MAYBELLINE Dream Urban Cover Foundation SPF50 

095 Fair Porcelain

This is exactly my type of foundation - light-medium coverage, very lightweight on the skin and with a natural, non-foundation look on the skin. I have to use powder with this one, since it can get shiny during the day despite my currently dry skin, but it's manageable. It wears nicely, it doesn't look bad over pores or uneven texture, so it reminds me of Fit Me Matte + Poreless, though there are differences. Despite the SPF 50 I wouldn't wear this on its own and consider myself properly protected, but as an extra layer and on days when I'm hardly outside, it's a nice one. For me this foundation actually wins because of the shade. 095 is a very pale neutral-pink that fits me perfectly. Maybelline has some of the best pale shades, as they are never overly yellow or too pink.

CLINIQUE Even Better Refresh Hydrating and Repairing Makeup Full-Coverage Foundation

0.75 Custard

I've never been a fan of high coverage foundations because they look so obvious, but this one I can get along with. Though based on the name you'd expect something heavy like It Cosmetic's CC, this is that perfect in between foundation, as it's good for dry skin, but with a satin finish and not the overly shiny one with a formula that transfers and creases. It's still natural looking on the skin, it doesn't slip into pores or lines and it's a hydrating foundation with the best staying power I've found. Shade 0.75 is very pale, though with a more intense undertone than Maybelline (yellow), but it fits my neutral skin well. I don't know why almost no one talks about this foundation (so far I've only seen Merit of Beauty), it's seriously good.

MAYBELLINE Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder

05 Fair

For several years now haven't worn powders, since most I tried make my foundation look weird, occasionally patchy and fake, but this I like. I got this after any intense research and I picked it based on high feedback and due to a lot of people mentioning it suits dry skin. It's not a natural looking powder, but it sort of perfects the skin and makes final finishes to the makeup. It's matte without being too much, it doesn't highlight dry patches or make them worse, it smooths the texture of the skin and blurs the lines and pores to a certain degree. I've tried the famous Laura Mercier powder and they perform the same on me. It's not amazing on very dry skin (currently under my eyes), not that I expected any powder to be, but most I tried are worse with exception of more finely milled Houglass. I was checking both Laura Mercier and Fit Me every hour in the mirror and both held up really well, it was like I was wearing the same thing on both sides. This needs to be sold on our stands too, I hope in the future it does.  

L'OREAL Infallible Blush Paint 

Pinks

If you read my last monthly favourites post and follow my IG, you would have seen I've spent most of the month with pink and pink-violet hair, so I had to change my blush choices, since my beloved L.O.V. ones are all warm shades. I needed cool pinks and this is the only ones I have. I don't know if this is still sold, maybe it's just online now, but I have the Amber palette to and these are so good - not L.O.V. good, but still really amazing blushes that apply and blend well, plus last on the cheeks. 

ETUDE HOUSE Proof 10 Eye Primer

There's not much to say here apart from that it's a great primer for the price that does the job. I read a ton of reviews when I was looking for a new primer, since all mine were ancient and I got this one as well as Artdeco one in the pot. Both are great and do the job, though I prefer this one because it has a doe foot applicator and it hasn't got any shimmer. 

PIXI Glow Mist

Though I didn't get the glow I expected with this, I've been using it a lot because it has great ingredients, it "melts" the makeup together and it refreshes nicely. The mist is fine enough, though I have to make sure I spray it from far away or it can feel wet for a while. I'm just happy I have something with propolis, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, olive oil, argan oil and tons of extracts in a spray.

LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask

Berry

This really is as good as reviews say. It sticks on the lips until the morning and it leaves them properly nourished. The extra silicone spatula is a great help during application and the formula has a nice gentle berry scent. In a thick coat it also has a a glossy shine, which looks so good I sometimes wear it during the day too. I'm glad I believed the hype.

