November favourites

It's the end of the month and I'm already soooo excited about December being here, and all the boxes with Christmas stuff are lined up and I'm ready to start decorating this weekend but before we get completely immersed in Christmas, it's time to have a look at what I've used all the time and LOVED in November.

Let's start with the BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl (£149.99) which I reviewed in a previous article. It's a completely new approach to hair curling. Instead of the hair around a wand or barrel, you clamp  the curler around a section of your hair and voilà, it's automatically sucked up into a ceramic curl chamber, and when you release it a couple of seconds later, you have a gorgeous and perfect curl. It's so easy to get the hang of, it's gentle on the hair and leaves less frizz than when I use a curling wand. It takes me about 25 mins to do all of my hair, using quite thin sections and the curls last for abut 4 days - obviously depending on how much you brush the curls out and if you secure them with some hair spray. I've used it every week since I got it - it's amazing and I have a feeling it'll be on many ladies' Christmas wishlist this year.

To secure the curls I've been using quite a lot of the Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry & Vanilla Hair Spray (£4.99). It's a spray that will hold the curls up to 24 hrs and despite being strong hold it doesn't make your hair crispy and hard. A couple of short bursts of spray will keep your curls in place and it adds a nice shine. The best bit though is definitely the scent, it's so fresh and crisp and fruity that I almost tend to add a little bit more than necessary just to get my locks to smell lovely.

I don't know about you, but it's so cold in the mornings and evenings now that I've got my mittens out to keep my paws nice and warm, and to protect them from getting dry. I also take out the loveliest richest hand creams I've got and this month I've been using Caudalie Hand & Nail Cream in Feuille de Cassis (£6) religiously. It's rich with softening and nourishing products like avocado and shea butter and the hands feel luxuriously soft. The cream also works great to soften up the cuticles and to give them a nice little treat and you could even apply quite a thick layer of the cream, put your hands in plastic bags, wrap them in warm towels and leave them for 10 mins - the cream will just soak into the skin and cuticles. This is very subtly scented with black currant which gives a feeling of great warmth and earthiness - perfect for winter.

Every morning I use a lip scrub to prep my lips for the day ahead and I can't be without the lip scrubs from Lush to help keeping my lips conditioned and smooth. Unfortunately my absolute favourite - Bubblegum, broke on the bathroom floor so I had to start using the Christmas special - Santa's Lip Scrub (£5.50) a little earlier than I had planned. It has a lovely Christmasy red color that doesn't stain your lips and it smells gorgeous with a strong scent of ginger and spice that smells exactly like Coca Cola - yep.... Coca Cola! I follow that with my Gatineau Defi Lift 3D Perfect Design Revolumising Lip Care (£29.52 for 2) to hydrate the lips and also to plump them a bit before applying the lip product of the day. The lip balm has a silky glossy non sticky consistency that you can use both as a primer, a lip gloss or a lip contour mask because of its firming effects. The plumping effect is immediate and noticeable and will last for a few hrs before you need to re-apply it - pure luxury for the lips.

The past month I've completely embraced just using two very seasonal perfumes, which is highly unusual for me. As a lighter scent and body spray I've been wearing the Bath & Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist in Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin that I've mentioned earlier. It's a stunning light, spicy and fresh scent of apple, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin, vanilla and rum - very comforting and warm. If you like foodie scents you'll definitely love this and I have already decided that I'm going to repurchase it next year - talk about planning ahead... I've worn Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin either on its own or layered it with the DKNY Energizing Fall EdT (£32.95). This is another warm and interesting mix of scents that create a warm, spicy and fruity scent by mixing citrus fruits like mandarin and lemon, delicate white flowers like jasmine and magnolia, musk, vetiver and cardamom. It's fresh, but not forgettable, warm but not over powering and fruity with lots of substance and I've loved wearing it this month.

My skin has been a bit temperamental the last month and I've had a few blemishes, both hormonal and as a result of trying new products. As annoying as it is, at least you can get rid of them and minimise them quickly if you use the Origins Super Spot Remover (£14). It's a clear gel that calms down any redness, heals and eliminates excess oil and you dab it on the spot a few times a day. It works ultra fast and already the day after, you won't notice the spot as much. The gel comes in a tiny little bottle, but since you only need very little, it will last a good few months before you need to buy another one. It's my go to product to get rid of pesky little blemishes, but if you use it a lot you might notice that it dries out the skin where the gel has been applied, so you'll need to follow up with a good moisturiser.

