Hair Story Part 4: Tuquoise/Pastel Blue Mermaid Hair to Silver/Platinum Blonde

The blue and purple-pink Mermaid hair stayed strong throughout Download Festival and all the rain, then after a few washes and some fading, I decided to strip the colour.

I used 1 box of ColourB4, which I left on my hair for 60 minutes.

The end result was a turquoise/pastel blue shade, which I actually really liked. I’d always wanted to try pastel-coloured hair.

A couple of people described it as ‘Mermaid hair’, and anything mermaid is good with me.

Gradually, through use of John Frieda Go Blonde shampoo and conditioner, the turquoise/pastel blue faded to a light blonde/silver, almost platinum shade.

My hair excites me when it does this, just changes from shade to shade, like magic!

I have magical mermaid hair, yippee.

I kept my hair like this for a very short while, before having another great idea...

Stayed tuned for Part 5; my pastel-pink My Little Pony hair.

xXx

Hair Story Part 3: DIY Mermaid Hair With Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Electric Blue and Shocking Pink

In my last post, I spoke about the pre-lightening process that I went through, using Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL 00B Max Blonde, in preparation for my blue and pink Download Festival hair. I also tested some Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Electric Blue on a strand of hair.

The fourth day came, and it was time for the big hair colouring session. Time to brave it and go for the full head blue and pink...

Thankfully, I had decided that it was best to buy another box of Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Electric Blue, as 1 box just wouldn’t have been enough!

Once again, my sister helped me out. Thanks Donna! We started by wetting my hair, then sectioning in to 2, with the hair brought to the front. We then covered the bottom of my hair in Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Shocking Pink, before spreading Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Electric Blue throughout the rest of my hair, from the roots, the start of the pink section. Once Donna had finished helping, we left the dye to develop, adding a little more Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Shocking Pink with my glove-less fingers (sin!), particularly focusing on the area where the blue ended and pink began, to make sure no blue was left and that the colours blended together nicely.

The dyes were left to develop for around 30 minutes, before I got in the shower and washed my hair.

As I washed the colours together, the pink ended up more of a purple-pink shade, but I loved the end result.

Great success, I had the mermaid hair which I have always wanted.

Ignore the date, this was taken at Download Festival in June. A friend took this by surprise, I was unprepared but it came out quite cool! His caption of 'How can anyone be this photogenic' will forever make me smile. So sweet :)

Wet hair at Download. I would like to thank the rain for my lovely curls!

and here's my hair, post-Download rain and after a few washes:

The colours soon started to wash/fade out, in to various shades of blue, turquoise, yellow, green, pink and purple. Quite funky! I then stripped my hair, using ColourB4. More about what I did next coming up in Part 4 :)

After creating my Mermaid/Download hair, I was left with over half a tube of Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Shocking Pink, which I kept hold of. Thankfully, the tube has a resealable lid. YAY!

Once again, I was left very impressed by Schwarzkopf's products and loved my hair colours.

xXx

Disclaimer: I was very excited to have been sent a box of Live Color XXL Electric Blue and Live Color XXL Shocking Pink from Schwarzkopf. The second box of Live Color XXL Electric Blue was purchased with my own money, as were the 2 boxes of Live Colour XXL Max Blonde, which I used in the pre-lightening process. I am a massive fan of Schwarzkopf and have used many of their hair colours and other products over the years, a lot of which can be found reviewed on my blog. Big thank you to Schwarzkopf for introducing me to these colours! 

Hair Story Part 2: Going Blonde With Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL 00B Max Blonde

Part 2 of my Hair Story is finally here, this took a while, I know. Life!

In Part 3, I am going to go through my blue/purple-pink hair, aka Mermaid/Download hair. The look that I chose for this years Download Festival.

Before creating my Mermaid/Download hair, I pre-lightened my peachy-blonde hair (the result of using ColourB4 to strip out the faded reddish-brown shade, which was previously Schwarzkopf Red Berry Passion), to ensure that I got the brightest blue and pink that I could and to cover up the dark roots.
I have used many of Schwarzkopf's hair colors over the years and have always been impressed, so I decided to try their Live Color XXL 00B Max Blonde hair colour to pre-lighten my hair.

