REVIEW | Scott Cornwall Colour Restore Toner

You've gone to the salon, asked for the lightest shade of blonde and have come home with bright yellow/orange hair. Not the silver ashy joy you had imagined right? 

We've all been there. Sadly, an unavoidable part of being a brunette and bleaching your hair is the fact that your hair naturally has warm undertones and when bleached, the orangey yellow stuff comes creeping out of the follicles, leaving your hair looking like it's been liberally dipped in orange Fanta. Cute. 

This happened to me after my Balayage. I went home after my second 4-hour session and found the next day that my poor bleached hair had gone a rather unflattering shade of orange. 

I used the Bleach London Silver Shampoo and that definitely helped to take down the yellow tones but still left the orange shades in the middle of my hair. So after an excessive amount of internet trawling I came to find out about this little beauty. 

The Scott Cornwall Colour Restore Toner in Cool Ash is basically my lifesaver. 

This is a leave-in treatment that you apply liberally to towel dried hair and then leave for about 20 minutes. 

The formula itself is quite thick but spreads very easily and means that you don't need too much to cover the hair completely. The product is designed for multiple uses, which is super handy as you will need to re-apply this toner after 8-10 washes to maintain optimal ashiness! 

The smell isn't unpleasant and there is no ammonia or peroxide in the product, meaning that it doesn't add to the damage as some other peroxide based toners do. It leaves your hair feeling incredibly soft and conditioned, but most importantly..... It works. 

This totally corrected the orange in my hair and I couldn't be happier with the results

As you can see from the pictures, the orange has been totally corrected and the blonde is now brighter and whiter. The longevity of the effect is definitely around 8 washes as advertised as I'm at about 7 now and you can see that the toner needs to be reapplied. But to be honest it's not a huge deal, just chuck it into your hair as you would a hair mask and wash off in 20 minutes for beautiful ashy results! Simple! 

If you're interested in the Scott Cornwall Colour Restore Toners then you can purchase them at Boots for around £12. 

Do you have bleached hair? What do you use to get rid of your orange tones?

Brunette -to- Blonde Balayage - The Process!

A month or so ago I mentioned on twitter that I was ditching the outgrown Ombre and joining the Pinterest-worthy world of Balayage. I thought this was going to be an easy, stress-free process after all - loads of people on Pinterest have brown-blond Balayage and look boss, so why wouldn't I be able to?

Yeah. It's definitely not that simple! 

So I thought I would share my experience from going Ombre to Brown to Balayage and let you know what it actually takes to get to that colour, in case you are wanting something similar yourself.

At the beginning of this year, I decided that I wanted an Ombre. It was the trend and, I really felt like I needed a change up. So at the time with my short bob I decided to get ombre and for a while I loved it. It looked great, I got loads of compliments and I felt really good about it. 

Then it grew out and it started to look like a poorly done dip dye. Thus is the nature of the short hair ombre. Inevitably it's going to grow out and look a little bit... naff. 

You may notice that in the photo of my ombre on longer hair that the blonde is brighter - that's mostly down to violet shampoo but I will chat more about that later! 

So I needed a change up and I decided that Balayage was the style for me. 

I went to my hairdresser and told her what I wanted, she cut off my old ombre and did her magic on the rest of my hair. 4 hours later at 9pm I came out feeling fresh and thinking that my hair was going to look bomb in the morning... but it didn't. 

If I've learnt one thing from this process, it's that my hair hates bleach. 

My hairdresser, bless her, was mortified when I sent her these photos as clearly in the clear light of day my hair was not as it was intended. The bleach had only taken on certain chunks of hair and the whole thing ended up looking rather patchy.  Thankfully, at this stage, it looked okay when curled, so I was still able to go about  my daily business until she could fit me in to correct it. 

So another 4 hours sitting in the chair totalled my time to a stunning 8 hours. 

As you can see from above the second bleaching took much much better. But left me with the bottom being bright blond and the middle looking slightly orange. So I started to use the Bleach London Violet Shampoo and that helped a tonne, but still didn't get rid of that orange completely so I brought the Scott Cornwall Colour Restore in Cool Ash that is specifically designed to reduce the orange tones in bleached hair. 

It worked! As you can see from the right-hand photo the hair is considerably ashier (although the lighting is obviously different - quite annoyingly -) I can confirm that my hair is much less orange now and it wasn't just a trick of the camera that it looks so different. 

