Alva Rhassoul Repair Spray from My Pure

I received a bottle of Alva Rhassoul Repair Spray free of charge from My Pure, in return for an honest review. All opinions are based upon my own experiences.

As regular readers of my blog will know, I suffer from pretty problematic skin and have done for some time. Over the years, my skin has become drier and prone to the odd outbreak of spots, something I thought I'd left behind in my teens! I've tried many products designed specifically for spots but find that although some of them seem to work a little, they dry out the surrounding skin which becomes uncomfortable and results in me having to stop using the product. I hoped that this would be different as it not only contains tea tree oil and manuka oils, but also has 90% aloe vera to help provide some much needed moisture.

The bottle comes with a pump action spray top making the oil easy to dispense and preventing any spillage. To use, simply spray a little onto a cotton pad and dab over problem areas. It can also be sprayed directly onto neck and decollete area.

The hardest part for me was getting past the smell! It's very pungent and, in my opinion, isn't particularly pleasant. I managed to squirt a small amount onto a cotton pad and apply it to the few spots which were visible on my face. I was unable to spray it directly onto my neck etc as the smell was quite overpowering. Putting the smell aside, I applied the oil each night before bed and after a couple of days, I saw a visible reduction in both the size of the offending spots and despite this being applied directly to the spots, the surrounding skin didn't suffer at all and remained moisturised. I continued using each night for 1 week and my spots had completely gone ...relief! My skin has been clear since but as soon as I see one appear, i won't hesitate to reach for this repair spray.Due to this being a spray rather than a cream or gel, a tiny amount stretches a long way so you really do get value for money.

Best of all, this product is a natural,certified, organic, vegan AND vegetarian product which is not tested on animals.

Alva Rhassoul Repair Spray costs £11.95 for a 75ml bottle and is available to buy from My Pure.

Yes to Grapefruit Brightening Facial Wipes from my Pure

I received a pack of Yes to Grapefruit Brightening Facial Wipes free of charge from My Pure, in return for an honest review. All opinions are based upon my own experiences.

My facial skin has suffered really badly during the long winter months and is in dire need of having some new life injected into it. Apart from suffering dryness, my skin looks dull, drawn and is currently boasting a few more wrinkles than I'd like to see. It was time to find something to help combat this and that's where Yes to Grapefruit came in very handy. Each pack contains 25 wipes which claim to 'cleanse, exfoliate and brighten' the skin.

There is a tough, plastic central lid on the pack which is very easy to pop open and helps keep the wipes from loosing any moisture once opened ....genius!

Simply open the lid, remove the small seal cover and pull through the facial wipe. I was quite impressed that I actually managed to pull out only one wipe, as past experience tells me that you usually manage to pull at least 2 through at a time! The wipes are a generous size and have a nice textured feel to them. They're thick enough to scream quality, but not too thick to manipulate. When wiping over the neck and face, you can feel the gentle exfoliation and the coolness of the wipe was really refreshing. On the odd couple of hot days we enjoyed recently, I placed the wipes in the fridge for an hour or so before use and they gave some much needed relief at the end of a sweaty day. The wipes are lightly fragranced with grapefruit giving a lovely fresh burst which lingers on the skin. I noticed immediately that my skin looked brighter and felt firmer. you are recommended to use these 2/3 times per week and I found that this was enough to make a visible difference as well as one you can feel. I also noticed a visible improvement in my spots which aren't major but are enough to give me a bit of a complex. These wipes worked wonders on clearing my skin and leaving it blemish free as well as refreshed and nourished.

Overall I would highly recommend these wipes and feel that they made a real difference for me!

Yes to Grapefruit Brightening Facial Wipes cost £3.99 for a pack of 25 and are available to buy from My Pure.

Tesco Finest* Pasta Range

The Lowdown ....

A traditional recipe

To Giuseppe Di Martino, grandson of the Di Martino company’s founder, pasta isn’t just food, it’s his passion and his way of life. Their pasta is made to a recipe that has barely changed in decades using 100 per cent Italian durum wheat semolina. It gives the pasta a very high (14g) protein content and keeps it al dente for longer during the cooking process.

A passion for flavour and taste

Many types of pasta are dried in 3 hours. But our finest* pasta is left to dry for 30 hours to bring out the wheat’s subtle flavor.

In pursuit of perfection

Pasta with a coarser finish helps the sauce cling to it when cooked. So, while modern pasta makers have changed their ‘die’ (the pasta shaper) to Teflon, the Di Martino family continues to use bronze ‘dies’ that scratch the pasta making it rough and perfect for cooking with.

As a member of The Orchard, I recently received vouchers to cover the cost of some Tesco Finest* Pasta free of charge, in return for an honest review.

My first choice was the Fusilli Lunghi Pasta ...mainly because I was fascinated by the length and style of the pasta. 

