John Frieda Sheer Blonde Lightening Spray

I use this in-between dying my hair (which is usually quite a long time!) I try to avoid dying my hair as I don't want the condition to go downhill. My hair is in pretty good condition all the time which is great! I usually only dye my hair to brighten it up, and tend to go for shades quite similar to my natural one (perhaps a bit lighter).

So it's been a while since I last dyed it, and I've been using a range of different blonde products, such as 'touch of silver' which is a purple shampoo designed to get rid of any brassiness in blonde hair, and stop the 'ginger' tinge that it can sometimes get. That shampoo is great, smells quite weird... but in a nice way? ;) The only thing is that my scalp is quite sensitive, and I find that it aggravates this leading to an itchy and flaky scalp... so I use this not very often. My hair never has very noticeable roots, as my natural colour isn't dark, but you can definitely tell sometimes that it's due for a bit of colour!

No roots :)

Roots?!    

As you can see on the first picture (me: right) I have my fringe pinned back and the underneath of my hair, and roots are looking considerably darker than the rest of my hair! Nightmare! I assure you that I've only been using the John Frieda Go Blonder Lightening Spray & have not been dying it! Result! As you can see, it really does work! I can't speak for every shade of hair, as I know that many people have extremely dark roots, but it can certainly tone them down a bit in-between dying! Also excuse the second picture, no idea what I'm up to! haha....

Hair routine when using Lightening Spray:

- Wash hair with Aussie Mega Shampoo & Conditioner
(light conditioner leaves no residue and therefore doesn't weigh hair down) I like to use this combination of products as I'm spraying my hair after washing it, so I don't want too much greasy stuff on there to make it oily!
- Towel dry hair & spray evenly Go Blonder Lightening Spray on to roots. I also spray some on my brush and then work it through my hair for a more even finish.
- Dry hair
- Straighten or curl hair (the spray works off heat, so ideally both DRY & STYLE with heat)

It does take a few times to see a significant difference, but if you're a bit more impatient, then you can also use Superdrug Colour effects wash in wash out hair colour! (really cheap, £1.19 or 2 for £2) to boost your colour!



Hope this review has been helpful :) feel free to leave me a comment or anything and I'll get back to you!

Lucy xx

Christmas beauty gifts!

Hey guys! Hope you had a great Christmas!


I was lucky enough to get some really nice stuff off Santa :)

I've had some of them before, so I'll tell you briefly what I think of those items in this post, other items I will do reviews on them separately, please feel free to ask me to do a review if you'd like to know what something is like! I suppose you could see this post as a haul... kind of... apart from I didn't buy most of the stuff! The things I did buy myself I will try to include the price for you!

Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the item I'm MOST excited about trying :)

Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden - Luxurious body treats

• Kyphi, shea and almond nourishing body lotion
• Kyphi, honey & lotus nourishing bath creme
• Mande-Lular, sensuous body scrub
• Mande-Lular, sensuous body souffle
• Mande-Lular, honey & coconut sensuous bath creme
• shower loofa 

Soap & Glory - Lock, Stock & Bubble bag

• Flake away (shea butter, sugar and peach seed body polish) I LOVE this stuff!
• The righteous butter (shea butter and aloe vera) 
• Clean on me (shower creme) 
• Off your face (face wipes, acid free exfoliator)
• Girligo (spray on body moisturising mist) this stuff is great if you're in a hurry as it doesn't linger on the skin (if I have more time then I'll use the righteous butter!
• shower loofa

Harajuku Lovers fragrance - Lil' Angel

This comes in the cutest packaging! It's a great perfume to use during the day as it's not too heavy, quite fresh and flirty!

You can take the lid off, and leave it home if you want to take the perfume in your handbag. I don't find that the perfume sprays or leaks in my bag so it's all good!

Recently purchased (about to try) 

T-Gel shampoo for sensitive scalp
I have a really dry irritated scalp, probably caused by this horrendously cold weather! I've gone and left my other T-Gel at my flat, so I'm now trying the sensitive scalp one in attempt to tame my itchy scalp :( this is all in preparation for................................

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour!! 
I really want my scalp to get back to normal before I try this product! I'm worried about getting a reaction if my scalp is acting up.... but within the next week I should have tried the foam colour :) I have it in Light Natural Blonde. Please comment if you've used this product (any colour) and tell me how you got on! :)

John Frieda Go Blonder Shampoo (review)

John Frieda Go Blonder shampoo review 

Well to start, I'll tell you that I have fine wavy blonde hair naturally (dark blonde) and I've tried a few things to try and get a fresh brighter blonde, including John Frieda Sheer Blonde. Sheer blonde in my opinion, is a great shampoo, leaves your hair feeling amazing! But it doesn't do what I buy it for, to brighten up my blonde hair :( I decided to try their 'Go Blonder' range, as I really want to brighten up my hair, without the use of hair dye! This is the product description: 

New Sheer Blonde® go blonder shampoo and conditioner, with citrus, chamomile and no harsh chemicals, gradually lightens hair to achieve a magical sun-kissed sparkle all year round

Trying 'go blonder' for the first time


The John Frieda Go Blonder range retails for around £5 each, but there are usually deals in Boots, Superdrug, Sainsburys etc where you can get two (shampoo & conditioner) for £7 which is pretty good if you like the product! 


Being a student, I can't really be splashing out £7 on shampoo.... so that's why I'm glad they have a travel size so I could give it a go! I bought the travel size Shampoo for around £1.95, still pricey in my opinion! (didn't bother with the conditioner, but perhaps the overall outcome would have been better using both together...) and I have to say, I don't like this product.....


My experience with 'Go Blonder' shampoo


I have found that this shampoo, unlike the Sheer Blonde, leaves my hair feeling very weighed down, and it almost feels like the product just won't wash out. Also, I find that it makes my dry scalp aggravated, and the flakes are more prominent and visible. I would have liked to use this shampoo for  a while, so that I could see noticeable results (lighter, brighter hair!) but the disadvantages I've just mentioned were just too unbearable for me, so I've discontinued using it! 


Advantages: none that I can mention
Disadvantages: weighs hair down, aggravates scalp, price, no noticeable results


Alternatives?
I have found that John Frieda 'Sheer Blonde' is by far a superior product! It's pricey like 'Go Blonder' but the overall result is soft manageable blonder hair :)

Another product that I have used, is Superdrug Colour effects wash in wash out colour (even though I don't really like to dye my hair) it's really cheap and gives your hair some colour (more colour each time you use it)


Please feel free to comment with your experiences with this product, perhaps it worked for you! :)