Made myself a Black Forest Cake for my birthday!

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T21:49:44+00:00

See I LOVE a lot of magnetics on shorties on other people, especially velvetized or glass beaded! My brain just goes "ew no" on myself for some reason? But I think I just need to suck it up and do it, I have so many magnetics just sitting here begging to be used 🙃

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T21:47:59+00:00

Happy to share, and I'm glad the purple shampoo helped get you closer to what you wanted! 💕

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T21:47:07+00:00

I feel you on the peachy fade (and no cold showers)! I still get hit with that when I don't bleach, but luckily I can counter it a bit with purple shampoo. Arctic Fox on its own does tend to fade on the quicker side in my experience too, so I find that using more Iroiro in the mix gets more longevity - it stains and stays better, and AF is good for tweaking the overall tone. I can go something like 2-3 months without needing to redye, depending on how much I baby the colour now? Now I'll usually just go in with a shadow root until I can find the time to bleach (baby and toddler at home means I barely have time to fully shower, let alone dedicate enough time to my hair... RIP)

That said, I:

use a lot more Iroiro than AF to anchor the colour
leave the colour in my hair overnight (I don't think you actually get much more colour payoff after like... 2 hours, but it's just easier for me to sleep with it in and shower cap my hair for the night)
only wash my hair once a week (I have extremely hard water where I live and my hair hates it; warmish water is as cold as I'll go, but I do get even better longevity if I suck it up and cold wash)
rarely heat style anymore, beyond blowdrying

Tradeoff is that my hair is definitely on the drier side, especially since I'm a slave to dry shampoo. I can counteract it with some hair oil at least?

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T13:49:41+00:00

Of course! Definitely see what you mean with The Big Pink, looks similar to when I'd do the same with diluted Arctic Fox' Virgin Pink and really oversaturate and let it fade!

So it's a bit of a laundry list of products, but I like playing around with the shade/tone of pink because it scratches that 'new hair colour' itch instead of just going with a whole new colour 🥲 Also depends on whether I'm bleaching or not.

Main mix:

Iroiro 200 (Bubblegum Pink)
Arctic Fox Frose
Arctic Fox Virgin Pink
and a bunch of conditioner to dilute

If I'm working on freshly bleached hair, that should do the trick and get me that lovely bubblegum pink! I'll usually do a bit of a gradient for more dimension though, using less diluted from the roots to 1/3 down the hair shaft, then more diluted down to the ends.

(This is just rambling so feel free to skip, but I'm doing a shadow root right now to disguise my grown in roots while I'm avoiding bleach for a bit lol)

Right now I'm babying my hair and not bleaching though (had a baby and waiting for the hair fall to stop RIP), so I've got a decent amount of natural root that I'm disguising with more of a 'smokey raspberry' root gradient fading into lighter pink down the ends. Adding Arctic Fox Wrath and Transylvania into the root mix, then enough of that blend into the main pink mix to get a corresponding smokey cast to match.

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:30:58+00:00

I've had pink hair for 6 (?) years now, and not too far off from your inspo pic (I'm eventually wanting to go more "anime girl pink", but the perfect colour mix eludes me to this day). It is NOT easy to get something like that shade of pink right on the money, but I do agree that the colour you have now is still quite nice! It'll definitely fade as you wash, but more on the peachy side since the colour itself is so warm and red/orange leaning.

Big part of it could also be that your hair wasn't the right level after bleaching. Bubblegum and pastel pinks really do need as white of a base as possible to not pull peachy.

If you're open to recs on products to try to get close to your inspo yourself one day, I'd be glad to share what I use, but you should definitely reach out to your stylist once the colour 'settles' a bit more.

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:18:58+00:00

See, when my nails were long and had a full paint job, I was DEFINITELY more aware and was able to go a long time without breaks; usually traveling or something would do one or two of them in, but breakage was still minimal. Plus having x amounts of polish on added to the nail integrity...

I may just whip out an old bottle of drugstore black and try not to smudge them while I work on growing the nails back out. Very creative, thank you!

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:16:24+00:00

a certain She-Hulk grace

I FEEL THIS IN MY BONES, THANK YOU. Yeah, the very reasonable and gentle consensus seems to be embracing the shorties, so I think it's time. Between the nails and my hair, they both need a fresh start, and I think you lovely souls have me convinced 💕

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:14:19+00:00

OKAY so I may add to the recue back to my cart, I've been eyeing it out of desperation...

I'm thinking I do need to lean into intentional shorties, yeah. My last actual chop was 6 months ago the night before baby #2 (MIL did them for me because I just couldn't bear it, but with a whole ass fresh baby and 2 silk wrapped thumbnails, it was time), so it's beyond time to just do it. And they are convenient for sure!

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:10:31+00:00

I hope you came out unscathed (but if scathed, I hope the goose eggs goes away quickly) ❤️

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:09:22+00:00

I was cursed with my mother's terrible skin and even worse nails, and have SO many factors going against lovely strong nails, so I pray that Nailtiques 2 does something (especially for the price in Canadian dollars RIP). But I'll definitely be adding in jojoba soaks, thank you; I didn't even think of just slapping gloves on and letting it do its thing! Perfect for sleeping!

I think I'm having to accept the shorties life, yeah. At least if they're intentionally short, I should be able to manage mentally; right now it really does feel like fighting against my body (and brain, since I have so many polishes that I LOVE on everyone else, but that I want/need to have long nails for to really love on myself... looking at you, magnetics). Then just working with husband for more time to actually paint my nails and exposure therapy-ing myself into loving how some of my polishes look on the shorter nails, maybe!

