NOTED magazine

Hello all!

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve disappeared to, as I haven’t posted for a while now, I’ve been working on a new online magazine, NOTED, and its accompanying website.

Please do take a look: www.noted-magazine.com.

Sadly, due to time constraints in managing both, I will have to shift my sole focus to NOTED where I will still be writing far too much about beauty (and lots of other things too including art, design, fashion, culture, travel and lifestyle in general), so I’d love for you to join and support me there as I shift over.

By Distraction will still exist for you to refer back to but unfortunately, there won’t be any further updates or posts.

Thank you all so very much for following By Distraction and for reading and I hope you’ll be able to join me over at NOTED.

With lots of love and thanks,
Kate xx

Shine On Professional Conditioning Hair Glaze

I blame Kate Middleton. Her bouncy and consistently glossy brunette hair has left me with a relentless craving for the same root to tip high shine for my own brunette mane. So here was a product that seemed to be the answer to my prayers! This is Shine On, an at-home conditioning hair glaze created in collaboration with hair expert, Scott Cornwall.

With its protein-rich formulation, conditioning polymers and transparent colour molecules, it is designed specifically to add that all important shine and lustre to hair whilst also improving its condition. Plus, the results should last for up to 24 washes, which is about 2 months for me, so in theory it seemed like a brilliant all-round product.

The kit consists of three products: a Pre-Cleanse Treatment, a Developer Cream and a Collagen Shine Cream, which are applied, rinsed, reapplied, mixed or left to develop over a set of fairly extensive but easy to grasp instructions. The whole process took me about 40 minutes.

For best results, it is advised that hair straighteners be used to enclose the clear molecules inside the hair and close the cuticle. My hair is naturally straight so I just blow dried as advised.

On initial inspection, my hair definitely felt smoother, softer and fuller and the strands of hair that are naturally lighter seemed to be a little more so. However, I struggled to see any real difference in shine at all let alone the claimed ‘dazzling shine, gloss and vitality’ I was expecting. My hair usually looks at its best the day after washing but sadly, there was no overnight miracle with regards to a glossier head of hair.

This was one product I really wanted to love but unfortunately, it just didn’t perform for me. I may just give it another shot though to see if anything changes given a second chance but given the results first time around, it may not be for a while yet.

Shine On costs £12.99 and is available at www.boots.com

SkinCeuticals Brightening UV Defense SPF 30

Summer may be over but one thing I certainly won’t be cutting back on is the broad-spectrum sunscreen. I’ve been using this Brightening UV Defense SPF 30 sunscreen by SkinCeuticals every day for the past month and have become extremely fond of it, because not only does it provide very good UVA and UVB protection, it also helps to even out and brighten skin tone which has dulled due to pigmentation.

It contains SkinCeuticals’ HyperBright Complex which, in tandem with the broad-spectrum sunscreen, helps to reduce excess UV-induced pigmentation and protect against premature ageing of the skin and sunburn.

The sunscreen itself is very lightweight with a milky lotion-like consistency, which makes application extremely quick and easy. It’s a fragrance-free product which is great as it is one less scent to battle with in the skincare and make-up routine and the formula is definitely moisturising on the skin too - it claims to provide up to 12 hours of hydration.

It’s ideal for daily use as it doesn’t leave a white masking effect on the face - the result is incredibly sheer although it does leave a light oily sheen behind on the skin, so some blotting paper or powder may be necessary. But it doesn’t leave the skin so oily that applying make-up is affected a great deal - my tinted moisturiser goes on easily and evenly enough, albeit a tad more dewy than usual but it definitely provides a better base for make-up than quite a few sunscreens I've used.

If you're looking for a decent multitasking sunscreen that has the added benefit of helping with pigmentation, this is definitely one to pick up.

It costs £35 (30ml), www.skinceuticals.co.uk

DGJ Organics King of Colour Glossy Blondes Shampoo and Conditioner

Here’s a colour-enhancing shampoo and conditioner duo from Daniel Galvin Junior for blonde hair boasting a formulation with plant-derived natural ingredients and organic essential oils and extracts that also provide UVB protection, and all at a cost that won’t break the bank.

Amongst the natural ingredients are organic aloe vera, melon extract, cucumber extract, lemon peel and chamomile. Ideal for blonde, colour-treated, highlighted or natural hair, the products cleanse and condition the hair whilst helping to enhance and maintain the colour.

Unfortunately, as I’m brunette, I’m completely at a loss to comment on the colour-enhancing aspect but I can comment on its basic function as a shampoo and conditioner for my hair.

The Glossy Blondes Shampoo is yellow in colour and has a wonderful, thirst-quenchingly refreshing melon and cucumber fragrance. It does have quite a thin consistency though so try not to squeeze out too much product as it may just end up running through your fingers and going to waste.

