Back to Curls for the Summer

Hey dears!

I'm back to curls! Got my hair permed last weekend! Yay!

I love it when my hair is curly because I don't have to worry about what my hair looks like when I'm outside. Even if it's windy, my hair would still look great (errr... or at least decent)!

This is what my natural hair looks like (well, not entirely natural because my hair is colored).

It's straight at the top and wavy from the middle to the ends and it's quite thin.

I find my hair too... sad-looking. Haha! It doesn't have much volume and it gets oily easily so by the end of the day it looks so greasy and flat.

Getting my hair permed is one of my solutions. It makes my hair look thicker and livelier. And so last weekend, I went to Azta Salon at SM San Lazaro and spent an afternoon under the care of our trusted stylist, Ms. Rich Abella. Liz and I usually go to her for haircuts. She does my sister's hair too when she's in the Philippines and Ms. Rich has also permed my hair once. :)

After a five hours in the salon, this is what my hair looked like:

Ms. Rich added some hair treatment just because she's so nice! Thank you so much!

I told her about my permed hair a few months back that I just had to cut off because it was super dry from the previous perm and all the hair coloring. The perm's curls looked great but the dryness annoyed me a lot that I chopped them off after only 4 months. I waited 'til my hair grew longer before I get it re-curled again.

After 2 days, I was allowed to wash my hair and it looked like this:

My hair was not completely dry yet on the pic because I took some minutes after taking a shower (I was off to work). My curls are bigger than in previous photo which I prefer and if you have permed your hair before, you probably know that the curls would look better as time goes. :D

Left pic: my hair without products (mousse or curl enhancing products)

Right pic: With product

I'm so happy that my hair is curly again! And it's not as dry anymore. It still needs some repairing especially the ends but I'll just wait til it grows a little longer then have it cut 2 inches off. I'll also apply some hair treatment every now and then. :)

I think my hair is great for the summer because I'm going on various trips. I don't have to check if my hair is too messy (vain me wants great pics) so I'll just focus on having fun! Yayy!

So do you prefer having straight, wavy, or curly hair? Do you get your hair permed? Rebonded?

Cheers,

DAWN

Back to Black

Good evening ladies,

I once told a friend of mine that the stress level I felt in my whole stay in Medicine is very much reflected by the times I got my hair colored, trimmed, and cut. My last year has certainly been my most stressful one and I think I colored my hair differently and had it trimmed (mostly because I was maintaining my pixie cut) every 2 months. Now that I'm almost done, I think it's prudent to go back to basics - at least appear to be. :)

So here's my hair color a month ago, I do love the reverse hombre effect of my hair but I just had to let it go.

I'm a super big fan of Jeannie Mai from the show How Do I Look and I super love her black hair tinged with blue or highlighted with blue so I got mine colored blue black in hopes of getting the same results. Here's day 1 post coloring photo... can you guess where I am in the photo?

Photo credits to my friend, Jolo Mercado and his cool camera. :)

I got my hair colored at Azta Urban Salon at SM San Lazaro using davines blue black hair color. At first, my hair was super black, and the blue was a deep dark blue hue in the sun; it was more like a hair glow than an actual hair highlight. It was also quite bothersome that whenever I take a bath, the bubbles still colored dark blue/blue-violet - even until today.

Peculiarly, the blue highlights were more visible under flourescent light than it was under the sun during the first week. However, as time went by the color started fading. Below are pictures of my blue black hair 2 6 days post coloring.

As you can see, the blue is more visible now and it's taken an ashen blue hue. If you'd also notice, the part where the blue can clearly be seen is also the parts of my hair that were previously bleached for the balayage blonde.

Indoors, it's still strikingly black.

Now, my hair is somewhat back to my natural hair color. I read in other blogs that blue black hair color doesn't last as long. Although one did say that her friend got it done at a salon and it still shone blue under the sun. Mine however, has a washed out violet hue under LED and flourescent bulbs. I'm not really sure if I did something wrong because I used shampoos that were for colored hair like what the stylist told me to do but I just couldn't keep the deep black color and the deep dark blue highlights. And my shampoo bubbles and bath water still had hints of blue-violet. I guess Jeannie Mai used a different technique of coloring her hair. I hope that my hair stays deep black even if the blue eventually fades out since black has undoubtedly given me the feeling that my skin is fairer and others say I look better with it.

So what do you think? Have you ever tried going blue black before?

Cheers,

LIZ

Unboxing : Jan-Feb BDJ Box

Hello dears!

I'm super enjoying the long weekend. Been hanging out with friends, oversleeping, shopping and my first ever BDJ Box arrived a couple of days ago and I've been using some of the items inside already.

