Dark and Lovely Jet Black Hair Dye

When I first cut off my hair I told myself I wouldn't get it dyed until it grew at least 10 inches. That didn't happen at all. I dyed my hair before the Summer sometime in April to a brown a few shades lighter than my natural color. By the time Fall rolled around, my darker roots had grown in and I wanted to dye it for the upcoming Winter. I debated between L'Oreal (which I usually use) and Dark and Lovely and decided to go with Dark and Lovely because the formula is made with dry hair in  mind. 

Price: $7.99 at CVS

Color: The color was true to the picture on the box but starts fading after a few weeks (I shampoo once a week). At first I didn't perceive it as jet black. I saw it as more of a natural black, but in pictures it does look very dark black. My hair is fairly thick so I might have been better off using two boxes just to make sure all my strands were equally saturated. If you have long hair, I would definitely recommend two boxes. 

Hydration: This did not leave my hair feeling too good. I didn't expect my hair to feel great because hair dye is hair dye, but I didn't expect it to feel as dry afterwards because Dark and Lovely is supposed to be made for dry hair. Compared to the dye I normally use (L'Oreal), whatever hydrating properties were in this dye did not feel as nourishing. Next time, I'll probably stick with L'Oreal. 

Damage: Even though this product didn't leave my hair feeling very soft, I haven't noticed any damage after its use at all. Overall, my hair is just as healthy as it was before I dyed it and does not break or shed any more than it ever has. 

Time: Total application time was around half an hour. It took about 10 minutes to apply and then around 20 minutes to let sit. 

Results:

Before                              After

Sephora Sparkles

I'm actually obsessed with this color combination. I especially love the gold glitter. I was in Sephora for forever with my little sister and best friend trying on every single sparkle polish they had on Black Friday. My favorite was Sephora by OPI in The Golden Age. I layered two coats of this over two coats of Sally Hanson Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Blue Me Away -- a bright obnoxious (in the best way) blue. I'm in love with the results! The sparkles are more glittery than they appear in the picture. They're perfect for the holiday season so I thought I'd share:

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner

When I visited home for the holiday weekend, I found Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner in my sisters' shower and decided to try it out. I've heard good things about this product, but have never been a huge fan of Herbal Essence. I've always thought of Herbal Essence shampoos and conditioners more like hair perfumes than hair treatments. Good smelling hair is never a bad thing, but for my dry hair, just not enough. 

I didn't try out the shampoo, but I was pleasantly surprised by the conditioner. It's not as thick or heavy a formula as my current conditioner (Trader Joe's Nourish Spa) I don't think, but it's thicker than I expected for a brand typically marketed to "normal" hair types. It's also super moisturizing and has great slip. I let the product sit on my hair for about 5 minutes in the shower before rinsing it out. My hair was softer and far easier to detangle. 

Price: $7.99 at CVS for 23.7oz bottle

Smell: Fruity and floral with coconut and orchid extracts 

Consistency: Medium/thick

Detangling power: Super

Ingredients: 

Water, stearyl alcohol, behentrimonium chloride, cetyle alcohol, bis-aminopropyl dimethicone, coconut extract, orchis mascula flower extract, corn silk extract, fragrance, benzyl alcohol, disodium edta, sodium hydroxide, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, blue 1

Likes:

I love this product's consistency, slip and instant moisture. It does everything I would want my conditioner to do, giving my hair plenty of elasticity before styling. It's also fairly inexpensive -- under $10 for over 20 ounces.

Dislikes:

I don't care much for the smell -- it's a bit strong and not as coconutty as I thought. The ingredient list is also not very impressive. Even though it is sulfate free, it has a couple different alcohols in the first five ingredients which can dry out hair over time. Personally, I don't mind cones because I still use heat, hair dye, and a lesser-evil sulfate shampoo to remove any buildup from cones. If you avoid sulfates and cones entirely, then this conditioner may not be for you.