DIY Hair Dye L'oreal Excellence Fashion in 10.11 Crystal Ash | i made a video!

The mood to experiment on different hair dye is back! I feel like trying lighter hair shades now that I'm working from home and wouldn't need to worry about people noticing if it didn't turn out well on me LOL. This time I'm bought the L'oreal Excellence Fashion in 10.11 Crystal Ash after multiple contemplation and checking out reviews online. 

This retails at RM39.34 per box in Aeon Wellness, I got mine at RM29.49 after discount so both at RM59. Somehow ended up with so many L'oreal product samples including the ColoRista 1-Day Color Sprays and free green tea cups. You can get yours on ShopeeMY.

I'll just get straight up to the results. Here's my hair before _ black roots already long grown while the bottom is still in reddish mahogany brown. The after (on right) doesn't appear much difference. IRL you can tell its now in orange hue instead of red while the black roots now appear dark, orange-y brown. The after pic down really do much justice, probably due to lighting (it was moody when I took the pic).

The next morning, taken outdoor. Same clothes because I no longer change my clothes daily unless 1) they smell, 2) it's hotter & I feel yucky or 3) I have worn them for my workouts or after running errands outdoors.

Result-wise, somehow the color appears the most obvious on my scalp (see vid). This I think is probably due to the heat from my skin? I wonder if I should have left it a bit longer and put more consideration on the lengths of my hair instead of just the roots I'd have better results. Same goes to grays, I still spot them. But then, I've been told many times by stylist that my hair don't absorb color well, so could be the stubborn hair! A note on this: perhaps wear a hair cap while waiting for the color to develop.

Still, I think this is one really easy to use dye! Sure, it took effort to massage it into your hair but the cream glides easily with the help of the applicator brush and doesn't hardens up like some hair dye. Besides, it doesn't have overly pungent chemical smell. It does get messy, I have dye all over my arms and legs by the end of the process. Is it even? I'd say the coverage is close to what you'd get with bubble hair dyes which is great! Also, my hair don't feel dry after application and smoother with the conditioner. I've only used 1/3 of the bottle in a wash.

I kinda expected it to show up more (too high expectation wtf) because a it does on other bloggers or Youtubers. Its my stubborn, hard-to-dye hair really. This kinda bugs me because it means I probably won't get results I want from other hair dyes. I did find some DIY hair bleach in platinum blonde and am considering (most likely) to do that before I do dye my hair in another ash-y color which I already bought.

If you're interested to check out the whole process and results on video, I have made a simple recording.

~🤍~

Here's the update after a week from coloring my hair with L'oreal Excellence Fashion. The color on my hair is still intact and so is my root still obviously lighter *laughs* I still have remaining 1 and a quarter bottle of conditioner which works amazing at keeping my hair moisturized and soft. I think L'oreal got their formula right!

Update #2: So I kept wondering why the roots turned up lighter and yes, it is because of the heat from the scalp. Someone on YouTube commented that I oughta start from the roots. And I keep wondering, how come, this hasn't happen before?! And then it dawn to me that this is my first time in the longest while to be going for light colors! Make sense now. Just me rambling my thoughts out. Okthanksbye.

Update #3: Photos taken after 15 days from dyeing my hair. By then, the lighter part on the scalp has darkened.

April Skin Turn Up Hair Treatment in Wanna Blue Review

These days I'm feeling adventurous to try another hair color (again!). I still very much love mahogany shade but somehow decided I want to try colors such as indigo, green or purple _ the shades I have yet to explore! Didn't want to spend so much because I know light colors don't last to invest so much on nor I am not so sure of getting permanent ones (like dark blue or dark purple).

I went ahead and bought April Skin's Turn Up Color Treatment in Wanna Blue and Purple for RM22.07 each during Black Friday sale. Wanted to do purple first but now I'm saving it for CNY.

While I was shopping around, I noticed a few others were checking out the DIY dye aisle and buying boxes for themselves. Guess everyone's getting ready for Christmas, New Year and CNY! Somehow Wanna Blue was quite a hit _ I dropped by different branches and found the shade completely sold out walao eh.

