Get Rid of Red!

All products were purchased by me at Sallys Beauty Supply for under $30.

As you guys have seen from my previous posts, I opted to do an "ombre" hairstyle to change things up. Unfortunately, with my hair constantly turning brassy golds and reds, I ended up not really liking it on myself and knew the up-keep would be costly and high maintenance. So my only option was to reluctantly go back to being a brunette. As easy as that sounds, I knew I'd face the dilemma of having red tints to my hair, so I did some product research to find a way to avoid having that issue.

If some of you guys are new to hair or do not know much about the coloring process I'll explain it as simply as I can. Hair color is chosen off "base" colors. Base colors are used to neutralize other colors. Violet, blue, and green bases are used to get rid of orange, yellow, and red tones because they are opposite on the color spectrum. If you ever go into the bathroom of a platinum blonde, you'll probably see a purple shampoo in there too. The purple "toner" in the shampoo helps keep their hair free of golden/orange colors. When choosing to alter your hair color at home, it's crucial to pick a dye with the right base.

Another thing with at-home hair alterations is the health and porousness of your hair. I stripped color away with the bottom half of my hair so the texture, health, and color was different. Choosing to dye my hair back one solid color means I need to make sure the dye is evenly processed and distributed. To help this process, I purchased a neutral protein filler. Protein fillers help bond damaged hair so the dye can evenly process so you'll have one solid color. To use this item, apply the protein filler to your hair and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Do not rinse your hair, just continue to proceed with dying.

The two dyes I purchased and mixed (which is okay to do with the right bases) were Clairol Professional Second Nature in 2V Dark Ash Brown and 2N Dark Neutral Brown.

For those who specifically want to know how to get rid of red/brassy tones, the last item was a cheap little trick. It's called Ardell Unred and Ardell 777 Perfector. They were small, one time use packets that you can add into your hair dye to help prevent red tones and fading after coloring process.

So what were my results? A beautiful, dark, rich, natural brunette! And a happy one too! The color was even, the red/brassy colors I had before were very neutralized. Overall, I'd would recommend this process to anyone looking to do an at-home coloring session and making sure you get the results you want.

My hair color before.

My hair color after!

I hope this post helps anyone who's having issues with their hair like I was having with mine. Also, do you guys have any hair tips and tricks or products you swear by? I'd love to know about them.

-Alexandra

The Lately

Hello all. I've been pretty busy since last Thursday. My husband and I finally got a couch. That may not be exciting to most, but to us, we're stoked! It's so nice having a comfy couch to crash on. It makes it feel much more like home. We also FINALLY got a dining table. Honestly, I never thought making your own "home" would be difficult, but it actually is. There are SO many little things that go into having a home along with bigger, more pricier items that take more investment to purchase.

Aside from our "nesting" adventures, we also were invited to volunteer at a concert for a band called Sugarland. Has anyone heard of them? Eric and I had no clue who they were until the night before when we googled them. Even though they weren't our favorite genre of music, the event was still fun. The crowd we were serving were true "southern" cowboys. Everyone dressed up with their cowboy boots and hats. The women were all in dresses and heels. It was very different compared to a concert in California. All fun, none the less. I wasn't able to take pictures because it got so busy but I managed to snag one photo before the concert began.

We were also invited to a morning picnic with Erics division (I think it was his division, the military is confusing). We were able to bring our dogs and let them run around which was nice.

I tried to wear something cute and it was successful, but once again, the weather beat me. It got way too hot to wear the knitted sweater so I took it off and ended up with your average tank top and shorts for the day. Also, you can see my hair has become pretty brassy and orange. No bueno!

After the picnic, Eric, two of his shipmates, and I went off to get some lunch. We ended up at Checkers which we've never had before but were told "you MUST try the fries". They don't have Checkers on the West Coast, so we did as we were told. Sure enough, the fries were REALLY yummy.

Tip Toe Pink!

I'm the kind of girl who usually keeps it simple with her nail colors. I'm either dark black or a light baby pink. Unfortunately, I have a hard time finding that PERFECT shade of pink. It's either too light or it's too "hot" pinkish. Luckily, as I was roaming the make-up isle of Target, I spotted at the VERY bottom of a shelf the perfect shade of pink! The best part of this find was it was under $4. 