That's that for this month's favourites - which products have you loved this month?

BaByliss Perfect Curl

Isn't it funny how we always want what we don't have. Short haired girls want long hair, blondes wish they were brunettes and girls with straight hair want curls - and I fall in the last category... My friends will know that I have been on the hunt for the perfect curling tool for ages. I've tried most things; heated curlers, the wand, curling tongs, straighteners (yes as bizarre as it is to curl with a straightener) - Mount Remington, the graveyard of all my unused heat styling tools is quite impressive. Despite making promises to myself that this was it - no more heat stylers for me, I made an exception after seeing another curl miracle worker on You Tube - I'd like you all to meet Gladys the BaByliss Pro Perfect Curl.

This little beauty looks more like some form of power tool, than a hair curler, and it's all because of the innovative technology behind it. Instead of wrapping your hair around a long barrel, you place the curler around a section of your hair and voilà, it's automatically sucked up into a ceramic curl chamber, and when you release it a couple of seconds later, you have a perfect curl. Let's see how this actually works in a little bit more detail.

I don't think Gladys the BaByliss will mind when I say that she may look a little strange, but she's very easy to work and all you need to do is to figure out the three different settings and which ones work best for you: 

1. Curl direction: you can either have all the curls go in the same direction or you can choose to alternate between each curl, for a more natural look

2. Time setting: ranges from 8 - 12 secs and the shorter the time, the looser the waves

3. Temperature setting; three different temperatures depending on your hair type.

When I tried it I chose for all the curls to be in the same direction, soft curl style (10 secs) and temperature setting 2 for normal texture hair. I applied heat protectant spray and after the hair was completely dry I sectioned it off, to make it easier to work through. They recommend that you use sections that are no more than 3 cms, but since I have quite long hair my sections were probably no more than 2 cms. Wherever you decide for the curl to start, that's where you position and release the clamp of the curler - it doesn't have to be close to your scalp, it can be much further down if you wish. Once you've released the clamp your hair is automatically pulled into the curling chamber without you having to do anything at all.

I'm not going to lie, I was more than a little bit apprehensive about this bit. I was worried that my hair would get stuck, I had visions of it burning off or that I would need to cut off long sections to free myself of this contraption - but there's no need to worry about any of that. If the section of your hair is too thick, or it's not wound up properly in the ceramic chamber, there will be a few warning beeps and you just release the clamp and your hair is freed. There is no pulling of your hair or "getting stuck", and in fact there were no hairs around the tool at all after I had finished curling it, which makes a nice change from what my hair usually goes through when I wave it. In short it feels incredibly safe, comfortable to use the tool and it's relatively gentle on your hair. It looks like a bulky tool (sorry Gladys), but it doesn't weigh more than a slightly larger blow dryer and you don't need to worry about your arms getting tired. The only thing I would recommend is that you try to  avoid pulling the curler when you have a section of hair in the chamber. Instead perhaps try to hold the curler a bit closer to your scalp, so that the hair is relaxed - I think the curls turn out better that way.

A few beeps will let you know when the curl is done, and you simply open the clamp and gently release the hair. It took me a little over 30 mins to do my hair, but I noticed that as I got more comfortable and confident with how to work with Gladys that the left side got done in much less time, so I'm pretty sure I can get that down to about 20 mins - which I think is an acceptable amount of time to spend on your hair in the morning. When the hair has cooled down completely, you might want to use some hairspray to set the waves and then work through with your fingers or brush, however you prefer to style your hair and loosen up the curls. On me the curls lasted a little longer than two days, and in the photos below I've shown how they changed during that time:

 

8 hrs after styling

 32 hrs after styling - including a workout at the gym and shower + miserable rainy weather 

This is an amazing curler - it gives lovely, bouncy and long lasting waves in the style of your choice, however it does also come at a price. Is it worth it? Well that all depends on how good you are at styling your hair and how much you want those curls. I'm pretty good at doing my hair using a wand, but this is so much easier, gentler on the hair, the curls look more or less the same on both sides and it's minimum effort. I LOVE Gladys the BaByliss, and can't recommend her enough, and I really think that the hunt for the perfect curling tool is at an end - may we live happily and curly haired long ever after!