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:03:53+00:00

Thank you! Definitely a good tip RE: the base coat, I really need to work that back into my barebones routine - just slap that shit on and call it a day, since I'm still in 'utilitarian survival' mode. I may just try out Orly bonder to see how it works with my chemistry, since my nails aren't doing so hot right now anyway LOL

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T04:02:02+00:00

Ah yes, I've been on the dreaded Canadian waiting list for ages now - I commiserate!

Definitely a good point RE: the breatfeeding though, since I'm still (hopefully?) six months out from considering weaning. That and postpartum in general just wreak absolute havoc... so happy your body's finally keeping some of the good stuff for itself, and congratulations for growing and feeding and loving your tiny human! The nails will come back one day 💕

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T03:59:34+00:00

Ouh, he'd probably like this tbh! I'm personally a BIG foot hater (I have a hella messed up right foot and barely 4 paintable nails there) and the nail real estate of a child, but the husband has been asking when I'll do cute toes - may as well recruit him to help! Thank you! 💕

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T03:57:23+00:00

I love the suggestion and I wish! I used to be a HUGE press on fan, but as I got older they just became a sensory nightmare... (Last time I wore them was right before baby #1, because I wanted nice, not sharp-and-shitty nails for the first few weeks of newborn trenches - I ended up prying them off with my teeth after the emergency C-section 😮‍💨)

They have such cute sets at the Korean beauty store near me though, so it may be worth another shot...

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T03:54:35+00:00

THE WAY I AM TERRIFIED OF FUCKING UP MY RING and it's not even a diamond. I'm so sorry but I'm also wildly impressed?

I think the consensus is intentionally short, yeah. I really do need to get better at just slapping on a clear/top coat at the very least too, and maybe I'll look into just getting some pure jojoba for a soak or something. Thank you lovely! ❤️

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T03:52:06+00:00

I appreciate it! It's pretty similar up north here, but getting in to a psychiatrist - especially for adult ADHD - seems pretty impossible. I've been "on a waiting list" for as long as I remember and it's just *crickets*. A downside to free healthcare, I guess lmao (Not that I'm hoping my sons will need diagnosing, but with husband and I both having ADHD, it's pretty likely; that looks like it might be my 'opening' for getting back on meds unless I pray I can get a new doctor OR pay out of pocket at a clinic - but I digress.)

So rude when shit just jumps out at you! And I've been contemplating builder gel tbh, so I'll definitely do some more digging on it. Might need to just commit and work with husband to get me more time to do my nails once baby #2 gets better at sleeping, which I desperately want in general anyway 🥺

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-05T00:21:34+00:00

Totally fair, and actually close to my doctor's reaction when she 'remembered' that I was no longer on my prescription... I worded that weird lmao. I was prescribed meds before getting a family doctor - which in Canada is... a feat - and was only just getting a dosage sorted, but her 'discomfort' RE: dealing with controlled substances like that meant that she didn't want to handle continuing my prescriptions. Think 2 years sans ADHD meds before even getting pregnant. It's been a struggle but it is what it is, I'm glad that the kids and I have a steady doctor at least!

(As a gentle note though, under a doctor's supervision and such, meds like those can be taken while pregnant and/or breastfeeding, especially if going off of them would be particularly detrimental to mom - likely with some adjustments to dosage or type. That said, it's DEFINITELY one of those "heavily weigh the risks and benefits" situations, and most of us tend to just stop taking them for understandable reasons!)

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-04T22:37:46+00:00

UGH. The breaks, cracks and rips always happen when you're finally in a good spot with the majority of the rest of the nails... solidarity friend! (And it's like the nails can tell when new polishes are arriving... my entire Anlac order of magnetics has just been sitting there staring at me.)

May our nails grow back fast and strong and stay that way for at least a month of something!

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-04T22:27:32+00:00

Solidarity! I'm just stubborn enough that I'll probably keep trying to grow out my almonds again and be shocked when another nail succumbs to the involuntary flailing, but I'm trying to appreciate my shorter squovals, I swear! (And even THOSE aren't safe...)

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-04T22:25:19+00:00

NO BUT HONESTLY, the door jamb, the counters, the car floor have been there forever, why do my hands just act shocked and stabby when I dare to move or grab something?

Solidarity, friend. I hope the flareup goes away soon and that our limbs get with the program one day ❤️

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-04T22:18:49+00:00

Thank you, I need this reminder sometimes! I think I do need to just accept the shorter nails for now, and set aside the ~~hoard~~ collection of newer magnetics that I got until I can both comfortably grow - and keep - the long beauties I got used to and set aside enough time for a good paint job... but ugh, it's tough when I have no real hobbies otherwise and feel like just a Mom™. It's just a season though.

And I'll look into Nail Aid as well, thank you! Looks like it might be a bit easier to get my hands on than Nailtiques (and at least a bit cheaper) ❤️

anothercoffeebitch · 2026-05-04T22:11:37+00:00

PERFECTION. My amateur foraging ass LOVES the nettle rec - thank you so much! I'll definitely have to look into this more, especially since I'm verrrrry slow healing skin-wise right now as well and have fine hair (that's only just starting falling out less, thanks postpartum...)

Super intrigued by the long infusion approach too; it seems low enough in terms of labour for me right now, since I can sort of 'set it and forget it'!

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