Ok, so I know I've done a lot of posts that have Garnier products in them... I guess thats because I've found a company where I enjoy every product (that I've tried), and found them to be good products.
   I started with a sample packet that came along with a paper that comes to our house, and since I love hair products, I had to try it out.
   Well, I found the scent to be absoutely heavenly (the scent really matters for me since I'm a super taster/smeller), quite fruity which is my favorite scent collection.
   So, since I dyed my hair this past summer/fall, I knew I needed something to preserve the color. And something to keep my hair hydrated.
  Not many companys have something that will spray into your hair, like hairspray, and not leave a huge residue. In fact, I cannot remember seing a drugstore company who brought out a product like this. What is it?
   It's a spray in product that has a milk serum (I don't remember what kind, but it's the white stuff) in it to help detangle your hair, along with the product to help preserve your hair color (the pink stuff).
   It truly is a lightweight product that doesn't leave a hunk of stuff in your hair like hairspray does (not that this replaces hairspray at all, it just doesn't have the same buildup).
   The natural ingredients include acai berry (still loving it!) and grape seed oil, which is very nourshing to the hair.

Scent: 4/5
Nourishing: 4/5
Effectiveness: 4/5
Overall Product Rating: 4/5

Woud I buy this again?: Yes
Why did I use this product?: To protect the color in my hair
Price?: I got it on sale for less than $4.00, but would probably be normally $5-$9.
It's only really worth it when it's on sale.
 
   I'm into hair products right now, so when I saw this curl product (on sale!), I knew I had to try it!
   My mom has curly hair, and my dad straight, I ended up with this half curly, half not type of hair. The hair from my scalp to my neck is straight, but as soon as it cascades off of my head, it's curly, and quite so.
   But I found that I could use some help sculpting my curls, and to keep the frizz down (for anyone who has curly hair, you know "frizz"! It's like having a humidity hair day, every day.
   So, I saw this in my local shopping store, I decided to pick it up.
   And it works like a wonder! It makes your curls more equal, and spiraly, without adding crusty gunk to it. However, you do need to use the full pump on it, and for me, I need to use two medium pumps. And the scent is heavenly!!
So, if you have hair that has some wave to it, but want more, I'd use this product.

Scent: 4/5
Anti-Frizz: 3/5
Moisturizing: 4/5
Effectiveness: 4/5
Overall Product Rating: 4/5

Woud I buy this again?: Yes
Why did I use this product?: To help inhance my curls
Price?: I got it on sale for less than $4.00.
 
   Well, I finally decided to get Garnier's Nutrisse Mousse hair dye.
   I really wanted to try a hair dye that was "mess free". Meaning that you didn't have to use any brushed to apply it to your hair. I was excited. Really excited. But I restrained myself from trying it out immediately.
   That lasted for about 2 weeks.
   By that time, I was ready for it. The last part of my pervious dye was really faded, I was back to being blonde.
   Now there is nothing wrong with being blonde. I love being blonde, but I was done with it for the moment.
   I really wanted to be dark auburn. Not light auburn, or subtle auburn. But nice, opposite, really, just dark intense auburn.
   The way this hair dye works as opposed to others, is that it works with a literal mousse pump. Why I say literal is because other hair companys have brought out a dye that comes in a mousse bottle, but the top just squirts out like any old bottle does. This one is a literal mousse container/pump.
   You opend the two bottles (the mousse bottle contains the chemical stimulent, and the other bottle contains the dye) and mix them together in the mousse container.
   When you gently mix it together, you just press the head of the bottle, and out comes the dye in mousse form!
   Now on the front of the box says it's "Easy to use. No mess". And I guess that is how it is for most people. But not for me.
   Being an artist, I tend to mix things differently. By differently, I mean, I know enough about liquids at how much of each ingredient I need to add to make a product work. So, I tend to not use a whole bottle of hair dye in one use. I pour the same amount of each into the desired bottle to create the concotion I need.
   It works for paint-in hair dyes. Not for mousse dyes I've found out.
   This thing was a mess. Because I didn't know how much I would need, I only poured a little of each into the main bottle. However, I needed to refil the bottle 3 times before I covered my head. Doing that in a cramped bathroom that you CAN'T get any dye ANYWHERE is hard. It hardly foamed like mousse should. It was almost no better than any normal paint dye.
   It was dripping everywhere, wouldn't end up on the right part of my hand, yeah it wasn't pretty. 
   I can't say that I'm fond of the way the bottle system works, but I think I'd have an easier time if I had just used the full bottle, or even half of it.
   However, the result was worth it. It took me from being a mixed head of many shades of colors, to a rich, dark, auburn. Really, it was exactaly what I wanted.
   However, the color faded about 30% as I spent time in the sun, which I didn't anticipate for. But that's what I get for doing it in the middle of summer. Tip, don't do it when you're going to be spending lots of time in the sun.
   If you want a dark, Mahogany color, I would definitely recommend this. It leaves your hair soft, unlike what people think when they think about dying their hair.
   I didn't like the application, but loved the results.
Pump System: 2/5
Color Application: 3.5/5
Scent: 3/5
Color Result: 5/5
Coverage 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

Would I buy it again? Yes

Why did I use this product? To cover my blonde streaked hair and make me a mahogany red/brown.

