How To Maintain Colored Hair in the Middle East (and Where To Acquire Hair Products in Qatar)

Phew — It has been ages since I posted something related to hair! I’m keeping a hair-related blog, right. Anyway, I hope you do enjoy looking at my candy subscription boxes this past few months.

Before anything else, I would like to remind you about my disclaimer notes that are posted here and here. This post might also contain some affiliate links and/or codes where you can get discounts from partner websites and I will also get a small amount in return.

Finally — I found time to think about what subject it is to share with you with regards to hair – and what I thought might be interesting to discuss is what I’m recently facing: As you might know, year 2017, I had moved to the middle east to work and being the person I used to be, I know that the first thing that comes to mind to most people when they hear middle east is the sand; desert; camels…?; heat!

Well, you are right about that. Except that it gets colder during winter down to 9~10°C. But for half a year, you have to deal with the other side: 31~42°C, sometimes up to 49°C. What to do by then?

• Store water in pails to cool it down for bathing
  During summer at peak hours of heat, you can almost boil an egg if you turn on the tap and put it in the running water. I kid you not. I cannot wash my hands directly from the tap during summer. Although, this is not always the case; this mostly happens to buildings or villas that store their water on the roof. Most high-rise buildings and hotels have cold water any time of the day and heaters are always available. So, one thing to be reminded of if you happen to stay at a place in the middle east, or eventually live in it, is to store cool water for bathing during summer because hot water for hair is a big NO.
  
• Get under the shade; avoid walking under the sun
  Much like your skin, hair (and your scalp) might be well exposed to UV rays from mister sun. Good (or bad) thing about the middle east is you get access to air-conditioned rooms every where you go, even some bus stops has AC. If you find yourself needing to walk under the extreme heat, better be prepared with caps or scarfs. Fun trivia: if you are a Southeast Asian, chances are you have your umbrella with you, but will not see anyone else using it in the middle east. Nobody prohibits you using such, you just might notice that you are the only one (like what happened to me.) If you feel more comfortable with umbrellas in tow, go ahead!
  
• Do not shampoo your hair everyday
  This is a general reminder to all kinds of hair. For dyed hair though, applying shampoo to hair will speed up fading the color. Downside is you might be uncomfortable with the greasy feeling, and if that’s your concern, you can use an alternative shampoo such as Dry Shampoo. You can find different types of Dry Shampoo in Qatar; powder type No Drought dry shampoo from LUSH Cosmetics, who has branches across big malls inside Doha; or spray cans like the famous Batiste that you can find in almost all grocery stores, common scents that I see are Original, Cherry, Floral, and Blush.
  
• Use oil treatments once or twice a week
  Oils are great recharge for your hair. You strip them off, you put them back! You can find them at all grocery stores in different types, shapes, and color.
  
• Use damage repair treatments as often as instructed
  I personally recommend Olaplex No. 3 for bleached hair. I bought mine locally from Nazih, a hair and beauty products supply store who has a number of branches in Doha. You can also try Some By Mi’s MIRACLE Repair Treatment, that I have yet to try, which I bought from YesStyle — you will also get EXTRA discount when you type in the promo code: YES5NIKITA at checkout!

Now that you are ready for the heat… Do you want to hear about the places you can visit here in Qatar? Let me know by commenting below.

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Watsons 50% Off Hair Haul

I was at SM North EDSA yesterday because I watched Pitch Perfect 2. (It was fine.) I checked out Lolane’s “Headzone” or their free hair color application booth at The Block, I scanned the shelves that had been set up there… And they don’t have P38. So, uh… Why is it all hair brands are limiting their options when they export here in PH? (Luckily we have our trusty online shops to provide us with crazy hair colors.)

Anywaaay, on the way to the booth, I eyed 50% off at this drugstore… And Palty was on display! But then I have to tame my urge to peek at the available shades because I don’t want to bore the guy I’m with. And I’m limiting my expense that day.

Today, I dropped by Robinson’s Imus to finally check out the shades at Watson’s. (Yes, they have Watson’s inside Robinsons.) I WAS SO THANKFUL TO LAY MY HANDS ON PALTY in Cinnamon Churros for only… PhP 249.75! That’s down from PhP 499.75/box! And I bought this CRUSET in A911 Golden Blond for only PhP 94.75 (which is also 50% off from PhP 190~) to lift my hair color because…

I’m going Blonde again!

Hair Chronicles: Blonde Taste

I am back to Blonde (for now), I think level 6 (out of 10) and planning to go Græy before Friday.

I’m going to post photos and which products I used, soon. Please bear with me as my first endorsement for my undergraduate thesis is on Friday. And I don’t know why I chose this time to bleach my hair.

