Maintaining the colour

Have you ever experienced your hair becoming an unwanted brassy or orange tone?

Too many times have I had that same trouble and it was only until a few months ago that I started to research ways to maintain my colour and combat colour fading.

  

So how can you combat this problem?

1. Install a good shower filter 

The water we use to wash our hair include particular minerals such as iron that affect our hair. Installing a shower filter will remove the iron from the water and prevent your hair from turning an orange or rusty colour.

How iron effects hair:

- Iron leaves the hair feeling dry, brittle and weighted down 

- Iron can cause dark hair to tint darker and blonde hair to turn orange 

- Iron can block perms and colour from properly processing

2. Shampoo and rinse with cooler water temperatures 

Just think of the strands of your hair as your skin. When you wash your face with warm water, the pores of your skin will open; whilst with cold water, the pores of your skin will close. 

Iron from the water is most likely to settle into the cuticles of your hair when it is open with hot or warm water. By washing your hair in cooler temperatures, the cuticles are less likely to open which will minimise how much iron will settle into the hair

3. Use pigmented shampoos

Purple/Silver shampoo will help maintain your hair colour for a longer period of time. The two i've used include-

- De Lorenzo Silver Shampoo: It did little to my hair so I was quite disappointed in the product. Not something I would purchase for my type of hair.

- Matrix So Silver Shampoo: It is a purple shampoo that I've been using 2-3 times a week and it works wonders! Just lather it up on damp hair and leave it in for a few minutes. If you have fine hair, leave it in for 5 minutes. For thicker hair, leave it in for 10-15 minutes. Once the time is up, wash it out with cool water.

Result

I've had ash hair for over two months now and so far I've been able to maintain my highlights thanks to Matrix So Silver. I love it! The only downside to this product is the sulfate in the ingredients as it gives an unfortunate drying effect to your hair.

Here's what my hair looks like -

As you can see, my hair is quite dry and brittle as i have only been using my deep conditioner once a week as an intensive treatment. Not such a good idea with the state my hair is in. In that case, regular use is needed if you want strong, healthy and beautiful hair. I recommend Redkin Heavy Cream as it is great at untangling hairs and you can definitely feel how conditioning it is to your hair when you wash it out. To use, comb the product through your hair with a wide tooth comb and leave it in for up to 15 min for extremely dry hair. 

Follow the above suggestions and you should be able to see a difference to your hair colour. It worked for me!

Wicked - The Broadway Musical - Australia

Wicked has landed in Perth and I was lucky enough to grab tickets to its preview night last Sunday 19th June.  This was my first ever musical and it was absolutely amazing! I loved everything about Wicked; the performance, the songs, the costumes and the story!

Wicked, the musical began its run on Broadway in 2003. Wicked gives you a peek at Oz long before Dorothy dropped in providing fans with an alternative view of characters from the famous Wizard of Oz stories. It has had a successful run on Broadway and productions of the show began in cities all over the world. 

 Wicked is loosely based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West'. So I did a bit of research and it seems that the book differs in that its storyline is dark, political and sexual whilst the musical is lighter, bubblier and more child-friendly.

[taken from Wikipedia] 

Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (otherwise known as Glinda the Good Witch of the South in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). The two women struggle through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot begins before and continues after Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and includes several references to the events depicted in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

The Australian cast include:

Glinda (Good Witch of the South) - Lucy Durack

Elphaba (Wicked Witch of the West) - Jemma Rix

The Wizard (of Oz) - Bert Newton (His understudy, Rodney Dobson who also plays an Animal Professor replaced Bert on opening night due to illness)

Fiyero (The Prince) - David Harris

Madame Morrible (Sorceress and Headmistress) - Maggie Kirkpatrick

Doctor Dillamond (Animal Professor) - Rodney Dobson

Nessarose (Elphaba's younger sister) - Elisa Colla

Boq - James D Smith

For more information on Wicked the musical, check out their website here and if that tickles your fancy, book your tickets here.


Wicked has just released additional tickets in Perth from 9-21 August so I plan to watch it for the second time. Tickets are from $138 for an 'A Reserve' seating but i suggest the $159 for an 'Emerald Reserve' seating for the best view. Trust me, it's totally worth it!

GEO Princess Mimi - Sesame Gray Review

My GEO Mimi Sesame Grey Lens arrived in the mail last Wednesday.


I purchased the lens from ModeBarbie for $18.99 inc. postage. This was the cheapest I've seen around and it was their first promotion running since opening their store.

 Below is Tsubasa Masuwaka modelling the lens.

Here is what it looks like on my eyes. My camera is currently not working so I used my iPhone instead. Forgive the lighting! 
  

I was also wearing Dollywink's upper lashes, Dolly Sweet No.1 which I purchased from Sasa. Tsubasa Masuwaka also models these as seen below.

 
GEO Princess Mimi - Sesame Gray Review

Colour/Design: 3.5/5
The colour and design is quite similar to GEO Angel in terms of the black ring. Although the colour looks quite vibrant on Tsubasa, it was slightly darker on my mine. I haven't worn them during the day so its hard to determine if the colour would show obviously as on Tsubasa. My eyes are originally dark brown, so that could factor into why Seasame Gray does not reflect what's been modeled in the picture.


Comfort: 4/5
I usually get dry eyes after 3 hours but these lenses didn't cause much trouble. I wore them out last night and the lenses felt comfortable and I would sometimes forget i was actually wearing them.  



Enlargement: 5/5
15mm is no doubt enlarging and definitely gives you the dolly eyes if you want to go for that look.

 
Overall: 4/5
Love it! Something I'll be wearing more often when I'm out at night so order one in for yourself!