Osmo Blow Dry Potion

"Once upon a time in a land far away, a potion was sent from your fairy godmother..."*

I've mentioned the Osmo blow dry potion in a couple of posts now - my haircare routine and my August favourites, so I decided that since I clearly love it so much I should give it its own review!  As I said before, I picked this up from my local beauty supply store completely on a whim; I'd gone in for a Tigi hairspray that they were apparently selling off, but were sold out of, and while browsing, I spotted this and decided to give it a try.  The product itself comes in  250ml bottle with a nozzle type applicator.  It's a bit of an odd shape with it getting slightly wider towards the top, and its a lovely pinky purple colour.  To be honest it actually does look  a bit like a "magical potion" sat on my dressing table!

Osmo say:

"Transform hair with this specially forumlated styling lotion designed to thicken and hold all styles.  Enjoy an efortless blow dry expirience while reducing friction and breakages causedby heat stying.  Hair is left full, static free and healthy."

So basically it claims to add volume to the hair while giving it a bit of hold.  So is it any good? Well, in short, yes it is! After washing and towel drying my hair I take about a 50p sized amount and rub it in my hands, then apply to my hair.  The product itself is very liquidy so be sure to squeeze the bottle gently or you'll end up with way too much product. It's described as a "thickening" product and oposed to a "volumising" one and I'd say that's about right.  It certainly doesn't give me masses of volume, but on a day to day basis, that's not neccissarily what I want.  My hair can sometimes appear a bit flat after blowdrying, but since using this I've defintely noticed my hair appear thicker and not so stuck to my head.  It leaves my hair feeling sleek and smooth, which is a huge bonus as it means I don't have to go over it so much with my GHD's.

I've found it also helps to keep my blowdry in place.  As my fair is more on the fine side (even though I have loads of it) I tend to find the ends of my hair, mainly at the front, can become a bit wispy and out of place as the day goes on.  This is no longer the case, my sleek 'do' has stayed put for much longer, with little to no static, which is another thing that used to drive me mad! It also really helps if I've chosen to curl my hair.  I like quite loose waves for a casual look, and tend to brush my curls out to aheive this.  This stuff helps to stop my hair just going frizzy when I do this, and also keeps the waves in place.

One last point; I can't end this review without mentioning the smell, which if I'm honest is what swayed me into buying it in the first place! I was in two minds until I gave it a whiff! It smells devine; it's really fruity and reminds me of some kind of cocktail.  Beautiful, but I'm fairly sure it won't taste as good as it smells!

I believe the RRP for the Osmo blow dry potion is around £8.  I paid £5.99 for mine, and I've seen it  at various prices around the web.  Feel Unique currently have it on sale for £7.99 but if you shop around, I'm sure you could find it cheaper.  Having said that, I'd happily pay the full price for it as it really has worked wonders on my hair!

Have you tried any Osmo products?

*those are the wesbite's words, not mine!

August Favourites

Babyliss waving wand.

I've had this for ages but I haven't used it for the longest time. Now every time I've styled my hair this month I've been using this.  I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never be able to curl my hair with ghd's no matter how hard I try.  Using a wand, however, is so easy! This one is a more unusual shape compared to the typical conical wand, but the principle is the same.  Simply point downwards and (carefully!) wrap sections of hair around it, hold for few seconds and let go. The shape of this is meant to give more of a 'wave' than a curl, but I find it gives more than enough curl for me, and I tend to brush it out a fair bit for a more natural look.

Osmo Blow Dry Potion

 I mentioned this in my haircare routine post a couple of weeks ago, and it has definitely become a firm favourite.  It doesn't give masses of volume, but I can definitely notice a difference in how my hair looks when I've used this, it's just enough to stop my hair looking flat.  It also gives a bit of hold, which is great for when I'm using the waving wand on my hair. I hadn't heard of Osmo until I bought this, but I definitely want to try out more of their products in the future.

Benefit They're Real

I bought this product when it first came out in 2011 and to be honest, I didn't love it.  However, when I received a mini version in a gift set recently, I decided to give it a second chance.  This time around, it's love.  I'm not sure why, though I think it might be with this one being a miniature version, the wand is shorter and therefore easier to control? Has anyone else experienced this? My lashes are quite long anyway, but are quite fair at the ends, this mascara lengthens them even more and makes them such much more defined.  It's making me want to buy the full size again, but if my theory's right I won't love it nearly as much.

Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot

My skin isn't overly oily but I do get a bit of a shiny forehead as the day goes on. Despite this, I've never been a big powder user as I've found them to be cakey and emphasise any dry patches.  When Soap and Glory make up was 3 for 2 recently, I decided to give this a go, and I'm so glad I did.  It's so finely milled and pretty much melts into the skin, given a lovely matte finish.  Another winner from Soap and Glory for me!

Barry M Confetti Nail Paint in Dolly Mixture

I love topcoats, so much so, I'm planning a blog post showing all my favourites.  This is a new addition but has already become a firm favourite.  I love this because it adds a bit of interest to your nail colour of choice, but is much less in your face than glitter.  I always associate glitter polishes with winter or night time, so these confetti ones are perfect for day time.

