Nair Argan Oil Salon Divine Body Wax* - Pain Free Waxing?

You should know by now that I'm not the type of blogger that shies away from less glamorous side of beauty. Over the years I've covered all sorts of topics from dental health, to products that you can use when you have aches and pains, and cold cures, one of the less attractive topics that I keep coming back to though, is hair removal.

I know I keep saying it but body hair is really one of those taboo subjects and to be honest I don't know why - body hair is completely normal, and we all have it, some of us have more of it, and some of us have less of it, and that's just the way it is. When it comes to hair removal I firmly believe that it should be down to personal choice - if you don't like it get shot of it, if you're happy to have body hair then that's fine as well, it's up to you and nobody should judge you for what you choose to do with your own body!

I've said it so many times before but I am pretty lazy when it comes to hair removal, it's a chore, and an energy sapper that I can quite frankly do without. Whilst getting busy with a razor is probably the easiest and laziest option, I've got to be honest and say that I'd rather spend a little bit longer on a method that's going to give me a longer term result. Shaving my legs every day or every other day just doesn't make sense to me, I'd rather take a little bit of time and wax or epilate them and have hair free legs for about a month instead.

I was 17 when I first waxed my legs, and to be honest I have no idea why I kept going back for more, it was torture! I just didn't understand why people could put themselves through that - but as the years have gone by, my leg hairs are patchier and finer, and I can honestly say that the sensations is barely more than a little bit of stinging now. I'm sure both mine and my mam's waxing technique has come on a long way since then but I definitely think that there has been a big improvement in home waxing products.

Pain is probably one of the biggest reasons why some people shy away from waxing, and whilst it can smart a little, a lot of products are now promising a relatively painless waxing experience. I've got to say I'm pretty sceptical about that whole claim but I was recently sent one such product to try out and see for myself.

When you think of home hair removal brands, I can pretty much guarantee that one of the first brands that you would think of would be Nair. After many years of focusing purely on hair removal creams, they've successfully moved into the home waxing market with a wide range of strip waxes. Recently though they branched into the scary world of hot wax and released the Nair Argan Oil Salon Divine Body Wax.

Crammed full of nourishing and moisturising Argan Oil and Vitamin E, and fragrant Orange Blossom, this formulation has been dermatologically tested and especially created to be as pain free as possible, in fact they even use the tag line "Bye Bye Pain", and by and large they seem to be able to back that claim up with 93% of participants in a consumer test reporting a relatively painless hair removal experience.

So what did I think, well lets start at the beginning and talk about what you actually get in the box. Obviously the most important thing is the instruction leaflet, and if you're messing around with something that's very hot then you need to be safe, so you need to read the leaflet thoroughly. The box also contains a wooden spatula, some aftercare wipes, and a large plastic pot which contains solid creamy white, slightly pearlescent wax.

Surely there is something missing I hear you cry? Well no, not in this case, the majority of home, hot waxing kits come with either paper or cloth strips to remove the wax, but this one is a little bit different, it's basically a peel off formulation which may be one of the reasons for the relatively pain free claims? It's definitely more professional and a lot of salons now use similar products but how suitable is it for home use?

Like most home hot waxes, you need to use a microwave to heat up the wax, but in this case there is no other option, no microwave no can use! The instructions give full timings depending on the power of your microwave but basically you want a smooth, easy to stir consistency with no lumps. Once you've reached the ideal consistency I found that the wax was way, way too hot to even patch test so I left it cool for a little while before testing the temperature on the inside of my wrist.

Then you can probably guess what happens next, apply an even layer with the spatula to clean, dry legs, in the direction of the hair growth. It takes a little bit of practise to the strip thickness even and to work out how thick it actually needs to be but once you get into the swing of it isn't that difficult to do. Then you leave your strip to set for a few seconds, before pulling it off against the direction of the growth, then repeat, repeat and repeat till you are done.

