Redken Intra Force Review - Shampoo and Treatment

Last month I was approached by a representative from  RY.com.au to try out the products that they sell in the store. RY.com.au is one of Australia's largest online hair care and beauty store. They are an authorised seller too so you don't have to worry about whether you are buying a fake product. They also offer free returns and price match other stores.

Since RY.com.au is a large online store and they sell a variety of brands and products from makeup to hair care I could not decide what to get. However, the representative was very helpful and suggested the Intra Force for my thinning hair. 

DISCLAIMER: The products being reviewed in this post was provided to me by RY.com.au. However all my post are of my own opinion and is not affected by any sponsors.

My hair  is very thin and fine and that I tend to get some hair loss as well.  So for the last 3 weeks I've been trying out some new hair products that claims to help with hair loss and thinning hair. It's the Redken Intra Force. 

Redken Intra Force Shampoo Ingredients

Redken Intra Force Treatment Ingredients

The Redken Intra Force range contains 3-step products: Shampoo, Toner/Conditioner and the Treatment. This range claims to improves hair condition and promotes thicker fuller hair in 30 days. The 3 key ingredients in this range are Aminexil (increases hair growth and extends lifespan of hair), Agrinine (Improves microcirculation) and Zinc PCA (removes excess sebum and DHT).

Now RY.com.au have been kind enough to give me the Shampoo and Treatment from this range. So I have been using these 2 products for the last 3 weeks. Usually  I only shampoo my hair once or twice a week but when I started using the Redken Intra force range, the directions for the treatment was to use it at least 3 times a week or more. Having used these 2 products as per directions, I haven't noticed much difference in my hair. I am still getting hair loss and I haven't noticed any difference in the thickness of my hair. I am not sure whether it is because I should be using all three products (including the toner which I do not have) or whether I need to use these products more than 3 times a week. I still haven't used the products for 30 days yet, however I would think that I should be able to notice any thickness and hair growth if the product is working. Another thing I found was the shampoo made my hair a bit drier than usual. 

I really wanted to like these products and was really hoping that it would help with my thin hair and  would thicken my hair. However I feel that I am not getting the results that I am expecting. I will continue to use these products and will give another update in around a month or so.

Have you used Redken Intra Force products before? Do you know any other good products that can help with thinning hair?

My current daily mascara routine - Tarte Light Camera Flashes and Benefit They're Real

So today I wanted to talk about my daily mascara routine and review the mascara I've used. I don't tend to stick with the same brand mascara unless I really really love it. I do have some favourites that I have repeatedly used and one of them is Benefit They're Real which is going to be covered in this post today.

For the last 2.5 months i have been using 2 mascaras, Tarte Light Camera Flashes (small sample tube which I got as a gift from Sephora) and Benefit They're Real (also a sample size from Benefit mascara swap).

So the reason I've been using 2 mascaras instead of just one is because I started out just using the Tarte one and it did give me nice long lashes but didn't give any volume. So after about a month I started using Benefit They're real which I've previously used on its own. The combination of the 2 mascaras gives me long thick lashes. 

Before I apply these 2 mascaras, I always curl my lashes with my Shu Uemura lash curler which I love! I sometimes heat it up using hair dryer to make the curl more intense.

I then apply Tarte mascara first, to the top lashes only and then I apply a second coat with the Benefit mascara. As you can see from the mascara brushes (below) the 2 mascaras have slightly different brushes. 

Below in the first photo you can see my natural lashes without mascara, then the 2nd photo on the top is after applying Tarte mascara. Then as you can see after the 2nd coat (in the 1st pogo on the bottom) using the Benefit mascara I get long thick lashes. It really helps to open up my eyes, especially since I have hooded eyes.

I really like the Benefit mascara as on its own it does give me defined and volumised lashes. The Tarte mascara on the other hand focuses more on lengthening the lashes. I also found that the formula of the Tarte mascara dried out very quickly within the first month. I don't think I would purchase the Tarte mascara especially on its own. If I had to choose between the 2, Benefit definitely wins but using both together actually works really well.

Once I have reached the 3 months use of these mascaras I will be using another mascara, so when that time comes I will post another review.

Review: theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighting Powder

Highlighting powder or highlighter is an additional step in my makeup routine that I've been adding. Usually after applying foundation, I finish off my face using powder, blush and contour powder/bronzer. I have previously used highlighters before, but mainly in liquid or cream form like Benefit High Beam or Mac Cream Colour Base in Hush. I have been wanting to get a powder highlighter for a while now but couldn't decide because there were many options and sometimes I thought it would be cheaper to just use an eyeshadow as a highlighting powder. However, after a while I gave in and went to buy one.

I've heard a lot about theBalm cosmetics and have always passed the counter in my local David Jones. After a lot of thoughts and reading reviews I went ahead and purchased theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter.

First of all I just want to say I love the packaging of theBalm cosmetics. It's just so gorgeous. And the names they give their products are so innovative and fun! The highlighting powder comes in a little compact with a mirror. The size of the product is 8.5grams. There's quite a lot of product there so I think this powder will last me a long time. The cost of this highlighter is AU$34. It is quite pricey but since it will last quite a long time because there is a lot of product it isn't too bad. I actually bought this online from the US so I was able to get it slightly cheaper.

Mary-Lou Manizer is a honey/golden beige coloured powder. The texture of the powder is so soft and buttery and is extremely pigmented. There is a lot of shimmer but it does not contain any chunks of glitter. Because of the highly pigmented shimmer you really do need to apply this powder light-handedly especially for wear during the day.

