Soph Lou's: hair

PHIL SMITH BE GORGEOUS HAIRCARE REVIEW

Monday, September 28, 2015

Phil Smith wasn't a brand I can say I was familiar with when my mum mentioned to me a few months ago that she had found the BEST dry shampoo ever! I contacted Phil Smith straight away to let them know the positive experience my mum had had with their dry shampoo and they where kind enough to send me some products to try myself.

I received the Phil Smith Super Smooth Shampoo and Conditioner which contains Keratin Proteins to help fight against kinks and frizz. It also helps to straighten hair and add a glossy shine to your hair. First I love the packaging, its bight eye catching and modern, It would stand out to me on the shelf and I would for sure purchase it. It leaves my hair really shiny and clean and as my hair is so long and thick its hard to find shampoo and conditioner that doesn't weigh it down which is fantastic! It also doesn't make my hair feel greasy at all and my hair feels SUPER clean.

One negative though which is so frustrating as I do really like the formula is that It doesn't have the nicest smell in my opinion. It smells really strong and kind of hair spray scent if you know what I mean by that. Its a clinical salon type of smell but not in a nice fragrance way. Its really annoying as the smell it leaves in my hair puts me off from using it and I find myself washing my hair and then using a different nicer smelling conditioner to try and mask the shampoo scent.

The reason for emailing Phil Smith in the first place was to rave about my mums experience with the DRY CLEANERS Dry Shampoo. They send me the Revitalising Dry Shampoo and The Volumising Dry Shampoo and they are both amazing! The revitalising one is great for those days when your hair is looking mega greasy and there really isn't time to wash and dry your 28inches of super thick hair. I spray this into my roots and around my hair line and leave it a few moments before brushing through my hair. It instantly fluffs up my hair and the greasy appearance is gone! I can see why my mum loves this stuff.

The Volumising one also adds a great amount of volume and its weightless again so doesn't weigh your hair down. These I cant rave about enough BUT again the smell of them isn't great. They do have that same hairspray scent to them but I don't find it as strong in my hair. The scent doesn't really linger as much as the shampoo, As I found the shampoo scent to be stuck in my hair for days. I would have loved them to have a nice fresh scent which I would enjoy using to freshen up my hair.

I do recommend these Phil Smith Haircare products as the scent may just not be to my personal preference, some may like the fragrance. I would give them a try because they are great products which leave my hair feeling great and looking great but not in my opinion smelling the best.

Have you tried any Phil Smith Haircare? Let me know in the comments!

grey hair

MY NEW GREY HAIR REVEALED

Friday, August 14, 2015

For months now I've really wanted to get my hair dyed grey or a pastel colour as I've seen loads of girls on Instagram and Pinetrest with this awesome hair trend and I NEEDED IT!! As some of my readers may know my mum is a hair dresser so she always cuts and dyes my hair for me my statement red shade AND after months of nagging for her to bleach it and dye it grey for me she had warned me that it would ruin my hair and I would wreck it with the bleach. Now I'm not saying going a silver or grey colour via bleach will wreck everyone's hair but going that shade from red would be a nightmare!

So... I started to research how I could do it without wrecking my hair and having seen Kylie Jenner change her hair as easy as changing shoes, I got googling to find out how she was doing it!

I soon found that Kylie Jenner has been wearing Lace Front Wigs, this is how she gets the super natural hairline, with a lace front! I was amazed, I couldn't get over how natural her new blue hair looked so started my hunt for the perfect Lace front wigs online. I came across a UK based company called Saturday Night Hair and emailed then straight away!

Cherry from Saturday Night Hair has been so helpful and really knows her stuff when it comes to the perfect natural looking lace front wigs! She has very kindly sent me these two amazing lace fronts to review and I'm in LOVE with them already! I received the Wynter Grey Lace front and the Pink Syrup Lace Front wig. Cherry custom deigns all her lace fronts and they can all be cut and heat styled as if they are your own hair. They are synthetic hair wigs but from the quality you would not know it wasn't real hair! Its so silky smooth without the obvious synthetic shine most wigs have!

Wynter is the Grey wig and its 22 inches of thick and full wave curls. Its got darkened roots for a more natural look. The wigs with roots are more like the style Kylie Jenner is wearing and they look so amazing on. I adore the style of Wynter and its exactly what I was looking for when searching for my first lace front wig.

Both my wigs came incredibly well packaged in the post. They are carefully packaged in a plastic air tight bag in a hair net ( shown above). I must say I love Cherry's branding and think her logo and labels that come on the wigs look fantastic, super professional and you can instantly tell a lot of care and effort has gone into making these synthetic lace front wigs perfect for every customer.

Pink Syrup is 18-20 inches of full body waves which is incredibly bouncy and is Nicki Minaj inspired. Is a mix of pink and blond hair with mousy brown- blond roots for a natural appearance again. This wig is slightly different to Wynter as its Swiss lace which means that the lace may need some Lace Wig Tape or glue to stick it around your hair line ( not on your hair but your skin very close to your hairline ).

