Color Oops

Have you ever had one of those uh-oh moments? You colored your hair a shade you were loving on the package but when you get it on your hair you're about ready to kill someone? I know I have. As an at home color enthusiast I've been pretty lucky to only have one of those in my lifetime. I've been coloring my hair red since 2003, 8 long years, Matt has never seen me with my natural brunette hair. Since I can't afford to splash out for salon color (and frankly, I'm scared by some of the results of salons in my area) I'm letting my hair grow out. The change is so subtle you'd have no clue. I swear, my roots are growing in red, just slightly darker (and completely unnoticeable on my curly and always up locks).

The uh-oh moment in question was when I decided to dye my hair black. Bad idea! First of all, always go with dark brown dye, not black. Even the non-blue shades on the shelf turn out blue once on the hair and I have super dark hair to begin with. It was inky black with a blue tinge. Plus, the color didn't even saturate my ends so the red was still showing through. It didn't look awful but it was too harsh for my super fair skin. Enter Color Oops.

This product is a lifesaver, truly. It's for use after coloring your hair DARKER, it's not going to make a single bit of difference if you went too light as you can't add pigment back into the strand. Secondly, it doesn't remove all the color but it makes it a lot more bearable and natural looking without leaving your hair feeling like straw. Just mix it up like you would haircolor and follow the directions as soon as possible, the less time the color has in contact with your hair, the better. When you rinse your hair out you're left with a much more tolerable shade. I do recommend using a heavy duty conditioner after using color oops, especially since you must have already colored, it can be drying.

Beyonce L'Oreal Feria

A few weeks back I went to town talking about all the amazing L'Oreal ads I'd seen recently, how much I love them and how great the marketing behind them is. They're beautiful photography and really fun to encounter in one of hundreds of magazines I read.

Well, this ad caught my eye for an entirely different reason. Beyonce is a beautiful woman, her Sasha Fierce look in particular resonates with me. She's glamour personified and in her regular, every day life her skin makes me envious although she looks so completely different than her on-stage alter ego. However, nothing about this Feria ad makes me envy Beyonce's hair. Besides the fact that her hair is lusciously full and thick there's nothing to love. The color, frankly, washes her out. It doesn't work, at all. Having basic knowledge of hair color I know that when making a drastic change you have to use a filler shade that comes in between your shades. The tone of this color is grayish-greenish, exactly what happens when you try to go from a dark shade to a blonde or vice versa.

I can't not mention how much I really like Feria. As a bottle redhead I have to say how much I appreciate the bright, multi-dimensional shades of red that the dye infuses my hair with. These colors always come out so bright and showstopping without drying out my hair. The price is right and if you are confident coloring your hair at home do not shy away from trying this line just because of Beyonce's lackluster results in the ads.

L'Oreal Spring 2011

You may have been noticing, like I certainly have, an upcropping of tons of new L'Oreal ads this spring, new spokesmodels, new products, new everything. I, for one, am excited about it. L'Oreal's an affordable line with their hands on the pulse.

I cannot get over how gorgeous Jennifer Lopez looks in the EverSleek ads. Wow. Her hair is something to covet anyway but these gorgeous caramel highlights take it to a new level. Then there's haircolor ads with Gwen Stefani and her gorgeous platinum locks and Evangeline Lilly and her pretty coffee colored coif. You couldn't get much more different than both of these ladies but they both represent the L'Oreal brand perfectly and have the amazing hair to pull of the ads. I'd kill for a mane like that.


There's no doubt that L'Oreal makes some killer haircare products but you may not know that their makeup line is just as impressive. If you haven't given it a fair shot because it's at the drugstore you might just want to rethink that. The Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez lipstick ads have me wanting to run out and buy all the red lipstick I can find even though I swear I'll never wear it out of the house. You can't get better marketing than that. And even though I've heard less than stellar reviews of it I really want to try The One Sweep Eyeshadow because of the gorgeous ad with Freida Pinto that I can't seem to find online to show you anywhere! I hope you've seen it because it's gorgeous. This shadow is revolutionary because it contains three shades and a sweeper brush that picks up all the colors in the proper order to give you an amazing smokey eye.

I hope to continue to see some great new ads and, in turn, great new products from L'Oreal.

Samy Fat Foam & L'Oreal Sublime Mousse Hair Color

I'm a haircolor junkie who's lazy if that makes any sense. I've been a redhead since I was 18, since before I met my man, in fact, he's never seen me with my natural hair color. Right now I've decided to grow it out since it's impossible for me to color over the red on my own (hello! I colored it black {big mistake, btw} and I still had red tips). Of course, less than a year into this process I found my first gray hair but it looks like a fluke because I haven't found another. Phew! Now I'm ready to color my hair a shade closer to my natural color and add caramel highlights, a good way to grow out the roots without losing all my length. I've already chopped off 6 inches, I can't bear to part with more of it.

I've been curious about mousse haircolor for a while, since I saw Fat Foam at Walmart six months or so ago. However, I didn't see any red colors that would work for me (there are 18 shades) so I passed. Then there's L'Oreal Sublime Mousse. This line comes in 12 shades, all very natural and hard to go wrong. I do believe these would be amazing for anyone who is scared to color their hair on their own, all you do is rub it in and work it through the hair, it's foolproof. L'Oreal even claims on the box it's as easy as shampooing.

When coloring your hair stick with 1-2 shades lighter or darker than your own haircolor, goofs are much harder to notice this way and you won't end up with an unnatural color for your skintone. Once you become more experience you can try for different shades.

I can't wait to grow the red out of my hair, I really can't. I have visions of gowing lighter and lighter until I'm blonde, trying all the colors along the way and deciding where I'd like to stay for a while. My hair is naturally dark brown but with my fair skintone I would love to see what I'd look like with dark blonde hair or even light brown highlighted hair. We'll see. I'll be sure to update you on my color when my lazy butt gets around to coloring and highlighting my hair. Wish me luck!