Back2Black (eSalon Review)

After chopping all my hair off over the summer, the possibilities were endless for my finally healthy hair. Ever since my ultimate flop at having blonde hair last year (and pretty much destroying it in the process), I had accepted that with the current backed up and colored state of my hair, having the platinum locks I wanted wasn't going to happen. However, now that about all my hair had never been colored, this was finally achievable. After a single (30 Vol.) bleach process, my hair was rather patchy and orange in some places, needing to be toned. I never got to that step though because after a month or so, I was pink. Though the bubblegum was a fun color for about a week or so, due to the orange tones in my hair, I ended up with an ugly fade after about two washes. With no possibility of going back to blonde and no desire for another crayola color, dying my hair black seemed like the ideal option.

Black is my fall back color for everything. Just like how a lot of my friends will shave their heads if they don't like their haircuts, if I ever fuck up my hair color, black is always there for me.
examples include:
-the ninth grade in which I let my friend dye my hair into a purple to blue to green ombre (why??? why???). After a solid hour of crying, I ended up with a blue black box dye.
-the tenth grade when I let the SAME friend (what was I thinking????) do a "color melt" (aka a plethora of neon shades randomly scattered around my head). Shoutout to Feria to that one.

So as I was not yet ready to go back to brown and wanted the pink as far away from me as possible, I was pretty hype to go back to my trusty shade. For those unaware, the first time I dyed my hair black, I regularly went to a salon, super pricey, and the second time, I used a box dye that did no favors for the appearance and health of my hair. Not wanting to repeat these mistakes, I instead went with my mother's recommendations to try out eSalon.

eSalon is an online service that claims to provide salon quality dye for a marginally cheaper price and more convenient home application. Having gone through many many many different brands of dye, all promising similar features, I was pretty skeptical. The setup of picking out your color is stupid-proof and admittedly kind of fun. After providing information on your hair type, length, and current color, a set of avaliable tones are shown for you to choose from, for the magical eSalon fairy stylists to mix for you- one thing I'd like to add is that I was pretty unimpressed by the options for black, having only one labeled "soft", and one labeled "blue". Having hated my black hair from sophomore year that featured purplish tones, I went for "soft".

 The kit features: a developer, your custom color, a stain remover, stain guard, two pairs of gloves, shampoo, and conditioner which is pretty good for an at home hair kit. In the beginning, the dye was a little bit frustrating because it takes longer than most products I've used in the past to develop (and when it did, it turned a dark brownish color which made me quite nervous). Even after leaving it on for an hour, the color seemed rather brown, but after washing it out (WARNING: This stuff will take FOREVER to get out. I'm not kidding it seemed almost impossible), I was left with a beautiful, shiny, black!

Overall, I was pretty impressed by the quality of eSalon's dye, as it has left my hair in the same state health wise and the tone is just as promised. I'm especially a big fan of their custom color and the way they show you exactly what tones were used to mix it on their website and in your custom directions (complete with very cute illustrations)!

I also hit up their other service, The Match Up, that provides a similar custom-to-you feel through handpicking hair products on a subscription base, and would super recommend their color safe shampoo and tone corrector that takes the bronze hits out of your color as it begins to fade. Though I definitely have my critiques (developing, the amount of time it takes to wash out, and a slight bit of fading after a month), reasonably priced dye doesn't get much better than eSalon and I'm very content currently looking like the bitch from apt. 23.

My (Latest) Cosmetic Crushes

   With the summer (pretty much) in full swing, I've taken to switching up the products I've been using all year and though I've definitely had some misses, here's a couple of the gems I've come across.

How To: Half and Half Purple and Pink Hair + Pravana Review

 

   A couple weeks ago, I made a MAJOR splurge at Ricky's and picked up two tubes of Pravana hair dye: "Pink" and "Luscious Lavender". Though it was way more money than I ever spend on dye (or can afford to), I'd heard great things about Pravana so I couldn't help myself. Yesterday, I finally got around to using it and to be quite honest, I'm kind of disappointed in the way the colors showed up. First, they weren't even sticking to my skin which is always a major red flag. When on my extremely faded out hair, neither were showing up either. In the end, this was the results:

Both colors barely came out into my hair and that was even mixed with brighter shades of Adore and only a dash of conditioner. I'm really unsure why my results were so incredibly horrible but I'm going to stick to just Adore after this whole thing because not only is it cheaper, but I trust it more. The one good thing I have to say about this dye is the texture; it felt like conditioner and was really soft and had a good balance between thick and thin.
   Anyways, after these disappointing results, I dyed my hair this morning! To do this, I used:

♥Adore Purple Rage 

♥Adore Violet Gem

♥Adore Hot Pink

♥Adore Pink Rose 

The process was like any- One bowl had a bit of the Pravana Pink left because I still wanted to have a little faith in it- sadly, the color just wasn't sticking to my hair so it was a lost cause, the main mix I used on the pink side was a large amount of Hot Pink with just a small amount of Pink Rose, the purple side was mainly Purple Rage with just two drops of Violet Gem. I parted my hair down the middle and went through all my hair with each color. What I mainly do when dyeing is take a large chunk of dye onto the brush and rub it into my hair like shampoo. 

