Ask a Beauty Blogger: The Truth About Salon vs At Home Hair Dye

This is something I've wonder about as well. How do the dyes used in salons compare to what you use at home? It seems as if a new at home color is released every few months, one would think that the products of 2013 are better than even 5 or 10 years ago. But, when putting heavy duty chemicals on the hair, there's definitely a lot of ways to mess it up!

I decided to ask someone trained in this, my hair stylist from California, the woman I miss dearly (my hair stylist here in Michigan is good, but she just isn't Shannon), and if I could afford it I would really, truly fly to California every 6 weeks to see Shannon. She is that nice of a person and that good. Shannon Ely works at Salon TM2 in Irvine, if you go and see her tell her I say hi! While Shannon isn't specifically a colorist (she does other stuff too), she does good color, one of the reasons I love her so much!

Here's what Shannon had to say:

The over the counter hair color has come a long way and if you are truly using it as directed it shouldn't be causing the problems your stylist is saying it does. However, if your hair is damaged, breaking, splitting, and not shiny then there is clearly something wrong.

What I tell my clients that insist on coloring themselves is to choose one shade and stick with it. Changing the color leads to unattractive "banding". Also, try to stay within 2 or 3 levels of your natural color. Anything more and you're likely to get into some trouble. I never recommend bleaching on your own. Please know, we stylists pay a lot of money and invest even more time in learning how these chemicals will effect your hair. I like to believe I know more than a box.

Do you have a question? Make sure you ask it! I'll address questions in my Ask a Beauty Blogger post series.

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Ask a Beauty Blogger: I'm Pregnant, Can I Cut My Hair?

Nothing to Disclose

I've been receiving a huge number of questions about hair care while pregnant. I get them in my inbox, over twitter, in blog post comments... This is the only one that was actually submitted to the Ask a Beauty Blogger question form, but I thought it was a good time to address this question and a few other pregnancy hair care questions (note that I'm not even going to try to answer that hair dye and pregnancy question that is always so controversial. I leave that up to you, your OB and your hair stylist).

First, to answer Sushmita's actual question, I pulled in the big guns. Meaning, my hair stylist from California, the woman I miss dearly (my hair stylist here in Michigan is good, but she just isn't Shannon), and if I could afford it I would really, truly fly to California every 6 weeks to see Shannon. She is that nice of a person and that good. Shannon Ely works at Salon TM2 in Irvine, if you go and see her tell her I say hi!

Here's what Shannon had to say to Sushmita:

Of course you may cut and trim your hair throughout your entire pregnancy. I, personally, tell my pregnant clients that I won't do any drastic changes to their cuts at this time however because hormones make them want to change their look and then they typically are regretful. Soo... Wait for your hormones to get back to normal before you decide to try that pixie cut you've always wanted.

This is soooo true. I can't even tell you how many of my friends have chopped (and I mean chopped) and all of them regretted it. Everyone blamed it on hormones run amok.

What we haven't mentioned yet is that one of the reasons so many women want to cut their hair is that pregnancy hormones mess with your hair's normal growth cycle. (Read more about hair growth cycles in my Laser Hair Removal at Home post). Basically, everything gets stuck in Anagen (growth) phase without entering the Catagen/Involution phase. So, instead of losing the normal average of 100 hairs a day, things just... stick around.

Many pregnant women love this, they have very full hair with tons of volume. If you're like me, and you started with very thick hair, the increase in volume can make your hair much harder to style. I normally get my hair "thinned" (meaning my stylist will trim some out much higher to bring down the volume), and it was really hard to not increase the amount of thinning. It is best to continue what you normally do, because all of that extra hair will be coming out.

Once your hormones return to "normal", you can expect all of that hair stuck in Anagen will enter Catagen and will start shedding. Many women report seeing this sometime after giving birth. They'll start shedding a lot of hair, and it is such a dramatic increase over what they were losing while pregnant that they feel like they're going bald! You can see this shedding start at some point up to 6 months or so after delivery, and it can last for months or even up to a year. Note that because it is related to hormone levels, this can be altered quite a bit by nursing as well. Personally, I had my hair start shedding a little bit more about 4 months or so after delivery, but the big shedding didn't start until after my daughter finally weaned at 16 months. I only had about 2 months of heavy shedding (lucky me), but I lost about 40% of the volume of my hair, even I was feeling bald! (But, the result really was that I was back to where I started, still a lot of volume, just less than I had grown used to having.)

What can you do about the hair shedding? Not much. There are no magic serums, vitamins or hair growth products that can stop this process. NONE. This is hormonally driven. What you can affect is the over all health of your hair and any shedding that you would have from other reasons. You will see shedding if you have thyroid issues (so, if you have so much that it worries you go check with your doctor), for nutritional issues (a healthy diet and maybe even a multivitamin can help, use a prenatal if you're still nursing), and biotin has been shown to increase hair growth rate in studies. So, you can add a biotin supplement or make sure your multivitamin has at least 1 mg a day. Finally, make sure your hair is healthy and minimize breakage. So, heavy conditioning, avoid heat styling and still get trims to take care of split ends.




