September 2017 - Fashionicide // Fashion, Makeup and Beauty

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

REVIEWS || Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Zero Break Cleansing Oil Shampoo

Yeah, so the name of this shampoo reads like a really bad first attempt at SEO by the office junior, but amazingly it kind of worked because I found it, and the very name left me intrigued, not least because it contains Coconut Oil, which everyone and their dog seems to have finally worked out is the solution to all of life's problems.

I'm sure by now you're familiar with Cleansing Oils for the skin - if not, where have you been?! - that are most commonly used to remove makeup and sunscreen. But the clever people at Palmer's have essentially taken that concept and applied it shampoo!

It first came to my attention whilst I was walking along the haircare aisle at Superdrug, and upon reading the bottle, my mind went in to a state of overdrive: "How innovative!", "Am I actually applying oil to my hair to cleanse it?!", "I wonder if there's a Spongebob gif about haircare.", "How will this work?", "Won't that leave my hair all greasy though?", "Oh wait, it says NO BUILD UP on it." and "I'm still confused." and then "Of course there'll be a Spongebob gif about haircare."

One thing that I always do when looking at new hair products is check the ingredients for Sulphates, because my bleached hair can't handle the stripping properties of shampoos that contain it, although I do make an exception for Fudge's Clean Blonde shampoo for when I need to whiten up my blonde hair. But Palmer's Cleansing Oil Shampoo is sulphate free, which is surprisingly uncommon, so I had to shove it in the basket. Metaphorically speaking, I don't even remember ever seeing a basket in Superdrug, do they do baskets?

So here's the blurb, straight from the bottle:

"No Sulfates - No Parabens - No Phthalates - No Mineral Oil - No Gluten - No Dyes - No Silicones

Palmers Coconut Oil Formula Zero Break Cleansing Oil Shampoo contains ethically and sustainably sourced Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Tahitian Monoi in addition to a hair-healthy blend of Sweet Almond, Macadamia, Jojoba and Avocado Oils. This silicone-free formula fortifies hair for optimal growth and shine without buildup or weighing hair down.

Coconut Oil - Strengthens Hair and adds shine
Sweet Almond Oil - Helps Repair & Prevent Damage
Avocado Oil - Seals Cuticles to Fortify Growth

Zero Break Ceramides - Palmers Zero Break Hydro-Ceramides restore this lipid barrier, improving the strength of hair and reducing, and reducing damage, breakage or splitting."

Palmers Coconut Oil Formula Zero Break Cleansing Oil Shampoo2

When I Googled for the 401 on this shampoo, in store of course, because I don't want to be buying something with 1/5 on MakeupAlley now do I, or that's had lawsuits from people who's hair fell out, I didn't find anything on it at all, so presumed it must have been a new release. So I guess that makes me the guinea pig, and I hope you appreciate it bazitches.

The consistency of the product is best described as being like a thick oil, much thinner than a standard shampoo but still quite viscous, and not very runny at all. It lathers up quite well for a sulphate-free shampoo, which generally don't reach the same lathering levels of a normal sulphate-y shampoo, but hey, that's the sulphate-free life for you.

Sometimes I'll shampoo just the once, other times I'll go all out and shampoo twice, and I can safely say that is hasn't ever built up in my hair, which is great! Once I've rinsed out the shampoo, I find it does add a little slip to my hair, which I find to be very rare in shampoos - bearing in mind my hair is heavily bleached. In fact, the only other product that's offered my hair any kind of slip is my Olaplex No 1 and No 2 treatments, so Palmer's are in good company.

I've used the shampoo for around a month now, and I have to say I am really impressed by it. I usually lay off the heat treatments and wear my hair with its natural curls most days, so I was really conscious that an oily shampoo might weigh down my curls or leave my hair looking greasy enough to fry an egg on it, but I can confirm that neither of these nightmare scenarios have became reality.

As for the claims from the bottle, I wouldn't say this is a miracle shampoo, but I do feel it's the hero my hair needs right now. One of the great things about it is that added slip, which in combination with my normal conditioner, means my hair doesn't feel quite so tangled after coming out of the shower anymore, and less detangling means less breakage, so I can see where they're going with the Zero Break claims, and I'll allow them that.

So overall then, I'm really happy with how this product has turned out, and if you suffer from damaged, weak, fragile hair, or have bleached it beyond recognition like I have, then I'd recommend this 100%. Also, it costs just £6.99 and you can get it from Superdrug, so it's easily accessible and reasonably priced.

