FOTD: I Dyed My Hair Red...Sort Of

Hi guys! Long time no see! I have been such a terrible blogger >_<" I wish I could say I have been really busy, but I have actually been really uninspired lately. Also I have been binge watching Netflix and Crunchyroll! I have a few quick updates to share with you all. First of all, I dyed my hair red. Kind of. I lightened my hair a bit because I want to dye it blue when I go to Anime Expo (July 3-July 6), but I hated how it looked as a really light brown. So I decided to dye it red in the mean time. Why not just dye it blue right now? Well I can't have blue hair at work, but apparently red is acceptable xD

Next sort of update is that I will be having my regular Series Challenge for June! I skipped May because I was being lazy but I will be continuing that! Anyway here is my FOTD for today!

                                                                                      Products Used                                                                              

 

Eyes

- Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser 'Neutralizer'

- Wet n Wild 'Vanity' Palette (shimmery pale gold)

- Kat Von D liquid liner

- L'oreal Voluminous Miss Manga mascara

- Wet n Wild Ultimate Brow Kit

Face & Lips 

- Wet n Wild CoverAll Foundatiin

- Revlon Matte Balm 'Standout'

Thank you for reading!

     

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Hair Styling

Greetings lovely Dark Siders,

I've had many requests to do a hair care and hair styling post. I've recently have been doing less and less to my hair, but apperantly most of you have liked how it looks like that so I will share what little I do to style my hair.

*Please excuse the fact that I am not wearing any makeup in the shots. I took the photos right after taking a shower and I didn't want to put makeup just to take the photos.

1. Shampoo and Conditioner

These are two pretty standard hair care products, but they can make a huge difference in the way your hair looks and styles. Ever since I switched to the Clear shampoos and conditioners, but hair has been healthier than ever. Although the portions of my hair that are colored can get dry, my natural hair is so soft and healthy. I have not had any split ends since I switched shampoos ^_^ I am currently using the Total Care one, but I like all the other Clear shampoos/conditioners I have tried.

First Impression: Anastasia HyperColor Brow & Hair Powders

Greetings from the Dark Side :)

As you may have noticed, I love bright hair colors! If I could I would want ALL of my hair to be a lavender color. But alas, my hair is very dark and I would inevitably ruin my hair with all the bleaching I would have to do to get my hair to be almost white.

I am not the only one who does not like to bleach my hair (even though I still do!), and so many others who seek to have bright hair colors use alternative methods of hair color. One of those methods is hair chalk. The brand Anastasia Beverly Hills has released something similar to hair chalk called HyperColor. They say that unlike hair chalk, HyperColor "is ultra-pigmented, safe for cosmetic use on brows and eyes, and won't dry your hair out". These are wipe-on hair colors that wash off safely and easily from the hair so it is ideal for people who don't want to commit to semi-permanent hair colors.

I wanted to test these out to see how they work. I have both my natural dark brown hair and bleached hair to work with, so I have the advantage to testing how these work on dark versus light colored hair. Let use see how they did!

All About My Bright Hair Color (Long Post!)

 I have received many request in the past weeks for me to do a post about my colorful hair. I get so many questions about what products I use, maintenance, and just my overall experience with bright hair colors. Here, I will try to be as thorough as I can. I think to get the best idea of the products I use, it is easier for me to start from the very beginning.

BLEACHING

The first time I decided to have bright hair was when I was in high school, but that was a long time ago and I already forgot what products I had first used. My desire for purple hair resurfaced in the beginning of this past spring. I have naturally very dark hair and of course I had to bleach it first before I could even think of having my hair purple. There are many different bleach options, but I went for the Jerome Russell Punky Colors Bleach Kit (shown below). This is a great, easy to use bleach for beginners. It is only a one time use though, but it has everything you need to bleach your hair. I like it because I am such a noob with bleach and it is hard to mess up with this kit. This bleach turns my dark hair into a pale yellow (it still has some orange tones to it though) withing about 25-30 min. This is the only bleach I have used, and for the time being, I will stick to this one.

Not my image. Found through Google Images.

Review: Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy Total Care Shampoo and Conditioner

Hello everyone!

I wanted to share with you my experience using the Clear Total Care shampoo and conditioner. I first received a sample of this product in the Influester Summer Vox Box and I instantly fell in love with it! So stick around if you want to know a little about this new line of hair care products :)

Review + Giveaway: Aya Japanese Camellia Oil

Greetings Dark Siders~

If you read my previous review of the Japanese Rice Bran Oil that was sent to me by WAWAZA, then this review might seem similar. This is a review of another oil sent to me by WAWAZA, the Camelia Oil for hair and body.

