Bardou Hair Care

The Bardou is a luxury beauty company who not only specialise in hair care and cosmetics but they have the most incredible salon in London's West End which offers blow dries, updos and even makeup application and it is well worthy of booking in for a bit of pampering before that big event. Not all of us do have time to get to a salon and the ethos behind Bardou is that they believe that anybody can have great hair if they have the right tools and using that thought, BARDOU created an at-home haircare range to ensure everybody can achieve the perfect blow-out, hair-do and hairstyle.

I have recently been using two products from their own hair care range which I was kindly sent and if you want luxury in your hair care, then Bardou do just this from their packaging to the actual product. 

The Immaculate Spray Dry Shampoo is described as being a dry shampoo was born of the desire to provide women with a high-quality hair product that offers instant results. It will refresh your hair within minutes, offering you a fabulous look while, at the same time, nourishing every single hair strand due to its innovative formula enriched with natural keratin. 

This Dry Shampoo smells incredible and it doesn't leave those horrid white traces in your hair or on your clothes.  I have combination hair which essentially means greasy roots and dry ends and certain times of the month can exacerbate the situation leaving my hair feeling so greasy I literally want to wash it twice a day.  We all know that doing so would be a bad idea, so instead, when the need arises, I grab my dry shampoo.  For me, having hair that looks and feels freshly washed is important and this dry shampoo does that but there is something a little special about it, not only does it not irritate my scalp it also helps give volume to my roots and it feels really lightweight.

Priced at £15 for 200ml.

The second product is the Finishing Mist and this is a product I never thought I would get much use out of until I used it.  Described as being the Finishing Mist which will answer all your styling needs, providing long-lasting medium-hold, offering flexibility and repairing damaged hair so that you can fully enjoy the benefits of a high-quality finishing mist without any disadvantage.  

I have in my time used quite a few finishing mists which are designed to hold your 'do' in place and admittedly I prefer them to an actual can of hairspray.  This one again comes with an incredible scent and rather than dry hard on to your hair and leave that horrid chemical smell, it not only holds your hair in place and allows free movement, it keeps the frizz at bay and also adds shine.  When it comes to brushing your hair at any time, there is no white residue, it isn't in any way sticky or tacky and it doesn't leave my hair feeling dry or dehydrated.

Priced at £12 for 200ml.

The Mist and the Dry Shampoo are incredible products and both are enriched with natural Keratin so they care for your hair whilst styling it. As well as being SLS and cruelty-free, the products are made right here in the UK and there are quite a few more products within the collection that I am eager to try.

Have you tried anything from The Bardou range?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Eylure x Fleur De Force Brow Define

The collaborations between Fleur De Force and Eylure have resulted in some stunning products that I have been lucky enough to receive. In December last year there was these stunning lashes and today I have some Brow products.

Brow products currently saturate the market, whether you want something high end or something from the high street, there is pretty much something from every brand in an array of shades, tones and colours.

The Eylure x Fleur De Force Brow Pencils are double ended. I did wrongly assume that one end would be the pencil and the other a spooley, as this is what you would normally get, but Fleur has gone one better with her designs and has instead included two shades on the one pencil with one end being a light option and the other a darker shade and I personally think this is really clever. For anyone who does their brows, you will know that the hairs start off quite light near to the nose and gradually get darker towards the end, not all one shade and unlucky for me, mine are quite sparse in places.  So when doing my own brows, I tend to swap and change between shades to try and make my brows look as natural as possible.

Enriched with coconut oil, these pencils are really slim and have a twist up pencil which is really easy to work with.  Once on the brow, it becomes smudge resistant which is always a plus.

Available in three shades – light, medium, dark.  Within each category there are two shade options, most noticeable within the light shade where one side of the pencil is really light and as a friend of mine with ginger hair said, perfect for her finally and the other side slightly darker.  I use the medium options for my brows which is the closest match and I use both sides of the crayon too.

The Eylure Fleur de Force Brow Define pencils are available HERE now for £12 each and at the time of writing this post, they are currently part of a 3 for 2 offer. 

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

The Ordinary Serum Foundation

When you hear of a product having a waiting list that exceeds 25000 you know that you need to join that list and find out what all the fuss is about - Deciem foundations sure did cause a bit of a frenzy with friends and bloggers all clambering to get their hands on this hot potato and when mine arrived, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about.

