22 Products I’ve Repurchased More Than Once

Posted on 08/07/2017 by Cia Eclectica

I think that one of the most glowing accolades a product can have is that someone would use an entire bottle/pot/tube of it and then go out to buy another one right away. Even more so, when someone has done that more than once… in a world of millions of beauty and cosmetic products to choose from, repurchasing is definitely the best measure of quality! So with that being said, here are some products that I have purchased, in full size, multiple times. I know, it’s A LOT. I won’t be offended if you just scroll through and skim read until you get to a product or product type you’re interested in 😉 The list includes cleansers, skincare, makeup, haircare and bodycare products. Enjoy! And share some of your ‘most bought products’ in the comments 😉

Cleansers

REN Evercalm Cleansing Gel, £15. This is my everyday cleanser for morning and evening. It’s very gentle and soothing, and the perfect cleanser for anyone with delicate or sensitive skin who wants a rinse-off product that won’t completely dry out or strip their skin of natural oils. I’ve used about two bottles of this, and it’s a great, basic cleanser.

Jurlique Balancing Foaming Cleanser, £22.50. I’ve been using this stuff for EVER and I love it. It’s perfect for combination skin types that can get a little on the oily side – I love to use this three or four times a week to deeply cleanse, or in the evening when it’s been a hot or long day, as it really feels like it removes everything without leaving your skin tight or uncomfortable. I must have gone through about four bottles by now, no matter what else I’m using I always have to have a bottle of this on the go too!

Mario Badescu Botanical Exfoliating Scrub, £23. I’ve been using this for about three years and am on my third tube – this stuff lasts forever! It smells gorgeous and the thick gel texture, rich in aloe vera, protects and soothes the skin. There’s also ginger in there to refresh, coconut to moisturise and camellia to soothe. The scrub particles are gentle and rounded palm seed fragments – so they are biodegradable too. I find that this scrub is very gentle, but really effective. With most scrubs that perhaps might slough off a lot more, they can actually be really irritating for the skin, so it’s best to use a gentle one more frequently than a harsh one less often. I highly recommend this one as a great option!

Caudalie Makeup Removing Cleansing Oil, £18. This is such an amazingly fuss-free product – all you do is massage three pumps of the oil over your face (including eyes), emulsify it into a milk with a little water on your hands, and then when all your makeup is melted, rinse off with more water. It takes seconds! The only makeup remover that has ever come close to being as good is Trilogy’s Makeup Be Gone Cleansing Balm, but you have to use a flannel with that one so it’s not as practical (that being said though, you don’t need to double cleanse with the Trilogy product and you do with this, so I guess they’re about equal really). I must have gone through four bottles so far, and I have a travel size…

Skincare

Avene Tolerance Extreme Emulsion, £13.50. I’ve been using this pretty much exclusively as my moisturiser since it launched two years ago, and I love it as much then as I do today! This moisturiser has only 7 ingredients and is completely free of preservatives and fragrance. Now, I love fragranced products but my skin can be picky, and ever since I introduced this into my routine I noticed that my skin has been much calmer, less sensitive and better hydrated than ever before. Which is a delightful finding. I would recommend this, not only to people with sensitive skin, but anyone who wants a light moisturiser that will protect and lock in hydration. I wrote a more in-depth review of what makes this moisturiser so special here.

Caudalie VineActiv Serum, £36. Oh GOD I love this serum. I’ve been using it since January and am on my second bottle. The idea of this serum is that it contains a really powerful complex of antioxidants that will help your skin to combat the free radicals that we encounter every day, which can cause dullness and premature ageing. And it really, ACTUALLY works. My skin had an inner glow after I started using this, and I was super stressed and working in London so that’s pretty impressive! I can’t attest to it’s anti-ageing powers because I deliberately started using it before my skin started to age, but I have no plans to stop using it so if my skin starts getting saggy and wrinkly, I’ll let you know. But judging by the way it made my skin so glowy, I doubt that will happen!