Do you have a question? Make sure you ask it! I'll address questions in my Ask a Beauty Blogger post series.

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Ask a Beauty Blogger: Stop Feathering Lippies!

Fortunately, this is a problem I only seem to have with a few red lipsticks. No matter how young you are, or how perfectly you line your lips, there is always a lipstick that will bleed on to your skin. Luckily there are a few reverse lip liners to prevent this from happening. While concealer will sometimes help, what you really need is a product that basically creates a barrier around your lips to prevent your lippie from bleeding out all over your skin.
My favorite is the Soothing Lip Primer from Simply Vera Wang. Some reverse lip liners are just that: a lip liner. A waxy pencil you line carefully around your lip, honestly that's kind of annoying.

The Soothing Lip Primer is a lotion (that does have a very slightly waxy feel) that goes on with a fingertip on the skin around your lips, this makes it much easier and faster to apply. I use it over makeup, and you really only need the very smallest of amounts. A pea sized amount is about 8 or 10 applications for me. So, yes, very little! Smooth it around and you're done.

1 little tube is $32.50, but will last for pretty much forever. You can only get it at Kohl's.

Soothing Lip Primer from Simply Vera Wang

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Ask a Beauty Blogger: Fighting Hyperpigmentation and Self-Tanning?

While I'm well acquainted with fighting areas of hyperpigmentation (remember that whole series I did on my melasma with weekly photo updates on how Kiehl's Clearly Corrective was working?), I'm not so good with the self-tanning. I embraced the pale long ago, and I fully admit that I'm not speedy enough at application to regularly self-tan.

So, as soon as I got Amy's question, I ran to my friend Sinead Norenius! Sinead is a total sweetheart, and she's probably the biggest expert on self tanning in the US. I kid you not. She started as a beauty blogger with Self-Tanning Queen, but soon formulated her own self-tanner line with Beautisol. More recently, she's a co-founder of iFabbo, an amazing organization pulling together beauty and fashion bloggers around the world.

She's definitely best known for Beautisol. I snagged the pic above from her Facebook page (I know, I totally stole it!), and it probably looks a little familiar to you. Beautisol is the self-tanner that is frequently on HSN, and when on air they'll tan half of their bodies so you can see the difference. It is amazing how natural this self tanner looks! Beautisol has been reviewed twice on 15 Minute Beauty (the first Beautisol review was by me, the second Beautisol review was by my cousin, Ellery). While I don't usually self-tan, I fully admit that I'm currently thinking that I'll do it in preparation for a vacation to Florida next month!

Anyways, now that you know why I immediately ran to Sinead with this question, here's what she had to say.

Yes, keeping a "faux glow" while using lightening ingredients / products can be a bit tricky for sure as they tend to exfoliate the skin and tan off a lot faster than usual!

I usually advise my readers to self-tan their face more often than they would their body. I also recommend that they use a self-tanner that is specifically design for the skin on their face vs. their body especially if they are going to be reapplying it more often. (Beautisol offers two formulas - one for Normal-Dry-Sensitive Skin and one for Normal-Oily-Acne prone skin) It is just the nature of the beast but I do it all the time. I self-tan my body every 4 / 5 days but tan my face every other night and put it on last so I still have color a day or two later!

I hope that helps!

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Ask a Beauty Blogger: Favorite Cleanser?

I've recently published 2 posts on my favorite beauty items (here and more items here), but I thought Julie's question was the perfect opportunity to explain my craziness with facial cleansers. I know I'm not the only one with a couple of cleansers sitting around and using them for different things.

So, without further ado, here are the 4 (!!) cleansers that I keep around.


1. Neutrogena Naturals Fresh Cleansing and Makeup Remover: This is the cleanser that I've "officially" dubbed my favorite simply because it is the one I reach for the most often. It sits on my countertop and I use it most nights to wash everything off. On days that I can't quite get all of my eye makeup off (it seems to depend on the mascara, that new Maybelline Rocket is quite the hard one to remove), then I reach for the cotton rounds and #4. This one is a bit too thin to work well with my Clarisonic.

2. Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser: This is a very gentle cleanser that removes pretty much everything (except eye makeup, hence the #1), without irritation or drying out my skin. I mostly use this one with my Clarisonic. It is a bit more viscous than the other cleansers, so it seems to stick around in the bristles a little bit more. It also does have a nice lather, but it doesn't go totally crazy with the Clarisonic. All around it's a winner.

