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!

I've Been Away A While...

Hello All

(or whoever is still reading my blog, after the closure of Google Reader!)

It has been over a month since my last blog post and boy, oh boy, the past month has been crazy!

I have so much to talk about, as always. So expect to see a lot more posts coming up.

I have 5 days off work, starting tomorrow, as part of my Birthweek celebrations. Yes, on Monday 8th, I turn 26 years young! And in my usual style, I'm going all-out on the celebrations!

Tonight, I am going to Wolverhampton, for a few drinks at The Giffard Arms, with my lovely sister. I love The Giff, it's an awesome 'rock pub', similar to my favourite hometown pub, The Yorkshire House, except The Giff is larger, with 2 floors, a beer garden and a 2 dancefloors (and an awesome gothic chair!).

Friday - Alton Towers with my sister, then home, quick change and off to Aberystwyth, for a night of camping, sunset on the beach and drinks, with 3 of my good lad mates

Saturday - Day at the seaside in Aber, then a meal and drinks with friends in the evening

Sunday - LONDON!!!

Monday - LONDON!!! Yes, I will be waking up in London on my actual birthday - way too excited about this!

Tuesday - Chill out day, lunch, cupcake catch-up with my bestest in the lovely Ironbridge, then cinema to see Now You See Me

I'M SO EXCITED, I NEED TO SHOUT!!!

(This is a joke between a couple of friends and I, FYI)

Anywhoooo, enough of the over-excited rambling...

Here's a bit of what I've been up to since my last post:

I went blonde (for a couple of days)

I became a mermaid (well, almost...)

I finally got to see BON JOVI live, supported by one of my favourite bands, Kids in Glass Houses

I rocked out at Download Festival

I met some awesome people!

I took my parents away for mum's birthday and a late Father's Day treat, to New Brighton and Liverpool for a night and 2 days

I bought some new Jeffrey Campbell boots!

I've shared some hilarious times with great friends

I had a lovely day out at Dudley Zoo and Castle

I've shopped, oh man, have I shopped!

 (This is my Liverpool haul - going to Liverpool on payday was a bad idea!)

and I've been working out at the gym

In the space of a month, I've lost half a stone, my blood pressure has dropped and my resting heart beat has lowered. My water intake was low, but my assessment was the day after I came home from Download...

That's enough from me for now, massive ramble there!

Life is good and I'm just really happy :)

xXx

Escentual #MicellarBlindTrial

Micellar water has become a big thing in beauty recently. It cleanses, removes make-up, unclogs pores and so much more.

I've been using up small samples from various brands and I was on the search for a good micellar water to order a full-size bottle of! So, I was really excited when I received an email from Escentual, asking if I would like to take part in their 14 day #MicellarBlindTrial. I jumped at the chance!

100 people were selected and we all received 7 generous 20ml dropper bottles of micellar water, from 7 different brands...

BUT...

We do not know which is which! The bottles are simply labelled Sample A - Sample G.

How exciting?!

The brands in this trial are Dior, Caudalie, Bioderma, Nuxe, La Roche-Posay, Vichy and Avène.

I think that this is a fantastic idea and I am really excited to have been a part of the trial.

I haven't seen dropper bottles since school, this feels like a fun science experiment!

Last year, I received Taaj micellar water in one of my old beauty boxes and that stuff was great!

I found the majority of the micellar waters nice to use, except for one...

Sample B -Well, this caused me some problems! My skin flared up, went red, blotchy and a load of spots appeared, almost immediately. This may sound stupid, but after a few days break, using different micellar waters (which helped my skin recover), I decided to return to Sample B, just to check! The result, immediate bad skin, again. Confirming that it was Sample B. When I told my mum, she had a stress. I've always had sensitive skin, so the very perfumed Sample B did not go well with my skin! My sister and friend even commented a couple of times on my 'blotchy' skin. One of my sister's comments was "You haven't had spots like that in years! Eurgh!". Charming, I know. But that is how bad my skin reacted!

I have now submitted my results, via Escentual's very tough survey. It was difficult to choose a favourite, but Sample C definitely stood out to me, as it really helped to soothe, calm and cleanse my skin, particularly after my incident with Sample B. Sample C was a bit of a saviour. I would probably try all the micellar waters again, bar Sample B. Though some were quite drying. Sample A had a strong scent, which I read a lot of people were not fond of, but it was quite nice, in my opinion. All others (apart from the highly perfumed Sample B) had quite nice, refreshing scents, some almost unscented.