Although I've tried a lot of different waxing products over the years, I've never tried using a strip free wax before, and after giving it a go and I can see both positives and negatives. The wax in this case doesn't feel particularly like wax, in fact it almost feels slightly rubbery or plasticy, which I guess is what makes so easy to peel off. It also smelled way nicer then some of the waxes I've used you could really smell the orange blossom, and almost a white flower like aroma, and believe it or not it wasn't that painful. Admittedly I'm a waxing aficionado and my legs are probably used to be assaulted now but all I felt was a bit of warmth and a bit of stinging. My legs did look red and a bit like a plucked chicken but aftercare wipes, calmed them down, and removed the excess blobs of wax. I didn't find the wax that drying thanks to the high concentration of moisturising and nourishing ingredients but the wipes, which had a pleasant fresh scent and a slightly oily feel definitely added an extra hit of moisture.

Before 

After

So it worked, it removed pretty much all of my leg hair without too much pain but I still don't feel as though I can recommend this product, why? Well this was probably the messiest hot wax product that I've ever used. Hot wax can be messy but this went above and beyond as you can see from the finished state of the pot. It was impossible not to get dribbles down the side of the tub, on other parts of your legs and in my case all over my sheets. It was easy enough to get off the tray, other hard surfaces and my legs but the wax that went on my sheets was another story entirely, you could pick the hard bits of when they cooled but even after washing you could still see and feel the odd sticky patch. If you have any leftover wax it can be reheated but my poor spatula was just a massive blob of rock solid wax and ended up in the bin :(

I've read a few reviews of this product since I tried it and quite a few them have basically said that this product just doesn't remove hair that well, that wasn't my experience though. I had no problems with it's hair removal ability, it smelled nice, and it removed all of my hair in a relatively pain free way, so in theory it did exactly what it promised but I just couldn't deal with the mess! If you're one of those people that loved peeling glue off your hands then you might enjoy this but in future I think I'll stick to Nair's cold wax strips. To find out more about Nair's hair removal solutions then please check out their official website. Nair Salon Divine Body Wax retails at around £12.59 and is available from various retailers including Boots. Are you a hot wax fan or are the cold strips more your thing? or do you just leave it to the professionals? Let me know in the comments x 

*Press Sample

Hair Removal Series - Part 1 - How Laser Hair Removal Works

With the party season now on the horizon, it's time to start getting ourselves party ready. It's time to pick up that fabulous outfit, and book that hair appointment and for most of us it's time to start removing that pesky excess hair. Hair removal isn't the most glamorous of topics, but it's something that an awful lot of us do and it can make a real difference to our self confidence and to our self image. I've talked about hair removal a few times on the blog and in the run up to Christmas I'm going to be talking about some more of the most popular temporary hair removal methods and products on the market. Today though I'm going to start of by talking about a more permanent hair removal method, Laser Hair Removal.

How Laser Hair Removal Works

We've all done hair removal at home, Wax strips or razors or plucking individual hairs with a pair of tweezers! Still, the hairs grow back and we are right back where we started from. It doesn't matter what method we try, the hairs always grow back. That's where laser hair removal comes in; Performed in a clinic, professional laser hair removal lasts far longer, and with repeated treatments, may even be permanent.

At Home Hair Removal

Removing hair at home means that the hair grows back fairly quickly. Razors don't work very well because the blades remove hair just above the surface of the skin, so there's stubble the very next day. Using hot wax can easily burn the skin, if you're not careful, and cold wax strips wind up being pretty expensive to remove hair in larger areas like the legs. Using tweezers to pluck individual hairs hurts, and has to be repeated over and over again, and depilatories and creams use chemicals to break down the hairs, but those chemicals can also cause allergic reactions and burn the skin.

Why Don't At Home Methods Work?

When you remove hair at home, your either cutting the hair follicles or yanking them from the skin. It does nothing to destroy the root, so the hair continues to grow. Even hair removal creams just break the follicles by breaking down the proteins within the hair,  and whilst it means that hair can be just wiped away, it does nothing to prevent the hair from growing back in the long term.

Does Laser Hair Removal Work?

The great thing about professional laser hair removal is that the hair doesn't grow back for a long time and what hair that does grow back comes in finer than before. It can take as little as three to as many as seven sessions to make it permanent. After that you may need to return once in a while to catch any hairs that do grow back.

How Hair Removal Lasers Function

Hair removal lasers use brief bursts of light energy to target the hair follicles. They heat the follicles until the root is destroyed. In order to stop further growth, you must catch the root in the right stage of development. If you want to make the removal permanent, it will take several more sessions to catch all of the hairs. Even if you just have a one off session the hair shouldn't grow back for quite a while, and when it does it will be finer than it was before.

