Posts Tagged ‘style’

I Bleached My Hair And It Didn’t Fall Out

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

I am NOT a beauty or style blogger, but sometimes I do something and I want to talk about it so here I go.

I was chatting with my friend Amy about how I am old and boring and uncool (PSA: never watch the VMAs over the age of 25) and how I really needed a change. We have this chat a lot, and it usually ends up with one of us getting bangs. This time, I was complaining about how I really needed to get my hair done but couldn’t decide if what I needed was a color fix or if I should just do something fun like the pink I did a couple years ago. She mentioned bleach shampoo, which I had never heard of but from the name it seemed perfect.

Luckily, there’s an XOVain tutorial that was easy to follow and very thorough. My experience with coloring my own hair is limited. I’ve done lemon juice highlights from sitting in the sun, a couple of boxed dyes, plus the Manic Panic pink layer, but the rest of the time I either live with my natural color or use a salon. I had never even BEEN in a Sally Beauty Supply before, but I threw all 3 kids in the car to go stare at stuff in the hair dye aisle before settling on this:

bleach shampoo

I used L’oreal Quick Blue High Performance Powder Bleach, because the internet tutorial I found said blue bleach was better, plus the 1 oz package seemed easier than measuring. I used Blond Brilliance Creme Developer 5 Volume because I was really scared of frying my hair. I didn’t know much about developers besides they’re the thing you mix with the other thing when you buy a box of hair dye, so I took the internet’s advice and went with a super low level one – 5 barely does anything, 10 or 20 is average, 30 or 40 should probably be left to a professional. Since I’m naturally blond, it’s already pretty light from the summer, and my hairdresser once told me my hair “lifts really easily” I figured I’d start at the lowest and if it didn’t work I’d try again with a 10. The 5 turned out to be perfect.

I mixed the 1 oz of powder bleach with 1 oz of the developer and then a big squirt of the shampoo until it was a liquidy consistency that was easy to slop on my head. The shampoo made it a lot easier to spread around evenly than a box of hair dye and that one batch went a LONG way – I have a lot of hair and it covered all of it. I started at my roots in the front, since they were darkest and I wanted the front part to be lightest.

These pictures are: before, with wet hair, during with my sexy shower cap, right after in my bathroom’s yellow light and the next day in natural light.

iPhone Week 252

Here’s the official before and after no-make-up photos, taken by my 4-year-old:

collage

 

Looking at the pictures the change is subtle, but in person it looks really natural – it isn’t uniformly platinum or brassy. I think the biggest change is on the top of my head and in the back where my dark blond is now medium-light blond. I was on 3rd day hair when I bleached it, so my roots were extra oily, but that seemed to protect them from damage. The ends are a liiiiiittle bit fried but I am 4 months overdue for a trim so I think ANY color would have done that.

I give the whole process an A+ and I plan to do it again when my roots grow out. Maybe I’ll use a 10 developer next time and see if I can gradually bring my hair back to my childhood towhead blond. I’m still debating a fun color, especially after seeing the amazing options at Sally Beauty Supply – lavender! mint! teal! bright blue! I still can’t decide if I’m too old for “fun” hair. I mean, I still think I’m fun, but I also like going to bed before 10 pm.

p.s. I also dyed my eyebrows (!!!!!!!) which is something I’ve wanted to do for YEARS but was too scared to try. It was a piece of cake and I feel like it makes a huge difference in my face. I used a semi-permanent color and developer and did it twice in a row – 15 minutes, then wiped it off, then another 10 minutes because I wasn’t sure it was dark enough. Literally no one as has “What did you do to your eyebrows?” but people have said “You look really nice today!” and my desire to take selfies has increased 300%.

OK, that was more than enough talk about beauty stuff for a long time. Back to my yoga pants and top knot I go!

