Category: Hair

Ooops! I did it again …. and I’m blonde

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Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. Now that all the kids have finally been healthy for a week or so my body is starting to give in. I’ve basically been sleeping 2-5 hours a night for a couple of months now and when I’m no longer stressing over sick kids I feel like I can’t do anything but sit on the couch wearing my comfy home pants. I did manage to do some shopping though and went through a major hair color change. Now I feel like a brand new person.

I have been suffering from postpartum hair loss and my hair is quite thin at the moment. I had grown out my own natural color and I really liked it but the color made my hair look even thinner. So I decided to go back to my old ways and bleached my hair. I bleached it twice to get it to be as light as I wanted. Now there’s still a hint of yellow shade left on the lengths. I just bought a good silver shampoo and a silver spray leave in conditioner yesterday. With those I’m trying to achieve a perfect silver blonde shade. I can’t stand the yellow shade on my hair when it’s blonde so I fight it with everything that I can :D I’ll rather have grey hair than have a slightest bit of yellow shade on it.

I’ll have a hair post with photos up when I get the shade to look exactly how I want it.

 

 

Lookfantastic Beauty Box – March

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I know I said I wouldn’t post on weekends but I have so much to show you that I want to post today too. If you haven’t received your LF Beauty Box for March yet and you don’t want to see spoilers then do not scroll down.

 

My first impression of this box was when I picked it from the mail box that it felt very light. Cos the products were small it also looked half empty. Nevertheless products that were inside are all new to me products. I also found everything in this box very usable. I’m excited to test all of these and some of them might make it back for a review.
Nudestix Magnetic Eye Color in Gilt
This is eyeshadow pencil is a lovely shade of gold. Quick test on the hand showed that this applies oh so smoothly, is somewhat blendable and has good staying power. The color is quite metallic but I hope I can make this work for me. I liked this very much!
Lord & Berry Line/Shade Kajal & Eye Pencil Liner in black
I got Lord & Berry Silk Kajal from December’s Beauty Box and I quite liked it. I will use this and report back.
 
Cowshed Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm
I did a quick test on this too. This felt thin, oily and well hydrating. Might not be enough for winter months but spring is coming anyways so I’ll definitely use this too.
Bliss Fatgirlslim
Ohh! I’m in a middle of a weight loss project so I was so excited to find this from the box. A skin firming product is exactly a product that I want to test after I get some weight off. So this will be sitting there waiting for a while but will be used to the last drop for sure.
The photo above is also a perfect example why I dislike use of the black paper shreds on packing these products *sigh* I don’t want to have to clean up a new and unused product before even using it for the first time.
Nuxe Nuxellence Detox
I was also very excited to find this one from the box. In January’s box I got Nuxe Crème Fraîche de Beauté mask and I’ve been using that regularly with good results. I have high hopes for this one.
Wet Brush Squirts
This tiny little brush is said to be perfect for detangling wet hair and it was. I used this after washing my hair and it felt so soft. There was no pulling of the hair or pain when the brush hit a tangle. I will keep using this for sure. Though this was good for my shoulder length and fine hair I don’t think it would work so great for my daughters long and thick hair. I will still test that.

LivBox – March

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Time for another LivBox, a cosmetics subscription box only available in Finland but many products in it are usually international.

 

It was quite a nice box this month too. Most of the products I will definitely test and use.

I did a quick test on Bangerhead Fresh Me Up! dry shampoo and though it smelled very nice it was also a little too lightweight for my taste. It’s supposed to add volume to my hair but I can’t say I really saw or felt a difference. I will definitely give this another try later on.

Lumene Bright Now Vitamin C Shine Control Cream-Gel for face. I did a quick test on this too. Felt pretty light weight as you would expect a gel like cream to feel like. The scent was also very nice and fruity. I didn’t see a clear matte effect immediately but I will have to test this under makeup to really give my opinion on it. So review might be coming up later on.

Dove Advanced Hair Series Oxygen Moisture shampoo and conditioner came in travel size tubes. I had a moment to test these already. The shampoo is clear and gel like, lathers well and washes your hair clean. Though it left my hair feeling kinda heavy which is weird result for a product that is meant for fine and flat hair. Conditioner made my hair silky smooth and easy to comb through. After my hair was dry it was shiny and really smooth but also pretty flat. Though I love the silky feeling on my hair now I still expected a different result. I will probably use these tubes but won’t buy these again.

Best product in this box for me was Rimmel Provocalips 310 Little Minx since I love Provocalips lip colors and I didn’t have this shade yet. I will have a review for these lip colors later on.

