Dork Adore » Hair

iPulse Smooth Skin: Dork Review

Emma Cossey — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:00:48 +0000

Hair removal. Tedious, time-consuming and occasionally painful. You’d think this would be something evolution would have sorted out for us ladies.

I’ve tried most of the methods out there for defuzzing. A brief dalliance with waxing, epilating and threading tested my (very low) pain threshold to the limit. Hair removal cream only succeeded in fumigating the bathroom and left me light-headed. Hair removal mitts gave me an appalling rash that garnered appalled looks from parents who quickly ushered their children away.

Which basically leaves me and my modest budget with the trusty razor. That’s not to say I haven’t eyed up the pricey salon-based IPL (intense pulsed light) courses though that promise permanent results.

So, when I was given the chance to try out the iPulse Smooth Skin IPL system from Boots to try at home, I snapped up their offer faster than you can say “Julia Roberts fuzz faux-pas”

Here’s how I got on.

The product

The iPulse Smooth Skin IPL system is a compact machine that consists of a base with two control panels, and a handset that emits a short, intense pulse of filtered light. The system works when the light is absorbed by the coloured pigments in and surrounding the hair and it disables the hair follicle, helping to prevent hair re-growth.

Using it

There’s a huge instruction book to read, but here’s the basics:

Shave/trim area.
Apply Activation Gel
Choose your heat level (you’ll find the suitable one for your skin in the book) and switch it over to ‘ready’
Apply the headset to an area of hair you want to target. Once the four pins on the headset touch skin, a red light will signal it’s ready.
Hit the button!

This video sums it all up.

Wins points for:

Lack of pain: I used the highest level (fair) but the pain barely registers. A quick shot of heat and it’s done
Quick: It only takes around five minutes to do both areas of the underarm
Results: I can definitely see a difference. See the conclusion below for more information.

Loses points for:

Messy: You’ll need to apply a messy gel before using the applicator on your skin

Small surface area covered: This means it’ll take a long time if you fancy tackling your legs or any large areas of skin

Expensive: Although the results should be permanent which will save you money long term.

Not suitable for all skin types. Try the suitability tool on the Boots website to see if you can use it.

Conclusion

I’ve been using the iPulse Smooth Skin system for six weeks now and I can see a reduction in hair growth generally and some areas where hair has simply stopped growing. As I’m blessed (!) with red hair and pale skin, it’ll take a little longer. But an extra five minutes spent once a week with this gadget is a small commitment for what could be a long-term hair-free future. Plus it’s quite a bit cheaper than the courses you can buy in salons.

iPulse Smooth Skin: Boots: £274.99

Pin it

Corioliss Floral Vintage Dryer. Dork Review

Dork Adore — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:32:50 +0000

I don’t know about you but I’m always a bit disappointed with hairdryers in hotels – not to mention when I go to stay with my mum, who is still using one from of the seventies – so I usually lug my own along with me. It’s a great big, years-old hefty thug of a hairdryer, but the reason I like it is because it’s powerful, and you can’t beat a good blast of hot air when you want to do your own blow dry before a big night out.

Having said that, I’m always on the look out for something smaller which does the job, but travel dryers never seem to quite cut it when it comes to the power stakes, and usually they are just plain ugly.

Thankfully, the vintage style, floral pattern travel dryer (£21.24 plus p&p) from www.looksgorgeous.com is cute, lightweight and very portable.

It comes in a zip-up travel pouch, has an 800w motor and two power settings, and is available in a choice of plain powder pink and dusky blue as well as a retro floral print.

I tried it out on my shoulder-length hair and while I can’t say it did a quick job of drying it, it is certainly a pretty creature, and its moulded handle made it comfortable to hold. If you can’t bear to travel without your own hairdryer, then this is a good retro-girly choice.

Gains points for

Extra-long power cable – at 5’ 10” I could dry my hair standing up

Very lightweight

Neat carry case to keep it tidily tucked away

Loses points for

Not particularly powerful – took 20 minutes to dry my shoulder-length hair

Conclusion
Its tiny size means it’s not the most powerful of dryers, but what do you expect from something so dinky? It’d be perfect for retro glamour pusses on the go, or little girls with smaller hands who are into all things pretty for their dressing tables.

by Sasa Jankovic

Pin it

Diva Professional Styling Bullet Straightener: Dork Review

Emma Cossey — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:16 +0000

Another year, another hair tool released to rival GHD.

This time, it’s the turn of the Bullet Hair Straighteners from Diva Professional Styling, who have kindly sent over a pair to test out on my unruly, thick hair.

This hair tool claims to bring “curling and straightening together in a way never seen before”

Let’s put that to the test, shall we?

