From Brunette to Blonde with Bleach London

Another bleach, another ruined hair colour? Maybe not. I've gone and bought Total Bleach by Bleach London and despite being too scared to use it I did it anyway. It sat in my draw for some time before I plucked up the courage to use it but it was worth it.

I've been brunette for 2 years and it was getting kinda boring, I missed my blonde hair. I had some highlights already so I was worried bleaching might totally dry my hair out. I needn't have worried. 

So about the kit: The gloves were made for gorilla hands and the mixing tub for a child's. They need to have a look again at those. I found the mixture incredibly dry and although I have short hair one box wasn't enough. It was though very gentle on my scalp, I felt a slight tingle to start with but after 45 minutes I'd got used to it.

The bleach only lifts 7 shades so I expected to have some ginger bits. I kinda ended up looking like a flame, my roots were bright blonde! I did buy Bleach London White Toner so I tried that in the hope it would tone down the redness. It didn't. I wasn't totally unhappy about it as it did lift most of the brunette buildup from my hair and the generous conditioner turned my hair into a soft marshmallow. I wouldn't recommend doing this if your hair is already damaged. My hair has taken some beating in the past but it hasn't seen bleach in over 2 years so could handle this bleach bashing and come out strong.

 

 

Spending Ban Collaboration #3

 

 



The Ban - 111 Days

Starting on 13/10/13 - Ending on 31/01/14

The Rules -

• Add your name and blog to the Linky below so myself and other readers can find your collaboration posts.
• Add the 'Spending Ban Blogger Collaboration' button to your sidebar which links back to this page so others can join in.
• Follow myself and other bloggers in the collaboration by following their linkies. Follow by whichever source you use most - Google+, Bloglovin', GFC, Twitter etc
• Subscribe via email if you would like weekly updates and motivational emails (this will only be once a week at the weekend)
• You may continue to blog about products you already own or PR/Sponsor posts where products are gifted to you
• Blog atleast once a week about your experience (daily would be fabulous but not expected)
• Be kind and friendly to other bloggers in the Collaboration. Encourage their ban and support them when they are finding it hard.
• Keep in touch via Twitter (we all use it so might as well). Share your posts with the hashtag #spendingbancollab

(I won't be stopping my Glossybox subscription but I will be giving up buying any other products)

Clairol 106 Natural Medium Ash Blonde Review

 

For those of you that remember a few weeks ago I dyed my hair with L'Oreal Extreme Paris Platinum Blonde (read here) and ended up with a less than flattering outcome. I did actually rectify it. I didn't wake up the following morning and forget to sort it out. It would have gone something like this ...

L'Oreal Preference Les Blondissimes Extreme Platinum Hair Dye

 

 

This new addition to L'Oreals hair colour range is called Extreme Platinum apparently but this was not my experience. It clearly states that it lifts upto 8 shades. A great advertising slogan but I'd be very wary of this damaging your hair.

 

I had grown bored with my light brown hair going brassy so felt the need to dye my hair again. The rational side of my brain never kicks in when it comes to hair dye. I know that the home dyes don't have a strong enough colour to lighten in the same way that a salon's colour would. Yet I still pick up a colour from Tesco and believe what it says on the box. It stated on the side that it was suitable for light brown. It even said suitable for dark brown but to expect it to be much darker than the front of the box.

Garnier Olia hair colour 6.0 Light Brown

Hair colour for me is like a new handbag, living without one is near on impossible. I've been dying my own hair since the age of 13. I was blonde then. Nowadays I prefer to go darker rather than lighter. It's much less damaging for my locks not to mention cheaper. At home hair colour is so much simpler than anything you have seen done at a salon. It doesn't require any specialized training. All you need is some simple preparation and patience.

John Frieda Precision Foam light ash brown 6A

It's been 9 weeks since I last dyed my hair, see my DIY post here. I wasn't thrilled about my last colour by Clairol as it came out quite brassy. With my skin tone I need an Ashy colour on my hair. I'm naturally dark blonde so trying to find a brunette colour which isn't warm and without a red undertone is near on impossible. I had heard good things about John Frieda Precision Foam in Light Ash Brown. There are 2 bonuses to this product .. firstly the Ash colour and secondly the non-drip formula. There's nothing worse than when I'm applying a colour and it ends up on the carpet.

Percy & Reed London Finishing polish review

 

A new month a new magazine! Glamour have 4 products by Percy & Reed London free with their £2 magazine this month. Considering this product retails at £10 it's a huge bargain. I would have loved to buy all 4 but I'm on a budget, something to tell you about in a future post. I chose the Finishing polish over the others as I have thick unruly hair and it always needs taming. When I get the chance to try a new product which will keep my lionesses mane under control I have to have it.

 

Review: Clairol Perfect 10 Medium Ash Blonde hair colour

I have been dying my hair since the beginning of High School. I remember clearly the first time. It was a wash in/wash off blonde colour. I wanted to go lighter as I was a dark blonde. I dyed it myself and was very disappointed when it came out an orangey blonde. Ofcourse back then I didn't understand WHY I couldn't go blonder without bleaching it. It didn't put me off trying though and tested out probably every brand and colour I could get my hand on.

 

Home dying is very easy to do but also very easy to get wrong.

Clothes Show 2012: Goody Bag #3

Third instalment of my goody bag series - the Your Hair stand was my last find of the day as I didn't have a map so pretty much guessed my way round. I did find a big board with a map about 30 mins before I left! Typical, always the way isn't it haha

The bag these goodies came in was transparent so I could see the contents before I bought it. I wouldn't normally buy this magazine as my hair stays very much the same style. In fact I know you'll give me a virtual slap for this but I haven't had a hair cut since August.

The Clothes Show 2012 Review

 

 

A couple of weeks ago I wasn't even thinking about The Clothes Show in Birmingham. Partly due to the fact I hadn't been in years as I couldn't afford to go and it was the same this year. I just happened to enter a competition to win 2 tickets to The Clothes Show Live run by the wonderful Caroline Lichfield @Caroline__Mary on her BLOG and won! I couldn't believe my luck and called my sister to tell her the good news. She was bouncing off the walls as she's been on at me for ages about going.

L'Oreal Ombre Hair Colour and Recital Preference No.7 Dark Blonde review

I mentioned on Twitter that I was experimenting with Ombre Colour yesterday. I decided that seeing as I'm starting a new part-time job on Sunday I better do something with my hair. So after I dropped my boyfriend off at work I dropped into the city and I paid Boots a visit. I bought 2 colours as L'Oreal had an offer on, buy 2 for £10!