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beauty, fashion + hair

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hair dye diaries – blue to purple

by Kaylah Stroup January 27, 2020

this post contains affiliate links.

from blue…

to purple!

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

Products used – (affiliate links)

That’s just a massive mix of everything that was in my bathroom cupboard! Basically, I made three mixes – one with the pinks, one with dark purples and one with lighter purples.

Another hair video… with another fail in the middle. So, honestly, the little mess in the middle of the process somehow doesn’t look that bad in the video. It looks rather pretty. Real-life though? Ooof. See? Sooo splotchy! I kept it for a few days before taking the photo below and realizing how terrible it looked.

Here’s a link to the skeleton jammies! They’re super cheap because they’re ‘out of season’. Hah!

It turned out beautiful in the end though! I still think it might be a bit dark for my tastes but I do love all the different shades of purple. I think I’ll definitely grow to love it once it fades a bit.

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more! I also have a handful of hair videos on my YouTube channel.

hair dye diaries – two tone blue

by Kaylah Stroup November 7, 2019

Ooof. This was an accident. A happy accident but an accident nonetheless! Originally I had half blue / half purple hair in mind. I bought the colors, dyed my hair, and yikes – you’ll just have to watch and see.

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

It turned out gorgeous in the end though, right?! It’s not what I had in mind when I started the process but I’m jazzed on the results!

Products used – (affiliate links)

hair dye diaries – bright yellow + flamingo pink

by Kaylah Stroup September 23, 2019

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed my hair looking a bit more yellow than normal. It’s actually kind of been a while but I was slow to get around to editing the video. It’s here today though!

I’ve been dyeing my hair bright colors for nearly my life at this point but this has definitely been the color that gets the most attention. It’s been basically nonstop. I share some ‘fun’ little stories in the video…

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

Punky Colours bright yellow + flamingo pink

Products used –

Used one container of each. Both Punky Colours have approximately 1/3 left. I used every single drop of the Wella Color Charm Paints though.

Final thoughts –

Punky Colours is still number one to me. So far, with the comments from my hair dye diaries series, I’m learning that what works for one person, might not necessarily be the holy grail product for another person. I mean, obviously, right? But it really is wild to me how so many people can swear a brand is the greatest but other folks literally have the worst experience with it.

Punky Colours may not be everyone’s brand of choice but it’s definitely a solid brand and if you’re new to hair dyeing it’s what I’d recommend you start with. I’ve never had a bad experience with them.

Wella Color Charm Paints are awesome as well but the bottles are way too tiny. If they offered larger tubes I’d be all about them, especially since they smell so good.

hair dye diaries

by Kaylah Stroup July 30, 2019

Its been around two months since I made the big change from green to orange. In that time period, I feel like I’ve had to touch up or deal with faded hair way more than normal. This is my one last hair change with Arctic Fox then I’m off to try new brands. (I say that… but honestly, I bought some Punky Colour last night and I already know it’ll treat me well.)

I very recently dyed my hair yet again with Arctic Fox’s Sunset Orange, Cosmic Sunshine + Virgin Pink. Because I am trying to now document any and all hair changes, I have a video!

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

These are the colors I was really looking forward to doing the most after leaving green. I wouldn’t say it came out as expected. Maybe next time!

It feels kind of silly to continue to dye my hair with Arctic Fox when I’m so unhappy with the results. (In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have bought the 8oz bottles.) Don’t get me wrong, the initial color is GORGEOUS, although never really what the bottle shows. I still can’t believe that it covered the mess of green I was left with after bleaching but it just does not last. The fading is worse than anything I had ever tried before. Its been about a week and a half since I filmed that video and already my color is… meh.

It leaves me with such vivid color when it’s fresh that I know despite how I feel now, in a years time or so, I’ll probably convince myself to try it again. For now though, I’m excited to tuck the remainder of those bottles in the back of my cupboard and try something else.

Supplies used – (affiliate links)

Arctic Fox Virgin Pink (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
Arctic Fox Sunset Orange (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine (Amazon / Sally Beauty)

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more!

hair dye vs saltwater pool!

by Kaylah Stroup June 25, 2019

faded orange Arctic Fox, does saltwater fade hair dye

Guess who just got back from a road trip! ME! My very first cross county road trip. Instead of flying out west and then renting a car, we drove the whole way. It was rad. I have approximately one million photos to share and stories to tell but that’s for another day.