3. Skin Authority Moisturizing Cream Cleanser: Another gentle cleanser, but this one is definitely more hydrating. I haven't totally figured out how they did this with something you rinse off. It feels more like a lotion than a cleanser, removes dirt, oil and makeup, leaves lots of moisture behind... I leave this one in the shower to use in the morning, though I'll also bring it over to the counter for times that I'm feeling dry and in need of a little extra pampering. This one works well with my Clarisonic, but it bubbles up a bit too much with the brush for my taste (I get bubbles up my nose!), so I tend not to use the 2 together.

4. Hard Candy Take It Off Eye Makeup Remover: Finally, this is the makeup remover that I use most of the time. It removes pretty much anything you throw at it, and somehow the fact that it is a thick lotion (instead of an oil like most other removers) works in its favor. I sometimes will wipe some on, and let the lotion sit for about 10-15 seconds before wiping it off. The extra time makes hard to remove liners and mascaras just melt off. Love that.

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Under Eye Primer: Do You or Don't You? Which are Best?

Affiliate Links Product Sent for Review
For today's Ask a Beauty Blogger, I have a question from Arianna. I've been asked this a few times recently, and at first I told Arianna to check out my concealer review series. I typically just use an eye cream, and once that has sunk into the area I'll apply a well pigmented concealer. That most often means Make Up For Ever's Full Cover Concealer or It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer. I do have a very visible vessel under one eye, so some days I'll add a little FACE Stockholm Corrector in green (to correct the red) underneath. That's about it.

So, while it experimented with my primers, I asked my blogging friends in the Beauty Blog Coalition for their picks. I got a huge number of responses!


1. MAC's Prep and Prime Vibrancy Eye primer (get it here): One of my closest blogging friends, Pam from Pammy Blogs Beauty said that this MAC was her pick. "It is my HG under eye primer. Highly recommend!"

2. Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer (get it here): Another good friend, Kelly from Goldylox Reviews said this Smashbox works so well, it will make your concealer out perform your foundation! "This primer does a little bit of everything, except provide tinted coverage. This makes my concealer stay on so well that some days, when my foundation trials don't go so well, I'm left with perfect eyes and melasma-ridden cheeks. So if your foundation tends to head for zee hills, make sure you look blended throughout the day."

3. Khuraira Dark Circle Complex Primer: Christina from My Cosmetic Bag liked this primer when she met the company's owner last year at IMATS.

4. LORAC behind the scenes eye primer (get it here): Kath, The Fabzilla is my Hawaiian beauty connection, and she had a great pick, though like me she doesn't usually use a specific product. "I just use my eye primer and lately I've been loving LORAC behind the scenes. If she has oily under eyes, she should skip under- eye moisturizer in the morning, it works for me!"

5. Miracle Skin Transformer Treat & Conceal (get it here): Brooke from Blushing Noir loved this concealer since it includes so many extras.

6. glo minerals Under Eye Primer (get it here): Christa from Periously Pale only uses this primer, if she remembers to prime that area!

7. Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer (get it here): Daria from Time4Beauty recommended this primer as well. While her blog is in Russian, if you let Google translate it for you it will work!

8. YSL Touche Eclat (get it here): Marie from I am the Makeup Junkie recommended this as a primer. (Note, she hasn't reviewed it on her site, so I've linked to my review.) I've only tried using it alone, so I thought it was a great idea to layer it!

Not pictured
Quite a few women said that if they bother to prime this area (I'm not alone in not priming it!), then they just use whichever primer they're using on their face.

Meredith from RetroDiva's Beauty says, "I just use regular primer - whatever I'm using on my face, usually something to control oil. If I have bad undereye circles, I'll use a touch of Urban Decay's Eden. But honestly? I never thought about a separate product for priming under the eyes. I have a limit to how many products I'm going to fool with. One primer seems enough."

Carleen from Beauty and Fashion Tech said, "I just use the same primer on my whole, face including under the eyes. The only other primer I use is a shadow primer and I don't think I would use that under my eyes.

Also, Sarah-Jean from The Fashionable Housewife said, "I only use Urban Decay primers... nothing else I've tried works for me."

So, for the last few weeks I've been experimenting with priming my under eye area. I kept the recommendations of my friends in mind, but I only tried items I already had on hand (which was about 75% of the products above, my stash might be a bit large...) and these are the ones I had the best results with!

1. Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer
2. MAC's Prep and Prime Vibrancy Eye primer
3. Urban Decay's Pore Perfecting Primer:


So, I want to know: Do you prime this area? If so, which products do you use and do you have any tips? I want to know!


Affiliate Links Product Sent for Review

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Ask a Beauty Blogger

I'm introducing a new feature! I get quite a few questions emailed to me, things come up in comments... and I don't share the answers with everyone, which I should! Also, I think just emailing me is probably intimidating for some people. I'm not sure why, but I do know I get a bit nervous around bloggers I read too.

Anyways, today is the first episode of Ask a Beauty Blogger, and since I didn't really know the answer, I asked a bunch of blogging friends. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, or have me ask my blogging friends, ask away! I think filling out the form below is likely less intimidating than writing an email.

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