Freebies I have re-bought : Pureology

Pureology Precious Oil Shampoo

As an unwavering professional haircare convert (don't get me started on supermarket shampoos) there is little anyone can do to drag me away from my two favourites: Kerastase and Pureology. Both pricey - yes, but when you are spending hard cash on having your hair coloured and cut, why wouldn't you take good care of your investment with good products too? Treating $200 highlights with $5 shampoo is like going to Merediths and drinking Spumante with your Beetroot and Duck Meringue.

A few months ago I went to the launch of Dry & Tea in Newmarket (more on that gorgeous place next week) and was given some Pureology Precious Oil shampoo and conditioner to try. I was very sceptical and didn't even put it on my hair for a week, too worried that the so-called 'Oil' would weigh down my fine hair. It didn't. The opposite in fact! My hair has been light, lush and so so strong ever since. I have re-purchased once in 6 months (the bottles last forever as you only need a little) and am totally addicted to my morning sniff of creamy caramel-ly lather, not to mention having hair that feels like silk.

At a recent press appointment, my hair (almost 12 weeks since my last colour and cut - thanks pregnancy) was examined under a microscope and the condition from root to tip was as good and consistent as if it had been cut last week. Not bad for a bleach and blast addict.

What about you? Which hair products do you use and why?

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One for the housewives

I want to start this post with an apology to housewives across the world (which also includes me, sorry me). Before I gave up fulltime work to have my daughter, I dreamt of leisurely days at home in my perfectly clean house, turning out gourmet meals and buttery home baking while my child played happily in the corner. Coffee dates with the girlfriends, no problem. Heck, I could even start jogging everyday again, what with all my spare time when the baby slept. 


Ha...


The truth is something more like this: I keep the lounge, kitchen and bathroom clean in case visitors drop in, the rest of the rooms are lucky to see a cloth once a week. I have mastered the artfully placed brooch to cover food stains, dinner is usually one of five meals on rotation, and I bake so I can eat the raw dough for lunch. Girlfriends? In between working and raising a child, I'm lucky to see my mother let alone foster relationships with other adults (thank god for Facebook). Please tell me I'm not the only one on this crazy rollercoaster?


Anyway...the point of this post was not to wallow, it was to show you this awesome no-do-hairdo I saw last week at the press launch of the Rodney Wayne summer collection, presented by Richard Kavanagh. Just wash your hair (combing is optional) then throw it up and wrap a chic silk scarf around it all, and voila: you're straight off the Marc Jacobs catwalk.


I love that head scarves are making a comeback, not just because they mean maximum-style-for-no-effort, but because they remind me of Audrey Hepburn singing 'Moon River' in Breakfast at Tiffany's.


I'm off to bake (eat) a banana cake in my Ruby for Breast Cancer scarf and un-ironed shirtdress. At least the neighbours can only see me from the neck up.


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Will you marry me, Biba?

Biba Hair Salon, Birkenhead

I’ve had one really bad hair experience in my life. Really bad. Can’t leave the house without a headband, can’t look at myself in the mirror without cringeing, throw a mini tantrum each morning and curse the day I agreed to be the hair model for a friend, bad. ‘Just trust me’ he insisted ‘I’m the hairdresser in this relationship’. It was so bad, that the one person always guaranteed to tell me the truth gasped and demanded to know ‘who did that to you?!’

Why do we do it? Why do we cheat on our hairdresser? For two years I had been faithful to my gorgeous stylist and colourist at the Urban Retreat in London and was in hair nirvana. 'It was a moment of weakness' I told them, 'It's not you, it's me.' It took 2.5 years and dozens of intense reconstructing treatments (thank God I worked for a salon group) to restore my platinum-fried Beatles bowl-cut to it's former elbow-length sun-kissed glory. 

Fast-forward three years and you can understand why I was a little edgy looking for a new hair salon in New Zealand. For the first year I was a commitment-phobe, hair-whoring myself to stylists all over town, then suddenly I found Biba. Ahhh, Biba. 

Ever since my first appointment, I have heard the theme song to 'Cheers' whenever I think of Bindy and her Bindybots at Biba in Birkenhead. Pretty, stylish and so welcoming, the whole team makes you feel like you're their favourite client.

I start dreaming about Biba's signature lemon ginger tea a week out from my appointment. It comes in a pretty vintage teapot, with banana chips, almonds, delicious balls of coconutty goodness, and a sweet little inspirational quote card that changes each time.

The wireless is free, there's a roaming iPad if you need to google a celebrity for hair inspiration, and there are all the Vogues, Elles, Grazias and Fashion Quarterlys a girl could wish for. It goes without saying that the massage is dreamy and the products are the best you can get. 

But it's all irrelevant if the end result has you reaching for a paperbag. When I left Biba on the weekend, I checked myself out in every shop window on the way home and knew I had found my hair soulmate. I'm ready to make it official. 

Biba, I'm yours, till death do us part.

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Kérastase Giveaway

I’ll start by being honest. In a former life, I was lucky enough to be the brand manager for Kérastase, which meant being paid to tell the world how wonderful the brand is. As a marketer, it’s your job to make people want your product, so for two years I was completely brainwashed by this French line of luxury hair care.

The thing is, I left L’Oreal over a year ago to have my daughter but I’m still using the products. I love them. I can’t imagine using anything else. My hair has never been so shiny and silky, and good lord they smell amazing.

The thought of life without Chroma Thermique is frightening, it’s like lip gloss for my hair and gives the blonde bits a pretty shimmer. We used to joke that at the end of the day, it’s only shampoo, but the reality is when you find what you love, why change? I have tried just about every brand out there in the market, including a caviar shampoo worth more than a week’s rent, and I’m still a devoted member of team ‘special k’.

When I emailed my former colleagues to let them know I was writing about Kérastase they were kind enough to offer a wee gift for a lucky Beaunz reader. I want to be clear, this is not a paid advertisement or advertorial. No morals were compromised in the writing of this post.

If you would like to try this most beautiful of brands, leave a comment telling me about the most Beaunz-worthy place or thing in your town. Make sure you at least leave your name, because a winner will be chosen at random next Wednesday. If I don’t get any comments, I’ll be keeping the goodies for myself – yippee!


UPDATE: Congratulations Tamsin! Email me your address so we can send out your goodies x

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