SUBRINA Colour Refresh

These are my favourite thing in this post, I've had so much fun trying these out, a new colour basically ever week and I'll continue to experiment with them. In the last monthly favourites I've showed you the result I got with Violet and two weeks ago I decided to go even bolder, increased the amount of colour vs. clear conditioner and went bright magenta pink. Currently I'm on my third colour and I'm a redhead. My natural hair colour is so dark that even those L'Oreal dark reddish-purple temporary shades of Casting Creme Gloss didn't properly show up - now that I'm a blonde I can finally play with colours and it's a blast. I'm not even very blonde, but these are so pigmented, I didn't have to use it straight from the tube for the colour on the box. With a mix of 1 part colour and 4 parts conditioner I achieved a vibrant pink shade using Magenta. It's easy to use these: I wash my hair, then simply mix the colour with a conditioner to dilute the pigment (I use a hair colour pot and an old spoon), apply it all over the hair (you get gloves, but I forgot them every time and it's fine, the colour doesn't stain for long), do something else for 10-15 minutes and wash it off. It doesn't take much longer than using a regular mask for me, except for the mixing bit and making sure I apply it all over the hair. It's not very messy and if you get any on the skin, it just washes off with a splash of water, but I wear a black shirt even though it doesn't drip. They don't damage the hair because they are just tinted hair masks, so I can use them as much as I want. They wash off  completely, how fast it depends on how much of the mask you used vs. the clear mask. I got the pastel off in three washes returning to my original colour, but with first wash most of the colour was gone. With the bright colour, I really tried to get it off fast, so I could try the next one. I shampooed three times with a anti-dandruff formula + had a mask on, so it was four rinses in total and I got a lovely pastel coral-pink (from Magenta) that I wore it a few more days, then washed it again, which didn't get all off yet, but I just went with red. So more intense the shade & the lighter your base colour, the more washes it takes to completely wash off. These obviously work best on bleached hair, while they don't tint my natural dark brown, so these are mostly for blondes, either coloured or natural, but those with undamaged, non-dyed hair might not get the same results as me despite being the same level. You can of course also use them for the original purpose to refresh your existing colour and delay having to colour again. So far I have nothing negative to say about these, maybe just that the tubes could be bigger, at least shade Clear because since all are so pigmented you end up using Clear a lot, but I just substitute it with any conditioner. I miss a lavender shade, though Diamond Blonde is such a shade from the tube, but it's a toning shade that's more one the blue/grey side, so I got one from a different brand that I'll talk about in the next new in if I happen to like it. I'll try Orange next, since it's the last bright shade in this collection and then I want to give Violet another go in a more bright version. 

Subrina Colour Refresh Mask in Magenta, ratio 1:4. I didn't do strand tests like I did with Violet and I did it before going to bed with wet hair, so I woke up to a bright surprise. I really thought I'll get a lighter shade, but these are very strong. I ended up liking it a lot and it washes off to such a pretty shade of pastel pink.

My current shade: Red in a ratio 1:1. I haven't washed my hair yet, so I don't know how long this one will last. It's the strongest mix I made to date. 

GOT2B #Oh My Nude Tame it Softly Dry Lightweight Oil Mist 

I've mentioned this a few times before, so it's nothing new, but I have to give it another shout out because I can always rely on this making my hair look more polished and shiny in an instant. It's a silicone oil in spray form and it's like an instant perfector that creates that healthy shiny hair look. I use it as any time I'm a pinch to make my hair more presentable, especially since my hair gets drier the longer I don't wash my hair, so I need a shine spray that doesn't contain alcohol and one one that masks dryness. It's so lightweight that those with completely different hair than me might like it too.

 ORIFLAME Giordani Gold Essenza Sensuale

Eau de parfum

I knew the moment I tried this for the first time that this will be in this post and my yearly favourites too. I love this, it's one of the best scents I've smelled. Usually I don't fall in love with the scent instantly, not even in my beloved Twilight Woods, but this was different. It's a much, much nicer, but equally posh version of Elie Saab le parfum (at least to my nose), except it omits the jasmine note which my nose does not like at all, since it's such a headache inducing scent, so the orange floral stands out a lot more here. This is so warm and cosy, but a floral on a woody-vanilla base. It lasts well too, better than other Oriflame scent by a mile. I've tried their praised Amber Elixir, but that one has nothing on Gold Essenza Sensuale. It doesn’t have a classic spray, instead it has a applicator with which you dab the fragrance directly on the pulse points, which I quite like, as it gives me that vintage feel.

UPDATES 

HOURGLASS Ambient Lighting Powder

Diffused Light

I don't know if this belongs in this post at all, but I'm still putting here. It's definitely not a proper favourite and I still feel mostly indifferent to it because I don't get that ethereal glow/soft focus effect from it that other describe. However, I got several powders in the last month or two and apart from heavier Fit Me & Laura Mercier, this is the only one that keeps my foundation from slipping into my lines around the mouth. It's very finely milled, so it doesn't look like powder on the skin and it's a finishing powder, so it's best to use it over a setting powder. It's not as amazing on me despite the very high feedback this has, which bums me because it was so expensive and I actually have a very good dupe for it from Wet n Wild, but given that it can somewhat blur my lines, it wasn't a total waste and I use it every day instead of Wet n Wild, also because it was way too expensive to just sit in my drawer. I have the shade Diffused Light, which despite the yellow tint looks translucent on my very pale skin tone. 

