New Hair and Tips On Looking After Bleached Locks

Over the past few months I've been gradually lightening my hair with highlights, the goal was to get as light as possible with minimal damage, not an easy task when your hair as previously been dyed dark brown but I was determined I would achieve platinum eventually.

Well as you might have noticed from the recent profile picture change that day as come, my hair is now white almost borderline grey actually because a strong toner was used (my hair likes to pull gold).
Below is a before and after:

Now obviously lightening your hair with bleach all over is an harsh process and you will get damage but if done properly and with the right aftercare you hair will be okay and it's less damaging in the long run cause unlike highlight your not overlapping colour.

Here are my tips on keeping platinum locks in tip top condition:

Don't wash your hair too often, it will dry out your hair and wash the toner away faster. Try and use dry shampoo and keep shampooing to a minimum. Also when you do wash your hair make sure you're using a purple shampoo as you do not want the blonde to turn yellow.

Hair oils are your best friend, there's loads of them on the market, the one that I currently use is the Kerastase Elixir Ultime but I've  tried several different ones and they all work pretty much the same. I apply mine to the ends of my hair every single night to help moisturise and nourish.

Use a deep conditioning treatment every time you wash! Alternate between a protein mask and a moisturising one, you don't want too much of either as it will weigh down you hair and too much protein can make you hair snap. My two favourites are the Joico K-Pack Deep Penetrating Reconstructor and the K-Pack Intense Hydrator.

Don't rip the brush through your hair, be gentle. Since it's bleached it might tangle up a lot more but pulling a brush through the knots isn't going to do it any good. Use a good detangler or leave in conditioner and it will make brushing so much easier.

Have a toner at the ready, I use one by Goldwell and it's brilliant! It works in 5 minutes flat and eliminates all brassiness.

Be prepared to embrace the roots! Now I'm not saying let them grow out till they are past your ears but there's no need re-do them every 3-4 weeks, it makes it harder to not overlap the colour. Every 6-8 weeks is plenty.

So there you have my top tips to keep your bleached hair in great condition!
What is your top tip for bleached hair?

I'm now a Brunette!

I no longer have red hair and I can say I'm much more happier with it being dark, the red was visably fading within two washes and the maintanance was too much.
It turned out darker than I anticipated but I'm actually glad it did, I think it really suits me, it matches my eyebrows and I can wear pretty much any color without worrying about it clashing.

My old copper red hair:



My new shiny dark chocolate brown hair:

Changing Haircolor... Again!

I dye my hair a lot, in the past year it's been light brown, dark brown, brown with highlights, caramel, blonde with higlights, bleach blonde, natural red, bright cherry red and my current color copper red.
While I love the red it's a pain to maintain, I can have it dyed one week and it will have faded the next and let me tell you faded red hair aint pretty.
I also find I clash with certain colors, baby pinks in particular which means my beloved YSL Lingerie Pink lipstick sits unused.
So I have an hair appointment tommorow to change my hair to a cool deep chocolate brown shade, it will be a nice change for the colder months and it won't fade all that much, best of all I can wear my pinks again.

How To Keep Your Color Vibrant For Longer.

Since my previous post was about hair dye I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to post a set of guidelines on how to keep your color from fading.

1. Use a shampoo and conditioner specifically designed for color treated hair, preferably a sulfate free one and one that as UV protection to prevent fading from the sun.

2. Use a protein conditioner once a week to deeply nourish and strenghten your hair.
Color treated hair tends to be drier and more prone to damage and what the protein treatment will do is temporarily fill in any spots that need repairing.

3. Rinse in cold water, it's hard I know but it makes such a difference in how long your color lasts. The cool water closes the hair cuticle trapping the color molecules in and giving a fantastic shine too.

4. Use a thermal heat protectant before you use any heat appliances, it will prevent your hair from any unecessary damage and slow down the fading that a blowdrier, straightener or curling tong can do.

5. If your gonna be in the sun for a long period of time wear an hat or a scarf, the sun will bleach the color right out of your hair, this is not only true for dyed hair but virgin hair too.

So there you have it, those are the basic step I follow in order to keep my hair's vibrancy for as long as I possibly can.

Special Effects Hair Dye

This is just gonna be a quick overview and review on Special Effects hair dye.

Special Effects is a semi-permanent, brightly colored hair dye that last anything between 2 and 6 weeks, it's best used on pre-bleached hair to give the most vibrant results but can be used on dark hair to give a sheen.

Picture of my hair:



Anyone who as red hair knows how hard it is to keep this particular color vibrant as it tends to fade really fast, I find that when I have my hair dyed at the salon the vibrancy of the color last maybe 3 weeks then it fades to this dull peachy shade, this as nothing to do with the hair stylists who do my hair, they are amazing and I trust them completely.
The problem lies in the fact that professional salon hair dye isn't as strong as the Special Effects is at depositing color.
The way I use it is as a color refresher I already have my hair dyed red at the salon but I top it up in between appointments with either the shade Blood Red or Devilish.
Blood Red is a true cool red, Devilish is a cool toned pinky red, both work very well with my complexion.
They are very vibrant and noticeable, you will get a ton of people ask you about your color the best part is once it's on I don't have to re-do it for another 6-8 weeks which is great.
Now for the negatives, it doesn't contain peroxide so IT'S NOT GONNA LIGHTEN YOUR HAIR, it's deposit only so when it comes to doing your roots your gonna have to bleach before or I just get it re-dyed red at the salon which allows for my hair to absorb the Special Effects color.
Secondly it stain everything it comes into contact, your shower, towel, hands, neck, pillowcase and any light colored clothing luckily it does come off with scrubbing/washing.
All in all I highly recommend it if your looking for a long lasting, vibrant hair dye that won't damage your hair.

This is where you can get it from:
www.beeunique.co.uk the only place in the UK that sells it as far as I'm aware.