As you can see, I already had a manicure, so what a better place to paint "Tip Toe Pink" than on the tips of my toes! I love this color, it's the perfect shade. I'm excited to do my actual finger nails, but I want to keep my french manicure for a little while longer.

Aside from a good nail find, I spent my yesterday taking a mental vacation. Right now, the trend seems to be layering. But out here in Georgia, it's VERY hard to want to layer more than a tank top and shorts. It's so hot and humid all the time. I happened to have a very breezy, baggy top and crocheted vest that I bought from Forever 21 a while ago. Plus the new shorts I got from American Eagle Outfitters, which I LOVE. The outfit ended up working perfectly. I'm still iffy on my hair though. The lightness just doesn't suit me.

What do you think? What hair colors best suit you?

Today, I'm going on a quest to send out some resumes for a job. The transition from moving across country is hard. You don't have any friends or family here so it's easy to feel isolated and alone. Getting a job would be the perfect thing to help get me out of my funk before school starts. Fingers crossed and wish me luck!

-Alexandra

Ombre Hair Oops?

When I was in highschool, I was ALL about changing my hair. It didn't matter if I ended up frying it either; If I liked it, I did it. After a while, I started to realize a few things. 1) I can't afford to keep mutilating my hair each month and 2) I really wanted long Kim Kardashian hair. So, I managed to stop all urges for a VERY long time and got my long luscious locks. Up until recently, I was content with my dark brown hair. Then I started getting that craving to change things up again. Of course it wasn't going to be "normal" either.

Ombre hair caught my eye. To me, it was very summery, subtle but still enough to alter my look. Perfect for what I was seeking after rehabbing myself for so many years. I researched and watched many youtube tutorials to prep myself. I didn't waste time. Straight to Sallys Beauty I went for some lightener and toner. I did my magic and voila! A simple lightening session on the tips of my hair would come out easy and perfect right? These were my results:

Overall, I DID change my hair up. But, to be honest, I immediately started missing my dark hair again. Not only did I miss the dark color, I miss the health of it too! The lightening of course, dried out my hair immensely  So I guess it's back to hair re-hab. Although I wish I could pull this off with confidence, I'm just a sucker for dark exotic hair. 

The "About Me" Post

I assumed, as most other bloggers would, to make my very first post ALL about me. The short description on the side only allows so much and I'm sure as I continue to write and post on here, you'll learn even more. But for right now, here is the basis of my being. My name is Alexandra. I'm 20 years old and recently moved across country from California to Georgia with my husband for the military. We both have NO family here so it's been a very stressful adjustment, to say the very least. As hard of time as it's been, I'm trying very hard to remain hopeful that I'll finally get some "roots" here, as my husband likes to say to me. I'm aiming to get a degree in international communications at the local university.

I'm a California girl, born and raised. I have a best friend who also happens to be my husband, my rock, and my favorite person in the world. I have two dogs named Nahzee and Syrus. Both persian names. One is a papillon/dachshund mix. The other is a husky/border collie mix. Both of them were adopted from shelters!

My husband, Eric, and Nahzee at the beach.

Syrus, our new husky puppy.

I have a tendency to crave change in my life whether it be my hair, my music, my arrangement of furniture, or even my perfume. I always need to change these things! I love being barefoot and I love the heat. Good thing I'm in Georgia, right? It's usually 90+ degrees here. I've traveled to England and France once and I fell in love and really would love to do more traveling. My first choice would be Greece, because that's where a lot of my family's heritage comes from. I love and miss my parents, they were also my two best friends. The umbilical cord was never truly cut until I had to move to Georgia. I enjoy finding sweet deals on EVERYTHING. I'm a bargain hunter, especially for makeup! I have a Nikon D70 which I try to take with me as often as possible. Now that I have this blog, I'll be sure to get more creative with it. Lastly, I decided to start this blog as a new form of creativity. I've actually been a fan of a few well known bloggers on here for a while now; Miss. Natty's Beauty Diary and Mariannan. 

I've always loved reading their photo updates , tutorials, and information on products. Now that I've moved across country, I figured it'd be a good way to start getting creative again and pushing myself to explore this area that will hopefully start feeling like home.

I hope you enjoyed this introductory post. There will be many more to come.

-Alexandra