Today, I want to talk hair! I’ve been dyeing my hair unnatural colors for over ten years now. In that time period, I’ve obviously been swimming a ton. I thought it’d make a fun video to show what hair looks like before and after swimming. My whole point was to show how over time if you continually went swimming it’d ruin your hair color. What I didn’t expect was for the salt water pool to strip my hair color… in under two hours!

I don’t feel like the thumbnail or the photos in this post illustrate the difference as well as the video itself does. It’s wild how red my hair looked in the first half and just how faded it is after I swam. In the video I also share some photos from the last time I went swimming in the same pool but with green hair dyed with Punky Colours.

Watch below + subscribe on YouTube!

I think that each brand of hair dye has its good colors and bad colors. Maybe orange just isn’t Arctic Fox’s best dye but I definitely wouldn’t repurchase. (If you’re looking for a great orange – Special Effect’s Napalm is where it’s at!)

At this point, even though I have a favorite brand of hair dye (Punky Colours) I do want to experiment since so many others have hit the market the last couple years. In the future, I might buy a different color of Arctic Fox if it really stuck out to me but I’m in no rush. It definitely faded a little too quickly for me, even before the whole pool ordeal.

*Before swimming –*
Arctic Fox Sunset Orange (*Amazon* / *Sally Beauty*)
Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine (*Amazon* / *Sally Beauty*)
splash of Special Effects Hi-Octane Orange (*Amazon*)

Arctic Fox Sunset Orange fading fast after swimming — *After swimming! Oooof!*

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more!

hair update – how it’s fading + thoughts on Arctic Fox

by Kaylah Stroup June 13, 2019

It’s been just over two weeks since I made the leap from green hair to the fiery orange I’m rocking right now. I’m trying hard to better document my hair. I hope that in doing so I can create a better resource for not only myself but other folks interested in doing their own hair at home.

This is my first time creating content that is more video based than photo! Ah! I’ll give a final recap at the bottom of this post but I’ll be sharing most of my thoughts on Arctic Fox so far, as well as some details on what’s next for my hair, in the video.

As you can see, I’ve lost a great deal of color in the nearly two weeks I’ve had my hair dyed. Writing this post is kind of funny because I really am picking at the tiniest, most minute differences. I’m very pleased with my results from Arctic Fox. I’m still super colorful. My hair is vibrant, and you could most likely spot me from a mile away but it’s definitely fading fast considering that fact I no longer wash my hair every single day like I used to.

The fading is most noticeable on the top of my head. My bangs, for example, are definitely orange now when they were red to start. The little streak of cosmic sunshine that was in my bangs is poppin now. My hair, which was undeniably red for a week or so after dyeing it, is now finally matching the color on the bottle of sunset orange.

Arctic Fox Sunset orange review, orange hair

To quickly sum up my thoughts on Arctic Fox so far, I’d definitely use it again for a big change. I still can’t get over how nicely it covered that blue/green mess I was left with after bleaching. That being said, it’s barely been two weeks and I’m already thinking about touching up the color. Don’t get me wrong, it’s bright… but I’m losing color fast. If I were washing every day, this would be so dull already.

If I were to commit to a color again, like I did with green, I might look elsewhere. I don’t think there is any perfect brand of hair dye and each varies color to color. There are some that are definitely better than others though, Arctic Fox makes that list!

Supplies used – (affiliate links)

Beyond the Zone Radical Bleach Kit (Amazon / Sally Beauty Supply)
Arctic Fox Sunset Orange (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
a teensie tiny splash of Special Effects Hi-Octane Orange (Amazon)

If you use Honey, you can almost always find a coupon for Sally’s! (The morning I bought dye, it found one for me that brought the total down another $6.80!)

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more!

hair dye diaries – green to fiery orange!

by Kaylah Stroup June 3, 2019

Say ‘goodbye’ to green & a bit fat ‘hello!’ to this fiery orange!

