Temptalia

New Hair Color -- Desert Sunset Balayage

Christine — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 16:00:45 +0000

I’m back with new hair color! The inspiration was a mashup between “galaxy” hair (purple, pink, teal, blue, like this one) and “sunset” hair (pink purple, orange, like I originally had here) with more contrast and less blending compared to my past iterations (as inspired by this reference photo). Teal has always been a favorite color for me, and while I love the way “galaxy” hair color looks, I’m still not sold on it for me because it uses a lot of cooler-toned shades. I thought this would be a nice way to incorporate some blue/teal without the full commitment. I really loved how it turned out!

I had my hair done by Lauren Krech (at The Waverly Salon), as usual, and I split the appointment across two days like I did last time. The first appointment was raising up my balayage and removing the previous color, and the second appointment was all color! It went faster than the last two visits; it took about seven hours in total (across the two days) with just under four hours on color. Lauren used five different colors on me: Joico Hot Pink with Red and Clear, Joico Pink, Joico Orchid, Joico Mermaid Blue with Cobalt Blue, and Pulpriot Neon Orange and Joico Fiery Coral.

P.S. — I paid for my services in full!

New Hair Color -- Desert Sunset Balayage

Fairytale Balayage Hair 1.0

Christine — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 22:04:50 +0000

Last November, I shared the process of getting my “Sunset” hair done, which I had touched up in late December and then left alone until this past week. As we head into spring/summer, I wanted to go a bit lighter (but still saturated, not pastel) and more purple (less red/copper). What I’m dubbing my Fairytale balayage still has similar colors that I had in my previous sunset-inspired balayages, but the core shades are lightened, there’s a ton more purple (and cooler purple) without a lot of magenta-red vibes.

I was really happy with how long-lasting the dyes have been so far; I still had multi-colored strands after three months (and I’ve moved to washing every five days) but definitely looked a bit redder as the magenta dye took over with purple peek-a-boos. I’m curious to see how this fades over time, and if it has as much dye transfer as my last ‘dos.

I decided to split my appointment across two days, which ended up being a really good decision because all told, it was just over nine and a half hours. My hair is definitely longer this time around than it was in November, and I have a lot of hair to begin with! On Thursday, my stylist Lauren Krech (at The Waverly Salon) removed all of the previous colors, raised my balayage up (about 5-6″ of growth since November!), and trimmed a couple of inches off my hair, put in some more layers, and thinned it out a little; all this took just over four hours. On Friday, it took about five and a half hours to color and process–it was three hours just to put all of my hair into foils, and then she opened up all of the multi-colored sections to re-saturate (if necessary) and brush through.

For the purple, she used Joico Color Intensity dyes in Amethyst Purple with Orchid; Pink with a drop of Magenta for the darker pink, and Soft Pink and Peach for the rose gold.

P.S. This isn’t a sponsored post; I found the salon through Yelp and have paid for all of my services. I share because Lauren does great work and deserves the credit for all of her hard work!

Fairytale Balayage Hair - Day 1

Fairytale Balayage Hair - Day 2

Sunset 1.0 - 2.0 -- to refresh your memory if you, too, thought it was hardly different, LOL!

Fairytale Balayage Hair - Day 1

Fairytale Balayage Hair - Day 2

Sunset 1.0 - 2.0 -- to refresh your memory if you, too, thought it was hardly different, LOL!

Sunset Hair 2.0 | The Refresh

Christine — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 20:35:11 +0000

I had my sunset hair touched up yesterday, which wasn’t wholly necessary, but my family is visiting later this month (and I usually see my family two to three times a year), so I wanted my mom to see the sunset effect in its full glory. We did make some adjustments, though based on how it “faded” (more like transformed) over the last six weeks. At this point, these posts are mostly my written record for myself in my hair “journey” more than anything else, so I hope you’ll indulge me with another post about it. (If not, it’s an extra post anyway, so you’ll be getting your normal daily dose of posts!)

