Hair Rescue

Yes, another hair post. I realise I'm currently running the risk of becoming a hair blog but it is a big part of my life at the moment! If you've read my previous posts then you'll know that I haven't exactly treated my hair well this year. In fact I've been downright abusive towards my poor old barnet. Thankfully I haven't gone bald. Yet

One question I often get asked is why. The amount of bleach my hair has seen this year should have caused it to fall apart, the previous 4 years of intensive colouring have hardly been kind to it either so why hasn't my hair fallen out? Well the first answer is probably because I have a LOT of hair. As a child I sported a delightful gold afro and looked a lot like Elsa the lion. As i've grown up I have learnt how to tame it but my 'just got out of bed' hair takes me straight back to looking like king of the jungle. I brushed my hair out in front of my darling boyfriend the other day and he informed me I looked like his dog (part poodle, may I add) after a brushing.

Another reason I am yet to one day find my entire head of hair coming off with one tug of a brush is that I look after it. In between punishing it with horrendous amounts of dye I generally pander to my hairs needs and lavish a lot of money on making sure it's in tip top condition and I don't aggravate its already fragile state. So as I have shared every step of my hair's journey with you I thought I'd share its recovery too and compile a list of my favourite hair saviours!

John Frieda Full Repair

Now John Frieda is a man who knows a thing or too about hair. From Frizz Ease to Go Blonder his products are some of the best on the market and for the job they do they are reasonably priced. My mother is my personal hair and beauty icon and she owns almost every product in his range that matches her hair type and in between weeping 'please stop bleaching your poor hair' she also suggested I investigate the full repair range.

These products aim to repair hair that has been damaged through colouring, over styling and heat. They also claim to add volume to hair which is something I always lose from mine after giving it a bleach battering. The range is simply limited to a shampoo and conditioner either. There's also a root lift, 2 different types of deep conditioning treatments, a heat protecting styling spray and a flyaway tamer which is a god send. After a lot of breakage from heat damage I often find my ends don't look as sleek and polished as they could but this little bad boys adds shine, tames my wild ends and repairs. Perfection.


Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour

Whilst my main aim with my hair is to repair it I also want to maintain my colour for as long as possible whilst still giving it a much needed treat. Aussie products always have been some of my favourites and this is no exception. It really is a little miracle worker. 3 minutes with this and my hair is smoothed, de-tangled and my colour seems revitalised. A total tripal threat and well worth the money.

Toni and Guy Rapid Response Leave in Conditioner

Yes, more conditioners but that really is the key to good healthy hair. Toni and Guy are one of my most trusted hair care brands and this conditioner is no different. I leave a small amount of this in my hair if I'm letting it dry naturally because it not only smooths my split ends it also tames the frizz and fly aways that are the bane of my life! It also smells absolutely beautiful too which is always a bonus.

Tangle Teezer

This little beauty, whilst it does look rather intimidating, is an absolute saviour. I've always suffered from hair that becomes knotted at a ridiculous rate, within seconds of brushing my hair it will be tangled again and the fact I rarely brush between washes means when it comes to brushing my hair it's similar to wading through treacle. I've tried many a de-tangling spray but these aren't ideal for when I'm not washing my hair afterwards and the don't prevent hair breakage either as it still requires a bit of a tug to get a comb through. The tangle teezer however is designed to gently un-knot the hair and prevent breaking. It delicately separates even the worst of my hair knots (often located at the back near the knape of my neck) and leave my hair ready to wash or restyle. At £8-12 you might think this is a bit pricey for a hairbrush but these contraptions are an absolute godsend!


L'Oreal Elnett Heat Protect Spray Curls

Whilst I am yet to invest in some of this myself as it is a relatively new product I used my mum's bottle of it whilst at home and was blown away. This protects hair to up to 230 Degrees whereas previous heat defence products I have used only manage around 180-210 and it also protects your style. Using this to protect my hair whilst blow drying and styling meant my hair barely felt the affects of my GHD's and it also kept my curls nice and wavy for 3 days as well as adding some much needed shine.

Toni and Guy Shine Spray

More Toni and Guy this time! In dying the ends of my hair a much lighter dirty blonde shade i've noticed that they lack the same gloss and shine that the darker half of my hair seems to have naturally. This is something other friends have had an issue with but there is a simple solution. This spray is lightweight, doesn't make hair look overly greasy but still adds a gorgeous bit of shine to my duller blonde ends. It also smells absolutely amazing so is also nice as a hair refresher.