There was also Nailfix cuticle oil (Finnish brand) which I most likely won’t use on my nails since I swear on Bliss Kiss Pure Nail Oil. This oil comes with a hygienic dropper so I might use this on my toes when I do my pedicures.

At last there was two perfume samples. Calvin Klein Reveal for men smelled absolutely divine on my husband so we’ll definitely be buying a bottle of this later on. Chloé Love Story was a floral scent and not my kind of scent at all. I gotta give that one to my mother cos it’s something she might like. I myself like my perfumes sweeter and heavier.

 

 

Lookfantastic Beauty Box – February

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Today it’s time to take a quick look at Lookfantastic February Beauty Box. If you’re still waiting for yours and don’t want to know what’s inside then don’t scroll down any further ;)

 

 

This was my third LF Beauty Box and I’m still pretty pleased with the products inside. Previous boxes have introduced new to me products that I have started using on a daily basis. This time the nice surprise was that there wasn’t a supplement product in this box. I’m not crazy about those and much rather take some cosmetics products instead.

 

 

Moroccanoil Treatment (for all hair types) 25 ml

This is a product that I use regularly and like very much. My last bottle is almost empty so this was a nice surprise. Also my hair has very little damaged part left and it would’ve been a waste of money to buy a new bigger bottle since I won’t need to use this much longer. As good as this oil is it’s too heavy for my natural, undamaged hair and makes it look oily really easily. I think that by the time I have used this bottle it’s also time to cut the dry lengths off.

 

Monu Illuminating Primer 20 ml

This is a new to me brand and I’m excited to test this product. Quick test on my hand and cheek showed that this white primer brings a nice amount of light an glow and instead of feeling silicone-y and smooth it leaves a bit of a tacky feeling on your skin. I feel a review coming up later on.

 

Korres Citrus Little Body Milk 50 ml

I like Korres as a brand but this product is not for me. The scent is way too masculine and strong so this is going to go to my husband and he’ll probably use it as hand lotion if he can live with the strong scent. I can’t say much about how this moisturizes and so on since I’m not willing to even test this further. The scent is by no means bad. It just simply smells too masculine for me to want to apply it on my skin.

 

Dr PawPaw Original Balm 10 ml

This is a heavy feeling balm that is mentioned to be suitable for lips, skin, hair, cuticles and nails. So it sounds like that you can use this for what ever part of your body feels dry. I did a quick test on my dry lips and cuticles and this felt quite good. Another plus for being scent and flavor free. This might be a product I’ll end up buying more of after I’m done with this little tube.

 

Erno Lazzlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar 17 g

This product also interests me a lot. This is a bar soap for your face. Directions say to wet the bar and gently massage your face and neck with it. Continue massaging with your fingers and at last rinse off with water. This is supposed to gently exfoliate and clean your face without removing natural oils from your skin. I will definitely test this and there might be a review coming up later on too.

 

Bellapierre Cosmetics Natural Lip Liner No. 01

LF page says this is made of 100% natural pigments and promises waterproof wear. Unfortunately the shade is brown so I don’t really have use for this. I might still test this just to see if the waterproof claim is accurate.

 

LivBox – February

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This is LivBox, a monthly cosmetics subscription box that is only available in Finland. I’m writing about this cos even if the box itself is only available here in Finland it usually has products in it that are internationally available.

I tried this box for three months last year and wasn’t too impressed. Now I decided to give it another try for a few months and this time I quite liked this first box I got. Most interesting products for me were the new Lumene Nude Perfection Fluid Foundation and Nivea 3-in-1 Micellar Cleansing Water.

 

A quick testing of the new Lumene foundation gave me a very positive first impression and I’ll have a review up for this after using it a few more times. I’ve been hearing good things about micellar waters but never actually remember to buy any when I’m out shopping so it was perfect to find one from this box.

I also haven’t tried In-Shower body lotions so I’m excited to try the Eucerin one. I’m pretty bad when it comes to body lotions after shower cos I usually don’t have time to wait for them to absorb. So this might be perfect for me.

I don’t really have an opinion about the Fructis Densify Lengths Plumper leave in conditioner for hair yet. I’ll give it a try and let you know what I thought of it later on.

Paese eyeshadow in Kashmir was a little meh, but it might be a good color for contouring or brows so maybe I’ll get some use out of this one too. If not I’ll just give it to my mother. She likes these kind of matte shades.

There was also a necklace as a Valentines Day surprise.