The first time I did the effect, I was a little nervous about the rose gold/copper/orange tones, so they were the least present and were done more in the back, instead of being more prominent in the front and around the pieces that would frame my face. I found that I liked a lot of the purple streaks along with the peek-a-boo effect of the lighter, orange/copper pieces, and they were getting harder to “find” after four washes, as the stronger pink/magenta dyes washed through and tinted the lighter orange pieces.

After seven washes, there was still nuance from those pieces, but they were darker, more red-copper. Thankfully, I still loved and enjoyed the overall effect and look of the more pink/purple in my hair, and I also found that the color seemed to get more vibrant as the rose gold/copper tones muted from the pink. Since I was going in for a touch up, I passed along that feedback, and I had also decided that I wanted to do more orange and more purple with less pink overall–I told my stylist 20% orange, 30% purple, and 50% pink. She modified the process a bit by going for a stronger orange mix of dyes, and she rinsed each piece from foil individually so that on the first rinse, more of the orange-heavy pieces wouldn’t get the pinker/purpler dyes running through it.

The retouching process took just under four hours from start to finish with about an hour being the rinsing, drying, and styling. It took about two and a half hours to separate and paint all of the sections of my hair (which then went into foils). When I originally did it, the process took seven hours but included raising my balayage up as well. The next time I go in, I expect to raise my balayage again, but I think when I do that is really dependent on when my hair grows out too long that it feels heavy enough that I need a trim (it’s getting there).

I still really love how my hair looks, from the first coloring to how it’s held up and looked over time to the retouched look. Never say never since who knows what might catch my eye, but the plan is to keep the sunset effect until closer to summer. In Arizona, they don’t typically bury the water pipes very deep, and it’s impossible to get cold water in my home during the summer months, which is less than ideal for keeping in brighter hair dyes, so I might use that time to make more drastic changes (I was originally considering going a little lighter, more rose gold/dusty pink for spring!). I feel like this type of shades suit me; they’re brighter but not all the time, as it really depends on the light and angle, so I can play it up or down in a way. It’s also good since I tend to go heavy on eye makeup that I don’t need my hair to be competing 24/7 for attention with my eyes!

For further reading: Sunset Hair 1.0 (more about what was used, the process, etc.) / Sunset Hair 1.0, 1 Month Update.

My hair was done by Laura Krech at The Waverly Salon, and I’ve paid for all of my services!

Sunset 1.0 lip is ColourPop Wig Liquid Lipstick. Sunset 1.0 (4 weeks) lip is Urban Decay Rebel Vice Lipstick with Bite Beauty Rose Pearl & Oyster Pearl glosses. Sunset 2.0 lip is Bite Beauty Gold gloss over Estee Lauder Tiger Eye Pure Color Sculpting Lipstick, second 2.0 lip is Bite Beauty Smoked Za’atar + Gingersnap with Gold gloss on top.

Sunset Hair 2.0 | The Refresh

Sunset Balayage Hair - 1 Month Update

Christine — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 22:11:11 +0000

A month ago, I shared photos of and my experience coloring my hair to get a “sunset” effect painted onto my hair (see this post for more details). I’ll be going in for a color touch-up shortly before Christmas, less because I feel I need one and more because my parents will be visiting, so I want them to see the pretty effect at its highest point.

I know a few readers were curious about how well the dyes were going to hold up after washing, so I thought I’d take some photos and see how everything was looking after four weeks (four washes). My stylist wasn’t too worried about the purple and pink tones fading much (and previously, I had a lot of the magenta dye in my hair, which hadn’t faded much, if at all, over two months), but there was concern that the magenta dye would overwhelm the lighter orange/rose gold hues.

I think the latter has happened to some degree, though I can still see some more orange-y pieces coming through in places, but they were done more underneath and away from my face and have been harder to display (I’d definitely consider doing a bit more of the lighter orange/rose gold color throughout–I specifically asked to go easy on it the first go-round). I’m still just as happy with it, and I don’t mind that it’s a little pinker/less warm at this point myself.

