#tressviernes

Ever since I became a makeup artist in 2004, I wanted to sport blonde hair. Maintaining blonde hair is a lot of work, and costs a lot of money.

The after-care products themselves cost a lot of money and not a lot of them are available here too back then.

Nekkid Blonde Hair Don't Care Shampoo PhP 300 | Conditioner PhP 350 SET PhP 600

Well-maintained blonde hair should look like this the whole time (photo below) before retouching your roots. Blonde hair should not look brassy.

But to make you feel better, even natural blondes have the problem of brassy tones because of all the chemical-packed products we use on our hair. I wanted my hair's ashy look to last even when I was pregnant, but I couldn't find products here back then that was safe for pregnant women.
Purple toning hair products are underrated. I tried searching online for purple shampoos and conditioners being sold here in Manila, and only a handful of brands pop up. Some are easily accessible in department stores (but almost always out of stock), or you can order some from Lazada or Shopee but they do not provide ingredients lists.

I feel ashamed for self-plugging my own brand, but this product deserves a slot in my blog because it really works really well without the nasty chemicals!
Blonde Hair Don't Care Purple Toning Shampoo is made with saponified oils and vegetable fats so the lather is pretty good. It's SLES and SLS free, which is actually the number one cause of faded hair color and brass tones.

What gives Nekkid's purple pigment is by using the pigment from Butterfly Pea Flowers. Totally safe for pregnant and lactating women! Butterfly Pea Flowers fight inflammation in the scalp so they heal inflamed scalps from dandruff.

Butterfly pea is full of antioxidants and has properties that reverse the damage caused to the scalp by sugar molecules. Sugar molecules cause the skin on the scalp to prematurely age due to the process of Glycation, that causes damage to skin proteins therefore weakening the hair follicles and causes hair-fall. Blue butterfly pea tea has anti-Glycation and can prevent premature aging on the scalp and strengthens its hold on your hair. To use the conditioner, you rinse your hair off with warm water to open up the hair follicles, and so that it will be ready to receive the purple pigment.

Massage the conditioner well into your hair and leave on for about 5 minutes, and rinse off with cool water to seal in the pigment. Best used with the shampoo, but just using the conditioner will work too!
About 4 months ago, I went to BENCH FIX salon in SM Bicutan to have my hair dyed blonde.

I was really excited thinking that it's basic blonde so what could possibly go wrong? I had recently dyed my hair dark brown at home but it was too dark for me so I wanted to have it lightened before my birthday. I chose ASH 9.1 and they guaranteed me that I will end up with that color.
After 2 very painful bleaching process and hours later, I ended up with this:
It would have to do because I couldn't risk any more damage to my hair. I sensed how stressed the stylist was, and I noticed how he knew how yellow orange my hair turned out.

I was at the salon for 5 hours and they couldn't get the hair color that I wanted. They wanted to dye it some more but I was due to a dinner with some friends in a couple of hours and I just didn't have the time and the scalp to do it anymore.

About 2 months later, my hair has turned a full blown brass, with patches of auburn hair. I was a walking corn on the cob and it was a mess. Makes me appreciate Fred of Hairshaft even more.
I used Nekkid BHDC for 2 weeks straight (about 6 washes in total), and my hair's brassy color was gone.

You will notice how it finally ended up being the original shade I wanted it to be. An ashy sort of blonde. I also noticed how it no longer felt as dry as the first two months.