So, as promised this is an update on my hair adventures. Today I rose at EIGHT THIRTY to get to a Salon on the other side of town for 10 and I didn't leave until half five.
My hair yesterday!
But, it was worth it! Because after months of borderline obsessive pinning I finally made the jump to ombre hair!
It had to be stripped in order to take 3 years of red out of it. When I informed the stylist that I had been using Schwarzkopf Live Colour , hadn't had it cut in 10 months and ran the colour through my entire hair every time she looked at me like I was the devil incarnate. And on review, the condition of my hair was pretty pagan. However it only took one search cleanse with the most amazing L'oreal product! Efassor took my 3 year build up of bright red to only 2/3 shades of orangey red after one rinse. Having seen the results of friends at home and salon cleanses this was dramatic for the first time.
Thankfully I didn't stick with this colour!
It seemed relatively easy to use and is available online at incredibly reasonable prices (although after today I'm a total salon convert!).
After this it was simply a case of bleaching and toning my ends to take the 'warmth' ,aka orange, out of it and running the dark brown through the roots and upper layers. The stylist also added a 'horseshoe' of lighter colour up top to take away the shock of going straight to such a dramatic colour effect and to avoid a 'straight line' rather than blended look. The end result is amazing and I am absolutely IN LOVE with my new hair. It looks healthier, more mature and according to the salon owner 'very classy'. They've also said that in a few weeks if I want the upper layers to go darker they'll do it for just £10!
The whole experience was lovely considering I was there 7 hours and I don't think I've ever been so happy leaving a salon. So happy in fact that I am perfectly happy to ignore reports that my hair choices have gone literally, against the trends. Sorry Cosmo!
So, it's finally happening. I am abandoning the Red hair I have lovingly nurtured since I was 17 and going back to my roots, quite literally. Although as little'un I had more of my 'strawberry blonde', read:ginger, daddyo's locks and my hair was a fab bronze colour it did, unlike wine and men, get worse with age.
There I am, rocking Docs and beachy blonde hair. Fashion icon
It soon grew to be the definition of mousy, a plain flat brown that looked like dirty dish water and hung limply next to my pale sallow skin giving me a rather malnourished look.
My hair icon was my mother with her fabulous jet black ringlets i'd always likened her to snow white. Alas,I still carried too much of father's ginger to pull off black and so my slightly pink and tres freckled complexion was treated to a revival with a dark brown colour when I was 14. I instantly looked better, older, my blue eyes shone and for once, I looked quite healthy. We were holidaying in Nice at the time and Pars may be the city of love but Nice for me was where my love affair with hair dye began.
I moved through every shade of brunette, had a dalliance with a plum colour as an act of faux teenage rebellion and finally, aged 17 convinced my mother to move towards a mahogany dye. Now Blondes might have more fun but redheads have more of well, everything. Who ever said "It's not just a hair color, it's a state of mind." was speaking the truth. When I finally plucked up the courage to try full blown red I was overwhelmed with not only the physical results. A shy child, I'd grown into quite an awkward teenager but red hair gave me the confidence to do anything. People saw the 'out there' hair colour and expected a certain type of personalty that i'd never have been brave enough to show case before. In short, and without being dramatic, red hair changed my life.
But, it is time to move on. Quite frankly, i'm bored and for practicality reasons RED HAIR IS A NIGHTMARE TO MAINTAIN. So, there I am with my rouge hair for the last time (in quite a while at least, who knows what a midlife crisis might throw my way. Stay tuned to see what I decide to do with my locks!
I've got a confession to make, I'm short. Okay, so you could hardly paint me orange and give me a chorus role in Willy Wonka The Musical but I'm by no means tall. I'm just a little too tall for petite and sometimes, even regular leaves me with an extra few inches of clothing. The worst part of this is my strange in-between height comes from having legs the length (but by no means the shape) of a Victoria's secret model and the body of a primordial dwarf (i've provided an artists impression below). A kind man once did a caricature of me with the legs springing out of my neck. Not entirely anatomically accurate, but close.
Now, this is something I've learnt to live with, my dresses are always a little bit on the risqué side of short because that 'mini dress' becomes knee length on my legs so it has to be the petite choice, crop tops become flop tops on me, resting just above my waistband, giving me the appearance of a slightly neglected child who's parents can't quite cope with her growth spurts.