Sunset Balayage Hair - 1 Month Update

Sunset Balayage Hair

Christine — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 22:00:00 +0000

About a year ago, I had balayage done to my hair (see it here), which gave me the beautiful highlights I’ve always admired on others in a way that I knew I could manage/keep up with. I have nearly jet black hair naturally, so 90s highlights starting at the root were impossible for me to maintain as I’m just not the type of person who enjoys going to the salon. Once I learned about balayage, I grew my hair out as long as I could stand it one more time so I could a third donation to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program.

Just over two months ago, I had my balayage moved up and then dyed a magenta-ish hue (you can see it here). I actually had no anticipation of changing it, but I came across–randomly–this image of sunset hair and fell in love. Like head over heels, can’t sleep, can’t eat, I want it NOW! kind of love. (You can see the evolution of my hair coloring journey on my Pinterest board, haha.) One of the neat parts about balayage is that I can retain a lot of my natural hair color at the top, which works for making maintenance easy (roots who!) but also in keeping up with consistency in photos on the blog overall as when I have my hair up, it has low impact on photos and how products appearance as you just see… my natural, black hair.

Lauren Krech at The Waverly Salon has handled all of my hair transformations since I first had balayage done, and she created a total masterpiece on my hair. It’s a magical sunset painted onto my hair; there is an insane amount of dimension in how the colors are layered and blended together. It took just under seven hours to achieve my sunset hair dreams, but I am obsessed with how it turned out–I feel like it’s rare that reality exceeds expectations and that’s exactly what happened for me. It shifts and changes at different angles, in different lighting, and even just by the direction it’s curled or brushed.

There were three “colors” that were applied, brushed, and artistically woven throughout my hair. All of the dyes used were from the Joico Vivids range. The purple mix included Indigo, Amethyst Purple, and a little bit of Orchid. The pink mix included Magenta, Pink, and Soft Pink. The more orange-hued color was a mix of Fiery Coral and Rose Gold (possibly a little Peach, need to confirm).

But here are the lessons I’ve learned having magenta hair for the last few months… Having 1″ x 1″ tiles with white grout in-between each tile on my shower floor =/= work with magenta dye — I pop back to the salon for a wash and have my colorist do quick braids, so then I dry at home (saves money), so that they deal with the dye that bleeds out for the first few washes. Also, putting on a clear coat helped tremendously! (After four washes, only a little dye bleeds during a rinse, so I can do it at home.) While I invested in black hair towels (over the white ones I’ve had for a decade), dark sheets/pillowcases are also a must. I’ve also had to adjust my routine that when I do wash my hair, I dry it shortly after instead of leaving it damp in a towel.

If you ever go for more vivid hair color choices, you’ll want to follow the general rules for maintaining color like choosing color-safe shampoos/conditioners, using cold water to wash, etc. How much or well it fades depends a lot on the state of one’s hair.

P.S. — This post isn’t sponsored; I found the salon via Yelp and have paid for all of my services.

Sunset Balayage Hair

Happy Mother's Day + My Face of the Day!

Christine — Sun, 08 May 2016 16:25:25 +0000

Mother’s Day Look

Hope all the mothers, mothers-to-be, sisters, aunts, grandparents, fathers who played both roles, and any and all maternal figures in your life have a beautiful day filled with love and smiles. I know I am beyond fortunate to have the mother that I do; I see her reflected in myself often, and I know that a lot of who I am today is because of her–her philosophies, teachings, support, love, and sacrifices.