5ml sample

Here is some information that was provided with the sample:

 

Price and Availability

You can purchase this on https://wawaza.com/

This is $22 for a 30ml and $46 for a 100ml bottle.

Review

According to the WAWAZA website, this is a cold pressed unscented Camellia oil from Japan.

Why is it important that this oil is cold pressed? Well their website explains this in detail:

"Cold pressed oils are oils which have been produced by mechanically pressing the seeds, preserving the oil's original character and nutritional content. Cold pressing delivers only about 20-30% of the available oil contained in the seed.

Heat extraction increases yield, lowers cost and lowers oil's health benefits. Oils extracted by heat undergo temperatures of up to 150° C (about 300° F) under extremely high pressure to keep the oil from boiling. The process degrades nutritional value of the oil, and changes the nature of the oil's fatty acids to an abnormal configuration. Heat extraction delivers about 60-70% of the available oil contained in the seed.
Some manufacturers, to fully extract the seed's oil, use high heat along with powerful carcinogenic solvents such as ethanol or Hexane (C6H14). Adding solvents to the heat extraction process increases the yield to up to 98% of the available oil contained in the seed.
All of our oil including Aya™ are extracted in manual presses, without employing the use of heat, solvents, Hexane or alcohol extraction processes." 


The oil itself is a saturated golden color and it is super lightweight. When I apply it onto my skin, it hardly feels like an oil. It is very luxuriant and moisturizing. You can use it on your hair, cuticles, and skin. I personally use it mostly for my skin and cuticles. I don't particularly love it on my hair and I also already have products I use for my hair. But, if this does work well for you hair, you can have a great multi-tasking product! 
This is so great for the very dry skin on my legs (especially for after shaving). It leaves my legs smooth and radiant! That it is really all I can say. It is moisturizing without the oily feeling ;)
As far as cons, I could not think of many. Well, really, only the price and the fact that it did not do much for my own hair. It is not the cheapest product ever, but if it works well for you, then it is worth the investment of having one product that you can use on your hair, body, and nails.

Rating: 8.5/10

Product In Action!

The product is slightly runny as you can see.

Below is the oil blended onto my skin. Notice that it does not look oily what-so-ever, and this photo was taken 30 seconds after blending the oil in.

 GIVEAWAY~!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Products shown were provided for consideration and review by the company's PR. I was not paid for this review and all opinions stated are my own.

New Hair!

Hi everyone~

For a while now I have been trying to grow my hair out. I have had medium length hair since I was in high school, and I finally had decided that I wanted it to be long again. It was going great until about two weeks ago when I went to to trim my hair. The hair dresser, instead of cutting 1 inch off, cut way too much of my hair (at least 3-4 inches),and she also cut it oddly. After she cut it, it looked so weird. I hated how it looked. After some pondering, I decided to go cut it again. I would rather have short hair than long hair that looked really odd. And so two days ago, I went to my usual hair dresser and she cut my hair in a long A-line style. I really like how it came out! Now I just have to be patient and let it grow again =3

It's a little difficult to tell in the pictures, but it is a lot shorter than it was before. I am not worrying though. It will be nice to have short hair this summer, and it will be a lot more manageable too. I am quite pleased with it! I will be trying some hairstyles and see what suits this new cut best :)

Do you guys have any suggestions on ways to style short hair?

May Hits and Misses 2012

Hello there my lovely Troopers!
It's officially the last day of May! I am grateful too, since I want school to be over already. But last day means that it is time for this month's favorites and hates. I didn't notice this until I wrote the post, but I have a lot of MAC favorites this month O_o" So weird.

HITS

TOOLS

These are the brushes I've been loving this month~

MAC 109: I've had this for ages and it has served many purposes: foundation, blush, highlight, powder.  But now, I mainly use it for contouring. It works really awesomely for that.
Tokidoki Blending Brush: This brush is terrible for precise blending of the crease. But, it is amazing for when you really want to blend something out. I love using it for when I do a neutral eyeshadow all over the lid and I want to blend it out really well.
MAC217: This is my favorite brush from MAC. I used to use it for my crease, but I started to use it for concealer recently. It works amazing! I can't believe I had never used it for concealer before!

 FACE

MAC 'Eversun' Blush: This is an oldie. This was one of my first blushes from MAC and although its not a color I love, it just works really well for me. Apparently I like it more than I think because I use it ALL the time. Its a satin beauty powder blush in a soft terracotta color that works well as a contour or bronzer for me. I go rather light with this shade though. I don't want to look like an Oompa Looma xD
MAC Studio Finish Concealer: I don't love this,  but it works alright. It's very long lasting. I really just want to use it up so I can find a better concealer. Any suggestions?  I need something for acne scarring. This just doesn't really do the job.

