Princess Peach // feat. Bleach London.

It's that time again...

I find that I get so bored with my hair during the winter months, it just always feels so dull and meh. I also find that when the weather is so dull outside it's nice to brighten things up a bit. Hence my latest hair venture. 

I've been peach before, around spring 2016 and I was absolutely obsessed with it, but I had it just before I went travelling so it didn't stay too long for practicality reasons. Now it's time to revisit it properly and give it the attention it deserves. 

BLEACH LONDON // AWKWARD PEACH

BLEACH LONDON // WASHED OUT ORANGE 

(not pictured as I forgot to take one before I threw it away...oops.)

We're back with an old favourite; Bleach London. I always come back to these dyes because they are so easy to use, and they always give really nice colours. Awkward Peach was the dye I used when I dyed my hair peach last time so I thought it would be a safe one to go for. 

I'm not sure whether they've changed the formula of the Awkward Peach dye as it came out a lot more pink than I wanted it to and that I remember it doing last time. Once I'd washed and dried it, I added some of the Washed Out Orange dye to try and add some more of the peachy tones into it. 

BEFORE

Despite adding some of the orange dye on top, the overall colour is still quite pinky which isn't ideal. The peach has taken quite well at the top of the hair but the lengths and ends are a bit more pinky than I'd have liked. I do like that it gives it a bit more depth and different layers to the hair though. Once the colour has faded a bit more I will probably just add some more of the orange on to get it to more of a peachy colour all over. 

AFTER

Despite it not turning out 100% how I wanted it, I am still really happy with the colour and for a first run it isn't bad at all. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fades as I think that could add some nice tones throughout the hair.

Once I've got it more how I've wanted I'm sure I'll report back.

What are your thoughts on peach hair?
What colour should I try next?

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My tips for coloured hair // dyeing & maintaining.

I think it's safe to say that when it comes to dyeing my hair, I've been round the block a few times. I've been pretty much every hair colour under the sun and I think that makes me a bit of a hair dye connoisseur. As I'm very much a DIY kind of gal, I've had a lot of practice and developed a few tips and tricks over the years. 

So I thought I would share a few tips to help you if you are looking to dye your hair some jazzy colours or just looking to maintain colour you already have.

Dyeing //

One of my biggest tips for dyeing your hair, especially when dying your hair artificial colours is to always put the dye on dry hair. Most packaging will tell you to use it on damp/towel dried hair, but I find putting it on dry hair allows for a more even coverage and helps the colour to fully saturate into your hair.

Conditioner is your friend. Mixing your dye with conditioner not only means you can get more use out of your dye, it also enables you to mix your own colours to get the exact look you are going for. Also, even though most non-natural hair dyes are just vegetable dyes and aren't actually that damaging, adding conditioner to your dye means that your hair will be in the best possible condition from the get go and will hold you in good stead for when it comes to maintaining the colour.

Ensure the hair is fully coated and has been properly saturated. I always make sure to divide my hair and dye it bit by bit and properly work the dye into my hair using my hands. By rubbing it all in and separating the strands it will prevent a patchy dye job which nobody wants (trust me, I've been there) but will also make the colour last longer because it is properly in the hair follicles. 

Do a bit of research into brands to use, some are much better for keeping colour than others. My go to brands are Bleach London (not the best for keeping colour, but I love the shades,) Schwarzkopf and colour freedom. I've also heard amazing things about Arctic Fox and think I'll be trying them next time. All these brands produce really lovely colours, are really good for mixing and building up colour and are also for the most part quite long lasting.

When it comes to rinsing the colour out, make sure you use cold water, it's not the most comfortable experience but will ensure the colour locks into the hair helping it to last a lot longer. Warm or hot water will pretty much just rinse the majority of the colour out straight away.

Maintaining //

This is going to sound super grubby but the best way to stop your colour fading is to wash it as little as possible. I went from washing my hair 2-3 times a week to 1-2 and have noticed a vast improvement in how often I need to top up the colour. If you can just reduce the amount of times you wash your hair it will be a massive help in maintaning your colour.

When it comes to not washing your hair as much, dry shampoo will become your best friend. It is perfect for helping to keep your hair looking fresh during those in between days. Some brands now offer coloured dry shampoos which are also perfect for hiding those pesky roots for a little bit longer too.

If you can find shampoos and conditioners that are specifically designed to maintain colour, this will also help prevent colour leakage when washing your hair as it will help to keep it locked in a bit more. I recently started using the Bleach London pink shampoo and conditioners which actually contain colour, so help top up your dye with each wash. They aren't dyes so aren't a massive help, but they do enough to keep it looking slightly brighter.

These were just a few of the things I do to keep my hair looking as fresh as possible. Obviously these are all affected by the individual hair quality and colour. Some colours do just stay in your hair better whereas others are just a bit more of a ball ache to maintain. Pink is one of these colours, and is definitely more of a commitment than other hair colours I have been, so that is also something to bear in mind when picking a colour to go.

