Neal & Wolf | 'AURA' Hair & Body Fragrance

When it comes to haircare, Neal & Wolf have to be one of my favourite brands.  I fell in love as soon as I first tried their 'Harmony Intensive Conditioning Treatment' a while back now and I use their Heat Guard spray on a daily basis.  My hair has never felt so soft after styling! As much as I love their products and think they work a treat, one thing I do enjoy is the 'Neal & Wolf' scent.  It really is so unique and my hair is always left smelling salon fresh and totally gorgeous after I've used their products. Seriously - it's just divine! I've had a fair few people comment on it actually and I often wished they would create a hair perfume of some sort so I could keep the scent going for longer. Well, the hair-care fairies certainly answered my prayers when I heard that Neal & Wolf had released their 'Aura Hair and Body Fragrance'* - I was a happy girl indeed. Their fragrance is very much a signature scent and I know that so many people adore it - me included. I couldn't wait to get my mitts on it.

Packaged in a sleek box, the Aura fragrance is presented in a gorgeous glass bottle - it all feels very luxury.  The scent itself is very musky and identical to the smell of Neal & Wolf's other products. If you aren't familiar with it, it's described as being a 'blend of delicate blossom, white thyme and saffron combined with lily, ylang ylang and vanilla' - a truly beautiful blend which smells so sophisticated and luxurious.  It's not incredibly long lasting (around the 5 hour mark I'd say) but if you're a fellow Neal & Wolf fan like myself and you 'layer' it up with their other haircare products - the scent is somewhat intensified and lasts much longer.  Like i said, I use their Heat Guard spray on a daily basis so my hair tends to smell very much like it to begin with - if i use the shampoo and conditioner to go with it then the scent lasts even longer. The perfume doesn't effect the condition or texture of the hair and doesn't dry it out - my hair feels perfectly soft even after a few sprays.   What's more, it also doubles up as a body spray - I always spray a little around my neck/décolletage area to finish off. 

Overall, an amazing product from Neal & Wolf.  If you're a fan of their products and adore the unique scent like I do, I guarantee you'll love this perfume.  It's become quite the must-have for me.  It retails at £20.95* - so it's a little indulgence but well worth it considering you don't need to use much at all.  You can find out more about it on the Neal & Wolf website here - keep your eyes peeled for this one! It's sure to be a winner.

Do you love Neal & Wolf as much as me? What's your favourite product?

Longer, Healthier Hair | Michael Van Clarke '3 More Inches' Range

If you've been reading my blog for some time, you'll know that I have a bit of a 'thing' for hair products! I always spend a little more on my hair care and conciously make an effort to update and switch my products depending on what my hair needs.  I'd heard of Michael Van Clarke after reading a few blog posts about it in the past, and I'd also clocked it in SpaceNK.  Having long hair already, I've always pondered over whether or not I really needed to invest in a range like this. '3 More Inches' is described as a 'unique formulation which naturally slows down the ageing process, allowing the hair to stay stronger and healthier during its lifetime, so it can grow naturally thicker, longer and more lustrous'.  The scientific ingredients and understanding behind the range both care for your hair as well as providing key nutrients it needs in order to grow stronger and healthier.  Unlike a lot of products on the market that claim to help hair grow, this range has a lot of science and research behind it - if you fancy reading more about it (I wouldn't be able to do it justice...) head over to their website here.  So, I've been putting a selection of products from the range to the test the past few weeks, and I thought it was about time I shared with you all my findings...

3 More Inches Pre-Wash Treatment | £29.00* for 500ml | Link 

This pre-wash treatment is HUUUGE. Honestly, I have long hair and it's going to take me a good while to get through all of this! You simply pump as much as you need from the bottle and coat your hair with it from root to tip prior to washing.  It recommends to leave it on for around an hour, so it's definitely not something you'd want to do if you were in a rush - but for those days where you feel like a bit of a pamper-sesh, it's a really nice little treatment to do.  It contains cashmere proteins and an amino acid blend to help slow the ageing process and providing essential nutrients for growing hair. It doesn't seem much when it's on the hair - but once you wash it out, it leaves your hair looking smooth and shiny - without being weighed down.  The only thing I wasn't too keen on is the smell - it doesn't have a strong scent but seems to have a very strange 'kick' to it that I personally wasn't too fussed on. This being said, I can't fault anything else about the treatment.  I love the big bottle - if you've tried treatments like this in the past and found you were getting through them like they were going out of fashion - then it's worth looking into this one.  Even the small bottle is bigger than my head... (almost)...