April Skin's DIY hair dye comes in two ranges_ the Turn Up Color Treatment that supposedly nourishes your hair while giving vibrant albeit temporary, approximately 2 weeks staying power. Choices between 9 different shades Red, Orange, Peach Pink, Pink, Green Blue, Khaki, Dark Brown, Purple and Wanna Blue. I think Wanna Blue's one of the newest addition so the sample result is not included in the illustration below, but that's fine, you're about to see it anyways hahaha

The other range is called the Turn Up Color Cream that gives a longer-lasting result and 7 different shades Pink Candy, Red Pepper, Matt Avocado, Cinnamon Butter, Ash Latte, Deep Blueberry and Highlighter, the last to bleach your hair. I actually would prefer Deep Blueberry but have not seen it around :( That was the initial color I wanted!

I already have a dye bowl and brush from experimenting with Herbatint's Permanent Hair Color Gel previously. I didn't know they already packed a glove and cape so I went to Daiso to buy the hair dye kit whiCh comes together with a comb, two sets of ear protectors, capes and gloves for RM5.90. Least the mini comb come in very handy, so oklah.

I start by washing my hair and towel dry them before spreading the dye on my hair. Just to make sure I have enough, I made sure to section my hair (top & bottom half) and squeezing enough for each section at a time. 

Was worried I didn't have enough considering my hair's long. Perhaps because I had recently gone for a haircut and treated my hair to an amazing ampule that kept it more manageable, my concern were unnecessary. If I hadn't done so I will advice you peeps on getting 2 boxes! It's also good to have a spare in case the color didn't come out evenly.

After Herbatint, I told myself I won't buy DIY dyes unless they're like Lieise Bubble Hair Dyes because it's so much harder to do it yourself and easier to miss a section. By the end of the whole ordeal, even your hands will turn sore! HOWEVER, April Skin Turn Up Hair Treatment turned out to be quite pleasant to use. It's easy to apply and doesn't turn your hair hard or make your scalp tingles. It also doesn't have the strong chemical smell but instead floral-y scent.

Before with permanent mahogany brown hair and black roots

After, hair appears darker with hint of ash gray IRL but obvious mahogany streaks

Unfortunately for me, the color didn't turn out obvious while I can tell there were many streaks of undyed hair. IRL, I'd say it looks more dark, ash black than blue. Also, I was very sad when I washed my hair the following day, the remaining dye washed off! I wasted 1 hour of my life dyeing my hair FML. So much for lasting for 2 weeks! 

I know the dye isn't entirely to be blamed because I was just very disappointed. I'm also not sure if it's because I toweled dry my hair before dyeing them to prevent them from dripping on the floor. Can't tell if that actually is a factor unless I try again.

Not too eager to try the cream range or the purple one I have but at least I know if I just feel like having a crazy hair color for a day, I know which brand to choose *shrugs*

Hair Color Expert: Hair dye job for under RM100?!

Hello internet! Finally posting my first blog post for 2019 just when February is drawing to an end, can you believe that?! I'm proud to say that the start of the year has been rather productive albeit not in blogging... LOL! Other than that and how frequent I had been down with sickness one after another, things are generally great! Some of the rather memorable occasions include me messing around with my homies with pop pop (they fell for that!), being at Batu Caves for this year's Thaipusam and then a mini road trip to Sekinchan. Not to mentioned I tried aerial yoga for the first time yesterday! Seems like a lot going on and I hope the coming months will be as exciting, so much more to do!!


On my IG story LOL

The other thing is me getting my hair dyed, yeah right after CNY. Too happening in the past weeks I couldn't schedule an appointment with my regular saloon! Plus, I only heard of Hair Color Expert from one of my homies a week before CNY. When she told me it is only under RM100 for long hair (of any length!), I decided I must go. It is so affordable!!! Slightly more than what I've spent for the DIY Herbatint Permanent Hair Color Gel I tried last year.


RM88.90 to be exact!

Other saloons in KL would charge me RM400 for my hair length! Of courselah the color turned out pretty and service are amazing but if I could get the same color for lower price of course I'd choose the more affordable one! Some might argue to paying more means better quality chemicals that probably won't damage your hair (my mom thinks so!) but really, aside from feeling your hair and scalp how else do we measure the damage? Dying hair is already harmful to your hair to some extend. If there is a way to gauge the damage, I want to know how.

