John Frieda foaming hair color...works!

12 Best and Worst Hair Products for Summer

See the hair care products you need to have (and which ones to avoid!) for perfect summer hair

This is a TotalBeauty.com hair care products article Summer is the best season to loosen up with your hairstyles -- let the bangs grow, embrace your naturally wavy hair, and give your hot tools a rest. Readers share the products that help them prevent frizz and keep color from fading -- and the ones that aren't worth the cash. (Use the money you save on that third round of Mojitos!) See products

Worst: No. 4: Frederic Fekkai Summer Hair Beach Waves, $23

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 6.1

"I have curly/wavy hair and this product made my curls sticky, limp, and just not pretty at all."

No. 3: Charles Worthington London Big Hair Full Volume Texturizing Salt Spray, $5.99

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 5.9

This product is "sticky! Unlike the shampoo and conditioner in this line (which are great), this stuff builds up on your hair really rapidly, and also makes your hair look dirty."

No. 2: Bumble and bumble Hair Powder, $18.95

TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 4.7

"My entire bathroom was covered in brown spray paint. I spent forever cleaning up the mess. And it made my hair stiff and didn't remove the oil as promised."

Want to see what other products made the list? Click here!

Hi Gorgeous,
How is your summer?
Mine, so far-best summer ever!

Now see this kit to the left? That is the John Frieda foaming haircolor kit-super easy and simple to use and by looking at the photo after it-you can tell, it really foams up!

No drips, no smears and the results are an even color with no splotches.

I have moved away from the summer red trend and back into some good ol' fashioned 4N brown.


Now you can pick up some John Frieda at any major retailer like Target, Walmart, Rite Aid, Walgreens...you name it!

The product smells good, was gentle on the scalp and the results are lovely in my opinion.

So if you need to stretch your summer beauty dollars and get salon like results with an at home product-try the John Frieda foaming hair color system! Just about ten bucks!

http://www.johnfrieda.com/en-US/homecolour/

Remember: you are beautiful! Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

3 simple anti-aging secrets you already have at home

What's Your Fall Beauty Look?

Take this quiz to help you find your fall look

This is a TotalBeauty.com makeup article This quiz holds the answers for how you can make fall beauty trends work for you, including celeb-inspired hair and makeup tips. Take quiz

These are three simple things that for the most part are free and I bet you already have at home.

First, I think that laughter keeps you young looking and feeling. Children laugh all the time for any and all reasons and I think that if you can find something to laugh about each day that you will stay looking young because you are young at heart.

The second thing that I think is the best kept secret for an anti-aging routine is rest. Society now is so hardwired and in touch always on the go and it seems that there is never a time for good ol' fashioned rest. I think that the electronics need to be turned off in the evening so that your body has a chance to relax from the low level of stimulation that electronic devices give off. So sitting at the computer just before bed, or watching tv just before bed can inhibit a restful sleep session. Some warm tea and reading would be better for producing a youthful slumber.

Finally, water is the most key anti-aging ingredient that should be in everyone's repertoire. The old adage of drink 8 glasses a day is great, but I think it's more than that because when you drink caffeine you need to drink extra water to cancel it out. I think the secret to looking and feeling youthful is in a pure glass of water. What makes the youth secret of drinking plenty of water even better is it's easy accessability and affordability.

The best anti-aging routine is laugh often, rest more and refresh with water. Now you can add to that by flossing regularly, eating a healthy diet, exercising and using skincare products that increase elasticity and moisturize fine lines.

Try my anti-aging secrets for 30 days and comment back your results. I would love to hear from you!

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Remember: you are beautiful! Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

Hoyu Bigen water activated hair color

Budget Beauty Aisle Finds

Check out the best, wallet-friendly summer makeup, skin care and hairstyling products

This is a TotalBeauty.com beauty products article Wanna look great in the heat without breaking the bank? Here's a round up of the best of the best, warm weather beauty products. See products

Well friends, I try everything myself. This is quite the experience. Funny when it first arrived for the blog, I was thinking "wow, this so reminds me of Japan". And it is from Japan. The Bigen hair color is under the parent brand of Hoyu.

It's a permanent hair color that is water activated which minimizes the amount of processing that goes on with your hair. Meaning there is no ammonia, peroxide and it says that it works with the hair cuticle; using color molecules to penetrate the hair shaft for even coverage. The press release also says that it will leave the ahir feeling silky, natural and elegant looking. Wow. Elegant.

Hmm, what do you think?
Here is the kit when opened. There seems to be a wee character flaw in me because I am not one to carefully read directions. So, please notice the small plastic double sided container that the brown bottle of powder is in. That is what you use to measure how much water goes in. I didn't read that or figure that out until after I had dumped the powder into my usual mixing bottle and guestimated how much water to add.

I put in 3 oz of water and it made a slurry of color that had the consistency of a cherry slurpee.

This is my hair before coloring. Some roots and chlorine/sun bleached, quite dry too.
I'm game for trying anything, so here I begin the Bigen shade Dark Chestnut.

