Denman Tangle Tamer

I had been wanting to buy a Tangle Teezer for a while now as my hair is getting ridiculously tangly, especially at the back at my neck.  Literally, if I don't brush it for about 12 hours it starts turning itself into a dreadlock - nightmare!  However, I read Leanne Marie's review of the Tangle Tamer comparing it to the Tangle Teezer, and as it was cheaper I decided to go out and get it!  As I've never tried the Teezer this will simply be my thoughts on the Tamer with no comparison.

£6.20 from Boots

I still use the same technique as I do with my normal brush - yes I have a technique hahah.  So I split my hair in two (like bunchies), then taking one at a time I hold it at the bottom and brush, and repeat moving my hand up slightly until I get to my head, then just brush for my parting down.  I know this sounds really weird and complicated but as my hair is long, thick and gets very tuggy, this reduces pain and breakage :)

When using this method with a normal brush although it is less painful than normal brushing it can still hurt, but with the Tangle Tamer it is much less sore.  There was only once when I felt like it nipped a bit but this was when I first got it and I think I was being a bit rough!  So I will say it's not impossible for it to hurt!  Since then the worst I've felt is just pressure around where the tugs are.

I have found that it does work to de-tangle well but sometimes I feel like because the bristles are so soft it misses some bits underneath so I need to really push it in hard or tip my head upside down.  Another negative is that it can make my hair a bit static but it doesn't last too long.

It also works well on wet hair, I roughly blow-dried my hair using this brush and I found that it gave me a really nice smooth finish!

I would still like to try a Tangle Teezer just out of curiosity but I feel like it would go flying as it doesn't have a handle!

Has anyone tried both?  Do you have a preference?

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Hallowe'en 2012: 20s Flapper Girl

This is a very late Hallowe'en post just to show you what I wore!  I went out on the actual day which was last Wednesday, and we went to a club in Glasgow city centre.

I already had the costume as I wore it the last time I went out, which was 3 years ago when I was in 1st year at uni!  Unfortunately that time apparently I swapped my head band for a red indian one (no idea...) so I was going to make one but I just ran out of time!

I was also late as usual so I don't have any full length photos sadly but here is one of my make up and a couple from in the club!

I was going to try and finger wave my hair but there were so many things which could go wrong as I hadn't tried it!  However Rebekah (The Black Swan above!) very kindly offered to let me borrow her waving tongs which give the same sort of effect but with minimal effort!

I wore Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation in Shade 2 then on my eyes an old ELF brown cream eyeliner (which I binned after as it was soo dried out!) and a matte black shadow on the top and blended out.  I tried to make my eyebrows thinner as 20s girls tended to have quite thin, curved brows.  On my lips I wore Avon Ultra Colour Rich 24k Gold in Golden Wine (not CF) but only applied to the centre of the lips to make them look very round.  I also used Laguna to add some colour to the back of the cheeks.

This make up is not particularly flattering as you can see in the photos but I think (hope) it reflects the 20s era quite accurately :)

What did you dress up as?

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Louise Loves #5

I totally forgot to do this last week, OOPS!  I knew that would happen haha, never mind.  Anywayy here are some favourite bits from this week :)

Phone Cover

I got this phone cover from eBay, it's so cute!  It also comes a few different pastel colours too but I went for the mint green one.  I don't think it will last very long though as the lace is real and will probably fray and get dirty.  I've already had to cut some bits off and seal the edges with clear nail polish!  The wee flower is also from eBay if you just search for 'dust plug', I think it cost £1.29.
[£2.99 from this seller]

Pretty Little Liars Book Series

I love the TV series and I was quite curious about the books as some of my friends have read them.  Instead of buying them I've been getting them from my local library as they are £4.99 each and there's about 11 of them!  I have just finished book 7 and it is starting to get really interesting - yes it took 6 books haha.  It is different from the TV series which can get very confusing if I watch an episode one day then I'm reading the book later!  They have actually killed off or cut out half the current TV cast!

