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These were the discovery of the year in 2014. I've always wanted sectioning clips, but I could never find more than a pack of 2 for a completely unreasonable price in our drugstores. Then I resorted to eBay and ordered these for a few euros not expecting much, but the quality of these blew me away. They are made from that "NARS" like rubberised, matte plastic and the spring is a really good one meaning it's not too weak, but neither too tight. I use these every time I blow dry or curl the hair to keep them out of the way as well as to pin the just blow dried strands in a ring shape to let it cool and in that way create a loose wave.
I bought mine from this seller.
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Pot Nail Polish Removers
A trend that Bourjois started years ago with their Magic Nail Polish Remover and that has now spawned many "dupes", both more affordable and more expensive. The level of brilliance when it comes to these removers still astonishes me and I can barely imagine myself still using the old school remover and cotton pads to remove the nail polish from my fingernails. All you have to do is pop the finger in the pot, swish it around for a while against the foam soaked in remover and it's done. It shaved so much time of removing nail polish, which before was one of my most hated beauty chores. This is truly an amazing beauty invention and I hear some even make their own versions from common household objects.
The days of putting just cleaned damp brushes on the edge of the table or on the radiator are long for me ever since I got this brush drying station. It's such a clever little thing and it does its job so well. All you have to do is put the damp brushes upside down in silicone grippers and wait for it do dry. It prevents the water collecting inside the ferule and dissolving the adhesive, therefore prolonging the life of brushes. This one is also collapsible, so it's easy to store in the drawer when you're not using it.
Mine is from Glossy.si, but international readers can get it on the official Benjabelle site. There are also many versions of such racks sold on eBay.
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REMINGTON Ci6325 Pro Soft Curl Curler
The unsung hero of mine. In the four years of blogging I mentioned this curler only once and I yet I use it so much. Every time you see me with curly hair in my swatches pictures, this is the curler I used. I've had a few in my time and this is by far the best one for my type of hair. It's a 2.5 cm (1 inch) barrel curler with an adjustable temperature option, but it's still very basic and most importantly very affordable. I bought it in Interspar a long time ago for about 30 € (but I think I even used a nice discount at the time - the good thing about Interspar, am I right?). On my thick, long hair I find that the 200°C setting works best and if I use a lower temperature, the curls don't last nearly as long. I usually just simply curl the hair starting at the middle of my length and curl it away from the face, but leave the ends out and hold it for usually less than 10 seconds. I do that in sections and clip the hair that's already been curled in a loose bun, so it cools and keeps shape better. Once all the hair is curled and cool, I run through the curls with fingers and Orofluido, then finish with some hair spray and a texturiser. This way my curls last three or even more days, but they get quite loose by day three giving me that slightly wavy, but almost glam look. I just can't imagine my life without this curler.
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EBELINE Ionic Negative Round Ceramic Brush
60 mm
If you have unruly, frizzy hair like me and you're not using a round brush together with a hair dryer, you're seriously missing out. I find that a good blow-out makes my hair feel less coarse, makes it more manageable and less dry-feeling to the touch. See that orange strip on this brush? Well, by changing into yellow that little genius thing alerts you that the temperatures are so high they are damaging for your hair . Though I use a hair dryer once a week, I never use it at the highest heat setting and this brush also alerts me if I'm concentrating on one strand too long and causing unnecessary damage. I like the design of this brush a lot as it never got tangled in my hair and it manages to make my hair look sleeker. Quite a nifty thing.
Ebeline is a brand sold in DMs and this brush cost around 10 €. I've seen a similar design from Műller's Body & Soul brushes.
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Tangle Teezer and its many dupes
While my hair isn't that tangly despite the length and thickness (it's all the conditioners/leave-ins I'm using, I guess), these type of brushes are so much better than any of those old school brushes I used to have. I particularly like the ones with some sort of a handle, especially if you have "baby hands" like me because the original Tangle Teezer is quite big to hold (but not the travel size). They glide through the hair so much easier and it takes a lot less time to comb the hair which if you have such long hair as me is a giant plus. Also there is almost none of pulling and tugging, so it reduces damage when combing.
I saw my Ulala! brush sold for as little as 4 € in E.Leclerc, but such brushes are sold everywhere now.
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BRAUN Silk Epil Xelle Epilator
Another unsung hero of mine and one that has been my trusted companion for about 7 or 8 years. I paid a lot at the time (around 100 €) and it still works perfectly after all this time. TMI moment, I have very dark, strong hair and very pale skin, so you do the math, but I can tell you it's just one of those things that causes me great distress. Shaving lasts about a day or less for me, even so it never does the job completely as the dark dots are still clearly visible against my milky skin, so plucking is the most long lasting and better performing option. I'm not going to say that it doesn't hurt. This one has a massaging rollers attachment, which is supposed to help with the pain, but it's rather gimmicky to be honest, however, the "smartlight" is just brilliant (seriously, get one with the light). I have a high threshold for pain and even I feel a bit of discomfort, but mostly because my hair is so strong (it's a slight burning sensation if you're interested). I gave it to my cousin to try once and she can't even look at it since then that's how painful it was for her. But it's the best way of dealing with the problem for me and it gives me about a week of carefreeness and even in the later days the hair is more sparse. It takes about three weeks for all the hair to grow back, which is not bad, but as I said it's completely smooth for a lot less time because hair grows at different rates. Its main issue is the ingrown hair, but that's a story for another day.
This version is discontinued, but Braun has many new versions of Silk Epil epilators. I think it's worth investing more into these as mine lasted amazingly long.
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RIFFI Body Brush
Jana from Small Bits of Loveliness hooked me up on the whole body brushing business. As I've said before I have a problem with ingrown hair, so I had hopped regular brushing will help alleviate the problem. It turned out to be such a fun and pleasant beauty treatment at the end of the day. The bristles are so soft that the brushing is really pleasant. Apart from exfoliation, there are several other advantages to using a body brush, but you should investigate that yourself if you're interested.
My brush is from Müller for 5.5 €, but these type of brushes are sold in most drugstores.
What are your essential beauty tools? Have a great day!