Tangle Teezer Review!

If you follow any beauty blogs or vlogs from the UK or any other place for that matter, you've probably heard of the famous Tangle Teezer.  There are tons of reviews of this product but I have never seen a local blogger do a review on it, so why not? Right?

For those who have never heard of the Tangle Teezer, this is a professional hair brush which specialises in detangling hair (get the name now?).  It was initially meant to be used as a professional tool to remove tangles.  But the shape of the brush and the type of bristles it has make it much more than a detangling product.

Excuse the hairs, I've been using it non-stop!

I got the Tangle Teezer a couple of weeks ago now and I must say, I love it.  I have long hair and although I'm not really prone to tangles, this little miracle has worked it's magic on my hair.  It instantly makes hair smoother and shinier and using it after using a straightener eliminates that flatness the hair tends to get with the use of straighteners.

Comfortable shape and size

I've seen vloggers complain about the fact that it has no handle but personally I think this is even better.  If I have a tangle, I tend to hold the brush from the part which has the bristles rather than the handle, so basically the guys who created the Tangle Teezer went straight for this idea.

I bought the Tangle Teezer for €13.50, which is basically the same price exactly as in the UK which is a rare thing in Malta.  There are a number of salons which stock it though they tend to stock small amounts, but most of them will be willing to order one for you if you're interested.

My black Tangle Teezer and box

Claire xx

5 stores we should have in Malta!

I was just going back through some old posts I've done and I came across my top 5 series post and the idea to write up a similar post came to me. This time, I'm going to list my top 5 stores which I love and adore but which unfortunately we do not as of yet have here in Malta.

First up, being a java junkie that I am, I have to say Starbucks.  I'm a huge coffee addict and I love different flavours of coffee.  I'm not a fussy person so anything you put in my coffee is fine.  As soon as I land in an airport abroad, I immediately start looking for the Starbucks sign.  At that point, you can keep my luggage, just hand me my cup!  I loved Tim Hortons too when I went to Canada, it's similar to Starbucks though most of the coffee has a hint of vanilla in it so I prefer Starbucks.

Speaking of Canada, I fell in love with another shop during my visits there; Best Buy.  I love anything technology related and this huge, huge store carries any electronic device you can imagine.  We used to spend hours there just trying out stuff.  Oh, and their customer service? Oh my god...to die for.  They actually give you refund on a product if it's price is reduced within 15 days of purchase.  That's not a myth, it actually happened to me with my laptop, which was by the way at a ridiculously cheap price even though it was a brand new model.

Those of you who love fashion and have been to London are probably wondering how I've left this next store out.  Well, I'm not.  I'm talking about Primark.  Now I tend to travel to the UK at least once a year and I remember that about 7 or 8 years ago, their stuff was super cheap quality.  You'd buy a top and it would tear as soon as you'd wear it.  But over the last couple of years the quality has improved radically.  For those who don't know, Primark sell clothes, accessories, make-up and home stuff at really cheap prices and their stuff are spot on trend.  Saying that, I think if Primark opened up in Malta everyone will buy their clothes from there so from that aspect I wouldn't want it to open up here, but still, over all, I'd be one happy shopper if they did.

The next store I'd love to open here is an Apple Store.  Now some people may argue that we have a local store which is somewhat similar and their concept is the same and I'm not sure to what extent they are affiliated with the original Apple Stores but if you've been to Malta's store and to an actual Apple Store you'll realize that there's a huge difference.  Staff at an Apple Store are so, how shall I put it, 'techy' I'm not sure, but what I'm trying to say is that the staff, the store itself, it's just not there yet.  So yeah, scrap the local one and get a real Apple Store.

Last but not least, speaking as a hip hop dancer, please get us Footlocker.  This store sells the most amazing high tops and urban style clothes and hats and basically all that a street dancer would wish for.  I remember going there with my hip hop crew and boy oh boy did we go crazy.  We all ended up buying multiple pairs of shoes and hats.  The prices are actually not that cheap, pretty standard for a Nike pair of shoes for instance, but they have super sales and their reductions are crazy.  I pretty much manage to buy a pair of shoes on sale every time I go there, be it in London, Amsterdam, anywhere!

Pretty long post today.  There's much much more to add to this list though I stuck with my top 5 this time.  What would you want to see open up in Malta?

