Vidal Sassoon VS Salonist Hair Colour

I've been reluctant to dye my hair for the longest time as I'm letting it grow out to its natural colour, but after months (and months) of not touching my roots or the extremely white blonde part of my hair, it was time for a change in the form of *VS Sasson Salonist. Now that its come round to the summer months, my roots look almost brown when compared to my white blonde bits, so I thought it would be great to brighten my roots while toning down the blonde. A perfect balance, if you will. 

The VS sasson salonist claims to be different to any other dye thats out on the market at the moment by being a two step product, treating the roots and then lengths separately. Just like the salons do. I was quite impressed with the idea and even more impressed when I opened the boxes to find that it came with lots of bits, including a mixing tub and brush applicator. I've gone through all sorts of home dye kits over the years and this is by far the most impressive, contents wise.

Now I've no greys thanks be to jasus, but I was looking to brighten up my hair from the roots. The process is really easy. Your meant to put in the colour activating lotion and the rich colour cream, then mix them together, You apply that to the roots of your hair and then leave about one third of it over. With the remaining third you add in the serum and use it on the lengths of your hair. Then wash it all out and use the lovely conditioner to help give your hair extra shine.

One box did me, as I was lucky that I was only doing half my hair as I like to have pink or purple in the ends. But If you have anything past shoulder length, you will need two boxes - like most hair dye kits. Personally I'd use about three of these as my hair is down to my waist.  

Considering I only wanted to lighten my roots and darken my white blonde bits, I watered it down a tad by putting in the conditioner as well. This always works a treat for a lighter look, especially if your looking to do a pastel shade in your hair but need to lighten it before hand. - Handy tip of the day there!  It was really easy to mix up and the instructions were simple to follow. I have come across dyes that have really hard to follow or no instructions before, so its always nice to point it out when you find good ones! 

Now below is a dreadful few photos. One is my manky day old hair. Its my natural shade, but its a bit dull and meh. I used the 8/3 on this and then the 8/0 on the mid lengths. As you can see below, I got totally new locks within half an hour. Would you look at that posy smile!! #SorryNotSorry

For the benefit of light, I took one photo inside after I dyed my hair and then one outside so you can really see the difference. I'm really delighted with how it turned out, especially the roots. I think the serum worked wonders to blend my colour into the whiter blonde thats now a slighted darker tone. And lads, would you look just look at that shine! (if I do say so myself!) I've done nothing but touch myself since the dye, its so soft. - If you see me out and about in the next few days, do have a feel, it'll amaze you how softy soft my hair is. 

Overall, it was simple to use, it gave me results that were 10 times better then I thought it would turn out and it didn't smell too overpoweringly hair dye like. Also it was much easier to use then other dyes I've tried because of the handy little mix tub and brush. (I'm totally keeping one to reuse with my purple dye). So, if your thinking of dying your hair, then I'd recommend having a look at the huge range of different colours to choose from in the VS Sassoon Salonist line. Even better that their on offer in Boots at the moment for only €11.49. It would be rude not to. And if your still stuck, their site over here will give you tutorials on how to apply it. Sure what more could you want?

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here.

Bleach London Fail Again: Reincarnation Mask

After having a very disappointing go of the Bleach London hair dye, I decided to have a try of their other products. Something that they surely can't feck up. Who can feck up an aul conditioner after all? Well I'll not hold you in suspense for long, apparently the people at Bleach London can feck it up all too well. What are these lads playing at? You can have a look at my less-then-happy review of one of their hairs dyes over here.

Now don't get me wrong, the mask isn't actually that bad as far as they go. But for €7.99 I have had way better hair masks for half that price. I just can't buy into the whole cult following of Bleach London that seems to be so big. For every new product I try, I come away disappointed and feel almost cheated out of my money. They have the talk, but they just can't walk the walk. 

''Resurrect and hydrate thirsty, bleached or coloured hair and improve elasticity with this repairing and moisturising hair mask. Enriched with sunflower seed extract and micro wheat proteins to give great shine, strengthen colour vibrancy and help reduce colour fade.''

I can say nothing but a big, fat LOL to the colour vibrancy and colour fade promises. I can only assume you would be best to use Bleach London hair dye with this product, so I redyed my hair purple that morning and went about the day. That evening I threw in a decent amount of the mask and sat for the recommended 20 minutes. When I washed the conditioner out I was left with blue hair. The mask that they sell and formulated for their own products, strips your hair of the original dyed colour... 