It took me only now to get a BDJ Box because they're always out of stock whenever I felt like ordering. Actually, I ordered this around September or October. The boxes for November and December were out of stock already so that's why I was subscribed for the January-February box. I guess people really love BDJ Box... I often see unboxing posts and BDJ boxes almost always contain interesting products that I would love to try myself.

And so, let's open the box and see the goodies!

It contained a list of the products included in the box: 

So here they are:

I included the price of the products in their full-sizes.

 2 full-size Beauty and Bright Moringa Soap - Php 114.00

Honestly, I don't see the point of getting two bars. I thought this is a way to try out products so one full-size is enough. Besides, I've been using this soap for months now... probably why I wasn't so cheery when I saw this. :P But just so we're clear, I do love this soap! 

 Avon Face Pearls - Php 599.00

Another full-sized product! I guess this is Avon's version of the popular Guerlain Meteorites. 

 Revlon Nair Art Expressionist in Monet, Monet - Php 375.00

Oooh! It's named after one of the most popular painters of all time. The wannabe artist in me is happy. :D

 Yves Rocher Sexy Pulp Mascara - Php 650.00

Got a deluxe size version. I'm excited to try this the most. :D

 Ellana Minerals Lip and Cheek Tint - Php 220.00

Not a fan of tints but this seems interesting. I swatched it on my arm and it lasted the whole day on! Amazing lasting power!

Sachets of My Amazing Blow Dry Secret Shampoo and Conditioner - Php 1,200.00 per bottle

Tony Moly Tomatox Magic White Massage Pack - Php 548.00

Tony Moly Oriental Gyeol Emulsion - Php 1,398.00

 Tony Moly Intense Care Live Snail Cream - Php 2,098.00

Tony Moly  Luminous Pure Aura CC Cream - Php 948.00

I've tried some of the items from Tony Moly from the GWP's I got from my previous purchases from the brand.

Garnier Color Naturals - Php 199.00

I don't usually color my hair that dark but the good thing is my mom does! 

and finally, some GC's!!!

3 Gift Vouchers worth Php 500.00 each from Aesthetic Institute of the Philippines.

Free Brow House Construction from Browhaus worth Php 548.00.

A Php 600 off for Brazilian Keratin Treatment or Php 800 off for Cynos Nano Digital Perming.

I'm very satisfied with the products I got especially since more than half of them are in their full sizes! For the amount I paid, I got a really good deal. There are products that I didn't appreciate as much since I've tried them already but I think I'll be using everything that's included in the box for sure. I'm happy with my first ever BDJ Box and I'll be buying another one soon!

Cheers,

DAWN

Taking the Short Cut

Good evening ladies,

Since the pixie cut is still the trend and has an extended stay until this year, here are pointers to remember before you start chopping off your hair.

See, I'm quite used to wearing my hair short and there has only been a few instances when I've actually had long hair. So I guess, I can somewhat dub myself an authority when it comes to short hairstyles. So here are my pointers before deciding to cut off your hair in favor of the Pixie.

1. Look in the mirror, and try to tie your hair/style your hair such that you have a visual of how you'd look like if you ever get a pixie cut. Then ask yourself, are you really ready to cut off all that hair just to get trendy?

Although I've worn my hair short a million times, before I decided to chop it all off, I initially intended to wear it long until my graduation day. But since my hair started showing signs of damage (a heck of a lot of falling hair), I had to have it cut real short to let it grow out. It's a scary thing to get your hair cut that short and is also one of the most liberating thing I've done. So, if you've decided to take the plunge, let's move on to advise no.2.

2. Find your stylist/s and never let them go.

They say that when you get your hair cut that short, it becomes quite low maintenance and you won't have to frequent the salon as much. WRONG! When you go pixie you'd need someone you can trust with the scissors to know what they're doing, more than just copying the style on the magazine, but fitting that style to suit your face.

See, all these nice cuts from my whole year of wearing a pixie hairstyle to letting it grow out were not all pretty. You have to constantly get it trimmed and shaped the right way for it to grow out beautifully. That's why it's important to get a stylist and stick with them while you're planning on wearing your hair short. I've had experience of changing stylists midway because the first stylist was not available/was too expensive and it ruined my whole look. So from then on, I've decided to get one and one stylist only for the whole length of my pixie hair experience.

Here are some of the unglamorous phases of a pixie growing out.

   

Number 3 is somewhat related to number 2, so here we go.

3. Plan how you're going to grow that hair back.

The bittersweet part about getting a pixie cut is not when you get your long hair cut, it's when you finally decide to grow it out. Honestly speaking, once you've had your hair this short, it's hard imagining how it's going to go back to being long because of the "awkward hair length" phase (like the ones above). And that's how most people get stuck with wearing short hair forever.

So how do you get out of that rut? Your stylist of course. For me, Rich from Azta Salon SM San Lazaro branch has been my hair's savior. I just told her, I'm going to grow my hair out and immediately, she knew how we'd go about it. So now, my pixie has gotten long enough to get a posh bob cut, all thanks to her.

