Garnier Nutrisse Dark Intense Auburn – R1

Back in my younger days, I colored my hair quite a bit. Sometimes it would be a darker color such as, oh, jet black, because my natural color isn’t really all that dark to begin with, and you always want what you don’t have, right? It’s naturally a mixture of dark brown, medium brown, copper/light brown, and red. Sandy in the summer. And no matter how healthy and moisturized it is, it looks dry because of the color combination. After a few rounds of black hair, I decided that I wanted burgundy hair. And it suited me so well that I kept it burgundy for several years. Then I moved on to other colors…and then got bored.

Eventually I grew tired of the upkeep when it comes to color-treated hair, so I let it grow out and went back to my natural color for six years. But super red hair was calling me again…and here we are. 😉

garnierusa.com

After watching several YouTube videos and scouring Tumblr and Pinterest for just the right shade, I finally settled on Garnier Nutrisse Ultra Color in R1, which is supposed to be a dark intense auburn. I’m not sure about dark, but it is definitely intense! At least it is before the first shampoo! When you’re inside, the color isn’t as vibrant as you’d think it would be. Don’t get me wrong, you can still totally see it, but when the sun comes out or the flash comes on? My goodness, it is RED.

Before the first shampoo

Color after the first shampoo, and in direct sunlight

Flash…

 

Extra bright, thanks to PicMonkey. lol

And I LOVE it.

As you can see, my hair and the hair on the box are not the same color. Not even close! But R1 was a good choice. Who knows what would have happened had I tried R2 or R3! Actually, I know that this post wouldn’t have happened, that’s for sure. Haha! Hopefully this is a color that Garnier will continue to produce for a long time! I see myself using this color quite a bit in the future. 🙂

In the Lab: DIY Hair Mascara – Eyeshadow and Gel!

So my hair color is…not consistent. 😉 My natural color is a mixture of dark brown, medium brown, auburn, and copper. I have sandy sections in the summer due to the sunlight. Did I mention the few blond hairs that eventually turn gray? Yeah, those are fun. Anyhoo, my hairline has been playing tricks on me for the last year or so. I really thought that I was losing hair until I looked at it really closely in the mirror earlier in the year. As I pinched that section repeatedly, I realized that I was not losing my hair. In fact, there are plenty of strands there (of the baby variety!) – they’re just extremely fine, and extremely light in color. The solution? Hair mascara!

I’ve used hair mascara that you can buy at beauty supply stores, and then realized that brown/black eye mascara works just as well. The only problem is that the hair does not stay soft, and it’s not always easy to wash out. So I decided to see if I could make some myself, because really, it just sounded like fun. And I was bored. And there we have it.

Ingredients:

Black/Brown eyeshadow (or whatever color combination works for your hair!)

Hair gel

A bowl for mixing

A utensil for scraping eyeshadow and for mixing

A clean mascara wand

Hair! 😀

1) Scrape out your eyeshadow into a bowl. I blended a “light” black shadow with a light brown shadow to get a brown/black shade. You can use whatever combination you want! 

Kinda yucky looking, huh? It’ll be alright, I promise. 🙂

2) Grab your gel, and mix enough of it together with your eyeshadow(s) so that it has a slightly muddy consistency. I know “muddy” isn’t the word that you would want to use to describe this, but for me, it was probably the most accurate description! Ha! I used  Isoplus Styling Gel. I needed to find a way to get rid of it anyway.

3) When it’s all mixed up and ready to go, dip your clean mascara wand into the mixture, and proceed to apply it to your hair. If you do have thinning spots, make sure that you fill them all in with the color. Gently, though. If you rake it through, then you just might end up bald. That would not be good! And that applies to all hair mascaras, DIY or store bought. Be careful with your tresses!

 

And there you have it! Mind you, it’s also super easy to wash out – takes much less effort than it does with regular mascara. If you want to store some for later, I would suggest buying some empty plastic mascara tubes from eBay or from stores that sell supplies/containers to people that make their own cosmetics for personal or commercial use. Please do not re-use old mascara tubes, even if it’s only to be used on your hair. You might be forgetful like me and think that it’s regular mascara. *looks around* Hey, it happens. 😉