4 Weird Things I Put In My Hair

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

1. Honey & olive oil hair mask. You can follow the link, but the entire recipe is: honey, olive oil, mix, put on hair. Miranda and Krystal talked me into this and after I got it onto my head I panicked and wondered if I had made a huge mistake (I’ve made a huge mistake). But! It worked! It all washed out easily in just one shampoo and my hair looked really good and felt really soft. If (when) I do it again I’m going to dampen and comb out my hair well first and then spread the mask on with my hands. I didn’t do my roots, since those tend to be oily on their own but if your hair was dry you absolutely could.

2. Coconut oil. I’m not even going to bother talking about WHY I would suddenly start using coconut oil for everything, since apparently I am the last person on the planet to discover its awesomeness, but it was great for my hair. It took a little longer to wash out that the mask, but I just wore my hair in a bun for a day between shampoos and now it’s REALLY soft.

3. Lemon Juice. Well, actually lemon juice, water and hydrogen peroxide, aka DIY Sun-In. I tried to buy ACTUAL Sun-In but my Target didn’t have it anymore (because it’s 2012, Suzanne, not 1999). Truthfully, my homemade version works even better on my hair and gives me fantastic, natural-looking highlights. I wouldn’t recommend it on anyone with hair that tends to look orangey in the sun unless you want Bozo the clown streaks. The hydrogen peroxide will lighten your hair even without sitting in the sun (gradually but permanently) but the lemon works best if you’re going to sit by the pool for a while. For natural(ish) blondes the results look way more expensive than the pennies it costs to make.

4. Moringa oil. I was sent a bottle to review (and I’ll have a giveaway soon!) as a treatment for sunburns, among other things. I figured if it helped repair the sunburn I am DEFINITELY going to get this weekend that would be more than enough, but in the mean time the website convinced me to try it on other stuff. I like it on my hair as a treatment for frizz and for the days after I’ve fried it with chlorine and sun and lemon juice. I can smooth a tiiiiiny bit on my hands and then over my ponytail to help it looks polished and fancy as opposed to “frazzled mom hair”. I would definitely recommend it to anyone whose hair is thicker/coarser/less oily than mine as an everyday product.

What weird beauty stuff (for your hair or any other bit) do you recommend?

Easter Fashion Flashback Linky!

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

I sort of hope my sister is currently in the part of Africa that doesn’t have an internet connection, because she’s going to think I am intentionally posting bad pictures of her on the internet. The truth is ALL the childhood pictures of her are bad. See? Not my fault! Much better! Apparently she did not like being told to pose, while I was practicing smiling with my eyes by the time I was 4. That comes as a surprise to absolutely no one who knows us.

And now, a brief history of Easters Past in the Glidden Household:

1987? 88?

I suspect I had white patent leather shoes, a matching purse and possible a pair of gloves to go with this outfit. I also suspect we lived in Long Island and it was 30 degrees on Easter. My folks still have that clock.

April 15, 1990 - Monterey, California

Awkwardly posed photo is awkward. It looks like I’ve Instagramed this photo but I assure you it came by its faded, aged look honestly. If Instagram wants to steal that specific yellow tone they could call it “Shoebox”.

April 15, 1990 - Monterey, California

Hey, remember when you had to take pictures with film you then had to have developed at a store and sometimes people screwed up your photos? If you say “no, I’ve always used digital” we can’t be friends anymore. I am not sure why my mom dressed Drew in a football sweatshirt for Easter, but I’m sure Jesus understood it was meant as a compliment. The dress I am wearing in this photo is in Caroline’s closet upstairs.

April 1993, which makes me 11

PROOF I WAS WEARING MILK-MAID BRAIDS BEFORE THEY WERE COOL TAKE THAT HIPSTERS. I thought that dress was the bee’s knees. I remember thinking the only thing that could possibly make me look any cooler was pierced earrings and how it was SO UNFAIR my mom wouldn’t let me get my ears pierced until I was 13.  The piano in the background is the one I have now in my dining room.

I sort of suspect frilly dresses and bonnets and flowers tucked into braids weren’t on everyone’s Easter to-do list so Amy and I might be the only two joining this linky, but if you can track down your spring-type pictures please feel free! We’ll leave it open for a week.

