Living Proof®️ Full Stylers Sample Review

I first used Living Proof®️around 20 years ago, my first product purchased was the Thickening Cream (I think it must be rebranded now). I can remember quite clearly exactly where the display was, as back then it was relatively unknown in the newly launched Space NK in London’s Bishopsgate! Having done a quick Google I wasn’t far off as it was launched in 2005! It was one of my favourite products and today, I recommend this brand to all my readers.

Launching for September 2023 is a brand new range that will cover the spectrum in providing solutions for fine, thin, lank hair. Hair that requires thickness, volume and texture. I can tell you that I have tested the Full Thickening Blow Dry Cream and it most certainly doesn’t disappoint.

The products are for those whose hair is looking lack-lustre be it through ill-health, lack of vitamins, hormones (pregnancy and menopause), age etc, or those wanting to add glamour and volume from a night out to every day styling. 

So what makes these so different from other stylers on the market? Well Living Proof®️ have formulated new products that are ‘one-step, silicone-free stylers’ that have ‘scientifically proven fullness with all-day staying power’. Not only do they give full day (and night as you can see from my test below), staying power but you can layer the products to achieve the biggest volume yet. 

The products also provide heat protection up to 230˚C so protect your hair when styling with heated appliances.

Full Volume & Root Lifting Spray 163ml £27

The Lifting Spray is ideal for bouncy blow drys, and leaves hair looking twice as full. Its lightweight and non-sticky formula is ideal for all hair lengths, especially medium to long. It contains Amaranthus Caudatus Seed Extract, which contains protein and thus aids fine, thinning hair, making it stronger and more resilient to breakage. It also contains Polyporus Umbellatus (Mushroom) Extract, an ingredient that is anti-aging and encourages hair growth. 

Full Texturising Foam 148ml  £27

This lightweight foam can be used on wet or dry hair. It’s ideal for not only creating thicker hair but, as the name suggests gives texture and definition. It’s great for creating beachy, lived in locks and ideal if you need to have a quick revive of locks and time is short. It can be applied before blow-drying or scrunched into damp hair and left to dry naturally, or scrunched into dry hair. It has so many uses, and has become a staple in my bathroom. I like to use it when I don’t have time to wash my hair and need to give it some oomph and shine. Again it has heat protection so ideal for use with appliances. Contains Hydrolyzed Corn Starch that prevents frizziness, and protects the hair from environmental pollution and damage.

Full Thickening Blow-Dry Cream 109ml £27

This is ideal for giving hair voluminous locks and ideal for use when blow drying. For the sake of photos I used this 2 days ago on one side of my hair (I think you can tell from the photo which side)! 

Having slept on my hair, not washed it for 2 days and the thickness still remains, so I was suitably impressed with the results, especially and as you can see from the tired face photo, I have been unwell with a water infection! 

I only used a small amount on my damp, left side of my head before blow-drying my hair upside down. So not only has it exceeded the promise of ‘8 hours longevity’ but it has kept the volume and style. Again it contains similar ingredients to the above. 

All the products are PETA cruelty-free, safe for chemically treated, colour treated hair and are free from silicones and other chemical nasties. You can purchase the products by clicking the link HERE

Dr. Hauschka Rose Nurturing Body Cream 145ml RRP £28.50

 

I’m a huge fan of scented body creams, especially in the Summer months. Often I find perfume too strong, and with body creams you can have delicately scented skin, as well as the benefit of softer skin.

The Dr. Hauschka Rose Nurturing Body Cream is 145ml of light, sensuous and romantic rose, delicately soft, certainly not heavy and almost aromatic in scent. It leaves a hint of nurturing musk and so ideal for anyone who doesn’t like heady, heavy fragrances. However, this is not just any scented body cream, ingredients have been carefully selected to obtain optimum skin health, whether your skin is parched, flaky or just needing some TLC.

Some of these ingredients include:-

• Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil - Sweet Almond Oil, used for its anti-inflammatory properties to help reduce redness, acne, sunburn as well as other skin conditions. Full of Vitamins D and E, that help combat scarring as well as nourishing dry skin conditions. 
• Pyres Cydonia Seed Extract - Quince, often added to skincare as helps with sagging skin, so helps tone the skin. It acts as an astringent and so can reduce the appearance of large pores. 
• Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil - Jojoba Oil, ideal for chapped skin whether from chaffing or from environmental aggressors. Helps repair the skin and doesn’t block pores.
• Butyrospermum Parkii Butter - Shea Butter, used as an emollient and helps soften dry, parched skin. Ideal for use after the sun. 
• Rosa Canina Fruit Extract - An antioxidant that helps hydrate the skin as it’s full of essential fatty acids. 
• Euphorbia Cerifera Cera - A type of wax that is often used to help nourish dehydrated skin, firm the skin and again doesn’t clog the pores. 
• Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter - Helps increase blood flow to the skin, ideal for reducing hyperpigmentation and creates a barrier to prevent moisture loss.

The light texture is easy to massage in and a little goes a long way. It leaves no greasy residue and skin is left feeling and looking, soft, supple and hydrated. The ingredients are all non-comedogenic, meaning they don’t block the pores. Like all the products from Dr. Hauschka the product is free from synthetic fragrances, dyes and preservatives. You can purchase by clicking the link HERE

Dr. Hauschka Moor Lavender Calming Body Oil 75ml RRP £22.50 sample review

Whenever I get samples that promise to relax me, I usually jump them straight to the top of the review pile. This has everything to do with the fact that, as a single mum of 2 teens, I am nearly always feeling stressed. They would argue and tell me it’s because I’ve been in menopause for 5 years, or that it’s because I have to fill my car with petrol (oddly my pet hate), but regardless I love receiving ‘calming’ products, as I need calm in my life.

