Colour B4 Review, and going from black, to red!

Hi, again! So this post is just to give my review on Colour B4 hair stripper. There is different strengths, but I used the Extra Strength one. 

I was a little cynical about this, after reading alot of bad reviews. But I tried it anyway, anything to avoid bleaching, AGAIN. My aim was to go from black, to red.

I must warn you, this product smells like rotten eggs and sewers, it's tolerable though.

It comes with two little pink tubs which is for the buffering process afterwards, basically shampoos.

My guess is this product got such bad reviews because people failed to do it properly, or had too high expectations.  If you have such a massive build up of hair colourants, or have used bleach in the past, this will NOT return you to your natural colour. Also, the buffering process is the most important part. You have to rinse for 5 minutes, and then apply the buffer/shampoo, and rince for a further 5/10 minutes, then apply the buffer again, and rinse for another 5/10 minutes. I put the Stripper onto my hair, when it was this colour...

15 minutes into the process, and it looked like this... I had high hopes!

From jet black, this was the result...

I was so shocked, I expected it to go ginger, but it actually went a gorgeous, auburny light brown, I colour I would have kept if I wasn't intent on going red. It did dry out my hair, but I left conditioner on for half an hour and then dried it, and then it felt in no worse condition than it was before. 

Sooo, after doing this, I thought it was a good enough base colour to stick a red on... It was not. I used a permanent dye, and the result was this.,,

    It basically went back to black with a red/purple tint. Turns out I didn't red the instructions well enough. The Colour B4, opens your hair molecules, which basically means... don't put a fucking permanent dye on it afterwards! But a semi permanent dye is fine to use, it will go your intended colour. I wished I had known to use a semi permanent. 

So the next day, I ended up bleaching it, no need to show the result of that, I left it on for an hour and as most will know, it came out a lovely ginger, which is to be expected with bleach... don't let that scare you, if anyone comes to use a bleach on dark hair. The bleach I used was Jerome Russel B Blonde, with 40 volume peroxide cream, which you can pick up in Bodycare for £1.30, and the BBlonde powder bleach, which you can get a box of 4 sachets from Bodycare for around £4. In the picture it does say for light to brown hair, but if you have dark hair you need the one for dark hair, these are pictures I found on google so...

To do the bleaching process you also need a plastic bowl, and an applicator brush which you can also get from Bodycare for 99p. You'll also need latex gloves.

 After that, I used Crazy Colour- Fire Red, a semi permanent hair dye, which I got from Sallys for £3.99.

 I left it on my beautiful ginger hair for 50 minutes and this is how it came out...

It says that it lasts like, 6 washes, but it's been 3 weeks now, and I've washed it around 9 times, right now, it looks like this... after 3 weeks, and 9 washes...

I have no idea why it's not really faded, but I'd recommend semi permanent over permanent any day. It is a pain in the arse when it rains and you have pink droplets of water dripping from your head, but the colour has lasted alot longer and had taken better.

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions feel free to comment :)

Keeping hair healthy.

Hi guys. So my beautiful friend Louise inspired me to start this blog, you can view hers at  http://www.beau-xx.blogspot.co.uk/  where you can see her reviews on all things beauty and more.
I decided to start this blog as I get alot of questions about my hair, like, "Omg, why aren't you bald yet?" "How did you get it that colour? I was told it would be impossible!" "What do you use?"

I'm very impatient when it comes to changing my hair colour, once I get it into my head that I want it to be a certain colour, I need to do it. Going to the hair dressers is the safer option, if you don't want to ruin your hair. But for me, going to the hair dressers is a long process, and takes numerous visits to get it to the colour I want. Of course, I know the hairdressers don't want to ruin a clients hair, and that's why. But as I said, I'm too impatient and do it all myself.

Over the years I've had blonde hair, black hair, back to blonde (even bleaching it 8 times in one day!) to red, to brown, to blue, to blonde again, etc... the list goes on, and thank god, my hair is still on my hair and still in okay condition.

Intense conditioning will save your hair! I tend to sleep in conditioner over night, and during the day I'll use conditioners that you can put on dye hair, (I forget the name but Bodycare sells a little tub in boxed packaging for £1.99) and then style my hair as normal. Another one I use is Inecto Pure Coconut Conditioning spray

You can pick this up in Bodycare for around £3.99, it lasts ages, smells amazing, and is brilliant for keeping your hair conditioned! 
THE conditioner to use when washing, is John Freida Full Repair. It's... expensive compared to other conditioners, but it's worth it, it's expensive for a reason, it works, and does exactly what it says on the tube. I use all 3 of these products, and the tube conditioner. The Perfect Ends is a miracle spray! My ends just looked like they've never seen a split in their life when I used it. I use that about 3 times a week, and spray on towel dried hair. The Shampoo and Conditioner are around £3.00 each, the tub is about £4.00 and the Spray also around £4.00, I normally get them from Superdrug but I know Asda sells them too, and are a tad cheaper. These are worth the money though.

 I also avoid hair dryers at all costs, heat is bad, more so when you dye your hair as much as me. Straightening is acceptable, aslong as it's not every day. Also... There's no harm in hiding away, and having greasy hair for a few days. Your hair loves grease! It's natural oils, which your hair needs, washing it every day is damaging even for healthy, almost untouched hair.

Also, protein masks for your hair are brillaint, but only use them once a week, if that, using them too much can make your hair brittle. One I would recommend is Dove Treatment Intense Repair Mask, it's £3.99 in Superdrug and leaves your hair feeling fab. Remember, only use it once a week though!

Here, (along time ago now, back when I went blonde... from black, after a gazzilion bleaches) Is the results from using the John Freida conditioner, and ends spray.

 

Intense conditioning can cost a bit, but that's because the products work. I've used cheaper, normal conditioners, and sure, they'll make your hair feel smoother, for a few hours. I realized I'd have to spend that little bit more if I want to keep my hair on my head. It's worth it!

In my next blog I'll be reviewing the Colour B4 hair stripper, and telling you how I got my hair from black, to vibrant red! Thanks for reading. Any questions, feel free to comment.