 Anyways, I was like 5-10 minutes late for my appointment, having booked my appointment just less than an hour. It was an impromptu decision just to tick some stuff off my to dos list. Didn't wait long before a receptionist/stylist sat me down to advice on the color. I had Mahogany in mind but she was like straight up telling me that it won't cover my grays. Ya-ouch. 

Then proceeded to recommend several other shades which may. I thought, ok, let's listen to the pro and went ahead to choose 5/75 Deep Healther which sample look close to a warm dark brown. Refer to the not-so-accurate colors due to phone lighting in the color chart below.

I was then ushered to my chair then first had the scalp protector which I topped up for RM15 applied and massaged. You can also top up RM55 for the Nano treatment, I didn't. Found out soon after Hair Color Expert uses the exact same brand of Nano treatment with my hair treatment _ the Bioma Plant +9 I just reviewed last November!

After the scalp protector, proceeded to have my hair dyed with the help of two stylist. I timed, that only took 15 minutes! Was then told I could wait outside while waiting for the color to set for 30-minutes. They provided a timer to each customers, neat. Fast forward, I was back inside to have my hair washed with hot then cold water and blow-dried on high heat. I really wished they'd ask what temperature I prefer, the dryer was set on high my scalp hurt! (T___T)

So result, result! First before _ dark roots, mahogany mid-length and bleached roots. Work of art.

After _ just warm dark brown still with lighter roots.

I tried looking up 'healther color' but only found 'heather color'. First thing that turned up goes, "In clothing, heather refers to interwoven yarns of mixed colors producing flecks of an alternate color. It is typically used to mix multiple shades of grey or grey with another color to produce a muted shade (e.g., heather green), but any two colors can be mixed, including bright colors." So heather here probably meant grayish brown. Indeed my first impression was there are tints of lavendar-gray which didn't show much in the photo.. Still, it is a nice shade of brown.

Oh, and the stylist kinda backtracked and say this color won't hide my grays... I was like, damn, I should've stuck with Mahogany! They still look obvious, but appearing like highlights. Oh well, with the price I can always make an appointment again XP


Before you go making your appointment, here are several points to note about:

1) All appointments are to be booked via the Hair Color Expert's app

2) The saloon only offers hair dyeing _ bleaching & coloring and Nano treatment. No haircut service! Gahhh, I needed a haircut so now I have to make an appointment with my regular saloon and explain why I didn't just go back to them to dye my hair. I have betrayed them! *guilty*

3) No bleaching or highlighting service past 4pm appointment

4) Because of the chemicals used, pregnant or breastfeeding women are not recommended to dye their hair (Overheard this!)


They have a bunch of other rules which are stated on their app, so don't forget to check them out!

Self-dye my hair again: a Herbatint Permanent HairColor Gel in M5 Light Mahogany Review

While I was window-shopping, I discovered Herbatint's Permanent HairColor Gel by chance at one of BMS Organic's pop up store. I rarely step foot inside BMS Organic so was not aware they carry hair care range. Pretty interesting. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it a go and at the same time I want to look nice for a friend's wedding but did not want to spend in the saloon because I don't think it is worth it now with some part of my hair still bleached. Also 'cause dyes don't stay long on bleached hair, so troublesome!

At just RM70.75, this is slightly twice more expensive than Liese's Creamy Bubble Color but still affordable. I chose M5 Light Mahogany (Amazon), my favorite shade of reddish brown!

Only after I have purchased the box did I noticed they do not come with a brush! Apparently, there is a separate Herbatint Kit which consists of a reusable cape, bowl and brush which BMS Organic doesn't distribute.. Off I went searching in every Daiso, Yubiso, Watsons, Guardians before finding one at Aeon Wellness. Who else can't find things especially when you need them?


It does comes with a pair of gloves attached to the back of the instructions.