Steppin’ (Not) Out: NYE

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Maybe some day far in the future my pictures from New Years Eve will involve high heels and parties and sparkly dresses and champagne drunk from something fancier than a plastic cup. But yesterday we celebrated the end of 2011 by getting Little Evan a haircut, taking a trip to Target for 75% off wrapping paper and opening the champagne at 9 pm in case I fell asleep. I’ve always sort of hated New Years – it’s built up to be SO GLAMOROUS and SO SPECIAL and a HUGE TURNING POINT in your life, when really it’s just like any other night. Even when I was younger and DID go out for New Years I never felt like I was having as much fun as I was supposed to be having. And not even once did Billy Crystal declare he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

So instead of building it up and being let down, this year I just enjoyed having these two goofballs to hang out with all day and a husband to kiss at midnight any time I want to.

Twinsie trouble faces

You think they might be related?

Pushy

Whatchu lookin' at, fool?

Negotiating

She suspects she got the short end of the stick

Minding his own business

These aren’t the best SOS pictures I’ve ever taken, but there is no way to pose for photos at Target without feeling like a total idiot and we didn’t do anything else. But I DID put on real clothes after a full week of PJ pants and there is no way I’m letting that go undocumented.

Dance party!

On Evan:
Shirt – Old Navy
Jeans – Children’s Place

On Caroline:
Dress & leggings – Crazy 8 (dude, don’t even think about looking at their website unless you’re prepared to spend mucho bucks on adorableness)

On Suzanne:
Tank – ModCloth (bought on sale last week, now gone)
Sweater – Target
Jeggings – Nordstrom Rack (I’m not even ashamed, they’re SO comfortable)
Boots – Old Navy
Necklace – Lisa Leonard
Bracelet – Spiffing Jewelry (it says “I curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal” and rocks my socks)

Head & Shoulders Review & $50 Visa Gift Card Giveaway!

Monday, November 21st, 2011


The first time I went to get a haircut after Evan was born, I mostly went for the shampoo and blow-dry. My hair hadn’t been both clean AND dry in five months and the thought of wasting precious napping time on something as frivolous as a shower was laughable. So I figured hey, three birds one stone! A haircut will TOTALLY make me look less exhausted and overwhelmed!

When the stylist took the elastic out of my hair and started brushing it out-“So! What are we going to do today?”-my scalp started flaking off. It looked like it was snowing on my shoulders. As if the huge dark circles under my eyes and the spit up on my pants wasn’t humiliating enough, now I had dandruff too.

All the hormonal changes from pregnancy and birth had changed my hair from oily but manageable to dry, itchy and flaking. Ugh, babies are the WORST.

A couple weeks ago, I got an email asking if I’d be interested in trying the new Eucalyptus Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp Care collection of soothing products. I thought, “Ooooo, that sounds nice.” And then I scratched my head. And then I scratched it some more. (I bet now your head itches too. The power of suggestion, man.)

Look! My hair is clean and dry AND flake free!

By the time I got my bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the mail, I was desperately scratching like a monkey and praying their magic shampoo was as magical as advertised. Although I don’t have real dandruff, the kind caused by the fungus Malassezia globosa, I do have a susceptibility to skin irritation, especially now that the weather is cooler and dryer.

The Head & Shoulders shampoo was definitely soothing. I loved the scent, not at all medicinal or chemically, but clean and refreshing. I was also pleasantly surprised that the conditioner actually conditioned and detangled my crazy horse’s mane of hair. I used it all the way to my roots to make sure my scalp was extra soothed (I really like that word,) and it didn’t weight them down at all.

I am looking forward to a scratch-free winter. And hey, you didn’t think I’d keep all the free stuff for myself, did you? BlogHer has a $50 Visa gift card for one of my readers, just for answering this question and following the directions below:

How do you change your beauty routine in the colder winter season from the warmer seasons? Leave me a comment to be entered for a chance to win.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 11/21/11 – 12/22/11

Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Want more great tips for winter hair care? Check out the newest “Looking Your Best” post in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com.