Ipsy Glam Bag - July 2017

Today's post is about the Ipsy bag I got for July 2017. I know...I'm super late with this, I'm a busy woman ok? I actually got the August bag yesterday, so I hope to have that up soon. The products I received in my bag for July where TreStiQue mini concealer, 2 masks from TONYMOLY (I'm not sure I wrote that right), Ciate London Gel-Khol Hybrid liner, Hempz Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm, and the Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer. I haven't tested out the masks yet cause of something that happened to my face which I'm not sure you guys even want to know about...cause it was disgusting and disturbing...but uhh..don't pop your pimples ok? They can get a nasty staph infection...let's leave it a that. But I did try the other products as soon as they arrived and I have pics and my thoughts below!

The bag

While this was one of the nicest bags I've gotten, in terms of construction and feel of the material, I am not a fan. I didn't find it cute. I know I'm in the minority, oh well.

TreStiQue Mini Concealer

I got the TreStiQue mini concealer in Bisque and I actually liked it a lot. It did cover up my awful purply undereyes (thanks genetics and allergies!). It didn't look like super amazing but the result was natural looking and I actually resembled someone who is nicely rested and healthy instead of the chronic health mess I am sometimes.

Ciate London Wonderwand Gel-Khol Hybrid Liner

In regards to the Ciate London Wonderwand Gel-Khol Liner in black I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's a great product and I loved the brush at the opposite end. The formula applied nice and creamy, and the brush really helped to get that small perfect little kitty-eye wing style that I like. However, it wasn't black enough! It looked grayish, almost a green-gray on my skintone. I need a deep inky black!

Hempz Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm

I loved this product! It was amazing. I know it can be hard to tell in the before and after pics above but trust me, my lips felt so much better and smoother. It has a nice citrusy taste as well. I will definitely be back for more of this.

Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer

I love the Tart eyeshadow palette I own (Tartiest Pro or something like that, yeah I know..shame on me, bad blogger.). But I was a bit disappointed with this. Maybe the color just doesn't work for my skin tone? It's too reddish I think.

It looks great outdoors and using my phone's selfie camera but indoors my whole face looked like super crazy orange tan. I applied it like they did in the little video in the Ipsy website, contour, temples, jawline. I think it's just too much for someone who's already tanned. I've been using it sparingly, like blush, when I just want a simple makeup look, and it looks a bit better that way. I'm just not convinced about the color.

So that's it for the June Ipsy Glam Bag! Let me know what you thought? If you subscribe to Ipsy, did you love the products you got? Hated them? Leave a comment below!

Bleach Wash - How To - Safely Lighten Dark Hair at Home

So...you have naturally dark hair and you want to wear fantasy hair colors like blue or purple but you don't want to ruin your hair in the process? I'm here to help. First up, big disclaimer, I am not a hair stylist or cosmetologist or have any type of professional training in regards to hair color and hair care. I am simply a stay at home mom with an art degree who loves to color her hair in bright and bold crazy colors. I've been doing this for years (with a few breaks in between) and I ruined my hair about 10 years ago when I over did it with the chemical processes so I'm here to help you not do that.

This is an older pic of me with my natural hair color back in 2015. As you can see I have very dark brown, almost black hair. I wouldn't call it fully black because it tends to have lighter reddish gold highlights in the areas where the sun hits it and it doesn't look jet black in the sunlight.

When I originally dyed my hair it was supposed to be purple and teal but I didn't lighten my natural color enough for the purple to show up. It faded really fast and just looked like a burnt red, which is why I just kept the teal instead. I did a little research and came to the conclusion I would have to be as pale yellow blonde as I could be in order for purple to show up vibrantly. But how to bleach it again without damaging my hair? At this point, I had already bleached it a few times in order to maintain the teal blue. (Check out my Overtone or Arctic Fox reviews to see what that looked like.)

Bleach wash to the rescue! What's a bleach wash? Well, it's quite simple. It's a method of diluting the bleach mixture with clarifying shampoo so it's less harsh. I use a 2:2:1 ratio. 2 parts developer and shampoo to 1 part bleach powder. Mix it up and apply. Wash off in about 30 minutes.  Previously I used a 40 volume developer, but since I didn't want to ruin my hair this time I went with the milder 20 volume and bleached my hair over the course of a week.

1st pic is what my hair looked liked after a few weeks of using a clarifying shampoo to strip as much dye as I could from my hair. This is why I had switched to using Arctic Fox Hair Color (you can read about that here). 2nd pic is the result after about 30 minutes. I then spent a few days deep conditioning my hair. The purple you see in the pic is a strand test which confirmed that I would need to bleach it further.

About 4 days after the 1st wash, I repeated the process. And ta da! Super pale blonde perfect for any type of fantasy hair color I wanted. If I had wanted to stay blonde, I would have had to follow with a toner or permanent blonde hair color to neutralize the blue and purple from the test as well as the slightly brassy tone still left in my roots. But, as it was, it was the perfect base for my next purple and blue unicorn hair color and my hair was still soft and healthy. Do keep in mind that you have to deep condition your hair in between the bleach washes, otherwise your hair will be dried out and more prone to breakage. Next time, I'll show you how I did the hair color in my profile pic (purple/blue).