DIY Ombre Hair on Dark Dyed Hair

Hi everyone

All this sun has made me want lighter hair so I decided to take the plunge and finally lighten the ends of my hair.

This is just a quick post to show you how I ombre'd my hair, despite having dark dyed reddish brown hair I managed to do it, despite what everyone says.

First of all I'll show you how I wanted it to look;

Firstly I whacked on this stuff, after doing strand tests I decided to leave this on for 55 minutes

And then I decided to tone down the reddish tinge I have in my hair by using a permanent ash brown colour from Garnier, I'm pretty sure it was this one...

I didn't use this on the bleached ends, only on the top half 

Then it looked like this,

Which I did like but it looked a little bit toooo ginger for my liking, so I popped off to Boots and bought some semi permanent dye, making sure it was a more golden colour after reading many scary stories about using ash tones on bleached hair and it going green, yeeeah no.

I didn't leave this on for the full 20 minutes as apparently bleached hair takes dye much quicker, (you can tell I did a lotttt of research right?!) and instead left it on for 15

And thiiiis is the final result, just how I wanted it

Here's a before and after for you

Before

After

 

As long as you get your timings right, I say you CAN ombre your hair even if it's dyed dark!

Just so you know, Boots have a 3 for 2 across allll hair products at the mo so this cost me under £15, much less than a hairdresser would ever have costed I say

Love Sophie xx

My Hair History (and Cheryl Cole Mahogany. . .)

I actually love these posts, so thought I'd do one too. I then realised how boring I am with my hair but oh well!

Okay for about 12 years of my life I had really long, mid brown hair with a centre parting. We don't need to see that. But then it all changed and I decided to get a side fringe;

Then I cut it all off (kept the side fringe though)

Had a very awkward regrowth stage. . 

But kept growing it anyway, discovering curling tongs and blackish brown hair dye on the way

Cut it a bit shorter, and decided to use Sun-In. On almost black hair. NOT A GOOD MOVE PEOPLE.

 Only sun in'd the top layers so ended up with a gross gingery brown colour with mousy brown roots and dark brown bits underneath. Oh dear indeed.

Dyed my hair dark dark dark (even though the instructions said don't dye pre-bleached hair, I'm a rebel like that) and stuck in some Primark hair extensions (yes really)

 Got my trusty side fringe back, only for the hairdresser to cut it in a really weird way, so that my only choice was to pull it over in to a 'full' fringe

Spent about 6 months wondering how to get this new fringe (that was supposed to be a side) to work

But gave up and got a full fringe. In summer. High maintenance or what!? (also I think I was pulling a weird face in this photo. . )

 Full fringe got too much so yet again started sweeping it to the side (vicious circle)

By winter got so annoyed at this fringe business I found new ways to keep it off my face (something which my 14 year old self would NEVER have done)

Oh and what do we have here, 5 months later, in the Spring of 2010 I got a fringe back.

And yet more awkward fringe business (september '10)

Most recently, I kept pretty much the hairstyle up there, but added in flicky layers which I LOVE. This is taken a few weeks after I dyed it with the Nice n' Easy foam. IT HAD NOT FADED and it's darker than this IRL. Beyond impressed. .

And then I decided to put the Cheryl Cole hair dye on (L'oreal Casting in 550 Mahogany)

on dark brown hair and it's given me a reddish tint which you can see in the light and I love it as it gives my hair an 'edge' and makes it look less flat and I may consider doing it permanently

And that's my hair history, I hope I didn't bore you to sleep, and please link me yours if you have one!

Love Sophie xx

Foam Hair Dyes - A Comparison

In the past couple of months I've used both the John Frieda and Nice 'n Easy versions of foam hair dye, and I thought I'd do a comparison for you

Nice 'n Easy £6.99

John Frieda £9.99

First Impressions

John Frieda's definitely looks like it costs more (and it does) and I might've got a bit too excited over the fact that it provides you with black gloves. To be honest, Nice 'n Easy's looks just like any other hairdye.

Mixing

 John Frieda's seemed to magically turn into a foam, whereas Nice and Easy's (sorry cannot be bothered to abbrieviate the 'and' in their name anymore) went foamy but also really runny and quite wet.

Application

 I only managed to get a  picture of the John Frieda foam (was stressing too much when trying to get Nice and Easy's more foamy!) but as you can see it looks like liquid and comes out like foam!

JF applies more like a shampoo, whereas the NE one applied just like a regular hair dye. Both were fine, but if you're going for the novelty factor then JF wins hands down in this respect.

Both had nice smells, however Nice and Easy's was very sweet, like sweets and it did have the tinge of ammonia smell that made my eyes water. I also think Nice and Easy's was a bit messier, probably because it was more liquidy than JFs.

John Frieda One Month On 

ie the night I used Nice and Easy's

I dyed it a 'dark chocolate brown', and it faded quite a bit, ignoring the roots! Despite it's promises to remove orange/red tones (put your hands up if you get those too!) you can see that they're still present.

This is the final result of Nice and Easy's, taken this morning

Not an orange hair in sight!

Which would I recommend?

If you want to treat yourself. . John Frieda

If you're not too fussed about the foam aspect. . Nice 'n Easy

If you'd prefer a (rather generous and lovely smelling) tube of deep condtioner. . John Frieda

If you have any more questions just ask

Love Sophie xx   

Big Bouncy Curls Overnight With No Heat. .

for less than £10?! It's possible. . 

(but be prepared for a very long picture heavy post showing you how!)

excuse the lack of make up, took the day off today as I was feeling so ill but had to get this post done!

