Last night a hair dye saved my life

So what do you do when you have a special occasion coming up, at the very last minute, there's no time to do anything and you're white as an headache tablet? You experiment with bronzer or wash off fake tan, and pray it doesn't rain. When it comes to hair, things are a little bit trickier, especially when there are grey hair involved. Colouring your hair is messy, super messy and if you're anything like me your hair only looks presentable the second time you wash it. No matter how much I rinse my hair, straight after colouring it, you can guarantee I will be left with a stained scalp and other tell tale signs.

While browsing Superdrug, I came across the Colour Effects wash in and wash out and I can't even begin to tell you how many times this has saved my ‘life’. I couldn't tell you how many times I bought it too.




The idea is to wash your hair as normal, pop a bit of the conditioning colour on your hair, leave it to rest for 5 minutes and voila. In reality, it is not straight forward as that. My hair is so bleeming dark, I like to leave it on 15 minutes (this is something I always do with any type of hair colourant) while I go about ma’ business in the bath. The product is super runny and before 15 minutes have elapsed, you look like you had a head injury and the red colourant is dripping all over your body.


The way I go round this is to apply this temporary conditioning colour and cover my head with 2 disposable shower caps immediately after. Bulk buying disposable caps is probably one of my best (and probably most boring) beauty investments in the whole of 2012. Don't even think of trying this hair colour and not having some sort of head gear at your disposal. You will only manage waiting for 5 minutes (if that) and you'll freak out in case the skin of your whole body gets stained in the process, which is probably something you don't want on the day of your special occasion.


The result is quite striking. If you have grey hair, you will still be able to see where they are, but they will look almost as highlights and will blend better with the rest of your hair. The bottle says that it contains enough product for 3 applications. I find that I just have enough product for 2 applications on my 20 inches hair. I love how it gives me enough colour to temporarily (2 shampoos) to cover the bits I am self conscious about but without the faff of a traditional hair colourant. You don't need to worry about gloves either and it won't stain neither nails or hands.


I easily could think of 2 brands which offer a wash in, wash out hair colourant with far superior quality: the legendary shaders and toners from Wella and another brand which used to be only sold at Tesco. Both of them seem to have been discontinued. Colour Effects from Superdrug are far from perfect. If I had to give it a mark, it'd just scrape a 5 out 10, due to its extremely runny texture. But it has saved my bacon so many times, it's a product that I've been buying again, again and again. It is definitely, for me, anyway, a case of 'confidence in a bottle' and that is priceless.

What: Superdrug Colour Effects Wash in Wash out. (6:4 rich red)    
How much: £1.29    
Where: Superdrug
Availability: even the small and dingy superdrugs have got it :)  

  

It’s Sunday and that means it’s Blogging Date with Sirvinya. If you have a few minutes to spare, please do check Sirvinya’s beauty blog. It’s been a real challenge for me this week. To say that I have been feeling rusty, is an understatement. Thank you for reading xx

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A pop of colour

It seems that these days that not a day passes without a celebrity releasing a beauty product. Sometimes their endorsement and whether they were really involved in the creation of the product is a bit dubious but there are times when it really makes sense and you wonder why a particular product weren't released any sooner. Cue Katy Perry and her most recent collaboration with Eylure lashes.


Katy Perry released some false lashes before but never before have they looked as perry-esque as they do now. Katy Perry is all about bright colourful looks and these lashes invite you to add a pop of colour into your makeup look.




These would be perfect if you want good quality and reliable quality lashes (as opposed to taking your chances with lashes an obscure random brand on eBay) to complete an already bright and colourful eye makeup or if you want to subtly enhance the natural colour of your eyes. The blue and the purple would be ideal to make brown eyes pop.




The packaging is absolutely spot on: What more appropriate that pop art to illustrate lashes with a pop of colour. The shape of the colour of pop lashes also excite me. The feathery look really remind of the luxurious shu uemura smokey layers who are by far, without the shadow of a doubt THE lashes which have got me the most compliments EVER. When I wear them, people go 'You should wear them often'. Well, I would if they weren't £17 a pop! They also present 2 features that I really like on false lashes: a solid lashline (easier to conceal than 'dash-lined' ones) and the fact that they are shorter on both the inner and outer corner. Lashes which have a slanted shape and longer at the outer corner do not tend to suit me as they emphasise my droopy lids.








