Review: Garnier Olia Hair Dye Part II

Ok so I woke up this morning with my hair feeling ah-mazing. Like, I don't even know but it feels like I never dyed my hair in the first place!! 

The conditioner that I left in kept my hair smelling amazing and soft. I'm so glad I have another tube!! If you buy Olia, I highly recommend using the conditioner it comes with as a leave-in product and use another hair mask to rinse off and stuff.

To get started, here's some pictures if how my hair started :)

These two photos were taken outside, so natural lighting :)

And this one is you know... Taken inside a classroom :P

I left the dye for one and a half "Doctor Who" episodes, (cried during one too :'( ) so around an hour? Hahah I get distracted easily :P

I started with the blonde dye at the ends, then the brown on my roots. Then covered the rest of my lower layer with blonde dye and the top layer with the brown. I tried making a zig zag effect to have like ombré high lights. 

Sorry for so many pics :P but I wanted you guys to have as much of a feel to how it changed my hair as possible :)

Again, since it's ammonia free and on hair that's previously been dyed, I knew it wasn't going to be anything dramatic... But I love love love how it gave me a really nice ombré effect.

In some pictures it looks really brassy but I promise in real life it's more of a golden chestnut color :) of course it didn't lighten too much, but the cool tones of the blonde dye calmed down my former brassy tones, so yay :)

As you can also tell from the picture of just my ends, no terrible split ends yet

Ill probably do an update on how much it fades and such but so far I'm totally impressed and in love ❤❤❤

The color range is so-so, with a total of 24 colors, but I don't think most drugstores have all the colors... I was really surprised it lightened my hair, although it was only a little, especially because it was ammonia free.

I don't think this would work as well on/ have the power to lighten virgin Asian hair to a really light color, but if you're looking for a subtle change, I would definitely recommend

The packaging was amazing, better than any dye I've ever used (with amazing gloves ;) ) and it actually smelled really nice (I know it sounds really weird, but you'll get what I'm saying if you try it) 

Anyway, that's all :) hope you're having a wonderful day!!

Review: Garnier Olia Hair Dye Part I

I've been thinking about dying my hair for a while now... I've dyed it a few times before, but since I wanted to grow my hair out I stopped for a while. My hair was a really brassy brown color and kept on growing (yay!!) until I had what my mom calls the "mushroom effect" (nay...)

So to let my roots look a bit better, I dyed the top portion of my head a dark brown color that blended nicely with my natural black so that it gave me a really nice ombré effect that I've had since the beginning of the year. I really really liked that, and letting it go natural let my hair get quite long, the longest I've had in a long time. 

But you know... The boredom of summer and the brightness kinda got me going and so I decided to lighten my hair!! I'd learn my lesson long ago that unless I wanted monthly dyeing for my roots, I should do an ombré, which I was totally cool with.

So, today I went to HEB (Texan grocery store ;) ) and bought the Garnier Olia hair dye in medium golden brown and lightest cool brown. The reason why I chose this kind was a. there was a coupon that said $5 off and b. this hair dye is ammonia free. This dye was $8.97 at my local HEB, but at the cash register place, they took an additional few bucks off or something because I only paid $8.60 or so including tax. SCORE!!:) 

Now, this is where us Asian girls have to think for a bit about what color to get. There is no way we can achieve any color other than black unless we use asian hair dye, which is designed specifically to lift Asian hair, bleach, which we all know damaged hair like no tomorrow, or blonde American box dye. 

Before anything, I'm obviously not a hair expert of anything, so I'm not certified in any way to give you advise on hair. Happy? That was the disclaimer :P but as a fellow Asian haired girl with personal experience, do not, no matter what, bleach your hair (if you desire brown hair. Blonde, knock yourself out. There's no other way to become blonde. But if you want brown hair, don't bleach. That is a big fat no-no) I've gone to the salon before, and you know they always do the "you can't lift Asian hair without bleach" or "you should stay between 2 to 3 shades of your natural color" speech. But I mean, c'mon. The whole reason why we want to dye our hair is for change, and 2 to 3 shades lighter than black is not that different from black... 

