Well, Olaplex. Where do i begin?! If you've got color-damaged, dried hair then you're going to want to stick around for this one so grab yourself a cuppa and get comfy. I was heading to Leo Bancroft's Weybridge salon for a cut last weekend and knew I was in dire need of a treatment beforehand. Following a lot of salons and stylists on Instagram I was sure I'd heard of Olaplex before so when an Olaplex treatment cropped up on Leo's list of services I immediately asked my stylist Holly to book me in for a treatment before my cut.

If you haven't heard of Olaplex, let me give you the 101 on the sciencey-stuff. Most conditioners, even the expensive leave-in ones, usually just sit on top of your hair, temporarily treating damaged hair which can leave you with a silky smooth finish at first but after a few washes you're back to square one. This is wear Olaplex is different because it actually repairs and fixes the hair shaft while it colours and treats it. To give you some context, Olaplex is how Kim Kardashian went platinum from her natural dark locks in one day without going bald.

My Olaplex treatment was a two-part process and the whole process took half a hour from start to finish. The sensation was an odd one, the product is obviously a liquid but didn't feel super wet or thick like some conditioners so until I reached up and patted my hair it didnt' feel like there was any product on at all as it wasnt trickling down my neck or the side of my face which is always a bonus!

When it was rinsed out I reserved all judgement until my hair had been cut and blow-dried. When I finally ran my fingers through my previously thick, dry, damaged brittle hair I could have cried with happiness. That sounds dramatic but I've been through a few ordeals with my hair over the years and the last time I felt that silky-smooth, lightweight, freshly-cut hair feeling was probably about six or seven years ago. Since then, every blowdry has been a nightmare with hair breaking, brushes struggling to pull through the ends and stylists unable to run their fingers through my hair. It used to fall heavy, full of frizz and the ends looked frazzled.

Not now. The damage has literally been reversed and it's like I've rewound the last few years of bleach and dye, leaving my hair feeling so light and soft and genuinely healthy. I'm so excited that Olaplex is a thing and it doesn't cost a fortune either, my treatment was £30 and worth every single penny.

Olaplex can also be added to colour and bleach to minimise damage and if you YouTube Olaplex you'll find an abundance of videos showing girls with damaged hair going even lighter with little to no damage at all. It's incredible and a revolutionary product which hopefully will be rolled out to more and more salons around the UK - and the world - very soon!

Let me know either in the comments below or over on Twitter @laurenfell if you're thinking of giving Olaplex a try, I'm also happy to answer any questions you might have!

CARVELA KURT GEIGER TINK BOOTS

I'm a sucker for a mid-heel boot and I could not be happier that it's now the perfect boot weather. As soon as I saw these Carvela Kurt Geiger boots I fell in love and the fact that they were in the sale just made me fall even harder!

The 'Tink' mid block heel ankle boot is an adorable black suede-esque ankle boot with a metallic silver 3" block heel. I'm super fussy when it comes to shoes, mostly because I'm totally convinced one foot is bigger than the other, and I'm in that awkward place between a size three and four. These boots were in a size four and came up just the tiniest big on me but I only have little sockettes on, so with a proper pair of socks or tights they'll fit perfectly. They're also really comfortable to walk in and the little girl sat on the chairs in Debenhams totally gave these boots the nod of approval which was good enough for me.

These boots are currently on sale at Debenhams, down from £150 to £79!

NEW HAIRCARE HAUL

So I've reached that point with my current hair care products where I'll sit pressing down the pump on my Aussie leave-in conditioner bottle for about 20 minutes before accepting that I've 100% run out and definitely need to replace it.

Of course, when I get to Boots they're completely out of the leave-in conditioner that I usually use so I had to stand there in the aisle talking myself - yes, out loud - through the pros and cons of the two conditioners they had instead. As you can see from the picture above, arguing with myself never gets me very far so I resulted in throwing both in my basket along with a couple of other bits.

I'm in love with Aussie's leave in conditioners and although I do really like a hair mask, I appreciate being able to spritz my  hair with moisturising goodness and leaving it in because I'm a very impatient human being. I usually use the Miracle Recharge Moisture conditioner but as I said they were out of it in Boots, leaving me to decide between Take The Heat and Shine before giving up and opting for both.

I haven't given either of these a go yet but if they're anything like their Moisture counterpart then these conditioners will be lightweight, non-sticky leave-in sprays which I feel just give my hair a little more of a silky soft finish after washing. Although I use a heat-defence product alongside the Aussie conditioner, I quite liked that the Take The Heat spray also does this so I can double up on the heat defence!