How Much Will It Cost? 

Cost is determined by several different factors. The size of the area being treated determines how much time it will take to treat. For instance the legs are a large area and will take far longer to treat, than say the face. The more time that it takes, the more it will cost. How many sessions you need will also affect the cost. A one off session to get beach or party ready obviously won't cost as much as the several sessions that you would need to attain permanent hair removal. There is also the matter of who is carrying out the laser treatment (be is a technician, a therapist or a licensed physician), and of course where you're located can also affect the price.

What Parts Of The Body Can Be Treated?

Laser hair removal can be used on all parts of the body, from the legs to the bikini line, and the upper lip. The technician or therapist can adjust the laser settings to safely remove hair from both tougher skin and from more delicate areas.

There is no doubt that laser hair removal can be expensive but if excess hair is a problem then it could be a price worth paying. It's definitely something that I would consider trying in the future so if you've tried laser hair removal let me know your thoughts below x 

*Guest Post 

Acrorelle Epiliation -The Not So Glamorous Side Of Beauty - 2 Reviews For My Pure

Right guys lets cut to the chase this isn't a glamorous blog post, no pretty make up here, instead it's about one of less pretty side of beauty, body and facial hair. I can feel you backing off now but please don't hear me out x
For some reason now body and facial hair is seen as a big no no, we wax it, shave it, epilate it and cream it off in order to look good. It's probably one of the least exciting parts of our beauty routine but we all do it. The trouble is the majority of hair removal methods don't last, within a week sometimes we are back where we started, not only that but with some hair removal methods our poor skin suffers big style, leaving it irritated, sensitive and often sore and with ingrown hairs.
Having previously tried and been impressed with the Acorelle Epiliation Oriental Wax, in preparation for my summer holiday I decided two try two products from Acorelle as part of my August My Pure reviews to try and deal with some of these side effects of hair removal.

Acorelle Essential Epil Hair Growth Inhibitor Skin Glorifier - Face

OK, we'll start with probably the most taboo subject, facial hair, unless your super lucky we all have a bit of facial hair on the upper lip or the chin, if you have dark hair more often than not it will be noticeable. As my mum says you can't have it in one place and not another, so brace yourself here is a pic of my upper lip without hair removal

You can just about see them, I don't have a lot of facial hair but what I have it dark and it's quite noticeable because of my skin tone. I generally use either hair removal cream or I wax it off myself (yes I know I'm brave ;) If I'm being honest I do it about once a week. It's just become part of my weekly routine now I guess, but it's a pain. Looking through the My Pure inventory I noticed a product from Acorelle, the Skin Care Glorifier and Hair Growth Inhibitor - Face.

Ideal for anyone who suffers from thick hair regrowth on the upper lip and chin, the product contains a patented extract from the Black Truffle this product claims to reduce hair density by 80% in just 56 days as well as improving the look and feel of the skin.

The product comes boxed and packaged in a small slim squeezable tube

At the end of the tube there is a small slanted nozzle, which is made of a clear textured rubber

The product dispenses easily through the tube and you can use the wand to apply it without touching it. It had a pleasant and easily absorbed cream gel texture and a pleasant floral type smell (it also contains Damascus Rose extract). You may think the tube is quite small at just 8ml but a little does go a long way.

The instructions advise that you apply the product after hair removal preferably waxing for best results. I have to be honest and say I removed facial hair 3 times during the process of this trial, once with wax and twice with cream, so obviously this may have affected my results. I have seen some results with this product some hairs are still as stubborn as ever but some of the finer hairs do seem to be coming back at a slower rate. To be fair I don't think this is a product that you can say yes or no to after less than a month so it's one that I am going to persevere with, but if you are a facial waxer it might be something that's worth a try. Acorelle Essentiel Epil Hair Growth Inhibitor and Skin Glorifier - Face retails at £19.00 for 8ml at My Pure.

Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment

One of the byproducts of hair removal be it waxing or shaving is ingrown hairs - If your of a strong stomach or you not sure what an ingrown hair is click this link . Yes I admit it I do occasionally get the odd ingrown hair particularly on my bikini line and my underarms and do you know what they are not pleasant and they can really hurt! I've tried a lot of preparations including lots of alcohol and aspirin based products and yes they do work but more often than not they sting :( Looking at My Pures inventory I was interested to see a product specifically for dealing with ingrown hairs so I decided to give it a go.

The Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment whilst containing a small proportion of naturally produced alcohol, also contains a high volume of AHA's and fruit acids. This anti bacterial product helps to gently exfoliate the skin thus preventing blocked pores and ingrown hairs.

The products itself comes a pump action spray dispenser but you can also apply it using some clean cotton wool. It has a clear liquid texture and a very gentle herbal smell. For the few I've been apply the product specifically to my underarms and my bikini line and I have to say in that period of time I have had no ingrown hairs or lumps and bumps in either area, where as in the previous month I had at least two sore spots on my underarms. I didn't have overly high expectations for the this product, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed, it seems to do the job and guess what it doesn't sting one little bit even on freshly shaved areas. I will definitely continue to use this product ahead of the market leader (Tend Skin) which stings like hell on me. Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment retails at £8.99 for 50ml from My Pure.

Again I'm sorry for the less than gorgeous nature of this post but beauty isn't all about the glamour ;) Any questions please let me know xx

(Both Acorelle Products Were Supplied By My Pure For Review Purposes)

Acorelle Epilation Oriental Wax Ylang Flower and Cane Sugar - A Review For My Pure*

Ever since I was 17 I have had my legs waxed or more often than not I've waxed them myself. I have to say I've tried most of the waxing products available on the high street, I used hot wax, hot sugaring, cold sugaring, and my current favourite cold strip wax. I have to say I love waxing and would never go back to the razor blade, yes you have to leave it till your hair grows a little bit, and it might be painful and a bit messy, but the results speak for themselves about a month of being hair free, and I have to say after 15 years of waxing I have bald patches and my hair is much softer and finer.

That's why I jumped at the chance of trying something from the Acorelle Epilation range for this months My Pure review. Acorelle is a French based company thats main speciality is hair removal and post hair removal skin care. Developed especially for sensitive skins, and for those with thicker, darker hair and problems with ingrown hair, the Acorelle range is based on natural ingredients such as sugar and black truffle.

The product I chose was the Acorelle Epilation Oriental Wax With Ylang Flower and Cane Sugar. This is a sugar based wax product which is 100% natural and contains pure organic cane sugar and ylang ylang. It also contains no colourings, chemical preservatives, or synthetic fragrances.

It comes in a box which to be honest doesn't really have very much English on it but don't worry full instructions are provided inside, and the box illustration give you an idea of what the product contains

As well as the instructions the box also contains 12 reusable paper/fabric strips, a wooden spatula, and a 300g pot of sugar wax

The wax is pretty solid at room temperature so it needs to be heated before you can use it.

Following the in pack instructions first of all I made sure everything was set up (a towel covering the bed to prevent mess) and that my legs were clean and dry. Then I took the lid off the wax and put it in the microwave for a 10 seconds at a time for about 30 seconds until it was like runny honey in texture (you can also use a bain maire to heat it )

I then left the wax for about a minute before testing the temperature on the inside of my wrist to make sure it wasn't too hot, it has to be warm but not so hot as you burn your skin. At this point I enlisted the help of MummyLouLou who is very good at waxing to give me a hand - you can do this yourself I did my right leg on my own but it made it easier for photographs and it guarantees the backs of your legs get done properly! All you do is use the spatula to spread a thin layer of the warm wax to your leg in the direction of the hair growth

Then you apply one of the paper strips and smooth it down in again in the direction of the hair growth, then you rip it off :) and press the strip down and rip till the tackiness goes then you apply more wax and get a new strip, etc.etc.

