Glasgow Gal (in London): Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect & Volume // Soap & Glory Scrub Your Nose In It

I mentioned yesterday that I've switched shampoo and conditioner and was inspired after reading another girls blog post about what she uses on her hair - here! I decided to go for the Volume collection rather than Smooth, as my hair severely lacks any sort of oomph.

For the first half of last year I'd been using Loreal Elvive Full Restore 5 - a la Cheryl Cole. This was great for my hair and really improved it's overall condition, as well as giving it 'some mojo'. However, after dying my hair RED in October and subsequently realising it's the most difficult colour to maintain, I felt I needed to switch to a colour-friendly routine. I have always used Elvive products so naturally went for their Colour Protect range, which worked really well at keeping my hair 'redder for longer', but left it looking quite flat and, well, boring. I decided to bite the bullet and alter my routine (and being a Taurus who doesn't like change this was quite something).

I've only used this three times so far, but can already see a massive difference in my hair. It doesn't feel weighed down anymore and, although not massively big and bouncy, it does seem to have a bit more life to it. The smell is gorgeous and the shampoo produces a lovely lather in the shower. After drying my hair, it felt really smooth and I could easily run my fingers through it (how unfortunate that I don't have a boyfriend for Valentine's this year...). Colour wise, it still looks great and shiny and there doesn't appear to be significant fading. I'm genuinely quite won over with this product and am going to invest in the concentrated conditioner when I get paid and dye my hair again in a few weeks. Verdict: great shampoo, nice smell, does what it says on the tin!

Next I want to talk about Soap & Glory's Scrub Your Nose In It. If you have read any previous entries on my blog, you will know that I am a massive S&G fan and swear by several of their products. One of the newest products I've tried is Scrub Your Nose In It. This product was part of the huge tote that Boots were selling before Christmas at the ridiculously cheap price of 25.00! Before trying this out my scrub of choice was Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub or St Ives Apricot Scrub. However, as I was moving to London I was limited to what I could pack, and so decided to throw SYNII into my case and give it a go.

I've only used it twice and I'm not sure what I think of it yet. First reaction when I applied it was that the smell was really minty and fresh, and not at all like most S&G products. When using as a scrub it felt like some form of mild micro-dermabrasion! You can use the product as a scrub and mask and so I decided to leave a layer on my skin for around 5 minutes... WOW... talk about feeling it work! My face was extremely tingly, like nothing I've experienced before! I washed it off and splashed my face with really cold water to help close my pores. When I sat down to moisturise I was amazed at how tight my skin felt. It was really dry though, and I had to use a considerable amount of moisturiser to make it feel normal and smooth. Alas, I don't quite know where I stand with this. On the one hand, I clearly felt the product doing something to my skin, and it definitely scrubbed away and dead cells, however the drying out concerns me a bit, and the insane tingling sensation. I have a problem with my face, that doesn't seem to affect the rest of my body. I can use pretty much any product on my body, no matter how perfumed etc. but when it comes to my face - super sensitive! I'm going to keep using this product one day a week, just to see if it makes a difference over time, but I'm sorta missing my old favourites left behind in my Glasgow bathroom... cest la vie... Has anyone tired this? Please comment below with your thoughts...

Finally, I found this languishing at the bottom of the make-up bag, never been used before. This looked pretty strange to me when it first came out, and still does today. I'm just not quite sure what the point in it was... Has anyone used this? What did you think - useful idea or just a gimmick?

Tonight I made dinner for my cousin, who has taken to staying with me at my aunt's house in London while she's still sunning herself in the Canaries! I come from a large family and my house is always so busy, so it felt strange arriving in London and being faced with a large house completely empty. I quite like him popping over to keep me company :) James said his dinner was lovely, whilst I was totally embarrassed at the sheer thrown togetherness of it! I've not been for a proper shop yet (I've not adjusted to living on my own) and so this was thrown together from stuff I found in the fridge and cupboards. This is what I did: