Review: Avon Advanced Techniques Professional Hair Color

Today I'm going to review Avon's Advanced Techniques Professional Hair Color.  The shade I used was 3.0 Darkest Brown, which is the darkest shade of brown you can get without going black.  Just to give you a little background about me, I'm forty years old and have been colouring my hair since I was fourteen, that's a long time and a lot of hair dye.  I've mostly used home hair colour bought at the drug store, but in the past couple of years I've bought the Ion brand of professional hair colour through Sally Beauty.  Since I'm an Independent Avon Representative, I decided to give the Avon hair colour a try and see how it stacks up against drug store hair colour and the professional hair colour that I've used in the past.

What comes in the box: The box contains four components in addition to the instructions and gloves.  You get a pretreatment, developer, creme colorant and post treatment.  The pretreatment was a nice addition above what you normal get in most home hair colour kits.  The intent of the treatment is to protect the length and ends of your hair from the colour, and to ensure more even colour coverage.  This is supposed to prevent the end of your hair from getting darker than your roots, as can sometimes happen if you colour your hair a lot, as you get a build up of colour on the ends.  I really like the pretreatment, it had a nice fragrance, and was easy to distribute over the hair.  I'll get into more detail further down about the actually hair colour, but I have to say I really liked the gloves that came in the kit.  They were sturdier and of better quality than the what is usually in boxed hair colour kits.

Colour Range: This product comes in a range of twenty five shades, ten blonde, nine brunette, four red, and two shades of black.  So there is a shade to suit most people.

Consistency of Hair Colour: I liked the consistency of the product.  You mix the developer and the creme colorant in a bottle, and apply it to the hair using the applicator at the end of the bottle, as you would with most home hair colour.  The product was thicker than typical hair colour from the drug store, and as a result didn't drip and run like some hair colour products can.  The smell of the product was not offensive and didn't bother me at all.

Price Range: The hair colour I bought was on sale for $7.99, and the regular price is $10.99 which is comparable to the drug store brands.

Results: The colour took thirty minutes to develop, and rinsed out well and easily.  The post treatment left my hair feeling soft and silky.  I really like the resulting colour, as it looks very natural, with subtle lights and darks, instead of just a flat colour.  My hair is very shiny as well.  While I don't have a lot of grey hair, I do have some, and the product covered my greys completely.  I did get a little of the dye on my skin, but it came off easily with a little cleanser and water.

Overall I really liked this hair colour and would recommend it to anyone who colours their hair at home.  What I think really makes this product stand out is the pretreatment, the quality of the gloves, the low order and the mess free formula.  I will definitely use this product again.  In order to purchase this product, simply contact your local Independent Avon Sales Representative.

Disclaimer:  I'm an Independent Avon Sales Representative and purchased this product.  All opinions are my own.

How to Have Nice Looking Fingernails

I've always been envious of those women who seem to have beautiful looking fingernails, with seemingly little effort.  I spent most of my childhood, and a good part of my adulthood as a chronic nail biter.  I have short fingers and my hands are small in proportion to the rest of me, and add to that the chewed off fingernails and you get someone who is very self conscious of how their hands look.  I tried going to nails salons and getting acrylic tips put on, but that can be a bit of pain because you need to go for regular fills, and it's not the healthiest option for you finger nails.  If you want to make your own nails look good, read on where I'll share my tips that have worked for me to get nice, healthy looking nails.

Stop biting: Easier said then done, I know.  There are products out there that you can put on your nails that taste bitter and act as a reminder not to bite when you put your fingers in your mouth.  I tried a product called Stop and Grow when I was a kid, and it worked for a while.   But it did wear off and I did bite my nails.  I don't put anything like that on my nails now.  I carry a small emery board with me whereever I go because a trigger for nail biting for me is a rough edge on my nail.  I find if I keep my nails smooth, I'm less apt to bite.  I also find that wearing nail polish discourages me from biting, which leads me do my next tip.

