How to Make Semipermanent Hair Color Last Longer.

I know how hard it is to maintain semipermanent hair color, I've been dyeing my hair fun colors for a long time now and over this time I've tried a lot of things to help it last longer than a week. Let me also say that how long it lasts also depends on the brand of dye you use and your hair. So here they are

•Don't wash your hair everyday

When I first started dyeing my hair, after I dyed it I would rinse out the dye and immediately washed it but that translated in the color lasting a week or less I had to redye every single week, it was inconvenient to say the least, then I looked up how to go longer without washing your hair and started "training" my hair so it wouldn't get greasy after one wash and stopped washing it everyday.

•Co-wash

Basically co-washing is my best friend, washing your hair with conditioner only helps your hair maintain the color longer, plus it keeps your hair healthier since you're not stripping it from all the essential oils it needs. Be careful though, you need to find the conditioner that's right for you otherwise you'll end up with super greasy hair, there's also products made exactly for co-washing. I shampoo with a sulphate free shampoo every 5-6 co-washes to get rid of the build up.

•Watch out for sulphates

I know a lot of people hate sulphates and my main problem with them is that they  are the enemy of semipermanent dye, sulphates make your color wash out like crazy so if you use shampoo or conditioner with sulphates your color is gonna last about 3-4 washes.

•Avoid heat tools as much as you can

Heat makes semipermanent dye fade, especially if you use it everyday and in a high temperature, if you really can't give up heat then try a lower temperature and a thermal protector for colored hair.

•Put dye in your conditioner

If your hair is all the same color, you can put some dye in the conditioner you use, this will help deposit more color everytime you use it.

•Sun is not your friend

Try using a cap if you're gonna be out in the sun for a long time, when I had orange hair it faded to yellow in about 2 weeks because I was constantly in the sun, it acts as another heat tool plus sun is damaging for your hair so if you can, cover your hair.

•Cold water 

Try only using cold water in your hair because as I said earlier, heat is not good for your hair. What I do is I clean my hair first in the shower with cold water (or lukewarm if you can't handle the cold) and then keep my head away from the water and warm it up so I can finish showering.

•Dry shampoo 

I know this applies for everyone, but dry shampoo really is your best friend, just watch out because some aerosol ones have soaked the color and left me with weird faded patches of faded hair.

Lush Kitchen Black Pear Shower Gel

Shower gels are my weakness, more specifically Lush shower gels so when I can get my hands on a limited release you bet I'm gonna do it.

Black pearl shower gel is made mainly with chamomile and lavender so it's more suited for a relaxing shower.

The color is not something you'd imagine in a shower gel, a deep gray kind of like watered down ashes with some glitter thrown in for good measure. But still it manages to look real pretty.

                             

As far as the scent, it smells delicious, like tea but it also has a hint of sweetness, the first sniff for me was all lavender but then it mellowed and also as it ages it gets sweeter, it's a really amazing shower gel but a downside for me was that the smells doesn't come out that much in the shower. I use this when I shower at night and want to relax and sleep like a baby but unlike Twilight shower gel or Deep Sleep shower jelly, the scent in the shower just disappears and if I were to use more product of feel like I'd be wasting it. 

The consistency is not thick, it's more liquid but not super watery, kind of like olive oil so if you're not careful you can really go through the bottle quickly.

                        

It does leave my skin moisturized as any other lush shower gel does but still the smell doesn't linger, I know every one has a different reaction to different scents so hey, it may linger on your skin but for me it's just not worth it. I'm definitely gonna enjoy the try of the bottle but I don't think I will repurchase.

What do you guys think? Have you tried Black Pearl?

Essence Eyeliner Pen Extra Long Lasting

My favorite makeup product is hands down eyeliner, liquid, gel, pencil, you name it, and since my goal is to master cat eye eyeliner I'm always looking for a great product that makes the job easier.

Essence is one of my favorite brands because they have really affordable and great products and since I liked their gel eyeliner I had to try one of the liquid ones.
               

I normally use gel eyeliner and an angled brush but when I'm in a rush I find it easier doing it using a pen.
This is not waterproof, but it claims it's long lasting, sometimes when I can't be bothered I just put on eyeliner and not mascara and the time I did it, this actually smudged pretty quickly, so I wouldn't call it extra long lasting , also even if I touched it a little bit it came off.

               

The tip gets soggy easily and as a result you can't really do a sharp line, on the plus side it's like a real black on the first swsipe so you don't have to go over and over on the same place.

                

Bottom line, this was a miss for me, i really don't think it's extra long lasting at all as it comes off super easily and by the end of the day I looked like I had no idea how to do a cat eye or like I touched some black eyeshadow and rubbed my eye so I definitely wouldn't repurchase which means I'm still in search of the perfect eyeliner.

Have you tried this eyeliner? What's your favorite cruelty free eyeliner?

Pure+simple grapefruit and basil lip balm

Who else hoards lip balms? You know you have a lot but you just have to keep buying more because you haven't found "the one". Well, when you buy cruelty free it's even worse, no lip balm seems to moisturize your lips enough so you move to the next one. While in search of a new one I stumble upon this brand called Pure+Sinple, I went to their website and found shipping was free when you bought 2 so I said why not and took the plunge. A month later they finally arrived at my door, one of them had some oil on it, sign that it had melted a bit in transit but nothing major.

They have a variety of flavors and you can choose between the regular one which is beeswax based and the vegan one, I went with the vegan ones.

Right when I opened the grapefruit and basil one I noticed it has indeed melted and looked kinda weird so I popped them in the freezer for a few hours. When I took them out I decided to only use one and store the other one for later use.

When I used it right out the freezer I noticed the smell was really faint and I got disappointed, then upon puting it on my lips it instantly melted and felt like I had just put plain coconut oil on my lips, a few minutes passed and it was just sitting there on top of my lips, it never absorbed and it didn't make my lips feel moisturized at all.

ingredients: organic cold-pressed extra virgin coconut oil (cocos nucifera), pure natural African shea butter (butyrospermum parkii), pure natural candelilla wax (euphorbia cerifera/euphorbia antisyphilitica), pure steam-distilled or cold-pressed essential oils

The main ingredient in this is coconut oil but it has some other oils to make it more moisturizing but you can't actually tell and that's a bummer because I really wanted to love this balm, I'm all for cruelty free companies that use natural ingredients, unfortunately this was a miss for me.

I have really dry lips and I always carry a lip balm with me but with this one you can't because if you keep it in your pocket it will melt and cause a mess and if you live in a warm place it will definitely melt even if you keep it in a purse. I have to store mine in the freezer and honestly I only use it when I have nothing else around and my lips hurt but I can't keep it on me or it melts.

I don't feel the inclusion of the other oils their ingredients say it has, I will keep using it but I will not be repurchasing, I really hope the lavender one gives better results.