So, I accidentally dyed my hair purple...

So today's post isn't something I can say I planned for... Like a lot of blonde haired ladies, when my hair is looking slightly brassy, I use a purple shampoo to freshen up my locks and keep those orange tones at bay. In the past 10 years that i've been bleach blonde, I've tried many a toner on my hair.

There are so many 'purple' or 'silver' shampoo's on the market, that without reading a review, you often don't know what you're going to get. You could say that i'm used to toning shampoo's not being very useful. I quite like the Touch Of Silver shampoo which you an often find in the pound shop, as well as the usual drugstores I like it, because it's weak enough to forget about leaving in your hair for 10 minutes and you'll have an even application. I've tried the L'oreal Professional Serie Silver shampoo when a hairdresser left me with brassy roots - they gave me a big bottle to compensate until they could get me back in to fix them. It was a thicker consistency than I expected, but smelt great, and toned nicely. I've ordered the Clairol Shimmer Lights which our American allies seem to rave about for platinum and silver locks, Although it left the hair patchy in places, I did however, put that down to a dodgy home dye!

A couple of months ago, I was asked if I'd like to try anything from the brand Fudge* and their range of hair products, I jumped at the chance to try a few out. The Clean Blonde Violet Toning Shampoo* seemed like a great product for my bleached, dehydrated, hair. The product is billed to 'balance out the yellow tones in your hair to give you a blonde tone you'll love. The shampoo leaves your hair hydrated, replenished, and perfectly clean'. Of course I wanted to try it... and of course, it sat in my drawer for months whilst I used up the other 2 bottles of toning shampoo I had on the go.

It was mid shower (no joke) Sunday Night, that I had a brainwave. I'd remembered the existence of the Fudge shampoo! So, I did what any self respecting woman would do - I opened the bathroom door and requested my partner to get it for me.

I used the shampoo, as directed - on wet hair, and applied it in an even application, the same way I usually apply toning shampoo. I split my hair into sections and applied the product. I kept the shampoo on for about 10 minutes or so before washing it off.... What happened next, when I saw my hair dry, in daylight for the first time, can only really be described in picture form, so I've recreated it for your benefit. 

I honestly, don't know what I expected to happen... but after the initial 'Oh shit, what have I done?!' I couldn't stop laughing. I wasn't bothered by the purple too much, It was just completely unexpected. After my Clairol Shimmer Lights patchy dye job, and a lot of googling, I worked hard at washing it a few times in head and shoulders which caused the colour to fade over a weekend - so I knew I could get rid of it this hair disaster... But it left me thinking, what If I leave it for a day before washing it out?

Although I hadn't intended for this to happen, After Applying my make up, and attempting to style my purple/blue/grey locks... something strange happened... I looked in the mirror and I sort of, almost, dare I say it - liked it? I decided to share a picture on twitter yesterday, and let's just say my twitter feed went a little crazy. I couldn't believe how many people liked it! Like actually thought it was good... which leaves me thinking... should I make it a little more permanent? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this colour! And if you have any hair mishap stories, i'd love to hear them! Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

Kerastase Elixir Ultime Review

Let's talk about Hair Oils today. Now, Hair Oils are products that I haven't used that often before, but after receiving a bottle of the Kerastase Elixir Ultime* in a goodie bag at an event I went to a while back, I thought I'd give it a try. 

I have bleached hair, and I'm sure as hell that I should be using all the products all the time. Hair dressers like to inform me of this every time I visit the Salon... yet I always come away feeling a little bit miffed, a little bit scorned and a little bit like i've been preached to and overly criticized by the hair dresser. Which, then makes me not want to go back. It's almost like an endless circle of disdain for my hair, but i'm working on it... For instance, my hair is now the longest it's been in years, and is in pretty good shape considering how much it's bleached every month.

I started incorporating the Kerastase Elixir Ultime* into my routine about 3 weeks ago. I like to use the oil on freshly washed, damp hair. To start, I squirt around 3 pumps of product into the palm of my hand. Next, I gently rub my palms in a circular motion. Finally, starting at the ends of my hair, I begin to massage into into my hair working upwards, and concentrating on the ends and midlengths, I find that avoiding the roots means that my hair doesn't get greasy, yet still feels the full effects of the product - Which is great! 

I then blow-dry my hair as usual and when complete, I apply one more pump of product into the ends, and brush it through. I find that applying the product in this way leaves my hair feeling silky soft and gives it a real luxurious feel.

