How I Took My Hair From Auburn to Lavender: Part 1

I haven't blogged in such a long time but I'm happy to finally sit down and get back to it! This was my second year going through this color transition and I have DEFINITELY learned some things the hard way. I want to warn others about some of what I experienced and how they can achieve pastel hair successfully!

Please keep in mind that I am NOT a licensed or trained professional! I wouldn't recommend doing this at home alone but if you're stubborn like me, I would strongly advise doing your research and learning from my mistakes!!! I'm going to be breaking this into two separate posts; this one which will be about how I processed my hair and the products I used, and the second one will be how I upkeep and maintain it.

THE #1 PIECE OF ADVICE THAT I WOULD GIVE ANYONE ATTEMPTING THIS: BE PATIENT AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY!!!

It is entirely unrealistic and frankly unhealthy to try and achieve this in one day. Even salons don't recommend it but if they agree to do it, you'll be sitting in the chair for well over 6 hours. Therefore, do not plan to do this the night before an event or a day where you need to see a ton of people. My biggest regret both times around was rushing the process and trying to complete it in day and a half. If you have a long weekend coming up, that would be your prime time.

Here are the products I used:

1. L'Oreal Quick Blue Powder Lightener
2. Olaplex
3. Salon Care 20 Volume and/or 30 Volume Creme Developer
4. Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids in Violet, Silver, and Clear

*Note: Olaplex can only be purchased by licensed professionals. A 3-piece kit is $65 but is often sold for about $120 on Ebay and Amazon. I luckily had a friend who got it for me and I highly suggest using it for minimal damage; the technology and science of it is amazing and well worth the money. The same goes for Pravana- it's about $5 a tube BUT BE CAREFUL BUYING ONLINE! A lot of people counterfeit it online.

Here is what I did, what I should've done, and what I would recommend:

• I followed the package directions for mixing the bleach and the Olaplex. My biggest mistake was thinking Olaplex is a miracle worker. Just because it's designed to lift your hair faster with less damage doesn't mean the rule book goes out the window! I used a 30 volume developer which is the max you should go with bleach and left it on for nearly an hour, with a cap on, and without watching it closely. DO NOT DO THIS. Caps process hair faster and I was thinking I'd be doing it perfectly so that I'd only have to bleach my hair once and I'd have less damage. This is not how it works. LOW AND SLOW IS THE BEST THING YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO! Accept that it is a process and mistakes you make during it could ruin your hair for years. As a result, I wound up losing CHUNKS OF MY HAIR- see the picture below! My hair was snapping and falling out like crazy, the texture turned to what looked like shredded spaghetti noodles, and it was unbelievably fragile. I have never done anything so stupid with such detrimental results.

Here's what I should have done and what I would advise:

• Use a 20 volume creme developer. It may end up taking longer but it is 150% worth it. I still needed to bleach my hair again after the first process because it was a brassy-yellow and you need your hair close to platinum. So no matter what, know that it will take more than one time, and that's why you need more than a day. Also, if you have Olaplex, it's working to protect you, so if you have to bleach it 3 times, it still won't come close to being as harmful as what I did. I always lose my patience having to do multiple processes but as I've said, it is absolutely worth it in order to keep the integrity of your hair- THERE IS NO CUTTING CORNERS!

After I finished the bleach, I used about three tubes of Pravana Clear and mixed about 3 drops of Silver with 2 drops of Violet to get a customized shade of lavender. I would recommend this because Pravana's pastel purple has really bad reviews and I believe was either recalled or is being reformulated. Not to mention, if you begin with pastel color it's going to wash out so much faster.

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't recommend diluting color with conditioner. Girls all over the internet are doing this and I think it basically sets you up for a loss. The color will apply much more unevenly and it will wash out so fast you'll be dying your hair once a week- no exaggeration. I'm so happy my friend recommended the clear because it dilutes the purple but with a base that is actually formulated like a professional dye. My hair color lasts for weeks and not to mention Pravana is the only dye I have ever used that actually makes my hair feel BETTER after using it. So if you don't have a license, start hunting someone down who does!

