure you will agree but restoring natural beauty I am certainly up for a bit of that:)The BC range is comprised of 5 separate range of which deal with 5 different hair types - damaged hair, colour treated hair, normal to dry coarse and curly hair, fine hair, and for specific hair and scalp needs.
I was sent two products from the colour treated hair range and one product from the damaged hair range. My hair is quite long, it's coloured I have a mixture of blonde and caramel highlights, and I use a lot of straighteners and heat treatments on my hair - oh and its also needs cut and coloured desperately!!!

Color Save Sulfate Free Shampoo
.
"cleanses and protects colour-treated hair from fading even after 30 washes. For hair full of long lasting vibrancy and healthy shine"

This shampoo from the color save family came in a sleek looking 250ml bottle. The slightly thick liquid was pearlised in colour and non sticky in texture - it didn't take much shampoo to produce a decent lather which was surprising considering it doesn't contain sulfates. This was one of the major things I liked about this shampoo the fact that it doesn't contain sodium laureth sulphate - I won't go into why this isn't a good ingredient there is plenty of info out there on it but this shampoo proves you don't need it to produce a foam. It was easy to rinse out and didn't leave the hair tacky or tangled. The smell was hard to describe slightly musky, slightly floral, my mum probably described it best when she said it smells like a hairdressers :)I must admit I didn't get my hair coloured during this trial but I did notice my blonde highlights looked a lot brighter, fresher and less dull
This shampoo retails for around £8.65 for 250ml

Colour Save Spray Conditioner

"detangles and protects colour treated hair from fading. For smooth manageable hair full of long lasting colour vibrancy"
This was another product from the color save range. I must admit I do use leave in conditioner sprays on regular basis anyway so the concept wasn't new to me. This product came in a 200ml pump action spray bottle which gave a nice fine spray. You had shake the bottle first and then spray it on to towel dried hair. It didn't feel sticky or heavy on the hair and had a similar fragrance to the shampoo. It did help to detangle the hair but I have used sprays that have felt more conditioning on the hair than this one. Again my blonde lights appeared to be brighter but I don't know if it was this product or the corresponding shampoo
This product retails at £9.85 for 200ml

Repair Rescue Sealed Ends

"mends split hair ends and prevents them from reforming. For smoothed ends full of suppleness and shine"

This product was from the damaged hair range. As I said my hair does have some heat damage and split ends. This is a non sticky white cream which I applied to the ends of my hair. It didn't make my hair stiff or tacky and felt weightless. Again it had a similar fragrance to the previous products. Whilst I felt it smoothed my hair and made the ends and the frizz less noticeable I didn't feel that it actually mended my split ends - I am a firm believer that the only way to get rid of them is to cut them off
This product costs £10.95 for a 75ml tube

Summing Up
I enjoyed trying these products but I have to say the only one I would repurchase would be the shampoo - I liked the effect, and I liked the fact it was sulfate free. To be honest I have used leave in conditioners and serums that I prefer to the ones for this range so I wouldn't repurchase either of those products. If you want more information on the range please check out the Schwarzkopf website These products are available from your local Schwarzkopf salon or from online retailers including HQ Hair and Look Fantastic. . Any questions please contact me

Louise Has Been Blonded

Just a few quick pics of my new hair colour - sorry they are a bit crap it is really hard to take pics of your own hair

ME and Make Up

I woke up this morning feeling yuck - ME symptoms back and full on with a vengeance -yuck, yuck, yuck - I feel like I've been hit be a bus and been denied sleep for a week :( Reluctantly I have had to cancel my trip to the Newcastle V Portsmouth game tonight (sorry Dawn) in the hope that I can regain a bit of energy for the hairdressers tomorrow (believe me even a trip to the hairdressers requires more energy than I have at the moment!) Instead of the match I see an afternoon and evening tucked up under my quilt with some chick lit and Ugly Betty DVDs
Never mind on the plus side my mum has ordered me a make up kit in Luscious Greens from By Lauren Luke for my birthday :) http://www.bylaurenluke.com/ . For those of you who don't know Lauren became famous for doing make up tutorials on you tube under the name Panacea81 http://www.youtube.com/panacea81?gl=GB&hl=en-GB- I think she's great - a normal, natural girl with a great talent and a fellow North East girl to boot - good luck Lauren :)