Redken Refining Sea Polish

Now this one is a little strange. My hairdresser recommended it to me and when I first used it I felt a little bit wrong.It's a pumice based hair product. We're constantly being told not to aggravate our hair or do anything which would encourage breakage and then along come Redken with what is essentially a hair exfoliator. I was very sceptical at first but the stylist said it would help to remove product build up from my hair. As my hair takes a long time to get greasy I usually only wash it every 3 days however in this time I will use a lot of hair spray which does sometimes build up and not my hair. I don't use this product regularly but usually when one too many nights out means my hair is in a bad way and basically full of rubbish. Redken's hair polish solved this problem and lots of others. Whilst it does feel slightly strange in your hair and takes some effort to fully rinse out the results are entirely worth it!

So there are my top hair picks for looking after your locks whether damaged or not. This little team helps to keep my barnet in tip top condition and is the reason I still have a single hair on my head! If you guys have any other products you think I could investigate then let me know. I'm always up for hair treats and tricks.

Liss xoxo

Northern Hi-Lights.

Many things have become apparent to me during my time at University, food is expensive,hangovers know no bounds and it is in fact possible to burn pasta.

One thing however that never really bothered me before was were I cam from. Growing up in Yorkshire I may have made the occasional joke about our pals over the Pennines in Lancashire but they were soon to become my allies. At university it was suddenly made clear to me that I was of a different species, I was a northerner. From the first day the comments about my accent, jokes about me being poor and working down a mine and general banter about how I'd never seen the sun became common.

Well, if I wasn't bothered before I was now. I suddenly became incredibly proud of my northern routes and compiled a list of things I could banter my new southern friends about, and thankfully it was almost endless. Two years on and my little 'northernisms' still get picked up on by my southern jessie dominant friendship group and I really miss the phrase 'teacake'. However one good thing that came of this is that i've suddenly got the biggest sense of pride about my roots and my northern habitat.

So, inspired by a trip home and Farrah's declaration of love for one northern gem, Huddersfield, I have compiled a definitive list of things I love about and things that are much better up north!


The people are nicer
Okay, sweeping generalisation time but it's true. At home I live in one of those 'everyone knows everyone' wisteria lane-esque villages. Whilst this does mean facing the neighbours making comments about me bowling up in a taxi at dawn after a night out it's generally low on women having affairs with the pool boys or helping to off each others step dads.

What it is high on is friendliness, I smile at everyone I walk past, am on first name terms with the butcher and once after slipping on some hazardous ice in winter a perfect stranger stopped their car to offer me a lift. Now I know this all sounds achingly twee but the point I'm getting at is that a smile and a hello are given to everyone, seeing fully grown men call each other 'love' is perfectly normal and most people would offer a stranger their last rolo without a second thought.

My encounters in other areas of the country have been ,well, slightly different. During my time at university in the East Midlands whilst I've been called 'duckie' by many local residents I've also had other, less friendly encounters. People here seem to recoil in horror when I give them a friendly smile and I was once almost taken out by an elderly man in a mobility scooter shouting 'what's so f*cking funny?!' at me, just weeks ago a random car of local boys were throwing eggs out of their car for fun and I once had a man in a shop throw 'are you one of them lesbian types?' at me when I didn't take too kindly to his 'nice arse' comment.

Whilst I was already well aware that those London city types , along with their sense of an inherent birth right to the entire pavement, were pretty rude I naively thought that Loughborough close proximity to the north would mean they were more like the friendly tykes I was familiar with. Apparently, I was wrong.

Tea
I'm actually talking about the drink and not the meal that Southerners seem to think doesn't exist but i'll get my issues with that out the way first. The women who supervise midday eating in schools are 'dinner' ladies', 'Lunch' ladies is a silly Americanism, therefore your midday meal is dinner. End of.

Whilst that certainly annoys me and every time I accidentally mention 'dinner' to my Southern house mates and mean my evening meal, a small piece of my soul dies. What I have a real issue with is Tea in it's liquid form, a 'brew' as it is more commonly known where I come from. Despite the fact that most people outside of Britain seem to think Tea is what defines us as a nation and the majority of us, if given the choice, would happily choose to be hooked up to an IV drip of the stuff, it's a truly divisive substance.

