Review: Nanogen Hair Care Products for Fine Hair

As a child I had glorious thick, long, beautiful glossy hair. It was my crowning glory; but as a teen I cut it all off and through puberty, medication and illness it’s gradually become finer; something a lot of women struggle with.

Various hairdressers have suggested solutions, most of them expensive; but as with most things I just make the best of it. In this case by rocking my now signature pixie cut and using a range of products, shampoos and styling products designed to boost the volume of my hair.

A couple of months ago I was sent some products from Nanogen to try out. I was sent the thickening treatment shampoo, thickening treatment conditioner, hair growth treatment serum and the root boost thickening spray.

Nanogen have created a range of products for men and for women to boost the look of your hair and to encourage the growth of new hair. Their products are available online and through a range of retailers including Boots.

Nanogen

I’ve been using the products for around two months now, how have I got on with them? The shampoo is a lovely light shampoo which I have used every day. It leaves my hair clean, appearing thicker and healthier. The effect was an almost instant volume boost. Over time and use I have found myself happier with the general appearance of my hair.

I have used the conditioner less often. My hair type tends towards greasy so I only condition a couple of times a week. If you have longer hair which is dry or out of condition then this would be a really useful addition to your hair care routine.

The growth treatment serum is an oil which your drip onto your scalp and rub in. Because it is an oil I tended to use it before bed and leave it overnight to work its magic before I washed my hair in the morning. It’s very simple to use, the trick is to remember to actually use it.

I’m terrible at having a bedtime routine, so I only managed to use this product two or three times a week. I didn’t notice a significant difference but after washing the next morning my hair always seemed to look in better condition than usual. I need to pull my finger out and use this product every night if I’m to have any hope of it making a difference.

The real star product as far as I was concerned was the root boost thickening spray. I sprayed three or four pumps onto my damp hair, worked the product through and blow dried my hair. It gave really great volume, it wasn’t thick or sticky and my hair always looked good when I’d used it. I loved this product.

I have been much happier in general with my hair since I’ve been using the Nanogen products. They are not ruinously expensive, the shampoo is £7.95 for a 240ml bottle and it will last me ages; I only need a dab each time on my short hair.

Nanogen

I’ve used a number of these kind of products and I found these to be really gentle on my scalp. They are easy to use and I’ve discovered some products (the shampoo and the root boost spray) which I really rate and will absolutely buy again.

It’s not a snake oil cure, it’s unlikely to work miracles, but it has made a difference to the look and condition of my hair. It’s given me a helping hand towards being happier with my hair and for me that’s a pretty big deal.

Find out more about Nanogen on their website. Nanogen products are also available online and in Boots stores nationwide.

Disclosure: I was sent these products for review purposes, all images and opinions are my own.

Bubble baths & squeaky clean fun with Paddy’s Bathroom

We were sent these Paddy’s Bathroom products for review purposes, all images and opinions are our own.

One of my favourite times of the day with the small boy is bath-time. He loves a bath, he enjoys playing with all of his bath toys. He has a selection for every mood – planes, trains and auto-mobiles; ducks and seafaring stuff and a big tub of foam letters we use to spell our names out. One thing he does insist on, but doesn’t always get, is a very bubbly bath. We were sent some Paddy’s Bathroom products to try, so we put them to the test on holiday in Devon.

Paddy's Bathroom

Paddy is the brother of Ella from the popular Ella’s Kitchen range. With such a pedigree I was expecting really good things from this brand. We were sent almost the full Paddy’s bathroom range including –

Foamy Stuff hair and body mousse – smells of rosy apples
Squirty Stuff hair and body wash – smells of mangoes
Squirty Stuff hair and body wash – smells of pineapples
Bubbly Stuff bubble bath – smells of tangerines
Stuff for Shiny Hair shampoo – smells like squeezy lemons
Stuff for Hands foaming hand wash – smells like squeaky clean lemons

We packed it all for our holiday, I always think it’s nice to take new toiletries away and these looked really good for all of us, so I didn’t even pack any “grown up” stuff.

I like the packaging, especially the products in pouches, these seemed like a really good idea to me and I’d like to see more bathroom products in pouches. The “squirty stuff” bottles are a little fiddly to open until you get the knack, but they’re a great design which foams the gel as it dispenses. The range is colourful and has a lot of information about the product on the packaging, which I find useful.

