The Nanogen Challenge ...

I've always had a love/hate relationship with my hair. Well, hate, actually. I can't stand it -- but I would never have the guts to shave it off. So I'm stuck with it. 

Although my hair is naturally super thick and course, chemically straightening it has taken its toll and my hair is now very straw-like. I also suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and one of the side effects is thinning hair. Now I do have a very full head of hair, but over the years I've noticed that it has gotten progressively thinner. 

So for the next month I'll be putting Nanogen to the test. I'll be using the Nanogen Thickening Treatment Shampoo & Conditioner* and Nanogen Hair Growth Factor Serum*. 

The shampoo and conditioner are designed to help thicken the hair, optimise treatment absorption and add weightless volume. The conditioner contains the infamous Hyaluronic Acid, which can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, so it's super hydrating. 

The Treatment Serum is 30ml and enough for 30-days at 1ml a day. The pipette has markers so you know how much you need to pump into it, which I just love. 

Here's a quick snapshot of what my hair looks like right now - sorry for the awful picture, I wasn't feeling very photogenic! At the moment it's not looking as awful as the picture makes it - although I didn't have a hairbrush in the office so I had to do a quick comb through with my fingers! 

I use heat on my hair about once a week, after washing it. I used to just blow-dry it, but since getting my new GHD Eclipse straighteners, I now use them after drying. I also wrap my hair in a silk head scarf to sleep, to protect my ends.

So Nanogen, you've got one month - do your worst best. 

Nanogen Thickening Treatment Shampoo and Conditioner and Hair Growth Factor Serum, priced at £7.95, £8.95 and £29.95 respectively, and are available to purchase from the Nanogen website, Boots, and FeelUnique.

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How To: Fake Shiny Hair ...

Regularly chemically straightening my hair leaves it looking rather dull and lifeless, so I rely on certain products to give it a healthy shine. Lee Stafford Shine Head Spray* is perfect when you’re out and about – a quick spritz and a ‘zjoosh’ and you’re good to go. It’s the kind of product you can keep in your desk to use if you’re going out after work. Coming in a just over a fiver it doesn’t break the bank and will last you ages.

As well as adding shine Nuxe Multi-Use Dry Oil nourishes my hair and leaves it feeling soft smooth. I usually apply it to my ends when they’re feeling a tad dry, but a spray or two on my hands warmed up and run through my hair adds some life and also brings out my brown undertones too. It’s pricey at £29.50 but well worth the dosh.

Tara Smith Shining Moments Glosser doesn’t give the glossy shine I’d hoped it would but it really perks my hair up and refreshes it. It’s the product that I’m most likely to reach for on a daily basis to stop my hair looking like a bale of hay. At £12 it’s still very budget friendly – and vegan friendly too!

How do you fake shiny hair?

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Tara Smith Vegan Hair Care Range

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to stop using sulphates in my hair. Even though I love the John Frieda Full Repair Range, it contains SLS so I’ve been searching for an alternative to rival it. Last month I attended the Tara Smith Vegan Hair Care Blogger Event, and got to meet the lovely Tara in person.

Tara’s whole range is so impressive, free from parabens, SLS, animal products, artificial colouring (and a whole lot more!), all of her products are natural, organic and vegan approved. Whilst my main issue was sulphates, I wasn’t really thinking about the other nasties that could be in my hair care, so Tara’s collection really amazed me. After telling her my hair concerns Tara recommended both the Shine On* and the Feed The Root* ranges.

Feed The Root Shampoo & Conditioner

This range is designed to stimulate and nourish dry hair and scalp with essential minerals. Both the shampoo and conditioner smell very earthy; not unpleasant, but definitely a bit of a change from the usual heavily perfumed products I’m used to.

Shine On Shampoo & Conditioner

This range is designed to leave your hair squeaky clean with a glossy finish. The scent is more pleasant than the FTR range and it definitely makes hair feel a lot cleaner.