EYES

Urban Decay 24/7 Liner 'Perversion': You probably have seen this in most of my looks recently. I really love this liner. It is so dark and smooth. It's long lasting and it doesn't smudge much on my eyes. I don't love the price, but it is well worth it. No other pencil works as well as this one for me.
MAC E/S 'Woodwinked' and 'Nylon': This month, I have gone back to using some of my neglected MAC shadows. I particularly am loving Nylon as a inner corner highlight and Woodwinked all over the lid with some heavy black liner and mascara. I will probably do a quick tutorial for that soon :)

LIPS

Jack Black Lip Balm 'Natural Mint': I love JB lip balm! It is my HG lip balm, especially right now that my lips have been insanely dry and peeling. I in particular love the mint flavor one. It leaves my lips feeling really refreshed and tingly! I always carry this in my purse.
MAC Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick: This lipstick is seriously phenomenal. It is a gorgeous sheer cherry red with some coral undertones. I am so sad that this is no longer available :( MAC should bring it back!My tube is almost gone T_T

SWATCHES

MISSES

Here are two products I just...well...I just don't like them. 

 John Frieda 3-Day Straight Styling Spray
This is one of those spray you put in your hair before drying and straitening in order to keep your hair straight for up to 3 days. I have no idea if it actually works because it makes my hair feel so gross. Bleh! I can't even stand to have it in my hair for one day, imagine 3! Yep, not happening. I'll try it again, and we shall see what happens.For for now, I hate it.

Rite Aid Renewal Makeup Removing Wipes

So these are "gentle"? Yeah, I don't think so. These stung my eyes so badly, and I didn't even place the wipe super close to my eyes. How does that happen???? They are okay at removing makeup but not worth it if they sting my eyes so much. For now I am just using them to remove the makeup on my hands when I swatch makeup for my blog. Better than throwing them away at least xD

What are your Hits and Misses? Have you tried any of the products on this post?

Thank you for reading =3 See you next time!

January/Febraury/March Empties

With the end of March just days away, I thought I would update you guys on the products I have used up. I also wanted to get rid of all the empties since I am cleaning my room ;P I think I will be doing one of these at the end of every month  so you guys can see what I have used up and I will have mini reviews for those products. Usually, the best impression of a product is when you have already used it all up.

1. Organix Macadamia Oil Intense Moisture Mask 
I used this hair mask in place of my usual Aussie one, but I like this one much better. This was about $4-5 so it is affordable like the Aussie one, but it left my hair feeling more hydrated and soft. I overall liked this, and I would repurchase it. I didn't like that it comes in a tub though; water can get inside of the container. I also finished it really fast, and I would hate having to repurchase it over and over because I use it up too quickly.

2. Secret gel deodorant
Honestly the only reason I buy this is because it smells really good. But it is not a long lasting deodorant, and I have been trying to look for a better, all-natural deodorant. Any recommendations?

Makeup Ban + Project 20 Pan + Mini Reviews

Hello lovelies~
I hope you guys are doing great! I finally settled in today, and I actually have time to do a few things I have been meaning to do for a while. One of those things is to update you all on my makeup ban and my P20P.

Makeup Ban
It has been about a month since I started my ban, and it has been going very well. If I said I had not purchased anything, I would be lying. I mentioned before that I bought two Revlon lipglosses, but I purchased them with a gift card so I didn't count them. Other than that, I haven't purchased anything makeup up related! I am so proud of myself, honestly. I will be continuing this makeup ban. But I think I will give myself a little break and purchase one thing for myself for Christmas.
I also mentioned that I might set up a goal for myself every week, and if I complete it, I would put $5 in a "makeup-buying fund." I did that, but I haven't been doing super good. I managed to complete two of my goals, which were to drink more water and to not get on elevators. So far I have $10 in my makeup fund. Very sad. I am thinking that I will update my makeup ban every month. I am very motivated to keep this going. I feel very good about actually using my makeup, and I hope this will motivate some of you to do the same~


Project 20 Pan - Completed!
Yes, I have completed my P20P! I am very happy~ Here is what I finished up and also a mini review on each product.

Skin Care

FOTD: Pigtails and Purple Lips

So now that I feel back to normal, and all the racism forgotten, I wanted to post a quick FOTD. This is what I was wearing today.
I think it is pretty simple: Purple on the eyes, purple on the lips, and the most simplest hair style I can wear.

Do Braids Help Hair Grow Longer and Stronger?

I wanted to bring up this "myth" so that I can hear what you guys think on the subject.
I have always heard from my mother and several other people that braiding the hair will help to make the hair grow faster and stronger. I have never believed that the action of braiding the hair alone will help, but that genetics and lifestyle play the biggest role in the health of the hair. But then I started to think back to when I was younger.