Anyway, sorry straying from the review for a bit :P I'm sure I can tell you my hair story another time :P out of the three choices to lighten my hair, I wasn't going to use bleach. Have I mentioned I hate bleach enough to you? Well I'm telling you again, say no to bleach! And although I love my Asian hair dye, I've been a little broke as of late :P so I decided if I'm only going to subtly lighten my hair, I might as well try American box dyes for once. 

Since I'm still trying to grow my hair out and want to be as healthy as possible, I decided with Olia because of it's ammonia free-ness and it's claim to be composed of mostly oil. Oil is good for hair so... If it can dye it at the same time, why not? So I gave it a go ;)

Since I have Asian hair (highly resistant to dye) +previously dyed (color can't lift color :P)+ Olia being ammonia free (less chemically and damaging to hair), Ill be lucky if my hair is able to go up a few shades. But you know, a girls gotta try ;) 

Honestly, I'm going for a subtle change anyway, so I thought this was going to be the best dye for me. So, on we go!!

These are the things that come with the box. It comes with instructions but... I just didn't want to take a picture of that :P the thing I would like you guys to notice, however, is this amazing pair of gloves!!!!!! No joke the nicest pair of gloves that I've ever seen come with a box dye. Big thumbs up for that!!

I made the blonde dye first because I wanted to let that dye sit in my hair longer. I wanted to take pictures of how the brown dye looks mixed up and stuff but... My hands were covered in dye and I didn't dare touch my phone at that point :P

When the two solutions are sitting on too of each other, one of them is a really pretty orange color :P that at first got me really worried about how my hair was gonna turn out :P but after mixing it it turns into a normal dye-like color (did that paragraph make any sense? Lol) 

I'd like to say I took a lot more pictures for you guys but... I'd be lying :P honestly it was such a messy process and I didn't wanna screw up my phone so... Sorry :( 

I used the brown on the top layer and roots of my head, and the rest I covered with blonde dye starting at the roots. I left it on for one and a half Doctor Who episodes lol (new Netflix obsession :P ) and then hit the tub.

After rinsing, I kept the conditioner, which smells heavenly by the way, in my hair for around 10 minutes while I shaved and soaked and all that jazz ;) while I was rinsing, my hair felt really stringy which got me super worried, but I think leaving the conditioner in helped it a little. I only used four fifths of it in the shower, and I have another tube from the other box so I'd say I'm set for a while. I put a little but of the conditioner on it again after I got out as a leave-in kind of thing although its not meant for that... Oh well :P 

Honestly, it's dark and I have terrible lighting at my house so ill probably do an update with tons of pics later along with the final verdict of this hair dye :) but so far my hair still feels healthy and my ends are slightly lighter than before. My roots  also have obvious brown tones in it, and I seriously cannot wait to see my hair in the light!!

Night y'all!!

What's been going on...

So I go to a Japanese school that's obviously separate from my normal one. It goes by the same system as any school in Japan (so school years starting in the spring, one month summers, etc. Ill probably explain everything in another post at another time :P) and brimming with... Japanese kids :P I guess I'll have to explain everything in another post as well.

Anyway, what sucks most is that at one point they all leave to go back to Japan... And that's what happened with one of my close friends last week, Maya. I've known her for around 4 years and we've been super close... Ugh :/ I can't even begin to say how bad I am with goodbyes. 

For her last day, we went to the mall to chill and stuff :) bought matching necklaces from Charlotte Russe (their 2 for $10 sale is just the bomb!!)

Just a few pictures of us ;) Afterwards, a few of us from our class and the one above us went for a nice game of bowling

I got to spend a few more hours with her, just hanging out at her house ;)

Btw the shorts I'm wearing are the ones I cut from the jeans I got in my haul ;) I think they turned out super well and I'm totally in love ❤❤❤

So yeah... That's what's been goin on :/ I'm gonna miss Maya so much... But you know, it's never a goodbye if you don't make it so ;) in definitely planning to see her someday, and that's what counts!! Or at least, that's me trying to be positive... 

