Go Blonder With John Frieda

 

If you asked 100 people what they thought of the John Frieda Go Blonder range you'd get some very mixed reviews. I've heard awful things about peoples hair turning orange, breaking off and even.. falling out! These issues I believe are predominantly down to user error. I know that's a little controversial because there are a huge amount of people out there claiming that this range ruined their hair through no fault of their own but barring actual allergic reactions (eg. Fleur De Force - see her video review here) I think the majority just don't understand what they're putting on their hair!

I wanted to talk about this prior to my review because of the sheer volume of bad experiences there have been. There will be some who skim read this post or just look at the pictures and go straight to comment "don't use this, it will wreck your hair!!!" but I thought if I started with the cons perhaps they'd catch a few lines of text too. 

First of all the shampoo and conditioner contain no peroxide, they claim to lighten naturally with citrus and camomile and while I was skeptical lemon is a bleaching agent so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The way I use it is.. I wash my hair and leave the shampoo in for 5 to 10 minutes while I'm in the bath I then rinse and apply the conditioner. I cover my hair in a towel or a shower cap and leave the conditioner on for as long as I can, that could be hours but I haven't attempted overnight yet. When I wash it out and dry my hair it is soft, shiny and visibly lighter. People have complained of dryness and I'm not sure why, I don't know if its the amount of time I'm leaving the conditioner on that is combating this but my hair is not 100% healthy and I've had no problems whatsoever.

We'll break for some photos then get in to the spray...

My 'before' hair

 These shots were after using the shampoo and conditioner once

This is after 2 weeks of use and two applications of the lightening spray.

Now the controlled lightening spray is a totally different animal and this is where I believe people are going wrong. This product does contain peroxide and no matter how diluted or how gentle the formula you are effectively still bleaching your hair every time you use it. I would imagine many will use this along side the shampoo and conditioner as their regular hair routine and that regular use is going cause damage. We are so used to spritzing ourselves with all kinds of product that if it comes in a bottle we don't really think about how much or how often we're using it. I believe most are using this as liberally as we would a styling spray or worse still.. in the place of a heat protectant before blow drying. We wouldn't dream of bleaching our hair once a fortnight let alone several times a week and yet this is how this product is being used and that's why everyone's hair is falling out! One girl commented on my video that she was appalled to still be waiting for it to fade out months later.. that was when the penny dropped.. people have no idea what they're buying. I'm not blaming John Frieda at all and it would seem they've taken steps to clarify adding a new label to the the box stating in bold "this product contains peroxide' but it's not their fault.. it is in my opinion the fault of the retailer. This product should be sold in the hair colour aisle alongside it's dated equivalent, 'Sun In' and all the other at home bleaching products. If you saw it there you would treat it appropriately!

That being said I would have thought regardless of where you bought it it was pretty obvious this is a permanent lightening spray and not for regular use. I have used it twice and don't intend to use it again for at least another month, It's taken me too long to get my hair to the condition and length that it is to ruin it now. The comments that were common on the video where I hauled these products were "It will make your hair so orange" - it hasn't, "Your hair will be so dry" - it isn't and the most popular had to be "Don't use this!!". I wanted to put my views out in the blogosphere to counteract some of the negativity surrounding John Frieda's Go Blonder range. No it's not going to be for everyone and if you're worried.. just don't risk it but if you're already considering home bleaching or highlights It's going to be gentler than that so I'd say, why not? 

My personal experience has been positive, the shampoo and conditioner alone have been very effective and left my hair feeling no different to normal. The controlled lightening spray did leave it feeling a little dry but after a deep condition it was back to it's healthy(ish) self. I wouldn't recommend you use these products every day, it's common sense to alternate with something that's a little more nourishing when you're using colour products of any kind but I will continue to use them on and off to give my blonde a boost. My highlights have lifted considerably and because I'm not too light I could potentially put off a professional touch up for several months as my roots are also blending well. Overall I'm really happy that I tried this. Reviews of skin and hair care always have to be taken with a pinch of salt and a lot of the time it's impossible to know what will work for you until you try it for yourself!

You can purchase the range here with prices starting at £5.99

One last note, to give you a more well rounded idea of how this works for other people you can check out the review page at MakeupAlley here where the feelings are as previously mentioned.. mixed!

Miss BB

Philip Kingsley - Elastic Fantastic?

I was so excited to receive the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer in my November Glossybox. There was a lot of buzz about this wonder treatment at the time and judging by the reviews it seemed to be a firm blogger favourite. My hair is damaged and dry and very much in need of a cut.. let me take you back to February of this year.. this was my hair...