Slightly sad and nostalgic,
Claire xxx

The Friendliest Day of the Year!

With St.Patrick's day being next Sunday, I found myself thinking of last year and what I enjoyed and what I didn't and so I thought of writing my very own version of how to enjoy yourself at the friendliest day of the year without too much hassle.

My first suggestion would be to try to go to the pub or area you're meeting with your friends a bit earlier.  People tend to be more cheerful on this day and they walk around like there's no tomorrow, blocking the streets and causing traffic jams.  This year, St.Patrick's Day is going to be on a Sunday, so I'm guessing more people will turn up and so more traffic.

As those who've attended previous celebrations of this day know, you will meet lots of people so in typical 2013 style that means a photo with every person, which, come Monday morning, you'll find plastered on your Facebook wall.  So for those of us who love looking good, you want an outfit that looks good photographed but also that shows you're having fun.  Keep in mind that if you're going to be bar hopping, you're going to be on your feet a lot, so heels should be avoided, and if you're going to wear tights, try thicker styles to avoid them tearing half way through the day.  Also, wear something which would look good during the day but would be OK if you stay on 'till the evening.

Also a result of everyone being so friendly on this day, people will buy you drinks,specifically beer, and since people tend to meet up early and party on 'till late evening, you might want to take it easy.  Beer in the sun for 6 hours straight is not something which will give you sprinkles of fun the next day, so stick to lighter beer for cleaner fun.

I would say wear green but I look so hideous in green that no amount of pinching (people get to pinch you if you're not wearing green on this day) will make me ever wear anything green, in fact I don't own anything in that colour.  I would suggest though you try to get some sort of hat which they usually sell at pubs on the day, the big ones with lots of beer brands on them.  It's super fun walking around in one of those and you get to not worry about the state of your hair!

That's it basically! Enjoy your day, drink responsibly and most importantly, have fun!
Claire

Would you wear this?

I was just refreshing my Instagram feed this morning (not that I do that a lot or something) when I came across a pair of jeans Rihanna was wearing in a picture she shared.  I saw the jeans, thought 'What the hell?' and moved on.  But later in the afternoon, whilst browsing online I found several articles about this pair of jeans.  No, the area of interest was not the back of the jeans, but the front....

Rihanna wearing the jeans at last night's River Island collaboration launch 

Princess RiRi took double denim to a whole new level.  She wore this look at the launch of her collaboration with River Island and the jeans are part of this new collection.  I'm honestly not a fan of the whole double waistband thing, given how short I am, I'm sure it won't look good on me and make me look even shorter, but who knows if the trend will pick up.  I've seen weirder things become popular and they're only weird at first, we then seem to get used to them.

So what do you think? Would you wear these jeans? Or is it too much of a Rihanna-esque style which only she can pull off?

Not a Review: Life of Pi.

Hey there! I've never written about a movie here before, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Last night me and my boyfriend decided it's time to get our Films to Watch list out and pick a movie from it.  With the Oscars just over and having watched both Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook, we had 4 major films remaining; Life of Pi, Wreck it Ralph, Argo and Zero Dark Thirty.

We decided on the first one.  Now I'm not going to say much or else I will ruin the whole story (hence the blog's title being 'NOT a review') plus it's a bit of a complicated story so I can't actually talk about it without giving much away.  Just to give an idea of what it's like, think Avatar meets Cast Away meets a film with an animal as a main character.  Now I'm not a fan of the whole Cast Away style movies, they tend to be a bit on the boring side for my tastes, but the animation in this movie is so beautiful that you just don't get bored.  Actually, I didn't want it to end.  The way they approach the animal aspect is so different from the usual animal films that you sort of forget that the tiger is what it is, making the movie more enjoyable, especially if you don't enjoy films with animals.

The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the accent.  The boy, Pi (no, the tiger is not called Pi, it's the boy) is Indian and although I'm a sucker for movies which are rich in culture, listening to the boy speak English with a heavy Indian accent for 2 hours did get a little tiring. Again, however, I got lost in the animation and that made me ignore the accent.

So, if you want a movie to watch on a Friday night, and haven't seen this one yet, you should.  I watched it at home, though I'm sure it would be even more amazing at the cinema!

Enjoy!
Claire