Note: This is a picture-heavy post.

A few weeks ago, Stef, Val and I braved the cold, ungodly hour that is 4.30am to the airport, where we were then flown to Sydney for an event at the fantabulous Barney Martin Hair Studio at Surry Hills. It was my first out-of-state bloggers’ event and I was well, well chuffed 😀

We were presented with the latest haircare products launched by Proctor & Gamble – Pantene’s Nature Fusion, Clairol’s Nice’ n Easy Colour Blend Foam and Wella’s Pro Series hairstyling products. I had a whiff of Pantene’s Nature Fusion, and my my, they sure smelled good!

It was a small gathering of beauty bloggers from Sydney and Melbourne, and each of us had the opportunity to try out these products on our hair (save for the Colour Blend Foam from Nice’ n Easy; I didn’t get the chance to colour my hair that day). Pantene’s Nature Fusion features Pantene’s signature Pro-V science combined with cassia-flower derived essence. It’s Pantene’s nature-inspired line, which I thought, heck it’s about time!

In between our hairwash, I had the opportunity to sneak a chat with Barney Martin himself (that’s me in the middle, picture above. He’s on the left. Or my right.), asking him questions on how to handle really thick, frizzy hair, if I should use a hair mask together with a conditioner, or without, etc. A tip: you can use a hair mask treatment after your conditioner. Just make sure to not massage the conditioner and mask to your roots, but concentrate more on the tips. Talking shop during a hairwash? Oh yeah.

For styling, my hairstylist used Wella Pro Series Volume Mousse. To be honest, I was not a fan of mousse because of their heavy, sticky nature and they tend to make my hair look and feel blah. So I *ahem* whinged a bit about it to Michael Brennan (Wella Pro Series ambassador) about my dislike for mousse 😛 He assured me that the new Wella Pro Series Volume Mousse does no such thing, and asked me to try it out myself. So I squirted a small amount of foam onto my hands, rubbed it between my palms, and ran it through my damp hair. Whaddyaknow? It wasn’t at all sticky and gross as I expected; in fact, it smelled good! After running the product all over my hair, my hands remained sticky-free and my hair was ready for styling. I have to say, the stylist did one heck of a job styling my thick, frizzy hair.

Before – Meh hair. No volume, no style. BLAH.

My hair felt incredibly soft and light, and it was an *ahem* Pantene-woosh-woosh-hair-ad moment for me. It smelled amazing (fruity but not cloyingly sweet) from the wash, and it didn’t feel at all heavy and reek of the 90s with all that mousse in my hair. In short, I left my chair feeling pretty damn good 😛

After – Woosh woosh hair. Why can’t I have this all the time?

Below are some pictures I took during the event. Please excuse the ones of me eating. Seriously, I was pictured so often with a danish or tart in my mouth, I felt like such a heifer amongst those gorgeous ladies.

Bloggers always on their phones. Hello Twitter!

Me enjoying a peach danish. That was my second one. Cow.

Stef waiting for her hair to set. Look at those curls!

Val getting her freak on.

Kimmi channeling Gisele B.

Kimmi rocking better hair than Gisele.

Stef. So Mad Men.

With the experts of the day, Barney Martin and Michael Brennan.

Darling Millie, the studio mascot. I wanted to empty my bag contents and bring her back to Melbourne with me!

Many thanks to Saunders & Co and Proctor & Gamble for the very lovely day.

Note: Stef is from The Lip Print, Val from Ponikuta and Kimmi from The Plastic Diaries.