Red as Cherry: Lunar Tides Blood Moon Review

What's up peeps - long time no write! It's been a busy last couple of weeks (mainly because new beau! lol!) and to be honest I'm waiting to max out the trial period for this new dye I got. Yes - it took that long to fade!

I got the Lunar Tides Blood Moon from The Shop of Alice in Shopee (tsoaph) but as of writing, she has not restocked. Anyway, Lunar Tides is available in the usual online shops like Rainbowhead and Urban Mermaid if you also want to get your hands on it.

How I did it:

• I was newly bleached at the time and at level 8-9.
• I mixed about 1 part dye, 1 part conditioner.
• I dyed it normally - back part first and working my way up.
• I let it sit for about an hour.
• I washed it with cold water then blow dry to lowest setting.

Aaaaand this is what I got:

Review points:

It bleeds. A lot.

I'm the kind of gal who would take the brush for the first few streaks of color and just goes, "fuck it" and kinda shampoos the dye na lang cuz I'm lazy LOL so it tends to get messy when I'm dyeing. When I was cleaning up while waiting for the dye to set I tried to wipe off the little streaks on my forehead and nape AND THEY WOULDN'T COME OFF WITH JUST WET WIPES. I knew right then that this kinda dye bleeds, and true enough - as I stepped into the shower the next day the water going into the shower drain pretty much looks like what it would if someone was stabbed in the rain (not that I know what that would look like...)

Anyway yes, the dye bleeds so you might wanna skip the white pillowcases for at least 4 showers. In my experience, it has been 5-6 showers and it still bleeds even when I shampoo with non-sulfate.

If you're bleached properly, bright red can be bright af

I DIY-ed my bleach this time (!!! Another post!!!) and I got it to level 8-9 which is pretty blonde - almost white because I wanted to really test this dye and get super bright red. It did not disappoint lol. This is what it looks like when the sun hits it:

Of course, with lower levels of blonde you would get a less saturated color and an easier fade.

It lasts long and fades nicely.

Two weeks in I had to shampoo my hair almost every day (damn waxy pillow, you know who you are lmao) when I would usually only do it every other day. Still, I still have a tinge of red/pink/salmon a month after. I made a timeline for y'all:

 (Note: I use non-sulfate shampoos from Human Nature and ordinary conditioner and slow blow dry my hair, tho I use regular shampoo once every week.)

2-3 showers

5-6 showers 

9-10 showers

14-16 showers

18-20 showers (3 weeks in)

22-24 showers

26-28 showers (more than 1 month for me)

LMAO I shower everyday (or do I?) but as any other hair color enthusiast will tell you, shampoo will make your semi permanent hair color fade faster so you will have to use non-sulfate shampoo or just don't wash your hair every day or both.

I like how the red fades nicely to a pink, salmony color with a few streaks of rose-gold/blonde in parts where the sun hits it (heat makes it color fade too), much like how the neon pink fades.

Lunar Tides is cheap.

I got mine for P600 a tub and I used about 3 tablespoons of dye that made me happy for more than a month LOL so I would say it's definitely a steal. If you wanna keep it bright tho you'll have to dye like twice a month but still.

Final Verdict:

🌟🌟🌟🌟

All in all I like this brand and this color and will definitely try to get my hands on the others soon. Catch y'all next time!

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The operative word here is "now"

(Yo, I found something I wrote in 2015 but never publish for some reason. Still relevant, I think.)

For some reason, I came upon an interesting thought while standing inside a crowded bus at midnight, listening to Amy Adams sing “That's How You Know” from the Disney movie, Enchanted. I'm really not sure how I arrived at this, but I'm just gonna give it a go.

Why am I being too hard on myself?

Why is it that ever since I graduated from college I had this nagging feeling telling me to move my ass and start being successful? I've always been ambitious; basically that's the only thing fueling my desire to be successful (there isn't much outside pressure, really), but lately it's been really browbeating, like the pressure's been amped to ten times as ever. Grabe. Everyday it's like there's a post it at the back of my brain reminding me to work hard, earn big, get to your dreams now.

The operative word here is now.

As young adults, we're idealistic, especially our generation. We want to have most things, go most places, do most hobbies and still have the most leisure time. We browse online catalogs and review websites planning what to do next, even if our schedules are booked to the minute. And when we find that we don't have enough time or money for basically everything, it frustrates us (I read somewhere that young adults are more frustrated with this than any other age group; I'll look the article up so you can read if you're interested). Our frustration is then amplified by our idealism, which is usually directed to the self. You may say that this frustration to achieve during young adulthood is normal.