Hurraw Coconut Lipbalm, £4.99. This natural coconut scented lipbalm is the best I’ve ever tried. It melts onto the lips so doesn’t have that horrid thick feeling of many wax or mineral oil based lip products. With coconut, almond, cocoa, jojoba, olive and castor oils, it is super nourishing and leaves even very chapped lips feeling soothed and comfortable.

Lush Rosy Cheeks Face Mask, £7.25. This has been my favourite face mask for years! It does everything – deep cleanses with clay, soothes and nourishes with rose and reduces redness (from spots or sensitivity) with calamine. The scent is absolutely beautiful – pure rose to calm the senses, and the price is very reasonable.

Makeup

NARS All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation and Radiant Creamy Concealer, £34 and £23. These have been my absolute holy grail for a flawless, full coverage makeup look for about three years, I am obsessed with them both and have repurchased each three times. However…as I was writing this post the announcement came that NARS have started to sell in China. Now, my opinions on brands that sell in China aren’t black and white for several reasons, but a brand intentionally taking its business to China when they KNOW (because brands didn’t always know) what is going on, makes it clear that they are only out for money, and I don’t agree with that, so I won’t be buying these again when they run out.

Benefit Bathina ‘Take a Picture, it Lasts Longer’ Body Balm, £23.50. Ok I know, this is a really weird thing to have bought more than one of, but when you’re pale and have no intention of being anything else, it’s a great way to give your skin a summery sheen without using bronzer. I use it on my legs and arms when I’m going out in the summer, and it leaves my skin just looking a little more…alive. Ha. Plus is smells SUPER gorgeous. Here is a full review!

DHC Oil Blotting Papers, £4.50. I use these constantly; for preparing my eyes before I apply eye makeup, for just blotting on super hot and oily skin days, and for prepping my skin to receive more product if I’m going out in the evening and want to layer over my workday makeup. They come in a lovely little cardboard holder, and don’t disturb any makeup, including eyeshadow!

Serge Lutens Fleurs D’Oranger Eau de Parfum, £75. This is the most expensive cosmetic item I own and it’s SO worth it that I’ve bought it twice. This perfume is my perfect scent, I don’t have much more to say about it other than if you like your fragrances light, floral but not ‘pink’ (if that makes sense) then pop down to your nearest House of Fraser (or Liberty) and have a smell, because this is the most beautiful fragrance I have ever worn. Also, I get compliments constantly, so…

Bodycare

Lush Elbow Grease, £5.95. This was SUCH a revelation when I first bought it. Originally it was one of the exclusives on offer in Lush’s Oxford Street store but it became so popular that they made it available anywhere. Not only is its greaseproof paper packaging one the most sustainable ways of storing a body oil/lotion, it is honestly one of the most beautiful products I own, and I think I’ve gone through three or four now. The scent is a rich, tropical, floral concoction and the product melts into a nourishing oil as soon as you massage it in. You can use it on your hair too! Read more here.

Korres Bergamot Pear Shower Gel, £8. I’ve bought this so many times that I have memorised at least 5 different stores near me that stock it. This is been my favourite shower gel for about three years now and nothing so far has beaten it! It leaves my skin soft and refreshed but it’s the SMELL, guys. Oh my GOD. It’s sweet and fruity from the pear but has a fresh citrus notes from the bergamot. It’s just the freaking BEST.

Avene XeraCalm Cream, £16.50. My partner and I are both prone to the occasional bout of eczema or contact dermatitis. This cream from Avene actually works on the itch receptors in your nerves to stop you from itching, whilst also protecting the skin and adding oil back into it – basically everthing you need to heal a plaque of eczema. I also use it as a hand cream in the winter time to prevent eczema from forming. It really works, and I would recommend it to anyone with super sensitive dry skin too.