 I started off with mixing the solutions into the bowl by sliding them off the brush. Initially, I used only half thinking that will be enough but obviously my hair is so long and thick I ended up needing to use the whole bottles. Those with shorter hair will find half enough to cover.

One hour later with the red jell-o dripped all over the floor and all over my hands, neck and forehead, I looked like I was ready for Halloween. No photos cause very uglylah.

The whole painting my own hair process took me about 40-45 minutes to apply the dye making sure I blasted the music to kill boredom. Then just chill reading manga for another approximately 40 minutes before washing it off. By then the dye has harden slightly and my hair felt ridiculously dry I can barely comb through. Took maybe 10 minutes to wash everything off before applying half sachet of shampoo (it's too much!) and the entire sachet of cream (this one not enoughlah). That all at least 2 hours.

I gotta mention bout the cream, which was the game changer! My hair went from course to soft again in seconds after application! Though since creams are only to be applied at the ends, only 2/3 of my hair felt smoother. To fix that, I finished off with massaging my new hair cream, Kosenze Professional's Ocean Miracle Spray from Hair Zone at RM69 all over my crown and my hair felt better again.

I know these days I have been spending a lot for my hair but that is because my hair is one of my biggest annoyance. They're course, unruly and everything! Rather than spending hundreds of ringgit _ which can cost up to RM400 to RM700 or more in a single visit doing one time treatment at saloons, I would rather spend RM300  or way less for products which can last me months!


So here is a pic I took in a rush right before getting into business! You'd notice I have three tones on my hair _ black, my last saloon-dyed mahogany shade and the bleached ends.

Second day after dyeing my hair

By the way, I will keep sharing my after-a-few-week/month photos in this section to update on how the color is holding up after a while. If you are interested to try Herbatint's Permanent HairColor Gel, you can KIV this post for reference. Otherwise, I will try to update on my almost-inactive Facebook Page as well.

{this section for updates}


One week later~ Trying to smile but I'm still awkward with selfie-taking so ignore the awkwardness

6th Dec 2018: Turns out they do sell the Royal Cream for Rm61.30 at BMS Organic! KIV-ing for future when my hair treatment runs out. Shampoo's Rm51.90 if you're wondering.




~♡~

The Pros

You can divide the chemicals to use for two applications!
Contains organic ingredients
Can experiment with mix-and-matching colors (Say what?!)
Not as pungent as saloon's hair dyes or Liese's
Hair dye (or jell-o) slides easily
The Light Mahogany shade actually covers bleached hair
Color is permanent
Comes together with a sachet of shampoo and cream which smells so good. Plus, the cream is oh-so-amazing!

The Cons

Dyeing kit (cape, bowl and brush) except gloves is NOT included and unavailable in BMS Organic
May take some time to get the hang of it
I missed out some strands of hair
Applying the dye by yourself can be a messy affair!
Some hair fall because hair becomes so dry after dyeing
Extra post-treatment required


To summarize these, I can say the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I especially love how the color turned out though I wish they were lighter but I know it is because my original black hair. Maybe the color will tone done after some more washes. Process-wise, it was troublesome and I missed out some section of my hair but still achievable to apply the dye. If you are DIY-inept, just get your fam or girl pals to help!

Dyed my hair myself! A Review of Liese Creamy Bubble color in Antique Rose & Classic Brown

This gotta be the most colorful year for my hair after my abstaining from dyeing my hair for the past years! As you've guessed, I decided to do it myself after the brown pink part of my hair faded into bright, bleached blonde which I didn't quite like. I was opting to go back to the saloon but decided it's a waste of money and that I may not enjoy being disappointed when the color fades even if I don't wash my hair often!

Then I was considering colored shampoo but not getting positive views about using colored shampoo to color the bleached part. Shampoo with dye are meant to bring out your dyed hair and not to color hair so the Internet says. And then it occurred to me, why not try Liese? I've used this years-s-s back (even reviewed about them) and now, they have a selection of new colors so it is quite exciting!

This is the now available selection of Liese Creamy Bubble hair dyes available almost everywhere in Malaysia.

