Thursday 26 May 2016

Batiste Strength & Shine dry shampoo with L-Arginine

For the amount of times that I mentioned Batiste Strength & Shine dry shampoo in my posts, both Favourites and Empties, I really think that it was about time to write a few more words about it!


This is what Batiste has to say about it:
"Batiste Strength & Shine Dry Shampoo enriched with L'Arginine, is perfect to use between washes on hair that is dull, tired or is just not looking its best. A quick burst revitalises hair, removes excess oil and leaves hair feeling gorgeously clean and fresh with added body and texture. For hair that feels stronger and more resiliant. Now both you and your hair can shine." All I can say is that I agree!


The philosophy behind dry shampoos or why to use them is very simple. They will prolong the time between traditional washing of your hair and will add volume. Strength & Shine does both very successful!


And now how to use it. First of all, shake the bottle well and then spray the shampoo onto your roots approximately 30 cm from hair. Massage through with fingertips, brush and style. When you first apply it, you will see white residue but don't worry, after massaging and brushing, it will vanish.


What I found as the most usual flaw with dry shampoos is their smell. Most of them have very distinctive smell and not very friendly for my nose buds. But this one has a very mild scent which doesn't linger, so I am completely OK with it! It does what it is supposed to do, my hair looks fresh and stays shiny (also a problem for other dry shampoos), doesn't look strawy and it adds volume.



It comes in a 200 ml/6.73 fl.oz. bottle which will last you for 6-10 times of usage, depending on the length of your hair and just how greasy it is?! The last two times might be slightly less effective but it will still do the job.

list of ingredients

You can find this and other Batiste dry shampoos everywhere (Bipa, DM, Kozmo, Müller...) for average price of 35 kunas (5.25$/4.70 Euros/3.57 GBP), although you can often buy them on sale. I bought mine during one for 19.90 kunas.



I tried out many dry shampoos but this one is my favourite! So, yes I am giving a thumb up to try it!

What about you? Do you use dry shampoos? Have you tried this one? Any recommendations?

Tell me...


Love, beautyandbrains007


For Croatian version of this post click here

Sunday 15 May 2016

What I loved through March and April... (My Favourites)

I am not sure how exactly to start this post?! Should I just start writing and ignore the fact that we haven't heard each other in a while? Should I tell you that I am not plannig to write exclusively about my favourites? But then, honestly, I really wanted to share my favourite things from the past two months. I hope you are in the mood for them! ;) :)


Lately, well for a while now, my life has been pretty hectic and you will see that theme in my favourites as well. I am in a constant struggle to enjoy my passion for beauty products and routines in a very limited time frame that I have.


So, I had in mind what I need to do to feel content and good.  But at the same time, I allowed myself a couple of quick fixes. My Batiste Strength & Shy dry shampoo definitely helped me with that. Because of it I had some extra hours of sleeping when I needed them, instead of washing and doing my hair until too late in the night. I love the whole concept of dry shampoos and this one really is great! It brings my hair back to life, makes it fuller, has an OK scent and my hair doesn't look like I got carried away with hair spray or look strawy. If you are in need of such help, do try this one. I love it!!!


So, I took some occasional shortcuts with my hair but my skin couldn't deal with the change of seasons. It became really dry, especially on my arms and elbows, so here I had to take some extreme measures. I pulled out my smaller pots of Body Shop body butters in order to try and make it a fair battle. I had three versions: shea, wild argan oil and smoky poppy. Hm?! Did I like them? My answer is: "To anyone who is reading this, you really need to open a Body Shop store in Croatia, preferably Zagreb!"


I loved all of them but Smoky Poppy was something special... I became enchanted with its beautiful scent, which is completely different from what I usually like, its wonderful texture which was creamy enough, nourishing but not at all heavy or greasy, with the silky feeling that it left on my skin when I woke up in the morning... I loved it and still do!!! But there is a catch. I was trying to buy more of it and found out that it is not always available. Doesn't matter, I will wait for as long as I need but we will meet again!


From the face skincare domain, nothing new blew me away. But.. I did start to appreciate more an old acquaintance of mine. I mentioned Olival at my blog many times and I am very proud to say that this brand offers many beautiful products. I am even more proud to say that it is a Croatian natural/organic brand. So, if you visit my country, you really should buy something from their range, especially from their immortelle line. Although I raved about their products many times before (I love their toner), today's favourite was a bit forgotten. Well, my combination to oily skin had so many dry patches that I included creamy face cleansers and oils into my routine. Olival immortelle cleansing milk has a little bit strange consistency, which is very  thin, almost watery, and I didn't have a feeling that it does something. On the other hand, I immediately liked the fact that it is very gentle and it didn't sting my face or my eyes. I am not recommending to pour it directly in your eyes but if used with caution, it will be very gentle and calming. If it does get into your eyes and irritate them, you will very easily wash it out with cold water. Since it has a very thin consistency you can easily spread it on your face. I suggest to use smaller amounts (nickle size), apply it on your face and eye area, gently massage it and remove it with cotton pads. I don't immediately follow with next step because I like to leave it on my skin for a while to moisturize. Then I use my micellar water to remove any makeup residue on my eyes, wash my face with water and apply my serums, oils and creams, depending on the time of the day/night. I also tried and used Erno Laszlo cleansing oil and I liked this cleansing milk better.


My hands were also on the dryness battlefield...so hand creams were a necessity. Along the way I found Ziaja's Goat Milk hand cream which is ment for dry and wrinkle prone skin. I thought that if it is good enough for wrinkles, then it will be good enough for my dry parts! I loved it! It helped me with my skin, it smells very nice and soft, I even recommended it to my Significant other who also likes it a lot! I give it an A+!


And lastly, I have only one makeup favourite. I did wear makeup but because of the lack of time I mostly used my well known products. But this little guy got its chance and went instantly to the very top of my charts! It is the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Lustre (gloss) in the shade Seduction.


When I was buying CT glosses I went for two shades and Seduction was right from my comfort zone. Sometimes it is good to stay in it.


Totally me. Alone, with pillow talk or iconic nude lip cheat pencil, on top of a lipstick... You really can wear it whenever and however you want. It alway looks great, natural and chic. For a gloss, it is not sticky at all, it is nicely pigmented and if the shade is something for you, try it out when you get a chance.

So, those were my favourite beauty companions. Small but extremely well behaved crowd.

What did you love...?

Tell me...


Love, beautyandbrains007

For Croatian version of this post click here