So to summarize my experience, be patient and set realistic expectations. Find someone with a license or save up and buy Olaplex. Do your research on it and follow all package directions. Use a lower volume developer and process your hair in shorter sessions while monitoring it closely. Get *real* Pravana color and don't mix hair color with conditioner. If you follow all of these steps I think you'll get really amazing results and won't have to go through the trauma that I did. Good luck!

*all pictures are my own and this post wasn't sponsored*

ColourPop Highlighters

Even though I ordered these the first day they were released, I've been trying to get more reviews up for products other than ColourPop...my obsession took over there for a bit. In my last few ColourPop reviews I'd had some trouble with feeling like some colors were appearing different in person vs. how they look online. This time around I really wanted to make sure I picked highlighters I would use since I can be so picky about them, so I took the time to really look at the swatches thoroughly, which luckily worked out in my favor!

I tend to lean towards pink-toned highlighters just because I like how they look on me better than gold ones, so I was thrilled to see that a majority of the collection is pink.

Smokin' Whistles
This one surprised me the most. It's the closest to a gold tone highlight of the ones that I ordered, but is technically a pinky champagne. I'm obsessed with how flattering this shade is on my skin!

Monster
Although I still like it, Monster is my least favorite of my bunch. It's described as a light-pink opalescent but I definitely feel like the opal brings in some cool gold tones. I may not be wearing this on my cheeks that much but it works great as an eyeshadow!

Hippo
Hippo is the most unique highlighter of the bunch and now of my entire collection! I'm obsessed with it's lavender tone that is somehow still beautiful and flattering. I'd highly recommend it even though a purple highlight might seem scary!

I love these highlighters just like I love all ColourPop products! The only thing I can think that may be both a pro and a con is that a little goes a long way so it would probably take a lifetime to finish one of these, therefore stalking up on a million colors may go a little bit to waste. I think they apply best with fingertips but sometimes I blend it out with my E.L.F. small stipple brush.

*this post wasn't sponsored and all photos are my own*

Drunk Elephant JuJu Bar

If the name alone wasn't cute enough, the brand information video made me fall in love with them before I even tried it. Everything is made with quality and really unique ingredients without all the chemicals other brands often use. When I was researching some of their products on Sephora's website, they all had really great reviews which made me feel like the price range of the products were completely justified. However, I've been using this bar for weeks now and I'm sad to say I'm disappointed :(

The way this product has been described made it seem like it was a groundbreaking revolutionary product that would finally save my skin. Unfortunately, this was not true. First off, it's incredibly harsh; the granules inside the bar are so fine it literally felt like sandpaper on my face. I'd strongly advise using a tool like a Clarisonic or sponge to lather it up instead of applying the bar directly to your skin.

This product also says it's supposed to clear acne and improve redness, hydration, and overall condition. I didn't have any of these results. It gave me a purge phase which caused my face to have several little breakouts that took over a week to clear. Since then, I don't believe it's caused anymore breakouts but it certainly hasn't helped them. I also haven't felt any added moisture; if anything, my face has felt dryer.

I know everyone's skin is different so you may experience different results than I did, but for me it just wasn't worth the hype or the money. I still want to love this brand so much so I'll be trying out some of their other products soon, but so far we're not off to a great start. If you're interested in trying Drunk Elephant, I'd really read as many reviews as possible and make sure you pick the right product for your investment.

*this post wasn't sponsored and all pictures are my own*

Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Keratriplex 2-Step Repair Treatment

I made a post a little while back about my struggles as a redhead dealing with color maintenance problems- if you didn't see it, click here! Since then, I've continued my search for products to help my sad, damaged hair, and I've found some things here and there that are alright, but nothing that truly wowed me.

Luckily, I have an amazing friend named Margaret who is currently working at the Paul Mitchell school. I started picking her brain about what I can do to help prep my hair for the upcoming process of going lavender again, and as I started asking her about keratin treatments, she brought up something called Awapuhi. I had seen this before from Organix, but as I've learned, that stuff is far from the real deal. If you do a quick search online, Paul Mitchell is pretty much the only brand using real Awapuhi right now.

Paul Mitchell has an entire line of Awapuhi products out but only the treatment can be professionally done. Usually because this treatment is so rare it's crazy expensive, but because Paul Mitchell has a school where everything is significantly cheaper, the treatment was about $30. I usually never go to salons to get my hair done, especially since most salon keratin treatments run over $150, but this was an AWESOME experience- I couldn't believe it was only $30.

