Win A Year's Supply Of Batiste!

I've been wanting to do a festival post for a while now. I just haven't been sure how to go about it, what to write about, what to include, how to do it and all the rest! I didn't want to do a regular list of essential items to take to a festival, for example: a tent, a sleeping bag and wellies, as they are just common sense. However, I wanted to tell you about a few 'unique' items that I have come across that I think would be fab for a festival or camping. I also have a fab competition at the end where you can win a year's supply of good old Batiste! My fave dry shampoo ever! There are also 2nd and 3rd prizes to be won :-).

1) First thing I would recommend taking to a festival that might not always be an obvious choice is a roll of heavy duty bin bags. Those of you that are regular festival goers will probably think this is common sense, but if you have never been to a festival before then these are definitely going to be coming in handy as they can be used for soooo many things. Here are a few: you can sit on them, saving your bum from getting muddy/wet. They are lightweight enough to be shoved in a bag you are carrying around or a pocket and you can whip one out whenever you want to sit on the floor (if there are no seats around). They are also going to take up less room in a car/back-pack than a proper seat/chair. You can also make a rain coat out of one if needs be. Fair enough you might have your own rain coat, but if you forget one, don't think you need one because the weather has been lovely or is forecast to be lovely, or leave it in the tent whilst your wondering around, it will come in handy and again little enough to pop in a bag (which you will always have on you around the festival) or a pocket (jeans/shorts). You can also use bin bags to line your wellies if they split and to keep any muddy clothes in. There are a lot of uses and if you have any that I haven't mentioned, feel free to comment about them :-).

2) Secondly, I found an interesting item on www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk. It is a paper travel soap kit. They have one for men and one for women and the kit consists of 30 soap sheets, 30 shampoo sheets and 30 body wash sheets. All you need to do to use any of these is...add water! They are currently on sale at £5.99 and I think would be fab to take to a festival or even camping. The toilets at a festival aren't exactly inviting and this can sometimes put people off going to a festival full stop, but with these you can just fill up a bottle with tap water (from the wash area at a festival or sometimes they have taps around the festival that people can use to fill up water bottles etc) and use the sheets around the comfort of your own tent if you wish.

3) Thirdly is another item I found on www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk. A fashion emergency kit, which is £6.90 and consists of all the little essential items a girl might need at a festival. A nail file, 2 hair elastics, a sewing kit, 2 plasters, a face wipe, paper soap and glamour tape are included within this kit. You might think of other things that you need as essentials and you may be able to slip them into this kit, rather than taking a lot of bulky packets.

4) Next, I found a solar shower for £4.99 at www.filthyfox.co.uk, which I thought might come in handy and solve another issue of people not wanting to use the washing facilities at a festival. All you have to do is fill it with water, leave in the sun for a couple of hours to heat and then you've got your own shower with warm water! You can even use your paper soap, shampoo and body wash as above with it. It is also little enough to fit amongst all your other festival/camping essentials and won't take up much room. The shower even has a hose attached and a handy hanging loop which you will see in the picture using the link above. I'd definitely feel more comfortable using something like this near the comfort of my tent, even if just to wash my hair!

5) I know that the toilets are a major issue at a festival. They aren't the cleanest for starters and also there seems to always be massive queues. So I found a disposable urinal on www.filthyfox.co.uk. So, if you're busting for the toilet you can use this in the comfort of your own tent. It can be used by both sexes and contains a special agent that turns urine into an odourless gel that doesn't spill or smell. The container is bio degradable so can be thrown into a bin with no worries and there are three supplied in each pack, so you might want to keep them for if you need the toilet in the middle of the night and don't feel like trekking to the public toilets. It is only £6.99, so not too bad a price if you wanted to try it out :-).

