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.

Lush Putty For Your Hands

I'm not really one to take especial care of my hands even though my mom always tells me I have to at least put lotion on them after washing them and maybe that's why my hands are so dry. It may also have to do with the fact that my skin gets really dry with regular hand soap, that's why this product is perfect for me.

  A little fact about me, soaps are one of my favorite products from Lush mainly because of the strong smell even when stored, the smell is so strong it fills my room. So of course this being one of the few all year round soaps that I hadn't tried yet I had to get it. When my package arrived, the smell of this soap was overpowered by all the naked products, especially by the new hair shampoo bar which has a really strong scent, but upon opening the wrapper a really herbal smell really hits you,you can detect the lavander, it doesn't smell anything like any other Lush soap offers but it's quite nice.

 Lush advertises this as a 100% natural product which I must say is a really nice change because SLS tends to dry my hands quite a bit. It contains no soap which means the antibacterial properties come from the tea tree oil and also because of this it doesn't lather. Before I started using Lush products I always felt the foam was necessary to feel clean but after using the facial cleansers I realized the foam is unnecessary. Since it creates no foam you have to use this a little differently from other soaps, the complany says you can get the whole bar wet and use it as every regular bar of soap but I found this to be a problem.

You see, when the product gets wet it forms a paste and it melts which is why at first I just grabbed a little pinch and washed but since I don't like leaving it next to the sink out of fear it will get wet, I put in in a plastic container and crumbled it so it looks like a powder,this way I can put it in a little tube and carry it around in my purse or bring the container to the bathroom and grab a little powder, I feel that this way I waste less because I just grab some wih the lid so my dirty hands don't contaminate the rest of the product.

You just put some powder in your hands, put a little water and form a runny paste and use it as you would a liquid soap. After you rinse your hands will feel kind of greasy, since it's packed with moisturizing ingredients this is normal just dry them and the will smell great and feel soft, you don't even have to put lotion afterwards if you don't want to. This is especially great for the colder months when you feel not even a tub of lotion will moisturize your hands!

January Favorites

I can't believe we're already one month into 2015 but now that January is over I can finally show you some of the products I've been loving this month.

As you can see in the picture, most of them are from Lush, and the most simple reason is because Lush products are cruelty free, smells amazing and are really gentle on my sensitive skin.

First we have Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal Spray Mist, after having an allergy reaction to every single deodorant even the ones Lush offers I had to look for an aluminum free one and let me tell you, it was no easy task because I wanted it to be cruelty free too so when I stumbled upon this at a health store at first I wasn't so sure because I've tried crystal deodorant before and it just didn't work at getting rid of the smell but since this is liquid intead of solid I decide to give it a shot and I'm glad I did, this product only has 2 ingredients but it's great, it really does work I even carry a little bit around with me just in case.

Next is So White Shower Gel by Lush, this is a limited edition shower gel that they released this past Christmas, it shares the scent and name with the So White bath bomb that gets released on Christmas as well, I got this at the Sale they had and wow I regret not buying it sooner, it has a really fruity smell but it's not super strong it also leaves my skin super soft and the smells stays on after I exited the shower, I'm glas I got the 500 ml bottle also but I have a feeling it won't last me until next Christmas.

Then one of my all time favorite smells from Lush, Rose Jam Shower Gel, this is also a limited edition shower gel that gets released every Christmas and I can't believe I waited until the last sale to get it, I have never smelled it I don't who why, but now that I did I'm seriously in love. It has a sweet but citrusy smell and It's just delicious.

Sikkim Girls is a Lush perfume, this one is the solid version, I just rub my finger in it and then apply it on my wrists or wherever I want, I tend to rub it on the ends of my hair because it gives me a fresh smell. This reminds me a little bit of Lust but more earthy, I got this last December and I've been using it a lot and I've barely made a dent in it so I hope it lasts me a long time.

Celebrate Body Lotion is also a limited edition item from Lush, I decided until last minute that I wanted to try it but to my fortune, they were sold out so I had to buy a gift box if I wanted it, so I did and I love the scent so much that I don't want to run out, and since this one is a 45g one I have the feeling I'm gonna be out of it really soon. The scent of this one is also a citrus one, but it's really moisturizing and helps with my dry patches.

And last we have Putty For Your Hands also by Lush, this one is a hand soap that has only natural ingredients, no chemicals here, and it's so moisturizing I barely feel the need to use a lotion afterwards, it's especially great for the winter months.

As you can see Lush is my favorite brand and if you haven't used anything by them I highly suggest you do, who knows? You'll probably end up loving them as much as I do.

Lush Ultrabalm

When you thing about Lush the frst things that come to mind are probably bath bombs, bubble bars and shower gels but you never think "balm" well after using this you might think different.

A few years ago, when I first started buying Lush products I was browsing their site reading about their most popular products and then I came across this, at first I read about it and was like "nah I don't want this" but then I placed an order and I was missing some stuff so that the shipping was actually worth it so I decided to buy this not expecting much but oh was I wrong.

                                                 

This product only contains 3 ingredients but believe it or not that is enough to make this one of my all time favorite products. The website describe it as "This is a very simple but effective formula, with just three moisturising ingredients. Pop this anywhere that feels really dry for instant relief: chapped lips or hard skin such as elbows, or use to tame lashes and eyebrows, brighten up tattoos, or to protect your skin when you’re dyeing your hair. Perfect for carrying in your bag or on your holidays". 

Upon opening it, it looks just like a yellow paste and when you touch it it feels somewhat greasy, the smell is not great either, its doesn't bother me but I wouldn't use it as a perfume.

                                      

The first time I used it I was impressed, I have little dry patches on my arms and this helped a ton with the itching something that no other cream ever did. I always carry this in my bag with me because it realy is multi purpose, I use it as a lip balm when my lips are super dry and this leaves them soft again.
I tend to fall a lot to i always have bruises and scratches and a little bit of this makes the bruises disappear and the scratches heal faster, I also use it on mosquito bites to make them go away faster, when my hands are dry I also use it as a hand cream but just use the tiniest amount so your hands dont end up greasy, as a makeup remover, and believe it or not another use this product has is as a temple balm when you have headaches.
The person working at Lush told me I can use this as a face mask when the cold weather dries out the skin or as a moisturizer which I haven't tried yet but if I do I'll let you know the results.

This product has become a staple for me and all my family members,it has a million and one uses, we always have some just in case, it really is one of my favorite products from any brand ever.

So if you're looking for a product to try from Lush definitely make it this one, even if you're not looking I seriously recommend you try it.