Remington - Silk Curling Wand

A couple of months ago now I received the Remington Silk Curling Wand as a gift from my brother, the little cutie. Now I must admit it did sit unopened in my cupboard, up until last Monday morning when I decided I'd take it out of the box and give it a go. I don't regularly curl my hair as it can be a bit of a chore due to its length and thickness, it can become quite time consuming. That being said it's probably my favourite way to have my hair. 

When I do go ahead and curl my hair I usually grab my Mark Hill - Pro Magic Wand, which is a thick conical shaped barrel. This particular Remington wand isn't the typical conical shape, but is an elliptical styling wand as it has an almost flatter surface. Initially this left me wondering what difference it may make on my hair. 

                                                                                                                                                                  

































It took about twenty minutes of sectioning and curling my hair to achieve the finished look - which was tight, pretty spiral curls. It was nice, but not the look I was going for. So after brushing through my hair a couple of times and spritzing a bit of hairspray, I was left with more relaxed and looser looking curls. 
    
This wand is easy to use, especially if you've used this kind of product before. The temperature ranges from 110 - 220°C. It doesn't take long at all to reach the highest temperature, about 30-40 seconds. The wand itself is quite lightweight and is priced at £34.99, which I think is pretty affordable. Alongside the wand you also have a handy bag to slip the wand into, a single black heat-protecting glove and a small instruction leaflet. I personally would have preferred the leaflet to perhaps have a bit more guidance on how to create various looks.

When curling my hair I found myself accidentally turning the heat up and down, as the positioning of the buttons are where your hand rests when styling your hair. It was slightly frustrating to begin with, but I've discovered you can easily lock the temperature by holding down one of the buttons, so that's handy. I'll just have to remember that for next time! I was really pleased with the finished look, the curls looked sleek, clean and natural! My hair didn't go dry or fizzy, it just looked and felt so natural. It may have helped that I'd washed my hair that morning and applied a small amount of hairspray after styling. 

{The sunshine was really pouring in, so quite a bright one!}

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       I loved the finished look and was also extremely impressed with how well my hair held the curls. My hair isn't the best for holding curls/waves for long periods of time as it's quite thick and long. I normally resort to applying an excessive amount of hairspray in a bid to keep the shape. Usually by the end of the day or evening my hair looks flatter and some of the curls have dropped out. I was genuinely surprised to wake up on Tuesday morning to see my hair still looking curly. It stayed that way throughout the day! Shockingly, not the messy type of next-day curls that looks a bit out of control and huge. Instead it resembled the finished look from the day before, still natural and pretty. I'm so impressed. This was a bit of a shocker for me as I sprayed a small amount of hairspray so I'm not sure whether it was the wand, the hairspray or my just-washed hair pre-styling?! No idea, but nonetheless I was pleasantly surprised and can confidently say this hasn't happened before. Fingers crossed it wasn't a one off.

I was really pleased with the finished look, the curls looked sleek and clean! My hair didn't go dry or frizzy. It just looked and felt so natural. It may have helped that I'd washed my hair that morning and applied little hairspray but I really loved the finish and just can't get over how well, and for how long my hair managed to keep the shape.

What do you guys think? I'd love to hear what tools you use to curl your hair.

The Body Shop - Honey & Beeswax Hand and Foot Butter

I had a little browse through The Body Shop the other day and picked up a few bits, most of which were products that I haven't tried before. I do love trying new things. I've bought a few bits in the past from the Body Shop but it's not a shop I regularly pop in to. One of the products that I took home with me was the Spa Wisdom Africa - Honey & Beeswax Hand and Foot Butter. The key ingredients in this product include honey, beeswax, shea butter and Ximenia oil. This product really appealed to me in store for the following reasons; the scent, the cute little jar and how soft and moisturising it felt after trying a dab of it on my hands. 

This butter has a really subtle sweet scent to it which I absolutely adore. I'd describe it as a honey-vanilla type scent. Once applied it soaks in to the skin and leaves your skin feeling really soft. It's not too heavy once applied but is a lovely thick and creamy consistency. It absorbs quickly considering the consistency and doesn't leave that greasy residue feeling. I noticed that my hands and feet actually appeared softer too. My feet can get quite dry and I do tend to neglect them a little, although I do like to use Soap and Glory's -Heel Genius every now and then. I can be quite lazy when it comes to moisturising my body and/or feet so I have to enjoy using the product to be able to stick to it. The packaging is really sweet, I love the little jar. My only issue is with clicking the lid shut, at times it can be a bit fidgety. 