I bought a box of Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL 00B Max Blonde, yes, just 1 box. I later regretted this. 1 box was not enough for my long hair.

The dye was quite difficult to put through my hair, as it is very dry and powdery.

The end result was a bit of a shock,the roots had taken the dye, but the majority of my hair hadn’t.

I was left with a patchy ‘Racoon’ look. My fault for only using 1 box of dye.

I kept my hair like this the following day, before buying another box. Weirdly, I received compliments on the Racoon hair.

That night, my sister put the second box of Max Blonde on my hair.

Success!

The end result was very bright, slightly yellow-toned blonde.

I kept my hair blonde for the next day, before adding a blue streak that night night, as I wanted to try out Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Electric Blue, before going for the full head.

Once I got it right and used the correct amount of dye, Max Blonde worked perfectly to achieve the result that I wanted. I was really impressed at how well and how bright it lightened my hair.

I am considering using Max Blonde again soon, as I want to pre-lighten my hair and try to even out my roots.

Stay tuned for my post about the blue and purple-pink Mermaid/Download hair.

Click here to read Part 1 of my Hair Story and check out my hair colour collage.

xXx

Hair Story Part 1: A Whole Lotta Colour

Wow, my hair has changed a lot between June and August!

I’ve always been a fan of hair colour and being someone who gets bored easily and loves to experiment, at-home DIY hair colouring provides me with a lot of fun!

Earlier this year, Schwarzkopf kindly sent me 2 of their new shades from the Live Color XXL Ultra Brights range, Electric Blue and Shocking Pink. I was super-excited to have received these before they were even available in shops, but I had to hold back on using them, due to an important business meeting with work! I just wanted to get the colours on my locks!

So, it was June and Download Festival was fast approaching. I decided that I would use the dyes to create my ‘Download Hair’ of 2013. Last year, I had faded purple hair, a result of Schwarzkopf Cyber Purple fade-out, this year...I had blue and purple-pink mermaid hair, yay! Since then, my hair has continued to change, as you can see from my collage! Though a lot of these shades are results of hair colour fade-out. I love a good fade-out! I'm going to do a whole series of My Hair Story posts, featuring each of the main colours, what products I used and how I achieved them. My Hair Story will continue with a post on my ‘Mermaid/Download Hair’, so stay tuned for that.

I'd love to hear from fellow hair colour lovers!
Are you daring with hair colour?
What is your favourite colour?
At home DIY colouring, or done by salon pro's?

xXx

Disclaimer: Schwarzkopf kindly sent me 1 box of Electric Blue and 1 box of Shocking Pink, from their Live Color XXL Ultra Brights range, for review. I have always loved the brand and have blogged about them many times. My post on their Raspberry Rebel shade has received over 12,000 hits to date, for which I am very grateful and happy. I also used a box of Colour B4 (from Medichem), which was also sent to me some time ago, as a thank you for the review that I did on Colour B4.
As always, all opinions are 100% honest and my own. I would highly recommend both Schwarzkopf and Colour B4 and rave about these on my blog, on Twitter and away from the internet, to friends, family, bloggers and others!

Back to Blonde: Colour B4 Review

This is my second review of Colour B4 Hair Colour Remover (Extra Strength), so it will be a short one. If you'd like to read my full review, you can find my first Colour B4 review on my blog.

Last time, my hair went from a faded-out purple mix, to a strawberry blonde shade.

This time, my hair went from a faded-out reddish mix, to a strawberry blonde again.

I was pleasantly surprised with the end result of my second Colour B4 experience.

Before and After photos:

As you can see, Colour B4 worked really well and completely removed the reddish shade that my hair was.

Note - the darker top bit is my roots. My roots even have roots... I have a bad habit of letting my hair grow out whilst colours fade out!

I am currently using John Frieda Blonde shampoo and conditioner, in hope that this will lighten my hair a little, then I plan to dye it with the blonde John Frieda hair dye I won at the #NorthMeetUp.