Lush Silky Underwear Dusting Powder, £5.95. While I will be the first to admit that I own a lot of ‘princess products’, I do like to think that at least some of them are valid as products with practical applications, as well as being a little bit indulgent and pretty. This is definitely one of them. A jasmine scented ‘dusting powder’ certainly fits the description of a product you really don’t need but makes you feel all nice when you use it. And it really does! But over the years (yes years, I bought my first back in like..2013?) I’ve found it to be indispensable for preventing thigh chafe, for applying to the underarms at night to prevent them smelling in the morning, for freshening up your sheets when you’ve just had a bath but it’s not time to change them, for applying to your feet on hot days… it might be a silly sounding product, but it fits perfectly into my life and I will never be without it.

Pit Rok Salt Spray Deodorant, £4.05. I’ve been using this for about four years now and oh my GOD if you’re still using anti-perspirant just stop already. Ok, it’s not the same for everyone, I know that, and actually my boyfriend still uses anti-perspirant because his job is very active, but if you work in an office, you should really try using a salt deo instead, it’s just so much better for you, and Pit Rok’s works soooo well! I hardly ever have noticeable body odour, and even then it’s not like that smell where you walk past someone and recoil, it’s only if I actually smell my underarms. But even for that, there is a solution…

Weleda Sage Deodorant Spray, £9.50. I keep this at work (hence why it’s not in the photos) for those days when the tube journey in was hotter than hell, or when I’ve been to six meetings in a row and arrive back a sweaty, flustered mess. Just to make sure I don’t accost my colleague’s nostrils with any possible smell! It’s absolutely perfect for this, as it completely eliminates odour. I work in an office where you can reapply your deo while sitting at your desk, but if you’re in a more formal environment, Weleda actually make a mini size that you can bring to the loo with you. If you’re still not convinced, I have also written a post about how to go anti-perspirant free 🙂

Haircare

I think of myself as someone who never experiments with haircare, but actually I was looking back through my blog the other day and saw the products I was using when I first started blogging, and not only do I not use any of them anymore, I can’t even remember why I thought they were good! The products I’m sharing here though? A M A Z I N G.

Lush RnB Hair Moisturiser, £11.95 per 100g. I have literally repurchased this 8 times, 6 of those times in it’s largest, 400g tub size. I am utterly addicted to it, it sinks into my hair faster than any other hair cream I’ve used before, it creates beautiful, soft, smooth and defined curls, and it smells divine. Read the full review and then go buy some if you have curly/dry/textured/thick or long hair!!!!

Shea Moisture Raw Shea & Cupuacu Conditioner, £10.99. I always used to think I HAD to use expensive hair masks instead of conditioner, because my hair is so thick, curly and porous. I mean, when I was still using measly European hair products I did, but since discovering Shea Moisture a few years ago (before they hit Boots I’ll have you know), I realised that was no longer the case. This conditioner detangles, smoothes and nourishes my hair better than anything from any other brand I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried at least 50 different conditioners in my life, aimed at pretty much every hair type there is, and this is my favourite.

Hei Poa Monoi Oil with 1000 Fleurs, approx £11. I first discovered this while browsing a Monoprix in Paris, and I’m SO annoyed that it hooked me the way it did – because you can’t get it over here! However, you can buy it from Cocoon Centre, which is an international website that uses distributors to ship worldwide. This oil is normal Tahitian Monoi oil, which is known for it’s beautiful fragrance and ultra-nourishing properties, but it’s infused with a concoction of other flowers too, giving it the ‘1000 fleurs’ name. This scent is almost indescribably beautiful; think of the most tropical thing you’ve ever smelled, then times it by 10 and imagine smelling it in 30 degree heat, surrounded by palm trees, watching the sun set over a calm sea. I apply it to my hair after conditioner and then wrap it up in cling film for an hour, for the softest hair ever. It solidifies at room temperature, which means that it doesn’t wash out as easily as a normal hair oil, which makes it perfect for this. I’m about to start my third bottle.

