How To: Leave Gym Looking Like A Lady

i'm sure i'm not the only girl in the world, who thoroughly enjoys trawling trashy magazines, looking for pictures of her favourite celeb, looking a lot less glamorous and therefore, a lot more human. there is something very satisfying (i find) about seeing the (usually ultra shiny) stars of hollywood, doing the activities (grabbing a take away coffee, doing the grocery shopping, filling the car with petrol) which mere mortals (like myself) do on a day to day basis.

as entertaining as it may be to see pictures of Khloe Kardashian getting a manicure, the candid photos i find most interesting are those of rich and famous getting their work-out on! it's always comforting and encouraging to see that (although they were born with great genes and talent) they look so damn unbelievable because they work hard for it, through exercise.

perhaps the most intriguing and noticeable feature of the photographs, is not that they appear to leave their work out session sans make up, but that they look fresh as a daisy, without hideous sweat patches, unsightly wet hair stuck to their heads or any other normal tell tail signs that i've-just-worked-my-ass-off-for-the-last-hour-in-the-gym.

is this because they are super human? although it is a common misconception, the answer to that question is: no. the reason they leave looking fit, fresh and fabulous, is because they (ok, maybe "their people") come prepared. you don't a personal stylist, hairdresser and makeup artist (although if you are lucky enough to have those three, that's a huge win for you!!) to achieve similar results, and replicate their look. if you, like me, prefer to leave the gym looking decent enough to bump into a friend (or arch rival, or worse...seeing your boyfriend's ex girlfriend), it doesn't take large array of expensive products, just a few simple staples.

now, it goes without saying i'm sure, that a long hot shower with a lather of soap and shampoo/conditioner is the easiest way to get back into tip-top shape, post workout. however, we don't always have the time or resources to indulge in such luxuries, so for the less fortunate, below are your gym essentials.

step numero uno: find yourself a small but spacious gym bag

don't walk into the gym looking like you're on the way to the airport for an around the world trip, all you need is a small sports bag (big enough to comfortably fit, lets say, a shoe box), with a couple of compartments (to separate products from clothing). go into your favourite work-out wear store (e.g. lorna jane, lulu lemon, rebel sport, or my favourite - nike) and pick one which suits your personal style and budget.

oh hi! this is me with my gym bag :)

step two: pack a gym towel

the first step freshening up post-workout, is to give yourself a quick once over with a super absorbent towel, to remove any sweat on your skin's surface. i personally prefer to use a micro fibre towel (similar to ones which are specifically designed to dry your hair super fast after washing), as they soak up every ounce of moisture with one quick swipe. my gym bag contains a pretty pink Aussie Fit micro fibre workout towel which i picked up from rebel sport and retails for $19.99 (and it's nice and big at 95 x 50 cms).

step three: fresh prince of bell air

no matter how crispy and fresh you may look, if there's a less than pleasant body odour following you around, it will undo any other attempt you've made at covering up your recent sweat session. after towelling off, reapply a layer of deodorant.

my flavour of the month favourite is the Rexona clinical protection anti-perspirant deodorant, rrp: $14.73.

step four: clean change of clothes

now, by change of clothes, i don't mean whole outfit change (that would be unrealistic to fit into our little sports bag). just packing a clean t-shirt or jumper (which ever is most appropriate for the current climate), will make the world of difference to your appearance. rather than leaving the gym with sweat packs under both arms and down your back, you can whip off your worn workout shirt and slip on a fresh one. taaa daaaaaa! see, i told you it wasn't hard!  

step five: fresh faced

the easiest, quickest, most convenient method by which to freshen up your skin (when on the go), is facial cleansing towelettes. these little gems will remove any sweat or grime which is clogging your pores and giving your face that undesirable shine, with just one wipe, and can be bought to suit your skin type (e.g. for dry, oily, combination or sensitive). facial cleansing towelettes vary in price range from as little as $1 to $50 so can be purchased to suit any budget. my personal favourite are the two-in-one cleansing/toning Garnier clean detox refreshing cleansing wipes, rrp: $8.95. when using your towelette of choice, make sure you extend the cleansing down your neck and across your decolletage, so you don't get any nasty sweat pimples on your chest/cleavage (not nice for anyone concerned).