I've also noticed that Palmers have a small range of 'Zero Break' products too, consisting of not just the shampoo, but also a conditioner and reconstructor, which I'm tempted to try out.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

MAKEUP || Splattered UV Henna & The Asian Media Awards

Wow, what a week! On Thursday it was announced that I've been selected as a finalist for Best Blog at the Asian Media Awards! I still haven't quite got my head around it yet, given that these awards were created for South Asians, by South Asians as a way of celebrating the achievements of South Asians in the media industry. What makes it even more exciting, is that allegedly, there are some billboards scattered around Manchester promoting the awards - I'm gonna have to hunt them down and get a selfie!

When it comes to the media, South Asians are totally under-represented, and when we are blessed with a few minutes air time, we're often woefully misrepresented too. So these awards go some way towards showing off the hugely diverse range of talents we have as a group of people - it's not fair to shove us all into a single box and expect us to deal with it.

For that reason, these awards are kind of a big deal, so to be turning up to the awards night in Manchester as a finalist, is truly something special to me. It's doubly special because the entire reason I started out the blog in the first place was due to a bit of a gap in the blogging scene at the time, whereby there weren't many South Asians out there. Eight years on then, and to receive recognition in this way is truly humbling, and really makes all the hard hours, days, weeks, months I've toiled away all the more worth it.

So to celebrate, I just knew I had to create something special, and I thought I'd return to UV, as last time I felt it was pretty good, but I also had this niggling feeling at the back of my mind that I could have done it better. To take it up a notch, and to go with the South Asian theme, I thought I'd attempt some UV Henna!

Of course, my freehand henna skills are almost up there with my right-hand writing skills (I'm a leftie obvs), so I had to cheat a little bit and use some Henna stencils. Of course, the stencils are no match for a genuinely talented henna artist, but a henna artist I most certainly am not, so I just have to make do! After applying the UV henna design though, I looked in the mirror and thought: "Fuck it." - let's take it up two notches from last year, and go for some splatters!

To achieve this, I simply whipped out a toothbrush - which I'll have to remember not to use on my actual teeth - dabbed it in some water, drizzled on some UV paint and just started spraying it all over my face - easy!

UV paints, if you fancy giving it a go are readily available, you can usually buy them from an independent, local fancy dress shop. In my case, I purchased mine from Duty Free in Manchester Arndale at 3 for £5 - or, you can even buy it online from the likes of Amazon and eBay. Just make sure it's UV Makeup Paint, not actual paint, because that could turn out to be a disaster.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Alienation Within The South Asian Diaspora

Well, as you may have noticed, the blog has had a little bit of a facelift over the past couple of days. Why, you might ask? Well, September marks the eighth anniversary of Fashionicide! Yep, this blog has been running for eight whole years, and I can't quite believe it!

I think around this time last year I wrote a little bit of my frustration at the so-called Desi Inspo accounts, and another year has gone by without my mind being changed all that much. These are accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc that are supposed to champion South Asians and showcase what we're all about, because the common perceptions of South Asians in the UK in particular are largely negative, stereotypes or both.

These are supposed to be platforms that show people about the huge diversity within the South Asian community, whether that be geographical, cultural, religious, sexuality, style, whatever. They're supposed to tackle the stereotypes that sees us associated with taxis, corner shops and curries, because there's a whole lot more to us than just that. But all too often, these accounts only feature South Asians who fall within a limited subset of South Asians, and therefore make us all look quite bland and boring.

I mean, it's great that people out there have recognised the issue of South Asian representation being determined by non-South Asians, but the execution for the most part is thoroughly lacking. There are notable exceptions, such as Burnt Roti, but these are too few and too far between. The rest just wouldn't look twice at someone who deviates from 'the norm' in any way, shape or form, and end up just creating new stereotypes, by promoting a homogenous view of South Asians today.

