HADALABO Gokujun Cleansing Oil

I think I found a new favourite cleansing oil. This ticks all the boxes for me:

- Rich texture that emulsifies into a lovely thick emulsion.

- It removes all makeup even waterproof mascara and eyeliner, though a thick coat of mascara is too big of a challenge for it with only one cleansing.

- It doesn't irritate my eyes nor make my vision foggy.

- There's not much of a scent.

- It washes off completely.

- It doesn't break me out.

-The pump is working as it should and is not leaking.

- I need one pump instead of three like at Biobaza. 

- It's the cheapest oil I like.

I see no minuses at this one apart from that I have to order it online, but actually I got this in a week from Japan with no shipping charges, so the seller I got this from is great (seller on eBay kyotoarashiyama). 

THE BODY SHOP British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask

TBS has made me very happy because someone has been checking my wishlist, probably on Pinterest where I've had this for ages. Some time ago when TBS first came to Slovenia they sent me a sample of this mask and it left my skin soft and radiant like a good sheet mask would both time I used it, so I always wanted a pot of this. It's a gel-jam type of mask with some crushed bits of petals (I think) that remains on the skin instead of sinking in and it needs to be washed off as it's quite sticky. It delivers a good boost of moisture and it's the type of formula I think would suit just about any skin type - dry, combination or even oily, I really can't see how this type of formula would feel heavy for anyone, yet it's enough for my dry skin too. I've used it a couple of times already since I got it and it left my skin in lovely condition. It also smells so good. I do not like rose scents, but this smells like proper fresh roses, the yellow climbing ones blooming every summer outside our house, plus I get some some sharp/fresh peppermint-like note. It's expensive, but you actually don't use a lot and a pot should last a while.

THE BODY SHOP Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil

This was high on my wishlist so I'm so happy I finally have it. I had a very generous sample a while ago which lasted me a long time and my skin loved this oil so much. Even though I was already using a relatively new bottle of my beloved Nuxe oil, I couldn't resist not cracking this one open immediately and I've been using it ever since. It's thicker than Nuxe and it doesn't smell as nice, but my skin is enjoying this one. This leaves my skin soft, clear, nourished and with a healthy glow. Since it's thicker than Nuxe I can use it without the extra moisturiser step, as it stays on the skin almost overnight, though in the morning it's fully absorbed. I do facial massages every night with this one, just like with Nuxe.

JOICO K-Pack Color Therapy Restorative Styling Oil

I usually use Orofluido and I still do, but I love K-Pack line and this has the same Quadramine complex. I'm still waiting for Olaplex n.7 oil to become more easily accessible and I assume it's going to take a while, so while I wait and since my oil stash was low (at least of the good oils), I got this one instead. I checked the ingredients before and that complex is very, very low on the list, but so is at the other K-Pack products I love, so maybe (and I'm really hoping this) it's effective in low concentrations (I know, wishful thinking probably). Formula is very similar to Orofluido, Moroccanoil and Macadamia Natural Oil, so the same thick texture that fits my hair best - obviously I loved this from the moment I tried it. It tames the hair as it should and feels nourishing, meaning it deals with the dryness too, at least for a while (at thinner oils effect on my hair this effect is very temporary). It's got a really nice salon scent - you'd recognise immediately if you smelled it. Unlike Orofluido it's got a pump which is a big plus (I actually added one from COSRX on my Orofluido). I'm a fan.

NIVEA Curl Styling Primer

This is new in the drugstores, along with two other versions, Sleek and Volume (I could only find the latter and Curl in Müller). I have the curl spray from this line and it's pretty good. I got this primer because it has shea butter right after water on the ingredients list, so I thought it should be great for dry hair, as shea butter helps keep the moisture in the hair. It also contains glycerine high on the list and it's a heat protectant. It's meant to be used on damp hair after washing. I expected a much thicker and heavier texture that would be more similar to Dove Super Quench, but though it's not super light, it's still closer to a lotion than a cream. It leaves the hands slightly sticky, but not the hair and from the start when the hair is wet, it's noticeable on the hair, but as soon as I started drying my hair, I noticed that despite using a couple of protein leave-in treatments which always leave my hair frizzy, my hair stayed sleek the entire time I was drying it. It leaves the hair feeling so smooth and almost silky (for my hair that's a miracle, for most silky feeling will be more noticeable) like there is nothing on the hair. This is a great tamer for when hair drying and I find my curls lasts a longer than usual, though I use the curl spray after as well.

MOROCCAOIL Intense Hydrating Mask

I did the whole post about bleaching and colouring my hair, which happened at the beginning of September. In the middle of the process I used the very expensive Kerastase Chonologiste mask which was a total disappointment and I ended up using Pantene Superfood conditioner after I rinsed that off to give my hair some silkiness. So at the next washing I dug out this from my stash instead. This is one of the most impressive hair treatments I've tried, especially from the purely moisturising ones, so with no proteins. It never fails to leave my hair really hydrated, soft, silky and in great condition. This actually has argan oil on 3th place among ingredients which is really high compared to most stuff when it comes to any oils. It also smells so good, which is an extra plus, but even without it this is one of my favourite ever hair products.

BATH & BODY WORKS Fine Fragrance Mist 

A Thousand Wishes

Warm your heart a thousand times over with a festive blend of sparkling champagne, crystal peonies & almond crème

I ordered five BBW mists in the last month and this one appealed to me most. This reminds me of a younger, sparklier version of Calvin Klein Sheer Beauty, with a similar champagne note, but it's much nicer because it's sweeter. To me this smells like almond macarons with champagne, however, without the sour wine notes. It's not a cutesy girly scent, but a more grown up still sweet fragrance.