All in all this was a good one for me and now I’m really looking forward to testing these products and receiving another box next month :)

On a road for a Better Hair Day

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I’m going through postpartum hair loss for the third time in my life and let me tell you it’s still not enjoyable. So I’ve experienced this twice before and it still freaks me out. I feel like I’m going to be bald any day now. This time the difference is that I’m getting a little outside help. I’m part of a test group and I get to test a product that is going to be sold in pharmacies here in Finland starting February. I tell you the timing couldn’t be more perfect than this. I got 4 months worth of these pills and I started taking them last week. Naturally when it comes to hair and nails nothing works in days but I hope to see some results in a couple of months.

I think the hair is still going to fall off either way but I hope this product will help me grow new hair faster and stronger. Even if this exact product is only sold in Finland I’m still going to keep everyone updated on this project too since something similar is probably available in many countries.

 

 

Right now I’ve been growing my own hair color back since late October 2013. So bleaching or hair dyes are not going to play any part in this project. It’s been relaxing just letting my own color grow out and having a healthy shiny hair is a great bonus. Now this postpartum hair loss has come to haunt me again and like my nails and eyebrows, my hair is also very thin so I can’t really afford to lose hair like this.

I’ll take some before photos this week and take some after photos when I hit two and four months. Fingers crossed that this helps me to continue my hair growing project.

 

 

My new hair color

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Just a quick post to show you my new hair color. I decided that I’m not too old for purple hair and made my own mix of Crestol Fantasy Color Gloss colors and this is how it turned out!

I’ll be back this weekend with some new Color Club, Lynnderella and new Sugar Crush fall color from IsaDora so be sure to check back for those :)

 

 

Author RiaG
Categories Hair

Desert Essence Coconut shampoo and conditioner

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Hello my lovelies! I’ve been thinking about starting to also blog about other things than just nails. Nails are what started this blog and will always be the main topic here but I have a great passion for beauty and cosmetics and sometimes I have other, none nail related things I feel like talking about. I hope this doesn’t drive anyone away :) My makeup posts will mostly be swatches and easy every day looks. I’m a certified makeup artist and I own a lot of makeup products I’d love to share with you. My makeup stash as well as nail stash is ever growing :P

So here goes a hair product post. I recently bleached my hair back to platinum blonde and it was quite a rough ride. Now I need good products to keep my hair shiny and healthy. Today I have my favorite everyday shampoo and conditioner combo for you. Of course I use a lot of other products along with these but I’ll get to those on some other post. My problem is that my scalp can’t handle silicone at all so that is the first thing I look for when I find new products that touch my scalp. I get itchy bumps and my hair starts to fall off easily of I use products with a lot of silicone for a long time. So I’d decided it’s better to just buy shampoo and rinse off conditioners that don’t have silicone at all. I do use leave in conditioners with silicone though (did I use the word silicone enough?) ;).

 

 

I have found Desert Essence Coconut shampoo and conditioner to be perfect for my bleached hair. I buy these from iHerb. The price is very reasonable and they ship internationally.

The shampoo lathers really well which isn’t always the case with natural shampoos. It also washes my hair squeaky clean. After the shampoo my hair feels like one big dry mess that will never be untangled but when I add the conditioner I can run my fingers right through it without any problems. Formula on the shampoo is very gel like and it isn’t runny at all, the conditioner is thick and creamy. I also LOVE coconut scent in almost any cosmetics product so the strong coconut scent is just one big plus for me. These do smell pretty sweet so if you don’t enjoy coconut these might not be for you. I haven’t noticed the scent staying on my hair too long though.

Here’s the back of the bottles with the INCI.

 

These really work great for my hair and I use them most of the time at the moment. Along with these I also use moisturizing conditioner along with a keratin conditioner. After the wash I use leave in conditioners. My favorite at the moment is Moroccanoil.

What are your go-to hair products and you have any good tips for me?

FOTD UD Naked again and the new hair

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Today’s FOTD using Urban Decay Naked again.

 

FOTD products used:

Lily Lolo Blush Away
Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation – Warm Peach
Lily Lolo Flawless Silk Finishing Powder

Dior Eyebrow Pencil – Sand
Urban Decay Brow Box – Honey Pot

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Urban Decay Naked – Darkhorse, Sidecar, Hustle
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil – Whiskey
Maybelline Volum’ Express Colossal – Black

NARS Albatross
NARS Orgasm and a hint of NARS Torrid
Ariane Inden Pressed Powder – Tawny

Dior Addict High Shine – 352 Champagne Blush
Guerlain Divinora Lip Pencil – Cupidon

 

 

Yesterday I also had my hair cut really short again and had it bleached too. My hair is really thin and doesn’t look good grown longer. I really like this platinum shade and style :)