Once again, the only downside is the smell. It really is quite an overpowering eggy smell, though this hasn't stayed in my hair as long this time round, phew!

Despite the smell, I would definitely recommend Colour B4 to anyone looking to remove hair dye/colour build up.

I always recommend it to people who ask about hair dye and removing colour from hair. Colour B4 is a fantastic product. It doesn't damage hair, contains no bleach or ammonia and works wonders!

Colour B4 is priced at £11.99 but can sometimes be found on offer. (I got 2 for 1 at Superdrug last year!). Colour B4 can be purchased at Boots, Superdrug, selected supermarkets, pharmacies and online.

Have you tried Colour B4?

xXx

Disclaimer: Product purchased with my own money during Superdrug's 2 for 1 offer last summer. However, I do have a box that Colour B4 (Medichem) kindly sent me, which I will use in the near future, as I have lots of exciting plans for my hair, so Colour B4 will come in handy :)

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Ultra Brights Raspberry Rebel

So, I've been gone a while and now I'm back, with a new hair colour :D

Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL Ultra Brights Hair Dye Raspberry Rebel 91

 

 
As you can see, I didn't go over my roots before dying, so the top is darker and I didn't pre-lighten my hair (which is a good job really, seeing as it is very bright as it is!)

The new colour has gone down very well, which is good. Most people think it is red and I've had a few Ariel comments, which makes me happy, seeing as I love Ariel, The Little Mermaid and anything mermaid!!

I'd say it's more reddish pink, well, raspberry!

As much as I love the colour, I'm not sure how long I'll stick with it, due to the fact I am struggling with clothes and make-up. I wear a lot of black, which is fine but as for make-up, I'm a massive lipstick fan and I'm finding it hard to wear most colours with the new hair colour.

I've washed it 4 times already and the colour is still vibrant, despite the box saying it lasts 6-8 washes.

The photo below is taken during the day, without flash, after 4 washes.

There are 2 other shades in the Ultra Brights collection, Pillar Box Red and Fiery Copper. Both look equally as amazing!

Currently available for £4 and under in most shops, Boots, Superdrug etc.

 

 I used 2 boxes, as my hair is very long.

Left the colour in for just over 30 minutes.

The dye is ready to use, all that comes in the box is the colour creme tube, 2 sachets of conditioner, gloves and instructions.

One thing that AMAZED me about this was that it actually smells of raspberries...WOW. This made the whole at home hair dying experience so much more pleasant.

Have you tried any of Schwarzkopf's XXL colours before?

Are you daring enough to try these Ultra Bright colours?

In the past, I had purple hair, which was thanks to Schwarzkopf's XXL Cyber Purple. You can see photos of my purple hair on my blog.

I had purple hair from January 2011, up to this summer, when I used Colour B4 to strip out the remaining purple shades down to the blonde/peach shade that my hair has been until now :)

I really recommend Schwarzkopf's XXL hair dyes!

Oh, I should add...this was a nightmare to get hold of, it's been flying off the shelves! I had to get 1 box from town, then go on a wild goose chase to find a second box, everywhere sold out then I found a box at the retail park, phew.

xXx

My Colour B4 Story

Oh My, I haven't blogged in over 3 weeks...

Apologies for being a poop blogger!

Life has been so hectic, but fun :)

Tonight's post is my experience with Colour B4 (Extra Strength) following on from my last post about my Hair Colour Dilemma...

(Thank you for all the lovely comments on that post, they made me smile!)

I decided to go for it and get my sister to Colour B4 my hair.

Parting with the faded out purple/multi-coloured hair was tough. Made worse by the fact people were still telling me they liked it and that it was cool up until the day I Colour B4'd!

Anyway, here's some photos...

(Excuse un-made-up face! and Good Charlotte tee from 2007 tour, muaha)

Kit

Part of the process, wrap your head in cling film to keep the heat in and help the product work!

(What a vile photo, haha!)

Had to sit like this for 60 minutes, fun.

Results straight after using Colour B4:

The next day, after another wash:

Before and After:

My Thoughts:

Overall I found that the product did as it was supposed to, so I'm pretty pleased and would recommend.

