Hair Envy - Ombre

I'm currently loving ombre hair! I know this trend has been around for quite a while now and I've always liked it but I'm looking to do something a little bit different with my hair at the moment and I think this is what I'll go for. 

I've seen a lot of people doing ombre themselves with a blonde dye/ bleach. However, I'm going to go to the salon because I need the opposite done. I already have light blonde hair, I just need the darker mousey blonde put in at the top - if that's even possible at all?! I'm sure it is! Has anyone else done it this way?!

I think it's time I booked an appointment!

Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Shampoo

This shampoo claims to 'lightly tone, refresh and restore your blonde hair to salon beautiful colour'. It's ingredients include a Pro-Blonde complex of panthenol, chamomile and morina seed extract; more commonly kniwn as Miracle tree (which claims to keep hair squeaky clean and encourages natural shine to glow). It's also meant to protect your hair from fade caused by styling, sunlight and damage caused by UV rays. 

Last January (2011) whilst in the hair dressers, I made a very impulsive, spontaneous decision to dye my hair ginger - and by ginger I mean orange ginger. I think I posted a picture maybe? Anywho, after that I continuously dyed my hair different shades of ginger/ red... As summer approached, I knew I had to consider going back blonde. I was going to Gran Canaria with my boyfriend, even when there was no sun in sight, my hair faded like crazy so I knew that as soon as sun was involved, it would be disasterous, plus I tan quite easily - meaning I'd be brown with orangey/ yellow hair. Not attractive. 

Anyway, I went back blonde, and have since gone blonder each time I visit the hair dressers. However, because my hair was abused so often with ginger/ auburn/ red dyes, it tends to get quite brassy, quite quickly. 

This is where this product comes in. The first time I used it, I was quite scared after I'd dispensed the product into my hand. It is a very dark purple. I was wary about it dying my hair, rather than just toning it. However, I was so happy with the results. The brassiness of my hair was gone after just one wash. It made my hair a lot lighter, more white even.

After the second time of using it, I noticed a purple tint to my hair. Quite a few people said that my hair looked pink/ purple. I instantly changed my mind on the product (despite quite liking the lilac-y shade it left in my hair - it cannot be good for your hair, can it?). However, once I got home, I read the bottle and it actually tells you not to use it every time you wash your hair because of the toning agent. *Schoolboy error, Hayley. Always read the label*. Now, I use it every two to three times I wash my hair, and I must admit I absolutely love this product.

You can probably still see a bit of purple but hey-ho, It matches my dress!

Being only £6.49, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who suffers with brassy blonde hair. You can buy it here at Boots and it’s often on offer 3 for 2 or 2 for £10.

P.s. I know there’s cheaper alternatives out there but my housemate has tried quite a few and don’t find they work very well. Plus, quick little tip, apparently the darker the purple, the better the results ;)

My attempt at hair modelling

Hiya guys!

Sorry I've not posted, I've had exams & loads of stuff has been going on, so I do apologise!

A couple of weeks back, I was approached in work (Zara) by a guy asking if I'd be interested in doing hair modelling. This would include having my hair done for free, so being a student, I jumped at the opportunity!

So on Monday, off I trotted to the hairdressers situated in Cardiff.

I was there for a whole 7 hours... & there was a proper photographer and everything, so scary considering I'm not the biggest fan of having my photograph taken.

Anyway, this was the result -

Apologies for the awful quality but the photographer is going to send me the real images on a disk so I'll upload them then! I had about 200 pictures taken! So much fun, although I'm not too sure how a model does that day in day out..

I had my hair coloured 3 different colours - Copper, red copper and copper plum. It's really bright considering my hair was a dull auburn colour before. Every time I walk past a mirror I'm like "AH!" haha. He also trimmed my hair 'cause it was quite dry... & then the BIG OTT hair obviously haha. Had such a fun day!

Oh, and I have a post on Crest whitening strips coming up really soon! :)

HN x

Red red red

In line with the redness of Comic Relief, I've decided to do a review on a product I've recently bought.

Just over a month ago, I decided to dye my hair red. Well, to begin with it was proper ginger, but it faded loads and I couldn't find a toner the right colour in order to maintain the colour :( So, I went a little bit darker - a little bit more red. However, I still found that the colour faded a lot, and the water in the shower was always orangy/ red. I searched the internet for something that could help, and I finally came across 'CHI Organics tone & shine'. I could not find a review of this product for the life of me (although since I have come across one, but not for the colour I use), but I decided to bite the bullet and pay the £17.99 for the 350ml bottle, in hope that it would prove to be good.

On the bottle is says to shampoo your hair with CHI shampoo (although I just use my John Freida radiant red shampoo) and then towel dry. Then apply tone & shine evenly through your hair. Leave in for 1-5 mins and then rinse. Or to achieve longer lasting results leave in for around 20-30 mins and then rinse.

I did the above, I left it on for about 30 minutes first time and I actually couldn't believe the colour difference, it was insane! It left my hair looking a lot more vibrant and shiny.

To show you just how well this works, I've taken pictures. Today I went swimming, and after getting out of the pool and washing my hair, it had faded quite a bit. It was a lot more orange/ pink than it had been.

So I came straight home, took a picture of my dull faded hair:

Washed it, and applied the tone & shine, left it on for about 5 minutes, and this was the result:

As you can see, my hair is a lot more red, vibrant and shiny. & this was after only 5 minutes, imagine the results after the whole 30 minutes!!

I use the colour 'red auburn' although I can't see the auburn at all, pure red if you ask me.

(quick swatch of the product for you to see the colour of it)

The only downfall of this product is the smell. It's very very strong (although as you can probably tell from the name there's no artificial perfumes or anything) and I really don't like it. However, the quality of the product makes up for it :)

I urge any of you 'fake' redheads who have trouble keeping the colour to try this out! I promise it works!! I bought mine from e-bay so go have a look!! :)

HN x

Ginger hair

So my excuse for my disappearance this time is simply that I'm ill.

Basically, since September I've been feeling quite unwell - I've lost a bit of weight, I'm constantly exhausted & breathless, and I'm fainting a bit. I'm also having pains in my stomach & chest - I'm in the wars!! Haha! I'll survive ;)

But this all means I am going to have a lot more time on my hands to blog, because I'm taking some time off uni & work until all is well again! 

Anyway, I have also dyed my hair recently. A brave shade of ginger. I decided to go this colour as being a red-head seems to be very fashionable these days, plus I've always been jealous of my 6 year old sister for being a 'ginge' cause I've always longed for fiery locks, and finally I had to confidence to just do it :) - luckily my illness has 'graced' me with pale pale skin too so it looks quite natural if I do say so myself.

Here's a picture of the back - I'll have to take one from the front, but I've not felt upto wearing make up recently, and I wouldn't put any of you lovely people through seeing me look as I do now haha.

So yeah, I hope to be back blogging regularly soon as I'll be as bored as anything doing nothing with no excuse not to :)

Oh & a VERY belated Happy New Year all :)

HN x

Blonde > Brunette

Okay, I've officially converted from a bonde to a brunette. I've been wanting to do it for aaages, just for the pure fact that dark roots look awful with bleached hair & it's a pain (plus a lot of money) to keep up with.

So, yesterday I was in boots & decided to buy a dye. The plan at first was to buy blonde, but then I thought 'what the heck?!' so I took the plunge and bought some garnier dye in intense dark blonde.

And this was the transformation:-

From this:

To this:

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised! I had no idea what it was going to look like 'cause I've always been a blondie, but I actually kind of like it :)

What do you think?! Honest opinions pleaseee..


HN x