Dr. Hauschka is a brand renowned for using top quality, natural ingredients, a brand that refuses to use any harsh chemicals, synthetic fragrances or preservatives in their products. As such the products themselves are gentle on all skin types, and are used for healing many skin conditions.

You can tell the quality of ingredients by looking at the listing of the ingredients on the side of the packaging. Here you can see that Olea Europeaea Fruit (Olive) Oil is at the top of the list.

Olive Fruit Oil is full of essential fatty acids that help repair and nourish dry, flaky skin. The oil also has anti-oxidants that help protect the skin from harsh weather elements.  Other ingredients include:-

• Butyrospermum Parkii Butter - aka Shea Butter, nourishing, moisturising and again fully of fatty acids to help alleviate dry and sensitive skin conditions. Ideal for post holiday skin conditions. 
• Lavandula Angustifolia Oil - not only does this have that immediate calming effect, but lavender is well known for its medicinal purposes in healing redness, inflammation and irritated skin. 
• Peat Moss Extract - helps boost collagen production and keep the skin feeling firm. Also is used to reduce the appearance of large pores.
• Hydrogenerated Jojoba Oil - skin conditioning, an emollient that helps keep skin feeling soft and supple. 
• Equisetum Arvense Extract - aka Horsetail and very good for acne and psoriasis. The anti-inflammatory properties in this ingredient help reduce skin irritation. It’s also antibacterial and antimicrobial so helps fight bacteria and infection.
• Hippocastanum Seed Extract - Horse Chestnut, again full of antioxidants to help protect the skin from premature aging. 

You only need a very tiny amount, for the sake of the photo I applied to the back of my hand but you literally need a couple of pumps to warm in between the palms of your hands (shake the bottle first) and then massage into your skin. As you can see it easily sinks into parched, dry skin and leaves it looking luminous without any sticky or oily residue. 

Not only does it leave the skin looking fabulous, but a few deep breaths and the tranquil scent of lavender is an instant shoulder drop and tension release. Use just after you’ve had a shower or bath and whilst your body is still damp for maximum benefit. I would also recommend using just before bedtime to send you off into a deep slumber!

Ideal for anyone who is tired, run down, had illness, over-worked, depressed, menopausal and also makes a lovely gift. You can check out the rest of the range by clicking the link HERE

Hyclo Skin Sample Review

 

Lately I’ve been reviewing lots of moisturisers and I’ve noticed that many of them contain similar ingredients. There hasn’t been anything ‘new’ on the market for a while, and so I was pleasantly surprised when I received the Hyclo Skin samples.

Founded by Nicole Fletcher, whose career has seen her working across large personal care companies, she also founded Baby Bare Bubbles. Her passion, as I can see from her LinkedIn profile (yes I research those I write about), is evidently in the skincare industry.

As a beauty editor and blogger, I like to write about new start ups and smaller companies, especially as I often find there’s better customer service. Hyclo’s unique selling point is that the products contain 90% pure formulation of Hypochlorous Acid ‘Hypochlorous Acid is naturally produced by the human body to fight off infection and bacteria’. 

Hyclo Skin Replenish Gentle & Nourishing Moisturiser 100ml RRP £18.75

The Replenish Gentle & Nourishing Moisturiser is your simple, daily moisturiser, suitable for all skin types. It’s a lightweight formula and so sinks into the skin without leaving any greasy residue. 

It has an abundance of ingredients many of them organic, to help keep the skin hydrated but also offer protection against environmental aggressors such as pollution. Some of these ingredients are:-

• Caprylic/capric Triglyceride - contains a mixture of essential fatty acids, and so is an excellent skin emollient. 
• Butyrospermum Parkii Butter - aka Shea Butter, known for its anti-inflammatory properties and so helps calm the skin down. Ideal if you suffer with acne rocesea, eczema etc. 
• Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter - creates a barrier so helps retain moisture, and thus keeps skin supple and more hydrated. 
• Persea Gratissima Oil - Avocado Oil, contains high levels of vitamins A, C, D and E. Helps protect the skin against sun damage, pollution as well as softens the skin. 
• Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil - Sunflower Seed Oil, again creates a barrier to help protect the skin against moisture loss and repair the skin. It’s soothing and skin conditioning so ideal again for those who suffer with sensitive, dry, itchy, hormonal skin.

Hyclo Skin Repair 50ml RRP £36

This is your medical emergency skin care for anyone who is suffering from irritated, inflamed, sensitive and hormonal skin conditions. It contains the highest level of purity of Hypochlorous Acid, a natural ingredient, which we produce in our body to fight infection. It’s ideal if you suffer from acne, breakouts and is suitable for all skin types.

The quality of the product is evident by the very few ingredients listed. However, I do like to list the ingredients to help readers understand what is going into the products.

• Sodium Magnesium Flourosilicate - this is simply a binder and bulking agent, that has the ability to absorb water. It is not an active but is there to give substance to the product.
• Phosphoric Acid - helps neutralise the PH of cosmetics.
• Hypochlorous Acid - so the last ingredient, is the key ingredient and as mentioned above, as only a few ingredients (water is at the top), it’s actually is of high quantity and quality. This is the ingredient that helps treat acne, dermatitis and also breaks up bacteria in the skin. It’s ideal if you suffer from breakouts but especially if you have hormonal skin. Its aim is to give better skin health, especially if you’re suffering from teenage breakouts, pregnancy or menopausal changes and if you have been unwell. It helps calm down puffy, swollen and inflamed skin and treats a matter of skin conditions from eczema, dermatitis and acne. 

The products are all mild and safe to use, don’t contain any harsh chemicals or mineral oils that can often clog the skin. The products are dermatologically tested and made in England.  You can check out more of the range by clicking the link HERE