L’Oreal Preference Mousse Absolue – A case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (and actually make an even bigger bags of it)

If I had a euro for every time I heard of the next new “innovation” in beauty, I’d be a billionaire by now. It’s one of those industries which is constantly innovating for the sake of it, to 1up in the arms race of personal perfection. There are some beauty items which lend themselves to new technology, and others which have remained pretty much unadulterated since they hit the shelves. Hair colour is very much the latter, sticking to the tried and trusted “mix the colour and the developer bottles and shake” ever since I can remember anyway. There’s no denying that it’s a messy, smelly, unpleasant process, however there are very few women out there who wouldn’t consider the bi-monthly colour top-up a part of their necessary regime. So an innovation to make this process easier and tidier is sure to be a winner, right?

 

LOreal Preference Mousse Absolue Review Pics

 

Enter L’Oreal’s new Preference Mousse Absolue, needing no mixing, producing a foam which can be applied directly to hair as required. Is this the droid we’re looking for? Read on »

Do your bit in the fight against Cancer, with Elave and the Irish Cancer Society

Each year approximately 30,000 people in Ireland will be told they have cancer. Cancer is a disease that knows no boundaries, does not distinguish between sex, race or class, and has or will affect us all either directly or indirectly during our lifetime.

The good news is that more people are surviving cancer than ever before and this is thanks to increased awareness of signs and symptoms, early detection of the disease and better treatments. Survival rates in breast cancer for example have risen from 73% (1994 -1997) to 85% in 2007 – 2009. Prostate cancer survival has increased from 65% (1994 – 1997) to 93% in 2007 – 2009. These are two of many examples where survival rates have increased.

 

There are approximately 100,000 people living with cancer in Ireland. (This figure comes from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland is up to date as of 31/12/2009 and covers people diagnosed in the 16 year period 1994 – 2009.)

 

If you are concerned about cancer, please call the Irish Cancer Society’s National Cancer Helpline on Freefone 1800 200 700 and speak to a specialist cancer nurse in confidence or go to www.cancer.ie.

 

Elave Shampoo Shower Gel Intensive Cream Irish Cancer Society

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Dolly Rouge shall NOT be joining She Said Beauty. Here’s why… Bloggers take note!

So I’d had “She Said Beauty” in the back of my mind as a blog aggregator platform to explore. We’ve covered before our dubiousness about the now dead HelloCotton, so I approach most blog aggregators with the same trepidation. However innocent until proven guilty in my eyes. Well today, while not even researching the topic, unfortunately She Said Beauty have been proven GUILTY. See proof below, clicky to embiggen.

 

She Said Beauty Paperbacks And Postcards

 

The actual blog that image is from is called www.paperbacksandpostcards.com. Why is the above bad you ask? For a comprehensive discussion please see my previous post about HelloCotton. But basically, She Said Beauty are serving up blogger’s images as their own. And they’re appearing higher ranked than the actual blog website in image search results. This bad SEO juju. Read on »

Snooze Rollers – you snooze you lose

snooze rollers

I have been growing my hair the last few years with notions of putting in fabulous plaits, doing classy up-dos and curling my locks ala The Only Way i Essex but, as usual my notions haven’t really translated to real life. I much prefer rising from my pit at the last possible minute of a morning and scraping the much longed for hair into yet another top knot. I’m lazy and I know it and this is why sleep in rollers appealed to me.  Read on »

An interruption to our scheduled programming: Please email your TDs today, for Savita

Yet another innocent person has needlessly lost her life, thanks to government inaction.

 

Savita Halappanavar died having been denied termination

Savita Halappanavar died having been denied termination in University College Galway. Image from The Irish Times.