Why? Because 99.9% of the time Southerners make dreadful cups of tea. Over Easter I did some work experience in a PR firm in central London and it was made clear from my first day with the company that I'd get some real hands on experience and would be more than the tea girl. However my own tea dependency and general politeness saw me regularly prepare brews for those I work with. This was a terrible mistake. The mainly southern members of the team soon cottoned on to the fact I made a pretty cracking brew and my skills were soon in high demand. I was questioned by one workmate on how I could possibly have made such a good cuppa. 'How long do you leavethe teabag in for?' he asked 'you must leave the teabag in for like a whole minute!' ONE WHOLE MINUTE. ONE?! 3 minutes minimum pal and I have been known to time this using the microwave.

I once observed a woman in a central London Pret pour the milk into my tea before putting in the tea bag. My boyfriend seems to think it is sufficient to basically show the water the tea bag (thank god his house mate is a fellow Yorkshire lass and takes over tea-making duty.) In fact the only southerner who's ever made me a good cup of tea was my Kent-dwelling house mate and she was born in the North so clearly correct tea making procedure is a skill that runs in the blood.

thankfully one Southerner seems to know how it's done:



The drinks are cheaper
And I mean dirt cheap. Most students come to uni expecting drinks to be cheaper, in fact they're actually more expensive for me.I miss £1 bottles, Vodka and Mixers and of course the infamous 75p Thursdays at the glorious venue that is the Acca. Okay so my uni isn't outrageously overpriced but nights out on a tenner are common at home.

My incredibly southern boyfriend saw the joy of northern drinks prices when visiting over summer. A round that would usually have cost him nearly £17 cost just £6. Same drinks, different location, different price. So what exactly am I paying for down south? The joy of enjoying an alcoholic beverage with people who'd push me in from of a car if they were late for the tube and who can't make a brew?

As well as having the southerner venture to the north I also went down south and experienced the most expensive branch of one night life franchise. At £8 a pop for a cocktail and £6 doubles which is triple the price of some places I can get them at home I would have had to re-mortgage my house to afford a proper round. My night out was lovely but distinctly average, the cocktails were the same one's i'd pay £3.95 for at home, the girls toilets still ran out of loo roll too quickly and I still fell over and landed on my bum in the car park whilst trying to show off my heels.

Verdict : Drinking down south=overrated.

Food
One thing southerners might not know is that the nations favourite dish the roast dinner actually originated in the north. In my own beautiful home county of Yorkshire, you can thank us for that later. And along with gifting you this we also gave the nation another favourite.

Two words: Yorkshire puddings. The food of the gods, they go with anything, particularly gravy and a roast dinner is sad an empty without them. My house mates were witness to my rather bold statement that I would happily use a Yorkshire pudding as a goblet for consuming gravy. I'm sticking by my statement and that's that. Also if you're one of these weird 'no Yorkshire puddings with chicken' weirdos then you seriously need to re-evaluate your life.


And now a nerdy English geek one:
The Bronte Sisters
Whilst some have been known to dismiss their books as girl books written about how it's grim up north they're actually far more than that. These Howarth born siblings gave us Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and the slightly less well known The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (you tried, Anne).

Two of the most smouldering, mysterious, take Mr Darcy out with a mere glance heroes were given to us by the Bronte girls, Mr Rochester and Heathcliff. Whilst admittedly the brooding Darcy may have been a better choice of husband than these two, between them they have wife-beating, psuedo-incest, locking their wives in the attic and haunting covered, every girl loves a bad-boy.

I also quite like the fact that the Bronte's played the system, published there novels under male pseudonyms and got one up on Victorian patriarchal society, as the video below so accurately shows.



There it is, why the north is better than the south. Admittedly I am biased and of course, this is all a matter of opinion. But the drinks are cheaper, and as much of my audience are students I don't know what better proof you need that it's really not grim up north!

Liss xoxo

Losing my Diwali

So, I'll be the first to admit that before university I wasn't particularly diverse. I grew up in a small village in the Yorkshire countryside. I went to the local school, I was raised Catholic, 99.9% of my friends and acquaintances were white Christians. If you're picturing a scene from the league of gentlemen then you're pretty close. Rumour has it that some families only leave the Holme Valley quarterly to stock up on supplies from the vast metropolis that is Huddersfield town.



It wasn't until 2003 and the addition of a family originally from India to my neighbourhood that I even became aware of how mundane my surroundings were. Whilst it never really bothered me at the time (if the neighbourhood kids were prepared to join my water fights then their background was of no concern to me) one of the things I've enjoyed most at uni is meeting people from a wide range of ethnicities, background, countries and religions. Once I've apologised for my hideous naivety I genuinely enjoy finding out about other cultures and religions. I have 18 years to catch up on after all.