The shampoo is SLS-free so it may well not create as much foam as products that do contain the foaming agent. However, I haven’t had any difficulty whatsoever with creating enough lather almost instantly after working it into my hair - it foams quickly and easily and rinses off to leave the hair squeaky clean.

The Glossy Blondes Conditioner is also quite thin in consistency but it just about holds together so you can smooth it onto the hair without any spillage.

The fragrance of the conditioner is less pleasant. Whilst there is the slightest hint of a fruity fragrance, I do seem to get a much denser, almost paint-like scent which is a little off-putting. The conditioner should be left on for up to 10 minutes for the best results but unless it’s an intense hair mask or treatment of sorts, I can only manage about 2 minutes maximum.

But after blow drying, my hair does feel clean, soft, smooth and shiny and it’s still in good condition the following day.

Effective and very reasonably priced, the range is certainly worth purchasing if you’re looking for good quality haircare that is formulated with natural ingredients and that is also paraben and SLS-free.

The shampoo and conditioner cost £5.99 (250ml) each and are available at www.dgjorganics.com

New CID Cosmetics i-gel eyeliner

The late onset of summer sunshine and sweltering heat has really tested the durability of my make-up but thankfully, this i-gel eyeliner by New CID Cosmetics is one product that doesn’t turn to sludge by the end of the day.

The compact contains a trio of gel eyeliners - this palette consists of:

- Graphite: a slate grey shade with a hint of grey shimmer

- Granite: a shade of grey so dark that it borders on black

- Carbon: just black

LEFT: Granite. TOP: Graphite. Right: Carbon

All three shades are pretty much what I would consider a staple eyeliner palette. The colours are highly pigmented and together with the help of the brush provided, create a really intense outline. The brush doesn’t have the thinnest and most compact of bristles for use with a gel eyeliner but it comes pretty close if handled and applied with a little more patience.

I wear it on my waterline day-in day-out without experiencing any irritation and whilst there is a little bit of transfer onto the skin initially, the outline remains pretty steadfast for most of the working day. Also, when applied to the lash line and not the waterline, it doesn’t budge at all - impressive.

It costs £21.50 and is available at www.newcidcosmetics.com

Jergens Body Moisturisers

One range I’ve been smothering on my skin for the past couple of months is the revamped Jergens range.

Complete with glossy new packaging and something of a name change - the brand is now Jergens as opposed to Jergens Naturals - it also has a new line-up of products with new formulations.

I like the new look packaging but am disappointed at the dropping of ‘Naturals’, meaning that the brand no longer has a focus on trying to use a high percentage of natural ingredients within its formulations, which would probably swing it for me when deciding between moisturisers. However, the new range still does a great job of moisturising the skin.

The Deep Conditioning Oatmeal Body Cream is great for problem areas or extra-dry skin days. It’s the richer one of the three products and deeply moisturises the skin to leave it nourished and soft for hours on end.

The Cocoa Butter Deep Conditioning Body Moisturiser is a lightweight lotion but leaves dry skin incredibly soft, supple and lightly fragranced. The formulation for this product is the only one that has remained the same, which is just as well as it’s such an effective moisturiser.

The Original Beauty Lotion Cherry-Almond Body Moisturiser helps to provide the skin with long-lasting - 24 hours - moisturisation and softness. Again, it's a lightweight lotion with a wickedly delicious fragrance that absorbs pretty quickly to leave the skin really soft and smooth.

The body moisturisers cost from £3.49 to £5.99 and are available at supermarkets and high street chemists nationwide.

Wella SP Sun Concentrate

Sun care in your hair care may be the last thing on your mind this year due to the lack of any real sunshine but if you’re getting it from elsewhere, it’s definitely worth packing this SP Sun Concentrate by Wella with you.

It’s a cream concentrate that infuses your rinse-off conditioner with UV filters, adding up to 10 hours of protection against UVA and UVB rays. By protecting the hair from the sun, it also helps to prevent hair colour from fading so it remains true and fresh.

The concentrate comes in the form of a salmon-pink cream with a heavenly, salon-fresh fragrance, which is mixed in the hand with your usual conditioner. 4-7 pumps-worth is recommended - for my long hair, 5 pumps seemed to be a generous enough amount in my palm. Its creamy consistency makes it ideal to combine with a conditioner and the finished product applies just as easily to the hair as a conditioner usually would.

When dry, the hair doesn’t feel any different than usual - there is no added oiliness or weight, just hair that has the additional benefit of being protected from the sun’s glaring rays.

Plus, the fact that this is a concentrate, which allows you to control how much you use, and not simply a shampoo or conditioner with added UV protection, gives me much more confidence that it is indeed protecting my hair as claimed.

It costs £13.39 (50ml), www.systemprofessional.co.uk