I was scared about the dye not showing up so I left it in for about an hour and then washed it out in freezing cold water with color protecting shampoo and hydrating conditioner. My hair is now super cute and I'm wildly happy with how it looks. The Purple Rage is gorgeous and oh my I'm so excited!!

New Kinda New

 

   After years of following Bethan Leadley, she has finally released her EP, New Kinda New, and no doubt did she blow my expectations. I fell in love with her first ever album, Unrequited Love, in seventh grade and as extraordinary as it is, there are so many improvements Bethan made to her music that I couldn't be more proud of. For starters, Unrequited Love is rather depressing and though I loved all the songs on there, variety wasn't much a thing whereas New Kinda New expresses a wide array of emotions in every song which is something I feel really important for an artist to do.
   Bethan announced her EP two weeks ago even though she hinted at in multiple videos and I was quick to preorder (there was a signed poster involved, how could you not?) and released the lyric video for "Left To Broken" last week. It featured YouTubers such as Evan Edinger, Nikki and Sammy, Tom Ridgewell, Tessa Violet, and many other lovely lovely people. After the EP dropped on the third, she put out the music video for "Safe Lined" which is also gorgeous and she looks fab in.
   Onto the actual music in this EP, the first track is "Safe Lined" which is rather upbeat and has a simple guitar chord progression but really interesting percussion along with a loud chorus that showcases Bethan's gorgeous vocals. The production value has gone up a couple notches for New Kinda New with backup harmonies that gave the song a bit more personality. The lyrics are somewhat simple but you don't need awesome words to go along with a just plain fun song. Next is "Left To Broken" which has much more emotion that is A+. I like that she doesn't put in the simple rhymes she could have snagged and went with much more interesting message. The instrumental is very minimalistic and that does good for her voice that is killing it. The third track is my all time favorite, "Don't Wake Me Up" because though it has a sad vibe to it, the chorus is loud and beautiful and jaw dropping. The backup vocals are perfect and the entire song is incredibly powerful and strong. Lastly, is "Alright To Be Alright". Don't get me wrong I love Bethan's poppy voice but this has such a jazzy vocal feel that is insane- especially at the pre-chorus, she slays it and performs such a beautiful ballad.
   Overall, I am such a fan of New Kinda New and would recommend it 100%- gold star Bethan.

Bryarly

 

   Finally, YouTube vlogger and singer, Bryarly Bishop, released her first ever album, Bryarly, on Friday and wow I'm so happy with it. It opens up with "Daedelus" which started off pretty cute of her talking and then going into the upbeat song. It has a steady beat in the verses that's catchy and I overall liked it. The pre choruses were more fast paced than everything else and I thought that was fun too. "Find Your Love" is next up and I think this was more like her previous work- it has a soft guitar pluck in the beginning and there is a pretty call and answer in the chorus line. I wasn't that into this one since I just thought the lyrics weren't nearly as good as they could be- the bridge also kind of annoyed me (I have no idea why). Though the second track wasn't what I was hoping for (you can never have an album full of amazing songs), "Working Steady" definitely redeemed it. I believe this is one of my favorites since it has such a nice piano and poppy beat in the background. Her vocals are also just awesome- she riffs her voice in the pre-chorus also I thought the "I never know what to say, I never know what to do." part was real fun to unconsciously sing along to. Bryarly also added some jazz within the bridge which was unexpected and the last chorus was angelic- she is insane. Onto my favorite song off the entire album, "Trigger Warning", I didn't really understand it's beauty at first but once you hear it again, it definitely clicks. There is this soothing jazzy instrumental going on that makes everything more powerful as she sings about being taken advantage of "did you imagine that a kiss contains a promise I caress and I owe you? Did you imagine that to stop was a suggestion…" Also, the ending of the song is just so perfect- her voice gets so thick as she belts it out and put me in awe. "In The Bright Daylight" was next and I just need to comment on how she didn't do the cliche rhymes she could have done and instead put more complex lyrics and talks about missing someone though she's trying to get over it. The song is calm and only has a guitar and a steady drum beat and God damn her voice has so much emotion. You can actually make out pain in there and it made a simple song so much more. The sixth track was "Making A Break" which is another one I really enjoyed. It starts out calm but builds up at the pre chorus and the refrain is awesome as she almost growls out some of the lines- I don't understand how she does these things while still sounding like a goddess. "Sleepless" comes on next and though I wasn't all that big on the sound itself I do give it to Bryarly for showing off how high her voice can go- I didn't like it very much for I thought it sounded more like a lullaby than anything and got sort of boring since it is literally the same plucking pattern the entire way through. "Oxygen" starts off with a synth like beat as she gets into it and I like how Bryarly just kind of appeared into the song out of nowhere- her voice gets low and high and higher and wow even higher and has operatic pieces that you wouldn't think work but somehow, she pulls it off. It's really weird how well it fit in actually. Another one I really really liked was "What We Want" since it sounded slightly like "Get Your Head In The Game" from High School Musical for some reason but then her voice gets really high and then what where did Watsky come from. OK I do have to take some time to admit to my Watsky phase which is really awful and embarrassing and though I think he is slight sad trash, he did fit in with the song and I'm not going to hold it against her since it was a really catchy and fun song. The album finishes off with the soft "Dear John". The song is pretty and just soft and lovely- it wasn't my favorite but I thought it was a good ending song.
   All in all, I am SO proud of Bryarly Bishop for this album! The one thing I am disappointed of is that she didn't add "Eros" since it was one of my overall favorite songs for months and I wanted to hear it nicely produced (though it will be on the EP).

