Hair Personality with Toni & Guy | The 'Jumbo Tong'

Toni & Guy | The Jumbo Tong | £20.00* | Link

When I was asked to take part in Toni & Guy's 'What's Your Hair Personality?' challenge, I jumped at the chance.  If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I have an obsession for anything hair related.  Every blogger has a 'thing', don't they? Whether it be skin care, nail polish or an ever-growing lip balm collection at the bottom of their handbags. Mine is most certainly anything to do with the ol' barnet! Toni & Guy do a fabulous selection of products and hot tools, all matched to certain hair personality's and types.  There are 4 core collections - 'Classic', 'Casual', 'Creative' and 'Glamorous' - something to suit every preference.  I had a little browse through but there was one collection that caught my eye straight away - 'Glamour'.   I'm always curling my hair (it's naturally straight) and I'm a big fan of volume - the bigger the better. You'll never catch me getting ready for a night out without a few rollers delicately perched on my head! Enter the Toni & Guy 'Jumbo Tong' - meant for creating lots of volume, glamorous waves and sleek loose curls.  

The large barrel (38mm to be precise) is perfect for creating waves and large, loose curls in the hair.  A lot of curling tongs and wands on the market tend to give that 'ringlet' look - but this one adds just the right amount of curl without looking over-done, and provides the hair with a lot of movement and texture in an instant.  To create the look above,  I simply took one inch sections and wrapped them around the barrel for a few seconds before releasing.  I then 'perfected' the look after I'd gone around my whole head and re-curled some of the bits that looked a little bit flat - sometimes taking slightly smaller sections of hair to get a variety of slightly tighter curls and loose waves.  The movement and texture that is achieved is simply stunning - very similar to the look I'd get when using heated rollers or when I have 'second day curls' - very undone, a little tousled and with a lot of body in the mid-sections.   The curls do drop throughout the day, so if you're the type who likes your hair to stay put I'd recommend using a good hairspray, but I was left with lovely, loose looking waves - very beachy and bed-heady. I will say that the tongs work much better on 'second day hair' - I achieved a more defined wave when my hair wasn't freshly washed but I guess that's the case with the majority of heated tools.

The Jumbo Tong is extremely easy and straight forward to use.   You simply choose the heat setting depending on your hair type/thickness via the dial on the body of the tong (I use a medium heat) and in a minute or so you're pretty much ready to get styling! If you have hair that tends to struggle to hold a curl, you might need to have a play around with the dial to find a setting that works for you, but It's very quick to use and a complete doddle to get around your whole head in a matter of minutes - leaving you with perfectly 'undone' looking hair to rival the likes of Cheryl Cole.  The best part is the price; for just £20, the Jumbo Tong is amazingly affordable and is the perfect companion for voluminous, natural looking movement.  You can find them on the Toni & Guy website here and also in lots of high-street stores.

Have you tried the Toni & Guy Jumbo Tong?  Which 'Hair Personality' do you reckon you'd be?

International Giveaway! | Win a set of ClipHair Extensions (CLOSED)

Last week, I posted about a set of ClipHair extensions and was really impressed with the quality and colour choice available (I won't go on like a broken record but you can find that post here if you missed it!). For me, extensions are a must-have for that extra bit of glamour and I simply cannot have a night out on the tiles without a little bit of added 'woomph'. ClipHair extensions are all human Remy hair - meaning that they remain tangle free and softer for longer, at the same time as being superly-duperly simple to apply. The handy clips mean that it's a great way to try out thicker or longer locks without having the commitment of permanent extensions - you really can just 'whip' them in and out as you please (cue a bit of Willow Smith ;))

I've been lucky enough to be able to offer my readers the chance to win a set of ClipHair extensions themselves - yippee! I said it in my recent review but I shall say it again - I was really impressed. They really do have one of the largest colour selections I've ever seen from a hair extension company and there is a set to match even the most awkward of barnets. Without any further rambling from me, I shall get into the nitty gritty ins and outs of this giveaway and attempt to keep it short and snappy...

To enter, all you have to do is be a follower of my blog. Sound simples? Of course it is! And there's also a few other things you can do to earn yourself a couple of fruity-bonus entries. Because we all love fruity-bonuses.