To say that I was a little confused and lets face it, really annoyed at my new hair colour being ruined was an understatement. For anyone who dyes their hair regularly like myself, will know the pain of having to evenly apply, wait around timing it perfectly (so your hair isn't going to fall off your head!) wash it out and then deal with the dye all over the bathroom. Having all the hard work wiped clean in 20 minutes is not my idea of fun. I honestly have no clue what Bleach London are playing at here. They are selling products that don't cut it and shouldn't be on the shelves to begin with. 

It just bothers me to a whole new level when the brand is so hyped, the packaging is eye catching and really funky and even the actual product looks promising. If this was a good and well working mask I would forgive the crazy €7.99 for 200ml. I'd even buy it again. But this is just maddening. Needless to say I wont be using this again, as I'm afraid it will strip other dyes that I plan on using - not any of the Bleach London ones either, just to be clear!

Have you tried any Bleach London products?

I Only Went In For Hair Dye! Haul Post

I genuinely only went into Boots the other day for hair dye. I've decided to try go all the way back to my natural blonde colour and instead of having 12 shades of different roots, I picked up a colour closer to my own. Normally Boots has a massive range of dyes, brands and offers so I got the John Frieda moose. Partly because it was on offer from €13.99 down to €6.99, partly because I had never tried it before and partly because its a fancy pants brand! Oh and the most important thing of it matching my natural hair colour the closest. Nearly forget that bit. 

But once hair was thought about, I noticed that the John Frieda intense after colour conditioner was only €3.49 down from €6.99 and it would have been truly rude not to pick it up. The same went for the big bottle of Herbal Essences that was only €2.74 down from €5.49. But in my defense, I was running low on the shampoo..

After the hair care incidents I was on my way to the check out when I spotted that it was 3 for 2 on all the Simple range. I've been after the eye roller for mad bin bag under your eye balls (the technical advertising terms, of course) for ages since seeing Sprinkle of Glitter get it in a haul. It was €6.99 but then I did get the face mask free once I picked up the face scrub.. Both were €4.99 each. And I had to get them. Cos', cos' of the offer!!

After that total fail I said fuck it and headed to the make up. Collection had all their nail varnishes for only €2 each and I had about 12 in my basket, but decided against crying when I had to hand over all my money at the till. So instead I just picked up the one. Isn't it just gorgeous? I've tried it since getting home and its a perfect Autumn shade. 

I have been on the hunt for a particular eye shadow from Seventeen for myself and the sister, but its the hardest one to come by! Its always sold out everywhere. So to console myself after not finding it yet again I picked up these two lovely shades from Collection for €2.99 each. 

Well, I tried. But I did get the hair dye I went in for.

Damn bargains!

Bleach London

I'm a fan of a nice hair dye in case you haven't already noticed! I've tried loads of different brands out over the years and sported every shade going. Naturals to out right neon looks, cos' I like to mix it up a little. I spotted Bleach London in Boots a few months ago and was sure I would no doubt get my paws on a few bottles to lash in the hair. 

Before I dye my hair a bright colour I nearly always bleach it first so the colour comes out brighter and nicer. I use Jerome Russell Bblonde products, as seen in the photo above. It does a great job but careful when using it as the smell could nearly put you under the table and if any gets on your skin it will burn. Like, ouch fuckin pain that stuff burns! K? Good.

The first thing about Bleach London hair dye is the price, when compared to other unnatural hair colours, is a little more expensive then others out there. Its €6.69 for 150ml which isn't too bad in the long run but I have a strong devotion to the Live XXL colours that are cheaper and sometimes on offer at 2 for €9. Apart from price, the packaging is really eye catching and fun but it doesn't come with any colour friendly conditioners or even plastic gloves like other brands do. I don't mind the conditioner not being there, but I always need gloves. Washing your hands with bleach to try and get the dye off my skin is never something I look forward to. 

Anyway, I used the bleach, dyed my hair back to a white blonde. Got some of the Bleach London dye in bruised violet and slathered it on. It recommends you leave it for roughly 20 minutes but I left mine in almost an hour, as I'm lazy and didn't want to wash it out. (I might have gotten back into bed with a book to wait and then it was warm and.. oh dear.) Washing it out was fine and once I dried my hair I noticed that it was slightly patchy in colour - not from an uneven application but rather the dye just didn't seem to work in all the places it was put on. This bugged me a little as I had even bleached my hair so the dye would take better. You can see what I mean in the third photo below. I thought just to leave it in longer next time I used it.