What's your favourite hair colour?
Do you have any tips for maintaining colour?

Speak Soon
Char xx 

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Think Pink // feat. Bleach London & Colour Freedom.

And here we go again...

If you follow me on instagram  you will have already seen that I have dyed my hair again. In fairness, I did already make it clear that once I'd gone back blonde that it wouldn't be that long before I dyed it again. This time I have gone for my personal favourite: pink. I love pink hair I think it is so stunning, it looks amazing in both bright and pastel shades. I am just obsessed with pink hair so I knew I had to re dye mine pink.

BLEACH LONDON // ROSE

BLEACH LONDON // VIOLET SKIES

BLEACH LONDON // AWKWARD PEACH

COLOUR FREEDOM // PINK PIZAZZ

I used a mix of colours from two different brands; Bleach London and Colour Freedom. I've used Bleach London before and I am a massive fan. This was the first time I've tried Colour Freedom products and I was pleasantly surprised. The colour is very pigmented, it feels nice on your hair and you get a really reasonable sized bottle of dye.

My approach when it comes to hair dye is shove a bunch in a pot and mix it all together until it resembles a colour you like the look of. I love experimenting with colours and every time you top it up you get something a bit different which is really cool. Pink is obviously not the most long lasting colour which is a bit annoying, and these brands are not the most long lasting dyes that I've used but they do last quite a while, I normally have to top it up every couple of weeks. I may look into finding another brand that is a bit longer lasting to mix with these dyes to help keep it pinker for longer. My magic tip is to leave these dyes on for between half an hour and an hour, the packaging says it only needs 10-15 minutes but the longer you leave it the more the hair will soak up they dye, and because they are only vegetable dyes they won't damage your hair like other dyes do when you leave them on longer.

BEFORE

I love having pink hair again, it feels very me. I'm so excited to try different variations of colour maybe adding more of the peach to make it more peachy and even giving a more purpley pink a go. There are so many colour possibilities.

AFTER 

I would definitely give these colours a go if you are looking to try pink hair for yourself, they are really easy to use and create beautiful colours.

What's your go to hair dye brand?
What's your favourite hair colour?

Speak Soon
Char xx 

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Brunette to Blonde // Bleach London

And she's at it again...

First of all can I just get a massive appreciation for keeping my hair dark for 7 months, considering how notorious I am for dying my hair I think I did pretty well to leave it alone for that long.

So summer is quickly approaching, and as much as I did like my dark hair I found myself getting bored and I always prefer my hair lighter in the summer. So it was time to bite the bullet and attempt to go back blonde. As I am very much a DIY hair dyer, I knew this was probably going to be one of my most difficult dye jobs to date. *has horrific flashback to the last time I tried to dye my hair from black to blonde.*  I went into it this time a little older, wiser and with a few more tricks up my sleeve. What could go wrong, right?

Before

Well...

It's a pretty difficult task to going from dark brown to blonde without using bleach, so I wanted to try and find one which would be easy to use and wouldn't completely destroy my hair. I opted to try one from the brand Bleach London, it's in their name so I thought it wouldn't do me too wrong. It was actually pretty kind to my hair and did a really good job at stripping the colour. I tend to forget when dying my hair that my hair is actually quite long so annoyingly I did run out of bleach, hence why it's a tiny bit patchy. As a lot of bleaches can do, it made parts of my hair go quite yellowy/brassy so I used the Bleach London White Toner to try and diminish those tones as much as possible. It didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped unfortunately, but did enough of a good job that it wasn't ridiculously obvious.

I left the hair a couple of days after bleaching to let it rest and restore a little bit before opting to put some Colour Freedom silver blonde all over my hair. (I forgot to take a picture of the packaging before I threw it away, oops. But you can buy it in Superdrug and they have loads of colours.) Silver or Purple shampoos/toners are the best for getting out the yellow/brassy pigments in your hair. Whilst this did help to tone down the brightness it did leave the ends of my hair with a slightly pinky tinge. Which I don't mind too much, it looks quite cool.

After

Since then I've been using purple shampoo/conditioners alternating when I wash my hair just to keep those brassy tones at bay, so hopefully that will gradually help get it to my ideal colour.

I'm actually really happy with how it turned out, considering how dark it was before I'm really pleased with the colour. It's not exactly how I wanted but it's a good base to start from, cost a lot less than getting it done professionally  and my hair didn't all fall out so that's a massive bonus.

I would definitely recommend Bleach London if you are looking to go blonde from dark hair, it works well, is fairly cost effective and has actually left my hair in surprisingly good condition.

I wonder how long I'll keep it like this for before I start playing about with the colour again? Here's a spoiler, it won't be that long ;)

What's your go to hairdye brand?
Are you a DIY-er or a Salon junkie?

Speak Soon
Char xx 

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