Here's how Paul Mitchell's website explains the 2-step treatment:

"KeraTriplex® Treatment transforms weak, broken and brittle strands into pillars of strength and protects from further damage. Step one of the KeraTriplex® 2-step Repair Treatment, the single-shot vial of isolated proteins is virtually identical to the keratin found in human hair. Keratin Intensive Treatment® is applied as step two to hydrate and add healthy, silky shine."

I couldn't agree more with that description! Not only did my hair feel amazing, but I knew I had serious results when I was washing my hair for the first time after getting the treatment and I had ABSOLUTELY NO COLOR WASH OUT OF MY HAIR! No joke, no matter how faded my hair gets, it always looks like a crime scene in my shower; this is the first time I was ever able to have water run completely clear after washing it. I'm completely thrilled with the results and how affordable it was! If you're able to find a Paul Mitchell or a Paul Mitchell school in your area, I couldn't advise more that you go get this done. You pretty much can't find the ingredients anywhere else and the results are more than worth the trip.

IF YOU LIVE IN VIRGINIA: I absolutely 10,000% recommend you make a trip to the Tyson's Corner Paul Mitchell School and ask for Margaret! Her skills are unreal; she's only 19 but could basically be teaching that school! You will not regret it, BOOK WITH HER! :)

*this post was not sponsored; product photos are from the Paul Mitchell site*

Current Foundation Routine

So for those of you that actually read this blog, you may have noticed I've never reviewed a face product before. The reason being that I have very difficult skin; it's oily and acne prone and changes almost every single day. As a result, my foundation routine kind of tends to change as my skin does and I test out new products all the time. However, I've been working hard to get my skin to calm down and stick to a few products for weeks at a time so I can get a true well-rounded opinion of them. Foundations can be really complicated; first opinions aren't always lasting opinions, and so many factors can change up how they wear and how long they wear. I've been using this routine for a couple of weeks and I'm happy to finally share my thoughts!

 

*Sigh.* Here's my skin without makeup. I'm extremely pale right now, I've had dark circle since I was in elementary school, and I've been fighting hyperpigmentation for years now. Luckily, I don't really have any active breakouts right now, and here's the routine that's been working well for me!

1. Sunday Riley Effortless Breathable Tinted Primer: Light
First and foremost, Sunday Riley is an up and coming brand and EVERYTHING they make is expensive. The quality is definitely amazing but it sucks loving this brand. The primer is $48, and had I not received it as a gift I probably would have never tried it. Of course, now that I've been using it and I love it, I'm going to have to suffer the cost of repurchasing it again.
It comes in three shades: light, medium, and deep. What I love about it is I don't feel worried using it. All of the silicone primers out there always give me anxiety that they could be clogging my pores and breaking me out, but the ones that aren't silicone based never feel like they're working. This one is right in the middle; it feels like a serum but smooths and mattifies the skin like a silicone primer. I don't think the tint adds very much to my skin or really evens out the tone very much, but I definitely feel like it makes any foundation go on better and last longer.

2. Loreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation: 102 Shell Beige
This foundation was hard to buy because it's pricey for the drugstore; it runs for about $12-$14 depending on where you get it. It's extremely hard to tell what your shade is based on the packaging, but I lucked out and Shell Beige happens to be a really good match for me. I also get really good coverage and can build it up in certain spots if I need to. It's a demi-matte finish, but for my skin, that doesn't last all day. It depends on the weather and what I'm doing for the day, but some days I 'm oily after 4 hours and some days it looks good all day. It's kind of a toss up that's been hard to track, so I usually keep powder with me to touch-up my t-zone. For the drugstore, it's one of the best coverages I've gotten in a foundation, I just wish it wasn't so expensive! One other note, I think it smells like straight up PAINT! I've seen a couple of reviews on it and I feel like no one ever mentions the smell but it seriously potent. I don't notice it after I've applied it, but from time to time it does bother me.