So that's all the tip I can give. If you're already wearing a pixie cut and is getting bored of it, get it colored as often as you want... You won't need to spend as much money on it compared to when it's long. Take GD as an example (not that he's wearing a pixie), to avoid becoming a bore, he plays with his hair color as often as he likes. As for me, L'Oreal, HBC, and Azta Urban Salon has helped me achieve my hair color transformations for the past few months. So many thanks to them. 

If that doesn't work for you, then accessorize.

Well, that's all for me today. Hope this helped you in some way.

Cheers,

LIZ

Cutting My Hair Just Doesn't Cut It

Hello ladies,

So last time, I chopped off quite a huge chunk of my hair and two months late, I had it trimmed...

To this...

Just couldn't sit still. Had to color it... although I think I kind of overdid it... hopefully come time I have to go back to school my facilitators, residents and whoever I'd be under won't see red... or else... hehe... :)

I seriously wanted to dye it blonde like my K-pop crush G-Dragon... but then, that might be more shocking and they might sanction me at school.

Anyway, thanks to Rich and Diane of Azta Salon in San Lazaro for my rocking hair. hehe! :)

So how's that for getting fired up for summer?

Cheers,

LIZ

Liz Chops Off Her Hair

Good evening ladies,

3 years ago I told myself I'd grow out my hair for graduation day and three years from that time... this was the length I achieved.

However, schedules and stresses have taken their toll not only on my routine skin care but also on my hair. I couldn't really take good care of it. Whenever I tie it, my hand is just full of hair-fall. SO after three years, I've decided to have it cut and let it grow out again.

Got my hair cut by Rich at Azta SM San Lazaro

And this is it. Goodbye to my medium-length hair. :)

So, here it is! 

It was nerve wracking though. Even though I picked the hairstyle, there was absolutely no way for me to be sure if it'll turn out ok for me. Well, I am happy about the cut though. Well that's it. :)

Cheers,

LIZ

Dawn gets her hair permed at Azta Salon Part 2

Hey, Lovely Ladies!

Sorry for the delayed post regarding my recent hair perm at Azta Salon. I wasn't able to buy curling mousse because of our Finals week and my laziness to go to the mall to buy one. Haha! :))

Anyway, here's what my hair looks like now. :)

Bigger curls. It frames my face nicely. :)

What I like about it is I can do different looks with my hair even without using hair clips or accessories.

 

 I can wear it big and wild.

or rolled altogether like how the hair of my porcelain doll looks like. :P

I so love my hair now. I really do like my hair curled rather than straight. Straight is just boring for me. :))

 

I'd like to thank Ms. Rich and the staff of Azta Urban Salon SM San Lazaro for doing an awesome job on my hair. They are very accommodating and their milk tea and iced coffee were delicious! :D

Curious to know more of Azta Urban Salon services? I got their list of services they offer at their facebook page.

Cheers,

DAWN

Dawn gets her hair permed at Azta Salon Part 1

Hey, Lovely Ladies!

 I've been planning to get my hair permed again since the time I chopped off my curls from my previous perm. My sis said I have more personality with permed hair kasi. 

I was set to get my hair permed at Affascinante Salon. I really like how Ms. Weng handles her clients and the quality of her service. The curls of my hair were still visible after a year. 

But my sis, Tracy, convinced me to try out Azta Salon in SM San Lazaro. She already tried their service and wanted me to try it out as well (plus, she also had an offer of having a free hair treatment if she convinced me to get my hair done there). So I went along with it since I'm such a sweet sister. Haha! :)

So yesterday, my sister and I went to Azta Salon is SM San Lazaro to get my hair permed. I met Rich Abella, their senior stylist. She was really nice, very accommodating and was there to take care of us the whole time we were there.

Here's some pictures of how our day went at Azta Salon:

 Me waiting and saying goodbye to my natural wavy hair.

 Shot of me before they put the chemicals on my hair. BTW, their shampoo smells so good! TeeHee :P

 My sis getting nerdy as she waits for her turn. Haha! :))

 My hair drenched in chemicals. 

 Tracy decided to retouch the roots of her hair.

 Look at all those tubes rolled up on my head! 

 These are very heavy. LOL. 

 Tubes are now connected to the machine. I remember the Iron Man movie whenever I see this picture. :P

 Hair getting heated up!

Tracy getting her hair treatment. 

And then here's what we look like after I get my perm and Tracy gets her hair retouched and treated:

My hair here is still a bit wet in this picture. Rich told me that the waves will still get bigger. Right now I'm instructed not to wash my hair so it's still kinda greasy and all. Haha! 

I'll just update you in a few days. :)

Cheers,
DAWN