With Deciem foundations you have two choices - Full Coverage or Serum. Serum Foundations are lightweight medium-coverage formulations available in a comprehensive shade range across 21 shades and Coverage Foundations are full-coverage formulations available in a comprehensive shade range across 21 shades and are much deeper pigmented than the Serums. With me so far? I decided that I wanted to start my foundation journey with Deciem with the Serum foundations, I preferred the sound of it from the description and helpfully, Deciem have swatches of each and every shade on their website along with a helpful explanation of each and it is so helpful.

Deciem Foundations are divided into three categories: 1 for fair to lighter tones, 2 for medium tones; and 3 for darker tones which sounds quite simplistic until you realise that from there each category is then further classified by a second digit from 0 to 3 and this indicates the depth within each category. Finally, you will them notice that a letter has been added to the shade code to identify the undertone - P (Pink) and R (Red) indicate cool undertones for lighter and darker shades respectively and N indicates a Neutral tone and then Y indicates a Yellow undertone. From here each shade code has a descriptive name as well which if you sit for a few minutes and figure out where you stand within the tone category, it becomes easy to follow. The example being the Serum Foundation I was matched too being 1.0p which is very fair with pink undertones and 1.1p which is fair with pink undertones and the reason I have two is that I prefer to mix them together and use them.  The swatch below is without any filter or tinkering with the photo and it shows there is just a slight difference in shade.

Serum Foundations offer what is called moderate coverage, to you and I that means they look natural when applied but the finish is also semi-matte so for anyone who has an issue with shine, this foundation can be your best friend because it also doesn't cling to dry patches, sink into lines and it has an SPF15. They come in a pump action bottle which makes for using it a breeze, there is also an option to buy a dropper if that is your preference. As this is a serum foundation it does have a slightly runnier texture, but it makes no difference to the application, which I complete with my Beauty Blender.

Once applied, for me, this foundation lasts all day.  I put it on around 7.30am and it is till there at 5pm but I do use it in conjunction with The Ordinary High-Spreadability Fluid Primer but that said, this is a great foundation if you are not really a fan of heavy duty wallpaper paste foundations and at just £5.70 it isn't going to break the bank whether you love it or hate it!

Have you tried either of the Deciem foundations?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Julep Detoxifying Cleansing Stick

I adore Korean Skincare, not a new statement if you read this blog regularly, but I do.  There is always something new, somethi8ng exciting and every now and then there is an absolute gem of a product which is a total game changer and that is what I am sharing with you today. Meet the Julep Detoxifying Cleansing Stick.

I am a huge advocate of double, sometimes triple cleansing depending on how much time I have got and what mood I am in. I double cleanse at least twice a day whatever the circumstances and I love a good balm cleanser. Living in London your skin does take a bit of a battering from pollution and travelling around on public transport, those of you who are familiar with the tube will know all too well that horror that greats you when you blow your nose, that is not the colour I want to find coming off my skin.

The Detoxifying Cleanser Stick from Julep is just genius, a total game changer and if you travel a lot, frequently or a few times a year, this little product is just perfect!  Described as being a blend of natural oils and fruit enzymes that work to remove dirt, oil, and impurities while gently exfoliating for a deep-down clean and simply put it is a cleansing balm in stick form.

There are two ways that you can use this stick and it does depend on your preference.  Firstly you can apply it to wet hands and then massage it over a wet face or my preference is to ensure my face is wet and then using the stick, massage it around my face, avoiding my eyes but making sure I do cover my neck and decolletage, as I would do with any other balm cleanser.  The first thing to note is that this is a solid balm cleanser, which when it comes into contact with water, dissolves slightly making it much easy to use and it does lather quite quickly.  Then once I am happy I have covered all the areas I want to cleanse, I use my fingers to double check and then rinse off using warm water and a Konjac sponge.

I adore the scent of this cleanser, it has a fruity tang to it at a first sniff and as you massage onto your face, that scent only intensifies before dying down.  The scent comes from some key ingredients which include:

• Rice Bran Oil - Dives deep to purge impurities
• Grapefruit Peel Oil- Cleanses and evens skin tone
• Camellia Japonica Seed Oil - Hydrates and clarifies skin (Sourced from Jeju Island, Korea)
• Pomegranate Fruit Enzyme - Exfoliates gently

If you hadn't worked out already, I absolutely adore this Cleansing Stick and think it is just an incredible product, one I didn't know I needed until I met both Jane and Jenny, the founders of Julep a few months ago at a very special brand launch.

Now if this sounds like something you need in your life, the bad news is that you cannot yet get hold of it here in the UK but the good news is that it is coming to QVC in January along with some other incredible products across the skincare and makeup range. I have a few more products to share with you over the coming few weeks, so please look out for them.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.