Bath & Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist

Bright Autumn Blooms

I only have a very generous tester of this, so I should probably try to track down a full-size bottle. It's one of BBW's best scent, though most of the stuff I have smells so nice, but this is more grown up and more high-end smelling. It's a rich floral on a warm powdery base, but without any obnoxious sharp notes of for example patchouli, so it ends up a more creamy smelling floral. I know of nothing similar to compare it to.

Beautiful Day

This is a typical spring fragrance - fresh, airy floral-sweet scent with notes of apple and flowers. It's something along the lines of Marc Jacobs Daisy and Avon's Luck La Vie, but with an apple note that BBW knows how to do best. 

Cashmere Glow

For me a typical BBW fragrance, along the lines of Twilight Woods and Amber Blush, though completely different in terms of notes. It's a warm peachy cosy vanilla-cashmere musk-sandalwood scent, perfect for cold months.

There were more testers from my latest New in that I enjoyed trying: SKINTEGRA Atomic Cleansing Oil (so far the best I've tried, but expensive for my taste), CERAVE PM Facial Moisturising Lotion (great simple moisturiser with niacinamide, ceramides, hyaluronic acid and cholesterol), MISSHA Aqua Sun Gel SPF50 (lightweight and sets to a dry-to-the-touch finish), LAURA MERCIER Translucent Loose Setting Powder (it is as good as they say, but Fit Me performs the same on my skin) and ECOOKING Peeling Mask (acid mask that actually does something on my skin).

WISHLIST

A'PIEU Madecassoside Ampoule - when I first tried a mask with madecassoside (from The Face Shop), I've developed a liking for this ingredient because it suits my skin so well. I discovered A'Pieu has a whole line of products with Madecassoside (including a sunscreen), so this isn't the only product I'd love to try, but ampoules are the easiest to include into a routine. 

CATRICE Glow & Care Primer - I've been testing this on the back of my hand every time I'm in Müller. It's not the glowiest primer, but it feels  so nice on the skin. 

CLARINS Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch - based on reviews this sounds like promising pore minimizing and line blurring primer. I tried it yesterday and it looks more balmy compared to the Catrice Goodbye Pores primer that I bought recently and it sadly turns into a dry flakesfest on skin. 

COLOURPOP Going Coconuts Eyeshadow Palette - For years haven't seen any of Colourpop palettes as something worthy of my purchase, since they are mostly so warm, too colourful or plain boring, but this one looks very promising. I like a good collection of neutrals, as long as they are not too orange or reddish. I'll only get it if free shipping over comes along.

L'OCCITANE Honey Harvest Hugs & Kisses Hand & Lip Care - honey products are back at L'Occitane. I used to buy them when they were permanent many years ago, but in the last years I've mostly missed these limited editions. Maybe I'll get this gift version.

L'OREAL Paris Glow Mon Amour Liquid Highlighting Drops in Champagne - I already got this yesterday. I do these posts a few days in advance and I didn't feel like changing the picture. This is a highlighter for fans of Colourpop's Flexiterian and other formulas with intense shine. A mini drop is needed for a strong glow, so this should last forever. I hate the packaging though, as it has no ring that would scrape the excess when you take the dropper out. 

MAX FACTOR Miracle Prep Illuminating & Hydrating Primer - numerous reviews say this is apparently quite good. I'm on a hunt for a nice primer and this is just one that interests me. As the name says it's a glow primer, but I've tried in the shop and I don't see any shimmer. I'd have to try it properly though. 

THE BODY SHOP Shea Butter Richly Replenishing Hair Mask - again something that interest me because of great reviews and also ingredients. It's got shea butter right after water, so I expect this should suit my very dry hair.

Have a great day!