My second choice was the Conchiglioni Rigati Pasta which looks like extremely large pasta shells.

Each bag comes with easy to follow instructions on the back and takes between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the style of pasta to cook. It really is that simple!

Now I'm not the world's most adventurous eater and I'm not a huge fan of pasta whereas my oldest daughter absolutely loves it so she was to be my guinea pig (so to speak). 

There is a serving guide on the back of each pack so you know just how much 1 person should have - something I personally find very useful as I often make my portion sizes way too big for the average adult. When the required amount of lightly salted water is boiling, simply add the pasta, give it a quick stir then leave. I did keep checking and giving the pasta a stir with a fork just to make sure it wasn't sticking together as I often find I have this problem when cooking pasta. After the recommended time, I sampled a piece of pasta and I have to say that it was cooked to perfection! Unlike some pasta, this didn't leave an unpleasant 'film' coating my tongue and even had a pretty nice flavour on it's own. My daughter however prefers tuna and mayonnaise with pasta so that's exactly what she got. She tried both pastas and preferred the Fusilli Lunghi ...she found the other pieces a little too large! For some reason, this pasta also seemed to be a bit more filling than normal as she couldn't quite manage the full portion size which I was amazed at as normally she's still hungry for more. 

Overall I would definitely recommend Tesco Finest* Pasta Range as it's not only extremely versatile, but it tastes great and looks superb too! The packaging also helps it retain its freshness and as it comes in 500g bags, there's plenty enough to last.

Vidal Sassoon Salonist

I was recently chosen as one of the lucky Supersavvyme members to receive a free pack of Vidal Sassoon Salonist at home hair colourant in return for an honest review, so here it is!

I often get highlights in my hair which is why I opted for the 9/0 Light Neutral Blonde, hoping it was the right choice.

Inside my box I received:
1 Instruction/Tips leaflet
1 Tube of Colour Preserving Conditioner
1 Mixing bowl and brush
1 Pair of protective gloves
1 Tube of Rich Colour Cream
1 Bottle of Colour Activating Lotion
1 Sachet of VS Serum

I did complete the allergy test as per instructions but as I'm a wee bit impatient, I didn't bother to do the strand test and just ploughed straight in .......big mistake!!

Fortunately, the bottles are also numbered to make it that wee bit easier to know which to use. You simply take bottle 1 and tube 1 and mix them together in the bowl provided. This was slightly difficult as it resembled porridge and took quite a while to thoroughly mix in but I persisted as I didn't want to risk any clumps of block colour anywhere on my hair. You are advised to section your hair ready to apply the mixture which I managed without too much trouble. I didn't accept any help from my other half as I was curious to see how easy/hard it would be to colour my hair without help and I though it better for the purpose of this review.
Once the hair is sectioned, it's time to start applying the mixture beginning with the roots and hairline. Once you've used around 3/4 of the mixture, you're done and it's time to start the waiting game of around 20 minutes before moving onto the next stage. Unlike some hair colourants, this has a reasonably pleasant smell but it is a little overpowering so good ventilation is still essential.
After this time, take the serum labelled in tube 2 and add this to the 1/4 of the remaining mixture and mix in well. Now it's time to get stuck in there and apply all over the hair. Stick your gloved hand in the bowl and take a fair sized scoop of mixture then proceed to smooth this through the hair making sure you get it all. I personally found this part really difficult and rather fiddly as my hair was just sticking together making it very difficult to guarantee an even all over coverage. My hair is fairly long (mid-way down my back) and is extremely fine which is why I think I found this stage so hard. I did persevere until it was all covered and then started the waiting game again for next 10 minutes.
Within 2 minutes of me applying the first stage to my roots etc, I noticed the bright gingerness begin to appear and it really got me panicking! The longer I waited, the brighter the orangey colour became ....oh no!!

Now it was time for the moment of truth and to be perfectly honest, I was dreading taking the colour off and seeing what results I was left with. I saw the colour running down the plughole as I washed and as recommended, I used the Colour Preserving Conditioner which I have to say left my hair feeling gorgeous!
First impressions of wet hair were that it had definitely turned an awful ginger at my roots, but not as bad as I expected - then I dried it! The tears flowed and flowed as I wondered if I could ever show my face in public again and I had no way of fixing it as I can seldom afford to visit the hairdressers. I was left absolutely devastated to say the least.

My pics don't show the colour too well but I'm hoping you get a rough idea.

As a product, I really can't fault it as it delivered exactly what it said it would ...all over colour from root to tip and full grey coverage. The feel of my hair was absolutely gorgeous after using this product and it didn't feel harsh in the slightest. Would I recommend it? Yes! I can't blame the product for my impatience and as I passed samples onto friends, they were extremely happy with the results ...all used brown shades which they said left their hair feeling nourished and well looked after as well as a great colour!

Check out the Vidal Sassoon Salonist website for more info and insider tips!