On the bottle it says that the dye comes out in 2 to 10 washes, but this wasn't the case at all. The next day when I washed my hair (this would be the second wash as I'm counting washing the hair dye out as the first wash) as normal with some Dove colour friendly shampoo it turned blue and green in places. Not only that but it faded dramatically. You can see in the last photo below. I had never had that happen with any other dye I had used and was really shocked. I thought maybe it was the shampoo I had used that reacted with it but after finding some reviews on the Boots site I realised that this was happening with a lot of people. It wasn't just me who had faded blue and green hair!

Since dying it the first time and having this happen, I decided to dye over it again and the same thing is after happening. Its so annoying to spend the money and time on your hair and end up looking like you fell into a rainbow. But in fairness I have come to love the multicoluored outcome, even if its not what I was going for to begin with. After I finish this bottle I doubt if I'll ever buy dye from Bleach London again, instead sticking to brands I know will work, that are cheaper and come with gloves, conditioner and more.  

What really bugs me about this brand is the huge hype it has, when there are other brands that have been out longer with better results and they don't get talked about half as much. I hope over the next few months when more people have tried Bleach London there will be more praise for other brands. Right now only the big Boots in Liffey Valley stocks it, but you can order it online.

Penneys, Boots And Other Random Bits Haul

I know I've just done a haul post, but that was for books and this haul only has one book in it. So that doesn't count at all. Right? Grand! I went off to Penneys in search of some new leggings the other day and naturally spent 'only 5 minutes' - An hour later I came out with half the shop. I'm not even slightly sorry. I got a load of new knickers too and if you've been round these parts long enough, you'll know I always show you my new knickers. I'm nice like that you see. 

First off, I went into Boots for only hair stuff and walked out with only the hair stuff. Lads I don't think I was very well. I needed a new shampoo and conditioner, Boots own brand smells divine and it was two for €3. Sorted! They didn't have my normal hair dye in stock (the blue box? I'm great with the names..) so I picked up the fancy new Bleach London that seems to only be in stock in the Liffey Valley branch. Boo for that if your interested in getting your mitts on some, but you can get it online. This was €6.69 and the range is drool worthy. Seriously, go. Look at it all. Cry a little if you must. Its a brand of beauty.

Picked up a sneaky €3.99 chicklit in the value book shop in town and a Maleficent Funko Pop figure in Dublin Comic Book shop. €15 but would you look at it! No? I'll be in the corner.. 

Then I went a little crazy in Penneys. I needed it all, Honestly. I got two gorgeous necklaces, the colourful bead one was €6 and the arrow, feather and triangle one was €3. I couldn't leave the pink roses for €2 in the shop either. They called to me. It was meant to be.

I got all the knickers. Cats, stars, butterfiles. Oh my little heart is happy. They were all about €2 and the lovely (if I do say so myself) royal blue bra was €5. I has a matching thong but I already used that to floss my teeth with. Ha! Me? Thong! Would you go way outta' that!

You can never go wrong with €3 for a pair of shoes that, yes ok. Will fall apart in about 10 minutes but they were nice. The leggings that were €2.50 each and a weird sheer material black floaty kimono that was €9 were all too bored and hard to photograph. But you know what all that jazz looks like. 

I needed a mirror for my bag after months of squinting at my reflection on my phone and this owl one was happy making for €2.50. I also got €3 cupcake headphones. They don't give amazing sound but for that price and the fact that when I break them in the near future I wont feel too bad.  

Two quick repurchases were my beloved Catrice concealer palette €3.79 and my Wet'n'Wild pressed powder for €3.99. I also nabbed a Garnier eye makeup remover for only €2.30. Its €2.86 in Boots - its the little victories! 

Anything catch your eye from my haul? 

Or have you bought any bargains recently?

Repost: Hair Dying The Wrong Way By Some Pretentious Name

This post is a little different. Its a very special repost  from one of my very best friends. She has just started blogging at Some Pretentious Name and I am pleased to say that I don't have to be a good friend and lie - its actually a funny and interesting read that I really enjoy. Go you girl ;) We decided to dye my hair and this is a repost of hers. Enjoy! 

Dear Barren Recess,

I have dyed my hair. Many, many times. My hair is basically a chameleon attached to my head.