LANCÔME Teint Idole Ultra 24h Wear & Comfort SPF 15 Foundation

008 Beige Opale

I already said a lot about this foundation in my latest new in and I have a quick review highlighted on my Instagram profile. I recently bought several foundations because I ran out of a few bottles of my lightest shades and I gave away all of my too dark foundations (my collection shrunk by 9 in total). This was the first one that I bought after being very impressed by a tester I took in the shop. I got shade 008 Beige Opale which is one of the lightest shades in our drugstores, but it's not as pale as Essence #insta foundation 10 (swatches are in new in). It's a neutral to slightly pinky very fair shade and it fits me well. It's a satin-matte formula with a medium coverage and the reason why I'm impressed by it is how long it lasts and how well it wears. It doesn't emphasise texture, pores or lines nor does it make them worse with time. While it's more on the matte side, when I wear my Olay Regenerist spf 30 moisturiser under it, it has a nice natural healthy glow to it. 

COLOURPOP Super Shock Cheek

Flexiterian

I haven't put this one down since I got it in late 2018. I've tested a couple other highlighters, which I liked a lot (Catrice and L.O.V. palettes), but this one beats all in my collection. The shimmer is very fine, so it doesn't look like glitter on the face, instead it looks more natural, well if natural meant you got super glowy cheeks, but I hope you get what I mean. I love the cream to powder texture and I always apply it with fingers. It's one of the stronger highlighters and it lasts well on my cheeks, though sometimes it ends all over it. There's only two Colourpop products I've been truly impressed so far, matte X Lippie Stixs and this.

L.O.V. BLUSHment Blurring Blush 

n.30 beautiful minds empower other & n.50 yes she can

I can say the same thing as for Flexiterian - I've been using these almost every day since I got them in April, with one pause when I was using Catrice's Blush Box Glow + Multicolour in 020 It's Wine O'Clock. These are the best blushes I've ever found. They are nicely pigmented, super smooth and especially the shade 50 has the most amazing glow. I have one more bright coral shade 60, but I wear these two the most. 

CATRICE Dewy-ful Lips Conditioning Lip Butter 

060 Don't Dream it, DEW it!

These are the most comfortable, balmy lip glosses with a good level of shine and a light-medium pigmentation. I've had the pale pink shade 010 for about a year now, which I never wore in public because it's a bit corpsy, so I've been planning to get a better shade since I got that one. 060 is the perfect every day wearable shade, a nice rosy colour that goes with everything. 

CATRICE Demi Matt Lipstick

100 Nude Crush Everyday

I've said in New in post that these are the best lipsticks Catrice made so far, even though the staying power isn't amazing. The formula is so smooth, it just glides over dry patches, makes the texture of the lips look much nicer than it really is and has a nice semi-matte look to it. They are lightweight, not drying and don't feel like you have a lipstick on. I particularly like this shade because it's a neutral medium nude which is not easy to find. This is currently my go-to lip colour.

ARTDECO Anti Pollution Spray

I got this after trying the "spritzy" Catrice spray, which made me go through a ton of reviews where I found Morphe as one of the most praised ones. That one is an aerosol and as soon as I saw this Artdeco one in Műller, I just grabbed it. I tried to find some reviews while in the shop on my phone like I usually do, but there were none, so it was a risk taking this especially since it's not cheap. The mist is just amazing. It's so fine, it barely feels wet at all. I was concerned that I paid a lot of money for a refreshing spray, but it actually delivers when it comes to prolonging makeup and it helps make it less "makeup looking". When I'm applying my foundation and I feel it looks too obvious I just spray a bit of this and it fixes it. I also use it as the last step in my makeup routine and anytime during the day when my makeup starts looking not so fresh. Ingredients are nothing special and it's very expensive considering what's inside, but the mist just makes it worth it because this is dry so fast. 

PANTENE Hair Biology Full & Vibrant Mask, De-Frizz & Illuminate Reconstructing Mask and PRO-V 3 Minute Miracle Intensive Repair Conditioner

All three of these are amazing like I'm already used to at Pantene. All work great for my very dry, coarse, many-times bleached & coloured hair. They leave it nourished and a bit softer, though I still need to apply leave-ins to finish my style and keep my hair from drying out fast. I'd say the Repair mask in a pot is the most nourishing one of all, but these three are very similar to Pro-V Repair conditioner, so I'll be buying what's cheapest per ml. 