I also can't talk about this product without mentioning the scent. This product smells divine, it's like a mix of fruitiness and a high end perfume and will certainly leave your hair smelling like you've just walked out of a salon.

At £28.40 for 125ml it's not cheap in the slightest... but i'm convinced and converted and absolutely can't live without it now. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on hair oils! Do you use them? Let me know in the comments...

Em xxx

Bleach London Pastel Hair Christmas Gift Guide!

Christmas is not only the time of year we all spend time with our loved ones, it's also a period of time off from work, school, college and university... which in hand, means time away from rules and dress codes... you see where I'm going with this? 

Bleach London are known to be the experts at cray coloured hair in London. With Salons in Shoreditch and even Topshop, a range of hair dyes that can be bought in drugstores too. Bleach seem to know their stuff. If you've been a fan of the pastel hair trend, or know someone who is, the Christmas period could be the perfect time to experiment with wash in colours to add a little edge to a look. I wanted to share with you my top picks from the Bleach London* Gift range that are all super affordable (and even on 3 for 2 at Boots!) and are a great way to mix up a look. 

Bleach London Spin The Bottle* - £12.00

The Bleach London, Spin The Bottle* gift set is great value for £12.00 and offers a one off opportunity to try so many different colours. It's the type of set that I would have killed to get my hands on as a teenager, and I can imagine a group of friends having so much fun at a sleepover experimenting and creating some great looks.

In the set, you get:
1x Sea Punk Super Cool Colour
1x Washed Up Mermaid Super Cool Colour
1x Violet Skies Super Cool Colour
1x Bullini Super Cool Colour
1x Rose Super Cool Colour
1x Awkward Peach Super Cool Colour

 I will point out though that these shades will not work on dark hair, you will need to have light blonde hair, or highly bleached hair to get the full effect of the shades. These are also Semi Permanent dyes and they will wash out in 2-10 washes, depending on your hair type.

I have three weeks off over the festive period, and I'm hoping to get through at least half of these colours before I go back to work... and you never know, If I like them... I may make one of them a permanent thing.

Bleach London Hold It's Hair Pencil Case Set* - £10.00 

What I love about the Bleach London Hold It's Hair Crayons* is how easy they are to use. At £10.00 it's an incredibly affordable set, that not only fits in to a secret santa budget, but is a great stocking filler too. The set contains 3 different shades that work well together to create an ombre effect, or by using varying amounts of pressure, work well on their own to create a cool 'faux dipdye' hair do. I love using the Rose and Bruised Velvet crayons together to create beautiful pink & ombre looks in my hair and the best thing about these crayons is that they wash out straight away, meaning they're perfect for a cool night out and you can head back into the office the next day without anybody ever knowing...

Bleach London Rose Cool Colour Bauble* - £5.00

The Bleach London Rose Cool Colour Bauble* could well be the ultimate stocking filler for a cool blonde, or light haired friend that you know. At £5.00 it makes a great little gift that is welcome in my stocking any day, you can also stay bang on trend with a Scrunchie... (I still can't believe scrunchies are back in fashion?!). A beautiful rose pink dye that is easy to apply and washes out in 2-10 washes, it could be a great way to mix up your look over the festive period. 

Bleach London Phone Case & Sticker Set* - £10.00 

Finally, a gift idea for the ultimate Tumblr reading, pastel hair loving girl - a great stocking filler is the Bleach London Phone Case & Sticker Set* that even comes with dare I say it, a cute NIT key ring... That's right, a hair nit. The set comes with some cute stickers and the case fits an iPhone 5/5s. At £10.00 it's a cute gift that fans of the brand will enjoy, I'd say this is more towards the young teen age range, and If I wasn't such a clutz who needs a hard bevelled edged case - I'd totally use the case on my phone. 

So those are my picks from the Bleach London Gift range. I'm dying to get to grips with the hair dyes, so stay tuned to see what looks I come up with! I'd love to hear which is your favourite product from the range, let me know  in the comments.

Em xxx

*PR Sample.

L'oreal Wild Stylers, Next day Hair Spray Review

Have you ever had a hair product that was so good, your boyfriend stole it?  For me, the L'oreal Wild Stylers Next Day Hair* texture spray is that product. Now i'm not the type of girl who sprays endless products into her hair on a daily basis, because most of the time I see them doing more harm than good...  I have bleached hair so try to avoid products which will try and dry it our or potentially damage it even more and worse still... make it feel lank and greasy. 

