What's in my Birchbox - October

I know I've said it many many times before, that I cannot believe how quickly the weeks are flying by, but I was genuinely shocked when this month's Birchbox was delivered. How can it be the middle of the month already?!

Anyway, let's crack on. For those the are not too familiar, Birchbox is a monthly beauty & lifestyle subscription box. You get around 5 deluxe sized beauty samples and one lifestyle per delivery, from what I've seen not all the monthly boxes are the same. 

The subscription costs £10 a month plus P&P, although the longer you sign up for the better the deal. It's a perfect way to try out new products that perhaps you normally wouldn't or high-end brands that are maybe out of your price range. 

Here's what I received in this month's box. 

Firstly, the box is in collaboration with CoppaFeel, an incredible organisation that remind us that knowing our boobs could save our lives. Their message of 'If in doubt get it checked out' is incredibly important. I lost my amazing mum to beast cancer 6 months ago so this is a subject very close to my own heart. Birchbox are donating £1 for every photo tweeted or posted to Instagram of us copping a feel along with the hashtag #CoopaBirchbox. I will be posting one without a doubt! 

This month's goodies came zipped inside a pretty pink makeup bag. Love this. You all know how I love me some pink, right?

Cattier 'Pink Clay Face Mask' (£4.25).

A mask that is pink? HELLO! This is packed with aloe vera to illuminate and soften your skin, sounds perfect! 

KMS California 'Hair Play Playable Texture' (£15.50)

A decent sized sample. This is a spray for prepping, styling and setting your hair. Looking forward to trying this out. 

Shaveworks 'The Cool Fix' (£11)

This cooling gel treats ingrown hairs & bumps and redness after shaving. It's not a problem I have but good for a hair removal emergency I guess!

Pixi by Petra 'Shea Butter Lip Balm' (£8)

This pretty shea butter packed lip balm is full size, result! Mine is the shade 'Ripe Rasberry'. I've already tried this, just couldn't resist, it's beautifully creamy. 

Meaningful Beauty 'Glowing Serum' (£30.95)

This serum is from the range by supermodel Cindy Crawford so I'm hoping that a few drops will get me catwalk ready. Yes, I have high-hopes! It claims to be radiance-enhancing and anti-ageing. Can't wait to put it to the test. 

This months lifestyle extra was a cute pink lipstick pen. A pen. That's pink. And in the shape of a lipstick. Triple result right there for me. Of course also included was the very handy contents card & Birchbox booklet. 

Another great delivery. I only have one more left on my 6 month subscription and I will absolutely be signing up again. 

Do you subscribe to Birchbox? What did you get in your box this month? 

Read about how I decided to go pink, with my hair, here! 

I'm off to apply my face mask! 

Love Emma 

XOXO 

Pink Hair, Don't Care!

One of the facts about me, for my 'One Lovely Blog Award' was "I really want pink hair". 

After writing that I came away & thought if I *do* really want pink hair then what's stopping me? I then came across the Bleach London range of hair dyes in Boots and well, decided that there's no time like the present. 

As the name suggests Bleach London uses bleach to lighten your hair. You can leave it blonde or then apply one of their incredibly beautiful colours on top. 

I decided to go for the dip dyed pink effect so purchased the Bleach London DIY Dip Dye (£7) kit along with the non permanent cream colour The Big Pink (£5). 

Firstly, here's what you get in the Dip Dye kit:

Two sachets of bleaching powder, a bottle of developing lotion, a sachet of blending lotion, a mixing bowl and brush, & restorative hair treatment, gloves & full instructions. 

As I have medium brown hair and have never home-bleached before I thought it was very wise to do a strand test. Yes, it means that if I were happy I would need to buy another Dip Dye kit but it's better to be safe than very very sorry. 

You can strand test normally or I went wild and cut a chunk out (I've got very thick hair so I wouldn't miss a little bit!). I followed the instructions, applied the pink & was pretty happy with the result. After the successful test run it was time to go the whole hog. 

I donned an old top, protected the area around me and got cracking. I devided my hair into 3 sections and applied the blending lotion to where I wanted the pink to start. The blending lotion is a clear thick gel like cream which helps blend the bleach so that you don't get a harsh line. (You are supposed to apply the lotion and then the bleach strand by strand but I improvised here).

I then mixed up the bleach using both sachets and the full bottle of developing lotion. Holy moly, boy does this stuff stink. Make sure you do this in a well ventilated room. It's so strong it made my eyes sting.

I then popped on the gloves and starting applying the bleach. Where the bleach met the blending lotion I rubbed the hair to assist the blend! Once I had one section all covered I wrapped it in tin foil to keep it away from my face and moved onto the next. Applying the bleach took about 10 minutes. 

On the test run it took the full 45 mins to lighten to the colour I wanted. It's important to save the condition of your hair that you don't go over 45 mins. After every ten minutes or so I checked my hair.

The foil absolutely sped up the lightening process so when I checked it after 30 minutes I panicked as it was much much lighter than I had anticipated, 15 minutes quicker than in my test run. 

Panic face.... See how I stillll had time to take a photo! 

You then wash off the bleach, shampooing well twice. Without using conditioner my hair basically felt like a dry old rat's nest. I carefully combed it through best I could.

~

Next it was time for the pink. Now, this bit was messy. I shouldn't have attempted this on my own to be honest. I got it all over my arms, face and neck. I then took off my gloves to try and wipe off the dye and then got it all over my hands too. Messy messy messy. The pink stays on for 15 minutes and boyyyy did it look pink whilst it was on. 

When the 15 minutes were up (& I had scrubbed the living daylights out of my skin to remove the stains) I rinsed the colour out well and applied the intensive conditioner that came with the dip dye kit. With the conditioner on the pink didn't look too scary.

I then wrapped my hair up it my genius Turbie Twist and let the conditioner sit and work it's magic for 30 minutes or so. 

So, the result. I do love it, but if I'm honest I should never have attempted to do something so drastic with bleach on my own, especially having such thick hair. I should have sectioned my hair off into much smaller segments and taken just a little bit more time and care applying both the bleach and pink. The overall colour unified and even at all. Having said that I do love the pink. Yes, some bits are more pink than others and yes some of it is orange but it's not too bad! 

The next morning I did a plait and I love how it looks. I will probably go back over with in a day or two to try & even out the pink but for a first attempt it's really not too bad at all. The bleach is permanent but the coloured Bleach London dyes last between 2 and 10 washes. 

I won't be winning hair dresser of the year anytime soon but mermaid chic is right up my street!! Next time I might go purple or blue, who knows! 

My advice if you fancy dip dying your hair? Get help. Take your time. Small sections. Keep checking the colour. And do it near an open window!! 

I'm off to choose my next hair colour! 

Love Emma 

XOXO