The giveaway is open internationally and will run for 2 weeks starting from today, meaning that the giveaway will close at midnight on Sunday 11th August 2013.  After the giveaway has ended, both me and ClipHair will be in contact and the lucky lady will be able to select her set of extensions and colour choice.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck fellow birds!

I will choose the winner via the Rafflecopter form and will be in contact pretty sharpishly - however the winner's entry/s will be moderated and checked to make sure there's no wool pulling over anybodies eyes ;) We can't have any of that! I will contact the winner and if I receive no reply within 7 days the winner will be picked again.

Bird's Words has been shortlisted in the 2013 #CosmoBlogAwards in the 'Best Established Beauty Blog' category. If you enjoy reading my blog, it would mean the world to me if you voted for Bird's Words - You can cast your votes here.

Bobbyglam Hair Extensions | Review

Bobbyglam Triple Wefted Hair Extensions in 'St Tropez' | 20-22" (180g) £89.99-£104.99* | 

A few weeks back, I was contacted by the lovely team over at Bobblyglam asking if I would like to try one of their triple wefted sets of hair extensions. Just recently, my hair has been behaving quite badly to say the least; it's shedding quite a bit due to being on and off medication, so clip-in hair extensions are something that I really could do with and I jumped at the chance to try a triple wefted set.  If you know me, you'll know I'm a massive fan of big, bouncy hair and lots of volume, so the fact that these hair extensions are super thick makes them perfect for me and what I would use them for.  This post will be quite lengthy (pardon the pun ;)) so I apologise in advance, but if you're new to extensions or fancy reading up on what Bobbyglam has to offer then grab a cuppa, get comfy and have a read.

| Colour & Choice |

After a great deal of umming and arring, I settled on the shade 'St Tropez'.  You will see from the photos in the tutorial section of this post that my hair is a multitude of shades and is light on the top sections, but quite mousey and dark underneath.  It is very much a backwards ombre... And the ends are darker than the very top of my hair.  This makes choosing colours rather difficult for me, as my hair is naturally blonde and I don't have any bleach in it - so getting a colour that's light enough without looking bleached often proves difficult.  St Tropez is the perfect shade, as it matches the lengths of my hair (which is where the extensions will sit and blend), yet also doesn't look mismatched compared to the top section. For reference, my hair is very similar to Lauren Pope's hair colour from The Only Way Is Essex - it's blonde, but with brown/toffee and caramel colours running through it and it looks almost brown underneath. 

Bobbyglam were very helpful helping with shade selection, and you can send a photo of your hair to them to be matched up by their team of experts.  I found the shade range available very good - for blondes or highlighted hair I know it can be a pain to get extensions to match, but they offer a good range of mixed shades and multi-tonal blondes so there should be something there for everyone. If I can find my perfect shade, then trust me, it will be a doddle for you! There is also a choice of length. I opted for the 20-22" simply because my hair is already quite long, but there is also the option of 16-18" for those of you with mid-length, shorter hair.

| Packaging |

The packaging really impressed me with this product.  If you're familiar with extensions then you will know the bog-standard way of packaging them.  Once opened, you're pretty much stuck with them even if they don't match your hair. I have definitely been there and got the 'gutted' tshirt when it comes to opening a shade that doesn't match - being stuck with a pack of hair you can't use and a purse that's one hell of a lot lighter in the process!  Bobbyglam have been very clever here and eliminated the problem.  The set comes with test weft - which is just as carefully packaged as the rest of the hair, but is separately contained in a little box so that you don't have to break into the pack and void any chance of return.  This is so useful - you can actually clip the hair weft into your hair and see very clearly whether or not they will match - something that proves quite difficult with other extensions I've had in the past. 