If you couldn't tell already I am beyond excited about these lashes. The concept, the name, the shape, the colour and the fact that they scream Katy Perry to me. They cement the idea that I already have in mind of Katy Perry: Her costumes are so much fun, you could almost believe she comes straight out of a comic book.

 

 

According to the lovely Bicky, from Tastes Like Glitter, these little beauties will be released in January 2013. I can't wait to check them out and see how they compare to the 'pop-of-red' (Girls Aloud) Sarah Festival lashes.

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Sunny Spot: Gone dotty for Fee

Other than countless failed attempts at French manicure nail tips, I have never tried my hands at nail art. I don't have think I have the flair for it, the imagination, talent, patience and all the skills required for it. When I reviewed the beautiful Wyoming Nail Polish from Accessorize, many of you commented that you would love to see it as a base for some sort of nail art. When Fee from MakeupSavvy invited us to take part in her 15-day nail challenge, I thought this was the time had come to experiment. Today, it's day 14 and the theme is dots.

So I decided to go ... dotty for Fee.
The motivation: you guys!
The reason: Makeup Savvy 15-Day Nail Challenge.
The theme for day 14: Dots
The inspiration: Lucy's Stash Manicure for Sweet Sugar.
The polishes: Accessorize Wyoming Nail Polish (reviewed here) and New Look Colour Pop in Pistachio (reviewed here)
The tool: The only thing I could find in the house: a hair pin like this one.
The time: 30 minutes to do the whole thing (including taking photos and writing this)
The challenge: find a sunny spot to photograph (see what i did there?)
The result:

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Ok, before you look. Try to remember I've never done this sort of thing before
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Ok now, you can look
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The dots are so big and uneven and rubbish. Must try harder next time… if there is one that is!

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Colourpop fun :)

So I was wandering aimlessly in my New Look shop a few days ago and stumbled on a new range of fun and colourful makeup called 'Colourpop' where every item is sold at £1.99. Of course, I had to take some pictures and share them with you, I do love a bargain! I have bought 2 items from the collection, do you want to guess which ones?

So they had lipsticks in the cutest packaging





lipglosses, eyeliners and nail polishes







and eyeshadows



You've guessed it already. I came home with 2 nail polishes.







The yellow one is just called err.. ‘yellow’ and the green called ‘pistachio’. You know already that a nail polish doesn't need to be expensive to have great coverage but good pastel and neon polishes, whatever the brand and price are notoriously hard to find. So how did these 2 little £1.99 bright things fare? Admirably well. What you see is only 2 coats of polish. Arguably, the yellow could do with a little extra coat but in real life, I really don't mind it like that. The brush on one of the polish had 2 little stray hair but it was nothing that a small of scissors couldn't quickly fix.









No streaks, no bubbles, no patchiness, just a pop of colour as the name suggests. The yellow is just my perfect shade of 'easter chick' nails and applied even better than the MUA 'lovehearts' yellow. The green is a lovely pastel and neon shade at the same time. I don't own anything like it and I am absolutely in love with it. The formula is lovely, thick and creamy and would also work brilliantly for accents of colours in a nail art pattern.







I must warn you that these nail polish stain the nail though. I tried the green one very quickly on my thumb which didn't have a base coat on and it left me with a darker nail after removal. So I decided to apply the nail polish over 2 coats of my favourite base coat (more on that in another post) just to be on the safe side and my nails were suitably protected and no staining happened.



I am delighted with my little bargain purchases. Thank you Newlook. ^_^



disclosure: bought by me
note: please excuse the quality of the pictures. compression rate set itself to 45 without my knowledge :/

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DIY Ombre Hair

Want to try your hands at ombre hair at home and don't know where to start? British Hair Expert Scott Cornwall lost count on how many times he was asked for advice on how to do your own ombre hair at home. So he created an illustrated 6-step technique to achieve the perfect ombre hair, whether you have light or dark hair and posted it on his spanking new tips & tricks blog. Intrigued? Click here to see his tutorial.






disclaimer: I heard about the Scott Cornwall diy ombre hair technique via email and received no compensation to write about it.

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