JOICO K-Pack Deep Penetrating Reconstructor and Intense Hydrator

These are magic for bleached hair. Period. It's been a couple of months since I last bleached my hair and it got to a point when my hair started to feel stiff, it wasn't responding to oil treatments as well, it got dry very fast after washing despite a lot of leave-ins and even an Olaplex treatment didn't do much, so I dug out these two out of my emergency stash. One use and my hair feels like it was never bleached. These two are just the most amazing products for making the hair feel renewed even if you abused it to oblivion. I prefer to use these two together, though both Reconstructor and Hydrator can be used on their own, but Reconstructor which is an intense protein treatment leaves the hair kind of hard to the touch which is true for protein treatments in general, so you have to use something moisturising after to give the hair back that pliability and Hydrator works best with this, though I could use another hydrating conditioner or mask. I've used Hydrator on its own for years before I coloured my hair and since it's one of the best treatments I've found for very dry hair.

UPDATES

CATRICE Primer and Fine Multitalent Fixing Spray

This would be up among the favourites of the month, but I don't give it a proper thumbs up because of the spray. This does the job it promises to do. It can be used before or after applying makeup (I tried it both ways) and it truly prolongs the staying power and keeps things in place. However, that damned spray just ruins it for me. While the mist can be fine if you press the atomiser just right, mostly I manage a spritzy mist that makes my face wet and I have to wait 5 minutes for it to fully dry. It's nice and affordable, though actually not the best deal for the amount you get.

THE BODY SHOP Tea Tree Anti-Imperfection Peel-off Mask

I promised you an update on this mask. I already posted a review on it on Instagram stories where I showed you a video how this peels off - it was not in one piece. Instructions say to mix all the powder at once which was a massive waste, as I could get 2-3 or maybe even more uses out of it. The remains in the pot solidify just as fast as on the face, so you can't use for more applications. It applied with no problems on the skin, I did quite a thick coat because I had so much. It took about 7 minutes to solidify, I left it on for 10 and then proceeded to try to get it off. The edges were hard to grab and despite a thick application, it came off in pieces and it was still sticking on the edges of the face where I had to scrape it off. Mostly it was very easy to pull off, it didn't even stick on the skin much apart from on the edges where I have hair. It didn't remove anything from my pores, but my skin did feel smoother to the touch after use. It didn't feel tight and didn't scream for a moisturiser, so it's not a drying mask despite being for oily skin. For some reason two days after use I got spots on my chin. I don't think this was the cause, but I would expect from such a mask to prevent breakouts from happening. Overall I wasn't terribly impressed by this one.

SUBRINA Colour Refresh Mask

Violet

So I coloured my hair purple-ish - well temporarily (I hope). You might know that I manage social media for Subrina and there was a message asking if we have any pictures of how these colour masks perform on the hair. Moroccanoil versions of colour mask recently launched on Click2Chic (whose social media I also manage) and I saw how well their presentation of shades was done, so since I only had my rubbish quick strand test pictures, I decided to "sacrifice" my hair and use one of these to do some decent pictures how they look. I'm still very concerned I ruined my toning work, but the colour is so washed out by now that I had so much orange showing anyway, so hiding it with a colourful shade sounded like a fun idea, especially since I've had dark hair for 10 years and you can do squat with it when it comes to experimenting with temporary colour. My hair isn't an ideal shade for presenting the colours because it's not the lightest and these would look fantastic on ice blonde hair (I really wish my hair were much lighter because yellow tones I could deal with). I tried this shade on a few strands before doing my whole head and it washed out nicely - hopefully this happens for the whole head of hair. I remember when L'Oreal's Colorista launched there was a lot of complaints that some of the shades don't wash out and turn green, particularly their violet shade, but this one is a lot more red based and it washed off to a pale pinkish colour on those strands. It's super simple to use, you just use it like a regular hair mask, but make sure you get it all over the hair in a thick enough coat. I should have use more purple than I did, I mixed it with a conditioner for a more pastel look, but I did a bit too weak of a mix for my colour, even though this violet purple on its own is super pigmented and you get the colour on the box if you use it on its own. With my mix where I used about a 1/5 of the bottle plus a ton of conditioner it didn't tint the darker parts best, well at least not purple, but it is very intense on the lightest hair, still I quite like ombre iced orange-purple mix, it makes me feel like a sugar fairy. I only left it on for 10-15 minutes, but I could have left it longer for a more intense result. These are coloured hair masks, so you can leave them on for as long as you want and they don't damage the hair, instead the actually nourish it. On its own these are not enough for my hair, so I used Pantene with it, but (I assume) this also means that those with oily hair can use these, since they might not be too heavy from them (mix it with the shade Clear). If this washes off nicely, I'll be trying other shades, maybe Magenta. I only used this on Monday, so I'll have to get back to you how quick it will wash off, I wash my hair once a week, since it's so dry.
I had the hardest time taking a picture of the colour I got. Pictures taken with my phone show the colour more intense, while my Olympus camera didn't show how well the colours blended and they are not as intense. Still I decided post Olympus pictures, but you can see the Huawei pictures here. The colour irl is somewhere in between.