Why then, the emphasis on having everything now?

Actually, I have yet to read about this. For now, let's stick to IMHO's.

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False recollections

by Sigrid Vasquez (Nov 2017)

Our minds are amazing and it's crazy how it works. I don't know about others, but there are times I miss a good feeling (sometimes even an actual, physical, sensation) knowing that I never experienced it before. It is an experience usually reserved for those with a very interesting imagination-- being able to not only picture it in your head, but also gather all sorts of sensation imprints like sound, taste and touch, while knowing it has never really happened or may not even in this lifetime or universe.... It's definitely beautiful, but also sad at the same time.

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The Child Who Asked The Moon

A child, as she loved the moon,

Once wondered,

“Why do you sometimes disappear?

I scan the huge, dark ceiling and

sometimes you are hiding, and

I am sad.”

The moon, stricken and alarmed,

Answered her,

“Terribly sorry, my sweet deaar,

But it is not my doing,

It is the clouds who shroud me

And cover me and hide me.”

The child then turned to the clouds

And wondered,

“Why do you shroud and cover and hide?

Do you not see how beautiful she is?”

The clouds answered,

“My apologies, sweet child,

Who longs to see the moon.

But it is not my doing,

We only follow where the wind tells us to go.”

The child then turned to the wind

And asks,

“Why do you let the moon be covered and hidden?

Do you not like how beautiful she is?”

The wind answered,

“Sympathies, little light,

Who longs to see the moon.

But it is not my doing,

I am pulled by the force of the mighty sea.”

The child then turned to the vast, mighty sea

And asks,

“You are so far from the moon!

Why do you let the moon be covered and hidden?

Do you reject her beauty and charm?”

The vast, mighty sea answered,

“Little one, I am sorry for you.

You have come all this way

To ask me why I would let

The beauty of the moon wither and fade,

When it is only her whom I follow.

Her power moves me,

As I move the wind,

As he moves the clouds

As they cover the moon.”

- Sigrid

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Sigrid's hair FAQ

Hello hello hello!

As promised, here are some of the FAQs I've been getting ever since I started this thing (because I'm basically tired of explaining the same thing over and over hahaha I thought I might just send someone this list and move on to other stuff lmao):

1. Doesn't it damage your hair?

I don't think it does, and most of the internet will agree. I'm using semi-permanent dye (Manic Panic is even vegan dye) that I just mix with regular conditioner and/or hair mask and then slop it on to my hair, let it sit for at least an hour and then rinse. All done! The only damaging thing I did was the bleaching, which was necessary if I wanted hair this brilliant.

2. Any conditioner?

Yes! I used to use Dove, but it was kinda pricey haha so I switched to Creamsilk. I use the pink one coz it smells nice.

For the hair mask, I have L'Oreal Total Repair Hair Mask so I just mix in maybe a tablespoon of it to the conditioner and the dye.

3. What dye do you use?

I use semi-permanent, veggie dye. There are a lot of brands out there, but the most common and the easiest to get here in the PH is Manic Panic. I've also tried Arctic Fox and Adore (my favorite so far).

this is what i use for my pink!

4. Where can you get them?

You can get them from online stores and sellers like beautymnl, rainbowhead or hairgeekph (Shopee). However, if you're the type of person who wants to see the stuff before they buy it (trust issues and all that lmao), there are only handful of stores who sell these dyes physically (and they usually only have Manic Panic, which I didn't like very much). As far as I know, there is one in Espana and one in Cubao Expo. I never really bothered to find these stores haha so if you do, please let me know hahaha.

(Beautymnl only has Manic Panic to date tho)

5. So, do you like bleach every time you change colors?

No, I absolutely do not! You don't have to bleach to change colors because the dye fades anyway. Or you can just slop on color after color, and they will just mix (I learned this doing blue on blonde hair. Turned green lol)

Since November 2016 when I first bleached my hair, I have only bleached it again after about half a year because my roots were getting pretty long and I wanted a full head of color. I didn't mind having roots haha. But yeah, if you're the type who gets agitated by the sight of roots then yeah you'll have to bleach every now and then.

with roots and proud! lol

6. When you bleach, do you do the a full head?

(That's what she said) Lmao kidding. No, I do not. I just had the salon guy touch up my roots.