I hope you enjoyed this! As a bonus I thought I’d share some more products that I definitely plan to repurchase but don’t need to just now, because I haven’t run out yet, or am getting rid of a few things in my stash first: Perricone MD No Lipgloss Lipgloss, Trilogy Makeup Be Gone Cleansing Balm, Pixi Makeup Fixing Mist, Jurlique Rosewater Mist, Aesop Geranium Leaf Body Oil, Aveda Dry Remedy Shampoo, Caudalie SOS Thirst Quenching Serum.

Lush Avocado Co-Wash: Review and How to Use!

Posted on 22/02/2016 by Cia Eclectica

Hello reader! Thank you for visiting my blog. Before you read about this product, I wanted to give you the opportunity to read about my updated haircare recommendations. I wrote this blog post a long time ago, and have since found products that are FAR better than this one. Read more here!

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Say hello to Lush’s edam-lookalike, heavenly scented, super nourishing Avocado Co-Wash.* (Pssst, are you from the USA? Click here instead)

If you don’t know, a co-wash is a ‘conditioning wash’ meaning that it’ll take the gunk out of your hair without taking out any of the precious oils. Developed for afro hair, co-washing is also suitable for anyone who suffers from a dry scalp, dry, damaged or curly hair. I use a lot of afro products anyway, including ones from Lush, so I was REALLY excited when they brought this out.

With fresh avocado, cocoa butter, olive oil and cupuacu butter, this is a seriously nourishing product. But apple cider vinegar and SLS ensure that hair is left super clean and shiny too. Yes, I said SLS – but before you close the tab in disgust, let me explain something. SLS can be irritating, but that’s only because brands who don’t care about your skin shove it into products without any regard to how much they put in, or how balanced it is with the rest of the ingredients. A bit of SLS in a well-formulated product isn’t going to do anything to you unless your skin is hypersensitive (in which case I doubt you’re reading this blog post anyway).

It’s quite a simple product really, the conditioning oils and butters outweigh the cleansers, and it’s all tied together with a heavenly lime scent. I started using it after a Lush employee insisted that I try it (and after smelling it I was 100% sold) after I went in to buy a pot of R&B Hair Moisturiser, and after using them both together for months, my hair and scalp have never been in such good condition. My hair is soft and shiny, my scalp is clean. I am absolutely over the moon that I’ve found two products that make my hair look, feel and smell so good!

I first used Avocado Co-Wash back in the summer, and have used it almost every time I’ve washed my hair since. I know what you’re thinking, I’m such a lazy blogger, but no! I didn’t want to write about it until I’d figured out the best way to use it. You see, Avocado Co-Wash is a bit of a weird and wonderful product. A solid, pliable, almost waxy bar, the question of actually how to get it in your hair is a tough one. The instructions on Lush’s website just don’t work for me. They say to wet the bar, rub it up a bit to lather, and then rub it onto the scalp/hair. Perhaps this would work for people with short hair, and it’s probably great for afro hair as per their instructional video. But for me, this results in pulling, tangles, and not a whole lot of product. In the shop, the sales assistant told me to rub a bit across completely dry hands and then wet it before massaging into my scalp, but have you ever tried to achieve completely dry hands in a steamy bathroom? Impossible. So anyway, here’s my Avocado Co-Wash How To!

Get a clean cup or receptacle (preferably plastic, I’m only using glass here because I wanted to be pretty for you) large enough to swirl 1-2 inches of water around in it.

Gouge off a bit of Avocado Co-Wash. I usually use about 3cm of product I’d say. It’s not an exact science, as you can always do another cleanse after (notice how the Co-Wash goes a bit browner after it’s been out? Just like an Avocado! So cool).

Put a bit of hot water in the cup – not a lot, just enough to mostly cover the Wash.

Swirl (or stir, if you want to use a spoon, or shake if you use an empty cosmetic bottle like I do!) the liquid around in the glass like you’re doing a science experiment.

Once it’s started to dissolve, add a bit more hot water. At this point, the Wash should have softened enough that you can squidge it and get it to dissolve even further.

Finally, add a teeny bit more water, until you have a good enough amount to wash your hair with.

