The Original Moroccon Oil Treatment Gives Me Lovely Woosh Woosh Hair

Ah cult products. What will we do without them? Thanks to rave (or not so good) reviews, we know all about them and we have them. NARS Orgasm? Check. Maybelline Great Lash mascara? Check, although I still think it’s quite rubbish and don’t know what the hype is all about.

The Original Moroccan Oil Treatment certainly is one of ‘em hair cult products. Heard so much about it, and all very positive reviews too. It was only a matter of time before I got my mitts on it too.

Just to fill you in before I get to the review, I have very dry and coarse hair, and is very prone to split ends. Years of colouring, perming, straightening have made it a lot worse. It definitely lacks lustre.

I’ve always envied my Indian friends who have lovely, luscious, shiny black locks who never seem to have hair problems. Of course, we all know that other than their genes, it’s also the coconut oil they apply on their hair that gives it that lovely shine. Now I’m afraid I absolutely hate the smell of coconut, and couldn’t stand it on my hair or skin. So what’s a girl with shitty hair to do?

Description:

This hydrating oil has a unique quality of instant absorption into the hair, which creates an instant shine and offers long-term conditioning – without leaving any trace of residue.
Softens thick and unmanageable hair
Restores shine and softness to dull, lifeless hair
Strengthens brittle hair
Promotes healing and provides nourishment to hair damaged by colouring and styling
Protects against UV damage and other environmental factors
Reduces drying time and speeds up styling time

First off, the smell. No coconut-y smell there. 1 point.

Texture – well, it is an oil afterall, so when I poured it out onto my palm, rubbed it out between my palms to warm the oil up, it would be greasy. But when it’s applied on my damp hair, the greasiness disappeared. 10 points there.

The morning after – woke up with the oh-my-Gawd-is-that-soft-hair-mine feeling. After giving it a good straightening with my hair iron, it’s shiny and looks fantastically healthy. In fact, whenever I go to my bead lady to stock up on beads, she calls me “the girl with shiny black hair“. Ding ding ding! 10000000 points!

Suffice to say, this is awesome stuff. It comes in a brown, very apothecary-looking (if that’s the word) glass bottle. You would only need the amount of a 5-cent coin, even for long hair. Mine flows past by bra so that’s pretty long to me. It’s suitable for all hair types.

I bought this from Adore Beauty for AU$49.50. Kate, who owns Adore Beauty, is really friendly. Plus you get two good-sized samples with your order too. Not bad, not bad at all if you ask me. Initially, you could only get this from Adore Beauty, but I’ve seen several salons stocking this range now. I can’t wait to try the rest of the range.

What I like about it: Light in texture, not stinky, results in soft, shiny hair.

What I do not like about it: Nothing

Home At Last

Goodness gracious me. Has it been over a month since I’ve written anything here? So it has! My bad. I’ve been putting this baby aside for another, that took up so much of my time, energy and most importantly, money. Yes folks, we have officially moved into a place of our very own, and hubs and I couldn’t be happier.

A tiny abode, if I do say so myself, but quite a charming one. It’s still very bare though, and terribly messy, as you can tell from the photographs. No hurry in decorating the place I say. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and so’s interior decorating!

A favourite feature of the house, which we will probably never use. Yep, it’s an honest-to-God fireplace, that can build honest-to-God fires in winter. We haven’t tried it out just yet, although the previous owner left us the cast-iron thingy that holds firelogs. Next winter perhaps. For now, it serves more of a decorative feature in the house than anything else. I’m also on a lookout for a good ornamental clock to replace the current Kmart clock above the mantelpiece. Any ideas?

As small as the house is, I’m real glad that the kitchen is big. Ample space to store all things kitcheny

So there you go, a peek into our humble abode. Next items to get would be at least three bookshelves for the many books we have, and dining chairs. Hubs and I are currently having our meals on a foldable garden chair and a tiny stool, which we take turns to sit on (no prizes for guessing which seat we prefer). We’re still on the lookout for the dining chairs, so if we do have housewarming parties, etc in our place, the invitations would state “BYO Chair”. No kidding.

Ahh … it’s great to be home

Back But For Only A While

It’s been such a crazy week. I’m finally, finally moving out in less than a month, and even though I’ve started packing a couple of weeks ago, it still seemed like a never-ending feat. Three years of hoarding a load of junk is no joke. Thanks to us, Salvos will be getting a whole lot of goodies from us, including a TV.

Anyone fancy a free (but bloody heavy) CRT telly? Hah, didn’t think so

Anyway, the apartment looks like pig sty at the moment, and we’ve only just barely scratched the surface. A lot more back-breaking work to do. With my jewellery site’s midyear sale, orders are coming in, processed and sent during the day. Packing done at night.

The whole process = a very tired Tine.

I’m still reading your blogs, even though I haven’t been commenting much. I’m still on Twitter, so you can still catch up with me there.

Don’t forget me during this time, yeah?

SCA Promo – 25% Off Storewide

*AHEM*

Going to do a little shameless self-advertisement here, so don’t mind me

*AHEM*

We’ve reached the middle of 2010, and my oh my, where did all that time go? And you know what happens during this time of the year? Why, the ever-popular mid-year stocktake sale, of course!

As such, Sweet Contemplation Accessories is doing her biggest sale yet. Everything in store is 25% off! What better time to stock up on gifts for your loved ones (and for yourself too, of course *wink wink*), eh?

Just enter the promo code MIDYEAR2010 in the Voucher section of the shopping cart, and click on Recalculate. Your total will reflect the new amount. Please note that the discount does not apply for international shipping fees (unless the international order is over $100, in which shipping will be free).

The promotion is valid till 31 July 2010.

Some of the items have very limited availability, so do get ‘em while they’re hot.

Enjoy!

Nuts About Essential Oils

I live in a tiny apartment with an open-plan living, which means that everytime I cook, the whole place stinks. And you know how Chinese cooking can be; the wonderful stench of garlic and ginger lingers on for hours before it’s finally gone. Opening the windows and door doesn’t help much either. To help remove the cooking smell, I use candles.

I love lighting candles in the house. Do it carefully and responsibly, and you’ll have a room smelling something wonderful. Scented candles aren’t cheap. I prefer using soy candles as they last longer, but a proper scented soy candle can cost up to $100, depending on the brand. Thus, I stick to essential or aromatherapy oils.

These oils last a lot longer, and since they’re relatively cheaper than a scented candle, I can afford to buy more of them. Use them with el-cheapo 100-pack tealights from IKEA and I’m a happy camper.

Obsessed much? More to join the pack!

I love essential oils by In Essence and The Body Shop. Lavender, bergamot and rose are my favourites. They’re soothing, calming, and best of all, they remind me of being in a spa

My whopper of a burner from Dusk

Just a few tiny drops of oil would do onto a burner (filled with water, of course). A tealight can last up to 4 hours, which is good. Essential oils are more cost-effective, and you also get to enjoy a variety of them without compromising on space (because really, how many candles can you store in one time in a confined living environment?).

Do you use essential oils too? What’s your favourite scent?