3. AliExpress Flat Top Kabuki Brush
AliExpress is such an awesome website. They have the cheapest prices I've seen on so many products and so far I haven't noticed anything I've ordered being crappy quality. I bought this brush set a few months back and it's been amazing. BH Cosmetics came out with an identical set but it's significantly more expensive. If you don't mind waiting a few weeks to get it in the mail, I'd definitely without question recommend this brush set. The flat top is my favorite way to apply the Loreal foundation because I find that my Beauty Blender just makes it a little too dewy and a little less coverage.

4. MAC Pro Longwear Concealer: NC15
I'm probably one of the last people to jump on the hype of this concealer, but so far it's totally worth it. I think I grabbed a shade that's really light for me but I've been able to make it work. A little bit goes a VERY long way which is why I don't love the packaging-one full pump is almost wasteful. I get full coverage and brightness under my eyes and then I use the remainder on my lids because it covers redness, veins, and acts as an eyeshadow primer! I was really skeptical when I heard people used this as an eyeshadow base, but to my surprise I've yet to experience any creasing and I use it as a primer every single day.

5. Beauty Blender
I love the Beauty Blender. I don't know what else to say, I know everyone is skeptical about taking the plunge because it is a $20 sponge, but it'll change your life so just do it. It's amazing for so many things but I love it for undereye concealer especially because it prevents a lot of creasing and the product sinking into lines.

6. Bare Minerals READY Foundation
I usually hate BareMinerals but this powder foundation is pretty great. It some of the best coverage I've seen from a powder in a long time, so when I want a little more coverage (which almost always) I add this and it gives me a perfect finish. It's not an all-day mattifying powder, but it still looks great every time I touch up without ever looking cakey. The only thing I'd advise to check on is the color; mine looks extremely dark in the pan but it applies almost my exact skin-tone, so test it out on your face before you buy it.

*This post wasn't sponsored and all photos are my own*

ColourPop Spring Collection

As tempting as it was, I resisted most of ColourPop's spring collection. They've been hooking me in with so many new things lately, I'm trying to be more conservative and only buy colors I know I'll get legitimate use out of. That being said, the spring collection is almost entirely brighter pastels and as beautiful as they are, my instincts tell me I won't be wearing bright yellow or baby blue on my eyes anytime soon. While every color wasn't for me, I did still get three eye-shadows, a Lippie Stix, and my first ColourPop lip pencil. I LOVE them all!!! Shocker, right?

Bites: This is one of the first white shadows I've had that is completely pigmented without being chalky! It's a matte finish so it's perfect as a base for any look- especially worn to brighten up other colors. It's also an amazing highlight since you can sheer it out and wear it boldly or softly. Bites will forever be a staple in my makeup collection!

Cowboy: Purple is one of my favorite colors and one of the only ones I feel look flattering on my eyes, so naturally, this pastel purchase was justified. Again, this is a matte finish with amazing pigmentation. It's a gorgeous powder-pastel lavender and puts so many high-end brands to complete shame- I don't know how ColourPop sells shadows for $5 but they're consistently as good if not better than most high-end brands, especially when it comes to difficult formulations like matte pastels!

Downtown: This is a cool-tone brown lovers DREAM! Cooler browns I feel are hard to find these days, especially since most of them are now found in contour palettes instead of eye-shadow palettes. This is one of the easiest to blend shadows (that doesn't lose a ton of pigment in the process,) that I think I've ever tried from ColourPop! If it isn't obvious, I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with their matte shadows- they've completely nailed the formula and I can't imagine buying mattes from anywhere else. They just need to release some more shades already!

Top to bottom: Westie, Bites, Cowboy, Downtown. Fern not featured.

Westie Lip Pencil: I'm no stranger to ColourPop Lippie Stix; the pencils, however, are a little foreign to me. I've neglected their pencils for no intentional reason, but when I saw Westie in the new collection I loved it and it seemed perfect to use alone, or as a liner with any number of other lipsticks. However, this is where one of my only problems with ColourPop returns; as I mentioned in my ColourPop Blush post, some of their pictures can be somewhat misleading. I've even struggled with my own photographs trying to convey exactly what the true colors look like, but I'm definitely starting to rack up a small collection of ColourPop products I probably wouldn't have purchased had I been able to swatch them beforehand.

