♥ Schwarzkopf Got2B 4 Day Straightening Spray

It's obvious that using straighteners and hairdryers is not the best thing you can put your hair through, so anything that claims to leave my hair straight for up to four days is a must have, right? I bought this on a whim, when I noticed it in Boots on offer for £3. I've been trying to get into the habit of leaving my hair completely natural (without any heat styling) for as long as possible and now I usually only use my straighteners if I'm going out. Because of this hesitance to use straighteners this spray really is a god send!

Before straightening, I split my hair into two sections. I'll tie up the top half of hair and then spray this through the lengths of the hair that's left, paying close attention to the ends and the bits of hair that have natural kinks in. I try to give it a minute or so, so my hair isn't super damp when I go in with my straighteners. I then repeat this when I've taken down the rest of my hair.

Now, I can't vouch for the four days worth of straight hair, as after two days my hair gets too oily and I give in to washing it, but on the occasions I have straightened my hair it's kept it straight all day long and through the night, so much so that I never even thought about taking straighteners to my hair again. I did convince my hair to stay straight, however, simply through tying my hair up when I went to bed, being careful to use a very elasticated band, loosely around the hair so that it wouldn't leave kinks in the hair.. But I'm pretty sure that if I we're to do this again for another night without washing, my hair would have been good to go for a third day.

For a couple of pounds this styling spray really is exactly what I was after and if you straighten your hair on a daily basis this is definitely worth trying out! It protects the hair from heat and keeps it straight for a few days - what more could you need in a product like this?

Em x

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♥ Garnier Ultimate Blends Marvellous Glow Oil

I never really understood why putting oil through my hair would benefit it. I assumed it would make it look greasy and sticky and hard to manage. How wrong was I? I started using this Garnier hair oil after my second trip to the hairdressers in eight months, Now, I never used to be one for hair cuts... What changed, you might ask? I realised how damaged and dull my hair was because I let it grow without treating it well and letting the dead hair and split ends take over. It might have looked long, shiny and manageable after a good wash and condition but I could still tell how frayed the lengths were getting. It only took a little telling off at the hairdressers to realise my hair was never going to grow and look healthy unless I cared for it properly.

My hairdresser mentioned how beneficial an oil might be and a housemate was using a similar Garnier oil in her hair, so I figured I'd give this one a try. Though you can use this on dry, day three hair if you so wish, I stick to taking three pumps through the lengths of my hair after every other wash to give it a bit of a boost and a healthy shine. It protects the hair from damage that can be caused through heat styling and contains a UV filter which protects the hair from damage from the sun - so it'll be great to use through the summer months. It can give dry hair a sleek and shiny finishing touch, or can be used before a wash to nourish your hair.

This hair has been incredible with my fine, dull hair. I put three pumps into my palms, rub them together and then run it through the lengths of my hair, mostly focusing on the very ends. I then put half a pump into my parting, which is really thin and damaged from playing with it too much. It gives a beautiful shine and smells incredible. It makes long hair so much more manageable and I've had it for around a month now, and in the bottle it looks like I've only used the littlest bit. It does say on the bottle to use only a few drops, so maybe I'll use less and see if it gives the same results.

At £9.99 it's much more expensive than conditioners or treatments that are available on the high street, but for the finish it gives, it's honestly worth it. It's lightweight, too, so it doesn't weigh the hair down like some heavy duty conditioners can.

At the moment Boots have a 3 for 2 on haircare, so you could pick this up with the corresponding shampoo and conditioner, but watch out for them to put it on sale. I believe I picked it up for around the £6 mark. Are there any cheaper alternatives, or home treatments I could give a go? Let me know!

Em x

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♥ Everyday Make Up: March

I wrote my first Everyday Make Up post in January and it had quite a few views so I really wanted to update you on what it is I've been slapping on my face day in, day out, more recently. I really enjoy talking you through this process so I hope you enjoy reading it all!

♥ MAC Lipsticks, Worth The Hype?

Birthday's and Christmases are always the right time to treat those you love and yourself. When my best friend turned twenty, I picked her out some products that I consider to be high end make up in the form of the Naked 2 palette, and a Mac mascara. When Christmas came around and I had another opportunity to spoil her (and this time myself, too) so I couldn't resist a trip to the Mac counter in Birmingham's Selfridges to pick up something. She's really into make up and although I hoped to get her a beautiful looking Nars lipstick, they were obviously out of stock of the one I'd picked out and Mac was the best alternative. Along with her Christmas present,  I also treated myself to a lipstick I'd been lusting after for ages. Twig. Not surprisingly, it's a nude. I really shy away from bold lip colours as I don't think I'm confident enough to pull them off, but i am learning. Now, I own three mac lipsticks, Twig, Creme in Your Coffee and Pink Plaid. I'm obviously super impressed with them and can understand why so many of you bloggers and makeup fiends have such a large collection of the lipsticks mac have on offer.

♥ Real Techniques: Miracle Complexion Sponge

I tried to get my hands on this for weeks and weeks in store but Real Techniques brushes and tools are flying off the shelves these days due to how affordable they are. It was constantly sold out and that's a good thing, I suppose! I could have opted for different options that were there (a Paul's Boutique sponge that just didn't do it for me) or I could have picked up a Beauty Blender when I spotted that, browsing in Selfridges in Birmingham. Neither of these were to my fancy - I knew the first beauty sponge I wanted to try was the Real Techniques on and I held out just long enough.

♥ My First Beauty Box

I've looked into buying a beauty box for such a ridiculously long time now and when Love Me Beauty emailed to say I could have a box at half the price they usually sell them for, I caved. I paid £8.95 (£5, and £3.95 postage) for the box and received seven goodies in total. I'm going to start by saying that the packaging is of such a high standard, it amazes me they can sell these boxes at such a low price. When creating a subscription with Love Me Beauty you have the chance to either pick out six credits worth of products or you can be sent products at random. For my first box, I chose what I would get, but I think next time I'll try a random selection of products for the element of surprise. When choosing a subscription you can either buy a rolling contract that gets you a box at £10 per month, or can opt for it to be cheaper through buying longer subscriptions and you get the box cheaper each month. The longer you subscribe, the cheaper the box will be.

♥ What I'm Reading

In honour of World Book Day 2015 I've compiled a list of the books I'm currently burying my head in. Reading is something I've always loved. My Nan was my main parent/guardian when I was growing up and we spent our weekends heading to the library to pick out new novels. I definitely got my love of books from these childhood moments spent in the children's section of the library and falling head over heels with the written word. I have a pretty extensive collection of my own books now, which I call my little library, and the collection gets bigger and bigger with every academic year that passes. Enough of that, though, here are the titles I'm getting stuck into this month!