Give yourself a weekly manicure: Spend about an hour, once a week, pampering your hands and fingernails by giving yourself a manicure.  Spend some time shaping your nails, moisturizing your hands and putting on a pretty nail polish, and you will be less likely to ruin the effect by biting your nails.  Promise yourself to go without biting until you next manicure.

Don't try to grow your nails too long: I have friends that have natural fingernails that are quite long.  I think everyone has a certain length that their nails will get to before they start to split or break.  Try to maintain that length by filing with an emery board, or clipping when you need to.  If you're giving yourself weekly manicures, then you shouldn't have any problems maintaining the right length for you.

Don't use your nails as tools: One thing that can wreak havoc with your manicure is using your nails as tools.  If a staple needs to come out of some papers, use a staple remover.  If you need to open a pop can, use something else other than your fingernails.  Using your nails to pry anything open is just asking for breakage.

Eat a healthy diet:  The saying garbage in garbage out is very true, especially when it comes to what foods you eat.  Everyone should eat a balanced, whole foods diet to look and feel their bests.  There are certain foods that do benefit your nails.  Protein, foods rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C and Vitamin D all play a part in healthy looking nails.

So that's what has worked for me.  Give it a try and see if my tips can work for you.  If you have any tips that I haven't mentioned that work for you to get nice, healthy fingernails, please share in the comments.

Review: Avon Ideal Flawless BB Beauty Balm Cream

Coming in June 2013 (Campaign 13) Avon is adding a BB Cream to it's Ideal Flawless line of make-up products.  I've had the opportunity to try this product and I will be reviewing it in this post.  

What is a BB Beauty Balm?

It seems everywhere you look, there is a new BB cream on the market, but what is a BB cream anyway?  A BB cream is a product that falls midway between a tinted moisturizer and a foundation.  It provides more coverage than a tinted moisturizer but isn't as heavy as a traditional foundation.  BBs also contain sun protection, so they can be used in place of a sunscreen on the face.  It can be used alone instead of foundation, if you want lighter coverage than a traditional foundation, which makes it an ideal product to where in the summer.  Or you can wear it as a primer underneath foundation if you want more coverage.  

Review:

Coverage: A small amount of the product goes a long way.  I used a pea size amount, and that was more then enough to cover my entire face.  The product felt very light on my skin, and it proved a decent level of coverage for the weight and amount of the product used.  Definitely more coverage than a tinted moisturizer.  It obviously didn't provide as heavy a coverage as a traditional foundation, nor is it intended too.  The weight and coverage is ideal for heading into summer, when you want sun protection combined with a make up that hides minor skin flaws without looking heavily made up.

Finish: This is not a matte product.  There is a slight amount of shine to your face after the product has been applied, which gives the skin a more natural, dewey look.  I prefer a more matte product, but a little bit of pressed powder applied after the BB and I had the finish that I wanted. 

Colour Range: Most BBs are available in two shades - light and medium.  Avon's BB is available in five shades - light, medium light, medium, medium dark and dark.  I've swatched all five shades so you can see what they look like.

So from left to right it's light, medium light, medium, medium dark and dark.  As you can see from the swatch, my ideal shade is the medium light, which is the shade that I got.

Price: When Avon releases the BB cream the introductory price will be $12.99.  The regular price will $15.00.  This is pretty typical of most BB creams that are currently on the market.

Overall Impression: Overall I was pleased with the product.  It had the amount of coverage I was looking for without being too heavy.  I like the fact that it also has a sunscreen, which means one less product I need to put on my face before heading out the door.  It had a bit more shine to it than I was looking for, but that was easily remedied with a bit of pressed powder, and not a deal breaker for me.  The shade I chose match well with my skin, I liked that there was a shade in between light and medium to help me get a good match.  All in all this is definitely a product that I will add to my beauty routine, especially as we head into summer.

To purchase this product contact your local Independent Avon Representative.  

Disclaimer: I'm an Independent Avon Representative and purchased this product as a demo.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own.