step five: radiant complexion

if by some (highly unlikely) chance (the odds of which are probably paying about $1.10) that you haven't already jumped on board the bb cream train, then i'm tell you, now is your time to do so. a bb (which stands for "beauty balm" or "blemish balm") cream is similar in appearance and texture to a tinted moisturiser and provides the same (if not higher) level of coverage and hydration, but also features other fabulous benefits including: spf (sun protection), evening of complexion and blemish correction. in your gym bag, this product eliminates the need for you to cart around a serum, moisturiser, sun cream and foundation. TICK! you can skip the illuminator or blush, as you've just been working up a sweat in the gym, so you should be sporting a natural glow and flush. a couple of bb cream's the i've personally used and would recommend include: Garnier bb cream miracle skin perfector 50ml rrp: $13.95, and L'Oreal Paris nude magique rrp: $26.95.

step six: fair haired

the only thing i despise more than sweat patches, is slick sweaty hair. it's revolting. short of washing ones hair, the simple solution to this problem is, the wonder product which swiftly rose to cult status in the naughties, dry shampoo. this little beauty (which looks similar to, and is dispensed the same as, an aerosol deodorant) not only soaks up oil and freshens up ones strands, but adds volume to roots, therefore diminishing flat-as-a-tack, dirty, gym hair. super easy to use, you just hold the can about 20 cms away from your hair, and spray evenly over roots (i usually cover my part then hair line) then wait about 30 seconds. once that time has passed run your hands, concentrating on the roots, through your hair to work the product through. your hair will look fresh and fairly matte, and ready for you to whip up into a tidy pony tail.

and there you have it! with your fresh hair, skin and t-shirt, and a little help from your bb cream and deodorant, you'll step out looking as fit, fresh and fabulous as kimmy k, miranda or miley...why not stop on the way home and treat yourself to a delicious latte (skim, of course) or a delicious freshly squeezed "green juice"?!

B xoxo

what are your gym bag essentials? do you think i've forgotten anything crucial on my checklist?

Product Review: Garnier Fructis Pure Volume Fortifying Dry Shampoo

Garnier Fructis pure volume fortifying dry shampoo 150ml rrp: $8.95

dry shampoo. we all know what it is. most of us rely on dry shampoo weekly (if not daily) to extend a blow wave, freshen up after gym or simply because one has been to lazy to wash their hair when the slick gloss of oil has started to make its way from the roots in a rapid downward spiral (eww). the claims made by most dry shampoos are that they absorb excess oil, add body and life to flat/limp roots, and leaving you looking fresh as a daisy (even when it is certainly not the case). so when Garnier add a dry shampoo to their enormous range of hair products (ranging from shampoos and conditioners to styling products and at home hair colouring), i'm thinking they must have done their research, and have created a winning product to trump (or at the very least match) the existing products (for the same purpose) on the market. although their packaging is bright and fun (consistent to that of their signature branding), the product inside is...very disappointing.

i really wanted to like this product, i really and truly did. not only am i a sucker for the bright lime and pink bottle, but the product is also very reasonably priced (much cheaper than my two favourite dry shampoos in the same product size which both have rrp: $12.95, Klorane and Batiste coloured in brilliant brunette).

but, i just can't warm to it.

can i say firstly, that it does tick all the boxes in terms of soaking up oil, freshening up, and adding volume/texture. that's all great. the huge down fall is that the smell is positively atrocious! it has such a strong and horrible fragrance, which i would best describe as "chemically". trust me, it is not how you would like your hair to smell. i (and i'm sure you'd agree) would much rather pay an extra $4.00 to have fresh, volumised hair which smells like coconut (Batiste tropical dry shampoo) or creamy oat milk (Klorane gentle dry shampoo).

i'm sorry Garnier, but in my opinion, this isn't a product worthy of your name.

rating out of 5: 2

reason in a nut shell: i gave 1 point for price and another for effectiveness (in the appearance of hair's improvement post product application)

where to buy: supermarkets and most chemists
number of uses (promised on packaging): 32 uses

product tagline: refreshes hair between washes

ingredients (for those who care to know): butane, alcohol denat., isobutane, oryza sativa starch / rice starch, propane, isopropyl myristate, dicocoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate, stearalkonium hectorie, limonen, linalool, propylene glycol, propylene cabonate, citrus limonum oil / lemon seed oil, citral, hexyl cinnamal, parfum / fragrance (fil c51215/3)

B xoxo

Saturday Night Shop

a typical saturday night, for most girls my age generally involves going out having dinner, or a drink, or a dance... or at the very least, enjoying the company of a close friend or two.

me? i was doing a spot of shopping at my local Chemist Warehouse (conveniently located just a stone throw from my door step). i made my way down there with the intent on buying a thermometer! apparently there's not a much of a demand for said item, and consequently CW don't stock them. great. what a waste of an outing! ummm as if!! surround my 100s of beauty related products that i do not need...i'm in heaven!