Don't get me wrong, Westie is still a beautiful color! It's just not what I pictured. Online it's described as a "soft dusty baby pink," but I feel it's not as much a soft baby pink as it is a dusty rose. The pencil is just deeper than the pictures make it look, which just makes it less universal than I thought it would be. Not the end of the world, just a heads up to those of you considering it. Oh and side note- this is a plastic pencil aka your sharpeners nightmare. Why the hell do company's do this? I had a Maybelline brow pencil a year ago that literally broke all my blades when I tried to sharpen it. ColourPop's doesn't do nearly as much damage but I'm still blown they did it this way.

Fern Lippie Stix: Here's another misleading color-bummer, although I think this one is 60% my fault. At first I thought this color was a tad bit warmer with more magenta in it. When I look at it online now, I don't see it as much that way anymore- especially not in the swatch photos. While I do still feel like Fern looks slightly different in the product photo vs. the swatch photo, it says blatantly in the description (which I overlooked) that it's a cool-toned violet. Basically the lesson here people is read the product description and look at all the photos before purchasing- they may still vary but at least you'll lessen the chances of being disappointed! Because Fern wound up being almost too pigmented (yes, this can exist sometimes!) and straight up Barney purple, I find I can make it work when I tap it on and apply it SUPER sparingly. This method actually gives me more of that magenta tone I was initially hoping for and it leaves a stain behind as well!

Just for added perspective, I've compared Fern to Grind, a Lippie Stix featured in my first ColourPop haul. They're very close in shade but it's like Fern is just turned down in tone by comparison, and Grind is its fluorescent sister. I also included a better swatch of Westie.

Left to right: Grind, Fern, Westie.

*this post was not sponsored and all photos are my own*

New ColourPop Super Shock Cheek Blushes!

If you follow me on Instagram (@blushedandblended), it's no secret that I have a love affair with ColourPop. When I found out they were releasing blushes, I became a full-time stalker of their website. I not only monitored the exact time they planned on releasing them, but I set an alarm to wake up and be one of the first people to order them. Again, if you follow me on Instagram, you may also be aware that to my dismay, this was no simple task. The website crashed repeatedly and it took more than 6 hours to get my order placed. Despite my frustration, I've cooled off and ColourPop still and always will have my love (and my money). This post is long overdue so let's get on with it!

PROS:
True to ColourPop's reputation, these are so affordable! Yes, they are $3 more than the eyeshadows, boo hoo hoo, but $8 is still less than drugstore prices these days so I'll take what I can get. They're also amazingly pigmented so a little goes a long way; therefore the overall value and price-point couldn't be better. They also released a literal sh*tton of colors- 20 total and with an amazing range of tone, color, and finish. Prenup unfortunately photographed almost greyish and super glittery for some reason but I promise this color was the most true to description/picture on the website; I use this color the most because it's a little more neutral and muted for everyday wear. Thumper is just one step up from that and is an awesome classic and girly pink. Mochi is going to be perfect for spring and summer; it's bright and flattering and I can't wait to start using it more!

CONS:
It's hard to tell exactly what causes this, but I think because I have an oilier skin type these seem to wear off through the day. I usually get about 4-5 hours where the blush still looks nice, but beyond that they always seem to fade almost completely off by the end of the day. Luckily, I haven't necessarily noticed any oxidizing of the color itself as they wear. The only other con is that the pictures don't seem true to color on the website. Thumper looks like a soft-peachy pink on the site, but in actuality it's not like that at all; it's more of a muted soft Barbie pink. Mochi also looks different than the site but it's hard for me to explain exactly how. The best way I can think to put it is that I think it looks like it has a little bit more coral in it and is overall more fluorescent than the "blue-based bright pink" description/picutre.

IS IT WORTH IT?:
YAS! Hello, these are $8. Everything ColourPop makes is worth it. I should seriously be working for them I promote them all the time so positively- which btw if any ColourPop reps read this I'm a PR major lookin fo a job hollaaaaaa. Lol but seriously, these are beautiful. The color range is on point and although I usually avoid cream blushes for my skin type, these set to a demi-matte finish and don't cause me to look shinier. I find that these apply the best with my elf small stipple brush and they blend out amazingly well without leaving patches or uneven color on my face! Love, love, love these and I can't wait to get more!

*this post wasn't sponsored and all photos are my own*