 

Not content with ignoring the dire state of the mental health service, and the escalating rate of suicide, the Irish government have caused the untimely death of another. Savita Halappanavar was denied a medical termination of her non-viable fetus, thanks to the government’s failure to legislate for the (now 20 year old) Supreme Court X Case ruling. I’m sure we’ve all heard the media coverage. What you may not know, is that in April this year Dail Eireann voted 20 to 111 AGAINST the bill proposing Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman. Here are the names of those TDs who voted against the bill.  Read on »

Suicide – a long term solution to a short term problem

And now for something completely different. Today I’m going to post something I’ve wanted to for a long time, about an important, serious, but often ignored issue haunting Irish families – suicide. If you come here for the beauty and banter, you may wish to skip today’s post, I totally understand. However I hope that you will read, tweet, comment, or even just think about the issue. For some people, it’s a matter of life and death.

Depression.

I have a lot of admiration for Ray D’Arcy, both for his broadcasting skills (The Den anyone?) and for his work raising awareness about mental illness in Ireland, particularly depression. He’s staple listening in the office every morning, and I’ve been very moved lately by his features on the hidden epidemic sweeping Ireland – suicide. He recently invited two families to bravely tell their stories about those stolen from them by suicide. What struck me about their stories, besides the tragedy and pain, was that no one knew what their lost loved one was planning, or they would have intervened. This seems to unfortunately be a common theme in many a loss to suicide.

One story in particular struck me to the core, that about a girl who pushed herself so hard to be the best at everything, put so much pressure on herself to perform, that the resulting anxiety and depression caused her to take her own life. I’ve been that girl – the perfectionist, always striving for the highest possible attainment, that when achieved didn’t even make me proud of myself, just make me feel OK. To have to achieve 100% to be normal is not a good benchmark to set for yourself, even when times are good and everything is working in your favour. So what happens when times are bad? Read on »

The ObnoXious Factor. Or what Kat thought of Mel B’s X Factor debut.

Now, I’m not really one for the ‘sleb bashing, I try my best to have a “live and let live” mindset. But every now and again someone in the public eye gets my really gets my goat, and these days you can’t really get much more public (read: attention seeking) than on The X Factor.

 

Yes it’s back. For me The X Factor heralds the END OF SUMMERRRR (said in booming announcer voice) and Christmas being just around the corner.  I’m not ready to give up on summer yet, sure it hasn’t even started in Ireland for feck sake! This was my grumpy mindset as I was half watching the first X Factor installment last Saturday eve. Yet however grumpy I was, or can be, I do have an ounce of tact when it comes to dealing with others. Unlike a certain Spice Girl who was a guest judge on the panel – Mel B. Scary Spice certainly lived up to her nickname for the poor auditionees.

 

The ObnoXious Factor

X Factor Logo copyright Talkback Thames, ITV. Liberty taken all my own.

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Becoming a woman: the top five things your mam never told you

I'm not a girl, not yet a wooooooman....

I'm not a girl, not yet a wooooooman....

Is it just me, or does it seem that the generation of women before us are politely withholding the reality of getting older? Lately, as I’m moving further and further past the wrong side of 25, I’ve been catching little snatches of the things that await me as I grow more womanly. None of which any of the older females in my life have shared with me. Is this a conspiracy? Or a rite of passage before you get to join the “Woman Club”? Here’s my top 5 things your mam probably didn’t tell you, or at least my mam sure as hell didn’t! Read on »

Whathairver makes you happy……..

 

So, I suppose at this stage everyone has seen the Emer O’Toole story (girl with arms in the air above) splashed all over the English media? Well if not please have a look at her appearance on UK daytime tv here.  Emer stopped shaving 18 months ago in order to challenge the public view that “women need to shave to feel happy and to conform”.  Right so. Read on »

Gross Alert: Vicks Vapo Rub is curing my hideous toenail.

Vicks Vapo Rub

 

I once had the pleasure of meeting Sharmadean Reid of Wah Nails fame and something she said at the time struck a chord with me.

I can’t remember it word for word but it was something along the lines of she always keeps her toenails painted as it’s an easy way to feel groomed and  besides, feet look much prettier that way! I am of the same opinion; I think unpainted toenails are totally HIDEOUS! I always take the time (especially in winter) to manicure my feet once a week and keep them in tip top condition. You just never know when you may need to get them out. Read on »