In The Stars

Make every moment glow with an addictive fragrance that radiates from start to finish like the stars above. In The Stars is a warm, sparkling blend of starflower, sandalwood musk, sugared tangelo, white agarwood & radiant amber.

This one seems to be beloved even on Fragrantica, where I get to read some descriptive reviews than on BBW's official site. I don't know how to describe this one, not that's it's unique, but I know of nothing similar. It reminds me of the 90's or more likely 00's, some fragrance someone must have worn. I could have been mom, though she mostly wore Poeme. It's a warm scent, however, not sugary or overly vanilary, it's more about amber, sandalwood and wood. I don't know how else to describe it, but when I smell it, this image of a warm sunny day comes to mind, it smells radiantly warm - yes, I know how stupid this sounds. I think tangelo gives it this unique citrus note that isn't zesty, though I wouldn't call this a fruity fragrance at all. For some reason I can't smell this a few minutes after I spray it and at first I was sure that this is low quality scent that disappears in minutes, but then I was standing 2 meters away from someone and they said I smell really nice and what I'm wearing. The thing is I sprayed this the night before after a shower and my cardigan was drenched in it, so it must just be my nose that is somehow immune to this scent, however, I still like it because it's both unique and I feel it's universally appealing.

Kaleidoscope

 Effortless. Beautiful. You. Kaleidoscope mixes with your body chemistry for a fragrance that’s uniquely yours. With notes of iris, cedarwood & pink pepper 

This was love at first spray. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists, it's so good! BBW says that it smells different on every individual, which I supposed is somewhat true for most fragrances, though maybe at this one the differences are bigger, creating more unique scents. It's a type of fragrance I've never smelled before, this fantastic clean, yet not typically "laundry detergent" clean scent. It's like one of those smells when you enter some stranger's house and it smells uniquely theirs (my cousin says my house & me have such a scent). It's not like Molecule 01 since it doesn't have the e iso super ingredient, but this combination of notes creates a smell where I can't pinpoint any of the notes mentioned in the description. I often get a strong scent of pears on me even though it's not mentioned among the notes. This is definitely one of the best scents BBW made.

HUGO BOSS Ma Vie

This is one of my favourite fragrances ever, tied with BBW Twilight Woods. I've been using it for ages, actually since it launched and I never got tired of it like I do most fragrances (I can't stand Olympea anymore, nor any of my old favourites like CK Euphoria). It's completely different from what I normally like, this isn't that cosy comforting scent I gravitate towards, it's just the opposite. It's floral-woody fragrance, with the most prominent note of cactus, something not very common in fragrances, but I like it. It's got almost a tropical vibe because of it, it's quite a fresh & almost juicy-citrus note, but freesia makes it less "summer cocktail" and a lot more "office ready", however, not in a typical fancy fabric softener way like their Nuit Pour Femme is. I very luckily get no rose note in this, since I dislike it, but the woody-cedar base in noticeable. To me this is a very typical springtime fragrance like Avon Luck La Vie, though richer, not sweet and more long-lasting. I don't think this is a fragrance most will love, or possibly even like, it's likely going to be a boring springtime floral to a lot of people, but I really like it. And the bottle is gorgeous, though by now it does bother me that I can't see how much is still in there, at least the bottom could be clear.  

UPDATES
GREAT FIRST IMPRESSIONS

INSTANATURAL Retinol Serum

I got a few samples of products with retinol and this serum was the first one I started using. It also contains a form of vitamin C (sodium ascorbyl phosphate), hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and Q10. I like the texture of this. It's a light orange serum that absorbs fast (under a minute), so it's great for layering and it has a nice orange-ish scent. I'd definitely consider buying a full size, but I'll try the other two first. Those two are Retinol Moisturiser also from Insta Natural and Artnatural Retinol Serum with 2.5% of retinol. 

PALMER'S  Cocoa Butter Formula Perfecting Facial Oil 

I promised myself I won't open this since I already have Nuxe and The Body Shop, but I caved and I'm glad I did. It's a lot lighter than TBS and it absorbs quickly, so it's excellent for including in my morning routine, which I felt was lacking something. Since it's lighter it's also easier to use for my night facial massages, though I'm going to stick to TBS since it's more nourishing. I've used quite a lot of it for a massage and it was still completely absorbed after 2 hours on my cheek area, while it remained longer on my T-zone, but by the morning it was all absorbed like my other oils. A "regular" quantity of a few drops absorbs in several minutes (on my dry skin), leaving a nice glow. It smells the same as Palmer's other Cocoa Butter Formula products, so like chocolate cake batter, which I immediately liked. This contains a ton of different oils (sweet almond, grapeseed, camelina, macadamia, sesame seed, coconut, argan and rosehip), plus some smaller amounts of retinol, a form of vitamin C and centella asiatica extract. If you're looking for an affordable fast absorbing light oil, this one is nice.

ORIFLAME Tremendous Big Volume Mascara

I got this about a week ago, so I'm not going to put it up in the favourites just yet, but first impressions are so good. I'm not a massive fan of Oriflame mascaras, actually I haven't really liked any I've tried so far, until this one. This was big like from the start. The brush reminds me of Essence <3 Extreme waterproof, as it's the same type of a regular wand with very densely packed bristles. This results in about the same effect, nicely separated, "multiplied" lashes with a fanned out effect. It's very new so I expect some more volume in time, though even by now it's really good and I've been using it every day. Formula isn't gloppy or wet which is a big plus, as because of this it's not a messy mascara and it doesn't drop the lashes. In terms of holding a curl is as good as a regular mascara can be, so it holds them up half way, which is good in my books for such a formula. I'm really liking this one.