6) Lastly, there is one product that I would 100% recommend to take to a festival/camping and that is a can of Batiste dry shampoo. I absolutely love this product, I have tried other dry shampoo's in the past, some even more expensive than Batiste and I always come back to this one because it just works the best for me and I can't fault it. I wouldn't leave for a festival/camping trip without a can of this in my bag because if you think about it, most festivals are usually over a weekend and if you wash your hair the night before you go or the morning that you go then Batiste will keep your hair looking clean and fresh for the remainder of the weekend. It will be an absolute god-send. Especially if you aren't keen on the washing facilities at a festival/camping trip, you will feel comfortable and better in yourself knowing you have this to use :-). The latest Batiste scent is lace, which has base notes of white musk, cedarwood and sandalwood. Top notes of citrus, nutmeg and pink pepper and a dose of floral notes including rose, orchid, jasmine and ylang-ylang.  You can get a 200ml can of Batiste lace (amongst other scents) for £2.99 at Boots or Superdrug :-). I always find it hard to describe Batiste scents so it becomes easier when I know the fragrance notes that are included. I really like this scent though, which brings me onto a competition that I am soooo excited to be holding on my blog and so thankful to Batiste for providing the prizes :-). Read on to find out how to enter...

Terms and Conditions:

- This competition is open to people with a UK mailing address only. Unfortunately, Batiste can't ship their products overseas but there will be plenty of other competitions in the future for worldwide viewers :-).

- If you are 16 or under please get the permission of your parents/guardians to enter this competition, as I will obviously have to pass your mailing details onto Batiste for them to send out your prizes. Please make sure your parents/guardians are happy with you doing this.

- This competition will be open for a month and will end on the 18th July 2012. On the 19th July 2012 I will be picking my winners randomly using www.random.org.

- There will be 3 prizes: 1st prize consists of 24 assorted cans of Batiste dry shampoo (a year's supply based on 2 a month). 2nd prize consists of 3x400ml cans of Batiste dry shampoo (Blush, Original, Tropical). 3rd prize consists of 3x50ml cans of Batiste dry shampoo (Blush, Original, Tropical). Each prize package will also have a mini keyring brush and a Batiste throwaway rain mac thrown in :-).

- Batiste will be sending the prizes out to the winners. After I have randomly chosen my winners, I will contact them for their mailing details using any contact info (usually email) they have provided by using the rafflecopter entry form below. I will then pass this information onto Batiste and they will send out your prizes :-). If any of the winners don't get back to me within a month, then I will have to choose other winners.

- Enter the competition using the rafflecopter entry form below. There are chances to have more than one entry, so have fun and good luck to you all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Much Love,
Gem XxOo ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

Cherry...Cherry Baby!

Picture courtesy of Batiste.

Batiste never cease to amaze me with their never ending line of scents! There is always a new one before you know it and the new Batiste Cherry is definitely my all time favourite Batiste scent. As soon as I smelt it, I knew it was for me and from the existing scents, if I buy a new Batiste, this is the one I will pick! I adore it!

It has a lovely fruity fragrance (so me!) that lingers and the packaging design screams vintage glamour - love it! This is one that I'm not going to take too lightly to other people using in my household :-).

It is available for £2.99 from the usual stockists; Superdrug, Boots, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, Wilkinsons, Savers, Lloyd chemists and many more places that you can see here.

Batiste have a competition on their website at the moment, inspired by the release of Batiste Cherry. You can win a £600 pair of Louboutins in classic Cherry Red! You can see the shoes on the banner below, aren't they gorgeous?! I have entered myself and although I hope I win, I thought I would tell you all about the competition too! So kind of me, I know. You can enter by clicking on the banner below and filling in a few details :-). You have to enter before the 15th April 2012. Good luck everyone! Oh and let me know if any of you happen to be the lucky winner :-) - I might be on the lend, he, he only joking.

Picture courtesy of Batiste.

Much Love,

Gem XxOo

Disclaimer: I received this as a sample to introduce me to the new scent. All my opinions are and always will be 100% honest. See my disclaimer tab for more information.

The Only Way is Batiste...

I used to be guilty of washing my hair pretty much every single day. I hated my hair looking greasy, lank and flat and I loved the fresh, bouncy just washed look - who doesn't?! When I was first introduced to Dry Shampoo - about two years ago, it was Batiste and I haven't looked back since.

I have spotted a lot of other Dry Shampoo's in stores like Superdrug and Boots, including Tresemme and own store brands. Some are even cheaper than Batiste but I always go back to Batiste and can honestly say I haven't bought or sampled any other brands of Dry Shampoo.