This is the process. I dropped the brown bottle contents of powder into the mixing bottle and added the water. Shook hard to mix and applied to my root growth. When there was barely enough to go around my head, I added more water to finish off the ends after 15 minutes of processing on my roots. There is barely any smell and it doesn't burn the eyes.

Well, here I am out in the hot hot Arizona sun. If you ask me, that's the blackest looking dark chestnut I've seen. Must be the Japanese version of color scales. May I remind you that this is permanent? Oh golly. Well, I 've worn the Bettie Page style before, why not again, right? Right.

My hair feels good, not mushy, brittle, it rinsed well, and only time will tell how the color holds up through the Arizona sun, chlorine from triathlon training and general styling. You can find Bigen at CVS and Sally's Beauty Supply. ( love this place!)

Get your comments on the Kymaro mid summer slump beauty giveaway! It's open til the end of the month.

Remember: you are beautiful!Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

Snookie and the Bremenn Emergency Zit Stick

True/False Hair Quiz

Take this quiz to separate the hair care and styling facts from fiction

This is a TotalBeauty.com hair care article Let's be honest here, we've all had some bad hair days, months and maybe even years. This quiz has the answers to keep you on the good-hair-day track … for good. Take quiz

Ah, today is a mixed bag of things. A week or so ago I put a post about Snooki from Jersey Shores tweeting a picture of herself using the Bremenn Research Labs emergency zit stick. Well, I had one that came to the blog and I rarely ever get a pimple. Oy! That is until I am daily in the pool, sweating on a run, covered in sunscreen, and suddenly my hot dry state of Arizona has become the hot and soggy but not quite raining state of Arizona. ewww!

So, the zit stick worked. I got a pimple from the variety of elements my skin was in, and then I cleaned up, toned and applied before bed. In the morning, gone. Just a wee bit of redness that was easily concealed by the zinc intensive sunscreen I use to run/swim/bike in!

Try some!

Now, I've got a goodie that just came in that I am going to test for you. Made by Bigen it's ammonia and peroxide free water activated hair color.
Oh yeah baby. I'm going to rub this stuff all over my head and see what happesn. You know the real test of this product is going to be how it holds up in color load, shinyness and duration against the elements of my daily swimming/running/biking in the hot Arizona sun. Only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.

P.S. Remember to get your comments in for the free $50 gift card to Covet in New York city, and also any how to videos you would like to see!
Love ya!
Remember: you are beautiful!Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

Alas April is ending: time for a hair change?

Voluminous Hair Contest Photos -- Winner Revealed

These blogtastic, um, bloggers go tete-a-tete to create big hair -- see the looks here

This is a TotalBeauty.com hairstyles article The challenge: Five women create voluminous 'dos using Sebastian Volupt Spray. Then Total Beauty editors pick a winner. The winning blogger scores a trip to NY Fashion Week this fall. See the volumized hairstyles these bloggers came up with, who won and how to recreate the hairstyles. See hairstyles

In Arizona it's hot, well today was and before that we had several days of stormy clouds and it was so amazing.
Now, with the weather changing from warm to sweaty hot it's time to rethink your hair strategy for the coming summer months. You may notice that many celbrities have shorn their hair and added bangs for a less intensive style routine.
I personally, made the mistake of opting for convenience and price over tried and true, tested results when it comes to my hair color. I have been doing it myself at home for a year now, and I always get the same stuff from Sally's until this week when faced with a busy work schedule, and travel and meetings and my son's own shaggy hair and full schedule: I just got a box of something from the drugstore that was on sale and I happened to have a coupon for.

Well, first off, you should know I missed a spot. A really big spot right in the front hairline pretty much dead center on my forhead, so it's like a laser beam guiding your eye there. (*If you see me, please ignore it) Then, the box said that it was dark brown but what they really meant to print on the box is that it's "light black". Oh! My hair is too dark for summer!

To make matters more unique in my personal hair style: I let it sit on the roots and then smushed it around on the ends but a moment and rinsed it out. So, I have black'ish roots and brownish middle and some light ends. I look like a radioactive zebra.

I only share all of this because the blog just received a sample of "at home hair highlighting" kit. The 'new' thing to do it yourself easy highlighting. Well, not on this swamp water coif. So more on that later.

In the meantime: if you are on a budget and in an effor to conserve cost you do your hair at home: notes from my personal experience are
1. Don't leave it on so long! The instructions said ten minutes but I got busy and forgot. So I sort of deserve it?
2. Stay within 1 to 2 shades of your natural color. You would never believe it looking at me know, but my natural color is about a 6 level! Yes, a 6! Right now I'm currently wearing a 1. For reference, platinum blonde is a 10.
3. Consider every third touch up at your local salon and stylist: that way you have a professional opinion of what's going on with your hair.

Remember, this is the final week of April and the last few days of the "Military Appreciation" month. For every comment posted by an active duty soldier that shares rank and station, Makeup University inc blog is giving away a free product. A beauty goody as a way of saying thank you for all you do. Go Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines! and National Guard!
Remember: you are beautiful!Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!