DISAPPOINTMENT

NIVEA UV Face Q10 Anti-Age & Anti-Pigments SPF 50

I got this because I couldn't find the mattifying version in three shops I went to (four as of today), but I was desperate for something with an SPF 50 and this was the only thing in Interspar where I had a decent discount. I remember when I was asking about sunscreens in early summer, a lot of you strongly discouraged me from getting this version, so I had an inkling I screwed up badly buying this version. It's not absolutely terrible, but it's very problematic. Though the texture feels the same as at the mattifying version, so a thick cream, this never dries/sets. My face is still sunscreen greasy several hours later - my skin is dry, so this really saying something. What's worse it's moving a lot during the day and is constantly slipping into my eyes, making my vision cloudy, my glasses dirty because it ends up on my eyelashes, I'm constantly blinking since I can feel something is in my eyes causing me discomfort and occasionally it gets so bad they start watering. Every minute with this sunscreen is an annoyance if I apply it anywhere near the eyes. I simply can't wear makeup with this, as my eye makeup just smudges off. It's impossible to apply this one in a recommended amount, it's just too much, but as a plus I can say it doesn't have a white cast. I don't understand how this is still sold, while the mattifying version is gone here, maybe it just ran out, but there were no empty spaces for that version in the shops.
By the way I went to the shops again today to find at least the Garnier face spray SPF 50 version as a top up and my local Müller has zero sunscreens as of this week (apart from what's in skin care stuff). DM also has barely anything left. If I knew this was going to happen, I'd stock up earlier.

WISHLIST

My wishlist got out for control this month - this list is not everything I added to my Pinterest wishlist recently, which you can see here.

FACE MISTS - I have no such products in my collection apart from an ancient travel size of UD All Nighter, which is almost empty and shouldn't be used anymore, so I'm looking for something new. Considering that every foundation I apply looks matte on my skin due to dryness, I'd like something dewy. Four made it into top choices, though I heard many other recommendations (Mac Fix +, Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, other Pixi mists). For a proper dewy spray I'd go with L'Oreal Lumi Shake & Glow Dew Mist, Maybelline Dream Satin Mist or Pixi Glow Mist (I'd get this one for the ingredients alone) and for a "regular" version, which I hear might also be dewy Catrice Prime And Fine Multitalent Fixing Spray (can anyone confirm? The praised pink one is discontinued).

FOUNDATIONS - I'm down three foundations in the last month, well four if I count a mini cushion foundation, all pale shades that matched me and a pump broke on one more, so I'm open to expanding my collection. I'm thinking between Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Foundation in 095 or 100 (not because of the claim it's a dupe for It Cosmetics since it's not and not because of SPF, as it doesn't have sufficient UVA protection, but the shade selection looks great and I like exploring foundations with pale shades), Maybelline Super Stay 24h Foundation in 03 (I grabbed a sample today to test in the next days), Revlon PhotoReady Candid Natural Finish Anti-Pollution Foundation in 110 (I grabbed a sample of 150 today to test the texture) and Wet N Wild Photo Focus Foundation in Porcelain (based on online swatches it looks a good shade for me, similar to Milani 00A). I also found a light shade in my local Müller of Clinique Even Better Refresh Hydrating and Repairing Makeup in WN 01 Flax, but how they managed to price it 47 € (!?) when it's 32$ on the official website is beyond me. I also grabbed a sample, as well as of Lancome Teint Idole Ultra in 005 and a great looking shade from Shiseido Synchro Skin Glow Luminizing Fluid Foundation in N1, as these were the lightest foundations I don't have yet I could find in Muller. Picture of swatches here.

POWDERS - This some also something my collection lacks. I only have two ancient ones: Bourjois Poudre de Riz Java Powder and Physicians Formula Nude Wear Powder. My skin is dry and I went through so many reviews where most reviewers have oily or combination skin, so it was hard to tell which one would work for me. I'm mostly interested in Maybelline Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder and Fit Me Set + Smooth Powder which a lot of people with dry skin praise. RMCA No-Colour Powder is also praised for dry skin, though I hate the look of the packaging. I'm very interested in a travel size of Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder, which is highly rated and if I decided to do the crazy thing and splurge (which I won't) I'd go with Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Powder Mousseline Pastel or the famous Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre. In our drugstores I was only able to find loose powders from Trend it Up, Catrice, Max Factor, Revlon Candid (I hear it's too much for dry skin), ArtDeco and Clarins, all are still options on the list to pick from because they are easily accessible.

L'OREAL Color Riche Matte Nude Lipstick 06 No Hesitation - I tried the testers in the shop and the texture of these feels amazing. It's so creamy and rich, yet actually matte. I'd love to have one of these in my collection.

OPI Nail Lacquer Scotland Collection You Have Got That Glas-Glow - this shade looks so gorgeous and it's so my colour. It's a similar mauve-pinky shade like the discontinued Essence's shade Me & You. Too bad OPIs are so expensive here.

PANTENE Hair Biology Collection - I was so pleasantly surprised to see this in DM. I saw it on some blogs a while ago and apparently they are good. I'd love to try at least some products, I'll probably got with one of the masks first and see how I like it.