Batiste works perfectly for me. I love how they have so many different variations and scents including: Tropical, Boho, Fresh, Blush, Diva and many more, which you can see here. I also love how they have different sizes including: travel (50ml), regular (200ml) and large (400ml).

This is Batiste Dry Shampoo's Unique Selling Point:

'Batiste Dry Shampoo banishes oily roots, giving dull, lifeless hair the makeover it needs without any water. A quick burst revitalises hair, adding body and texture and leaving it feeling clean and fresh. No need to worry about skipping a shampoo'.

There used to be many a mornings where I used to be late for things because if I hadn't had time the previous evening to wash my hair, I HAD to wash it in the morning. I didn't like going out with my hair looking horrible - finding Batiste was like a life saver and saved me sooo much time! Now I leave it at least a day in-between washes and sometimes even two, as I know I have Batiste to spray on to leave my hair looking, clean, fresh and bouncy...perfect!

I have tried many scents myself, those being: Boho (sweet, spirited scent), Diva (spicy, sensual scent), Original (clean, light scent), Tropical (coconut, exotic scent), XXL Volume (sweet, perfume scent), A Hint of Colour in Dark or Deep Brown (sweet scent) and Blush (floral, delicate scent). I tried out the hint of colour one for my hair type (Dark Brown) the once and it was great as it matched my hair colour but it doesn't stop me from buying any of the other non-colour types. To be honest it doesn't really matter to me, even though they are white in colour, as long as you spray it at the right distance and massage/brush it in, it is fine and looks great :-). I have never had a problem with the non-colour ones or with anyone saying that my hair looked white.

It is advised to use Batiste Dry Shampoo by doing the following: Shake the can vigorously and spray into your roots (just lift or section hair off and spray different parts of your hair), keeping the nozzle 30cm from your hair (this is important because if you spray it nearer your hair it will be a lot whiter and will be harder and take longer to massage in). Massage the Dry Shampoo into your hair using your fingertips, brush your hair and style as usual :-). Batiste have a video showing you how to do this and you can view it here. 

The most recent ones I have used are the 200ml Boho (£2.99), 200ml Tropical (£2.99) and the travel size 50ml Tropical (£1.55-which is great for travelling but also for popping in your bag for when you are out and about and your hair needs a quick re-fresh).

The Boho Dry Shampoo is a sweet fragrance with a citrusy vibe and perfect for festivals (as all Batiste Dry Shampoo's are). The Tropical Dry Shampoo has a lovely coconut smell and reminds me of holidays!

I have also tried one of the new Batiste Dry Shampoo's recently, this being the 200ml XXL Volume (£3.99). I was interested to try this because to be honest I think that the other scents provide your hair with a little volume (which I love), so I was keen to see how much volume this one gave.

 The XXL Volume Dry Shampoo has a sweet, perfume scent and does provide a lot of volume! You can really see the difference and you almost have to tame it down a little as it really does plump up your hair. It is an amazing product. The other scents do provide volume, but maybe not as much.

This is what the Batiste Dry Shampoo looks like when sprayed (apart from the hint of colour ones):

The product has a light, powder feel. It isn't sticky at all and doesn't weigh down your hair or make it feel gross or like it is full of product, it just makes your hair feel a little fuller/thicker and more so the more you use it over the day(s). As long as you stick to the 30cm distance before you spray it, it will look fab. It will affect how it looks and feels if you spray it any closer.

I tend to buy my Batiste Dry Shampoo from Boots or Superdrug, but there are many other stores that sell the product. You can view them all here.

The prices I have put against the most recent ones I have used (above) are the RRP prices, but different stores have different prices and offers - so you might want to shop around to get a good deal :-).

If I do more reviews on new Batiste Dry Shampoo's or new sizes I will do a before and after shot so you can see the difference the product makes :-).

Do any of you lovelies love Batiste as much as me?

Or do any of you swear by any other brands of Dry Shampoo?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks so much for reading my post-please follow, like and comment :-).

Much Love Gem XxOo

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Disclaimer: I have been sent the pictured products to review but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pictures: All pictures unless otherwise stated are my own. If you wish to use them please credit my name by them-Gemma Tranter.