Tried and Tested: Instyler

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I love my straighters. I take them EVERWHERE with me, trust me, I may have pretty straight hair naturally but without my straighters it is like a bird has nested on my head. So I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the new rotating hot iron – the InStyler mainly so I could give curling my hair a go!

I’ll start with the curls; I have always wanted curly hair. When I was a teenager I even tried a perm, which made my hair look like a pot noodle for an hour and promptly fell out leaving my hair once again poker straight. However, as my I’ve gotten older and my hair has decided that it doesn’t want to throw teenage strops any more I’ve been able to hold a curl for a few hours at least. Now, I have no hand eye co-ordination so trying to curl my hair using my GHD’s is a nightmare, actually scrap that, it’s a non-starter. Using the InStyler made curling my hair pretty easy, I just went for a lose wave look (no one wants to look like a poodle anymore do they) and found that even I managed to do it. I think because it’s pretty chunky it’s easier to manage when you’re wrapping your hair around, of course the rotating element also helps enormously.

The other thing I’m impressed with is the heat settings. My GHD’s have one setting – which is hot, the InStyler has 3 settings meaning for every day styling you can place it on a low setting and save your locks some serious heat damage.

“Here’s how it works: when you run the InStyler® rotating hot iron through your hair, the first set of bristles gently sort and separate your hair strands. Then the rotating heated polishing cylinder gently glides over your hair, smoothly polishing, straightening, and styling each strand. Finally, the second set of bristles puts the finishing touch on your hair, leaving you with shiny, silky, hair! It’s truly amazing!”on your hair, leaving you with shiny, silky, hair! It’s truly amazing!”

I’m not sure how well it will do when travelling as it is a bit chunkier than regular straighners but its great for styling your hair at home and perfect for reducing the amount of products you have to have. I really recommend this product!

The InStyler is priced at £99.99 and is available from Boots.com
 or the InStyler website.

You can also follow Instyler on twitter and “LIKE” their page on Facebook.

More videos on InStyler YouTube Channel
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Dreams Of A Life

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A few weeks ago I picked up a copy of the observer and started reading all about a woman called Joyce Vincent. This story really made me think about my own life, I’m an only child, I’m not married, I don’t really speak to my family that much and whilst I’ve got a wonderful group of friends like Joyce if they didn’t hear from me for a while they’d not be worried because they would assume I’m just busy.

Makes you think about who you’ve not heard from in a while doesn’t it?

x

How to make: Nutella Hot Chocolate

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There is an upside to this dreary, cold weather…HOT CHOCOLATE!!!!

Here is how you make Nutella hot chocolate…

What you need (for one mug)…

- 2 tablespoons of Nutella (or chocolate/hazelnut spread of your choice)

- A mug of milk

- Marshmallows or Whipped Cream (optional extra!)

Simply heat the milk on a medium heat and add the Nutella. Keep mixing until the Nutella is completely dissolved and mixed with the milk. Once it begins to boil, remove from the heat, pour in to your favorite mug, garnish with marshmallows (if you fancy them) then sit back, relax and enjoy.



*image via weheartit.com

National Freelancer Day…

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Being a freelancer isn’t easy. Trust me. The beauty of working in your pjs and taking as many tea breaks as you like soon wains…especially when the cabin fever and hunt the invoice games start to kick in.

I’ll be honest, since going freelance I can’t honestly say i’ve had a great nights sleep. You go to bed with ideas, worries about money (i’m still chasing invoices from MAY!), to-do lists whirling around your head, important things you must remember to tell your clients etc and on top of that we have people offering to work for free or undercutting you by miles (which is especially annoying when you know there is no way they can live on that kind of money themselves. – Casing Point – I was told about someone charging 38p for 1000 words a few weeks ago – who can do 1000 words for 38p and survive??

So in honour of national freelance day this is my message:

and equally important…

p.s I’m just getting in to Tumblr – why not give me a follow? HERE

L’Oreal Paris and Cheryl Cole Need YOU! *competition

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After spending all summer attempting to “go blonde” I made an executive decision last week – I decided that it was time to go back to the dark side. I popped on a deep cherry red colour and I have to say I am once again embracing my glossy locks. Seriously, I have never been able to master the blonde glossy look.
Anyway, that brings me around to competition from L’oreal Paris…

L’Oréal Paris is looking for three girls to star in the next Casting Crème Gloss advert alongside spokesmodel, Cheryl Cole. From 31 October to 27th November, fans of Casting Crème Gloss will be able to cast themselves in the role of either: deep brunette, fiery redhead or honey blonde.

To enter visit the L’Oreal Paris UK Facebook Page and click on the application button which appears on the left hand side of the page, follow the steps to enter and upload a picture of yourself then ask friends and family to cast their vote from the 28thNovember to 4th December 2011.

Those shortlisted will be sent for a L’Oréal Paris Casting Day where they will receive a makeover by hair & makeup artists in preparation for a live audition, in front of a panel of judges.

