Friday 24 June 2016

Hairburst- does it REALLY work?

Well, the short answer (in my opinion) is no. 




Is it worth the small fortune -from €32.49 for 60 capsules (meaning the least you might spend in store for a 3 month supply- the recommended length of time you start taking these for- could be €81.22 if you manage to get one half price) Certainly not for me! 

Ok, now that you know my opinion, lets get some back story here! Hairburst is, and I quote, 
"a premium combination of vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements designed to help maintain healthy hair. 
Hairburst contains: 
• Collagen and Siliica 
• Biotin 
• Vitamins A, B, C, & D 
• Amino Acids 
• Folic & Pantothenic 
Hairburst is designed to combat the negative impact of poor nutrition, hair products, age and genetics. 
Great hair starts from within, so take Hairburst today to maintain healthy hair* 
*Biotin, Selenium & Zinc contribute to the maintenance of normal hair."


Why am I even taking hair vitamins?
In a nutshell, my hair was ruined. Mainly from bleaching and dying. I look back at old photos of my hair and it was twice as thick and twice as long and it makes my heart sad. I had to cut it from almost elbow length up to my shoulders in October 2014 to get rid of some green ends that refused to be fixed- although admittedly I had been wanting to try short hair for a while. Alas, since then I have regretted it. Short hair is not for me, I feel like I can't do anything with it! So I started changing colours more and more, thinking it's short anyway so I may as well embrace it. I think it's probably been completely bleached about 5 times since then... Once or twice it was a couple of bleach sessions in the same day (professionally- I was working in a salon, DO NOT BLEACH YOUR HAIR AT HOME, KIDS!) So now it's super thin and is currently about 2 inches below my shoulders. When I started taking hair vitamins last September, it was about 1 inch less than this. Since then, I've been trimming it a lot and it's been bleached once, which was after I stopped Hairburst. 

Source: http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/solgar-biotin-5000mcg-100-veggie-caps/sl-2807

I took Hairburst for 3 months, Feb- April. Just before Hairburst, I was taking Solgar Biotin 5000µg 50 Vegi Capsules for a month. The first month I took Hairburst, there was a noticeable difference in my hair, it felt thicker and the ends felt stronger, but after that, my hair was normal again, so that difference came from the Solgar, not the Hairburst (since it takes a few weeks for the effects of vitamins to become noticeable.) And then for the remainder of the time that I took 2 Hairburst capsules every. single. day. there was no noticeable effect whatsoever. You can imagine my disappointment! I had forked out €81 for this stuff! But now there's nothing to do except go back to the Solgar capsules. (I'm actually trying Perfectil right now, because I got it cheaper, no effects just yet but it can take a few weeks, as I said... but I will return to the Solgar after this.)

I did a lot of research into Hairburst before purchasing it, I read loads of blog posts, watched videos, followed people on Instagram and most of the reviews were singing it's praises, so I though it must be good if it's that expensive and everyone is raving about it! The only downside seemed to be that buying off their website never seems to go well, but I was buying it instore, so I didn't need to worry about tthat! Well, it's not a miracle product- or it isn't for me. So I thought I should put my own experience out there... 
Oh and, FYI, I was (and still am) drinking plenty of water and eating and exercising well when I was taking these, as that's very important for your hair's health too. It was dyed using veggie dies a couple of times and I would have used heat on it about 2 times for the 3 months. So it's not owing to diet, colouring or excessive heat that it didn't work.
Source: http://www.hollandandbarrett.ie/shop/product/hairburst-capsules-60001348
 So, long story short, if you want long, luscious locks, I wouldn't recommend this product... I recommend not abusing your hair (HA! I should take my own advice...), regular trims (even just taking a hairdressing scissors yourself and trimming the split ends every once in a while can help! Do not use kitchen scissors however, seriously, they're too blunt and will only make matters worse!) and coconut oil. It's a roaring cliche, yes, but boy does it work! I use it once a week since my last bleach and it has made a huge difference. I used to just rub it between my hands to warm it up, but now I stick it in the  microwave for a bit, even though this supposedly alters the benefits, (I don't see how...) it doesn't for me and it seems to work better than just warming it between my hands. Sometimes though, I'll even just rub a bit into my ends right before a shower, leave it a few minutes and wash it off as usual and this seems to even help!  

So I hope this comes as some benefit to someone, it's so easy to get sucked in and believe products are a miracle worker, but I can tell you from my own genuine experience that this one is far from it. 


Oh, also, they taste like crap and are hard to swallow. :D

My hair in January (excuse my robot face! I have no excuse...): 




And in April: (Best photos I could find, and my hair was wet in this one. Also bear in mind hair grows on average 1/2" a month anyway.)




  

Monday 1 June 2015

D.I.Y. Platform 9 and 3/4 sign

Hi everybody!!

Yes, it's been ages... again... But I'm here with an awesome tutorial for you! 



Now, everyone know's I love, love, LOOOOVE Harry Potter. Well, I've seen these Platform 9 3/4 sign's online- YouTubers have them and Etsy is selling them and apparently, a market in the U.K. has them. Alas, I'm in Ireland and currently have no money to spend on such items, so I decided to make my own! I tried googling it, to see if anyone has any tutorials for me to watch on it, but apparently, noone else seems to have posted one. Then, I thought I should.
So I did! 



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Some little notes for you on what I used and how I made it:
~The board I used was 38" x 5.5", but it can be any size. This just happened to be what my Dad had in the shed.

~Make sure to sand the board before you start so it has a nice, smooth finish.
~I drew the letters and numbers freehand and with a ruler- I had a photo of the sign at King's Cross opened in front of me. Link and link.
~I made the letters 4cm from the top and 4cm from the bottom and they go just past halfway across. But because the numbers are bigger, I made them 2cm from the top and 2cm from the bottom.
~The black paint I used is designed for use on model toys I believe, (a link to this paint is here) but it say's it can be used on metal, wood and other surfaces. The White is just ordinary Dulux wallpaint- you could use this or acrylic. ~I used 2 coats of black and 4 of the off-white and I didn't need anywhere near the amount of paint that I have pictured. This really doesn't use much. 
~This took me about 8-10 hours between waiting for coats to dry.
~I have yet to figure out how to hang it up, but I think picture hoops screwed into the back (one at each side) would be the best choice. 
~I didn't varnish it as I don't want it shiny, but you can if you wish :)


I made a video on it, so you can watch me make it. Here it is!


Please watch and enjoy :) Here is a link to the video on YouTube if you need it! 



Any other questions, please ask :) Let me know if you make one and how it turns out!
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