The Body Shop Almond Hand & Nail Cream

Excuse the battered-ness of the tube, but with it being in a metallic tube, it doesn't stand a chance in my handbag! My hands get really dry at work, so a good hand cream is a must.  This one does the job brilliantly, it absorbs quickly leaving no greasy residue, and it leaves my hands super soft.  It has a lovely, non-offencive smell too.  This is just the small version, though once my Hand Food has ran out, I may get a larger tube of this for my dressing table,

My Current Haircare Routine

I'm actually pretty fickle when it comes to my haircare routine; I normally buy a different shampoo each time I run out, and I'm forever trying out different serums, sprays and the like.  I probably only wash my hair twice a week, three at most. Not much I know, but if I'm not leaving the house I often skip hair washing as it seems poitnless, and my hair's under a sexy hat at work anyway so it's not as if anyone will see.I can easily get three days out of my hair without it looking overly greasy and I think that, in conjunction with these products has made me love my hair again.

Until about two months ago I had dyed red hair.  I loved it, but the upkeep was too much like hard work.  Saying that, my hairdresser did recommend using a sulphate-free shampoo to help slow down the fading process which did help a fair bit.  Even now my hair is dyed back to pretty much my natural colour, I still opt to use a sulphate-free shampoo.  The one I'm using at the moment is from Organix, and is part of their Argan oil range.  We all know that Argan oil is very good for our hair, so having this in a shampoo and conditioner that would be kind to my coloured hair can only be a good thing. My hair definitely feels stronger and in better condition after using these. Organix claim that all their shampoos are free of sulphates and parabens which gives anyone wanting to try a sulphate-free shampoo plenty to choose from.  I'm tempted to try another one next time, just not sure which as yet!

The next product is a bit of a new addition and something I picked up completely on a whim.  While I have a lot of hair, it can be quite fine and often falls flat after blow volumising shampoos as they're not great for coloured hair, and instead opt to use a spray or cream to give my hair a bit of life.  While having a look inside my local beauty supply store, I came across this blowdry potion by brand called Osmo.  It's not really described as a volumising product, instead it claims to thicken and hold all hair styles. Intrigued, I decided to give it a go. I find it gives my hair just enough lift to stop it sticking to my head, and holds any curls or waves I may make with my GHDs.  It also smells amazing!

For heat protection I use Amargan Hair Therapy Shine and Protect Spray which I picked up from the same place as the blow dry potion mentioned above.  My hairdresser used it on my hair a few months ago and I instantly fell in love. It can be used to protect hair from heat damage from straightening and curling, but also protects against UV damage. It can also be used on dry hair to define curls and add shine. I prefer to use it on wet hair as applying too much to dry hair can make my hair a little greasy looking.  I find you don't have to be quite so careful when my hair's still wet so using it this way prevents any hair disasters!

For the most part, I'll at least leave my hair to dry naturally until it's about 90% dry. If I'm washing my hair before bed however, or if I'm going out, I use my trusty Remmington Pearl Hairdryer which I've had for a few years now.  I'm sure they're better hairdryers on the market now but this one does a pretty good job anyway so I'm more than happy with it.  I love how the concentrator nozzle is nice and thing, ensuring a sleek finish if that's the look I'm going for.  More often than not though, I don't bother with this, I'm not even sure where it is at the moment to be honest! I'll usually just blast my hair, alternating between the heat settings, maybe doing a bit of sectioning depending on time.  I'll then turn to my GHD's which were a Christmas present last year.  I still have my old ones which are over eight years old now, but they're definitely on their last legs so I've demoted them to my back up pair! I'm not a fan of the overly straightened, sleek look for day to day, so I just tend to do this very loosely, maybe adding a bit of a wave depending on time.

Then I'll use my Lee Stafford hair oil which I reviewed here.  I'm still on the same bottle as you hardly need any at all, especially if using it on dry hair like I tend to do.  I find it adds a nice shine to my hair and helps define any waves I may have made.   I'll sometimes use hairspray if my style requires a bit of hold and the one I have at the moment is one by Elnett.  While it gives good hold and isn't sticky, I'm not a huge fan of the smell. I'd rather have one that is frangranced as opposed to having that generic hairspray smell.   However as I don't use it that often, and this bottle is huge, I think I'm stuck with it for a while yet!

The only other item I use on my hair on a regular basis is dry shampoo.  My one of choice at the moment is Batiste's Dark and Deep Brown.  I swore by the red version of this when I had red hair, and when I went back to brown, I naturally switched to this.  The red was great to disguise my roots, and while now I don't need to hide my roots as my hair is pretty much my natural colour, Dark and Deep really helps to cut down on the grayish tinge most dry shampoos leave on your hair.

So that's pretty much all I use on my hair. You may have noticed I don't use any hair masks, or deep conditioners.  I've used a couple in the past but I'm yet to find one I'm a huge fan of.  If you have any to recommend, please do so in the comments!