We love testing new beauty products, salons, clinics and nail bars. We will be posting our reviews as we try to find that special chemical X!
Our rating system goes from X to XXXXX as we discover the best beauty the UK has to offer.
We will start with the East Midlands, but will journey to South Yorkshire, London and Essex on our quest to find those ‘Xtra’ special products. We are ladies who love to travel; don’t be surprised where we end up!
Hi guys, Vivienne again.
I added a post a while back about using olive oil to repair frizzy hair. I still use this for chlorinated hair, but now also use a coconut oil mask every other month. I just put a rounded tablespoon of coconut oil into my palm and rub my hands together until it melts. This is one of my favourite overnight treatments.
I concentrate on the ends to start with, then rub my hands though my hair until the oil has vanished from my hands. I sleep on a towel, and in the morning all the oil is absorbed by my hair and it looks amazing. The effect last several days. Highly recommended.
I am a great fan of coconut oil. Its is economical and smells delicious! it’s great rubbed into my nails after I have removed the varnish and I also use it to soften dry skin on my feet. (Sorry if that was a little gross!)
Back to hair, I have recently changed my hair colourant as I have been getting more dry patches on my scalp. Switching to Garnier Olio has eradicated the problem. This is claimed to be the first oil powered and ammonia free permanent home hair colour. When I apply it it smells lovely and does not irritate my scalp. It lathers up well and is much easier to rinse than other products I have tried.
The shade I currently use is Soft black as it is really a dark brown colour, more than black, and that blends with my natural colouring. Since using this I have had no issues with dry ecsma type patches on my scalp and my hair looks glossy and natural.
Incidentally when I first purchased it came with a weird tear drop shape bottle that must have been designed my a man with large hands. You may see on other reviews that it was far too big to hold and it toppled over unless wedged in the box. They have now switched to a regular applicator bottle which is easy to use.
Hello this is Vivienne, I haven’t blogged for a while but need to share this tip with you as it has taken me by surprise and I am amazed with the results.
I have been colouring my hair for a while as I have the odd grey hair. Okay, I know that was a bit of a shock to read, but I am coping… My hair is naturally wavy, straight at the top falling into ringlets. Recently it has become straighter, dry and frizzy at the ends and I was really putting it down to my age! So, to make matters worse I started to use tongs to curl it, bought heated rollers and always blow dried it. Yes, you guessed it, the dratted ends got even frizzier.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered reading that Jerry Hall used to treat her hair by putting olive oil on it over night.
I was a bit skeptical, but after trying umpteen frizz ease products I was willing to give anything a try. I put a drop of extra virgin olive oil on my hand and rubbed my palms together before running them through the ends of my hair. A little goes a very very long way and I didn’t want to end up with greasy hair.
I slept on an old towel and washed it out in the morning. There was an immediate improvement. 4 more nights of doing this and the frizz had completely gone and I had my ringlets back. I know it sounds unbelievable but for the cost of a few pence for olive oil I banished my frizz.
Powder Puff Girls rating – XXXXX
The problem wasn’t the dye but my hair drying out due to swimming regularly in a chlorinated pool and then drying it with a hot dryer. Now I can just treat my hair with a little olive oil as soon as it loses its bounce. Just to fill you in, I use L’Oreal Excellence Cream in natural darkest brown as it matches my natural hair colour perfectly. I just use a brush to colour the grey then put the rest all over for the last 5 mins to make sure that it blends in. The colour comes with a protecting lotion for the ends of your hair and also a special conditioner. Its a really good product if you are looking for a natural looking permanent colour.
Hope you find this olive oil hair repair tip useful too.
Powder Puff Girls rating – XXXX
Hello its Vivienne this time. I needed to share this fabulous concealer with you.
Chanel Correcteur perfection long lasting concealer
.
I had a small bruise on my chin that I wanted to cover in a hurry. The friendly beauty consultant at Chanel recommended this concealer.
The concealer is a liquid that is applied with a sponge tip applicator, just like a lip gloss. It is light, dries quickly, and completely covered the unsightly blue black bruise. I used it without foundation and it was undetectable. I just Dotted it over the area, blending it in with my flat foundation brush very easily.
This is one product that will be a staple in my make-up bag from now on. Although I bought it to cover the bruise I have also found it really great at making the small red veins around my nose vanish and make the slightly dark circles under my eyes disappear.
Powder Puff Girls rating – XXXXX
Eloise again! So, as I was saying, we got Vivienne more than one gift this mother’s day (partially because it’s the last one we’ll spend with me living in this house, at least until university falls through and I have to move back in).
The other gift we got was from a lovely online store called T. H. Baker, who do really nice,
more upmarket pieces than I’m used to.
The necklace I chose for Vivienne was a rose gold chain, with a pearl and interlocking rose gold design. In a case of the overly-matching, this is because she recently got the rose gold iPhone 6, and we’re a colour very co-ordinated family. She’d also mentioned wanting more delicate jewellery, and I was happy to oblige.
I really loved this delicate necklace, not just because pearls are my favourite of all the gemstones, but also because I felt like it ticked all the boxes I could want.
T.H.Baker is a lovely store and I highly recommend it for all your gifting needs. Excellent delivery, too!
SO! Sunday 6th March. Mother’s Day. We’re not really all that big on gift giving in the powderpuffgirls household, but we (Eloise et al except Vivienne) decided that this year V deserved some pretty gifts – and Eloise had a bargain or two up her sleeve.
TheJewelHut is a delightful site full of v v pretty things that made me extra happy, so I knew I could get something delightful.
I chose this, which is a beautiful heart shaped bead for the Pandora charm bracelet. This one is sort of an inside joke, because the script on the bead reads ‘first my mother/forever my friend’.
