The Sunday Pamper Session

Sundays are a day for relaxing, recharging, and most importantly, a bit of pampering to get you ready for the coming week.

If you'll excuse the quality of this photo (I'm currently camera-less and having to make do with my Ipad), this week I'm sharing all of the products I'm using to treat myself a little bit.

We recently moved house, and when we arrived, there was a problem with the water pressure that meant filling the bath was impossible. Thankfully, that has just been rectified, so tonight is bubble bath night!

I pop the taps on, and let the hot water fill up about halfway before adding a dash of Radox Stress Relief Bubble Bath. This stuff is seriously bubbly, and with the calming fragrance of rosemary and eucalyptus, it's perfect for a pre-bedtime bath.

While the bath is running, I usually apply a dollop of Charles Worthington Intense Rescue Melting Balm to dry hair, leaving it to work its magic for around twenty minutes. It's quite thick and waxy in consistency, but when rubbed between the palms it becomes more of an oil. It's great for dry or damaged hair, as it's highly nourishing, leaving locks soft and shiny. You do need to take extra care when rinsing it out though, as not doing it properly will result in a bit of an unsightly oil slick. I rinse mine with my Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo, and I'm ready to go.

Once in the bath, I apply Bumble & Bumble Quenching Masque to my hair, and pin it up out of the way. It's a thick, creamy conditioner which really adds life to hair, replenishing any lost moisture and making hair all the more manageable.  I wouldn't usually go for two hair treatments, but as this is a weekly treat, I like to go the whole hog and keep all bases covered.

Tonight, I'm trying out the Raw Gaia Raw Chocolate Face Pack*, a lovely, 100% natural mask made from (you've guessed it) raw organic chocolate, red clay and turmeric, as well as some other skin-friendly goodies. It comes in powder form, so before my bath I mixed a teaspoon with warm water in a bowl to form a thick paste. Now it's time to spread it on to ready-cleansed skin - it dries quite quickly, and absolutely smells good enough to eat. It's a great choice for detoxing the skin, leaving it soft and comfortable, and over time it also offers healing benefits such as the evening out of skin tone.

I leave it for ten minutes, then wash off, also rinsing the conditioning mask out of my hair.

I'm going for a double whammy this evening, so next up it's time to pop on a radiance mask. I've gone for the Apivita Pomegranate Face Mask. Once again, I pop some on and relax for ten minutes while it gets to work.

I'm not one for reading in the bath, as much as I'd love to, I always end up getting the pages wet. I wouldn't dare read anything on my Ipad either, for fear of dropping it, so instead, I pop it onto a stand and catch up on some of my favourite Youtube channels while I enjoy my soak. 

Time to rinse off my face mask once again, and once that's done, I'm generally ready to get out. I'm a bit of a fidget, and can't stay put for too long, so off I go, slathering on some Elemis Skin Nourishing Milk Bath* as I go. I've spoken about this one before - I like to use bubbles and bath bombs when actually in the tub, which doesn't leave an awful lot of room for milks. But luckily, this one doubles up as an absolutely mind-blowing moisturiser, so I always pop some on for insanely soft skin whenever I have a bath.

At this point, I wrap my hair in a towel and get into some warm, cosy pyjamas, and mix a couple of drops of Raw Gaia Cold Pressed Rosehip Oil* with some of  the Body Shop's Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil and press into the skin. These are both really, really nourishing, and my skin feels incredible the following morning. Rosehip oil is great for fading any old scarring, and the Vitamin E leaves skin feeling plump with health.

That's pretty much it - now, I might sit on the sofa for a while under a cosy blanket, grab a cup of chamomile and catch up on my Bloglovin' feed, or go on Twitter for a while until it's time for bed! Not very rock and roll, I know, but on a Sunday night, it's exactly what I need.

Do you have a pamper session on a Sunday evening?

If so, which products do you usually go for?

xx

Quick Review: Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque

I'm always on the look-out for something to whip my dry, damaged hair back into shape. Nobody wants to have to walk around with a dull, frizzy mop of hair now, do they?

I've heard so many good things about the Macadamia range across the bloggosphere, and about a year ago there was something of a craze for this line, particularly the Deep Repair Masque. But as I was getting on just fine with my hair at the time, I didn't really take much notice.

Fast-forward a year, and I'm in dire need, having tried and cast aside many a deep conditioning treatment since having my hair ombred around eight months ago. So, rather than fork out for a whole tub of this stuff and risk further disappointment, I decided to order a few sachets from Ebay and see what all the fuss was about.

Enriched with macadamia and Argan oils, this deeply nourishing mask claims to provide locks with long-lasting conditioning, as well as penetrating and rebuilding damaged hair, improving shine and elasticity. Tea-tree oil, chamomile oil and algae also give the hair a rejuvenating boost.

I spread this generously through my hair from the mid-lengths down to the ends, avoiding the roots and combing through with a wide-toothed comb for even distribution. It's recommended that you leave it on for seven minutes, but having now made my way through a few sachets, I've experimented with this a bit to see if the results would differ. It's thick and creamy in texture, and has a lovely salon smell, making it a pleasure to pop on while having a nice relaxing bath.

One sachet is enough for about three treatments, which I thought was pretty good. The masque is available in three different sizes from the Macadamia Hair website - 100ml (£12.50), 250ml (£23.95) and 500ml (36.75). I think it's great that they have these options, as if you know that it works for you then you can save money by buying a larger tub. Equally, you can try out a smaller one if you are unsure, without investing too much money, although I do think it's a shame the sachets aren's available as they are on the US website (here) for just $4. Still, there is always Ebay.

So, what did I think?

Well, unfortunately this did absolutely nothing for me. My hair felt vaguely conditioned, as it would do from using any standard conditioner, but there was no softness, shine or bounce, and the ends of my hair were still just as frizzy when they dried. As I mentioned before, I did give this numerouse goes, but sadly it has failed to impress me.

Having said this, I know that this product has something of a cult following, so as always, it just goes to show that different things work well for different people. I'm actually beginning to wonder whether there is a product out there that can penetrate my locks and do some sort of good at all, or if it is just beyond help. I've recently had the ends chopped, but it hasn't made a huge difference to the condition.

The search continues!

xx