An evening with Arbonne

Last night I had the pleasure of attending an Arbonne evening, aimed at introducing the brand to those looking for an animal friendly, sustainable, gluten free, vegan, responsible range of skincare and nutritional products. The words ‘Vegan’ ‘Animal friendly’ and ‘Nutritional’ stood out to me most from the invite; and I instantly wanted to know more about the brand. 

I had never heard of Arbonne before, they operate solely online which is probably why, I’m much more of a buy in store girl for all things skincare. I was horrified to learn that for a product to be stocked in a drugstore such as Boots, it must have a life span of 5 years minimum. The thought that you could be applying products to your face and body that were made half a decade ago is scary! Arbonne products have a shelf life of around 12 months depending on the product.

Michelle and Hattie did a wonderful job hosting the event, I was welcomed into the most gorgeous apartment with what must be the best view of Manchester’s night scene going. There’s something so lovely about watching over a busy city that’s bustling with traffic and lit up by the street lamps (and Christmas lights) from a calm and serene apartment 42 levels high. I confess, I could quite happily people watch all day long.

A large range of the skincare and makeup was displayed, and the hosts were keen to strip off your makeup to demonsrate the products. Sadly, I declined the offer in fear of over cleansing my skin by using more products, having done my full skincare routine moment’s before leaving for the event. But from the result’s I saw from the other girls, it all looked fabulous! I did however test out the ColourLast Hair Serum by applying a pea sized amount to my finger tips and dispersing it through my ponytail. My hair instantly became sleeker, softer and shinier.

You could really see the passion the consultants had for the brand and also how confident they were in the products. I listened to Michelle introduce the brand, and stared in awe of her skin. She said ‘age is a lifestyle, not a number’ and I could not agree more.

I spent the evening chatting away to the consultants, browsing the products and having a good read of the catalog which included folding down many pages for future purchases. The host’s touched on the chemistry behind the products – which is what I find most interesting about skincare and beauty. I love reading up on how and why the products I use are effective.

Michelle later introduced me to the nutritional products from Arbonne, and I sampled a protein smoothie. The blend of frozen blueberries, Arbonne vanilla flavour protein powder, a scoop of Arbonne fibre boost power and some almond milk was perhaps the most delicious concoction I’ve ever tried.

The daily power packs for women seemed like a brilliant idea to ensure as a woman you are getting all the vitamins you need – I love the idea of it being targeted to the female body and it’s needs specifically. The vitamin D + B12 spray also looked intriguing, I didn’t sample it however the idea is to spritz it onto the tongue, wait for 20 seconds and it dissolves. I’d suggest checking this out if you find swollowing tablets tricky.

Price wise I think Arbonne are pretty reasonable. You can expect to pay around £32 for a cleanser, £40 for a day cream, £14 for a shampoo, £22 for the hair serum- far cheaper than similar vegan brands operating without the use of animal testing.

I left the event super impressed by the whole ethos of the brand as well as the products. I’ll definitely be introducing some of the products into my routine. Thank you Arbonne for a lovely evening, you’ve got me hooked.

Click here to visit the website. It includes the chemistry behind all the products, which is a really interesting read.

Do let me know if you’ve heard of Arbonne before and your thoughts of the products!

Tips and Myths of Hair Growth

We’ve all read the ways which we can supposedly speed up hair growth, we’ve all brought the products claiming to work miracles… Here are the ways (I think) I’ve managed to add length to my hair over the past 3 months.

Just a quick disclaimer that I’m not an expert in haircare, far from it! I’m sure there’s many hair professionals out there that will say I’m doing it all wrong, but this works for me so I thought it’s worth sharing.

1. Multi Vitamins
Being a vegetarian and intolerant to some diary and nuts I’m aware I probably don’t get all the vitamins and minerals I need to stay healthy from my diet. I take an everyday multivitamin and a ‘Hair, Skin and Nails’ tablet every morning. Even if you think you have a well balanced diet, I’d still recommend you take a multi vitamin at least because you might not be fuelling your body with every single vitamin you need, plus if your meals vary day by day so will the vitamins you consume. Taking a vitamin will simply ensure you’ve covered yourself. Also, don’t be fooled into forking out huge amounts of money on top vitamin brands, do your research, read the labels, most have the same content.

2. Sleep with it up
I always sleep with my hair in a loose bun on the top of my head, tied with a scrunchie. The soft scrunchie won’t snap or add tension to the hair strands. By avoiding scrapping it back into a tight bun I’m giving the hair follicles room to grow. I’m lucky in the sense that my hair never kinks so tying it up works perfectly for me if I want to wear it down the next day.

3. Minimise washing
I admit this is a tricky one for me. I don’t have oily hair however I do regularly exercise. Ideally I aim for washing every 3 days but it’s more like every other day. If you can go every 3 days or more thats brilliant! Over washing is the same as over cleansing your skin, your not letting your body do what it’s designed to do if your interfering too much.

4. Don’t over cut it
Despite most hair growth articles I’ve read encouraging regular trims, I very rarely get my hair cut. I don’t have styled or coloured hair so I don’t find myself at the salon regularly anyway. Yes, I have the ends trimmed but when I feel they need it. My research all says get it trimmed every 6-8 weeks, but if you look after your hair I don’t think you need to. I definitely go far longer than 6 weeks between cuts. I get it trimmed when I feel it needs it.

5. Similar to the above, listen to your hair!
I’m very organised and have my whole week planned on Sunday night: my meals, beauty and hair routine. But I’ve learnt that sometimes you just need to look at your hair in the mirror and think, what does it need right now, and go against your schedule. I used to do a hair mask every week, but I noticed I was doing it for the sake of it. So sometimes I skip it, likewise sometimes I do 2 hair masks a week. It’s all about accessing your hair as you go along and responding accordingly.

6. Oil massage
Now and again I will massage my hair with a hair oil, I’m currently testing out the Argan Body Shop Oil, from root to tip for a good 5 minutes. I then tie it up and leave it on overnight. After washing in the morning, the general health and shine to my hair has improved. Most people only like to oil the ends, but by oiling from root to tip I think it encourages growth of the follicles by nourishing them too.

7. Shampoo with luke warm water 
Hot water, of course isn’t as hardcore as hair dryers or straighteners, but it’s still heat. I turn the temperature of the shower down whilst I wash my hair to prevent damage. I don’t own any electrical or heated hair tools so the only heat my hair gets is from sunny weather. Which living in rainy Manchester isn’t a big problem for me.

8. Paraben free products
I recently posted about the Lush Shampoo Bar’s which are free from preservatives and chemicals, check it out if you haven’t already. Paraben’s are artifical preservatives in a range of products from food to beauty. They’re unnatural and should be avoided!

9. Protein 
Most hair growth products such as shampoo’s and conditioner’s all claim to work because they have chemicals in them to boost protein, and in turn boost growth and repair. But by taking that right back to the source and eating more protein, I feel its encouraged my hair growth. I eat Tofu, flaxseed and egg whites as often as I can.

Some of these tips may be obvious to you, or you may have never heard of them before. Like I said earlier, I thought they were worth mentioning to you 🙂

I’d love to here your tips and tricks to hair growth so please get in touch.