The sentiment is definitely meant, but it is a far cry from our usual taste – Vivienne is into very classic, art deco stuff, not so much syrupy-sweet messages.
HOWEVER. This bead is lovely, and she really wanted more metal beads for her bracelet, so I couldn’t resist this adorable charm!
The Jewel Hut (thejewelhut.co.uk) is a delightful online store that I highly recommend. Happy Mother’s Day!
Okay.
I’ve been putting off writing this review, because the product(s) I’m about to tell you about are almost a little secret miracle I want to keep to myself.
Envy’s philosophy is one product for all hair types. They use 6 ‘intelligent products’ that promise to help repair, tame, lift, add shine, enhance colour, reduce frizz and make blowdrying easier.
Normally, all-in-one haircare products make me nervous. They never work like they’re supposed to, and they’re always overpriced. Not so Envy’s Blowdry set!
This is a £40 good-hair-day ensurer and is definitely worth the price*. I’ve been using the full treatment for almost exactly a month and I’m soooo happy. My hair has never been shinier or softer, and it takes exactly one minute longer than my usual washing routine, so it’s not at all time consuming. Even the conditioner is better than any I’ve ever used, including the one I used basically religiously before finding Envy, leaving my hair tangle-free for ages.
Because I’m nothing but good to you people, I even got a discount for you! Use discount code BLOG40 to get 40% off until the end of March.
Eloise
*Full disclosure, I got this set for free, but I’m definitely going to buy this product again, and at full price this time!
Eloise here! Sorry for the long wait, but you know how the Christmas rush goes. Back unto the blogging breach once more… I have loved the Anna Sui fairy perfumes since I was a very tiny girl. Donkeys years ago, … Continue reading
One thing I won’t shirk is decent manicure. I feel so much better when my nails are gorgeous! I am a happy regular at the Nail Bar, so please excuse this if it seems a little over the top. I have had my nails done here at what is now my nail bar of choice since 2012.
The salon is simply laid out in the New York style, and it’s a drop in. Appointments can be made, but most people don’t. One of the team gives you an idea of how long you will expect to wait, which is usually no more than 20 minutes.
Sarah and her Vietnamese team are fast, efficient, polite and very good at what they do. I have acrylic french tipped overlays on my naturally long nails with a glossy gel finish, but they offer every colour imaginable, with any length and any paint effects you can think of. You often start off with one tech preparing your nails before a more experienced tech shapes and finishes your nails. After they dry there is some mango scented hand cream next to the dryer, which is a nice touch.
My nails always last a very long time, and I’ve never had any issues with them breaking (as people often worry about with acrylics). The only reason I get them retouched as often as I do is because of how fast my nails grow, which is obviously no fault of the team.
I haven’t tried any other treatments that they offer but have seen someone get permanent eyebrow tattoos and they looked really natural. There isn’t a web site so I have added this link to their Google+ The Nail Bar so that you can find them easily.
Oh, and it’s educational – I have even learned a little about life in Vietnam and a couple of words of Vietnamese. Cam on Nail bar team! – Vivienne
Hi guys! Eloise here, and I have both product reviews and news for you, so please bear with (get the reference?).
I joined a site called The Blogger Company recently, which bloggers and brands can use to connect to each other to share audiences. It’s a really useful site, and through it I made contact with the site Save On Makeup, who asked me to choose £20 worth of products from their site.
They were so lovely! I received their parcel today, and everything I asked for is here (no weird substitutions). Whoever I made contact with at their site was prompt and personable, and made me feel really welcomed to their site (I’ve said site too many times, haven’t I?).
Save On Makeup is a delightful way to buy makeup products you need for much much less than the RRP. For £20 I got 9 products that I’m very excited to use. They have a range of options, from cheap and cheerful bargain no-names to much higher end brand names, like Chanel and Dior. I really, genuinely recommend them, because they are so efficient and tbh I love me a bargain.
I got:
My fave products are the eye shadow palette and the lucky dip selection.
This W7 palette is a remarkable dupe for the beloved but very expensive Naked 3 palette. While the colours are obviously not as pigmented as the Urban Decay one, they are incredibly similar and definitely worth looking into if you’re after a neurtal palette. I’ve been looking for one like this for the longest time, so was over the moon to find this on their site. There is an excellent mix of sparkly and matte shades, which all blend together well and are just generally very lovely.
The Lucky Dip Selection is lovely because it meant I now have some things I didn’t even know I needed. The Sally Hansen Lip Moisturizer in Clear Mauve is incredibly hydrating if a bit sticky, the mascaras are both very lengthening and one is even waterproof, and the concealer just happens to be my exact skin colour! I couldn’t have asked for better results.
Overall, I find their site incredibly charming and useful, and look forward to buying more from them in the future.
PowderPuff Girls Rating XXXXX
My friend Grace is my absolute favourite non-family person on the planet without a doubt. It took me five years to 
wear her down and trick her into being my friend, and it was the best thing I ever did.
For my birthday this year, Grace got me A CHANEL LIPGLOSS. Friend goals amirite??
This completely beautiful gloss, in the colour Allegria, is worth every penny. It’s easy and quick to apply and lasted me until lunchtime (about four hours, and then I ate hot greasy food). A creamy, non-sticky and unscented moisturising gel, I have never used a more comfortable gloss. It’s a highly pigmented colour, and I would personally wear it over bare lips, but the Chanel website does say you could pair it with lipstick as well. I’ve tested this gloss in several shades in store and it appears to be delightful in all its many shades. However, Grace knows me apparently even better than I knew, because she picked the perfect shade for me. I’m so excited to wear this!!!
Powderpuff Girls 