A'PIEU Pure Block Natural Daily Sun Cream SPF45 and GARNIER Ambre Solaire Sensitive Hydrating Face Sun Cream Mist SPF50 - Since Nivea Anti-Age sunscreen is a bust and with the end of September our drugstores believe you don't need sunscreens anymore, so they can just stop selling them, I'll order something online. I'll go with the cheapest K-Beauty one from A'Pieu which I already had a sample of and I liked it. I already mentioned the Garnier mist above which I'd like to have to top up when my makeup is already on. I couldn't find it, nor could I find the Hydra Bomb version. I know La Roche Posay version exists, but the price it too high. How is it September and there's barely any cheap/affordable under 10 € face sunscreen in the shops?

Have a great day!

I've tried two other Lash Princess mascaras: the original, which created an amazing amount of volume, but was too wet, so it dropped my lashes like a stone and the False Lash Effect version, which is again a great volumising mascara, but this one also manages to hold the lashes up a bit. I'm a big fan of I <3 Extreme waterproof mascara and Essence has long been my source of affordable waterproof mascaras that can hold up my lashes, so I was glad to see they released the waterproof version of Lash Princess and I hoped it creates the same amount of volume as the regular one.

Brush: False Lash Effect waterproof is the same as the regular version, so it features the same thin conical shaped brush which I actually didn't like at the regular version, nor am I a big fan of it here. It's not a defining blush, but at least it doesn't clump up the lashes or create a spidery effect, it just created a somewhat dishevelled, messy lash look (my lashes are in general like that due to being stuck behind the glasses, but mascaras tend to put them into place). I liked the curved brush from the original Lash Princess and it's a shame they didn't decide to make that version waterproof. 

Formula: Volume is not quite as impressive as at regular Lash Princess, this is due to the drier formula, but it's still more than at a lot of mascaras As is usual for Essence it's very black. I get no smudging with this one, but an occasional flake can appear. It's also hard to remove as you might expect, it's more stubborn than I <3 Extremes and requires an waterproof makeup oily remover.

In terms of holding a curl, I'm not as happy with it as with I<3 Extremes. While it's a drier formula than the regular version, it's not as fast drying as I <3 Extremes. This means it doesn't hold the lashes as nicely curled as that one. I've had it for a few months now and I keep waiting for it to dry a bit and become the same type of formula as I <3 Extremes, but it hasn't happened.

Price and availability: It costs 3.59 € and is available in drugstores. 

While this is another great volumising mascara that creates big lashes, it doesn't beat I <3 Extreme for me. I don't like the brush as much and the formula should be a bit dryer, though I'm not saying it drops the lashes, it just doesn't hold them as tightly curled as I expected. It's harder to remove than I <3 Extreme so that another plus for the latter and the reason I'll keep repurchasing that one.

Have a great day! 

These aren't new, but I've only now taken notice they exists. There were plenty of interesting shades on the stand, but no testers, so I grabbed one that had the nicest looking colour of the back. From Essence's current selection these are most like their discontinued original lipliner formula everyone liked expect me. This one has the waterproof and a reasonable 6h claim.  

Texture: Formula is very soft and glides with such ease on the lips. It's much softer than Contouring and Draw the Line ones, but I can still be precise with it. However, it needs to be sharpened very often.

Shade: 08 Thank you berry much is a medium warm pink, not really a berry and as it's more of a medium warm pink with no hints of purple.

Staying power: This formula isn't better than at the Soft Contouring ones, so it disappears within the first few hours off my lips, depending on what I was going. Essence's discontinued Draw the line formula was more long-lasting and actually more waterproof.

Price and availability: I got mine is Müller. This formula is the most expensive one among Essence liners with a price of 2.19 €.

My journey to achieve my current light-medium blonde hair colour was not a short one, in fact it started over nine months ago and it took me several bleach + toning session to achieve the colour that is now very close to what I originally wanted. My hair is natural dark brown, it's thick and very dry, so I had just about everything stacked against me achieving the desired colour. This actually isn't my first rodeo, as I had some blonde highlights in my teens and back then no one even used a toner one me or told me I have to do a second set of bleaching, so I ended up with very orange looking highlights (which I later dyed over with a red colour, another hair stylist disaster that I ended up covering with a dark brown and stopped colouring for over a decade). Now I took my time to educate myself well about bleaching, toning, what to do to prevent damage, which was my biggest concern, and how to achieve the balayage look I wanted. I'm not one to just jump into doing something reckless so I spent months researching and also testing on individual strands before I did anything, yet I still made some mistakes I wish I knew about before. I was remarkably stupid to do all of this on my own because, well for one I wanted to, so I can learn the process myself, but also because I still don't have a lot of trust in hairdressers when it comes to my hair (just experience, I'm sure there are brilliant hairdresser's out there). Doing it professionally is so expensive and I would feel awful if someone else screwed up my hair and me being, well, me, I'd be afraid to express my dissatisfaction and just paid for it without a word - yes, I'm that kind of a person. I preferred to do my own mistakes this time, however, I strongly discourage you from doing your own experiments, particularly when it comes to bleach, unless you're 100% sure you can do it. 

