La Riche Directions and Blue Frosting Powder Lightener - Product Review

I am such an idiot... I dyed my hair recently and was dumb enough to wash my hair with Head and Shoulders thus washing most of the colour out of my hair. I figured since I touched it up the other night, I might as well do a product review-cum-tutorial-of-sorts at the same time.

I have quite dark hair so I always need to lighten it before using "unnatural" colours. I always used Ice Lites high lift bleach to lighten my hair but it burnt and blistered my scalp. I could never figure out why, no matter what I did or tried, it still caused me agony. Until I found out that, in my infinite wisdom, I should've actually read the packaging properly before going ahead with it. Ice Lites is actually an off-the-scalp bleach so all along I'd been doing it bloody wrong.

So I looked into different bleaches suitable for on-the-scalp lightening. I stumbled across Blue Frosting Powder by Proclére. Low Dust - Hi Lift (link below) and figured it would be worth a try. I did some reading up on the product and there seemed to be mixed information. Some people were saying off and some people were saying on. Anyway, it's £6.99 trade and I think it was £8.99 retail from Salon Services (please don't quote me on that as I could be wrong). 

I had dyed my hair using Violet Directions a few months back and I wasn't aware that washing out dark purple was one of the hardest things known to man. Basically, my hair went from purple to dark blue. After numerous attempts to remove it using various methods, the lightest I could get it was to a sort of turquoise colour.

 So basically, bleach was the only option if I wanted to go more lighter shades. The previous night, I did a coconut oil mask to my hair. I mixed up (more accurately, my Mum mixed up) the bleach with 20vol peroxide until the texture was slightly thicker than cake batter and applied it straight to my hair using a brush. The bleach itself smells much better than others I've used in the past, nowhere near as strong which was a plus. I was really scared that it was going to hurt as much as the Ice Lites but was pleasantly surprised when there was no paint whatsoever. I kept the bleach on for 30-45 minutes and there was a little itching towards the end just around my hairline at the back and I just gently rubbed over it with the pointy end of my brush.

Now... I did something really bad and I DO NOT recommend that anyone does this. I sort of bleached it twice. The turquoisey colour had lightened but not quite as light at necessary for my next colour to show up (terrible, I know) but it was necessary. I'm pretty fancy free (or stupid) when it comes to my hair and figured if it all crumbled to bits, I'm pretty sure I could work with it somehow. So this was the end result.

Next was time to actually colour it. I used to use Crazy Colour but I gave La Riche Directions (£2.99 from eBay), (link below) a try previously and really liked it. The consistency of it is like a thick gel so you don't get anything dripping down your neck or face which is great. It goes onto slightly damp hair so towel dry before using. I always wear latex gloves as I've learned in the past that it's rather difficult to get off your skin. One drawback of the texture is, although it's easy to apply and non-drip, it's slightly difficult to make sure it covers all of your hair so I'd recommend getting someone else to do it for you (thanks Mum) as in the past I've missed bits (whereas I haven't with CC, hence the assumption that it must be texture related). You only need to leave it on for 15 minutes but as it's quite gentle and a conditioning dye, I just leave it on as long as possible and just wander around and do whatever I need to be doing. I left it on for about 30 minutes this time around.

Upon recommendation, I usually wash my dye out with cold water as, apparently, it's less likely to wash a lot of colour out on your first wash. Dried it up and I absolutely love the colour. It's quick and easy to do, particularly if you don't have to lighten your hair in the first place (!) and it's not too damaging to your hair (unless you're bleaching it first).

Blue Frosting Hi-Lift Low Dust Powder Lightener. 5/5

Pros: doesn't sting, left my hair in pretty good condition considering it was bleached twice, doesn't smell bad, had a measuring spoon so didn't have to faff about looking for amounts online, high lift on dark roots and impossible-to-shift blue, not hideously expensive, tub was huge so will last for a while.

Cons: None

La Riche Directions 4/5

Pros: thick so non-drip, really vibrant shades, not bad for your hair, cheap, large variety of shades,

Cons: can be quite difficult to cover every hair

The long and short of it is, I'd buy both products again. I don't think I'd be inclined to go back to any other type of bleach.
Links at the bottom for each product.

- x M x

Blue Frosting Powder Lightener - Salon Services

La Riche Directions - eBay

Maybelline Flawless Nude Foundation Review

I'm going to review the new Maybelline Flawless Nude foundation (and get my basic foundation routine in there too). I got mine for £8.99 from Boots. I was a bit disappointed in the size. Foundations I've had before are normally 30ml but the Flawless Nude is only 20ml. Considering I usually pay around the same amount for 30ml, I was slightly put off by the price.

The foundation itself comes in a glass bottle which isn't handy when you're coming to the end of the foundation as I usually cut my plastic tubes and bottles open to scrape the last out of the container. There's a strange little dropper inside the bottle, after examining it, I honestly couldn't figure out what it's purpose was so looked around online to see if I could find the answer. Apparently it allows you to measure out the right amount of foundation.

Consistency-wise, it's pretty runny. I usually go for thicker foundations (up until now I've been using the Max Factor Pan Stik foundation) though. The shade (Ivory 10) was a perfect match for my skin. I noticed in the shop that there weren't a large variety of shades, looking on the Maybelline website, they don't actually offer darker shades in this particular foundation.

Time to test...

 The camera I have is quite forgiving so you can't properly see the flaws in my skin in this photo but I have lots of little spots, can't miss the one on my chin though LOL. Dark circles under my eyes and little broken veins around my nose. Normally I use a full coverage foundation, 1 coat foundation, 1 concealer, another coat of foundation.

 I put on a little bit of primer before starting. I use Seventeen Wow primer. It's pretty good but it's very shiny so you have to be careful not to use too much.

 I use a cheap cream contour/concealer palette which I got for £2.80 on eBay. It's fantastic. I use the pale purple underneath my eyes and over any dark patches and the green over any red patches. I go over the top of it with concealer slightly lighter than my own skin tone.

The kids decided they wanted in on the action...

 I always apply my foundation with a beauty blender so I just dabbed it all over my face with the funny little dropper thingy and blended it in. The coverage wasn't bad but as I said before I usually use thick or stick foundation. So I put another coat over the top of it and it was much better. It blends really well with the blender and I use my fingers to blend foundation on my nose. My only gripe is it doesn't cover *large* blemishes very well. As you can see from my chin, you really can't miss it even after trying to dab some more over the top of it. OH AND BY THE WAY!! A little warning. The foundation stings like a mother going over the top of cuts or spots. Think aftershave on a coldsore type of pain. It's very that.

 Popped on the rest of my make-up. I set my foundation using Rimmel Stay Matte translucent pressed powder with a fluffy brush. I don't use bronzer so went straight on to blush. I love NYX Powder Blush in Dusky Rose.

Overall I'd say it's pretty good but it's not the best. I don't think I'd be inclined to buy it again to be honest. 

Pros: Blends well. Don't need to use a massive amount (unless you need two coats like myself). 

Cons: Didn't offer me the coverage I needed. Not a wide variety of shades if you have darker toned skin. Quite a small bottle. Pretty runny.

All in all I'd give it... 3 out of 5. Not the best, not the worst.

If you've got quite nice skin, I think it would be a good buy for you. If not, give it a miss.

- x M x