Anyway, sorry for such a long break. I just had no idea how to write this post, and was obviously over thinking it way too much... Going to post more things so yeah :)

Hope you guys are having a wonderful day!!

Goodwill Haul!! My first time thrifting

Today, I went to my local Goodwill to thrift for the first time!! I think thrifting has become really big thanks to Macklemore... Hah semi-jk :P No, but I think a big thing is that there are a lot of good deals and lots of items you usually don't find in the mall. 

The main reason why I wanted to go to Goodwill was for high waisted jeans. They are really in style right now, and look great on those of us that are petite+really really short legs (like me!) For some reason, I can never find a good pair at the mall, and when I do it's really expensive :/ So I decided to take matters into my own hands and to just grab a pair of cheap jeans, cut them, and make myself a pair :P 

The first pair I got were these normal-toned, regular jeans from Paper Denim & Cloth. They're a little on the high-rise but not that much.The main reason I got them was because of my jean junkie dad. He's SERIOUSLY into vintage denim and stuff, and he took one look at these and said this is a good pair. And... You know... You can't really go against him when he says that :P I did try them on in the fitting room, and they were super comfy which earns a big thumbs up from me :)

Next is like my super-happy-making-best-buy-of-the-year kind of item. These super blue high-waisted jeans!! I took one look at these and instantly fell in love ❤ this was practically EXACTLY what I was looking for!! It's from a brand called Zena which I've never heard of before, but I'm super in love with these, and can't wait to cut em up and make them my go-to shorts ;)

So I was pretty happy after scoring myself two great pairs of jeans, but ya know... A girl can't really walk out of a store without looking at more :P I took a look through some extra isles and came across these babes :P

The top two are American Eagle, third is Abercombie and Fitch, and fourth is Forever 21. Both jeans were $7.99, camis were $6.99, and the other two tops were $4.99. That made a grand total of around $43!! (Including tax and all that jazz) None of the items really looked that worn, and honestly the only bad thing is the slightly granny like scent? that came with the clothes. But I mean, c'mon, these items came from a thrift shop; you can't really expect Hollister perfume being vented around :P 

So... Yeah :) my first thrifting was a great experience and I'm super impressed with the prices and items that I got!! Definitely going back there again ;) I'll probably do an update on how the jeans-to-shorts experiment goes about but... That's it for now :) hope y'all are having a wonderful day!!

Day at the park

So, this morning I woke up at 7:30 (gasp, I know) to go to the park!! Thankfully traffic wasn't bad at all and it only took us around 30, 40 minutes to get there. I know, that's pretty far to go for a walk but oh my gosh, it was SO worth it

Here's some pictures I took while jogging :)

You can actually canoe or kayak in these lakes too (the rental place wasn't open yet so nobody was doing it when we were there). Planning on doing it next time!! ;)

Oh, and this place is practically right next to downtown, so that's why you can see some buildings from across the lake. 

So after our long walk/jog around the park, we went to Schlotzsky's for a post-workout lunch :)

This is Cheese!! Yes, I'm the one that named her with my awesome taste as a 6 year-old :P She's obviously pretty old now, around 8-ish? But she's still pretty athletic. She's been with me since forever ❤ 

I don't think I've mentioned yet but she's fully grown :P her breed, Cavelier King Charles Spaniel, is a toy dog so they're all small to medium size, just in case you were wondering :)

Afterwards, we made a quick stop at our local HEB for some groceries. Cheese was in the backseat knocked out in front of the AC, so I just had to take a picture :P Having black fur in the Texas heat is not the best combination AT ALL, so we cooled her down with some ice water at Schlotzsky's and her own AC In the back ;)

Get to know me :) Part III

Just a little disclaimer before I start ranting ;) I love love LOVE my daddy, but he is the most annoying thing ever sometimes... I think most of us can relate :P

I don't think I've mentioned yet, but I'm an only child. That and being a girl makes me his little baby. Yay me. *insert eye-roll and huge sigh* That constantly puts me in the spotlight of all his expectations which can be a bit... Too much.