There weren't just these stages, there were actually more, but this shows it well enough. The second picture is when I did my first successful-ish balayage and toned with L'Oreal Preference 8.1, which I wasn't happy with (compared to the Excellence formula). When I finally lightened my hair to a much lighter colour on the third picture, I had big problems with toning. I tried it three times: once with Schwarzkopf Blondme Blonde Toning Steel Blue + Sand, second again just with Steel Blue and because none of those cooled it, I went with L'Oreal Excellence 7.1 + 8.1 mix, which left my hair even darker than the 4th picture and completely erased my balayage (I'll show you somewhere below in the post). I tried to wash off the colour a bit, but let me tell you, those L'Oreal Excellence are not easy to fade quickly. I did a couple of chelating sessions, which did nothing and I could've just done a bleach bath, but I decided to keep the colour over the summer. The last picture is that colour after three months, so it washed off to this lovely coppery brown. What you don't see is 4 centimetres of roots and a very shoddy work on my fringe, which is why it was high time to do another bleaching session.

First step: RESEARCH

If you're just interested in my process, then skip ahead, this might be long for some, but it actually barely covers everything I've learned. I can't vouch that everything is correct, so I encourage you to do your own research as well. 

Hair Levels

This is good bit of information to know even if you're just buying box colours in any shade. It helps you determine the depth of your hair colour. Knowing this will help you pick the right colour, strength of developer if your using bleach or high lift colours and a toner after bleaching.

Hair generally falls into 10 levels. Like I said this is just how dark the colour is and the scale shows shades with a natural/neutral undertone, but obviously hair also has warm and cool undertones, which here don't matter, this is just establishing the depth of your colour. Not all levels are exactly the same at hair companies, but it's something like this: Level 1 is darkest black (think dyed intense black emo shades), level 2 is natural black, 3 is dark brown, which is my natural shade, 4 medium brown, 5-6 are light brown, depending on the chart you're looking, 7 is dark blonde, 8 medium blonde, 9 light blonde and 10 is bleached very light blonde.

When you're picking a box dye, levels tend to be the first number (L'Oreal, Garnier, Subrina Butter, Schwarzkopf Colour Expert) or at some the last (Subrina Charm, Saten, Spectra). I haven't managed to unravel the mystery of Schwarzkopf Diadem, Poly Palette or Brilliance system in central Europe, but their Colour Expert follows the same pattern as most with level the first shade and the second two denoting the tone. If you know your hair level, then you know which colours you can pick that will work on you and which are a lighter or darker version of picked shade (for example 7.1 is darkest, 8.1 is a shade lighter, 9.1 even lighter; or 660 is lighter than 500, but with a neutral undertone compared to the warm 660). Among tones, number 1 or a letter A usually indicate an ashy shade, which is information that comes handy when looking for a shade that tones warm yellow, brassy and orange tones (by the way, shades like 7.31 don't count. Number 3 in this case usually indicates a golden tone, but companies have different tone charts).

How bleach works and understanding the connections with the levels

This might be such an obvious information for most of you, but when hair is lightened it does not follow the natural/neutral part of the level chart, but instead the underlying tones are revealed. So putting bleach on level 3 hair like mine and letting it reach level 10, the hair goes through transformation into red (levels 3-4), orange (level 5-6), golden (levels 7-8), yellow (level 9) and finally very pale yellow (level 10). I sometimes hear people say they have "too much of red pigment in the hair" - everyone with hair darker than level 5 has it, it's not something only a some dark haired people have and it's revealed when lightening hair (if you want it gone, you either have to lighten your hair, use an ashy brown or use a cooling hair mask like Subrina Refresh Cold Brown, which is only a temporary solution, as it washes off). Depending on which level you reach with bleaching, you base your choice of a toner, since a classic purple toner won't work on hair level higher than 9-10. 

 My first use on bleach and my last, showing you underlying pigments. There's coconut oil on the hair on the right picture.

What can you achieve with box colours?

The darker your natural colour is, the less you can do with it without bleach. If you're one of those lucky people with naturally light blonde up to light brown hair you can get a regular hair colour in the drugstore and you have your lightening + toning done in one easy step. If you have dark hair, mostly all you can do it stay on the same level or change the tone (based on my experience with my hair), but there is one tiny loophole how to reach light brown without using bleach and that is by using a strong ashy blond dye. Before going blonde I used L'Oreal's Excellence 9.1 for the job and it worked out great. You can also use 8.1 and 7.1, the last will give you the most ashy result with no red tones (the darker your hair, the better it is too pick the darkest ashy colour. I should have started with 7.1). I also heard from one of Subrina user that using their shade 30/3 light special cendre blond works great on dark hair. She used Charm, but their Spectra are even stronger with a 5 level lift (these will get even light brown hair to a very blonde shade when mixed with a 12% developer). I used 80/8 ice blonde on a strand and was surprised by the lift (stronger than L'Oreal), but it wasn't toned, while I think the ashy cendre blond has a better chance.

One important thing to know in case you don't - hair colour doesn't lighten previously coloured hair. You can only stay on the same level or go darker. If you want to go lighter again, you'll have to bleach it.

Picking the right bleach

I really wanted to do this right, so focused on salon brands. Bad side is you can only get big packaging, but actually this turned out a big plus at me, since I had to go through more than one bleaching, plus I'll have to deal with roots. I picked Schwarzkopf Blondme Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+ because it has a very high feedback, I heard it can lift even the darkest hair to a level 10 in one go (which actually turned out not true for my thick hair) and because it has bond enforcing complex, they explain it's succinic acid which forms a protective layer around the bonds in the hair and prevents damage. Other bleaches I heard good things about are Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Vario Bond, L'Oreal Quick Blue Powder Bleach and Wella Bondor (Wella is very popular in North America and consequently it's the brand you hear most about on YouTube, but we have different products here). I got my Blondme products on Amazon.de.

There are some box colour bleaches. I only have experience with Schwarzkopf Color Expert L8, which left my hair in nice condition, but it was too weak for me and you have to buy a separate toner because the added tiny satchel of blurple mask is a joke. In some places you can find L9 version and their Blonde line in blue boxes, like shade L1++, which are praised. I heard great things about Garnier Olia bleach, but we don't have it here.

Picking the right percentage or volume developer

There are the basic four types of developers:

- 3% or 10 vol. - the most gentle developer, pretty much causes no damage, but also doesn't lift much or not at all, instead it just deposits the colour. Best for when you are refreshing the colour on your previously dyed part of hair and for mixing with toning shades. 

- 6% or 20 vol. - low lift of only a couple or few shades with bleach. Best used with permanent hair colours when you're trying to cover grey hair (with those the lift is the usual 1-2 shades).

- 9% - medium lift, used with a hair colour it offers a lift up to three levels depending on how dark your hair is. With bleach it can lighten medium brown hair to pale blond. This is the one most use for mixing with bleach.

- 12% or 40 vol. - this is the strongest developer and some don't recommend it at all because it can be damaging and especially because it can burn the scalp, but at such a formula as is Blondme, I find it's not damaging on my hair and I wasn't applying it on the scalp anyway. This one can lift up to 9 levels with bleach, but I wasn't able to achieve than on my thick hair. In combination with a colour such as Spectra special blonde shades and I presume Blondme Bond Enforcing Blonde Lifting or Blonde Hi-Lighting colours it can lift up to 5 shades.

When I was ordering Blondme bleach from Amazon.de, they only had a 3% and 6% developer. I took the later which I knew from the start wasn't going to be ideal and if I could fix one mistake this would be it. However, bleaching my hair gradually also gave me a chance to take greater care of my hair in between my colouring sessions. I later found Notino has a 12% developer, which I then mixed with 6% to achieve varying strengths of lift. By the way, you don't have to use same brand developer, but it's good if you do.

Colour Theory and Toning

Here you need the knowledge of the basic colour wheel, so it's not complicated. For toning the most used shade is violet which counteracts yellow, so levels 9 and 10, but if your hair is brassy a.k.a orange, purple likely won't cut it, so you need blue and for red you need green. Purple toners are very easy to come by, they come in form of shampoos (like below mentioned Ice Cream No-Yellow. Keune has one as does L'Oreal), hair masks (Schwarzkopf Blondeme Tone Enhancing, also mentioned below. L'Oreal released its version this year) and proper toners like Wella Color Charm T18 or T10 (North American products, here we have the less praised Color Fresh), Schwazkopf Blondme Blonde Toning in Ice, Redken Eq toners (which are highly praised and I wanted them, but they are hard to find and expensive) and Subrina Spectra demi-permanent 8/10 Ice Blonde). Blue toners are less common, but you can try Subrina Colour Refresh mask Diamond Blond, Schwarzkopf Blondme Toning in Steel Blue and Wella Color Charm T14 or a darker T35.

In my case I didn't have luck with toners because my hair had too many different shades from level 10 at the ends, and ranging from 9-7 above. That's why I decided to use a permanent hair colour in an ashy shade. L'Oreal and Garnier have the best selection of ashy shades of various levels in my local drugstores, so I went with those, but they are not the only that exist, though when searching online L'Oreal was by far most frequently mentioned. I was thinking about getting Wella Illumina online, which is what hair dressers use, but it was more expensive. At L'Oreal and Garnier ashy shades are marked with .1, so 9.1, 8.1 and 7.1 and I think their 6.1 was renamed to 6.00. *edit from september 2020: Revlon's Colorsilk 70 Medium Ash Blonde did an admirable job of toning and it's ammonia free. It's comparable to L'Oreal's 8.1.

Balayage and highlighting techniques

I have spent a lot of time researching how to do balayage on YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram, studying how to do the sections. I made a mistake the first time because I missed the front bottom part of my fringe bits, so when I put my hair up, it was still dark brown. This was one of my biggest mistakes because you mainly see the front bits. I decided to use a highlighting foil technique on those, so I do that part differently than the rest.

My technique is mostly like this video here and I even used such a brush, but not all is the same, for one I left no strands out and I saturated the ends on both sides. Most do the front part completely differently, more in a criss-cross way, but I prefer it this way.

More helpful videos:

How to: DIY Balayage - Dark Hair from somegirljess (this is how I did my ends) 

SECRETS OF HIGHLIGHTING! Jessi - JZ Styles - not all inspiration pictures found on Pinterest are balayage, this technique is used a lot too. 

101: Learning the Basics of Balayage | Kenra Color - inspiration for how I did my front bits.

Testing

Before any colouring I tested on strands to determine how long does it take for my hair to lighten to level 10 or if it even does in one go. This way I had a reference how much time you I and picked the right developer.

I also tested toning products before doing anything. I actually have quite a stash of hair colouring products from Subrina, but I had boxes of L'Oreal colours in stock and one Schwarzkopf shade I before I completely understood toning. L'Oreal Excellence 8.1 and 9.1 turned out to be the best options for my hair colour, but previously I have used 8.1 and it didn't work because my hair was still too dark in most places. The one time I didn't test beforehand, I've used L'Oreal Excellence 7.1 mixed with 8.1 which turned my hair light brown, but that time my mistake was that I left them on for too long because bleached hair picks up pigment in minutes. To be fair, it wasn't a total mistake because it at least toned well, but I could have done the same type of mix I've done in my last attempt, so using different colours on sections of my hair because the ends were light enough to be toned with a lighter shade. In my previous attempts I also tried Schwarzkopf Steel Blue and Sand, both failed to properly tone my hair, but again at that time my hair was possibly too dark, but still I expected Steel blue to impress me more - I was sure it will work on hair such at below.