| Hair Quality & Wefts |

I've had my fair share of extensions so I know the difference between remy-hair and standard 'market' hair.  The hair is very delicately packaged in little hair nets, so there's no snagging or breakage when you remove them from the packet.   It's very soft and smooth, and the ends are as thick as the top of the wefts.  The amount of hair you get is also fabulous - the triple wefted sets provide you with 180g of hair - well above the weight of a lot of companies 'deluxe' weights, meaning you get one heck of a lot of hair for your money and with less clips.  I love the way the triple wefted sets are bonded together - making them only slightly thicker than a standard singular weft.  I really don't like thick wefts with a passion  I wear my hair pulled to the front, so big thick bands of hair running around the back of my head just look awful on me and other people seeing you're wearing extensions pretty much defeats the object for me.  Bobbyglam cleverly bond their wefts together (as shown in the photograph) so that they sit flat to your scalp.  In my pack, I received one 4 clip weft (middle of the head), two 3 clip wefts (back of the head, nape of the neck area) and four 2 clips wefts (sides of the head). This makes up the full set and it is completely up to you how many you wear at one time.  You can also choose between double wefted, triple wefted or QUAD wefted pieces (cripes, now that's volume for you!) amongst other hair-related goodies. It's also worth mentioning that Bobbyglam hair is ethically sourced.

As you can see, the triple wefts add so much body and volume to what is usually flat, straight hair.  I couldn't believe how seamlessly they blended despite my cruddy-hair colour and dodgy multitones - you can also see from the back view that they are virtually undetectable.  The texture matches my hair perfectly, and they don't look overly shiny or false. The ends also look very full as they are cut slightly blunt - no rats tails over here! Yippee!  The triple wefts do feel heavier than your average extensions set, I can't sit here and tell you that they feel weightless - they don't.  But they don't feel uncomfortable at all.  As I've previously explained, I would wear the full set for a night out or special occasion, but on a day to day basis I would probably use half the amount of hair, meaning the weight is virtually no different to any other hair extensions - and the fact that there are less clips means there's less chance of you giving the game away. It also makes application very speedy.

Overall, I'm really impressed with Bobbyglam. I'm planning on curling them soon so that they blend in with my everyday hairstyle (you can view my tutorial for my curly hair here if you're interested) - I will try and post some sort of photograph or FOTD post once I've made them work for my waves.  To say they provide this much volume when straight leaves me to think that they will simply blow me away with the volume when I curl them! Cheryl Cole.. eat yer heart out ;)

Have you tried Bobbyglam extensions?
You can have a nosey at their website here.

Enrapture Extremity Heated Rollers | A Review

Enrapture Extremity Heated Rollers | £59.99 - Boots | For stockists see here |

Before Christmas, I spent a great deal of time researching the Enrapture Extremity Heated Rollers but never quite took the plunge with them.  I've always loved big, bouncy hair but the furthest I'd ever ventured into the whole world of hair rollers and such-like was a pack of yer' average velcro ones from Boots. So, imagine how happy I was on Christmas morning when I discovered that Santa had very kindly treated me to these beauties. After using them a great deal over the past 3 months, I thought it was about time I give you all a run-down of my new favourites.. Apologies if this review is a little lengthy - but I've split the review into sections so you can pick and choose as you please depending on what you want to know..

Set Contents & Packaging

The packaging is the first thing that struck me with these rollers.. Call me a marketer's dream but the purple irridescent-y box just screams luxury (not pictured but trust me on this one, it's mesmerising!) In the box, you get a little leaflet which outlines how best to use the rollers depending on what you're after - volume, or curls, or even both. The set contains 10 large rollers, and 10 smaller 'medium' rollers - all with their own butterfly clip used to secure them onto your barnet. I have fairly long, thick hair and this amount is more than enough for me; I often have a couple of each left over once I've covered my whole head.

So how do the rollers work?

Enrapture rollers emit their heat from the core. As you can see from the photographs above, the rollers 'sit' on little bands of heated strips, which heat the roller from the inside. Once on your head, they emit heat from the core. The little butterfly clips also have a small metal plate on them, meaning your hair wrapped around the roller is surrounded with an even amount of heat - locking the style into your hair as the roller and clip heat up simultaneously. They don't take long to warm up at all - it takes all of 2 minutes, if that, for the little LED panel on the front to show that they're ready to use. Fear not, the rollers will not burn your hands - they slowly emit heat and even when on your head, they don't feel uncomfortably hot. I must admit it's lovely and toasty on these cold snowy mornings!