Kit Bag

The bag I was using was getting too small so I bought a bucket bag which is a cheap alternative to the professional Charles Fox or Wigs Up North bags.  It came to just under £20 including P&P.  It's really nice and spacious and has little pockets all the round the outside - which does make me slightly paranoid about people stealing stuff from it!

Inside I have two clear bags, one for skincare, one for my palettes; another bag for tools such as sponges, spatulas, spoolies (lots of ssssss!!); my brush belt and then a few loose items which don't fit in the pockets.  The only thing is that the strap is squint... like it's been stitched on the wrong way??  I'm not sure if there's anything I can do about it, might try email the seller and see what they say.
[£16.80 from this seller]

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If anyone is interested I could do a post on what I have in my kit at the moment but unfortunately as the college basically forced us into buying Bobbi Brown the majority of it isn't cruelty free, however I have added in a few bits of my own.

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Recently Read: Girl Meets Boy

I heard about this book from Kathy at JustKissMyFrog and it sounded very interesting so I went on a hunt to find it!  I love the cover it's so pretty, there is another one which is really ugly so obviously I had to have this one...

Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith is part of the Canongate Myth series which incorporates mythical characters in a modern re-telling of the story.  The character in this book is based on Iphis who is from Greek mythology, she is brought up by her mother as a boy because at that time her father could not afford a girl and would have killed her.  As she grows older she falls in love with a girl, Ianthe, and they are to be married, obviously Iphis starts to panic because on the wedding night her fianceé would find out that she wasn't really a boy.  Iphis and her mother pray to the gods and they transform her into a boy in time for her (his?) wedding.

Anyway, onto the actual book!  It is set in Scotland and the protagonist is Anthea who moves in with her sister and gets a job with her in a creative team at a bottled water company - a controversial subject in itself!  She hates it and there are a lot of sexist males in the team that the sisters have to compete with.  That is until Anthea sees Robin, a beautiful, masculine yet very feminine eco warrior who is graffiti-ing the company's sign outside.  She falls in love and Girl Meets Boy tells their unconventional love story through Anthea and her sister, Imogen's eyes.

It is a very short book, I read it in about 3 sittings in 2 days which is very quick for me - I am a slow reader!!  I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone interested in feminism and gender roles - that sort of thing, it is very interesting!  The only thing I would have liked was more details about Anthea and Robin meeting and getting to know each other.  Because the book is so short it just went from Anthea seeing Robin outside to the next chapter where Imogen is freaking out because her sister is a lesbian haha!

I would really like to read some more of Ali Smith's books now!

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Recent Buys | Topshop & The Body Shop

I had been wanting a few bits so once I got birthday money I went on a wee shopping spree!  There are other things I bought too which I didn't think would be appropriate to include such as a wok (£5.99 from TK Maxx, what a bargain!) and a set of underwear (from the Rosie Huntington-Whiteley collection in M&S, so pretty!).

Firstly I went into Topshop as I was planning on getting some lipstick but I changed my mind and instead got 3 nail varnishes.  If you saw my previous post though you'll know how only 2 made it home safely :( The two which survived are Milkshake and Hat Trick!

Two coats on nail wheel

Then I placed an online order on The Body Shop website because they had 35% off all items and free P&P!  The main item I wanted was the Shimmer Waves blush/highlighter because it's the closest thing I've found to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick!  I've only tried it once and it didn't blow me away but we'll see...

I decided to try one of the scrubs as I'm not a huge fan of body butter or anything but I do enjoy a good scrub!  I chose Mango and it smells amazing!!

They had lots of these lip balm things where each fruit had a different colour (similar to the Korres ones) and they were only £3 and the packaging is very cute!!  The one I got is Pomegranate and smells yummy!

Lastly I needed a new White Musk perfume.  This is my 3rd bottle!  They've changed the lid and it looks rather classy now.  They also sent me a sample of tree tree oil - is this for spots??

Another thing I got which is totally separate is some studs from eBay.  I got mine from here and they are the silver 12mm ones, only 99p for 100pcs!  They are actually perfect for what I wanted them for - I added them to the shoulders of my faux leather jacket as it was looking rather plain and boring haha!