So there you have it! My favourite shampoo, and my favourite way to use it. I cannot recommend it enough, I just can’t get over how clean and soft it leaves my hair! Get it here or pop into your local Lush.

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Lush R&B Hair Moisturiser

Posted on 27/10/2015 by Cia Eclectica

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The first time I used Lush’s R&B Hair Moisturiser was a couple of weeks before I went to the Amazon Rainforest for two months. I wanted to bring bio-degradable everything but had found it nearly impossible to get green shampoo and conditioner that would suit my dry, frizzy, curly, thick hair. So I decided that if I just had a really good moisturiser, my hair would be ok with whatever I was going to use to wash the sweat, flies and grime out.

Naturally, I headed to Lush, where I found this gorgeously fragranced, super rich hair moisturiser. I was head over heals in love with it, but I realised as soon as I stepped off the plane in Peru that I was going to end up as insect bait with this stunning scent in my hair, so I had to make do with leaving conditioner on my ends the entire time!

Fast forward two years and I found myself in Lush again, poring over the amazing new products in the Oxford Street store. I picked up the tester tub of R&B and as I smelled that incredible scent the memories of Peru came flooding back. I put a little on one of my curls, and seeing the way it instantly left my hair smooth, shiny and soft, I took a tub to the counter immediately.

R&B Hair Moisturiser is a powerhouse of hair nourishment, with avocado butter, olive oil, cupuacu butter, coconut oil and candelilla wax to protect, intensely moisturise and smooth frizzy, thick, dry, curly hair. Jasmine and orange absolutes give it a heady yet fresh, tropical scent that transports me back to the Amazon every time. The great thing about R&B is that it’s designed to help care for the scalp too, with soothing oat milk, easily absorbed jojoba oil and purifying bay oil to calm and nourish the overworked roots of the curly-haired. However, not only it it genuinely amazing for the health of your hair, it is the ultimate, perfect styling product for me.

I use R&B Hair Moisturiser once a week when I wash my hair, and always apply it to damp/wet hair, after spraying it all over with some Palmer’s Coconut Moisturising Spray. It says on the R&B instructions that for the naturally curly you should apply to dry hair, but I find it’s perfect for ‘setting’ my curls after they’re washed. It takes me FOREVER, but I painstakingly separate every curl from root to tip, and smooth a fingertip of R&B through it. I follow this with a quick slick of Twisted Sista Serum. Now, I’ve had a similar haircare routine (spray, cream, serum and the best curling iron) for a long time, and the Palmer’s and Twisted Sista products have been a staple forever, but I can honestly say my hair is the healthiest it has ever been since using R&B Hair Moisturiser. It smells utterly divine, and it’s very telling that I’ve been compelled to take selfies like the above so much recently…my hair did NOT look like that before I started using R&B Hair Moisturiser…

As if you needed any more proof that this product is absolutely amazing, look at the size I’ve started buying it in. Literally a bucket, and quite possibly one of the best investments I’ve made in my hair for a very long time. Although to be fair, at £34.95 for 450g, R&B Hair Moisturiser actually pretty incredible value. Try one of their smaller sizes to start with – £11.95 for 100g or £22.75 for 225g. Though if you have dry, thick, curly, frizzy or damaged hair I have no doubt you’ll end up buying the huge tub! Thanks for the perfect product, Lush.

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Lush Elbow Grease

Posted on 24/08/2015 by Cia Eclectica

I’ve been posting about Lush a lot recently (see here, here and here). This adoration is well deserved, because their new products are seriously amazing, and I think this melty, fragrant and intensely nourishing Elbow Grease moisturising bar might be one of my favourites.

A fragrant, rich moisturising bar that can be used anywhere you need to nourish some dryness, Elbow Grease contains a gorgeous mixture of butters and oils held together seemingly by magic. The nourishing coconut oil, cupuacu and murumuru butters keep it in a bar shape, but only just. It’s so finely balanced that almost as soon as it comes into contact with your fingers it melts into a rich, thick oil. There’s candelilla wax in there too, which protects the skin like beeswax does. I keep my bar in its original paper to make sure it doesn’t melt on me. I’m sure it won’t, as it does hold its shape really well when your skin isn’t in direct contact with it, but still.