Ever since I can remember, my mother had always braided my hair every single night. And she would very often braid my hair on a daily basis. As a child, I had extremely long (all the way to my hips) and healthy hair. I had my hair this way up until 7th or 8th grade. When I was in 9th grade, I chopped off my hair, and stopped braiding it. I think from then onwards, I have not been able to grow my hair back to it's original length. So I have been thinking of trying out this method of braiding my hair every single night, and also occasionally during the day. Of course, straightening my hair has also played a role in making my hair less healthy, so I also want to minimize the use of heat on my hair.

Braids will also be a hot hairstyle for fall/winter~

I adore this photo!

And of course being a huge Star Wars fan, I am also a huge fan of Princess Leia's braided hairstyles.

What are your guy's thought on this? Do you believe that braids will help hair to grow faster? Do you have any methods for faster hair growth?

Review: Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

I think I have been postponing this post long enough! Here is a much delayed review for the Macadamia 'Healing Oil Treatment'. I did a rave for this a while ago, and I promised a full review. I think I mistook this for Moroccan Oil though...hehe *scratches head* Woops.

Anywho, let me tell you straight out that I frigging love this stuff. I have tried my share of hair products and this is a total winner~

Price and Availability
A shit load of money, let me say.
Full Size = $36.00! That seems a lot to me. But oh well...
A mini size = $6.00
I have the small size because I wasn't sure if I would LOVE this. I have already tried this because my friend gave me a sample before I bought the small mini. But just to be sure I really LOVED it, I went for the mini.
I purchased mine at Pure Beauty. You can check out their website for more information and store locations:
http://www.macadamiahair.com/

How I Use This
I apply this every other day. I wash my hair, let it air dry and then apply a generous amount to my hair. I concentrate on the ends of my hair, where I have dry and split ends. I also apply this to the roots of my hair.

Product Review
Here are some of the properties of this oil:
~red tinted oil
~very lightweight
~Has a very pleasant smell. Nutty with some cologne-like undertones. Not overpowering at all (to me at least)

I hope you can see how lightweight this is. It is not a thick oil at all.

I love the fact that this oil is so lightweight. It does not make my hair greasy or oily. I can wash my hair every other day without a problem. I can re-apply this a couple of times without worrying about having deep fried looking hair.
This has helped to moisturize and condition my hair so much.I constantly use a flat iron on my hair, which cause many unsightly split ends. On a side note, I have not cut my hair in...I am embarrassed to say...about 7 or 8 months. I should be cutting my hair every 3 or 4 months, so I am way over due. Because of this, my split ends were really bad! That is, until I started using this. I have seen a great improvement to my split ends! Granted they have not disappeared, but they are 70% better. [I still need to cut my hair soon!]

This makes my hair soft and shiny, but it does not weigh down my hair. I can see this would be perfect for people who want to keep curls because it will not weigh curls down. 

I solemnly swear that this is my favorite hair product as of today. Keep in mind that I have never tried Argan oil, or Moroccan oil before.

Verdict
This will be one of my staple items in my beauty collection. It is pricey, but not much more than other salon branded hair oils. I love this more that the It's a 10! leave in hair conditioner, which I loved before I tried this product.
PROS
~Helps to get rid of split ends
~moisturizes hair and dry ends
~Leaves hair shiny and smooth
~pleasant smell
~Lightweight oil, won't leave hair oily or weighed down
 CONS
~Expensive

Rating: 9/10 (The price...is a little much)
Recommend? Hell Yes!!!

If you guys know any cheaper alternatives I would love to know!

Product Rave: Macadamia Oil

My first hair product rave, ever!

I don't use many hair products, or even if I use them, they don't impress me enough for me to repurchase them. I have been using a sample of Macadamia Oil I got from a friend of mine, and WOW! I love it. It is the Macadamia Oil treatment oil? Eh...Well the brand is called Macadamia Oil and the product is an oil so is it Macadamia Oil oil?

Anyways, my friend purchased it at Pure Beauty, which is a beauty supply store, for about $36. Expensive, I know, but it has done wonders to my hair! I had tons of split ends and very dry ends. This has helped soooo much to get rid of split ends and to overall hydrate my hair. I seriously had a loooot of split ends, but I didn't want to cut my hair since I am growing out. Now I don't have to; not yet anyways. Also, when you apply it, it really adds shine and life to your hair. It makes it radiant without making it look oily.

The scent is interesting too. It smells nutty and I really love how it smells. I am so in love with this, that I am going to purchase my own bottle. I will do a proper review once I get my own bottle and use it for a longer time.

On a side note, my friend has also used it and her hair looks so great too! It is incredibly soft and shiny.

I will update you guys on this. So far, I have used it everyday for the last month. See you all very soon!