A part of my purchases I made online in the past weeks. For once I've actually done some more high-end purchases after I've been mostly a drugstore girl for many years. You'll see the products in a new in post when I have the time to test all of them. Right now I haven't had the chance to play with them much yet, so it's probably going to take me a while to do all the posts and my beauty updates stories on Instagram, but keep your eyes peeled if you're interested in any of these. Missing on the picture is MAYBELLINE Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder.

I have a few things ordered that I'm still waiting on: ETUDE HOUSE Face Blur SPF33 PA++ , ETUDE HOUSE Proof 10 Eye Primer, LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask Berry and A'PIEU Pure Block Natural Daily Sun Cream SPF45 PA +++. 

WISHLIST

FOUNDATIONS - I obviously won't be buying these any time soon, since I'm currently occupied with testing what I got recently, but I found some interesting foundations with very pale shades that interest me: REVOLUTION Conceal & Hydrate Foundation in F0.2, COLOURPOP No Filter Foundation Fair 05, THE ORDINARY Serum Foundation with SPF 15 1N and NYX Professional Makeup Total Control Drop Foundation Pale or Porcelain. I had the last one in my shopping bag on Feel Unique, but then I saw it's 13 bloody millilitres for 16 €, which is insane. Still their shade range looks great. They have other formulas, but I'm not sure which one would work for me best.

MAYBELLINE Fit Me Matte & Poreless Powder 090 Translucent - I gave up on getting the Set + Smooth Pressed Powder, since I'd have to get it on eBay with shipping, so I focused my attention to this one which is sold here. I adore Matte + Poreless foundation, it's my favourite formula and it makes sense I try the powder as well, especially since it's so praised online. I hear it blurs pores and that it mattifies, yet has a sort of a glowy finish. The foundation blurs pores to a degree on me, so I have high hopes for this. I just received Rimmel Stay Matte powder yesterday as a part of a PR package, which I know many love, so I'll be testing it in the next weeks.

PRIMER - currently I have one primer in my collection, which I'm not the biggest fan off, so I'd love to find something new and possibly amazing that I'll love to use because it will make a visible difference. I've been mostly focusing my research on primers that hide pores. I took a sample of REVLON PhotoReady Pore Reducing Primer which did a good job and it felt nice on the skin, so when there's a decent discount I might get it (my pictures of before/after Revlon primer here). I heard a lot of great things about RIMMEL Fix & Perfect Pro Face Primer (which I sadly discovered is not sold on the stands in Slovenia), NYX Angel Veil Skin Perfecting Primer is hailed as a dupe for Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer, I also heard their Pore Reducing Primer hides pores well. I've been checking out CATRICE Prime And Fine Poreless Blur Primer in our drugstores and I'm still on the fence about it. It looks ok, but it blended a bit strange when I tried it on my hand because it pilled on the edges of application. E.L.F. Cosmetics Poreless Putty Primer is sold out everywhere since it's hailed as a dupe for the much more expensive Tacha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer. ARITAUM Pore Master Sebum Control Primer is another supposed dupe, this one for the famous Benefit POREfessional. HEIMISH Artless Glow Base SPF 50+ PA+++ is a primer I want mostly for the sun protection. If you have any recommendations, let me know.

ETUDE HOUSE Lash Serum - I found this while researching primers. It's got a very high feedback and it apparently works despite the low price. It might be worth checking out.

REVLON One Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer - I really want this. Drying frizzy hair like mine is a struggle and this makes it look easy, even though I know that huge handle will not fit my child-size hands. I'm still deciding whether I'll get the original (provided I find a reputable seller on Amazon.de because I need one with a EU plug) or just buy one of the many cheap knock-off on Amazon or eBay or AliExpress, which are also very praised, but I have concerns about the settings and how long they'll actually work.

SKIN DROP Renew Advanced Retinol Complex - I found this on a blog that tests different retinol products and this is highest rated. I won't be getting this one anytime soon because it's very expensive and it ships from the US, which means shipping + taxes, but it's on the list for someday.

Have a great day!

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.