This kind of alienation of the different is nothing new to society as a whole, all sorts of groups have faced it, and all because they see life a little differently, but it's also not new to me either. Ever since I was a child, throughout my school years I faced mockery for my choices, I remember once being laughed at by a whole group of girls for wearing white nail polish, or 'tippex nails' as they called it. I was often ignored, thought of as a weirdo or just outright laughed at by other Asians. At the time this was pretty hurtful, but now? Well now, you're all wearing white nail polish, aren't you girls? ;)

My own particular problems have really arisen because I am not like other South Asians. I really don't like 'Urban' music at all, it has no appeal for me, I despise shisha, and quite a lot of the 'modern' Asian subculture that the younger generations are creating for themselves. It discourages creativity and thinking as an individual, something the younger generations have always faced from older generations, is now being recreated by the younger generation itself. Can nobody see the irony?

And speaking of the older generation, I've had someone at a wedding come up to me and say: "Oh, I hope you get better soon.." I've also had people approach me in Saree shops trying to explain to me the difference between a Saree and a Salwar Kameez. Don't fucking patronise me. I am perfectly in touch with my roots, thank you!

A final point on South Asians, from a young age, my mother always told me that Asians don't like to see other Asians have any kind of success, there's an element of jealousy when someone else 'makes it', and some will even go to the extent of trying to destroy your success. Looking back, that was probably an amazing piece of advice, because it still rings true today - Asians are awful at supporting each other. From the outside looking in, I really admire the black community in this respect. Because despite being a million times more diverse than the South Asian community, it appears to me as though they really get behind each other so much more.

So, with all these experiences, I feel alienated from my own community, and truth be told, I always have. The difference is, I've now reached the point where I no longer give a shit. I am past caring. I don't want to be accepted. Because being accepted means changing, and why would I change just to fit in with people who don't like who I am?

When this blog started out, there weren't many blogs and there was a decent community. But as with all things, as it got more popular, cliques formed. I'm not in any of them, and for that I'm glad, but on the other hand it does make things much more difficult. I'd rather struggle on than be part of a high-school esque clique that operate on groupthink. That kills off opinions and creativity, and I am not about that.

But then, the more I thought about it, the more I started to realise that actually, this is definitely not a problem that's exclusive to the South Asian community. The blogging community is pretty similar. When I first started out, back in 2009, there weren't too many around, there was a decent little community and it seemed to be largely a creative release or a bit of casual fun. But as with all good things, it got more and more popular, and the cliques started to form.

Not being part of a clique does make things a little more difficult, you don't have your own little band of cheerleaders to support you if you falsely accuse someone else, or are falsely accused of, buying followers or using a follow bot on one of the almost daily witch-hunts and you don't have a network of friends who'll make sure you, as a lifestyle blogger, get invited to the launch event for the hottest new makeup brand, but I'm pretty fucking glad I'm not a part of one.

There are things more important to me than that kind of support, which-hunts and blogging events, and the one thing that stands above all is free thought. Because what a clique does, is essentially removes all pretence of free thought, and you revert to 'Groupthink' mode. You can talk about absolutely everything you like within a pre-defined, unwritten, set of subjects, but venture outside of that, and you're met with cold glances and gradual reduction of status within the group. Cliques celebrate mediocrity, and penalise individuality. Fuck that.

They also ensure that 'like minds' stick together, and rarely bring outsiders in to the group or conversations, so in effect creates a kind of echo chamber. The kind of echo chamber that talks about diversity, and how bad it is that people of colour face alienation and discrimination, whilst at the same, excluding PoC from their group (or of course, inviting the token PoC). So I'm afraid, it's all bullshit. And that's why diversity is such a hot topic in the blogging/beauty industry, has been such for a couple of years, and why nothing's improving. It's all a back-slapping exercise for these cliques to feel better about themselves.

Iridescent Jellyfish Dress - Kyra Makes Things (LINK)

Longline Black Vest - Topshop

Black Velvet Burn Out Kimono - ASOS

Clear Lilac Glasses - Primark

Double Hooped Black Earrings - H&M

So, back to the subject of this blog. I'm definitely alienated, I'm definitely an outsider, but given the alternatives, I'm fucking loving it. I think it's also important that I recognise all of the support I have had over the years, because a lot of people have given me a lot of love since it all began way back in 2009. And I appreciate all the more, because I didn't ass-lick or buy my way towards it, you all gave that support because you like what you saw. So, a huge thank you to you all, because you've made it worth it.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

"An oasis of colour, in a sea of nudes."

REVIEWS || Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Zero Break Cleansing Oil Shampoo

MAKEUP || Splattered UV Henna & The Asian Media Awards

Alienation Within The South Asian Diaspora

MAKEUP || An Ode to Synthwave