Update: April 2015

As I’ve underwent Brazilian Blow Out [just] more than a month ago before this post, I’ve felt the huge difference of the texture before and after. I immediately felt regret after I bleached my hair. That money I spent for the blow out was blown. out. (Ha ha)

But then, here we are, I bleached it twice(?) — I can’t actually remember though because of the great focus on thesis work. Sported the ugly brassy hair for a few days, then used a cheap Violet hair color to remove the brassy tones. Now, I went wrong with this one because it has a Red base. If you are going to cancel out the Orange and Yellow tones on your bleached hair, use a Purple color, making sure it has a Blue base (meaning the color blue is the abundant primary color than color red; basic color math that I’ve failed to do.) I ended up just coloring my entire head with it and wore it for a few months…  Which turned out to be my hair color on my official graduation photo. I think now I’m having regrets with it.

Bleached my hair again, after a month or so, and used Pixxel in Lightest Ash Blond where its magic did not work that much on the brass. The lower ends of my hair turned out silvery while the top of my head still looks like orange.

How to: Bleach your hair + Colisi Bleaching Powder and Lan.Caress Developer Review

Here’s a review on my Quiapo finds last, last month; at the same time, this would be a tutorial/photo diary on how to mix these chemicals or how to bleach your own hair.

DO NOT TAKE A BATH AT LEAST 2 DAYS BEFORE BLEACHING.

Clean your body, except your head. (I’ve tried 5 days.) This is for letting the natural oils of your scalp spread around your head, the natural oils will help lessen the damage that bleaching will give your hair.

You can add in VCO or olive oil, too.

Get your tools:

• Non-metallic bowl (for mixing chemicals)
• Tinting brush
• Gloves!
• Vaseline/ lotion
• Hair clips (large mouth clips)
• Measuring cup (optional, you can use any non-metallic scoop)
• Bleaching powder
• Bleaching oxidant or developer (30/40 vol.)
• Hair toner (you will need developers for some toners, or click here for an alternative)
• Hair treatment creams

Before bleaching:

1. Prepare all the tools you need.
2. Set-up your space; make sure the room’s ventilated because the smell would be strong and it can sting your eyes. Use old newspapers to cover up the floor, table or desk, whatsoever around you.
3. Wear an old shirt or top that you don’t care about staining.
4. Remove your earrings and other metallic accessories that you’re wearing.
5. Put a generous amount of vaseline or lotion around your face, behind the ears (and your ears, themselves), the nape, and upper part of your back, (especially when you have long hair.)
6. Mix it uppp! Ratio is 1 part bleach powder:2 parts developer. 

Mix until “batter consistency:”

Part your hair into four sections. Start at the lower back part of your hair.
Get a pinch-sized section of your hair and, using your brush, start at the roots, all the way down to the tips of your hair. This is for an equal distribution of hair bleach on all your hair that will result in even lightening.

Work on the next parting, going up. When you’re done — make sure you did not miss a spot — you can cover your hair with a shower cap to lock-in the heat on your head.

Leave it on for 20-40 minutes maximum. Clean up the mess while waiting!

Rinse it out with running freezing cold water, avoid eye contact, use shampoo (to remove bleach residues on your head) then conditioner. 

Hair is already damaged, do not blow dry. Use deep conditioning for the next 2 months. Do not bleach your hair twice within 2 months — one month, tops. Unless you want to go bald.

Peculiar Hair Chronicles: Summer Starter… or Ruin-er?

It’s been a while. Here I am updating this blog before the month ends (I made it!) and I’m on my way in fulfilling my promise of bleaching my hair this summer *horray* then dye it with an unusual hair color.

SO. Without further adieu, I would share how I officially started my summer this 2014, aside from the humiliating (myself) year-ender party of Archinet plus some weird stuff I’m trying — I bleached my hair [again] the night I got back home. Now here’s the back story:

• March 16, Sunday, I honestly can’t remember what happened but I bleached my hair, left it for about an hour, and the usual result of the first bleaching process: Black to [somewhat-dark-and-Orange-y] Brown. 1 Level lighter, that is. The week went on complying with last few requirements we have to pass, then, after 6 days;
• With the block party and org party in between, I got back home, March 22, Saturday late in the afternoon, with hangover, and was thinking, ‘hey, school works are (somewhat) finally over… I can now fry my hair!’ and bleached it. I left the bleach for about 45 minutes and it’s so uneven. My roots are Orange Orange.

NOTE: It is definitely *NOT ADVISABLE* to re-bleach your hair just after a week, wait for at least a month or two -- don't follow my foot steps unless you want to burn your scalp, and have bald spots, and super-ultra-mega damage your hair.

Before going to the next one, I have to share something about the Purple food coloring I planned to use on my hair for toning: I asked my aunt to buy me one and got me a powder food coloring in Violet under the name of Mr. Brown. I don’t know what it means, but when I mixed it with our drinking water, it only turns into Blue; then, using the tap water, it turns Purple, yes, but after some time, I noticed that there are Red-colored bits on the sink, melting just now.

