Living proof. Perfect Hair Day set

Smooth hair, don't care

You've been saving your points for months for Sephora's second instalment of #epicrewardsday, and instead was greeted with SOLD OUT and generic customer service tweets in response to your repeated cries for being hoodwinked. Despite my best efforts in refreshing my web browser, sleep reigned supreme, and I figured waking at 5:30 last Tuesday morning would suffice -- surely something would be left, right?

And then the stories trickled in about shopping carts being emptied as you shopped; clearly your mouse clicking skills were not up to par, that, or the Sephora 'bots preyed on the responsible consumer who deleted their credit card details from their account after a random purchase at Homegoods last year resulted in having their identity stolen. You get the gist.

Back to the banked points. You could complain (which I whole-heartedly think you should), and then cash 500 of them in for Living Proof's Perfect Hair Day set.

Living Proof's Perfect Hair Day set

This five piece set, complete with Jen's lovely mug, is the prescription you'd be willing to forge a signature for -- the shampoo, conditioner and 5-in-1 Styling Treatment work together to smooth, volumise, condition, strengthen and polish every strand of hair.  The Prime Style Extender Spray, created specifically for people with fine hair (hallelujah), promises to extend any style two times longer thanks to its hidden shield (technical term: the reverse Pig Pen) that repels dirt and oil from your freshly styled tresses. Then there's the wicked cute (sorry, recovering Mass-hole here) shower cap which you can use between hair washing.

J.A. has the MIT scientists and Chris McMillian on speed dial; as for the meer mortals, myself included, will have to continue to work hard on our P.h.D. at home.

Still licking your wounds from Sephora's #epicrewards #epicfail? Living Proof's online store carries the Perfect Hair Day travel kit for $29 USD or you could always hit up Nordies.

Wash less to experience the benefits

Can you keep a secret?

Confession time: I only wash my hair three times a week, and wash my face precisely once a day. I know what you're thinking, gross! Am I right? Well, hate the idea as much as you want, but I promise you'll begin seeing the benefits in the not too distant future.

It's taken me almost a year to kick the habit of washing my hair every day. You see my hair fell under the F/R/AZY category, think Fine, Frizzy, Wavy, and while I'm at it, pretty darn tired. My hair lacked life, vitality, shine, and general style, but now that I wash my hair every other day my hair remains grease-free for longer spans of time, it can also hold a curl for more than a day, and the frizzy fly aways are truly a thing of the past.

Time, and the commitment to this restrictive washing schedule cured my hair woes. Your scalp's natural oils are your best friend, so stop trying to rob your hair, and give it [fewer shampoo sessions] a go, even for just a couple of weeks. Truth be told, I've gone up to four days without washing my hair, and I felt like Kramer pushing the gas gauge to the way beyond. 

As for the once a day face washing, that's only a recent revelation, and I have NARS' makeup artist Beck to thank for that. During a consultation last week I complained that my liquid foundation was sliding down my face, pooling around my nostrils, and settling within the pores and fine lines (sneaky buggers). Upon hearing this bit of information, Beck asked, "how many times a day do you wash your face?" I proudly exclaimed, "twice a day!"

Heck, I thought I was doing it right by keeping my face squeaky clean.

Beck went onto explain that once a day is more than sufficient. Excessive cleansing forces the skin to overproduce sebum in an effort to rehydrate itself. Sebum is not the enemy as it keeps the skin properly moisturised, and it also works as a natural barrier to protect the skin. It's important to note the presence of too much sebum can make your foundation fail, causes nasty breakouts, or might even lead to acne. 

Going forward Beck requested that I pamper my skin at night, and only rinse my face off with lukewarm water in the morning before applying any skin care products, and makeup. I'm only a few days into this experiment -- the shine across my T-Zone isn't nearly as bad as it used to be. Let's see if normal skin is in the cards for me, and maybe even you.

Food for thought: You'll be using facial cleanser, shampoo, and conditioner a lot less. Maybe it's time to treat yo self, and invest in the luxe stuff as it'll last longer! 

// For further reading:

The Real Dirt on Face Washing

Skincare Basics: How to Wash Your Face

Gift idea for the traveller, the gym junkie or the hair product obsessed

Dry Bar's Up, Up and Away! set

When I was inducted as one of Sephora's VIB Rouge elite members (in other words I dropped a butt load of money at Sephora this year) early last month I received a fistful of samples, including Dry Bar's Sake Bomb Moisturising Shampoo and Conditioner. The shampoo I found to be pretty meh to average at best, however if you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain, well Dry Bar's conditioner will certainly have you singing in the shower.

You're singing Escape (The Pina Colada Song) now, aren't you?

For kicks I picked up this nifty little travel pack prior to leaving Las Vegas. It was one of those last minute, gotta have it now splurges I didn't mind forking over twenty-five bucks for.

The brush is handy with its rubberised exterior and happens to be conveniently coloured in Drybar's telltale buttercup yellow hue. Short in stature, big on saving room.

As I said before the Sake Bomb moisturising shampoo is counter-productive with its ability to leave your strands feeling raw and stripped after washing. The conditioner though, is luxurious, moisturising and makes for a silky situation.

Finally, the Detox Dry Shampoo is the bottled dessert looking to coax the grit, grease and grime out of your hair. Its scent is heavenly, think tawny port or pralines drenched in caramel. If you or your friend has medium brown to black hair, get ready to massage/brush out the white residue left behind after application. The extra elbow grease might be a major detractor for some. 

TSA Approved, under thirty dollars and covers the Gift Giving Guidelines*.

*Gift Giving Guidelines (GGG): 

• Is it appropriate for the recipient? Got a balding Grandpa? Then he might not appreciate the Dry Shampoo as much as your Aunt Pearl.
• Is it a sensible price point in that it won't break the bank for you and also won't make your friend feel guilty for not dropping as much coin on you.
• Does it pass the "I would totally buy this for myself" test?

Kicking hair kinks to the kerb: Invisibobble

Invisibobble

It's a hair thingamabob I don't quite get, but it works. Wrap around twice and you're good to go for a jog or pull your hair into a pineapple-type bun to wash that pretty lil' face of yours. 

The telephone cord-like tie displaces pressure on your strands to keep things in place, thus minimising hair breakage; it also reduces kinks and crimps in the hair and says see ya later to hair headaches. Normally I hate the look of fun buns and ponytails on me, but I broadened my horizons and set my feelings aside in order to give the Invisibobble a fair shake. 

The Invisibobble holds tight through it all. Just learn from my mistake and avoid wrapping the Invisibobble around three times to tie your hair back or you'll be cruising for a hair bruising to kink city.

$10.95 AUS / $9.99 USD

*PR sample provided  –  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.