How I use the rollers

It took a little getting used to at first. I recommend trying them on a day where you have time to experiment as I found I had to work out my own little 'routine' with the rollers before I had it completely mastered.  The 10 larger rollers are meant for volume, and bouncy waves, so I tend to place these around my roots and the top sections of my hair. The smaller medium rollers are used for more defined curls, and I place these towards the bottom layers as this is where I like my curls to stay tighter. The velvet on the outside of the rollers helps to keep the hair in place, whilst avoiding snagging or breakage. I find it best to begin in the middle of the strand of hair, wrapping the ends around before rolling the roller up to the root. Using them in the same way as velcro rollers is very fiddly indeed - but once you've got the 'knack' it's superly-duperly easy peasy and you'll be able to do it with your peepers closed. 

I usually pop them in before I do my make-up of a morning, just to get the most out of the setting time.  If you're in a rush then you're fine to take them out after 20 minutes or so, but I leave them as long as I possibly can. If I'm going out for the night then I'll pop them in for a good hour or so whilst I'm eating my dinner! They sit very comfortably on the head and don't feel too weighty - I find the warmth very relaxing! I take strands no smaller than an inch or so and vary the sizes slightly to give a more natural look, and spray them lightly with a heat protectant and a quick spritz of Elnett hairspray before rolling the hair into the roller. The moisture helps to create the curl and 'set' the style a little more. When I take them out, I simply spray each curl lightly with the hairspray again, before general 'tousling' to make the waves look more natural. 

Finishing Touches

The hairstyle shown above was created using purely the heated rollers. You can see the volume and root lift it creates along with the smoothness of the curl.  One thing I find through curling my hair with straighteners and other appliances, is that my hair can feel a little dry - these rollers help to keep your hair soft, smooth and touchable and look effortlessly natural.  I do find some sections can drop slightly, but setting with hairspray really helps keep them in for longer. If I accidentally leave any ends or small pieces of hair out of the roller (as you can see in the photograph above), I just tidy them up by curling them with the straighteners to blend in - it's such a quick and easy way of styling. Definitely a lazy-girl's go-to method for wavy-princess hair!

Are they worth it?

I adore these rollers so much and have been so impressed with them. They really are worth every penny (can you gather how much I love them yet?.. I sound like a broken record!). I love the fact you can alter the style you wish to go for depending on the size of the rollers you use - making them so versatile for day or night.  I love popping them in, doing my make-up for the day and not having to worry about spending ages on styling my hair, as as soon as I take them out the rollers have already done the work for me. All that's left to do is general finishing and touching up.  You do need to find a good hairspray to use - as on days where there's a bit of moisture in the air (typical English silly weather) I tend to find they drop a little bit quicker.  Overall, they are a staple in my hair routine that I genuinely couldn't live without now - they have changed my perception of rollers and give my hair that extra 'oomph' that I haven't been able to achieve before.  All of you fellow big hair fanatics - I urge you to give these a whirl! You can find them on their website here.

Have you tried Enrapture Heated Rollers or other Enrapture hair tools? What were your thoughts?

1K followers | BIG Hair Giveaway!

I promised a while back when I hit the grand total of 1000 followers on my blog that I would do a giveaway. I've finally got around to sorting it all out, and settled on the idea of a 'big hair' related giveaway. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while will know I love volumising products and big glamorous hair, and I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the products I use with one of you lovely bunch. The products i'm giving away have been featured in a few of my recent posts (here and here) and are products I use on a regular basis (you will also find a little pampering suprise tucked away in the parcel...don't we all love suprises!) The nail polish is actually one of my favourite reds.. and is rather appropriately named 'Big Hair'...

The Rules
- This giveaway is a UK only giveaway - apologies for all of my overseas readers.. I shall try and make my next giveaway international.
- Any entries made through accounts set up purely for giveaways will not be counted
- It goes without saying, but please be fair and only enter if you've done the requirements for the giveaway - any entries found that have falsely entered will not be counted
- If you are under 16, please ask permission from your parents to enter this giveaway as I will need you address to post the prize to you
- The giveaway runs for 2 weeks and will end on Sunday 27th January.
- The winner will be announced and contacted soon after the giveaway has ended. If i get no response with 48 hours of contacting the winner, I will pick another. 

 GIVEAWAY CLOSED

  a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Congratulations to SOPHIE over at sophierosehearts. Youre the winner of this giveaway :) 

Good luck to all of you entering and thankyou for being a reader of my blog

♥