haircare Archives - Conversations through the middle

Tresemmé 7 Day Keratin Smooth – not impressed

May 13, 2014

I bought Tresemmé 7 Day Keratin Smooth after reading rave reviews on a couple of beauty blogs I follow. It wasn’t exactly cheap, but I thought well, if it works…

I have dreadful hair – thick and lots of it, but not straight and not curly. There’s a wave that if left to dry naturally shows as frizzy, so I was excited at the thought that this set of products could be the answer.

It wasn’t.

The blurb says you can use the straightening treatment without the shampoo and conditioner, but the best results are to use all three steps of the system. So I did.

According to Tresemmé, the 7-Day Keratin Smooth Heat Activated Treatment uses heat activated polymers to keep hair beautifully smooth for seven days and up to three washes. It is described as a breakthrough in hair technology, and works with the heat of your hair straighteners. And it did, that bit is certainly true – my hair was so smooth and didn’t feel heavy with product, which is good.

It’s the bit where you wash your hair again and it’s supposed to still be smooth that I have the problem with – my hair was just as frizzy as it usually is when left to its own devices. I know I’m in the minority with my opinion here – there’s lots of reviews on the Boots website for example with people simply swooning over these products – but I won’t be putting away my straighteners anytime soon.

Tresemmé 7 Day Keratin Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner, around £5.99 each; heat activated treatment, around £6.99 depending where you shop.

Pamper Grotto with Sanctuary Spa and giveaway – Merry Christmas!

November 26, 2013

Last week I joined lots of other bloggers in London for the PZ Cussons Christmas beauty blogger Pamper Grotto. Hosted at the lovely St Martin’s Lane Hotel, this was an opportunity to get to know four of the company’s brands a little better – Sanctuary Spa, Fudge Urban, St Tropez and Charles Worthington haircare.

It was a great evening, catching up with a few old faces and meeting new ones. I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Prosecco, canapes and Percy Pigs (gummy/jelly sweets) – and had my nails done, all the time with Christmas songs playing and Bing Crosby’s White Christmas on screen in the background.

Experts were on hand to provide hair chalking with Fudge chalks (the results I saw looked amazing), hair styling and spray tans. I didn’t go for a tan, but I did speak to St Tropez tanning guru Jules Heptonstall, who is celebrity tanning and skin finishing expert on Strictly Come Dancing.

I couldn’t resist: “What are they like”, “Any gossip”, “What about the judges, is Craig Revel Horwood as harsh as he seems, or is that just his TV character”? Alas, he would not be drawn, he was the soul of discretion and all I learned was they are all lovely people on Strictly.

He was so down to earth, not diva-ish at all, and a joy to talk to.

The evening was rounded off with a generous gift from PZ Cussons to you, my blog readers. I was asked to select a gift from around the Christmas tree to use as a giveaway on 40s Chic, which of course I was delighted to do.

And here it is – I’ve chosen the Ultimate Girls Night In kit, which contains Radiance Exfoliator (15ml), 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask Sachet (15ml), Spa Facial Headband, Luxury Bath Float (75ml), Body Butter (100ml), Body Scrub (50ml), Hand Cream (30ml), Spa Perfect Manicure Orange Sticks and a Spa Perfect Manicure Emery Board.

I thought it was just the thing for an evening of de-stressing among the frantic whirl of wrapping paper, shopping and Christmas prep. Share it with friends in a get together over a bottle of wine, or your daughter (Dot is so into beauty at the moment), or just pamper yourself…

To enter simply follow 40s Chic on Bloglovin, tell me you have done so, and leave a comment below. Remember to leave a contact in your comment (Twitter handle, blog address etc) so I can get in touch if you’re the lucky winner. Winner will be chosen at random through random.org. If I cannot contact you then the prize will go to the next person on the randomly generated list.

(Open to over 18s and UK only – sorry. One entry per person. Closing date is midnight on Tuesday 10 December. Winner will be chosen at random through random.org. Any questions just let me know.)

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com

Phil Smith Be Gorgeous Total Treat Argan Oil Cream – review

November 23, 2013

Hair products and I often don’t get on. I don’t have time to spend hours sorting out my hair so I don’t tend to use lots of different products, preferring to stay with a couple of tried and tested favourites instead.

My hair has also become more frizzy over the years, and when I find something that tames the frizz and stops me looking like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, I tend to stick with it.

So when this arrived through the post I had no expectations about it at all.

I tried it – and I love it. I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and I can really see a difference in the smoothness of my hair; it looks more groomed and shiny than before.

I had all of my hair cut off a few weeks ago in a drastic move to signify a new start in my life, and because I was so sick of having to wear it up all the time (it looked a mess down). I now have a short bob, which incidentally is the best do I have ever had.

Back to Total Treat. Blowdrying has never been my forte, so I rough dry my hair then use the straighteners on it to iron out the frizz. You are supposed to apply a pea sized amount of the product after washing, then style. I use more than that, but I have thick hair and haven’t had a problem with greasiness or stickiness from using too much.

I’m really impressed with this. The tube is going to last for ages, but when it does run out it will be on my shopping list as it now ranks up there with my beloved Illuminoil as one of my favourite haircare products.

Beauty – Melvita face, body and hair oil

December 10, 2012

New from Melvita, Nature’s Gold Extraordinary Oil is an all-round beauty product, suitable for face, body and hair. Choc full of nourishing extracts from around the world, it contains Inca inchi oil from the Amazon, kendi Oil from Indonesia and the skincare wunder kind of 2012, argan oil from Morocco.

I haven’t used it on my hair yet, but on the body, it sinks in quickly and does not leave a sticky, greasy feel afterwards. The fragrance is subtle – lemon, orange, rose, jasmine, fig and Sicilian bergamot, blended skilfully together in Grasse, the historic heart of French perfume. Find it here.here