Update: So the queen herself, Bryarly Bishop, tweeted me! I was reminded that I'm a total dingus and didn't add links to her music 

Amazon

Bandcamp

*You can also get it on iTunes under "Bryarly" I just was too lazy to add that one in

You Haunt Me

   Last week, one of my favorite bands ever, Sir Sly, released their first ever full length album (I talk about it before the release here). Before I get into all the jazz about that, I would just like to say how impressed I am by this band. Sir Sly started out with about six songs on a sound cloud (they're still there- I'd really recommend you listening to it) and are now opening up for bands such as The 1975 (I saw them in April) and releasing really awesomely produced albums and covers (check out their Drake cover and Arcade Fire one)
   Onto the actual thing I was supposed to talk about, You Haunt Me features four songs from the Gold EP and eight newly released tracks. Though I didn't recognize six of the new songs, I did know "Inferno" and "Too Far Gone" (which are actually my favorites off the album but we'll get into that later) since they sang them both at the concert.
   I'm going to just dive into picking each song piece by piece because I believe that's the best way to get through these reviews so without further a due, the album starts off with "Where I'm Going"- I just realized I have never ever really addressed the Gold EP so this means I'll also be including songs from there that were put onto the album. The first track was actually my favorite off the EP just because it includes so many chill and almost mysterious points with a strong drum line and some weird breathy  synth thing going on in the background that sounds super kool. It's a real nice song to just kind of jam out to (wow I sound like a pretentious dick) and is extra calming. "Ghost" was the next one (also from Gold) and though it isn't my all time favorite it does capture an almost creepy vibe with the defiant yet subtle drum in the background and raspy vocals. The reason why I'm not crazy about this track is because I feel as though they could have written a better chorus than "Ghost. You're a ghoooooost." over and over again but I do give them extra points for the really awesome bridge that I could easily listen to multiple times in a row. Of course Sir Sly added their biggest hit, "Gold", to the album which is always great. I like how it contrasts to all the other songs on EP in the way that it has more of a lively beat has a repetitive chorus but more than one phrase for it- the lyrics in it are also super quote worthy and it's a super great song to absent mindly sing along to. I would also like to point out how killer the vocals in the final chorus are. Track four was the first single to be released and also the title to the entire album. Personally, I was more than excited to hear this one when it first came out and was a rather repeated song on my Spotify. I admire how well this track opens up the CD since unlike their EP, the track is much more upbeat and has a lot of piano pieces in it- something Gold didn't have very much. I'm also super into the drum beat in this one. After "You Haunt Me", the last song off their EP, "Found You Out", comes on. The vocals are a little more belty than others in here and I am all about the bridge where everything seems to break down. Sir Sly's music can be described as a thin line between being super calm and chill and almost freaking out- "Found You Out" is a good mix of in-between since the verses are very dreamy with the whole "ah ah ah ahs" going on yet once you hit that bridge, the vocals get more desperate and that's where you really hear the mood of the song ("I'll be the bigger man while you act like you're innocent.") and then we go into a bigger and more dramatic chorus (as Sir Sly does most of the time) which is A+. We finally get out of the Gold Ep tracks and enter into "Nowhere/Bloodlines Part One". This song is interesting since if you aren't paying close attention to what track is playing, you'd think this was two different songs. The first three minutes take to the loud and jumpy piece of "Nowhere"- there is yet another really awesome drum line in the pre chorus I would just like to add. As the first part begins to end with heavy percussion and an ongoing "oooooooo" layering in the background and all of a sudden everything seems to stop and it's replaced with a steady beat that sounds almost like a train leading into the second half. "Bloodlines" is much sadder and more ballad like with a high pitched (and killer harmony) chorus line and much less production. The song then comes to an abrupt stop and we go into my favorite song off You Haunt Me, "Inferno", featuring Lizzy Plapinger. As I said before with the fine line between the intense Sir