3 More Inches Shampoo | £17.00* for 250ml | Link

Out of the whole range, this is the one thing I wasn't too sure about.  I love the fact it contains ingredients to 'feed' the hair and keep it looking soft and shiny but it just didn't 'wow' me like I expected.  I think it's down to the fact that it didn't lather up as much as I'm used to.  Having long hair, I like a shampoo to get a good lather going on!  Of course, this is just a personal preference but there wasn't even a salon scent for me to enjoy whilst applying it.  However, what it did do was leave my hair feeling amazingly soft and lightweight.  I haven't tinted my hair since June (trying to get my hair in tip-top condition) and now that the winter months have well and truly drawn in, I've found my natural blonde-ness to be getting a little dull.  After using this, it seemed a great deal brighter and glossy - I was really surprised at the brightening effect it gave and it was a nice little pick-me-up.

 3 More Inches Conditioner | £17.00* for 250ml | Link

I much preferred the conditioner compared with the shampoo.  It isn't the richest conditioner on the market and it sinks into the hair really quickly rather than sitting on top of the hair - it feels strange at first and I felt like I had to apply more than I usually would but it washed out really well and left my hair feeling silky and easy to manage afterwards.  I really liked the fact it felt like it was doing something rather than just coating my hair in product.

3 More Inches Volumizing Mousse | £12.50* | Link

I loved this mousse right from the first try.  I always use mousse in my hair before blow-drying in order to add a little bit of texture, stop flyaways and too add some much needed volume!  I actually used quite a decent palm full of this (brave, I know...) and it didn't leave any crispy-ness whatsoever.  I'm able to apply a good amount without feeling weighed down - which is such a plus point for me. I usually find that I have to seriously ration myself with mousse and often apply less than I need in order to combat straw-hair! It gave my hair a lot of body and bounce, especially at the root, and left it feeling 'swishy' at the same time.  You can't beat a good bit of swish!


Overall, I've really enjoyed using this range - it's just a little different to what I imagined!  I expected more of a 'salon' scent' from the range that I just didn't get - it's not a big deal but I do like a bit of a 'professional' smell if I'm spending a bit on my hair care. Little gripe out of the way, 3 More Inches is definitely one of, if not the best hair growth range I've seen on the market - it's just got a little more substance and fact behind it - the scientific aspect sets is aside from other products that claim to do the same thing.  Of course, I haven't seen any noticeable growth yet, but my hair does feel stronger and smoother, and I've noticed less split-ends and flyaways.  I can imagine with a few more months use, I might manage to get my hair past that 'awkward' stage it seems to be in right now.   If you're really, really conscious about growing you hair, I recommend looking into this range - it's not the cheapest but if you're serious about growing longer hair and want to use products like these, then I'd definitely give them a shot! The Pre-Wash treatment is especially good, and I'd recommend maybe trying this first as you can still use it with your regular shampoo and conditioner at the same time until you decide to take the plunge with the whole range! It's worth mentioning that you can buy a 'travel trio pack' of mini products for £24.50 (link) if you want to try them out before you invest in full sized bottles. You can view the rest of the range from 3 More Inches here.

Have you tried the Michael Van Clarke '3 More Inches' Range? What did you think? Is this something you'd consider trying?

Tigi Bed Head | Dumb Blonde Smoothing Stuff

 Tigi Dumb Blonde | Smoothing Stuff £9.99

I think it's fair to say that I am a marketer's dream. Put something in a shiny pink ball and I will buy it regardless of what's in it, but Tigi's Dumb Blonde Smoothing Stuff has to be the most beautifully packaged product I've ever laid my eyes on.. Amazing packaging aside, I've been in the market for a new smoothing serum - my hair has been quite dry due to the cold weather we've had just recently and it's been looking a little bit sorry for itself. I needed something not only to smooth any 'birds nest-y bits' but also something that would add a bit more shine and general all round 'oomph'. Blonde hair sometimes needs a little bit of help in the shine department, and I wanted a product that wasn't going to weigh my hair down - I'm a big fan of huge glamorous hair, so heavy serums and glosses are a big no-no for me.

This has to be my new go-to smoothing product. It's light, it's shimmery, and it does the job without weighing down the hair. It doesn't leave it feeling sticky or overloaded with product, and it settles down any dry frizzy bits effortlessly. It has more of a gel-like texture to it that's really light and cooling and a little goes a long way. It smells good enough to eat - very strawberries and cream. In fact, if any of you remember Calpol when you were little? Because it smells ridiculously similar to that (I swear i used to imagine up headaches and sniffles just so I could have a spoonful of Calpol..) It also doesn't dull the hair, making it the perfect smoothing serum for my fellow blondies - it contains tiny iridescent shimmers in it, which help to combat any brassiness and it generally just leaves my hair feeling smoother, softer to the touch and more manageable.

Have you tried Tigi's Dumb Blonde Range?

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