7. How long before it fades?

That depends on a LOT of factors, including: what brand did you use, how light your hair is, how much dye did you put in, how bright the dye was, how much fader (or conditioner/hair mask) you used if any, how often you shampoo your hair, how often you condition, how much heat does your hair get, etc. I'll get to that on another post. Maybe.

8. What did your parents think?

They're fine with it lol. (It's weird that I get asked this question a lot hahaha). Actually, my parents' Christmas gift to me was a Manic Panic Hot Hot Pink, my first pink dye, my first real crazy color that I wore on New Year's Eve 2016.

9. Ano'ng trip mo?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. It's fun! Ask anybody with funky hair color and they'll say the same thing. I may have been doing this for more than half a year but I still get kilig over new colors I put or people telling me, "oh Sigrid, iba na naman yang kulay ng buhok mo," to which I respond, "true, mem."


Got more questions? Feel free to hit me up!

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What is up with pink?

I have been dyeing my hair pink for a MONTH now and what I like about this color is that it fades really nicely: from pink you go pastel-ly rose, then rose gold, then finally back to blonde (if you have level 8-9 blonde, I guess).

I use Manic Panic's Hot Hot Pink mixed in with a little purple (any purple, but mine's Ultraviolet) and some conditioner to tone down the pink a bit. Currently checking out other brands like Adore (Neon Pink. Update: i have it now!!!) and Arctic Fox (Wrath and Virgin Pink), maybe put up a review as soon as I get my hands on them lol

I read somewhere that Special Effects Atomic Pink has the most staying power, so that too.

Eh well yeah. Go, pink!

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So I bleached my hair...

I know I haven't updated in a long while, but for some reason I missed writing and blogging and stuff so here I am!

OKAY SO STORY TIME...

I've always wanted to dye my hair a pretty color. Like, pink or green. Ganern. I figured that if it's something I really want to do, I should do it now while I'm in my twenties; mainly because I've been told that this kind of lifestyle is like really expensive and I felt like I won't have time to do it anymore if I waited a few more years (kind of exaggerated but wth).

So I read about everything--the dyes, the bleaching, how to maintain, DIYs etc. That was sometime November.

the only other time I had done anything to my hair was around New Years 2016 (so around a year ago) and all I had done was a reddish ombre. I was so psyched with just a little difference in my hair, so you could just imagine how I reacted to a full head of blonde lol.

I had my hair bleached for the first time at a salon. I figured it's not too expensive naman (around P500), and I'd like to see how they do it. And I learned:

1. Do not wash your hair at least a day before bleaching. The hair oils thing is legit.
2. Your scalp will itch, or worse, burn. So do the oil thing.
3. Let your hair rest before doing anything on top of the bleach.

In reference to item # 3, I did wait an entire week before I had my second round of bleaching. My hair was about three shades away from what I wanted to accomplish.

About a month before bleaching (yay! birthday!)

Two days after bleaching (my first day at the office as blonde. AFAM daw lol)

To me it looked pretty. All the yellow-ness looked pretty to me. I didn't know what brassy was.

BUT DAMN DID IT DAMAGE MY HAIR. IT FELT LIKE STRAW THE NEXT DAY WHEN I SHOWERED. I NEVER HAD HAIR THIS DRY (MY HAIR WAS ALMOST VIRGIN BEFORE I HAD IT BLEACHED). Dati, shampoo lang, okay na. Now I can't leave the bathroom without putting conditioner. #deds

Anyway, I had my hair bleached the second time after a week. I was hesitant to go back to the same salon because he let my hair soak in the stuff for more than an hour. Sabi sa research, it should take about 20-40 minutes lang. I went to other salons but all of them told me it would take two hours minimum (application + soak), which I think is too damaging... and they're also hella expensive (P1.5k on just bleach, compared to P500). Oh well.

And so off I went to the salon again. I asked Nicole, my stylist, to just do it in 30 minutes. She was okay naman, it was my hair anyway. Lessons learned:

1. Know the stuff your hairstylists use.
2. Feel free to tell them that you feel bleach shouldn't be in your hair for more than an hour.
3. Bring something to do lol

This was hours after the second bleaching

Again, in reference to item # 1, I didn't bother asking what stuff she used on my hair, so I ended up just a teensy tiny bit blonder than I already was. I didn't go pale blonde as much as I'd hope after two rounds of bleaching.

Oh well.

So bottomline: I am blonde, and the story of how I DIY-ed my toner is another story.


Lovelots,

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