This hand and foot butter is priced at £10 but The Body Shop do tend to have 3 for 2 and discount offers on, so it's worth a look if you're interested. 

Burt's Bees Tips & Toes Kit

Burt's Bees is a brand that I hear lots about, but have never really got around to trying out myself. So after spotting this little 'Tips and Toes Kit' I thought it would be a nice way to try out a few of their products. This kit offers products for healthy hands, feet and nails. The following Burt's Bees products are included in this kit; a pomegranate lip balm, an almond milk beeswax hand cream, a honey and grapeseed oil hand cream, a coconut foot cream, a hand salve and a lemon butter cuticle cream. In terms of packaging, I'm sold. I absolutely love it. I love the bright colours, the little tins and the quirky old school prints.

Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil: This feels lovely, moisturising and soft on the lips. It also adds a slight shine to the lips. This is definitely a decent lip balm which comes as no surprise. The scent isn't my favourite - but it's not bad, it's a light herbal, pomegranate scent. This lip balm also has a very slight tint to it.

Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream (7g): This comes in a nice sized glass pot. Again love the packaging of this! Now the smell may not be for everyone as this hand cream does have a strong almond scent to it. To begin with I really disliked this but it's grown on me and to be honest I love the hand cream itself enough that the smell isn't so much an issue. This hand cream is quite thick and so a little bit can go a long way.  Once applied to the hands you can really feel your skin soaking it up, it offers an almost protective sheen and feels very rich and creamy without being sticky and greasy. It doesn't take long to soak into the skin and although you can still notice a slight honey and almond scent on the hand it is no where near as strong which is great! I'm really impressed with this product!

Thoroughly Therapeutic Honey & Grapeseed Oil Hand Cream (20g): This hand cream is quite thick but when rubbed into the skin feels light and soft. Like the Beeswax hand cream it doesn't take long to soak in and doesn't leave your hands feeling sticky or greasy. This hand cream has quite a sweet honey scent to it, again this scent may not be for everyone.. I quite like it. The difference I've noticed between this hand cream and the Beeswax hand cream is that the Beeswax hand cream seems a bit more intensive, so great just before bed or in days of desperate dry hands. 

Coconut Foot Cream (20g): I was probably looking forward to trying this product the most! I am a huge fan of coconut scents and I must say this smells absolutely gorgeous! It really is the stand out product of this kit for me... and not just because of the scent! This product when applied is slightly similar in texture to the Beeswax hand cream, in the sense that it is balmy, slightly thick but offers a slight sheen to the skin. It really feels like a treat when applying this to my feet (lovely bit of rhyming there - not intended haha). 

Hand Salve (8.5g): Like the other products this does feel lovely to apply. Very soft, balmy and moisturising. It contains a herbal scent which reminds me strongly of Vicks VapoRub. 

Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (8.5g): I love the little lemon design on this tin. This is quite similar in texture to the hand salve, although it's slightly thicker. This has a strong sweet lemon scent to it... like lemon cake. I love it. This feels moisturising on the cuticles and is nice and gentle.

Overall, I think these are great quality products. The texture and consistency of these products offer the skin a thorough treat and I will easily be favouring these over many of my other hand/foot creams etc. To begin with I looked through these products, took a whiff of some of the products and thought 'Mmmhmm, I'm not sure if I'm going to like or even use some of these products'. But honestly after taking the time to go through them all I'm happy with my purchase. They are all lovely quality products, the packaging is lovely and the scents are fresh and some of them I love. I must admit there are a few scents in there that aren't my favourite.. but I can definitely let that slip as all of these products are lovely. MASSIVE recommendation from me.  I can see what all the fuss has been about and look forward to using all of these products up :) 

I picked up this kit in Boots for £12.99. The products are a nice size and there are 6 products in there so I think it's a good price. There are other Burt's Bees kits for sale including; Head to Toe Kit, Baby Bee Getting Started Kit and an Essential Body Kit. Burt's Bees products can be purchased in many other stores as well as online. 

Have you tried Burt's Bees before? What are your favourite Burt's Bees products?