  

Here's the final result! It's about as close to perfect as I'm going to get it without another round of bleach! I thought I would add in the nice sweaty photo of me at graduation with the boy, purely because it was shot in daylight outside, so I thought it was the most accurate representation of the colour of my hair. But you can clearly see the orange has gone and the ash prevails! 

So in total this took:

8 hours of chair time.

Countless washes with Bleach London Violet Shampoo.

30 minutes of Toning with Scott Cornwall Colour Restore in Cool Ash

and close to £200!

I wanted to make this post though to let anyone know, who is planning on having a brunette -to- blonde balayage just how much work is involved! As I certainly wasn't aware of it! But also to let you know that it is achievable if you have naturally dark hair. I was told multiple times by a different hairdresser that my hair wouldn't get to a light blonde without it being badly damaged but the hairdresser that did this for me used Olaplex and my hair is beautifully soft and just require a hydrating conditioner to keep it in good condition! It's not frizzy and has no visible signs of damage! 

Have you got any hairdressing stories to tell? How have your bleaching experiences faired in comparison to mine? I would be really interested to find out if other people have had this sort of issue when bleaching naturally brown hair! 

How To Treat A Dry Itchy Scalp #EmbarrassingBeauty

Something's in the beauty world we just don't want to talk about and Dandruff is one of them.

Dandruff, Itchy Scalp, Dry Scalp, Sensitive Scalp call it what you will it all results in the same white flakes that plague your head right when you don't want them to (not that there's ever a time when you DO want them to!) I myself suffer from a dry/itchy scalp that reacts to high concentrates of SLS and flares up whenever I'm stressed ... yes it is a shit storm all at once for me as my adult acne flares up when I'm stressed as well, yippee! 

REVIEW: Lush Solid Shampoo - Seanik

If you follow me on twitter you will know that I've recently been trying out Seanik one of the infamous Lush solid shampoos. I have a nightmare with my hair as my scalp acts up whenever I'm stressed (which seems to be more often than not recently!) and my hair is almost constantly oily. I can't go more than 2 days without needing to wash my hair and so I thought it was about time I looked for a shampoo that was not only cost effective but also kinder on my sensitive scalp and hair. 

REVIEW: Lush Superbalm

Dandruff. It's not pleasant is it? Embarrassing little white flakes of skin that linger in your hair despite the fact that you wash it every other day and have tried every remedy in the book- including that weird one pouring vinegar on your hair that leaves you smelling slightly like a chip shop for the next 12 hours. I have struggled with Dandruff for the past year or so; my skin and scalp react badly when I get stressed and because of this I have had a lovely case of 'stress spots' on my cheeks and an itchy irritated flaky scalp. It's fucking horrible. 

Haircare Routine: Ombre Hair

If you follow me on twitter and insta (both @Bambisblogs get following if you don't) you will already know that over Christmas I decided to chop of my almost waist length hair and get it Ombre. I've been wanting to Ombre my hair for years but I've never had the confidence to go and get it done. I used to take a lot of comfort in my extremely long hair as it allowed me to hide behind it and was sort of like my own personal shield. But after months of neck aches and headaches I decided that enough was enough and to the surprise of both my hairdresser and my mum, I chose to get it all chopped.  

I have never been happier. But with this new hair brings a new haircare routine. I've never had blonde hair before as I've always either dyed my hair red (I'm talking vibrant red... dear god what was I thinking) or really really dark. So having the ombre is really new and exciting for me, but also brings a whole new load of unforeseen issues. 

Brassiness - If you had asked me my opinion on this before Christmas I wouldn't have had the foggiest idea. But now it is something that I try to actively avoid. My Ombre is a light caramel tone as my hair is quite dark and the bleach wouldn't take it any lighter without ruining my hair. However towards the back and underneath there are pieces of hair that are very light. So to avoid the whole lot going a nice shade of ginger (and I know my hair will be inclined to after years of dying it red) I need to use something that cancels out the brassy tones. 

For this I have been using Pro:Voke Touch of Silver Brightening Shampoo - This is a violet toned shampoo that I use once a fortnight just on the Ombre hair. I won't use this often as I don't have full on blonde hair but I just use it fortnightly to keep any ginger at bay. This stuff is seriously scary to use if you have never encountered it before though. It honestly looks like your massaging ink into your hair (I was a little paranoid it would turn my hair purple ngl.) 

