Friday Flop: How To Not Highlight Your Hair

Last week I happened to be at CVS browsing through the hair color when noticed certain colors of the L’Oreal Paris Couleur Experte Express were on sale half off their regular $14.99 price! (You can also find it regularly as low as $11.99 on Amazon.com.)

Not being one to pass up a good deal I took a look at the colors and was thrilled to find Chocolate Macaroon (medium golden brown) included in the sale.  Purchased it and took it right home.   Normally I just do a straight all over color, but I was feeling adventurous.  Highlights?  Why the hell not.

I was not prepared for what I would find inside the box… or just how freaking long the process would take.

See that?  That would be two sets of hair color.  While what laid ahead was not a complete Precision Foam Colour disaster, it was still pretty terrible.  First you had to open the larger box on the right of the above photo, mix, apply and leave on for 25-35 minutes.  I always do the max, just for good measure.  It all went on OK and 35 minutes later I was washing it out of my hair and conditioning (not included in the package).  Then it was time to blow dry.

So far I was liking the color and the results.  It was going to be more time consuming then I bargained for, but after drying and styling my hair (without product) I was ready to move to the next step.  I opened up the remaining box for the ‘harmonizing highlight’.  What a pain in the ass.  Mix a creme with a packet full of fine powder with a tiny spatula for 2 minutes till smooth.   Then you apply the mixture with the included wand (think the same kind you use for mascara, just a bit larger) or the Easy Glide Highlighter tool (looks like a tiny flat iron with sponges on the inside that you don’t plug in).

I actually used both.  The Easy Glide for larger chunks of highlights and the wand for some smaller ones.  The instructions said 10-15 minutes for subtle highlights and 15-25 for more visible.  I have to say I went about 20 minutes before I washed it out.

So yeah.   There I was washing my hair for a second time.  Followed by a 2 minute conditioner they included this time.  Rinse again, blow dry again… and voila.

Nothing.

Well, not nothing.  But let me tell you girls, you can barely see anything at all.  There is one faint off color streak that I can actually hide under the rest of my hair… and nothing else came out at all.  It is all one color.  No highlights.  All that work…and it didn’t work.  My husband actually joked that I spent all night coloring my hair.  But it was sort of true.

Not a fan.  Not a fan at all.  Too much work and the results…just are not worth it.  From now on I will stick to the all over color by itself.  Don’t waste your time with this ladies.

About The Author:  Liza lives in New England with her 4 favorite boys; her husband and 3 children. She started blogging in 2007, finally getting serious about her passion for writing in 2010. Always the athlete when she was younger, she did not find her inner girlie girl until college. After having 3 boys in under 2 years, she is trying to reconnect with her inner girlie girl (in a house where the toliet seat is always up), while staying on a budget.

Featured Photo Credit

Fall Fashion Color Report from NYFW

We already know that the 2011 color of the year is Honeysuckle (Pantone 18-2120 for all you color lovers out there), but what are you supposed to pair it with? What on earth complements Honeysuckle?

Have no fear, the fall fashion color report is here straight from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week! Each season Pantone sends it’s color experts to fashion week to scope out the hottest colors from the runway and identify which are going to be the next wardrobe standouts.

Here they are in all their glory; the hip ‘n happening colors for fall 2011: Bamboo, Emberglow, Honeysuckle, Phlox, Cedar, Deep Teal, Coffee Liqueur, Nougat, Orchid Hush and Quarry.

I am loving the mix of natural sepia tones and deep peacock hues. I think they lend themselves wonderfully to layering and the texture potential is endless!

And what kind of clothes horse would I be if I wasn’t already scoping out where to get my hot little hands on these newest colors? Not a very stylish one, that’s fo’ sho’. So, here are a few of my favorites from this newest color pallet. I won’t be waiting until fall to bust them out of my closet.

(Find product details in the Polyvore set, Fall Fashion Color Report.)

(Find product details in the Polyvore set, Fall Fashion Color Report.)

Featured image courtesy of Pantone.

The Perfect Shade of Red

I have been hunting for red lipstick since I attended a Halloween party last year and realized I did not have any lipstick to wear with my Like A Virgin Era Madonna costume.   I never fantasized about wearing red lipstick every day, but it seemed to me that every fashionable woman should have a tube of red lipstick in her arsenal for emergencies.

Emergencies that may or may not include fingerless gloves.

I saw a picture of Drew Barrymore on the cover of a magazine once in a perfect shade of red and I became obsessed with finding what she was wearing.  Drew and I have similar coloring and her red lipstick looked grown-up but not trampy.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t discover the shade or even brand used in her cover photo, but I did make a mental note that the shade seemed to be a bluish red.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago and an ironically timed visit to the MAC cosmetic counter in the mall.  I was about 4 weeks into a self imposed shopping ban and nothing behind this counter was on my “must-have-to-survive list”.  But I had a few minutes to spare and an evening networking event to attend, so I figured I’d touch up my makeup for free.

I started playing with the different shades of red lipstick, and after several minutes I found myself digging into my discretionary spending fund envelope, officially breaking my no-shopping streak.  $14 later and I was the proud owner of one little black tube of Russian Red A40 by MAC.

MAC Russian Red lipstick in matte may just be the world’s most perfect shade of red.  The MAC website describes the color as “intense bluish-red”.  It’s bad ass and bold but doesn’t bring out the pink tones in my face or make me look goth or dead.  I also like that it’s remarkably versatile for red lipstick.  I’ve found that I prefer it with a dark lip liner underneath that deepens the shade a bit.

In addition to the color, the lipstick itself is fantastic.  It goes on smooth and lasts for hours without flaking or drying out my lips.  I know this because I was absolutely paranoid about the color fading or flaking or getting on my teeth, so I carried the little black tube of perfect with me all day and looked in the mirror constantly.

Here I am about 5 hours after my initial application:

I reapplied after lunch, but I’d be a little nervous about something that stayed on my skin through a full meal.

If you’ve ever considered a walk on the bold side or have yet to check “learn how to wear red lipstick” off your bucket list, try Russian Red lipstick by MAC.

To purchase Russian Red lipstick, your best bet is a local cosmetics counter or (if you’re really lucky) a MAC store.  Online, the MAC website is your most reliable source for this shade.  You’ll pay about $20 after shipping and handling.  Worth it.

The Perfect Nail Polish If You Can’t Pull Off Black

I have a new favorite nail polish:

OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark

It’s almost black, but not quite.  It’s a very, very, very deep purple and I absolutely love the way it looks on my toes.  It makes me feel like I’m pulling off something a little edgier than my normal red (which is OPI I’m Not Really A Waitress Red thanks to Becky) or pink (which is rare and only worn if I’m wearing pink or let my daughter pick out my polish.)  But it’s not actually black because actual black looks a little too “I cover my walls with my own poetry because my life is so hard.”

Some women can wear an actual black and look sexy.  I am not one of those women.  But Lincoln Park After Dark is, I daresay, sexy on me.

Of course, as luck would have it, my favorite new nail polish is damn near impossible to find.  Locally, I’ve only been able to purchase it at nail salons, including an open bottle I paid $8 for because it was the only way I could get my hands on it.  (My husband bought a sealed bottle the same day, unbeknownst to me, from another nail salon.)  Online, this particular color isn’t available at any of my usual haunts.  The only place I’ve been able to find it is Amazon – for about the same price once you throw in shipping.

Click here to buy Lincoln Park After Dark on Amazon.

PRO TIP: while searching for a bottle in my local mall, I came across Lincoln Park After Dark in matte.  This is not the same thing and I would not recommend this ever unless – well, no.  Ever.  Ew.