I’ve never seen a product do this before (not even coconut oil on it’s own melts this quickly) and I absolutely love it. Melty gorgeousness aside, one of the best things about Elbow Grease is the smell. Holy crap, this stuff smells like heaven. It’s an intoxicating blend of neroli, orange blossom, rosewood, sandalwood and ylang ylang that wakes you up and makes you smile as soon as you smell it. Apart from the gorgeous fragrance, there were a few other reasons I bought it. First, I thought it would be good for the rough skin that I sometimes get on my hands and feet (to put on at night since there’s no way I’d be able to use my hands after slathering it on!). Then I thought it would be perfect for softening, perfuming and conditioning my underarm hair. But finally, and most importantly, I had an inkling that Elbow Grease would be amazing for my thick, dry, coarse, frizzy and curly hair.

And that’s what this post is really about, because seriously, I was RIGHT. The first time I tried Elbow Grease on my hair, I had it up in a frizzy, annoying ponytail. I was in a rush so I just pinched a bit out and rubbed in between my fingers before smoothing it through my hair… and the frizz was gone. I had smooth, shiny curls all day. I’ve used it several times since, particularly when my hair gets that annoying bouncy frizz thing going on. Every time I use it end up with defined, shiny and nourished curls. Here’s the proof:

Same handful of hair, but before the second pic I quickly ran some Elbow Grease over each curl. Now, it goes without saying that if your hair is thinner, oilier or generally more well behaved than mine, Elbow Grease will not have such a subtle and desirable effect on your hair. However, my boyfriend, who’s hair is completely normal and acceptable, has started using it about once a fortnight on his hair before he goes to bed, to soften and nourish it like an intense mask, and it looks gorgeous. He’s sitting with it on right now and actually it doesn’t look oily at all!

I am SO impressed with this stuff, and am secretly hoping I end up with my annual ‘winter dry hands’ so I have an excuse to use this on more parts of my body. I’m gonna get them anyway, may as well have a reason to look forward to it! Get Elbow Grease on Lush for £5.95 – link

Bringing the beauty – a Travel Post!

Posted on 07/08/2014 by Cia Eclectica

I’m super excited. Tomorrow I’ll be going to New York for the first time! And then up to Canada, to stay with a friend. I can’t wait, and I thought that before I go I’d share how I roll when it comes to travelling.

These are my essentials for hand luggage. A good book. Palmer’s lipbalm. Weleda Skin Food (for my face). Weleda Rhinodoron spray for my nose (the dry air doesn’t like my sinuses). A mini Jurlique Rose Hand Cream (luxurious and nourishing, because I’ll be using a tonne of antibac hand wipes too). Pacifica Coconut Milk Wipes (for freshening up). Urbanears Headphones (the best, and prettiest). Gin Gin ginger sweets (for ear popping purposes). Benefit’s They’re Real! (because my eyelashes are more or less see through so I need mascara at all times). Buddha Nose Girl Balm (the smell is calming and refreshing at the same time).

I’m so glad I invested in a few new mini bottles to decant all this in. Because it went from all that…

To just these! So satisfying. I’m going to need to wash my hair while I’m away which is annoying, because I need to use so much shampoo and conditioner I have no choice but to bring whole bottles. But being able to shink the rest of the products down to just this has helped SO MUCH. Most of these bottles came from Muji, with the exception of the Travalo perfume bottle, and the oil bottle, which actually came from a Weleda Body Oil set.

I’ve kept it super simple with make up. To be fair, my make up routine is very simple all the time anyway, as I rarely experiment. I just decanted a couple of broken eyeshadows into my tiniest travel pots to save a little space.