On the pack it says you can use this powder as a highlighter, shimmer or eyeshadow. I have been using this now for the last couple of weeks and I have used it both as a highlighter and an eyeshadow.
I love using it both ways. As eyeshadow I use it as the all-over lid colour, to highlight the inner corner of my eyes and to highlight the brow bone. I do need to apply it very very lightly though when I use it to highlight my brow bone. This has not replaced my favourite Urban Decay eyeshadow Sin which I always use as a lid colour and inner corner and brow highlighter (I still love Urban Decay Sin though).

As a cheek bone highlighter this is just gorgeous. It really does shimmer in the sun and highlights your cheekbones.

As you can see above, I have applied it with a very light hand so you can see the shimmer subtly. If you want to amp it up for night time you can apply a bit more. I applied this with a small stippling brush or with a real techniques contour brush.

Overall I really love this highlighter. It adds that shimmer and beautifully highlights my cheek bones. I love it as an eyeshadow too. Before getting this highlighter was an optional product in my daily make up routine but now I just cannot skip it!!

I'm back!

So I apologise that I have been on hiatus for the last 6 months. Life just took over and it felt like my time has shrunk and I don't have enough time in the week to blog. So now I am trying to get back into it all and start posting at least once a week.

So look out! I'll be posting some reviews shortly on some make up products I purchased recently and products I have been using for a while. I'm also going to change it up a bit and start to post about fashion.

xoxo

Ina

Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette Review and Swatches

This is my first follow up post to my USA Trip hauls which I recently posted about - click here to visit.

I will be reviewing the Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette. When this first came out I immediately put it on my wish list for my trip coz it looks so pretty. I already have a couple of palettes from Urban Decay: the Original Naked Palette and the Fun Palette. And even though I already have tons of eyeshadows in many different colours I just had to get it. I actually purchased this before I even left Australia because UD had a 20% off Family & Friends sale so I took advantage of this and purchased the palette and sent it to my accommodation at my last stop in the States.

The RRP of this palette is $59 but with the 20% off it was $47.20. I thought this was a great price as it includes 20 eyeshadows and a double ended brush.

PACKAGING

Oh my gosh! I really love the packaging. It's a beautiful gorgeous marbled purple colour. The packaging is made from plastic I think but it feels sturdy. To open the palette there is a button you press and this gently opens the palette. 

The Urban Decay logo is a raised logo with diamond like stone..

There is a large mirror which is the same size as the palette so this is handy if you use this for travelling. 

EYESHADOWS

There are 20 eyeshadows in this palette and there is a variety of colours from blues, purples, pinks, greens and neutral.

The texture for most of the shadows were nice and smooth and the pigmentation for most of the colours were really good and they had good payoff. There were a couple that were less pigmented and were harder to swatch but I will mention it as I go through the swatches.

There were only 2 matte eyeshadows in the whole palette and they are Habit (nude/light beige) and Rewind (neutral brown).  The others were either metallic/frosted finish, satin finish or glittery/shimmers.

I liked most of the colours in the palette but it would've been nice if there were a couple or a few more matte shades or blending shades. 

BRUSH

The palette comes with a dual-sided synthetic brush, one to apply all over the lid and one for blending. With my original Naked Palette I really liked the eyeshadow brush that it came with because it was able to pick up and pack on the eyeshadows evenly. However with this one I did not really like the eyeshadow brush so much as I had to dip it into the colour several times. I liked the blending brush a bit  more though. It is different than other blending brush I have as it's quite narrow so it can apply colour more precisely on the crease. It does blend it nicely but I think if you want to blend it better you will need a fluffier brush.

SWATCHES

So here are the swatches. I took the photos row by row and I took photos of the swatches without and with flash. The top image is the swatches taken without flash and the bottom image is taken with flash.

Row 1: Smokeout, Lovesick, Shellshock, Coax and X-Rated

Out of the 5 eyeshadows in the first row, the last 3 (ShellShock, Coax and X-Rated) have the most pigmentation. I found Lovesick (the 2nd shade - matte black with micro-glitter) didn't have a great payoff and felt very dry. I had to swatch it several times to get the colour to turn up. Smokeout (dark chocolate brown with satin finish) was quite similar but not as bad. 

I wasn't sure about the pinks in this row but after trying it I actually quite like them. Coax was more shimmery and a slightly warmer pink than X-rated which is a satin finish.

Row 2: Prank, Madness, Strike, Stash and Poison

My favourites in this row are Madness and Strike.

I found that Poison was a little dry and you have to swatch it a few times to build up the colour. 

Row 3: Radar, Damaged, Voodoo, Betrayal and Derailed

I love the purples in this row. Betrayal is so gorgeous! It's a duo-chrome bright purple with lilac/blue shift. It's so gorgeous on its own or it works well with Voodoo (Purple with a metallic/frosty finish and glitter). I also love Radar, Damaged and Derailed, all of these colours had really great pigmentation and the texture is smooth and buttery. 

Row 4: Dope, Toxic, Habit, Ambush and Rewind

The last row contained neutral colours. This row has the 2 matte colours, Habit (a nude/light beige) and Rewind (neutral brown). Habit is great for highlighting the brow bone as it matches quite closely to my skin colour. These 2 matte colours has great pigmentation and the texture is so smooth and buttery.

Dope, Toxic and Ambush also had really great colour pigmentation. 

Overall I really like this palette and it's great value for what it costs. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a palette with many different colours or you love colourful eyeshadows. However if you are looking for a more wearable palette for work or everyday wear this might not be for you because there aren't too many neutral shades in this palette.  

Hope you enjoy this review and if you have any questions about this palette feel free to ask me in the comments. I will also try to post some looks and EOTDs using this palette.