I didn't do my keratin until christmas morning and had no time to take photos, so I'll have to make time to take them next time I do it! In a week or two? Some time in the new year.
I have this one chunk of hair on my head (not completely... one of many "chunks") where the hair grows knotty? Like that chunk of hair always needs extra silk solution and gets frizzy. So weird, I'm considering using the keratin treatment on just that chunk of hair more often to see if it helps.

Anyway, I'm "hitting" the sales today. Couldn't be bothered yesterday as they look awful online, so far I've just had a massive underwear order as ann summers have an amazing sale on knicker box on the nice stuff, ie, not pvc and no random holes in it kinda stuff.
I don't want to be impulse buying, and a lot of stuff isn't actually that cheap. Prices are fluctuating so much lately it's hard to keep an eye on the actual original price of an item. Ebay is where the real bargains are to be had this time of year. Everyone's had new stuff or gone sale crazy and will be putting loads on ebay, expect to see lots of high street clothes from early autumn, out of date box sets(ie missing the latest series), ipods, phones and unwanted toiletries going cheap. Yay!!

You know what's a real bargain?

Getting half price "advance" train tickets the night before your train! KAPOW!

So that is a serious bargain and it's making my impending horrific journey home a little easier to stomach, but I'll be using a home keratin treatment tomorrow and shall do a big review on that with a few photos.

Cupcake or... a bag of dirt?

There's no denying how good Lush's fresh face masks are, and they're not too expensive, but when money's tight is the nice packaging and smell worth the extra cost?

My go-to face mask is Cupcake, whose key ingredient is rhassoul clay, also known as morrocan red clay. It's prized for it's cleansing properties and ability to withdraw oil and toxins from the skin, and in its raw powder form is available pretty cheaply online! I bought mine from here on ebay, and for £2.70 inc p&p it lasts much longer than a Lush face mask.

Mix up the clay with just enough water to make a thick paste, plaster on like that tart on the giant lips on x-factor plasters on her foundation and relax until it's dry to touch. My favourite way to use the clay, is to mix it up using the dregs of a cup of peppermint tea and add a drop of essential oil.
To really rip off lush, mix up with cocoa powder, peppermint oil and water.

Akoma Skin Care

Like most students, and most people in general, I'd rather not throw money on poor quality goods and products that don't work. The build up to any new beauty buy generally involves trawling reviews on sites like MakeupAlley, quizzing friends and researching the credibility of small online retailers. But three years ago I decided to take a chance on fairly new and little known retailer Akoma, I wouldn't have been heart broken if my order never arrived and I lost a fiver because I really wanted to test this place out! Fairtrade, organic, raw shea butter at a reasonable price? The mysterious "african black soap"?
It was the first of many, many orders and I depend on these two products for most of my washing and moisturising purposes. I've never found a better product for removing make up and cleansing than black soap, my skin gets grumpy if I ever go without!


African Black Soap

Better than my first bar crudely wrapped in cling film, the packaging is simple but the soap is incredible:

• contains raw chea butter, coconut oil, cocoa pods and a little water
• removes all makeup
• use as a non-drying facial soap, perfect for sensitive skin and acne sufferers
• great for shaving, bathing and even washing your hair
• lasts for ages, much longer than liquid soaps
• just £3.47 for one 110g bar, and infinitely cheaper in bulk
• buy here now!
  
  
  100% Raw Fairtrade Organic Shea Butter

• shea nuts are cold pressed to make the butter as raw, unrefined and vitamin rich as it possibly can be
• deeply moistursing
• excellent for use on scars as is rich in vitamin e
• use as a moisturiser on the body and hair
• use as a balm on the face, rinse off after 30 minutes
• more moisturising than chemical filled or water based lip balms and hand creams, ideal for winter
• buy here, from just £1.93 for a 50g pillow pack and use from the packet or mould into your own jars.
  A snip compared to L'Occitane who charge £5.50 for the pleasure of 8g in a metal tin and other high street stores charging almost as much for lip balms and lotions containing blends and extracts of shea butter. Akoma also sells pure vitamin e oil from £1.99 which can be easily added to shea butter to rival L'Occitane's £24 150ml tin of organic shea butter with added vitamin e oil.
  
  Aside from the countless benefits of the products and the irresistably low price of Akoma's ever expanding product range, there is the mission behind the products. The Akoma Cooperative was set up to help people in an area of Ghana, especially the most vulnerable women, children and eldery, improve their quality of life. They strive to improve the facilities of the villages they work with, offer education and health care, and are currently trying to provide people with a year round income. If you want to know more, read the link, they explain it much better themselves!
  Admittedly, ethics didn't play a big part in my first purchase but now I know the good they do this is one occasion where I wouldn't switch to another brand for the sake of a 50p.