So that’s it! I’m really pleased with how much space I’ve saved with those Muji bottles. Happy travels, touch wood! And if you’re going away yourself this summer, I hope you have a great time 🙂

Review: Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Leave In Conditioner

Posted on 18/07/2014 by Cia Eclectica

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Oh wow is it hot in here. And by here, I mean ALL OF LONDON. It’s ridiculous. I had two job interviews this week and had to go out and buy new clothes because I don’t own anything smart but breathable enough for this weather. Anyway, sweating almost as much as I did in the Amazon aside, this kind of heat does all kinds of dreadful things to my hair, things of the dry frizz variety. Enter: Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Leave In Conditioner.

First things first, this stuff smells DIVINE. I used it just before going out one night (you’ll see the effect below) and one of my friends was drunkenly telling me over and over how good my hair smelled! It’s coconutty, but doesn’t get the stale smell that pure coconut oil gets if you put it on you hair. Consistency-wise, its a very watery lotion, so its perfect for my super thick hair, as cream takes an age to distribute.

Hope you like my set up. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to break out the ludicrous hawaiian shirt I bought on Brick Lane. Have you ever seen such an angry toucan? Anyway, back to the thing I was supposed to be talking about…

I’ve used the Leave In as a product on wet hair, and to revitalise dry hair, and it’s been great for both. After washing, I needed to dry my hair better than I usually would, because obviously its quite a liquidy formula, but it’s such an amazing defrizzer that it didn’t matter. My hair feels so smooth when I put it on, really really silky and soft.

You have no idea how hard it is to take good selfies of my hair…

After following with my other styling products, the curls stayed soft for several days, which was amazing. But then naturally, they started to frizz up a bit after that. So I reapplied. Here’s a before and after of how that went (hint: really rather well)

And here’s another one from just after washing, because when my hair looks good I really like to get as much coverage as possible.

I LOVE this Leave In. It goes perfectly with the Coconut Oil Hair Milk to leave me with silky soft, shiny, perfectly defined curls. I don’t like to use things that make my hair crunchy, but equally I hate having fluffy hair, and this hits it right in the middle. I can’t use the milk when my hair is dry as I can’t brush it, so the leave in is the ideal alternative. And it’s super cheap – only £4.99 on feelunique.com!

While I was setting up this ridiculous set of photos, I realised that I’ve accumulated quite the collection of Palmer’s products! Not even I realised I loved the brand this much, but I do!

Before I go, I want to talk about that awesome little thing down in the bottom right. Cocoa Butter Lip Balm.

Again with the angry toucan, I can’t get enough of it. This lip balm has obviously been around forever, but this was a shape I hadn’t seen before, its oblong rather than round. They do loads of different cocoa butter swivel sticks (a friend of mine used to use a gigantic one that I always thought was cool because you could use it on dry skin too) but I really like this version.

This is the point where I gave up and just made the photo all about the angry toucan. But do you see what I mean? It’s a really nice shape to use, and its the wonderful Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lip Balm you’ve doubtless bought before and loved. If you haven’t – try it out, it goes on silky, and really nourishes wonderfully. Get it from Superdrug for £1.89!

Natural Curly Hair Care Routine

Posted on 06/04/2014 by Cia Eclectica

Hello reader! Thank you for visiting my blog. Before you read this blog post, I wanted to give you the opportunity to read a more up-to-date post about my current haircare recommendations. I wrote this blog post a long time ago, and have since found products that are FAR better than this one. Read more here!

Soooo…here it is! Everything I use on my hair aside from my Tangle Teezer and towel (I’m not showing you my Tangle Teezer, it looks like a dog chewed it…nope, just my hair). Continue reading →

Miracle Curly Product: Palmer’s Coconut Oil Hair Milk

Posted on 02/04/2014 by Cia Eclectica

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Big news. Its taken me quarter of a century, but I think I might have PERFECTED MY HAIR CARE ROUTINE. And when I say that’s big news, I really mean it. For me, my hair has been a nightmare from the day it started to grow (ok so given the fact that I was bald until I was a toddler maybe I’m exaggerating the length of time, but not by much). I’m going to make a more detailed post about my new hair care routine later on, with all the products I use, but for now I just wanted to share the most recent one, because this one is had such an INCREDIBLE effect that I had to share it right away. Don’t ask me why I photographed it next to my lavender, because all I can tell you is that I’m rather proud of my decorative arrangement and it was just sitting there when I went to take the photo.