Price: Here in Canada, where I bought it, it was $8.99 without tax. Pretty good for hair dye. I've seen hair dye costing up to $50, and I bought a Herbitint hair dye (it was a Henna dye), and it was over $20.
 
   This is the current hair shampoo that I'm using. Not sure why you guys would like to know, I just thought I'd do a blog post about it.
   Before you read this post, I'd suggest that you go and read the post "Hair Color/Styling - My Story".
   I'm the type of person who never, ever thought I'd color my hair, whether it's hightlighting to going to a completely different color. And I didn't for years. I kept my hair long, one lengeth, and one color, my natural color... medium dark blond.
   That changed when I got fed up with my hair. It was between 23 and 25 inches long and slightly wavy. One length. It was a lot of hair.
   Then, one day, I decided that I was sick of it being boring, and being too much to take care of. Don't get me wrong, I loved my hair, but I also did lots of stuff to it that wasn't the best for it. The biggest thing I did that was bad for it was brush and put it up while it was wet. That is very damaging to the hair folicles, particulary if you brush it with a plastic hairbrush.
   So, a few years back my mom talked me into getting it layered. Only a few, but still getting it layered. So I went to a hair salon and got a few inches cut off of the bottom, and got about 2 inches of layers. That pretty much makes it only one more layer, but I felt like it was a huge change.
   I loved how it looked. It made my hair a little lighter, and freed up some of my previous issues with tangles.
   I talked in more details about my hair changes in my other hair post.
   Anyhoo, after I colored my hair for the third time, I decided to use Garnier's Fructis Color Shield Fortifying Shampoo.
   I have a really fussy scalp, so I cannot use just any shampoo otherwise my scalp freaks out. I've used expensive shampoos, and cheep shampoos, it doesn't matter though. It works or it doesn't. This is a shampoo that doesn't work with my hair.
   Weren't expecting that were you?? Well, I do not like this shampo for what it does to my scalp. I'm currently using it because of it's scent, and because it really does keep the color from fading.
   This shampoo uses acai and grape seed oil. Grape seed oil keeps your hair from getting dry and nourishes without making your hair oily. I don't remember what the Acai berrys do, but I know it makes the shampoo smell wonderful.
   If you know me personaly, you know that this year Acai berrys are my thing. It started with a long time friend of our giving me a small bottle of lotion that was scented with Acai berry. The lotion was from Greece, so I have no idea if we can get the lotion here, but the scent is heavenly!
   So, if you're looking for a shampoo that keeps the color from fading, try Garnier's Color Shield.
 
   I'm the type of person who never, ever thought I'd color my hair, whether it's hightlighting to going to a completely different color. I thought "This is the color God gave me, and I don't see the need  to have a fake color that isn't my natural one.
  And I didn't do it for years, not even thinking about it, or considering it a possibility. I kept my hair long, one lengeth, and one color, my natural color... medium dark blond.
   Kind of boring. Medium blond. And in the winter when the sun barely shines, it gets even darker/muddier.
   That changed when I got fed up with my hair. It was between 23 and 25 inches long and slightly wavy. One length. One color. It was a lot of hair, and boring.
   Then, one day, I decided that I was sick of it being boring, and being too much to take care of.
   Don't get me wrong, I loved my hair, but I also did lots of stuff to it that wasn't the best for it. The biggest thing I did that was bad for it was brush and put it up while it was wet. That is very damaging to the hair folicles, particulary if you brush it with a plastic hairbrush.
   So, a few years back my mom talked me into getting it layered. Only a few, but still getting it layered. So I went to a hair salon and got a few inches cut off of the bottom, and got about 2 inches of layers. That pretty much makes it only one more layer, but I felt like it was a huge change.
   I loved how it looked. It made my hair a little lighter, and freed up some of my previous issues with tangles.
   At that point, I also started using the straightener a lot. I loved how it made my hair manageable, smooth, and straight! I used it after every shower (about once every two days).
   I layered it again in 6 months time, this time the shortest layer resting just below collar bones. In another 7 months, I had my hair cut to about 16 inches, and layered it to my chin. That was where I stopped straightening my hair and let it dry naturally. And to my surprise, I found out that my hair, being cut so short, was curly. Really curly!
   Before that, my hair was wavy, but it was also frizy from being damaged by years of torture. So when I found out that my hair was curly, I was quite happy because I never got the hang of using a curler. And sad, because I couldn't get my hair wet without it frizing like crazy. It was at that point that I decided to let my hair grow out.
   That summer, I found out about John Frieda's Go Blonder lightening spray. I was really curious about it because it didn't dye your hair, but still changed the color, and after reading some reviews, it made your hair super soft, which is kind of weird since most products make your hair worse.
   I decided to give it a try, and I hoped it would work because I paid $10 for a 105 ml bottle. Over the summer, I used a whole bottle, applying it after every shower, and I noticed a huge difference. Like, huge. It was worth the money I paid. It not only made my hair blonder, it made it way softer. Curly hair is quite coarse, and it made my curles silky soft.
   I kept my hair light blond for the rest of the summer, and into fall. around Christmas time, I decided to have another change. In case you haven't noticed, I like to change things up about ever 6 months.
   This time, I decided  to go the opposite. I decided to go brown. As shown on the opposite side picture, I dyed my hair brown, but left the top part blonde. The red lines show the maker where the blonde meets the brown. I used Herbatint's henna hair dye, and like John Frieda's products, it left my hair silky. 
   I left that for a while, but it soon faded out, and I was left with a not so nice brown. The color was rather like my original  color, and I wasn't happy with it. So got a mahogany dye from the same company.
   I dyed the under color, but also took a few strips in my blonde coloring and colored it.
   So I got 7M-Mahogany, and managed to use the dye for 3 seperate dyes. The first dye, I dyed the lower part, and the strip that you see in the picture. I got it out again in a few months and added a few more strips throughout the blond section. And just a few days ago, I decided to finish off my bottle of dye.
   And this is what I came out with. I dyed the rest of my blonde section except for two chunks that seperate my part.
   I am quite happy with the way my hair looks now, but I can already tell that I'm going to get another dye soon and re-color the mahogany part. This time I'm going to try Garnier's Nutrisse Mousse, which is a Mousse instead of a liquid dye. I think I'm going to be getting it in the color 4RR which is Dark Intense Auburn. It also uses Avacado, and Grape Seed Extract which is wonderful for hair.
   I've found that, with my skin tone which is more yellow then red, auburn's/mahogany look better than browns.