Toning with L'Oreal Excellence 7.1 + 8.1 (50:50). It was my last resort because I already tried toning twice with Schwarzkopf toners. It ended up way darker than I thought, but at least I learned to not leave the colour on for long and it was the reason why I decided on the a lot more complex toning I mention below.

Aftercare

One thing I kept hearing when researching bleaching was get Olaplex. N.1 is a yellow liquid that is added to bleach in the salons and n.2 is a aftercare treatment, both are outrageously expensive, but you can get them in some places online. N.3 is something more affordable and made for use at home. I said many times that I don't get magical results from N.3, but it helps rebuild the bonds that are ruined at bleaching and I kind of blindly trust it must be working something, since my hair is not falling apart after all its been through. I recently got N.6 and it's amazing.

I also invested in proteins. Joico K-Pack duo of Reconstructor and Hydrator have managed to restore my hair to some level of normalcy after it became coarse and wasn't absorbing moisturising care anymore, so I rate them higher than Olaplex n.3, but I don't consider them the same type of product.

One of the most important parts of my bleaching routine was definitely using coconut oil. It doesn't affect the colouring process, it just protect the hair was drying out too much and damage. 

MY PROCESS

I just want to say that this is me explaining how I did it on my hair, but don't take it as instructions to do it yourself because you won't get the same result. The hair care parts excluded of course, I kept my hair in good condition with those and you might find some products for yourself. Don't literally follow my toning, but make the research before doing anything, learn to determine your hair level and try to identify what kind of a toner you need. For a lot of you it's actually going to be a lot simpler than at me, you might just need a regular violet toner like Subrina Spectra demi-permanent 8/10 Ice Blonde, Schwarzkopf Professional Blondme Toning Ice or Steel Blue and Wella Color Charm T11 or T18. I had to make it very complicated because of colouring mistakes I made in the past and a vast difference in levels I had on my hair.

Colour I started with. I mentioned above it's a 3-4 month old colour L'Oreal Excellence 7.1 mixed with 8.1. On the tips you can see some red, that's me playing with Subrina Colour Refresh Hair masks a couple of weeks before, so they were washed out by then, but they were very intense freshly applied (really rubbish pics of those mini strands here).

1. I applied coconut oil well before colouring, actually a day before and I reapplied it on the day of bleaching. I didn't apply a very generous amount, just so all my hair was coated, including the scalp to form sort of a barrier in case any bleach comes in contact (though I have used this bleach with no gloves once before I realised I have none on and I got zero reactions).

2. One of the things I've learned in all my bleaching tries is do the sections before colouring and I don't mean the basic two sections at the side and one in the back, I mean I pinned individual strands I was going to colour because it's so hard doing it at the time you're colouring. I even got a fresh pack of grips the day before. Since I was doing everything myself I had a "unique" setting with my camera on a stand behind me working as a mirror and I had the picture on my phone (through the Olympus app). This made sectioning and colouring the back a lot easier and well, actually doable. The sections are pictured above under balayage research.

3. In my first bleaching sessions I mixed my bleach too thick because I heard it has to be such consistency for balayage, but this turned out to be a failure because the bleach dried out too fast even with foil. So for the last two sessions I did the 1:2.5 which is the highest amount of developer vs. bleach recommended. Since I had two developers and so many layers, meaning my lowest layers could have the bleach on for very long by the time I'm finished, I customised the strength of developer for individual layers. My kitchen scale was actually broken the last time, but I had the measuring spoons from Tedi and it worked out great. I used a 1:1 mix of 6% and 12% on the lowest layers and when I reached the top, my mix was almost fully with 12%

4. I started with the lower back sections. I tend to rush through these and there's not such a need to be precise, but I did a general V pattern as shown above. I applied the colour just on the top of the strands, with exception of the ends which were saturated with colour on both sides.

The side part which were separated from the back at just behind the ears I had two techniques: I took very thin framing front bits and painted with much gentler, feathery strokes basically just depositing a bit of colour to achieve a less stripe-y result. I wrapped those in alufoil because it's more stable and doesn't fall off every five seconds. I did these before the side bits because it's nicer to have a lighter highlights framing the face.

The remaining parts of the sections we split in diagonal sections, with a mix of the classic triangles with two sides painted to the top and different triangle design where the bleach reaches the top just on one side on the strand. I was more precise here than at the bottom, taking more time.

5. I covered everything well to prevent it from drying out, because dry bleach doesn't work and it's actually quick to dry. I used cellophane this time because food foil is a nightmare of stickiness and alufoils though most stable need aren't see though. Cellophane was a whole new challenge, while it stuck when the bleach was freshly applied, it just fell off a few minutes later, so I was constantly picking those up. I then just clipped them on. Though the cellophane I monitored the progress, I took the whole 45 minutes for me to reach this shade, which is not close to level 10 except some part of the ends. I've achieved an only slightly lighter result than before, so I'm somewhat stuck on this brassy level and can't go over. 

Pre-toning colour. There's coconut oil on the hair, so it looks a bit darker than it was dry.

6. I washed off the bleach with Ice Cream No yellow shampoo. On me it toned some of the lightest hair, but on brassy this has no effect. I got this because reviews said it leaves blonde hair purple-blue, so I hoped it might be strong enough more me.