EYES | bareMinerals The Nature of Nudes Palette — Truffle (inner lid), Libation (middle of lid), Guest Star (outer lid), Priceless (crease), Black Tie Optional (crease), Tranquil (above crease), Chance (brow bone), Opulence (brow bone) with Make Up For Ever I90 Aqua XL (outer 2/3 of lower lash line) and Make Up For Ever ME42 Aqua XL (inner 1/3 of lower lash line, below purple faintly).
CHEEKS | Chanel Jersey Joues Contraste Blush as a blush, Urban Decay Aura Highlighter along cheek bones to highlight.
FACE | Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Foundation with Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder to set.
LIPS | Urban Decay Rapture Vice Lipstick.

See more photos!

Mother’s Day Look

Look: Neutral with a ColourPOP! of Teal

Christine — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 17:00:00 +0000

Neutral with a ColourPOP! of Teal

EYES

I applied the eyeshadows using two MAC 242 brushes (flat, synthetic eye brushes), Makeup Geek Small Crease Brush (small, tapered synthetic), and IT Cosmetics All-Over Shadow Brush (fluffy, synthetic). I applied ColourPop Puppy Love Super Shock Shadow on the inner half of the lid with the 242 brush, and then I layered ColourPop So Quiche Super Shock Shadow over the middle third of the lid. I used the second 242 brush to apply ColourPop Ibiza Super Shock Shadow on the outer third of the lid and lightly buffing into the crease (but not past it). Next, I applied ColourPop Kimono Super Shock Shadow in the outer crease and smudged along the outermost corner of the lid with Makeup Geek Small Crease Brush. I applied Stila Mint Julep Smudge Stick Eyeliner on the lower waterline and between lashes, then I applied Sephora My Boyfriend’s Jeans Contour Pencil on the lower lash line. I layered ColourPop Ibiza on the inner half and ColourPop Kimono on the outer half of the lower lash line. I wore Dior Diorshow Mascara on lashes.

FACE

After I finished applying my eye makeup, I applied a mix of Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation in 02 and 03 (about 2/3 and 1/3). I applied ColourPop Santos Super Shock Cheek on cheeks as a blush with fingertips. To set and buff everything in (I also toned down the cheek color I had on) with Guerlain Les Voilettes Loose Powder in 03.

LIPS

I applied Guerlain Garance Rouge G Lipstick all over lips, and then I patted on MAC Spanking Haute Vamplify Lipgloss (mostly for warmth; the lipstick was pinker than I wanted for the look!).

See more photos!

Neutral with a ColourPOP! of Teal

Look: Shades of Sparkling Lavender

Christine — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Shades of Sparkling Lavender

EYES

I used a MAC 239 to apply all of the eyeshadows on the lid. I started by applying MAC Sweet Illusion Foiled Eyeshadow on the inner third of lid, then layering MAC Feminine Wiles Foiled Eyeshadow on the middle third overlapping just a bit with the outer third. I darkened the outer corner and crease area by applying MAC Magic In Your Eyes Foiled Eyeshadow with Wayne Goss Brush 13. I blended Burberry Trench Eyeshadow above the crease and on the brow bone with the same crease brush. I smudged Sephora My Boyfriend’s Jeans Eyeliner on the lower lash line and patted MAC Feminine Wiles Foiled Eyeshadow over it. I wore Dior Diorshow Mascara on lashes.

FACE

After I finished applying my eye makeup, I applied a mix of Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation in 02 and 03 (about 2/3 and 1/3). I applied Too Faced Justify My Love Love Flush Blush mixed with Too Faced Your Love is King Love Flush Blush onto the apples of cheeks used a flat blush brush. I lightly tapped a tapered highlighting brush into MAC Sparkling Rose Iridescent Pressed Powder to highlight on the cheek bones, down the bridge of the nose, along the cupid’s bow, and below the center of the bottom lip. To set and buff everything in (I also toned down the cheek color I had on) with Guerlain Les Voilettes Loose Powder in 03.

LIPS

I applied Urban Decay Bittersweet Matte Revolution Lipstick all over lips, and then I patted on Too Faced Unicorn Tears La Creme lipstick.

See more photos!

Shades of Sparkling Lavender