Compared to my GHDs, the Bullet Straightener has thicker plates, a more curved tip and an adjustable temperature dial. These features allow you to create curls and waves in your hair, or to straighten it whilst giving it a bit of body at the roots.

So, basically, the muse for this product is Cheryl Cole.

Quite rightly too. After 40 minutes with these babies, my hair had bounce, loose waves at the bottom, and a glossy sheen. More miraculously, the waves stayed in overnight. I woke up this morning, and my hair was still bouncy and wavy.

*flicks hair*

Anyway, on to the pros and cons

Wins points for

Curved tip ensures curls form nicely and stay in place. Also gives lots of volume at the roots.
Adjustable temperature means you can adjust how much you want to fry your hair.
Product comes with a heatproof carry case

Loses points for:

The plates are thicker than GHDs, but they’re shorter too, so you’ll need to work on small sections.
For some reason, they’ve included diamanté hairslides, the 90s type that you have to twirl into your hair. Which makes me think the product is aimed at a younger market than me.
No automatic sleep mode, so it’s a little more dangerous for those of us who regularly experience the “did I leave it on?” thought on the bus to work.

Conclusion

Sitting just under the £100 price tag, you’d expect these to be a decent rival to GHD. Whilst the GHDs are still much quicker to use, I’d happily turn to this styling tool when it comes to waves and curls.

Additionally, to get around the lack of sleep mode, you can use the Energenie Energy Saver Plug (£8.99) This plug acts as an adaptor for the appliance you’re using, and turns the product off after 30 minutes.

Pin it

Cloud Nine hair straighteners

Emma Cossey — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:29 +0000

It’s probably quite clear by now from our recent post that Dork Adore is firmly a collection of GHD devotees. Personally I’ve tried out a few other types of hair straighteners, including the wet-to-dry ones and the cheaper ones, but I always come back to GHD.

However, if the beauty buzz in the blogging world is to believed, they may have a strong competitor in new brand Cloud Nine. The lovely people at Kiss and Makeup have got their hands on one of their straighteners to test out on their tresses.

Cloud Nine hair straighteners come from some of the same designers of the original GHDs, so already you know you’re on the right track. Zara tested out the slimmer plates, although there are three different designs, and noted the variable heat setting.

From the photograph Zara has taken after going through the hair just once, there already looks to be a major difference in the texture of the hair.

So what were the pros and cons?

Wins points for:

Handy heat guard
3 sizes
Adjustable heat
Quick, shiny and glossy results!
Easy to use for curling

Loses points for:

No pearl effect as suggested

erm…the price?

Conclusion

Could this actually be the first straighteners to knock GHD off its pedestal?

You can buy them from Cloudnine for £129.99

Pin it

Vibrating makeup: Estee Lauder and Maybelline get buzzing

Emma Cossey — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:55:30 +0000

No, you haven’t stumbled into the naughty toys section of this site by mistake, this really is the Fashion and Beauty area.

It seems that the beauty world has discovered its latest gimmick to lure us all into buying their products. Vibrating beauty.

First up, Estee Lauder. They’ve introduced the TurboLash All Effects Motion Mascara (right) This award winning £28 mascara claims to improve volume, curl, length and separation with one coat as it buzzes through your lashes.

Which all sounds great, though I’d be a little nervous putting something vibrating so close to my eyes. Maybelline also offer a vibrating mascara, costing half the price, falling under the name of Pulse Perfection. I have to admit I’d be more tempted with the cheaper option. Plus you can choose to turn off the vibrations with the latter.

Neutrogena have been in the buzzing beauty market for a while now with the impressive sounding ‘Wave Power Cleanser‘. Sounds like a floor cleaner, looks like a foot exfoliator, and apparently the vibrations open up your pores to thoroughly clean your face. All you have to do is pop one of the disposable pads into the attachment, rinse it to activate the foam, and then power it up and cleanse away.

Probably not the most eco-friendly product due to the disposable pads, but it’s cheaper than I had assumed at £12.99.

So that’s makeup and skincare covered, but what about your hair? The Pink Vibe Hair Straightener is the kind of product a curly haired girl like me loves. I’m addicted to my GHDs, but these straighteners claim to eliminate any pulling or snagging with its vibrating action. The vibrating function means that you don’t have to clamp down on the hair so hard, and therefore avoid causing too much damage to your hair.

They’re £94 if you fancy something a bit different.

Pin it

Dork Adore » Hair

iPulse Smooth Skin: Dork Review

More stories like this

Corioliss Floral Vintage Dryer. Dork Review

More stories like this

Diva Professional Styling Bullet Straightener: Dork Review

More stories like this

Cloud Nine hair straighteners

More stories like this

Vibrating makeup: Estee Lauder and Maybelline get buzzing

More stories like this