7. I immediately went with the protein treatment, a combinations of Schwarzkopf Professional Blondme Keratin Restore Intense Care Bonding Potion + Tone Enhancing Bonding Mask in Cool, which is purple, but very lightly tinted. I had these on for 30 minutes with a shower cap, to prevent it from drying out.

8. I let my hair air dry and before it was fully dry, I applied a ton of coconut oil again and left it overnight.

9. I did the Olaplex treatment the next morning. I left it on for an hour and a half, again wearing a shower cap. I washed it off with L'Oreal Extraordinary shampoo.

10. Before using a permanent colour I wanted to try a less damaging way. I tried Subrina Colour Refresh Diamond Blonde on my hair before bleaching and I was actually very surprised to see, it toned even that colour. It wasn't very orange, but that strand looked cooler after this. This is very strong and when I tried it on a freshly bleached strand, it turned it blue in a second, so it has to be mixed with a clear shade to dilute the pigmented when used on blonde hair. I was testing several mixes and I ended up using about a 50:50 mix. I had it on for mere minutes when I saw it toned the lightest parts, so then I just decided to wash it off, because it would likely tint my lightest hair blue, but tone the orange bits. If my hair was all the same level or not so varied, this would work perfectly, but I decide to use a permanent shade to tone and cover. By the way, these are very new and so far sold only in Tuš drogerije, Leclerc and Click2Chic.

11. My hair felt dry so I used Kerastase Chonologiste which I left on the hair for a half an hour and it did not impress me at all. Yes, it smells great like Miss Dior Cherie/Soap & Glory classic scent, but it's a pale shadow of their amazing, already discontinued Nutritive Masquintense Thick (I think the replacement is Nutritive Masque Magistral). I ended up applying another conditioner for a few minutes, the amazing Pantene Hair Food Full & Strong.

12. I applied coconut oil again and I really went to town with it. I dipped my ends into the pot, squeezing out the extra and applied as much as I could on the remaining hair. I left it on for almost two days, reapplying as soon as I noticed my hair absorbed most of it (which was happening fast, I was reapplying it every few hours). I kept my hair in a braid during that time.

13. I then did colour tests with individual strands that are for the most part not visible. I used L'Oreal Excellence 9.1, 8.1 and Schwarzkopf Palette Deluxe 220 (for some reason this has a much better numbering in other countries: 10-1 Silver Blonde). L'Oreal colours both did a fantastic job, but Schwarzkopf toned on the lightest ends and not as well as I expected. I planned to use that one just on the ends mixed with a 3% developer, but a 9.1 did a better job, so I went with that one. I later wished I had L'Oreal's Excellence 03 shade, which would leave my ends lighter, but 9.1 did the job great anyway.

14. I ended up doing a very complex toning: 

- L'Oreal Excellence 8.1 + the added developer on the top part of my hair. I risked damage here by going with the added developer and a 3% would have been a better choice, but I felt my roots looked too dark compared to the bleached part and I wanted to blend it in better, so went with the developer in the box. Why this can backfire terribly on others? While it can lift your colour, it can leave it orange if it's too dark, due to not having strong enough pigments to counteract underlying tones. I got some orange at me, but since most of the hair was lighter, it blended in well. I'd pick a 7.1 for toning+ lifting + blending darker hair. I left it on for 25 minutes. I started with this part of the hair and by the time I was finished with all that's how much time has passed. 

- 9.1 with the added developer on the mid lengths. Again, it's be far better if I used a 3% developer and I wonder if using the added developer even made a difference, but again I wanted it to blend a bit better with the darker hair, so I went with that. Here the colour was on for 10-15 minutes.

- 9.1 plus a 3% developer just on the ends. I left in on for mere minutes, less than 5.

I won't claim the result was orange-free but I had enough light hair to make the orange less prominent. For a better coverage of orange, a darker ashy shade, such as L'Oreal Excellence/Garnier Color Naturals 7.1 would be needed.  

15 . I washed it off with the added shampoo in the new version of Excellence (usually shampoo shouldn't be used after colouring for a least three days, but since they added it here, I gave it a try) and used their amazing conditioner. When it comes to leave-ins phrase "too much" is not really in my vocabulary, so I basically put half of my stash on the hair - mind you, my hair is so dry that it cannot just handle it, but needs it otherwise it's a dry, tangled mess, well as soon as it's not wet anymore. I used Schwarzkopf Professional BC Bonacure Fibreforce Fortifying Primer, which I heard being called Olaplex in a bottle, but it's not that impressive, still I used it because ingredients are great, since it's got hydrolised keratin high on the list, so this was my first protein treatment and the second was Redken Extreme Anti-Snap, which is a product I've been using for many years with some pauses. For hydration I used another one of my long-time favourite Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-in Conditioner. I gave Nivea Styling Primer Curl its first chance because it has shea butter right after water and shea is great for keeping the moisture in. Olaplex n.6 is an extra dose of the bond building ingredient, plus it makes my hair feel so much nicer. 

 After drying I also applied Dove Super Quench (discontinued) and Moroccanoil Treatment so make the hair shinier and more put together. The pictures of the hair area second day hair because I kept it in a tight bun for the next day (not much reason except that I needed my hair out of the way).

Despite this amount of used leave-ins, I actually had to reapply some hair care in the next days, which is standard for my hair, but since I've done this process, my hair is in surprisingly good state. I think it was all that coconut oil that kept everything in check. In my last attempts, my hair because coarse, which I had to fix with Joico K-Pack duo, but this time, it's been behaving so well. I hope it stays that way.