Arctic Fox Sunset Orange & cosmic sunshine

After three whole years of green hair, I’m finally back in the hair dye game! Seems a little funny to act like having green hair is boring but going three years without any big hair changes is definitely out of character for me. What can I say? I really loved green. I still love green and I look forward to going green again someday BUT I was bored.

I had a couple moments during the fading process that I questioned what I was doing and why I’d want to change my hair but I had already mentioned my intention to change up my hair. Y’all keep me accountable!

Arctic Fox Sunset Orange, Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine

Supplies used – (affiliate links)

Beyond the Zone Radical Bleach Kit (Amazon / Sally Beauty Supply)
Arctic Fox Sunset Orange (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
Arctic Fox Cosmic Sunshine (Amazon / Sally Beauty)
Special Effects Hi-Octane Orange (Amazon)

If you use Honey, you can almost always find a coupon for Sally’s! (The morning I bought dye, it found one for me that brought the total down another $6.80!)

Something else exciting to add – I made a video for this hair transformation! For basically all big hair changes I’ve done a corresponding blog post but I like the idea of documenting it a bit further. It should help show the true process a bit better and it’ll help keep records of what each step looks like. Plus you get to see me look like a bleach gremlin!

Even as someone who has dyed my hair basically every color, I still get nervous about how it’ll turn out. I think it’ll be really rad to have this to look back on like ‘okay, the green didn’t truly bleach out but look what I ended up with when I used this specific combination of colors on top of that.’ Ya know? I’m just very excited about this video!

Side note; y’all, I did not realize how weird it felt to talk to the camera. I think it’s kind of fun to watch how awkward I look in the first few clips compared to later in the video. It definitely took me some time to find my footing. I’m looking forward to growing more in my video skills and knowledge!

I’m excited to rock this orange/red combo for a while but perhaps even more excited to no longer be stuck with green. As I said, I loved green but I kind of got a little too attached to it. I can’t wait to experiment with new color combinations in the next few months. xoxo

You can find tips & guides in my hair master post – including Bleaching your hair 101, 7 tips for maintaining bright hair color, Two tips for switching hair colors easily. & so much more!

what I wore – on the beach

by Kaylah Stroup April 23, 2019

outfit details – sunglasses, jacket, sweatshirt, jeans, rain boots & camera bag.

Just a couple of photos from the beach late last month. Right now, more than ever, I’m especially thankful to live so close to the lake. I know I’ve said it before but it’s my favorite place to just relax and unwind. I love plopping down in the sand and searching for treasures. Nothing but me and the crash of waves. It soothes my soul like nothing else.

Lake Erie, I love you!

what I wore – coffee date

by Kaylah Stroup March 25, 2019

Long time, no see, eh?

I have really missed taking outfit photos! Now that the weather is starting to get a bit more agreeable here in Ohio, it feels like a good time to get back into the groove of it.

Jeff shot these for me early Saturday morning before our weekly coffee date. We’ve been talking a lot about moving lately. Where is kind of up in the air. (I mean, definitely still the same general area since he has a great job here.) We both want a yard, Klaus deserves one, and a bit more space. We very quickly became painfully aware of how much further our dollar would stretch outside the city though. There’s a possibility we just stay in our same apartment for a few more years – try hard to save and take more time to consider what we really need in a home. At the same time, we could also buy a house in the country sometime in this year or next. It feels like change is coming. Luckily, we’re both very much on the same page about it all. It consumes so much of our conversations. It’s exciting, scary, and I think we’d both kind of want to fast-forward to a decision – city or country, buy or rent.

All that to say, I’m making sure to treasure every second in the city these days, especially our coffee dates. I didn’t grow up in walking distance of anything so I’m still quite chuffed to live so close to so many things. Our apartment is just around the block from what has become our favorite weekend morning hangout spot. I love waking up and walking to get coffee with my husband. (All parts of that sentence seem unthinkable to teenage Kaylah.) It’s my favorite thing right now. The weekends that we don’t make it happen feel like something is missing, like we didn’t quite celebrate the weekend correctly.

outfit details – beret, sunglasses, coat, dress, tights, shoes (c/o Modcloth)

xoxo

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