updaaaate

I started a new job over the summer and it's sucking the life out of me. Basically my life is this: wake up, get dressed, go to work for 10 hours, come home and eat dinner, shower, go to bed. My work commute is long and just adds to the exhaustion.

Now I am job hunting, trying to find something closer to home with a more steady schedule so I can have some sort of life outside work. This unfortunately means I have to tone down my hair. I got rid of the pink at the end of summer by fading it and applying Manic Panic Electric Lava which gave me a lovely orange ombre and I would've left it alone if I wasn't trying to find a new job.

Any way, I wanted to stick with red and wanted it to still be bright. I took my inspiration from L'oreal Feria Mango Intense Copper. I'm allergic to PPD used in permanent dyes (and did not want the extra damage) so I could not actually use the Feria dye. I created a similar shade with Adore colors. I used Ginger, Orange Blaze and Paprika. Next time I dye I will use less Orange Blaze and Ginger and more Paprika because it took 3 attempts to get it to look more brown and less traffic cone orange.

The color on the Feria box looks more muted than pictures of it on hair, a quick google search shows how bright it is.

Conair You Curl and Garnier Wonder Waves

Recently picked up the purple Conair You Curl curling wand. I never ever ever curl my hair because every attempt usually winds up as a big fat fail! I just can't do the right side of my head with a curling iron or a straightener so this curling wand thing was my final attempt at having curls/ waves. (I also have those bendy foam stick things to curl with out heat but they are super uncomfortable to sleep in and give me large tight curls that make my hair shoulder length.)

As you can see, I am totally able to use the You Curl! I will do a proper review of this thing after vacation, one with pictures of the product and all LOL. I can't guarantee you will see pictures of me using it since I haven't mastered taking a photo on my phone with my foot, but there will be before and afters at least.

The styling product I use to hold the curl is Garnier Wonder Waves. It holds them really well but I don't like how it makes my hair feel. My hair gets dry and kind of crunchy and I have to wash it out at the end of the day. If I sleep with it in my hair gets tangled very badly. Ugh, but NOTHING else seems to hold curls for me. Well, at least my hair looks soft.

Hair Dye Primer

This is going to be a brief explanation of the different kinds of hair dye- semi, demi, and permanent. The terms are often confusing and can cause people to choose the wrong dye.

Ombre Hair

Been working towards lighter ends and making a red-orange-yellow ombre instead of going Napalm Orange. Special Effects STILL is not producing or shipping colors regularly. I make my own neon orange by mixing Sparks Orange, Sparks Yellow and N'Rage Bubble Gum Pink.

I'm not sure my ends will be able to go as light as I'd like due to the hair being old and possible staining from all the red and orange dyes used previously. They are down from a level 4 to about a level 7 now so I think that's pretty good.

OOTD: Spikes, Studs and a Skull

Finally got a day where the sun was out, it was warm and the wind wasn't enough to knock me over. I was beginning to think winter was never going to end! The goth look isn't always easy to pull off in warm weather but I've added some more sun friendly pieces,

The flowy tank top is from H&M, Shorts are from Infectious Threads, tights are Leg Avenue and boots are from GoJane.

I love these tights to death but they are humongous on me, I can pull them all the way up and over my boobs! The joys of being short...


I love my Demonia Riot 20s but knee high boots are best left to cooler weather.

These pleather shorts are not going to be the most comfortable once it really starts getting warm but they're great for spring. The studs are actually sewn on like buttons rather than having little prongs on the other side that inevitably come up and stab you. The button broke the first time I wore them but I put a new one on.

I got these boots from GoJane when they sent me a 40% off coupon. I think I paid about $22 for them. They are not great quality but they are comfortable at least. I replaced the shitty laces they came with with regular flat laces so they stay tied. The soles of these leave a lot to be desired, there is little tread and they don't grip well. I have to be careful walking on smooth tile floors because I slide around as if I were wearing socks.

I also wore my bird skull necklace. I bought this years ago off Etsy and I don't remember the seller's name. These bird skull charms are pretty generic though.

I do like that this one has a decent chain and has a more natural bone color than some of the other bird skull necklaces I've seen around.

Preventing Hair Color Fade

Adore Paprika dye used here

There are few things in the world that catch my eye like bright freshly colored hair (especially when it's orange). Shiny, vibrant, beautiful... until you wash it then it's a drab murky mess...

Hair Bleaching Tips

Lightening your hair has the potential to go very, very wrong. Nobody wants chewy, stretchy hair that looks like mozzarella cheese. [video link]

I am by no means a professional and I don't have any professional training. The following tips are compiled from research I did before bleaching my own hair and from personal experience. 

Hair Update

I love playing around with different dyes. Right now I currently have a mix that is about 70% Adore Orange Blaze, 20% Sparks Orange Crush and 10% Manic Panic Electric Lava. These pictures were taken after one wash.

The Adore and Sparks dyes don't quite have the sticking power of Electric Lava, but EL is one of those dyes that stains hair and doesn't like to budge. The fade is a little patchy because the front section of my hair has been dyed a zillion more times than the back but it's not too bad.

My work place had a policy change that allows us to have visible tattoos and piercings and have any color hair we want so I am tranistioning to a more "in-your-face" bright orange. I plan on doing a bleach bath to lighten up my ends a bit more and get everything brighter.

I'm not totally sure whether it was Special Effects Fish Bowl or Manic Panic Atomic Turquoise used on the clip but I'm thinking it's most likely the Manic Panic. This poor clip in extension somehow wound up stuffed in my junk drawer and became a horrible matted mess. I was able to salvage it but so much hair fell out of it I was sure it was destined for the trash. Neutrogena Triple Moisture mask is a god send for extensions both human hair and synthetic!

Milani Color Statement Lipstick in 01 Sweet Nectar

 

Orange lipsticks have become a favorite for me since dying my hair red-orange. My go-to lippie has been L'oreal Volcanic but I recently picked up a Milani Color Statement called Sweet Nectar and it packs quite a punch! It's a very bright orange that leans juuuuuust slightly red. The formula is creamy and not too drying. So far it has worn amazingly well, leaving a slight stain behind as it fades. It has a strong scent at first but it fades quickly. It smells like melon, I like it so I don't mind it.

On my eyes, for those that are wondering: L'oreal Hip silver (Platinum duo), Wet n Wild Creme Brulee, Wet n Wild Panther, Jordana Semi Permanent Liquid Liner and Milani Easyliner in black all applied over Too Faced Glitter Glue. Mascara is Benefit They're Real.

elf Lip Exfoliator Mini Review

LOVE IT. My lips are horribly dry and flaky with this arctic weather. They looked awful and felt even worse. The elf Lip Exfoliator makes them fell amazing. You use it by rubbing it in small circles over your lips and the gritty sugar bits rub the dead skin off. It leaves my lips smooth and hydrated. It also doesn't taste too bad thanks to the sugar and aspartame.

Seriously, my lips haven't looked this good in ages. Matte lipstick here I come!

The ingredients are:
Sugar, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax, Ceresin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopherol, Aspartame, Fragrance.