It was dry, needed a trim, I'd cut myself a terrible fringe and I was searching for super conditioning hair-growing potion to make it long and lustrous...

Then in a moment of madness (of which I've had many) I decided I wanted to be platinum blonde)

I didn't quit achieve platinum but to get to this stage (in 24 hours I might add) I used ALL of the below...

For the first time in my many years of f**king about with my hair something I thought would never happen..did. As I was washing out the final dye my hair started coming awake on my hands. It had turned to chewing gum. It's one of those things you never think will happen to you.. you hear about it happening to other people but think it's totally fine to bleach your hair 4 times in a night and then continue to dye and tone it and it will be healthy as ever. Not so. I had a hair appointment booked, I knew I was going to need a trim at the end of my colouring adventure but I had no idea how big a trim. I couldn't face the hair dressers so I ended up chopping it myself. It turned out okay but quickly lost it's shine and went brassy so I was forced to return to the dark side. I was then left with this...

A super unflattering cut in a very similar shade to what I'd been prior to bleaching only now my hair was so damaged I thought it would never grow. Luckily I'd just found out I was pregnant. Pregnancy was very good for my hair. It grew fast and I didn't touch the bleach again until the day before I went in to hospital to have my son.. And then I enlisted professional help and only had highlights.

I'm still yet to take the plunge and get it cut though and those ends have really had it at this point. I was over the moon when I heard this Elasticizer stuff could leave me with virgin-like hair again. People were saying they had white blonde uber-dead hair and it brought it back. Why then did this amazing tube of miracle pomade do NOTHING for ME? I am both disappointed and perplexed. My hair is bad but surely not the worst. I have just invested in a whole host of healthy hair related goodies (which I'll post on later) I have enough makeup and right now my hair needs some special attention so you can expect more hair product reviews in the next few weeks. I was so hoping to love this Philip Kingsley treatment and was fully prepared to go out and buy a full sized full (£££) priced tub but it it left my hair feeling no better than before. For those totally out of the loop it's a pre-shampoo treatment that you leave on for 30 mins (I left it at least an hour) before washing and conditioning as normal. 

If you love this stuff please feel free to comment as I think that as with skin care what works for one doesn't work for all but I do think with something as pricey as this you want to try a sample first because it's not a guaranteed-to-work product!

God Bless Glossybox for giving me a sample because this is just the kind of "miracle product" I would have bought in desperation to avoid the hairdresser for just another month.

You can buy Philip Kingsley Elasticizer here for £25.50

You can also get a sample sachet here for just £3.50

Miss BB

24hrs in BLEACH

Here is the video I made whilst dying my hair...

...And my big "reveal" video...

Ok so it's fairly safe to say I've ruined my hair :/

Why I do it I don't know but I think this time I've learnt my lesson.

Over the past few days I've used colourb4 taking my dark brown/black hair to a lovely auburn red shade... not for me, I dyed it a "light brown" which proved to be darker than it had been BEFORE the colourb4 so ... back to square one. Then I decided to bleach my hair... then again... then I dyed it a dark blonde because it wasn't lifting and I had yellow roots and ginger lengths... this dye evened it all out pretty well but by day it looked pretty terrible on me so something had to be done. I of course (less than 24 hours later) bleached my hair TWICE more and then toned it... by this time the bottom 3 inches were like chewing gum and impossible to comb/brush, but my hair was still very yellow/orange/uneven from the bleach... so what did I do?

Dye it of course! So for the final time I used a medium ash blonde and it seemed to eradicate most of the yellow tones and leave me with a pale gold blonde... rather flattering and I can live with it ... GOOD NEWS! 

Of course my hair was trashed, I mentioned before that I had a hair appt and I intended to have a long bob cut but in all honesty I couldn't face a hairdressers judgement so... I cut it myself (with a little help in the back from Lee) ... I must be absolutely CRAZY! 

I actually really love the cut and the colour is nice, I will probably use a toner again to lift the remaining yellow tones but otherwise I think I'm done, my hair needs a serious rest. The last time I did anything remotely as reckless I had to have a pixie cut (I cannot pull that look off) so I was off my head to do this but I am what they call a beauty addict... this is my addiction...

I have joined a program and put down the bottled blonde

Hopefully my mistakes will help someone else and my hair isn't beyond repair.. oh and my journey has made for good TV lol..

Either way, it's done now, I'm off to have fun... I've heard that's what blondes do :P