September’s Goodie Box arrived in October – they usually come late in the month but this was even later than usual! It has two nail polishes, an eyeliner, lip gloss, powder puff and a body wash, so that’s a good amount of makeup compared to previous boxes. Every product was full sized!
Today we have a guest post from my Mum! It’s the start of a bit of a series about thinning hair and what she’s doing to improve hers:
While I was at the hairdressers recently, lamenting my thinning, damaged lacklustre hair, I turned the page of the Marie Claire magazine I was reading and saw an article about ways to improve thinning hair! What are the odds?!
Now, I’m a bit of a sceptic, and most of the suggestions were to put expensive lotions and potions on my hair. I know that magazine people get sent loads of free stuff to try and in return, they write articles about how good they are. Plus, I’ve tried many products over the years and have decided that whether they’re cheap or expensive, it doesn’t necessarily mean whether they’re any good or not. I’ve paid big money for sub-standard results, and little money for great results. (Same with skin care products too for that matter.)
As I was reading the article I laughed as there was the suggestion to take “hair thickening tablets” and my hairdresser asked about it and he laughed too. This was because, barely 20 minutes earlier I’d been telling him about all the lotions and potions I’d tried on my hair eg using coconut oil, emu oil and even making a duck fat intensive conditioner. He nearly died when I said that! Yes – good old duck fat out of the fridge that my husband uses to cook with! (Note from Lena – gross!!! Mum has not convinced me to try this) The thing is, when you have blonde hair you have to be careful of what you put in it, so darker coloured oils such as olive oil or argan oil, can turn your hair darker or worse – orange! Another thing that made my hairdresser balk, was telling him that I take a tablespoon of gelatine powder every day figuring that it might help my hair! (I later found out he was a vegetarian, so as well as being disgusted with the idea of it – he didn’t like the fact that animals had been a part of my treatment regime)
So when we saw the article mentioning Viviscal hair treatment tablets I said I’d google them (what else does one do whilst stuck in the hairdressers chair besides that and drink coffee). I discovered they were $199 for three months and I exclaimed $199!!! I then laughed and said “I’ll probably buy it though” and we both cracked up.
I thought about this Viviscal treatment on and off for a few days, and went on their website to read more. It seems the main ingredient is shark cartilage and when I googled that, I discovered it is mostly promoted as being good for joints – arthritis and that kind of thing. I read a lot of reviews about it, and people seemed pretty positive, so I was feeling quite tempted. They also have a few clinical studies that showed good results.
Now – this is where it gets really weird. My daughter Lena, who writes this blog, contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in trialling these new hair tablets she’d found out about – and guess what?? They were Viviscal! I jumped at the chance and now can’t wait to get started.
Here’s a couple of “before” photos so you see what I’m dealing with…. which is basically over-processed, thinning, dry, lacklustre, straggly, dull, lifeless hair. My hairdresser is constantly trying to get me to cut my hair short and dye it brown but I said I want to persevere with my long hair to see if I could get it looking any better. As I mentioned earlier, I feel like I’ve tried everything with my hair but despite that it’s still thinning! I try to style it in ways that give it more volume, but they all tend to involve heat which also isn’t great for the hair – there’s no winning with this!
Sad face at thinning hair (plus she said it was a classic “before” shot)
– poor Mum!
I have learnt recently that aging (my least favourite topic) also contributes to thinning hair – great! Not only that, but I was watching television recently and there was an ad that started “we all know that once we hit our 40’s our eyelashes start thinning” … double great! (sarcasm intended) (and no, we don’t all know that!). I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, what used to be thick, full, eyelashes – were indeed thinner.
The six months supply of Viviscal tablets for me to review arrived in all their glory along with special shampoo and conditioner – very exciting! The tablets are quite large which I’m sure could put off some people (size doesn’t worry me though), and the packaging of the tablet sleeves is such, that even though they will be thrown in my handbag to fend for their life with all the other rubble – I’m sure they will survive intact due to the thickness of the foil.
So now, as I have just taken my first tablet (I’m to take one in the morning and one in the evening), and am looking fervently in the mirror for signs of hair growth and improvement, I am also hoping it will help my eyelashes. My other half, who is even more sceptical than I am about such things, is laughing as I write this – mouthing the words whilst shaking his head “it’s not going to do anything” – so we’ll wait 3 and then 6 months to see who is right (I soooo hope it is me).
Stay tuned!
3 month review up now – read it here and 6 month review here
By Lulu
Product provided by Viviscal for purposes of review.
Maybelline New York have added some new products to the much beloved Baby Lips family with a range of Electro pop lip balms and these have reached New Zealand shores. The new balms are Oh! Orange, Berry Bomb and Pink Shock and they all have delicious fruity scents – Orange, Berry and Watermelon. To my great excitement, I have been sent Oh! Orange and Berry Bomb and here they are:
Today I’m going to be talking about something a little bit different – a new beauty routine that could potentially save your life. The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation (NZBCF) has partnered with Skinfood to create Breast Cream – a product to encourage women to check their breasts as part of their regular beauty routine. It’s a nice nourishing moisturiser, and the idea behind it is that by applying it, women will check their breasts regularly.
I’ve been making a huge effort to try and use up as many products as possible, so that beauty products don’t take over my entire house. There’s a fair bit coming in between purchases, subscription boxes and products to review, so others have got to be emptied. Today I’ll be showing you what I finished in September, ranging from body to haircare, so lets get started!
I have been a huge fan of Lady Gaga for years now, but I’ve only really been into makeup for a couple of years. That’s why I had no idea that in 2010 Lady Gaga had collaborated with MAC to produce a lipstick for their Viva Glam range. All the money from sales of Viva Glam lipsticks goes to the MAC AIDS fund, which supports organisations for people with HIV/AIDS. This is a great scheme, with 100% of the sale price going to the charity, as opposed to a dollar or two which most charitable cosmetics offers seem to be. Recently my friend Kalliana of 9 to 5 Nails decided to accept that this just didn’t suit her, to my good fortune!
Today I’m going to be showing you the most challenging nail art I’ve ever attempted. The Polish Addicts of New Zealand group/blog has run a nail art contest named ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’. You had to choose good magic, or dark magic, and do nail art to go with that theme. When I think of magic, my first thought is Harry Potter, so I’ve entered under the good magic category.