Thank you to Escentual, for giving us this opportunity.

I look forward to the reveal of what brands were which samples.

Have you tried micellar water?

Any recommendations?

xXx

Illamasqua Paranormal Collection UV Nail Polish 'Omen'

Last Sunday, I attended Illamasqua's monthly Beauty School Drop-In, at Selfridges, Birmingham. More about that soon!

And of course, I couldn't walk away from the Illamasqua counter empty-handed...

Illamasqua have just launched their new Paranormal Collection and from seeing a sneak peak of the glittery UV polishes in last month's Company Magazine, I knew I had to have some!

I used my BlanX White Shock LED light to check out the UV effect, wow!

I'm not usually a fan of green nails, but Omen, the green, glittery polish from the Paranormal Collection, really stood out to me! It's a gorgeous colour. The other colours available are Ouija (pink), Séance (purple) and Geist (a clear UV topcoat). I already have many pink and purple polishes, but I would love to try these Paranormal polishes too!

I love the display!

The Polish:

Omen is a beautiful light green, glitterful polish.

It is UV, as are all the Paranormal polishes.

The shade reminds me of Ariel, The Little Mermaid's fin. And anything mermaid is a winner with me!

I'm in love with this polish!

This is my second Illamasqua nail polish, but I definitely plan to buy more soon! You can read my review of Scarce, the speckled polish from the I'mperfection Collection, here.

Illamasqua polishes are a little more expensive than the usual high-street/drugstore brands, such as Barry M and Models Own. Retailing at £15 each, the price is high but you definitely get what you pay for, great quality! The price is the only reason that I didn't buy all 4 of the Paranormal polishes.

Here's the polish...

and here it is, after 5 days! I rarely keep polishes on for more than 2 days but I love Omen so much, I kept it on the whole week!

It only started to chip on day 5, so impressed, great wear!
Only 2 coats were required for good coverage.

What do you think of the Paranormal Collection?

Do you like green nails?

xXx

MAC Hayley Williams Sounds Like Noise Lipstick Review & Swatches

MAC Hayley Williams Sounds Like Noise: Bright Matte Orange Lipstick

Orange lipstick? Yes, orange lipstick!

Who loves orange lipstick? Zoe loves orange lipstick. Is it true? Mm-hmm. I do, I do ,I do, I do, I do-ooh! :)

(If you get the reference, awesome!)

When I heard that MAC were collaborating with Hayley Williams from Paramore, I was intrigued. Hayley's style is unique and I love how she works crazy colours, not only clothes, but hair and beauty too. I've always liked Paramore. I remember when I first heard Emergency, way back in 2006/7, then bought their album. Paramore are still around, making music and I love their new track 'Still Into You', it's so catchy!

I hadn't planned to buy anything from the Hayley Williams MAC collection at first, mainly as I'm trying to save money and wasn't so sure on the very orange-based collection.

However, when the products were released a few weeks back, the hype and swatches made me NEED to buy in to the collection. Plus, there was free delivery, SOLD.

By the time I went on the MAC website, the gorgeous eyeshadow had sold out (boohoo!), BUT, the lipstick was still available! I love MAC lipsticks. Since I bought my first (MAC Disney Venomous Villains Violetta) back in 2010, my MAC lipstick collection has grown and grown. I'll be blogging about my collection very soon.

On to the lipstick:

Being a matte lipstick, it is slightly drying, but not as much as others that I have tried and application was smooth.

Opaque colour is achievable in just one swipe.

£14, MAC Cosmetics.

Unfortunately, this is now sold out but there are many other orange lipsticks available.

Orange is a big beauty trend this year and is perfect for the summer months! I have another bright orange lipstick, Barry M's 117, which I have only ever used once, when I dressed as a pumpkin many-a Halloween ago! I must dig it out and try it again.

Here I am, wearing Sounds Like Noise on a day out in Aberystwyth with my parents :)

Bubblegum ice cream - delicious! We then did a 6 mile coastal walk to Borth, so technically, I worked it off, right?!

I'm a massive lipstick fan and I will wear any and every shade. I have everything from standard nude, pinks, reds, to crazy colours like black, green and blue!

What do you think of orange lipstick?

Are you experimental with lipstick?

xXx