I don’t know if it has something to do with the ‘Hard water‘ thing-y, where you got some Iron or minerals on your water source, depends on your place, which adds to the brassiness of your hair (I made some research, and will definitely make a post about it soon) but if you’re planning to use food coloring to tone your hair, I suggest using the [already] liquid ones, because…

• The next day, March 23, Sunday, I “toned” my hair twice: First, using the food color and lots of conditioner (it has a Blue-ish color, by the way,) and the Second one was mixing the food color to my Shampoo. I realized it was just getting my hair darker and darker. It’s not lifting or neutralizing any Yellow up that much. It was so frustrating that I bleached my hair, again.  My roots are now White and the top of my head is pale Yellow, and from the mid-length to my tips, it’s fucking Orange. And, oh, I have a few skin burns around my neck and poignant wounds on my scalp, plus one patch of my hair where I usually test bleach, easily breaks when you pull it, too brittle: I look like I have a texture of a [Mad] Witch’s hair. Remember the NOTE above guys — I’m such a loser.

I now have an ugly colored hair, without a toner and cannot go out without looking Jeje.

As of March 24 2014 11:47 PM

Grabbed from my Instagram account, which explains why the photo’s very grainy (thanks Apple iPad selfie-cam). Processed with VSCOcam, thus what you see is not the actual hair color I have now. It’s a lot more Orange and full of Yellow tones it’ll kill you when you stare at it.

I cannot go out with this hair color (Hello, Badjao Yellow) unless I want to humiliate myself (to myself) twice within a week. Luckily, someone would run an errand for me and pay for the toner I ordered online… which is Wella Hair Toner T18 and currently looking for more information about it on the internet.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Do your research, plan your process of dyeing, have backups (or stack-ups) of different products for different purposes, ask for a friend to lend a helping hand.

Quiapo Finds: Colisi Hair Bleach and Lan.Caress Developer

People living in Metro Manila knows where/what Quiapo is, for those who, I’m afraid, does not, it is a home for every product you need, with of course, a reasonable price.

We were originally looking for Instax Films for my friend, Winona (after we’ve left my prescription eyeglasses, for a while, for replacing its lens with the graded ones — you can buy cheap eyeglass frames and prescription ones at Paterno street). We swept the whole Hidalgo street looking for the cheapest film for their trip to Beijing. It is when we stumbled upon a shop filled with hair-related products.

I haven’t had the time to take note of the shop’s name, but it was just along Hidalgo street, along with the photography-stuff shops; this one’s near the plaza already. It has shelves and shelves of large bottles and tubs for hair care and some cosmetics and nail polishes along the aisle. But long story short, I picked out a hair bleach and a developer. After-all, I was planning to buy and use Hydrogen Peroxide to lighten my hair by summer, hence my plan of a blue/pink hair by that time.

This is LAN.CARESS Create Perfect “Fashion Professional Peroxides Milk” which is a Volume 30 (9%) Oxidizer — which I got for only Eighty-five pesos (85 Php) only!!! That’s for a Thousand milliliters (1000 mL) already!

I was thinking about getting a 6% oxidizer, unlike the last ones that I have been using, which is a 60mL Volume 30 (9%) Oxiding Emulsion Cream by Mondes Professional — which, by the way, I got from a Hortaleza branch at a nearby mall for about Twenty pesos (20PHP) — because I wanted to try a less damaging bleaching process, which can be achieved by choosing the lesser percentage…

But I ended up buying a 9% anyway. I’m afraid 6% will not work its magic on my hair.

It has a nose for its opening and has a poorly printed Manufacturing/Expiry date at the bottom of the [big] bottle, that I cannot even read it, much less guess the date, but most probably this’ll be good for 3 years after its manufacturing year, 2013… I don’t know if that’s September.

I’ll just probably use it all up — or share it with a friend — before 2015 ends. Anyway, in estimate: 1000mL / 60mL = 16.66 bottles, rounding it off to, say 16, which costs around x 18Php/each = that is 300 Pesos for a thousand mL. I get to save 200+ in my pocket.

And this is so much steal! Colisi Hair Bleaching Powder, 450~500 grams for only Seventy-Five  Pesos (75 PHP)!

I looked up the brand’s name on the internet – just now – because I’m not quite sure if it’s ‘Colisi’ or ‘Coilsi’, and found out that this is made by Sophia Marie — I haven’t had a thorough review on their products but I will make my own, anytime soon.

I know you have this idea that both products are China-made. We both know it. All of the things we own are Made In China, but you can check out the ingredients on both products, printed and labeled. I don’t know with Colisi, but it has different languages on it, Chinese isn’t one. The Manufacture/expiry date are clear on this one, at the bottom of the tub.

The powder is sealed inside a plastic bag with a “bread ring” as I call it (an easily-fold-able metallic wire wrapped in a Gold-colored plastic material) just like so in the photos.

It is Blue in color, just like the ones I’m using to bleach my hair. Can you believe that I am buying that exact same thing before for Ninety Pesos (9o Php) for only a hundred grams (100 g)?

Both products just made me look at my friend, mouthing the words “score!” For these are bulk products, which I strongly think is being used at local salons, the amount I got for a little amount of money is way too exciting but maybe you’re thinking quality-wise, I’m going to try it on myself and make a documentation about it soon.