I knew it would leave a brassy tone, but it's quite an interesting one and I've had compliments on it.

I will be colouring my hair again very soon, I'm just rocking this shade out for a little while :)

Still not sure what colour to go next and I still have Chocolate Brown, Cyber Purple and Red Berry Passion dye at home!

Apparently my current shade is somewhere between ginger, strawberry blonde, peach, blonde, brassy blonde and also pinkish tones - so say friends and family!

Definitely a shade I've not been before anyway...

The only problem I had with Colour B4 is the smell...

The smell, it's so damn nasty!

Think eggy fart gas, not nice.

and I don't seem to be able to get rid of it, after many washes, sprays, perfumes, hair products, Batiste, etc :(

If anyone has any suggestions, please help! It has got milder now though...
Colour B4 contains no ammonia or bleach, which is also a big plus!

Other than the smell, the product is good, left me hair feeling soft and not dried out at all!

It pretty much works miracles.

I do have roots though, which is my fault for using it with such bad roots, not sure how to even my hair out...

Colour B4 is available at Boots, Superdrug and possibly other chemists.

I got mine on offer, 2 for 1 from Superdrug months ago! £11.99 for 2 boxes (yeah, I still have another box...).

Have you tried Colour B4?

Thoughts?

I hope you are all well :)

I'll hopefully be getting more posts out from now on, must stop slacking and get back into blogging!

It's been my 25th birthday and everything.

So much to blog about!

xXx

HELP: Hair Colour Dilemma!

Hello lovelies.

I have an open dilemma tonight and would love opinions, please :)

I've put this on my personal Facebook and so far it's about 11-3 in favour of blonde, though the people who say purple know me and my style best.

I put this on Twitter but only had 1 reply, from the lovely Laura who said 'wow you're so lucky, both colours look amazing on you. I love both! If I had to choose though the purple xx', which made me smile :)

and IRL: it's pretty much 50/50 with the office ladies hating blonde, family loving blonde - some friends saying blonde, some saying purple.

I'm so indecisive, I just don't know what to do but it's my birthday next week and I'd like to finally sort it by then.

The other issue is blonde means hairdressers, money and the risk of further ruin.

Purple/other means about £5 per box, home dying by my sister.

Blonde is also high maintenance...

Here's (quite a few) photos of my hair blonde and purple...

Please leave comments below :)

Blonde Vs Purple:

The very first purple from blonde:

My hair a month before, with some clip-in extensions that we tried the purple dye on:

Some of my blonde shades/looks that I liked:

Some of my favourite purple shades/looks:

Different shades of purple:

(Above is the current shade/s)

The current root situation:

(Photo taken at Download Festival - hair was destroyed!)

More recent photos:

My sister put some Loreal Casting Creme Gloss in 515 Chocolate Truffle on last year...it showed slightly but was no match for the purple underneath and faded within a matter of days:

and for those who question my natural colour...

Damn that little girl above with her natural bright blonde locks!

(and look at the face on my little sister, haha)

I've been many colours over the years, I lose track of all the colours. Always wanted to do a Hairstory post but trying to remember all the colours that I have been and find photos is difficult.

However, I will tell you my WORST colour choice ever...

BLACK, JET BLACK!!!

- Never again O.o

and going back to blonde from said jet black was a looooong, expensive process.

Hair colours I'd love to try:

Ariel (The Little Mermaid) red

Candy colours

Dip-dye

Ombre

Turquoise

- I planned to do something crazy for Download but again, could not decide in time :(

I loved blonde, but I loved the purple.

But then I'd quite like to try a different colour...

Though people keep complimenting my current look and saying it works quite well, at the Batiste Lace launch I was told it was 'Root Attitude'.

I definitely had more compliments since I've been purple but I just feel like changing...

Damn you, indecisive mind, damn you!

I currently have a stash of dyes and some colour removal that I have accumulated recently!

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what colour I should go.

I just can't decide, way too indecisive.

Hope you are all having a good week :)

xXx