So one trend I've been very excited for is the midi-trend. I'm midi! In the middle, neither long nor short. I've purchased many an item of midi dresses and this evolved into an obsession with the dip hem. Not since mac met cheese has a better duo being formed. And in the same way that I like to put my mac and cheese on pizza I channelled an old favourite look. That look being 5 year old ballet dancer me and invested in an adorable dusky pink midi skirt.
But, never one for looking 'adorable' all the time (only on weekends, my days off from being an ice queen)I decided to see how I could style this item up. I'm notorious for finding one comfort look and wearing it to death so Inspired by More! magazine's How Would You Wear? feature I decided to put together 4 totally unique looks for fashion inspo!
Look number 1: Seriously casual. I set myself the challenge of dressing down such a ridiculously feminine item. So I threw on my comfiest items, this oversized white cross top by Realitee is my ideal go to tee for slouchy comfort and goes with everything! After that to max up the comfort I chucked on my pink Vans (so still a little girlie I guess) and et voilà! Perfect go to comfort in the floatiest skirt around. Look Number 2: This time I went with the challenge of rocking up this item as girlie-goth is a look I adore. I'm most comfortable in black but love to dress it up with some dusky pink and lots of silver accessories. With the addition of my trusty leather jacket, uber cool raybans and a black slogan tee my look came together in seconds. I accessorised with metal adorned shoes and my wannabe Alexander McQueen clutch. I broke mummy's number one fashion rule of never wearing suede and leather together but as long as the colour scheme stays the same then rules are made to be broken. Speaking of Mother dearest, she said I looked very 'rock chick' but that brings to mind images of Avril Lavigne and pink and black checked vans so we'll say no more on that one!... Look Number 3: was inspired my very Riviera-esque blue and white boat shoes. I complimented these with my floral print shirt that I tied for a retro edge and to show off the skirt some more! Perfect for warm days in the city! Look number 4:This look was most out of my comfort zone but I've always wanted an excuse to show off this headband and I figured it would be the perfect accessory for this ensemble. The top is an old crop top from Zara (alas, never properly cropped) which I used to wear to death but felt needed an outing for the first time in a while! The shoes are my fabulous new gladiator sandals I got for free from a lovely lady in a dress agency. Although this look was least 'me' it ended up being my fave, proof that styling an item in a way you usually wouldn't can pay off!
So there it is lades and gents proof that even the most hardcore outfit-repeaters can be reformed and a demonstration of a trend that suits everyone.Midi skirts and drop hems are deal no matter what your height or build and even if you have the world's most awkward body shape like me you can, like the tall girl at a dance, find your ideal partner.
I like to think of myself as being as far away from 'bling' as a person can get. It brings to mind connotations of small minded people who drape themselves in wholly uneccesary and gaudy jewellery as some gangster badge of honour. All I can think of when I hear the word bling is the plastic 'dollar sign on a chain' that my 13 year old brother believed would be a sound investment despite the fact that we are a) British and b) not the Ying-Yang twins. Like this item, most bling is fragile, made of questionable materials and probably, from Poundland.
Yet 'bling' has extended beyond the confines of Lil John's grills and out into the fashion mainstream. However Bling wouldn't sit right on the lips of Lagerfeld or Donatella, even the (relatively) bright young things Stella McCartney or Henry Holland would look desperately faux ghetto saying the word (think Gary Linekar's 'leave it yeah' at the Olympics). No, there's no bling in fashion, but there is 'metallic', a look that hit the fashion big time in 09 and has come back every season since.
Again, metallic isn't a trend I ever really caught on to. I live in a small village in the Pennines, shoulder pads only went out in 2010. I'm sure a metallic outfit would only garner comparisons with a dalek or a blunt 'eee lass, you look like the crimbo turkey when 'av wrapped it in baco foil'. But, something has inspired me to make baby steps into this trend. Now, I won't be investing in a Kylie-esque pair of gold hotpants anytime soon. But I have purchased (with my advantage card points nonetheless, that felt like giving away a child)a GOLD nail polish and, to top it off, gold glitter.
The gold shade was from Maybeline's new metallic collection and was from their Forever Strong Pro range which not only lasts for 7 days but also includes silica, calcium and iron to nourish your nails. It's a triple threat with great colour, long lasting and chip resistant and of course the nourishing minerals.
Now, everything has to be done in baby steps and i'm a girl who likes to walk before I can run so this design also features black polish but personally I think this adds to the design and avoids me looking like a 9 year old at the end of year disco.
So what do you guys think? Let me know if you think my Bling Bling nails are on the money or a poundland special. And, to further embrace your new gangster side, gives this song a listen. If nail art could have theme tunes then this would be this design's jam.