The Shine leave-in conditioner just sounded really nice, I've always had quite damaged hair until recently thanks to the incredible Olaplex treatment I had recently, post on that coming this week - so it will be nice to put a shine back into my much healthier looking hair.

Another product that I've ran out of recently was my heat-defence spray, usually I use a Toni & Guy product but once again, they were sold out. I'm really not selling my local Boots right now, am I? Although, this did give me a chance to look for something new. I'm a big fan of Lee Stafford products and thought that the Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection Mist sounded like it would do the trick. You can use this product before you blow-dry and also afterwards, on dry hair, before you use straighteners.

I also picked up a large can of the DeHumidifer Liquid Umbrella, also from Lee Stafford. I used to swear by this product when I was at school/college and when I discovered serum I stopped using it, however, I'm gradually running out of Bleach London's Split Fix Serum which I am obsessed with and was going to replace until I saw this! This is a lightweight spray which controls frizz and keeps your hair looking smooth, sleek and silky. I've already given it a go this afternoon and forgot how much I loved it. This product also comes in a smaller, handbag-sized can for frizz-control on the go!

Have you tried any of these products? I'd love to know what you think of them so let me know! 

COLLECTION AT BOOTS BEAUTY HAUL

Before we head off to Center Parcs for the week, I popped into Boots today to stock up on some essentials and some not-so-essential-but-still-really-lush beauty bits!

Ever since I gave the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer a go I've never used anything else to cover up my problem areas and under-eye area. I find nothing else conceals as well as this and I always opt for the lightest shade, 01 Fair, to give my under-eye area a lift and make it appear brighter. This concealer is also perfect for covering up those nasty zits that tend to spring up out of nowhere although I tend to find it can require a little pat from a finger-tip to really melt it into the skin for a natural finish.

Along with the concealer, I picked up another favourite of mine; Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Powder. This product teamed with the concealer really do make the perfect power couple. After I've used the concealer I whack some of this over the top - I use a powder brush and forgo the use of the pad/sponge that comes with this powder because I have a weird thing about bacteria/germs lingering on those things - and it sets everything perfectly!

While I was in Boots I also couldn't resist picking up a few coral/red/pinkish lipsticks. I've been after some lippys with more orange tones so I grabbed these three beauts - it's just a big coincidence that all of these products are from Collection but it makes for a consistent post fo' sho!

The lovely lipsticks are in the shades 16 Paper Rose, 17 Colour Pop and 2 Pretty In Peach and they're all quite similar with only very slight differences but I'm very excited to give them a go nonetheless! They were also on offer in Boots for only £2.50 each so I couldn't resist, I'm a bit of a lipstick hoarder - there's just something about lipsticks that are so aesthetically pleasing to me I don't know why I'm a weirdo - so I'm definitely thinking of getting a few more shades in this range if they stay at this price!

There are so many fantastic offers on at Boots at the moment and all of the Christmas boxsets and offers are in store already so if you live near a store then I'd recommend popping in for a gander.

Let me know if you've tried any of these products or if you're thinking of giving them a go yourself, I'd love to know!

JEROME RUSSELL BBLONDE MAXIMUM LIGHTENING SPRAY

If there's one thing you guys should know about me it's that I am always changing my hair colour. Over the past year or so I've been various shades of blonde and ombre but now that autumn/winter weather is creeping in it's got me in the mood for something very different altogether.

Now, I knew that I didn't want to go even blonder right now - let's wait til next summer though, eh - actually, my goal wasn't to drastically change the colour of my hair but to even it out ahead of a whole new shade that I'm aiming for this season and the Maximum Lightening Spray* seemed ideal!

You use the spray after you wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo and after three applications you should see a gradual lift, even more so if heat is applied after use. Now, I can probably guess what you're thinking, yikes, a lightening product + heat = fried hair and I'm not going to lie, I spread out the three applications over a couple of weeks as the thought of frying my roots didn't appeal to me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how soft my hair feels after using, although bear in mind I did only spritz this product closer to my roots and kept it entirely away from my ends.

I noticed a visible lift in colour after one application and this product by Jerome Russell definitely helped to even out the colour, giving me a much better base for my next colour which I'm very excited to be having done by the lovely Holly at Leo Bancroft's salon in Weybridge. I shall keep my plans under wraps until Tuesday 20th but if you follow me on Pinterest you can probably tell the gorgeous shade that I'm hoping to achieve *insert smiling devil emoji here*.

The BBlonde range is so extensive and I definitely recommend it if you're thinking of going blonde this season, however, if you're looking for something less intense then the Lightening Spray is the one to go for to enhance highlights or keep your ombre looking fresh. Team it with one of their awesome toners - either a natural shade or be daring and go for a pretty pink - for a completely finished look!

*PR sample