Well, this Monday as part of my new duties on Welfare and Diversity committee for my university I fully immersed myself in one religious tradition, the Hindu and Sikh festival of Diwali. My students union put on an event to help students and locals of a range on denominations celebrate Diwali which is popularly known as the festival of lights. The most I had previously seen of this festival was from the lights that go up in the nearby city of Bradford for the duration of the celebration and the beautiful lamps my neighbours light every year.

My understanding of the story behind it however, was zero and I was fascinated to see how one religious festival was observed by people of different religions.Ad it was explained to me by the evenings presenters The name "Diwali" or "Divali" is a contraction which translates into "row of lamps".Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil. These lamps are kept on during the night and one's house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome.

India during Diwali 2012
Out Student Union event saw 300 people both students and local residents attend for a night of food, music, comedy, dance and much more. Both the Sikh and Hindu stories of Diwali were told and various traditional dance routines were performed. Acts playing traditional instruments and even a dance workshop were on offer for a diverse range of people. Loud Bhangra music was pumping, some of which I recognised from my time as a waitress in an Indian restaurant, there was singing and even an MC act.


Standing manning the drinks table (where I perfected my squash-to-water ratio may I add)I was overwhelmed by a sense of community I'd never really felt before. I'm not one for soppy declarations so that's as close as I'll get to the matter but I absolutely loved my first Diwali celebrations and will definitely attend some sort of celebrations next year. Maybe my neighbours will let me crash their party!

There's still a day of Diwali left so why not wish a Hindu or Sikh friend a happy Diwali and ask them about this fascinating festival. Here are several different ways of doing so!

> Diwali ki Shubhkamnayein (दिवाली की शुभकामनाएं): Greeting in Hindi
> Diwadi ni khub khub Shubhkamnao / Saal Mubarak(દિવાલી ની ખૂબ ખૂબ શુભકામનાઓ / સાલ મુબારક): Greeting in Gujarati
> Tuhanu diwali diyan boht boht vadhaiyan (ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਦਿਵਾਲੀ ਦੀਆਂ ਬਹੁਤ ਬਹੁਤ ਵਧਾਈਆਂ ਹੋਣ ): Greeting in Punjabi
> Diwali ki shubh kamna:Greeting in Hindi (Bundelkhand)
> Diwali mubarak ho aap sabko:Greeting in Hindi (Bhind)


Liss xoxo

Wednesday Wanelo Wishlist #2

Studded Sweater// Pink Batwing// Aztec Sweater// Floral Boots//
Leopard print trim boots//Berry Lace-ups// Green Trench Parka// Beige Parka// Green Parka
It's officially winter, not that it ever really was summer in the delightful East Midlands but now winter has well and truly hit us. And although this means colder temperatures, that annoying sweat you get when you go from outside to inside in your many layers and dry skin from having the heating on full blast it's not all bad!

Winter layers aren't just an opportunity to hide the inevitable 15lbs gained from hibernation-like eating habits, they've also become increasingly fashionable. My key winter warmer is a big sweater layered over leggings with some boots and a parka to protect me from the non stop rain that seems to constantly batter the East Midlands.

So above is my pick of my favourite winter warmers found on Wanelo (check that alteration- first class degree, come at me)for you guys to take outfit inspiration from!


Liss xoxo

Poppy Appeal

Poppy Appeal by alicia-faye-myers featuring sterling silver post earrings

He Texted. I Blogged.

It's the age old cliché. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. We're just not meant to understand each other. Our brains work differently. Women talk non-stop, men will only speak when necessary (probably because they're thinking about sex every 7 seconds-if you believe the rumours. Women are more empathic, men have the emotional capacity of a microwave.

Magazines aren't just sold, they're made on articles that claim to offer access to the deep dark world of the mind of the opposite sex. If you listen to Cosmo it's a wonder we ever even communicate in order to procreate, then again if you listen to FHM speaking isn't even necessary for such activities.

I'm not sure at what point this wall of silence between men and women comes along. My best friend when I was little was a boy called Max, our parents were friends and even though he had a bad habit of kicking my dog he always let me go for a cruise in his Cozy Coupe.

I remember being able to communicate perfectly well with him as children He once blew the candles out my power rangers cake at my third birthday. I immediately cried 'Max you're a poo!' and proceeded to pull his hair and kick him whilst crying. If girls could be this honest with their boyfriends I reckon there'd be a lot less arguments but probably a few more bald men. You win some, you lose some.