You would think that after the 18 odd time I have dyed my hair, I would have learned the various tricks of the trade. I really..really wish I had. That way, when friends of mine (Such as the Big Blonde Girl) come over and ask me to do their hair for them, assuming I have absolute expertise, I could actually make their hair into something that does not resemble a troll. As it is, I shall just have to settle with laughing at their now misshapen tufts of hair.

Clearly they haven't got the message yet, because Big Blonde Girl asked my to dye the ends of her hair pink and blue.

Here is our attempt to make it work.(My incredibly short attention span led me to forget to take pictures of anything but the bleaching). Beware, boring post ahead.

So this is what her hair looked like before. She had dyed it before at Halloween, the same pink and blue again , but she her hair was dark brown at the ends so it didn't take properly, specifically the blue. If your hair is not light enough, blue will often turn a kind of swampy green, which I am guessing is not what you had in mind if you are using blue dye.

We used Jerome Russell high lift bleach powder and maximum lift cream peroxide, and mixed it all up together.

When making this mixture, it should be a thick bright blue paste. The bleach powder is very important, because it makes it go more of a yellow/blonde, whereas the cream peroxide alone will go bright orange (However, if your hair is dark, or previously dyed a dark colour, it will go orange anyway).Then just kinda coat it onto the ends of the hair, making sure you get everything. Make sure to get the same distance from the bottom of the hair at all sides, cause otherwise it just looks weird. Unless that's what you're going for, in which case more power to yah.

Here is a picture of her hair about 2/3s of the way done. If you are doing this on your own, separate your hair into right and left sections and have them hanging down by your face for easy access.

We then turned wrapped tinfoil around the bleached bits and left it in for 40 minutes. Then we washed all of the bleach out, and sat her down again. 

For doing a two tone dip dye we used Crazy Colour hair dye in Bubblegum Blue and Candy Floss. The best option is probably putting the bottom colour in , letting it sit, washing it out and adding in the second colour. But I was lazy, so we just popped them both in together and washed them out after another 30 minutes. Or we would have, but she fell asleep, so it was more like 2 hours. 

As a result, we wound up with shades of blue, green, purple and pink. The peroxide didn't work as well as we hoped it would, probably because it wasn't left in long enough.

And here we have the finished result the next day! Personally, though it didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would, I don't think it was all that bad! Though it looks quite different here then it does in actuality. Maybe the camera just shows you what you want to see rather then what is actually there. But if that was the case, than why does it still show me when I take pictures of myself? Curiouser and curioser?

I shall now end this post, my darling Barren Recess. I am sorry that it was the most boring post in a series of boring posts. I shall promise that I will try to be better.

Sincerely,

S

I'm really pleased with how my hair turned out! Thanks S x Go check out more of this girls fab writing over here.

All pictures copyright of SomePretentiousName

The Catch Up

Hi, hello. Yes I am here. I haven't posted in a little while and I thought I'd have a bit of a catch up with you all. I think recently the best way to keep an nosy eye on what I'm up to is to follow me on Instagram as I've been most active there. 

You know, the world is a big scary place sometimes and it can be hard to get your head around it when your sat behind the safety of your computer screen blabbering away about a face mask or a new blog your loving at the moment. But I sat and thought about the people that are potentially reading this blog (or not!) and started comparing myself to other people. Next thing you know I'm curled up in bed rocking back and forth under the covers hoping I'll never again have to face the world. I'm not sure if its a type of anxiety, but whatever it is I'm not letting it get in the way any longer then it has. 

Heres a few things that have been happening lately that I've snapped and want to share with you all. Posts will be back to normal from today and I've lots of hauls, reviews and rambles I can't wait to share with you all! For example, I got a new tattoo!! I know, I'm overly excited about it. I dyed my hair a few colours and my Halloween giveaway is closed and a winner was picked by random selection by rafflecopter. 

Halloween bun that I made loads of with my gran/ Lush Sex Bomb bath bomb/ My not so scary Halloween make up (and dyed hair!)

Chocolate muffin on a really nice girly day out/ We caved the pumpkins!/ Dodie wanted a bath too 

 

I went to IKEA and got overexcited about the teddies/ Gran made yet even more buns/ My Halloween giveaway is over and won!

My blue, green, pink and prrple hair/ Paint your own Santa present that I bought/ Totally addicted to coffee again

See you sooner then you think x