To him, I'm living the dream, but from a really different perspective. He doesn't talk about his childhood much, but the general gist of it was that he didn't get along with his dad. He has two other siblings, both girls, (my aunts :) ) whom his dad thought were smarter than he was so... They were always prioritized before him, and being the oldest didn't help much either. He once told me that his dad deprived him of his education, making him go to schools that weren't all the best. That's a biggie that I think he's dragged around all of his life... :/ because of that, he has this huge goal in life to allow me to succeed. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. On the contrary, I really appreciate it. But sometimes the Asian standards are just... UGH

He has the stereotypical expectations: all good grades, advanced classes, Ivy League colleges, the whole package

And of course, his ideal daughter is someone who fulfills all of the above + black hair, meek personality, you get the rest...

And I... Do not fall under that category. At. All. Whopps :P

I've dyed my hair, several times :P I'm loud, I curse, I wear makeup, dress scandalously (Shorts? Scandalous? Seriously? -_- ) oh, and I recently got my ears pierced! Twice actually (thank you Claire's :) ) It was a gradual process mind you, so it wasn't like I suddenly sprung this on him :P We often joke how I turned out so differently than how he'd planned. He's ok with how I look as long as I meet his expectations... Of at least most of them :P

I'm going to be a sophomore in the fall, which means if you do the math, I was a freshman last year ;) oh boy, don't even get me started on all the crap that happened. Sticking to grades, I Asian failed most of my classes (-A's, judge me. I dare you :P) got a B in Pre-Cal (yes I was in Pre-Cal as a freshman... And I died.) and Biology (can I just say my teacher was a total b___!?). This year/next year I'm taking Calculus AB, Physics I and Chemistry I (both at the same time... Yes, I know I'm going to die), and other core classes... I'm still really unsure :P

So yeah... I'm the example of "don't judge a book by its cover": perfectly in between stereotypical Asian and an Asian fail. Nice to meet you ;) 

Now that you've read all this... I don't know what to do lol This is going to be a blog about me being me so... Its important to know where I'm coming from? Hahah I honestly really don't know. But being Mimi is all about dealing with everything Asian... And more. So :) 

Get to know me :) Part II

By this point, I've probably mentioned being a Japanese American for the umpteenth time and you're probably sick of hearing me say it :P Why is it such a big deal!? Honestly, because its the thing that affects my life the most.

I have an insanely stereotypical Asian dad and a leaniant mom. She wanted me to live the American Dream with me while he... Wanted me to stay true to Asian form? Lol I don't know but probably the opposite of what I turned out to be :P

My parents divorced when I was in third grade. We all knew it was coming, but it still hit me hard when it happened. Traditional Japanese families usually don't divorce; mainly because the husband is still considered the dominant figure in the household and therefore treated as such, and because they want to keep their public image (fun culture fact of the day! ;) ) Needless to say, there aren't a lot of divorces and we bacame one of the special cases. Especially so, since my daddy was the one who took custody instead of my mom.

I'll admit, I'm a big Daddy's girl.

Actually no, scratch that. 

We have a really special daddy-daughter relationship. He drives me crazy, being so stubborn, annoying, persistent, and ASIAN!! ARGH

But he's still like a best friend to me ❤ :)

My mom on the other hand, went back to Japan where she stayed for a while till scoring a huge job in a big-name jewelry business. She was shipped off to... You will never guess. HAWAII!! where she still is now. She remarried a guy she met through work (Irish! Lol) and recently quit her job. Looking at Facebook, apparently she's somewhere in Europe with him eating fine foods and exploring the cities lol

So that around sums up what's up with my immediate family. How does that pertain to how Asian-ness affects my life? Living one-on-one with a (have I mentioned yet?) stereotypical Asian.