Over the past year however, I've realised that hair does indeed look better the next day, be it curls, waves or whatever - with the exception of course on that salon fresh bouncy blowdry. But as i'm just a mere mortal and sadly don't live the life of Tamera Ecclestone, I've resulted to a few tricks to get my hair looking good, quickly.

To get the perfect amount of texture into my hair, fast - I blowdry my hair in a faily rough way to give it some  natural texture and then I give a good spritz of the L'oreal next day hair into the mid lengths and ends and kind of juz it in with my fingers...(juz is a technical term... right?) I find that using the product in this way means that my hair doesn't sit as flat, and generally looks like i've spent more than 2 minutes on my hair... which is always a good thing.

The BF likes to use it on his freshly washed hair as he is a man and doesn't appreciate the feeling of freshsly washed hair...(I KNOW!!) and finds that spritzing some of this in, helps him style it easier.

At £12.75 it's by no means cheap for a hair 'texture' spray... but is it worth it? The battle for the spray in the morning kind of speaks for itself...

Em xxx

Bourjois #24hrpartyready Event!

Last week I headed to the Elegant St Martins Lane Hotel, in Covent Garden - London to attend the Bourjois #24hourpartyready event. I've been to a few events with Bourjois, and I just adore the attention to detail and effort that they put into making everything utterly beautiful, fun and and a total pamper fest. 

Not only did they have their latest product releases on display for swatching... they also had manicurists, make up artists, a live fashion portrait illustrator and not only that, but GHD were in attendance too, showing off their latest hair curlers - The GHD Curve.

In terms of new releases from Bourjois, I'm so super excited about the new shade in the Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick - Happy Nude Year. The Quad eyeshadow palettes, and of course the Volume 1 seconde Mascara in Ultra Black. All of these things make me want to lock myself in the make up room and just experiment all day long.

I was lucky enough to have my hair styled by GHD at the event, my nails done by the lovely Sharon and had a portrait drawn of me... and let me just tell you that quite a few cakes and macarons seemed to have horrible delicious accidents at that event... 

I had a wonderful evening at the event with Monica & April and so much so we were the last to leave... reluctantly. Another fabulous event by Bourjois and a job well done by the team. I honestly can't fault Bourjois, who have the best events for bloggers, with an incredible team.  

I can't wait to review the new releases and share with you some new looks I've created using some of these new products. Which new release are you most excited about?

Em xxx

Dirty Looks Hair Extensions* Review!

Long blonde hair with tumbling curls has always been a dream of mine and over the past 2 weeks I've been testing out Dirty Looks  'HK' Extensions* in the hopes of reaching my dream hairstyle.  I decided to shade match my own hair, as It's an unusual colour at the moment due to a build up of silver shampoo and I know roughly what colour my hair is when that's washed out. I chose the shade 'Paparazzi Blonde' and after eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Dirty Looks Extensions* I was over the moon when they arrived.  The Extensions themselves come safely ziplocked in a pretty lilac box and what really makes them special is that they're split into two sections.

You have the main bulk of extensions and cleverly the hair colour test section! How cool is that? I've never seen a company have the brains to do this before and I was thoroughly impressed. I whipped the test section out, and clipped it into my hair, it was a match! 

The extensions themselves are a wonderful quality. They're Remy human hair and so so thick! I chose the 20-22inch length (which weigh a whopping 180g) as when curled they can easily lose a few inches. Dirty Looks* seem to have thought of everything with these extensions as they even come with spare clips and this handy guide of where to position them! Did I mention the wefts are numbered too? So if like me you're a bit useless first thing in the morning, you really can't go wrong.

And what do they look like in??

 I think I can safely say that my Disney Princess Hair dream has been achieved! After road testing and non stop wear over the past two weeks, I've never had so many compliments on my hair. They're brilliant quality and hold curls well. Even the Headmasters Hair Stylists were thoroughly impressed by them at Bloggers Fashion Week and kept asking me where they were from.  These extensions definitely  get my seal of approval.

For more information or to buy Dirty Looks Hair Extensions, Check out the website here -

http://dirtylooks.com/

What hairstyles would you like to see my create using these Extensions? Let me know in the comments xx