   As much as I love to dye my hair, I don't reccomend it for everyone. I do it because I don't mind the change, but I also think of it as an artistic expression. My sister, who is a natural red head, and has almost 3 feet of one-length hair, says that she'll never dye her hair. And with her color, I don't think I'd dye it either.
   So, that is my hair story. If you have a "hair timeline" like this, I'd love to read it.

Signed with Mars Mud - Leauphaun
Picture
My original color. Nice, but it's a nutral color that isn't very interesting
(the face does not resemble me in any way)

Picture
John Frieda's Go Blonder Lightening Spray.
  You spray this into your hair like you would hairspray, only you do this when your hair is wet. It uses Lemon peal extract, Chamomile, and peroxide to lighten your hair.
  After you spray this into your hair, let it dry, or blow it dry, then use a hair curler or straightener. This product is activated by heat. So sitting in the sun will also lighten your hair. It takes about 10 uses before you see a huge difference, but after 2 uses I noticed something different. I went from my original blonde, to the color below. A nice light blond. And with a tan, this looked really nice. Warning though, if you're not a blonde, or light, light brown, do not use this product. It's not a dye, and it will make your hair orange or worse.

Picture
After using the Lightening Spray. A nice light honey color.

Picture
This is my first dye. The red lines mark where the brown hair is dyed to, and where the blonde hair starts.
   I used Herbatint's 4D Golden dye.

Picture
Second coloring using Herbatint's 7M Mahogany coloring,

Picture
Current style only with curly, longer hair. My layers reach about the widest part of my chin.

Picture
Garnier's Nutrisse Mousse. I'll do a review on it once I use it.

 
  Never thought I'd ever say it, but I found a pair of Crocs shoes that I like. A lot.
I have very special shaped feet, and while it's hard, if not impossible, to find shoes that fit my feet, I get really excited when I find a pair of shoes that fit my feet really well. What makes them so unusual? I have size women's 10 feet, but sometimes fit into a size 11.
  Not only that, but my feet are wide, so I need spacious shoes that can give me some room, without squezing them to the point of blisters or worse. In the past few years, I've just opted to wearing guys shoes, and while they fit, they aren't the most flattering shoes on the planet. So this is where I get excited.
  Oh, yeah, did I mention that I'm 5'9", so I'm not short either. Tall heals are out of the question (most of them make me almost if not taller than 6 feet tall), and flat shoes kill my feet.
  These, my friends, are the Crocs A-Leigh Wedge Leather shoes.
  I won't give you the boring details, so if you want to read about them here's the link.
  These shoes are made with real leather, have the Crocs soft, cushiny padding in the foot, but have a small 2 3/4 inch heal that won't kill you when you try to walk.
  To put it simply, I'm in love with these shoes.

Signed with Playdough
 - Leauphaun

    Author

    Hi, I'm a younger artist who is trying to please my Father, God, with my artwork. I am planning to get into graphic design in a few years. I'm also helping my sister, Eldra, with her book. How the characters look, what weapons they use, planets, vehicles etc...etc...etc. In the past 4 years I have come to love snowboarding.
    (see full bio here)

    Archives

    October 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Dye
    Hair
    Product
    Review