 What you'll need:

Hairspray

4 Velcro Rollers

less than £4 at Superdrug

 

4 Sectioning clips or grips

 Sectioning Clips available at Superdrug for around £1

A hairband

5 perm rods

Perm Rods available at Boots/Superdrug for less than £2

 Take the top section of hair, the two side sections and a back section and wind them around your velcro rollers. Secure with the grips/sectioning clips and spray with hairspray until you get something like this

Make sure you try and roll the rollers so that all 4 are on top of your head so that if you sleep on your side you're not sleeping on top of them (not very comfortable!)

Next tie the rest of your hair into a ponytail and taking inch wide sections (basically splitting your hair into 5 or so sections) roll them around the perm rods. It doesn't have to be neat but remember the less hair you wind around them the more ringlety style curls you'll get. I prefer to use thicker sections of hair to get more of a wave

Et voila! In the morning take out the rollers and the rods and style your hair. I usually like to wear this with my hair to the side or in a side ponytail. 

As you can see there are tighter curls from the perm rods but unless you practically dip them in hairspray they will drop out to lovely big waves during the day.

What do you think? 

Love Sophie xx

James Brown at Superdrug

Hey lovely ladies,

First I've got to apologise for not posting in a while, I've been up north and I just started year 13 so I've been quite busy. I've got a lot of things waiting to be delivered so as soon as they arrive I'll have some exciting (well, I think so anyway!) reviews for you.

I was in Superdrug the other day and I'd just had my hair cut. Does anyone else go shopping for fancy styling products after a new cut? I do, in the vain hope I'll be able to recreate the flicks and volume and amazingness from a hairdressers' blow dry.

So as I was perusing the shelves I found this stuff,

 

Scandalous Rock Chick Wave Spray - £3.50 (normally £5.99)

Now if you remember, a few months ago Glamour gave away either a shampoo, conditioner or deep treatment from this range, I got the deep treatment which I absolutely loved. It didn't last long though, and £5.99 full price is a bit too much. So when I saw it on offer I grabbed it, and picked up this wave spray too, and true to form the smell is delicious. It smells just like a hairdresser too ;)

I love this product, it's a water based spray so it doesn't make your hair feel crispy, and you can load it on, wash your hair in it if you wanted and it wouldn't make your hair greasy or dry (salt sprays make my hair feel drier than the Sahara desert). I find it works best when you scrunch your hair and dry it, or if you spray it liberally over your hair before tying it in a bun and sleeping on it it looks lovely in the morning.

Oh and despite the lack of his name on the bottle, it is a James Brown product. He's that man we are constantly reminded of that he's Kate Moss' bezzer mate. Oh and he has a column in Glamour, where he reminds us again that his bff is Miss Moss. He does do lovely hair products though ;)

Have you tried any of his stuff? Do you even know who he is?!

Hope you're having a lovely afternoon

Love Sophie xxx

Heated Curlers, My Ultimate Love

Hey lovely ladies 

If I could offer any hair advice it would be to invest in a set of heated rollers. I love mine, they make beautiful, natural curls and they give you that I just got a blow dry look without spending loads.

Mine are the Babyliss ones that are only £30, and in this month's Glamour you'll see that James Brown uses them on Kate Moss. I bought mine first ;)

Ah they're beautiful. They heat up in about 5 minutes and they get hot, but not burn your hands hot. I always feel like it doesn't have enough rollers but it really does. I often have ones left over and I have a lot of hair!

Here's what I look like when I've done mine

Excuse the photo, bad lighting was frustrating me. I always ruffle up my curls with my fingers but they look just as nice as they are.

I usually put three big ones on top of my head, two big at either side and fill up the gaps with the smaller ones.

Have you ever used heated rollers? Or do you prefer curling tongs?

Love Sophie

xx

Sophie's guide to MAC Face and Body coming soon! I finally bought it. .  .

The Samples Series: Avon Advanced Techniques Lotus Shield

Hey everyone!

Continuing with my Samples Series with the Avon Advanced Tecniques Frizz Control Lotus Shield which I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of by now. 

  Avon Advanced Tecniques Frizz Control Lotus Shield - £5 introductory price

First impressions were that it smells LOVELY. However I think I used a bit too much. After reading reviews on their website people say to use a 10p sized blob. I used the whole sachet. I woke up the following morning with disgusting hair. It was stringy and messy and just awful. And I had work to go to. I was expecting to walk in and have everyone say 'Wow Sophie your hair looks fab!'. Then again this would never happen considering I only work with men, yet one managed to tell me my hair 'looked a mess'. Gee, thanks.

Yet I hung on in there as it does say you can leave it for up to 2 washes and after my second wash my hair is lovely and smooth and soft with no flyaways. Have a look at this!

Hello shiny hair!

Have you tried this yet? 

Love Sophie xx

How I Keep My Fringe Bouncy

Hey lovely ladies :)

A biiiiig hello and thank you to my new followers as well!

This is just a quick post about how I keep my fringe bouncy, as I have naturally straight hair so without doing anything my fringe is flat against my head. Nice. 

This is what it looks like after a few hours shopping, there's still bounce! 

So what products do I use?

Firstly I wet my fringe, no shampoo or anything because I find that makes it look greasy, I'm not very good at washing it out under the tap. .

Then I use a little bit of this. I love love love this, it's not cheap at £9.90 or so from Headmasters but it's worth it. It's a kind of mousse but in a spray form so it's really light but still has good hold. It's a huge bottle so I reckon it'll last a while

L'oreal Tecni.Art Root Lift Spray Mousse - £9.90

I then blowdry with my trusty Superdrug round brush which was only a couple of pounds and my Tresemme Extra Hold Hairspray which I've had for months it's so big!

As you can see I like to stick with the pink and black theme. . .!

What about you? What styling products could you not live without? Do you ever buy stuff from the hairdressers?

Love Sophie xx

PS I now have the approve comments thing enabled as I find it hard to catch up with all my comments