This will be your chance to go in front of the camera and tell us why you love Casting Crème Gloss. And yes, you can even utter those famous words,

“Because you’re worth it!’

Disclaimer: Opens to female UK and ROI residents aged 16+. Entrants must register with L’Oréal Insider, colour their hair using Casting Crème Gloss and upload a photo on facebook. No purchase necessary. Closing date 27/11/2011. For full Terms & Conditions and to enter visit this page.

*sponsored post*

How To: Turn your hoodie in to a computer sleeve

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I’m not too sure I’d want to carry my beloved macbook around in my jumper BUT I have to admit to finding this pretty cool. So now when you’re sorting out you’re wardrobe ready to cram it full of next seasons must haves you can scout out some old jumpers and upcycle them to create a handy laptop sleeve.


via sayingimages.com

Big Knit: Innocent & Age UK

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Have you seen the innocent smoothies with their little hats on? Cute right? Well, it’s not just because the smoothies are fashionistas – the little hats are all part of the big knit.

What’s it all about? Each year Innocent smoothies ask the nation to knit little hats (which then go on top of the bottles) in order to raise money for Age UK. 25p from each bottle sold goes to Age UK helping them supply blankets, hot meals and advice for older people who struggle to keep warm throughout the winter.

The Special Project and how YOU can get involved:

This year the project is being taken to facebook…

www.facebook.com/innocentdrinks

Innocent and Age UK are asking you get a hat (you can buy the smoothies from Boots and Sainsbury) and take a photo and upload to the facebook group. As well as helping AGE UK raise money (they get 10p each for each photo uploaded)  you can also win prizes.

The aim is to be creative and take pictures “wearing” the hat. Just hold the cat between the camera and the subject and voila. I’ve done a bad impression below:

I’m going to take a few more pictures this weekend but I’ve got 3 little hats to give away if you fancy having a go…send contact me below or drop me a tweet…@rachaelphillips

Travel Notes: Cream Tea & Champers

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ETA 24/1/11 > I’m getting a lot of traffic today from people who have seen THIS deal on groupon. {Afternoon Tea With a Twist for Two, Including a Teapot Filled with Four Cocktails, Sandwich Selection and Scones for £15 at The Deck Oceanhouse (61% Off)}

I still stand by my original review, the quality was fantastic and I’m going back again to give the cocktails a try. Definite value for money!!
—–
Cake and champagne? I’m there. I’ll be honest you’d have had me at cake but throw in some bubbly and you’ve a guaranteed guest.

I went along to The Deck Oceanhouse in Cardiff Bay to enjoy one of their Champagne Cream Teas. I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t expecting too much as it was a groupon deal, I thought it would be some cheap cava and a piddly scone – I was so wrong!!

The Deck Oceanhouse is situated down a side street opposite the new police station in Cardiff Bay. It’s not in the main “hub” of the Bay, which suited me perfectly as I was able to park right outside (and considering we were experiencing some true Cardiff weather this was beyond ideal). As soon as you walk in you can see what a wonderful little place this is, absolutely full to the brim with atmosphere. There isn’t a large seating area upstairs and we were instructed to sit downstairs where whilst still a lovely setting the full on lights meant it didn’t quite have the same ambience as it did upstairs.

Down to the food – The scone was HUGE! And I mean HUGE! It was served warm which left us in no doubt that they were baked on the premises and not bought in. The jam and cream that accompanied the scone were also plentiful and very tasty.

The champers was lovely, served cold and was a decent sized glass and we also had a pot of tea (we were offered a choice of tea and coffee) each.

The ONLY two things that I wasn’t that impressed by was the constant tidying of our table and the snaffling of the unused sugar. We had barely finished our scone when the plate was taken away from us. The same thing happened when we finished our tea etc. I appreciate maybe they needed the plates or wanted to keep things tidy but it felt as though we were being rushed and one thing which stops me enjoying an experience is the feeling of being rushed.

The sugar snaffling? Well, basically I don’t take sugar in my tea so of course my sugar sachets remained unused. I have no issue with a business re-using sugar sachets – of course I don’t, I would reuse too BUT the lady who had the obsession with the plate clearing popped the sachets in her pocket before moving anywhere. I know that sounds such a petty and stupid thing to put me off but I’d rather have not seen her do that…

That said I would definitely go back. They look as though they’ve a great range of meals and their new late opening hours mean for sure that I’ll go have dinner there some time. They also provide comedy nights and live music!

Definitely recommend! Marks 9 out of 10

Love your lippy!! #Lipcote

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I can’t believe lipcote is 50 years old…in fact I can’t believe that I’d forgotten all about lipcote. I remember it being a staple in my grandmother and mothers make up bag when I was growing up…especially when I went through my “Heather Shimmer” phase back in the 90’s it was an essential part of the look (no one wants to rock the smudged purple lips look – no one).

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