Dryness - My hair has always been on the oily side (along with my skin) and so I've never had to worry too much about conditioner. I could happily wash my hair without using it and it wouldn't make much difference. However, now I have bleached hair this has all changed. I notice that without conditioner the ends of my hair feel substantially dryer and will prone to frizzing much more than I've ever been used to. 

To tackle this I've been using John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Conditioner - I use this every time I was my hair in the hopes that not only will it slightly lighten my ombre but also that it will help to nourish my ends. Whilst I can't comment get on the Lightness I can say that the ends of my hair are feeling lovely and hydrated and there is no frizz in sight. 

Dealing with an Oily Scalp + Dry Ends - As I already mentioned my scalp is always oily. I have to wash my hair every other day in order to stop it looking like a massive ball of grease and its usually starting to look grim by the second day anyway. 

So to control this without damaging my ends I've been using The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Shampoo - This has been a long time favourite of mine and I'm loving it even more at the moment. It balances my oily roots without being too drying on my ends. It also doesn't react with my super sensitive scalp as it doesn't contain any Silicones, Sulphate, Colourants or Parabens. 

So that's my new haircare routine. 

If you've got any more recommendations for me then let me know! 

Review: TIGI Bed Head Blow-Out Cream and Flexi Head Hairspray*

Recently I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to review two TIGI Bed Head products. I've used the shampoo's and conditioners before and have always been fairly happy with them so I was interested to see how these products worked. I was sent the Blow-Out Cream* and the Flexi Head Hairspray* and got to put them to the test for the past month. 

Hello Beautiful Hair

Hair. It is every girls best friend and worst enemy rolled into one hot heavy mess growing out the top of your head. For a long time I have been trying to find a product that would tame my waist length locks but to no avail. That was until I stumbled into The Body Shop one day and had a little peruse around their haircare. A impulse decision was made and I needed to try their wonderful smelling Banana Conditioner (This stuff smells A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.). But being a blogger there was no way I could walk out without a shampoo to go with it. I was weary about the Banana shampoo as I was worried it would be to much for my oily hair so I grabbed a bottle of the Rainforest Balance Shampoo (which smells equally amazing).  

I will never look back. 

Goodbye Treseme. Goodbye Aussie.  Goodbye Charles Worthington. You have all served me well, but there is a new product in town that just does it better. 

Never has my hair felt so clean and so light. It is soft and smells wonderful and I don't need to wash my hair everyday to keep it looking nice. What's even better is that both of these are environmentally friendly products and are without Silicones and Sulphates! 

They are also both so affordable! I have spent a small fortune on hair products in the past when there has really been no need. These both came to the grand total of just £9.00! Which if you ask me is amazing value for money! 

If your fed up with your shampoo or your looking for a natural alternative, give these a try... you wont be disappointed! 

REVIEW: Dove Hair Therapy Refresh + Care Dry Shampoo

Oily hair is perhaps not the most glamorous thing to write about, but a good Dry Shampoo is a must have for those second hair days (and sometimes the super risky and desperate third day!). 

I have very long, thick, brown hair that just like my skin gets super oily. I can guarantee that after about 24 hours of my hair having been washed it will begin to resemble an oil slick once again, which is not the exact look I'm going for if I'm being honest!

TRESemme Keratin Smooth... The saviour to long hair!

First off, apologies for the poor picture quality, I left my Canon charger at home so I'm back on the Pentax until my parents have posted the charger over to uni! But I will do my best with what I've got!

Having super long hair can be a complete nuisance when it comes to everyday hair care. My hair is super thick, quite heavy and gets oily very quickly meaning that I have to wash my hair at least every other day although I have been known to wash it everyday since being at Uni. Because of this, my hair gets used to shampoo's quickly and I often find myself having to buy new shampoo's often as they just aren't cleaning my hair as well as I'd like. 

However, upon walking into Superdrug one day before Christmas, I spotted the TRESemme Keratin Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner on offer and thought that I would give it ago. 

This stuff has been a god send. It keeps my hair smooth, soft, shiny, tangle free (well mostly!) and it smells a-mazing. Better than that it seems to be controlling the oily hair situation so that I don't have to wash my hair every day in order to keep it looking clean. 

I can't see myself needing to switch over to a different shampoo any time soon! 

Do you have painfully long hair? What do you do to keep it healthy?