after promising myself that i wouldn't get carried away and spend up big (particularly on items that i have 10 similar of at home in my bathroom cupboard), i did my usual browse, making sure each and every isle was carefully inspected, looking for my next life changing purchase! life changing? perhaps CW is the wrong place to search for an item with that much expectation, but you have to start somewhere, right?

getting back to the isle browsing, i found myself at hair care...and what do you know?! i actually need shampoo! just ran out of my dearest Redken extreme shampoo, this is great! i can actually justify this purchase! the wall of options i face is so pretty, products in every colour, from the gold and champagne Organix vanilla silk products to the ravishing red John Frieda full body range. i'm instantly drawn to the Herbal Essences range. not only are they on special (very reasonably priced), but the products sound utterly delicious! for those who aren't familiar with my dilemma, the options in front of me include hello hydration (a fusion of with hawaiian coconut and orchid), dangerously straight (pink lily and asian silk) and body envy (white nectarine and pink coral flower), just to name a few. however given the sad state of my damaged long locks, i feel that range titled long term relationship is an appropriate fit for me (not to mention the product features a red raspberry and brazilian silk infusion, which sounds utterly divine).

ok, i can tick shampoo of my (mental) shopping list.

as i proceed to exit this isle, i spot (of out of the corner of my eye) the new Garnier pure volume fortifying dry shampoo (that's quite a mouthful). well i have to have this now don't i? i really do need it, to add to my growing collection of Klorane and Batiste dry shampoos which seem to be located in every room of my house (and every handbag and floating around my car). i was being a tad (actually very) sarcastic there. i don't need it, but in the name of beauty, i'd like to give Garnier a whirl, and see how their dry shampoo matches up to that of their (very) well established and hugely successful competitors (cult status products, if you will).

the next isle which catches my eye, is body care. it never ceases to amaze me, just how many different body moisturisers, cremes, cream, lotions, smoothers, glosses (etc, etc) there are on offer. it is extremely overwhelming. however in this instance, i am particularly drawn to the range of Aveeno on offer. i don't really know very much at all about this brand (however i have picked up on their vibe of mainly natural ingredients, from their advertisements which i have noticed in magazines). i recently tried a sachet sample of their daily moisturising lotion (which i think was in a Marie Claire mag) and was really impressed with the (small amount of) product i was able to trial. the marketing team have got me here, a little taste and i was left wanting more. so with out much further ado, i grabbed the Aveeno skin relief moisturising lotion (which boasts a special formulation for 24 hour relief and protection from dry/aggravated skin), as i have suffered from horrible itchy skin on my legs since winter settled in and i was forced to wear stockings/tights to work everyday, to ward off the looming frost bit whilst i sit at my reception desk.

i'm starting to accumulate a nice little armful of loot, so i start heading back to the register, worried the old EFT card might decline if i stay much longer!

but of course, it's very rarely a direct journey, i get distracted by all the fluro yellow stickers which are boasting a sale price, covering the vitamins shelving. i'm a bit of a fence-sitter when it comes to vitamins. my doctor says that they are just a scam, however i am of the mentality that even if they aren't prove to have the positive effects which their packaging claims, it's not as though they will have a detrimental effect on ones health. so why not? the worst case scenario is that you will not notice any benefits, in which case you can count your losses and simply move on. i always read about the super dooper benefits (particularly regarding the appearance, condition and ageing of skin) which are able to be achieved from a diet high in B vitamins, so i decide to invest in Nature's Own super b complex. this little superhero contains 75 days worth of essential B vitamins, and claims to facilitate energy production and provides (some much need - in my case) support to the nervous system. sounds good to me!

i hastily made my way to the counter and kept my eyes to the floor, determined on not add any more items to the small collection i had already managed to gather, paid for my products and made my way home.

on my arrival, i inspected my new purchases.

not bad, not bad...even if i do say so myself. and thanks to CW for pointing out how much money i have just saved (according to them of course), as i feeling even better about the spontaneous purchases! with the satisfaction, which can only be felt after a successful and savvy shopping experience has occurred, i settled in with a glass of red (it's a saturday night after all) and marvelled over my new products.

for those of you who can't make out the figures, total was $36.45 and just below that the receipt reads "you have saved $20.18"

jumping forward now to today, i have been using the Aveeno moisturiser and taking the super b complex each day, and the shampoo and dry shampoo twice each. following this post with be a product review on each of my CW purchases.

i would love to hear (in the comments section) any great products you've picked up at your local supermarket or pharmacy!

B xoxo