Sly music and soothing, this song is definitely on the breaking down side. It's fast paced and the chorus line is extra extra catchy. I also have to mention how A+ Lizzy's vocals are- I get a serious Courtney Love vibe off of her and she has this very apathetic tone that kills it. There's a whole lot of shout-y parts that make everything seem much more intense- if you've never heard anything of Sir Sly's, I would completely recommend this track to start off. The eighth track is "Leave You" which seems like a super filler to me. Don't get me wrong, it's an OK song but didn't really need to be on the album. The verses are pretty well written whereas the chorus lacks imagination with just "Youuuuuu youuuuuu. That I would have to leave you.". The only way I believe that got away with it was the interesting keyboard they stuffed in there. Though this could pass off well from anyone else I know Sir Sly could do better than this. We then go into "Floods" which is one of their sadder points with only a bit of clapping tone in the beginning. Though it was nice they put in a slower song, I really believe this was yet another filler (if they needed extra songs couldn't they have just added "Miracle" and "Easy Now"?). The rhymes in this one were pretty basic and the overall quality of the lyrics were low. Whatever. Though there are two shitty tracks in a row, the band redeems themselves within "Too Far Gone" which I have taken quite a liking to since I can get really into the catchy chorus line and the guitar in this track is one of their best. "Helpless/ Bloodlines Part 2" comes afterwards as since the first part was super rad, I was real into this track. "Helpless" wasn't as great as the second part but has a cool synthetic beat to it that is extremely well produced. I don't believe the transition into part two was as good as the first one with only the sound of a guitar moving frets being the only thing separating them apart but the vocals were gorgeous and as always, I was impressed by the harmonies. Even if part two sucked, I would still appreciate this track since I love it when albums have tracks like that. The last track off of You Haunt Me is "Witches" which has a bit of an overproduced intro but I was a fan of the intense chorus though the lyrics could've been improved "I'm hunting for the witches and I think I've found one." wasn't the best but I'm not complaining too much since it overall was a good song and I may just be too intense of a critic.
    All in all, You Haunt Me was a pretty fucking awesome album and I'm overall just grateful Sir Sly has more music since I've been listening to the same six songs for the past six months.

P.S I've also added some photos from the night I saw Sir Sly

Foxes: Glorious

   Let me introduce you to my latest obsession: Foxes. I first about the british singer through the Fall Out Boy song, "Just One Yesterday" where she was featured (and looking ultra cute in "The Youngblood Chronicles" might I add) and wanted to find out more about her since her voice is so district and gorgeous. That is when I found out she sung one of my least favorite songs ever, "Clarity", which was a huge turn off. At the time also (this was last summer), she had only really come out with her single, "Youth", which in my opinion, doesn't nearly showcase all her talent. I hadn't really listened to much of her other music for awhile up until about two weeks ago when I discovered she had released a full length album called Glorious. I was pretty skeptical at first since none of the other music Foxes has done has been all that amazing but I decided to give it ago and I can most definitely say that she blew my expectations out of the water.

   One of the best things about Glorious is that there is a great possibility of the songs being big hits on the Top 40 but they aren't mundane or anything you've ever heard before. Foxes' voice is just so weird and wonderful that anything she sings sounds different but even the actual lyrics and beat are distinct and unlike anything on the radio today. Just on first listen, I could easily tell which songs were going to be great hits to dance along to such as my favorite, "Let Go For Tonight", which is a super fun, upbeat, song that gets stuck in your head like an ear worm. I'm also a huge fan of the slower tracks on the album like "Night Glo" and "White Coats". Even the big single, "Holding Onto Heaven", is awesome and I could totally stand listening to it on the radio unlike her last summer song (cough cough "Clarity"). 

   All in all, Glorious could only be described as glorious (see what I did there?) and I know this will be my soundtrack to the summer (funny enough, Fall Out Boy's Save Rock and Roll was my summer album last year) and I recommend 100% that you listen to it!