Both the wigs come with adjustable hook straps inside to tighten the wig to your head and clips to secure it around your hairline at the front and sides. They are both really comfortable and breathable. I have so much hair to hide underneath my wigs as my natural hair is around 22inches long and layered so I was worried about how to get all my hair underneath but Cherry assured me that a Nude Wig Cap would be all I needed to hide my hair. I Ordered my Wig cap off of eBay , it was 99p with free postage and it arrived within 2 days. Its basically a nude pop sock so If you don't want to order one and have a pop sock at home I'm sure it would work just as well.

After you've hidden all your hair with a wig cap the first thing you need to do to your Lace Front Wigs is trim the lace of off the front to match your hairline. I didn't want to remove any of the hairs on my wigs as I've not done it before, so I simply trimmed the lace off very carefully as close as i could without loosing any hairs for the hair line. This literally only took me around 5 minutes to do and I just placed it on my knee as I don't have a wig stand or head mannequin yet.

Then all you have to do then is pop the Lace front wigs onto your head and secure at the sides and front with the clips! Its so quick and easy to do, It so much easier than sitting in a salon for hours whilst your natural hair is stripped, bleached and dyed AND doesn't ruin your natural hair.

I wasn't a huge fan of the curls that Pink Syrup came with so I just straightened them out with my GHD's and it worked fine! Its more my style with the wig straight and looks more like my natural hair with the long layers. Its so smooth and thick, and the colour is so perfect for the pastel Candy hair trend.

As you can see you can wear these Lace Front wigs in any style you like, I even put my Pink Syrup wig into a quiff at the front and it looked so natural on the hairline. The only thing I will need is some Lace Front Wig tape so that I can tape the sides of the wig by my ears down and be able to wear this wig in a half up half down style or even attempt a bun or ponytail.

I'm completely obsessed with these lace front wigs and cannot wait to try more! I think Cherry is also sending me a Kylie Jenner Inspired Mermaid colour Lace Front so I cannot wait to show you that one! I will be sure to film a youtube video soon wearing my new Lace Fronts so you can see how they look when I'm moving etc. All of these pictures above haven't been altered in anyway or edited with photoshop, this is exactly how these wigs look on and I think they are phenomenal!

If you are thinking of changing your hair colour but dont want the commitment of a bright shade then why not try these amazing Lace Fronts for yourself, head over to SaturdayNightHair.co.uk and check out all of Cherry's beautiful wigs! Also be sure to check out her social media sites and follow her so that you are the first to know what new wigs are available at really great prices.

What do you think of my new hair? Would you rock a Lace Front? Let me know in the comments, I cant wait to hear what you all think!

*This post contains products sent for review. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.

colour XXL

HOW I DYE MY HAIR RED | UPDATED

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Schwarzkopf Live colour XXL 33 SCANDALOUS SCARLET

For around a year and a half I have been dying my roots with the L'Oreal Majicontrast red and then dyeing all of my hair with Schwarzkopf Live Colour XXL Ultra Brights Hair Dye Pillar Box Red 92 or the Shocking Pink 93.I made a 'How I Dye My Hair Red' last march which i will link here, if you would like to check that out. As the Ultra brights aren't a permanent colour they do run out quite a bit and fade which wasn't a problem at first as my lengths where pretty red from a previous permanent hair colour. But after a while I realised that my hair was faded really badly and when I dyed my hair with the semi perm it looks great for about 3 weeks but once its run out it leaves my hair looking very faded and dull and almost as though I'd bleached it on the lengths which I have never done.

So...With that said, and after a long few weeks deliberating on whether to dye it a permanent or not as it would be a shade or two darker and I LOVE how bright it is when its first done. I decided that I would dye it the Schwarzkopf live colour XXL 33 scandalous scarlet which is a permanent colour and looked like a lush bright healthy red. Doing this also cuts out the need for the L'Oreal Majicontrast on my roots as the Schwarzkopf live permanent colours lift my naturally mousy brown hair colour really well so I wouldn't need to pre dye my roots red. I used two full boxes of the Scandalous Scarlet and it covered all of my hair really well. I washed it off after around 45 mins and dried it as normal and I LOVED it!

It is a few shades darker than it was and less pink toned but It looks and feels so much healthier and I wish I'd done it sooner as I was so unhappy with the patchy dull faded-ness of my hair and This colour completely sorted all of my problems out. Now 6 weeks after these photos where taken I can honestly say that it hasn't run out much at all and still looks so bright! I have included photos in different lights so you can get a good idea of the shade. My roots are obviously back now but don't look half as hideous as they used to. I cant wait to dye it again in a few weeks as I normally leave it around 8 weeks before I redo it as I don't feel the need to dye it more often that it needs. I also always wash my hair in cold water as this helps to protect my hair and I find the colour doesn't fade or run out as fast.

I hope you have enjoyed this updated How I Dye My Hair Red post and I also apologise for the lack of posts in the last few weeks, work has gone wild and with a load of dentist appointments for an abscess and root canal , I really have had no time or energy! I have a load of posts planned so be sure to follow me via bloglovin to be the first to read my new posts.

Have a great day!