The trend for trying to break down the verbal walls between men and women has made magazines, books and ever careers. You can now be deemed a 'relationship expert' simply for knowing how to communicate wth the opposite sex. One site has now taken the trend one step further and put it online He Texted is a site where you can actually upload your cryptic text messages to be analysed by a panel of 'bros' and the general public.

Now we've all been there ladies. You meet a guy, you like him, he's interested for a few days and then suddenly nothing. Or maybe you tell your other how how much you love them and you get a 'kk' back (okay so neither of these have happened too me but Cosmo tells me this is what men do, so play along for the sake of the post.)

But do you really want to put that to the internet? And more importantly do you really think any man who refers to himself and his buddy as 'bros' can take enough time out of his day polishing his golden johnny collection to seriously consider your deepest darkest issues. Surely the best thing to do is rant to your friends, eat a whole pack of biscuits and swear off men for a year (read: 5 minutes).


Some of the stuff on the site is pretty intense and watching the 'he's just not that into you' verdicts hit 4 figures when a girl has confessed how she 'really really likes' a guy just seems a bit tragic to me. Although the website was founded by women and the bros have been selected by them to offer helpful advice, they can't control the public's opinions, or the fact that one of the bros describes himself as 'a douchebag who knows other douchebags. The whole thing seems like an exercise in humiliation.

There's also the fact that I actually disagree with most of the verdicts and comments. Whilst I'm no men expert I'm also not one of these girls who spends hours trying to figure out what they mean. I've grown up surrounded by 'proper Yorkshire men'. Strong, silent types who don't speak often and don't waste words trying to baffle or bemuse. They mean what they say. This has provided me with a pretty epic bullshit radar and reading he texted resulted in a mixture of pity and anger. Part of me wants to scream 'how can't you see he's not into you' another part was all 'you are a strong, independent woman-find someone better!' The whole thing made me feel slightly awkward.

So whilst girls out there pour over there phones, spend Sunday morning dying of embarrassment at that Saturday night drunk text and spend hours wailing 'what does he mean?!' into their pillows my suggestion is just ask him. Surely it's easier to face a kindly delivered 'i'm not into you-let's be friends' from one guy than having thousands of strangers on the internet confirm it for you?



Liss xoxo

Accessories Binge

Topshop. Probably the most emotive word in any high street lover's vocab. Most of us absolutely adore it, a small minority of us hate it but you can't deny Topshop's impact. Buying your first item from Topshop is almost a rite of passage. Arcadia king Phillip Green is almost a celebrity, with his daughter Chloe even appearing in MIC.


But recently i've gone on a Topshop diet, made a lifestyle change so to speak. We've gone our separate ways, i've cut out topshop. I'm on an all Primark/Ebay diet. And when Primark provides me with accessory that are as adorable as this black fur headband then I really don't mind (cheap high street can imitate the mid-range well. Low fat food however is just NOT the same)



excuse how Russian/ill I look, my room is not the best for lighting!

I've lusted after a headband like this for months and securing this bad boy in Primarni for £4 may have made my day. I'm gonna blame the rush of this bargain, and my friend and fellow Topshop lover Alex, for my next steps. After months of avoidance, I went in to Topshop. I'd even managed to avoid it with the giant pink SALE! sign in the window but today I saw that the final few pieces of reduced goodness had been pushed to the back of the shop. I almost felt sorry for them, they needed a home.

But I resisted, I managed to reason with myself and very sensibly dismissed my need for a purple drop side vest with glitter ying/yang symbols on it.

And then it happened. Accessories

And small fluro pink stickers screaming £1.50 and £2.50. How could I resist? Long story short , 5 items were purchased. But I like to think the massive savngs I made are a complete redeeming factor!


The 2 pairs of earrings, bracelet, stud set and the collar came to £8.50! Eight-pounds-fifty. That would be a bargain in any shop but for Freedom Jewellery this is a veritable steal! Here's the breakdown of my savings:

Collar- was £15 now £2.50
Hoop Earrings were £7.50 now £1.50
Skull Earrings were £7.50 now £1.50
Stud Set was £6.50 now £1.50
Skull bracelet was £6.50 now £1.50

All in all my goodies should have cost £43! So at £8.50 I saved £34.50 and thus, my guilt is dispelled. Especially as my collar looks so damn cute.

What have your latest sale bargains been? What's your opinion on Topshop? And most importantly do you rate or slate my accessories?


