Review: Aveda Pure Abundance Shampoo

I'm an absolute sucker for any hair products claiming to make my hair look more voluminous. I tend to be fairly low maintenance with my hair; shampoo, either a hair oil or leave in conditioner spray, dry shampoo and hairspray are the only products I really reach for. I find that mousses and cream products weigh my hair down too much so even if they claim to add volume, I end up with greasy flat hair. On that basis, volumising shampoos tend to be what I opt for most. I've tried a few across a range of high street brands which I've enjoyed but whilst perusing the Aveda counter in Debenhams I was drawn in by the Pure Abundance line and decided to give the shampoo a go.

The packaging is plain and functional although I did have to store it upside down to get the remaining product out when it was running low. The product itself is a honey coloured gel with a normal 'shampoo' texture - it's not too runny or exceptionally thick. The scent is quite herbal and overpowering; I didn't pick up the jasmine in the scent (I love jasmine!)

Aveda state that the shampoo:

Lifts fine hair up and fills it out. Hair looks fuller, feels thicker, stays more abundant. 

•	plant-based formula boosted by certified organic acacia gum
•	Aroma with jasmine, certified organic peppermint, palmarosa and ylang ylang

I used the shampoo as normal and spritzed a little leave in conditioner on the ends of my hair. When it was 80% dry, I blow dried it. I did find that my hair felt lighter and had a nice amount of volume once I'd dried it and my hair did feel cleaner for a little longer when I used this shampoo. However, I have quite a sensitive scalp and this shampoo would sometimes be a little irritating so I couldn't use it on a daily basis. 

The bottom line is that I liked the product, I just didn't love it. It did give my hair a bit of extra volume without that product build up feeling so if you've not got a sensitive scalp and you fancy trying a higher end volumisng shampoo, I'd say that this is worth a try. I won't be repurchasing it as I've found the volumising shampoos from Herbal Essences and Aussie are fairly similar in terms of performance, are a fraction of the price and they smell nicer.

A 250ml bottle of Pure Abundance shampoo retails for £17.00 from Aveda stockists and online.

Have you tried any good volumising shampoos recently?

Stace xx

Budget Beauty Essential: Boots Extra Large Cotton Wool Pads

I first heard about these super sized cotton pads from Boots in a Zoella video, I believe. At the time I was using a cream cleanser, separate eye make up remover and toner so I was going through 6-8 regular cotton pads every time I removed my make up. At £2.59 for 60 these may seem a bit pricey for cotton pads but I think they're well worth it.

(a bit of a weird size comparison shot!)

If you've ever been a fan of those dreaded drying face wipes (we've all been there...I still keep some on hand for emergencies!) because they're so quick and easy to use, these cotton pads, a good quality cleanser and toner make an excellent alternative. I typically massage my cleanser into my skin to lift the make up and remove with one of the pads. The process is much quicker as I only need one pad unless I need to double cleanse to remove lots of make up.

I also use them to remove polish - one pad will do nails and toes.

You'll find these in the baby section rather than in the beauty section and they're currently in a buy one, get one half price offer. I've only got a few pads left so am planning on stocking up this weekend!

Stace xx

Ps - I'll be posting a wee blog sale at some point over the weekend because I'm moving flat again and am having a bit of a clear out so keep your eyes peeled for that!