On The Naughty Step: L'Oreal Sublime Mousse

My hair is not naturally this dark browny-black shade, it's mousey brown. So every month or two, I need to top up my roots. I usually use Schwarzkopf Live Colour XXL in Bittersweet Chocolate, but after seeing this mousse dye on offer, I decided to take a punt on something a bit firmer that I'm less likely to slosh all over the bathroom and/or myself. 

I bought the pure darkest brown shade and got started. You pour some liquid into another bottle of liquid and attach the mousse pump. You then roll the bottle to mix it up. Shaking is strictly forbidden! 

APPLICATION

Despite my best rolling efforts, the mousse was still a bit liquid for my liking... On a plus side, it was definitely less messy than the usual squeezy nozzle bottles. Back to the negative side now, as this dye ITCHED like WOAH. Proper burning. And you had to leave it for 30 mins, which is quite a while compared to many dyes. 

REMOVAL

When I could finally remove the dye, I was excited to try the 'conditioning balm' it came with. I rinsed out the dye and started applying it when I realised my hair resembled straw. It felt completely dry and ravaged. The conditioner didn't improve this much at all and it was a struggle to get a brush through it afterwards. Optimistic to the point of foolishness, I saw my new bone-dry hair as a nifty way to skip washing it for a few days extra as it won't get greasy so easily... 

RESULTS

It took a couple of days for me to notice but my roots were actually not at all dark enough. Fair enough the Live Colour dye I'm used to does come out very dark, but I don't expect my roots to look gingery blonde in natural light... You can see what I mean ever so slightly in this photo I took the other day: 

I just didn't expect to still have light roots straight after dyeing! Playing devils advocate, my hair IS pretty much black so maybe I should've opted for the black shade, but the fact is it doesn't match the colour on the box due to the gingery tones in the dye. And a bit of research has shown me that a lot of people have had similar issues with this dye. Exhibit A and B. 

VERDICT

This product left my hair overly dry and underly dyed!  AVOID. It may be L'Oreal but it's not worth it.

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Have any of you tried this dye? On the subject of dye-sasters, are there any other brands you'd put on the naughty step? Do share, so we can avoid quite literally chucking our money down the drain! 

<3

On the Naughty Step: Blistex Relief Cream

Let me start off by saying that this stuff is actually one of my miracle products. It is the only lip product I've had that actually treats chapped lips without just glossing over the problem. (Don't excuse the pun, it was a bloody good one!)

My only problem is with the awful packaging! 

Those that own this will know what I mean, but for those that don't: 

- It comes in a flexible metal tube, which if accidentally squished in your bag, will erupt without warning when you next open it. 

- Due to the free-flowing nature of this product, the nozzle of the tube is constantly all gooey and yuck.

- Another pet peeve is that you have to use your finger to apply it, unlike a chapstick, so you end up with a gooey mitt too... (I'm easily annoyed.)

(Goo)

Blistex have recently extended their range to include these exciting looking glosses, massagers and balms. All in different variations of practical, sturdy, plastic packaging. 

So why not their Relief Cream? It is surely one of their best sellers. And I think it would sell more if we were spared the dread of unscrewing the scummy lid to be greeted with a potential explosion of product! Maybe it's all a ploy to make it run out faster so we have to buy more... Hmm! 

Please, Blistex. I love you, but hurry up and make like your American counterpart and get rid of this nerve-wracking, messy and wasteful packaging!

What are your thoughts on this? 

x

On The Naughty Step: Veet High Precision Facial Wax

Evening all!

Wilkommen to the first instalment of my new feature, On The Naughty Step, where I'll tell you the products/services I have used that are a waste of time and money.

First in the firing line is Veet High Precision Facial Wax for sensitive skin. I have quite prominent, unruly eyebrows and unfortunately I hate plucking (My pain threshold is -657). I bought some other Veet Wax Strips on offer once and got into a habit of snipping off tiny strips and doing my eyebrows that way, which actually works very well but it is a bit time consuming, so I was hoping to find an easier way.

Enter High Precision Facial Wax! It consists of a little tube of wax and an applicator stick. The directions instruct you to put the wax into a mug of hot tap water for 1 minute, and then use the stick to apply a thin layer of wax to the face. It sounded weirdly fun and you know I like a good DIY, so when I saw it as part of a buy-1-get-1-half-price offer in Boots (usually £8.16), I snapped it up.



Image: Boots

When I got home, I tried it out. I used the stick to apply a thin layer of wax to the brow region and pulled the wax strip against the direction of hair growth. Unfortunately the wax strip didn't whip off like they're supposed to, it was more like unpeeling a gooey sticker! It only removed one or two hairs and left behind a bunch of sticky wax on my skin.

I tried a few more times but gave up, returning to my tried and trusted wax-strip-snipping method. It just didn't work at all. I followed the instructions to the letter, so why didn't it work? Was my tap water not hot enough? Was it too hot? Maybe my slugtastic brows were too much for this sensitive formula? So many questions. Maybe there's a knack to using this product, but my eyebrow was red by the time I'd given up trying and I couldn't be arsed to try different techniques and make the product work for me. It should just work.

I am really surprised at just how crap this product is. Veet are a huge brand, and it's hard to believe they would release a product like this. I'm not the only one that feels this way, either. Its reviews on Boots and Amazon are less than impressive.

I didn't try it elsewhere on my face, as I don't really suffer with facial hair, so I'm not sure how the wax performs there! But for eyebrow use, consider this product well and truly On The Naughty Step!

Have you tried this product? Did it work for you? Any products you've tried lately that have been an epic fail?

♥