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NOTD: Pinkie Pink!

The base coat here is Milkshake by Topshop.  I'm not a huge fan of pink when it comes to nail varnish but when I saw this one in Topshop I knew I had to have it!  It certainly looks as good on the nail as it does in the bottle!  It is almost opaque in one coat too which is great.  Then I went to work and because Nails Inc are doing their Breast Cancer campaign with the pink glittery polish we are selling it so there was one at the till for staff to use... Soo I got rather carried away with it haha!  It's so pretty!

I actually bought a sort of similar one in Topshop that day but when I took it out my bag it met a messy end with the floor of River Island :( I don't even know what it is called but I'm definitely going to get another one so watch this space!

I could've cried!!!

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Wanna Make Money While You Spend??

First of all, this is not a sponsored post, I just want to share an amazing website with you!  You may have heard of it as it's recently started advertising on TV.  The website is Top Cashback, and I've been using it for... definitely over a year now!  If you do a lot of online shopping, I honestly can't recommend it enough!

Since I started using it I have got back £170, which certainly isn't to be sneezed at!  Here is a screen grab of my earnings so far:

How It Works
Firstly signup is FREE!  Basically there are loads of websites who have agreed to be a part of Top Cashback and each one has either a percentage or set cash amount which you will get back.  For example, one I use a lot is House of Fraser who offer 1% (5% for new customers!) so if you were spending £100, you would get back £1, and all you need to do is go to the Top Cashback website first then use their link to go onto the House of Fraser website.  It doesn't sound much but it certainly adds up!

The money goes through a few different stages but once it gets to 'payable' it's yours for the taking!  There are various methods for claiming the money.  It can be transferred into your bank account, into your paypal account, made into a Amazon voucher where you get an extra 5% added on, and made into a LoveToShop voucher with a similar offer.

I usually have small amounts made into Amazon vouchers and bigger amounts sent to my bank.

Big Names
There are lots of companies who participate and here are of few of the bigger ones/ones I use often: House of Fraser, Dominos, eBay, Play.com, Tesco, The Body Shop, Boots, Superdrug, The AA, Debenhams and so many more.

Great Deals
I have had some really amazing deals through this website and here are some of them:
- £16.16 when I signed up to LoveFilm
- £19.19 when I bought £30 breakdown cover from The AA
- £75.75 when I got my iPhone contract through them using T-Mobile

The latter is a personal favourite of mine, I was so pleased when that appeared in my bank account!  I had to pay a fee of £99 for the phone because I had a cheaper contract but getting three-quarters of it back definitely softened the blow!

Top Up Feature
To be honest this isn't something I know much about as it doesn't really affect me.  On pretty much all transactions, they will include a 1% 'Top Up' which is included automatically (hence the weird amounts above!).  If you earn between £100-£199 in the previous month, your Top Up rate jumps up to 5% and for over £200 it becomes 10% so you would be getting 110% in total.  Kind of confusing but they work it all out for you - there's no way I would be earning that much anyway!!

Invite Friends
Another amazing feature of this website is that when you tell your friends about it and they sign up, once they earn £10, you get £10 too!

Have I convinced you enough haha?!  Here is the [link] again if you want to find out any more!

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So that is basically it!  I know this seems like a totally sponsored post but I promise you it's not, it's just something really worth signing up for if you shop online a lot!  The link I have added is the one 'for friends' so if you do sign up and earn your £10, I will get a tenner too, but obviously if you want to be really cruel you can just sign up through their homepage ;) just kidding!

I hope you have found this useful!!

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Introducing Beauty Without The Beasts

Beauty Without The Beasts is a website ran by two cruelty free sisters, Joanne and Laura (also Nelly the Jack Russell cross!).

It is basically an information site about cruelty free brands and products, with interesting articles involving beauty, food and just general health.

You can sign up to their mailing list to get regular updates of their articles and reviews.  They also have a twitter account where you can chat to the girls - they are just lovely!

They also run competitions quite often which is exciting.  I won one once and you can see my prizes here!

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