The best way to show how effective this product was is to show some befores and afters -

Before

My legs hadn't been waxed since just before Christmas eeek so they were ready to be defuzzed - still notice though that my hair isn't overly dark or thick because I've waxed for so long

After

You can see a tiny few red spots here but nothing more just relatively smooth legs :)

I have to say though the real proof of the effectiveness of this wax is when you look at a used strip - sorry this pic is a bit gross but look not only at the hairs but also if you look really carefully you can see the little black roots/bulbs on the ends. Unlike shaving the whole hair is being removed which leads to a slower and finer regrowth :)

I have to say I loved this wax - the Ylang Ylang fragrance was beautiful and reminded me a lot of some of the Lovea products I've tried recently a really nice tropical floral fragrance. I have to say because it's a warm wax/sugar it also seems to be less painful, the warmth actually helps the hair follicle to open a little and makes it easier to extract the hair. You also need to use such a small amount that the pot should last for ages. Warm wax or sugar isn't probably the easiest thing to start with for a waxing novice maybe a cold strip would be best but it certainly gives great results. Yes you might think that it's messy but being sugar based it washes straight off everything it touches, including your legs, or a towel, and of course the spatula, and the paper strips - these are the same strips I used and after hand washing in warm water they are completely reusable and are as good as new

My one tiny complaint is that I would really like it if they had included some more strips, even though you can use both sides 12 just doesn't seem to be very many for a full 2 leg wax, you can use pretty much any fabric though since it washes straight out, I actually finished mine off using some folded over muslin cloths. As I said in the introduction I had switched to cold wax strips for quickness but I will definitely be using this product on a regular basis now, it had a lovely fragrance, and it was super effective I will also be looking to try some more products from this range in the future especially since I've noticed they also do strip wax. The Acorelle Epilation Oriental Wax - Ylang Flower and Cane Sugar retails at £11.99 for 300g from My Pure. Any questions please ask x

*Sample

FOTD - A Naked Cover Up

I did some a quick make up before we took the cats to the vets for their jabs this morning, I say super quick because it probably took less than 5 minutes which is a bit of a record for me - it was probably just as well because it took 10 minutes to get Jake into his basket - he ran up and downstairs about 5 times before we managed to catch him, and by that time my make up had just about given up hope! - I don't think it's the vet he dislikes, more the journey in the car he is exactly the same when he goes to the cattery :( Anyways normally I wouldn't have bothered with any make up for such a little journey but last night I tried a little bit of facial waxing - big mistake - my chin was bright red and all flaky, and more than a bit sore :( So I used some mineral make up which is much more gentle and less of an irritant to cover it up, and it seems to have done the job thankfully, I also had another little play with my Naked palette which is perfect for no make up, make up - Enjoy xx

awful FOTD pic




weird eye pics again






Today I Wore

id Bare Minerals Foundation - Medium Beige
ELF Sheer Mineral Booster
Boots No7 Trio Concealer
The Balm Time Balm - Light*
MAC Powder Blusher - Tenderling
MAC MSF -By Candlelight
Urban Decay Eyeshadows - Naked and Hustle (Naked Palette)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner - Truly Brown
Collection 2000 Big Fake False Lash Effect Mascara - 17 Ultra Black
NYX Lip Lacquer Pot - LLP04 Georgia Peach


Georgia Peach isn't that pigmented but it gives a lovely pale nude glossy glow :) Any questions please ask xx

(* provided for review purposes)

Yesterdays Beauty Haul

I'm back - My laptop is out of action at the moment due to a broken charging lead so I am resigned to using my desktop in a very untidy study - hmm
Anyways thought I'd give you a little look and some swatches of some of the drugstore beauty bits I got yesterday





Barry M Lipsticks left to right - 147 Peachy Pink and 100 Baby Pink



GOSH Nail Polish - 573 Golden Brown

GOSH On Stage Cool Lip Jam 101 (Right)
GOSH Light'n Shine lip Glaze 01 (Left)

I love the packaging of the Light'n Shines with the cool mirror on the side of the tube and the cute light in lid - gimmicky but pretty handy - Oh and the GOSH lipglosses taste fab!!!





Barry M Dazzle Dusts :)
No 3 Pink Gold


Mushroom No 51


Limited Edtion Lilac LED 2 the pot colour is probably truer it looks a bit blue here




Veet Wax Strips

Lee Stafford Treatment For Hair That Never Grows Past A Certain Length - Love the sound of this and with a £2 Boots haircare voucher I thought I'd give it a go

Clynol Look AT Me Naughty Styling Fluid - Free with Hair magazine

Any questions on these bits give me a shout and I might be back later with my fashion and jewellery haul x