When I bought Liese Creamy Bubbles in Antique Rose, I simply wanted a dark brown color that would totally cover my bleached-color mane hair. I super love the entire selection under "Warm Brown" especially Rose Tea Brown and Black Tea Brown from "Natural Brown". Maybe I'll try rose tea next

I wanted a otona/mature kinda brown without losing the fun, so Antique Rose it is! Which is kinda surprising considering I have been against browns with red/orange/yellow base. They don't look that nice on me and appear... everywhere in the street LOL. Just very common-lah. Partly, I'm feeling adventurous of late, even when it comes to my hair color also must be adventurous.

Back to Liese Creamy Bubble (ShopeeMY | Amazon), if you want to try Liese for the first time, you can't go straight to dyeing your hair _ performing the allergy test is a must, at least 30 minutes to 48 hours prior! I'm lazy so I did a quick test LOL. You also need to have an old tee or towel to keep your shirt spotless, hair clips to section your hair for better result if you rajin, moisturizer on your skin to prevent the dye getting on (I skipped this), music on and a large mirror in from of you. Don't forget to do this in a ventilated room, the smell of the chemical is really strong!

Since I am only dyeing the top of my crown, I made sure to tie the bottom section and just divided the hair to left and right parting before further dividing into three without using hair clips but when applying the color. After I made sure to rub the color in at all sections of the hair only I did add more foam and massage before leaving them for 15 minutes. The instructions mention thirty but I was pretty sure I spent more than 20 minutes only applying on my hair.

Plus, my scalp was feeling itchy which is normal when dyeing your hair since the chemical 'burn' your scalp. When I say 'burn', it really is not as bad as it sound. If it hurts, then it IS a sign to wash off! Happened to me once in a saloon. Once the time's up, I washed the color off and then applied the treatment (this step is essential!).

Speaking of Liese's hair treatment, if Liese is ever going to launch hair treatment, I'm oh-so-o-o going to buy bottles and bottles of them! It smells so sweet and one-time application felt like 1-month's worth of hair treatment. My hair is super crazy soft after using this!

Tips for proper coloring:

1) Rub the color into your hair, just like how stylists at saloon does it. While it may sound unnecessary since the hair dye is foamy, just think of this as a step to get more even colors at all lengths of your hair and 

2) Pay attention to the roots, especially more near your ears or the top of the forehead. Fringes too!

3) Focus on the back of your crown too.

4) Purchase two boxes if you have long, below the shoulder-length hair. While I noticed I have more that enough this round, it's good to have just in case you ran out of the dye.

Let me just get straight into the result!

First, here's the before selfie. I told you it's bad.

After coloring~~

I purposely waited a week before I post this review to check if the color faded and it did fade. The red hint of color was not visible aftre the first week, and by the end of the third week, my hair is back to my bleach color. I really do think this is due to tme bleaching my hair and I'm starting to hate that. On the other hand, my originally brown-from-black hair still have some brown but I don't know which shade is this, it's definitely not in reddish hue. I came to a conclusion this whole Liese hair color  experiment is sort of a failure because there's no way of me telling if the formula do stay if my hair were black.

The Verdict _ for one it is cheap - I got mine for RM24 from Guardian (NP RM40-ish) and application is easy-peasy! Color is close to what is shown in packaging at least for the next few days to a week and unique. I can tell you for sure the color DON'T stay on bleached hair with daily washing using hair color protecting shampoo...

The other good side is the hair treatment provided is amazing! I will want to try the same color again when my bleached hair's grown out.

~♡~

Less than two weeks later the color faded. I really do think bleached hair don't hold colors well. Because I still dislike walking around with my head bleached blond *roll eyes* I went ahead and bought another Liese Creamy Bubble in Classic Brown this time.

I dyed my hair the morning before attending my friend, Nicole's wedding cause I wanna look good vain lol. Only after I washed my hair I noticed instead of brown I got dark gray hair.... Shocking cause I know when it fades I'll get granny hair sigh..

Hair color the first few and second day after dyeing (which is really just past weekend). Thankfully, the color turned out more brownish than gray pheww

Day 1

Day 2

This is the hair color a week later (last weekend).

IMO darker shade held on longer albeit still fading... At this point I simply can't wait for the bleached part of my hair to grow out.