Paddy’s bathroom contains No SLS, Parabens, Phthalates, Sulphates or GMO ingredients. I am increasingly aware of parabens and the other nasties we find in skincare and bathing products, so this is good to read.

Paddy's Bathroom

But what did the small boy think? I ran him the bubbliest bath he’s probably ever had. He stayed in there until his fingers and toes were wrinkly and he had a great time. He particularly loved the foaming products, the foamy hair and body mousse was a real favourite (he’s washing his hair with it above). He came out of the bath squeaky clean and very happy.

The Paddy’s Bathroom range all have fruity scents, which is some products would smell really fake and cloying, but these are made with as much natural and organic ingredients as possible, and they smell really uplifting to me.

Both the boy and I have very sensitive skin and I was pleased that neither of us came up in a rash, or had any dry skin as a result, we’ve all used them for a week now and we all really like them.

Paddy's Bathroom

Paddy’s Bathroom products are really fun and well thought out. I’m really pleased we discovered them, a foamy hand wash will only encourage him to wash his hands, which is a nigh on impossible task. He loves the bubble bath – which may well be the bubbliest bubble bath ever, so we’ll be buying that again. And even I love the squeaky clean lemon shampoo, which makes my hair shiny – again, an almost impossible task. Paddy’s Bathroom gets the thumbs up from us!

Update: 21st November 2020. Paddy’s Bathroom are no longer trading and their products are no longer available.

Review: Urtekram – The Danish Skincare Brand

I have an addiction, my addiction is to skincare products, specifically nice moisturisers; but I’m happy to get my fix where I can; soaps, hand creams, haircare products, lip balms, oh the lip balms. Anyway, I digress, I’ve recently stumbled across an interesting and exciting Danish brand called Urtekram. Urtekram produce a really lovely looking range of organic and vegan skincare products which haven’t been tested on animals, what’s more the packaging is really fresh looking and looks great in my bathroom. I was sent a selection of Urtekram products to try out, here’s what I thought.

Aloe Vera Hand Cream
This is a great hand cream for me, thick enough to really moisturise my dry hands, but light enough to be absorbed pretty quickly. It’s got a great scent too, there’s a lovely hint of orange zest which is fresh rather than sickly sweet. I love this.

Rose Body Lotion
It’s only fairly recently I’ve started to really like the smell of rose, this isn’t overpowering and is a lovely light fragrance. The lotion itself is light and absorbs quickly but leaves my skin feeling soft and supple. It’s going to become a favourite of mine I think.

Rose Soap Bar
A normal looking bar of soap, infused with the same delicate rose fragrance as the body lotion, an excellent bathroom staple.

Nordic Birch Shampoo
This is for normal hair, so it was ideal for mine. The bottle says it is infused with the smell of corn flowers, but to me it had a nice, light almost medicinal smell. I liked it a lot. The shampoo contains birch leaf and walnut leaf extracts as well as aloe vera to moisturise your hair. It left my hair feeling really clean and fresh. I’ll be looking out for this again.

Camomile Shampoo
This is for blonde hair and none of us are blonde, it is however the most gorgeous smelling shampoo, it is infused with wild camomile oils and aloe vera. Our hair smelt lovely after using this and it was squeaky clean.

Lime Crystal Roll-On Deodorant
I am naturally very cautious about deodorant as I am sensitive to some deodorants, but I gave the organic one a try. First of all the fragrance is fresh and zingy, if I want my armpits to smell of anything then fresh lime is a good thing to smell of. It’s not sticky on application and I think would be great to use in the summer as it feels instantly cooling.

No Perfume Baby All-Over Wash
Lastly, this unscented, organic body wash is great for babies, young children and sensitive types like myself. A little goes a long way and it has a no more tears formula.

I really enjoyed trying all the different Urtekram products. They feel gentle and caring on my skin which is important to me. They are not expensive either, with the shampoos currently available in a range of online stores for under £5 a bottle and body lotion at around £6.50. I think they’re really good value for certified organic and vegan skincare products of this quality. I will definitely be searching these out in the future.

For more information, visit their website.