Thank you Palmer’s, for your Coconut Oil Formula Replenishing Hair Milk, because my hair has literally never been this soft or shiny. Almost as soon as I smoothed it onto my wet hair I could feel the difference I’d been looking for. My hair stayed smooth as it dried, it didn’t frizz, and its really shiny. Being curly, thick, frizzy and dry, my hair can’t be washed often so keeping it soft while avoiding build up is essential, and this has helped to keep my hair in incredible condition for FIVE days. Absolutely unheard of. Its a very soft cream, that absorbs really easily, which is exactly what I need because I have to use water to form my curls (more on that later) so combing product through my hair isn’t an option. Afro, curly and dry hair will soak this up with relish, it’s just gorgeous. Smells deliciously coconutty too (you know how sometimes coconut stuff can be a bit disappointing? This is NOT one of those times). Now, are you ready for some hair? …

No, not even taking a selfie for my blog will get me out of my fleece hooded poncho when I’m in it. It’s got pockets for heaven’s sake. I will post some clearer pictures of my hair when I do the post on my full routine so you can actually see the result. But this was taken yesterday, and I washed it on Saturday, so you can see how well the curls have stayed.

The best thing about this Coconut Oil Hair Milk is that I got it on offer at my local Sainsbury’s for under £3! Normally £5, which is still an absolute bargain for such an amazing product. Even I only needed a couple of globs for my whole head (trust me, I have more hair than you do) so it’ll last for ages – Thank you Palmer’s!

Silkskin Pillowcase

Posted on 09/02/2014 by Cia Eclectica

I’ve just moved to London, and have spent the past few days trying to absorb as much of the city as I can. Of course this involves visiting lots of shops, and Harvey Nichols was high on my list, as I’ve actually never been there before. I had a beautiful walk from Kensington High Street along Hyde Park and past the Royal Albert Hall. Harvey Nick’s definitely didn’t disappoint – I was particularly impressed by the fact that there’s a guy in a top hat who opens the door for you. How sweet is that? Ok, so, onto my purchase…

Having very curly, frizzy and thick hair, I encounter seemingly endless issues when it comes to putting my damn head on a pillow and waking up with my style intact. Apart from a couple of lucky mornings where I must have somehow risen from the bed and slept in the air, my curls are always destroyed come morning. Which is frustrating because it takes three hours for my hair to be anywhere near dry after I wash it, plus if I wash it more than every four days it turns into a haystack. That’s where this bad boy comes in…

Those are some pretty lofty claims right there on that packaging. Lofty and a little exciting – though to their credit I don’t think I’ve ever actually been frizz free so I won’t be holding them to it too strictly. All I want is to wake up with hair isn’t framed by a massive floppy halo. As for the pillow itself, I love it. It has a really interesting feel to it – nothing like a normal silk pillow where you feel sweaty and like you’re about to slide off it all the time. It feels a lot more like cotton, or (and trust me, this is actually not as weird as it sounds) like really, really soft skin. I guess that’s where the name comes from! It doesn’t make you feel sweaty at all, and when I woke up my skin felt great, really soft and a lot calmer than normal.

As for my hair – I am impressed. Even though it had been blown around all day in the wind and then frizzed up in a club all night, I still woke up with soft curls, and MUCH less frizz than I would have done normally. I’m looking forward to seeing how my skin and hair get on as I keep sleeping on it! I really recommend it to anyone who wants to improve the condition of their skin and hair, especially if, like mine, yours can be quite high-maintenance.

Cia Eclectica

A blog about being better

Tag Archives: Hair care

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Miracle Curly Product: Palmer’s Coconut Oil Hair Milk

Silkskin Pillowcase

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