For years I've been struggling to find products that work with my hair. I inherited the very thin hair from my mother and the frizzy, curly hair from my father. When I was younger I used to dry comb my curls which resulted in a frizzy mess. I absolutely hated my hair back then, all I wanted was thick, straight hair like all my friends had.

When I was fourteen I got a CHI straightener for my birthday and I spent the following year straightening my hair every time I had to leave the house.

Luckily at some point I realized that I was badly damaging my hair and I had to find another way of dealing with my frizzy and curly hair. That's when I found out about co-washing (washing your hair with conditioner instead of harsh shampoos) and using silicone and sulfate free shampoos and conditioners. I'm not going to explain too much about why you should use silicone and sulfate free products, it would take up the whole blog post and there already are loads of articles about it online! Simply google "co-washing" or "why should you use silicone and sulfate free products". I've been using these products for half a year now and this is what my hair looks like now:

A pretty big difference with the first photo right! These are the products I use everyday:

I start off by washing my hair with this L'Oreal Elvive volume collagen conditioner. Washing your hair with conditioner is not very different than washing your hair with shampoo. The only thing is, it doesn't foam so you have to thoroughly massage it through your hair and rinse it out very well. If you don't rinse it all out the conditioner will stick to your scalp and make your hair look oily. Make sure to use a generous amount of conditioner (more than you would use if you were using shampoo).

Once a month (or more frequently if my scalp starts to feel oily) I mix some baby shampoo into my conditioner  when I wash my hair. This will get rid of any product built up on my scalp. 

After that I gently towel dry my hair and apply L'Oreal Elvive keratin smooth conditioner and leave it in for about 5 minutes. While it's still in my hair I gently comb through it with a wide tooth comb. This is the only time I comb my hair, if I comb through it while it's dry or semi-dry it will start to frizz. When my hair is tangle free I rinse out the conditioner and squeeze most of the moisture out of my hair with my hands. After that I roll my hair into one twist and wrap it up in an old T-shirt. I used to use a towel but a T-shirt is softer and will give you less frizz. 

I keep my hair in a T-shirt for about ten to twenty minutes (depending on how much time it takes to do my make-up) and after that I untwist it and massage a few drops of Argan oil into it. I don't run my fingers through my hair because that will separate my curls resulting in frizz, but I gently knead it into my hair focussing on the ends. I don't blow dry my hair but leave it to air dry for a frizz free look.

And that's it! These are all the products I use, nothing special or expensive. The conditioners and shampoo can be bought in any drugstore (at least here in The Netherlands). The Argan oil I buy online here. Make sure to buy 100% pure Argan oil without any silicones or other chemicals. Hope this helped some curly haired girls out!

Yesterday our local drug store had a 50% percent discount on all make-up and nail polishes. I was almost out of mascara and eyeliner so I decided to restock and I also bought some other items that were on my wish list. Let's take a look shall we?

Everything together

Max Factor Fantasy Fire Nail-polish

€4,99

daylight

direct sunlight

flash

This nail polish looks best as a topcoat, here I used it over "38 vino tinto" by Catrice. It looks far better in person, it has a holographic look to it and the shimmer changes depending on the light.

all about matt! oil control make-up base

€3,29

This make-up base is great for people with oily skin. It keeps your face from getting shiny and makes your foundation stay in place. My face is pretty oily but with this base I'm shine free for at least four hours!

all-in-one CC cream by Essence

€3,99

This CC cream only comes in one color, which is a little too dark for my skin. Luckily when I blend it into my neck you can't really tell. It looks a little shiny on my hand but after applying powder it looks nice and matt.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 120 Cutting Edge

€8,99

My obsession with dark lip colors started last fall but somehow I never found that perfect dark plum color. This lipstick comes pretty close to what I was looking for all that time! It's nice and dark but still wearable. It feels soft on your lips and doesn't dry them out. The lipstick lasts for about four hours.

Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow base

€2,49

I've been using this eye shadow base for almost a year now, this is my third one! It looks a little orange when you first apply it but once you blend it and apply your eye shadow, you don't see a thing. This base keeps your eye shadow looking intense for about eight hours.

Catrice Allround Concealer

€3,59

Another all time favorite; this Catrice concealer palette. Although I only use the last 3 colors, I love this concealer because you can mix it to match your exact skin tone!

Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner

€8,99

This is the only liner I use, I can't make a nice line or wing with anything else! Most liquid liners dry out real quick but the last one I owned lasted for about five months!

 L'oreal Lash Architect Mascara

€14,99

I've been using this mascara for a few months now and I really love it. It gives my lashes length and keeps them curled all day long.

My naked eye.

My eye with L'oreal Lash Architect Mascara and Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Liner.

Not a lot of new products, but why replace products that still work fine? What is your recent favorite make-up purchase? Or your all-time favorite product that you keep re-buying? 

Wednesday I went to a special Bodyshop evening to get a free makeover and make-up advice. Unfortunately we were a little late so they couldn't give us the full makeover before they closed. They did however apply some nice eyeshadow and gave us coupons to come back another time. There was a special deal: if you bought €25 worth of products you'd get a free goodie bag! Now that's an offer I couldn't refuse.

After the shopping my friend and I went and got some delicious strawberry-banana smoothies!

I bought the Raspberry Body Butter and Shea Body Scrub myself and got the goodie bag for free!

           

          Early-Harvest Raspberry Body Butter

             €16,-

          

            

This body butter has a firm, buttery texture. It absorbs quickly into your skin and leaves it feeling nice and soft. It has a very sweet and fruity scent, but certainly not too sweet. It does remind me a bit of raspberry flavored candy. The scent lingers for a few hours.

           

Shea Body Scrub

€15,-

               

              

               

               A mild scrub with sugar and salt. It exfoliates well and the oils leave your skin soft and smooth. The shea smells delicious and lingers even after your shower.

                  On to the goody bag! The total worth of this bag is €25,50!

                   

               

                        Chocomania Body Scrub

                         €15,-

                 

                     

                   

This scrub has a mousse like consistency. It is a milder scrub than the shea one, but still does the job.

The smell is amazing, because like the consistency, it is almost identical to chocolate mousse! Warning: even if you're probably dying to, do not eat! Unfortunately the scent does not linger.

                      

                   Born Lippy Pot Passionberry

                    €3,50

                    

               

             This lip balm has a gel like consistency and leaves your lips soft and shiny. It has a subtle berry          tint to it. The smell is sweet yet fruity and lingers for quite some time.

              

             Tester with Pink Grapefruit Body Butter

              

           

      This body butter has a creamy texture and immediately absorbs into your skin. It has a light sweet                 smell with a hint of fresh grapefruit mixed into it. The smell lingers for a few hours.

     

           Vineyard Peach Shower Gel

       €7,-

             

           This soap free shower gel has a gel like consistency and cleans your skin 

             without drying it out. The smell is pure peaches, fruity but sweet. It reminds me of 

                       fresh peach iced tea! You only need a little product to 

          have your bathroom smell like a peach vineyard. The smell lingers for about an hour. 

             

 Camomile Gentle Eye Make-up Remover 60 ml

€12,- for 250 ml

             

This eye make-up remover has a very watery consistency. Be careful when you first open it! It does however remove eye make-up very well. Unfortunately it does not remove waterproof make-up so I probably won't be using it. It has a sweet and flowery scent that does not linger.

My favorite product from this haul is definitely the chocomania body scrub, I can't stop smelling it! My friend couldn't even resist tasting it, and unsurprisingly it tasted awful! Still the smell makes me crave all things chocolate, I'm certainly buying more once I finish this one. Do you have any of these products at home? Or is there another Bodshop product you can't live without? I'd like to hear your recommendations so leave them in the comments below!