Verdict

Honestly speaking, when I first used both of these ranges I didn’t like them. My hair still felt really dirty and the absence of sulphates made it difficult for me to judge when to stop shampooing. Sulphates are the reason a foamy lather is created, so without them you don’t get a rich lather. Sulphate-free shampoos are less damaging on the hair, but take a while to get used to.

However, desperate to fulfil my resolution I tried them a few more times and I was a lot more impressed. The ‘clean’ feeling that I’d associated with my sulphate shampoos was actually the feeling of dry, moisture-stripped hair. After using both Tara Smith shampoos, my hair still felt strong and full of natural oils, and after applying the conditioner my hair actually felt like it does after I use an intense treatment.

Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a lot less breakage, my split ends don’t look as scraggly, and my hair generally looks and feels healthier. Now I’m sure this isn’t all down to Tara Smith, but I’m know the products have definitely helped.

At £10 each for 250ml of the shampoo and conditioner, these aren’t the cheapest hair products but they’re definitely worth the extra cash – in my opinion. In fact I’ve already repurchased the full-sizes.

The whole Tara Smith Vegan Hair Care Range is available exclusively from Your Beauty @ Marks & Spencer. The shampoos and conditioners are all available online and in selected M&S stores, priced at £5 and £10 for 100ml and 250ml bottles.

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Quick Review: Tommy Guns Smooth & Finish Crème

Tommy Guns Smooth & Finish Crème* has been an amazing addition to my hair care collection. My hair has absolutely no natural shine and is seriously lacklustre, so this crème is what I’ve been using to breath a bit of life into my locks.

It contains jojoba oil and vitamin E, which give the hair a nice, glossy shine whilst moisturising and protecting. It’s perfect for defrizzing when I’ve just blow-dried my hair and it’s looking really fluffy. Plus it smells amazing too.

My only issue with this is that it can be a little heavy. It needs to be applied quite sparingly or it can make your hair feel quite weighed down. The upside to that though is that 100ml will last for ages, and at £6.15 it’s a bit of a bargain.

  

Tommy Guns Smooth & Finish Crème is available to buy from ASOS, priced at £6.15 for 100ml.

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Review: Curl Harmony Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner and Buttercream

As much as I’m into skincare and looking after my skin and such, I really neglect my hair. Not on purpose, but I don’t have a hair routine as I have a facial and body routine. However I do really try to keep my dry, brittle tresses as hydrated as possible, especially with conditioners, balms and serums.

I recently received some lovely items from Curl Harmony and have been using them for the last few weeks. First up is the Curl Harmony Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner*.

It contains lots of ingredients that are great for your hair and is designed to strengthen and moisturise. I absolutely love intensive moisturisers and had high hopes for this, but unfortunately it just didn’t do it for me. I imagined that it’d be very similar to the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque but it falls very short.

It’s gorgeously thick and smells lovely but it didn’t really leave my hair feeling very moisturised. It wasn’t awful but with words such as ‘intensive’ and ‘repair’ in the name you expect it to be a bit more impressive than a regular conditioner. I think it would suit all hair types as a mid-week pick-me-up, but not so much as an intensive treatment. 

The winner for me was the Curl Harmony Buttercream*, which is all kinds of amazing. I’ve said it many times; multi-use products are just brilliant and this didn’t fail to impress me. I used it as pre-shampoo treatment, a hot oil treatment, when my hair was feeling like straw and also just after I’d blow-dried it and it was looking a bit ‘fluffy’.

The buttercream contains coconut oil, shea butter, olive butter, mango butter, avocado oil – need I continue? It’s so rich and smells absolutely gorgeous and has seriously been my hair saviour this winter. It also works as a nice ‘glosser’ when you warm a little in your hands and run it through your hair.

It’s quite heavy so I’d say it’s only suitable for the driest of hair or Afro hair – but I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Curl Harmony Intensive Repair Deep Conditioner and Buttercream are available from the Curl Harmony website, both priced at £4.95/60ml and £14.50/250ml.

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