Aesop Sage & Cedar Scalp Treatment

    In order for me to tell this review fully, I need to give you some backstory as to why I ended up purchasing it. Some of you may know from some of my original posts, that I've previously bleached my hair numerous times and applied a variety of colours. And as you probably guessed my hair became pretty damaged as a result, I haven't bleached my full head of hair since July 2013 so its not had time to be restored. From last year I dyed my hair back to a dark brown which is my natural colour and used various hair masks and expensive shampoos/conditioners to treat the damage. My hair started in its own self destructive method against me and started rejecting different brands of shampoo, causing my scalp to go into overdrive with dandruff (yuck).

     After suffering this for a few weeks, I decided to start researching products that could reduce if not clear up my scalp dryness and this is when I came across Aesop's scalp treatment. I've always been really interested with the brand but as many of you will already know, it costs a bomb! At this stage however I was willing to pay how ever much to sort out my scalp, the reviews on this product were absolutely outstanding! People who were diagnosed with severe scalp problems were seeing progress from this product, so I paid the hefty (but so worth it) £23 and waited for its arrival. I want to slightly digress and talk about the package I received for this product; not only did I get the scalp treatment but I got a handwritten note, free drawstring makeup bag, three face care samples and a swatch of one of their scents!! I like to think all those little contributions make up for the price tag.

    After using this treatment twice, my dry scalp has completely cleared up, I tend to use this fortnightly as I do get some dandruff returning but a fraction of what I did originally. When you open the bottle you get hit with scents of rosemary, almond, cedarwood and sage which are so complimenting of each other. The recommendation for application is five drops across your scalp, but I just tend to put how ever much is sucked up by the applicator, so to ensure everything is covered. Once you've done that, you need to allow for it to soak for 15 minutes during this time I usually start running a bath and maybe watch a youtube video too. Then you simply wet your hair and go straight in with your regular shampoo to wash any access away, and then you're free from a horrible dry scalp. I'm hoping to purchase something else from Aesop in the future, and luckily I'll be equally as impressed!

Battle Of High Street Products || Dry Shampoo (Garnier vs. Lee Stafford)

    After hearing a lot of hoopla about Garnier's latest 7-in-1 dry shampoo I decided to put it up against the test with another new product, by a well loved hair brand Lee Stafford. To cut the battle between both of these high street products short I'm going to talk about them both individually, with their strengths and weaknesses.

Garnier Ultimate Blends 7-in-1 Dry Shampoo:
    When Garnier launched this product I never heard the end of it all over Youtube and on various blogs. I happened to be in Tesco around the launch and it was on offer so I thought I'd give it a go. From the get go, I wasn't impressed with this product compared to a lot of people who were very pro Garnier. Personally I believe the sole purpose of a dry shampoo, is to substitute washing your hair for a day or two, covering up an extra grease and grime. In fact the whole idea behind this dry shampoo, is it performs 7 actions (cleansing,absorbing grease, lightweightness, suppleness, detangling, fragrance all with no residue). Out of all the actions, the fragrance is the most prominent, its a rather sickly vanilla scent which isn't pleasant but I can handle it for a few minutes. The only positives I found was that on freshly washed hair, it does add some body but on greasy hair it has no effect and just leaves your hair feeling even worse.  

Lee Stafford Dark For Oily Roots Dry Shampoo:
    Now onto a dry shampoo product that I highly recommend and it's the brilliant Lee Stafford. I only very recently picked up this product, compared to the Garnier thats been sitting in my room for a few months now, and I've instantly fell head over heels for it. In the past, whenever I've tried Lee Stafford products I've never been disappointed, and I'd honestly put this dry shampoo above the traditional Batiste range. For a dry shampoo, it's a little pricey at £5.99 but I think it's worth the extra bit of money. A huge difference I found was as the one I chose was specifically for dark hair, it doesn't leave dark pigments on your skin, which was a huge problem with the dark brown Batiste dry shampoo. It does however have the annoying white residue instead, but luckily it rubs/brushes in very evenly and doesn't leave little bits attached to your hair which is a plus! Whatever condition your hair is in, whether it be freshly washed or greasy it takes away all the unnecessary bits and adds in texture and volume, and just looks overall really impressive.