Liss xoxo

Liebster Blog Awards

So i've been nominated by the delightful Maxine for the Liebster Blog Awards! It's taken me an outrageous amount of time to get round to and I should currently be preparing an essay plan for a close textual analysis but blogging is way more fun so here goes! I'm not usually into this kind of thing but it seems like a nice way to get to know people:)

The RULES:
You must post 11 random facts about yourself. You must answer 11 questions from the person who chose you. You must create a new set of 11 questions for who you tag.
You must then tag 11 blogs with under 200 followers and let them know. You can not tag back.

11 FACTS:
- I'm allergic to apples and other fruits.
- I can't sneeze properly.
- I am dyspraxic.
- I want to work in marketing or PR for a publishers
- I once told Mario from TOWIE 'it's very rude to make a PA in trainers-make some effort'.
- I want to live in Ireland or Italy when I am older.
- I hate cities and would much rather be in the countryside.
- I broke my leg dancing on wrapping paper to Michael Jackson when I was 2.
- I talk/laugh/make sex noises in my sleep.
- My name is 'Alicia Faye'. Alicia means noble or queen and Faye means fairy so my name means fairy queen (cringe)
- I'm like the least romantic person alive and my only nod to it is wearing a claddagh ring turned inwards on my ring finger.

My Answers:
1. If you wrote a novel, what would the title & cover be? Someone already took my title of 'fuck me i'm in my 20's'. The cover would probably be plain white and say 'steal this book' a la System of a Down

2. Do you prefer toffee or chocolate apples?
TOFFEE APPLES. I know winter has full begun when someone whips one of those out.

3. When have you been extremely inspired by another person? Explain what they did, how it inspired you etc.
My head of department at uni lost her husband, also a lecturer in our department, earlier this year and she was so strong and composed about it all. I was literally in awe and slightly heartbroken.

4. What has been your favourite part about your blogging experience so far?
Definitely getting to hear from other people and getting a bit of interaction on my blog. I love getting comments, it really makes my day.

5. What is one trend at the moment you really hate?
I never have and I never will enjoy Creepers. Just no.

6. What is one trend at the moment you really love?
I'm still absolutely loving collars, the perfect addition to any outfit.

7. If you had to change your career, what would be your next choice?
Oooh tough choice. I want to work in marketing/pr but if it wasn't that then I'd love to be a casting director for a film, i'm pretty good at sussing out characters.

8. What is your typical Starbucks order?
Chai Tea Latte!

9. Do you still watch Disney movies? Which is your favourite?
Of course. My oldie fave is Snow White, childhood fave is Lion King and a Pixar fave is probably Finding Nemo.

10. What was the last product you bought that really disappointed you?
I made the mistake of buying a cheap eyeliner from a local beauty store. After almost blinding myself I went running back into the arms of MUA's kohl liner in black.

I NOMINATE:

1) http://glossykezzy.blogsot.co.uk
2) http://jemapparel.blogspot.co.uk/
3) http://abbigrant.blogspot.co.uk/
4) http://clothesdrawer.blogspot.co.uk/
5) http://ispysj.blogspot.co.uk/
6) http://vansmeetvogue.blogspot.co.uk/
7) http://miaalice.blogspot.co.uk/
8) http://laddered-tights.blogspot.co.uk/
9) http://drowsyhearts.blogspot.co.uk/
10) http://megangracey.blogspot.co.uk/

QUESTIONS:

1) If you could change your name to anything what would you choose?
2) Halloween or Christmas?
3) Tattoos-yay or nay?
4) Why did you start blogging?
5) Would you rather lose one friend or all your followers?
6)You're only allowed to wear one colour for the rest of your life-what is it?
7)What beauty product can't you live without?
8) If you could get rid of one fashion trend what would it be?
9)Spring/Summer or Autumn/Winter?
10) Post your favourite youtube clip of all time
11) What's top of your Christmas list?

Firework Fashion

So it's nearly time for bonfire night and i've got looks for any celebration!If your are to cuddle up round a makeshift bonfire, let off some cheap fireworks that inevitably won't set off properly resulting in a swearing fit from dad then my first toasty look is for you!

Bonfire Beauty by alicia-faye-myers featuring a bobble hat

If you wanna sparkle and shine just as much as the fireworks themselves however then this look is definitely the way forward!

Firework Fatale by alicia-faye-myers featuring bcbgeneration

Further hair adventures

Yes, another hair dying post. You're probably beginning to think i'm some kind of hair sadist who gets a sick thrill from the split ends and straw like feeling all this abuse produces. I'm not, I'm just very lucky in that my hair is essentially a mane and there's a lot of it to abuse.


My hair has been around 6 different colours this year, from reddy-pink, to ginger-ish to light brown ombre to dark brown ombre and now...green. Yes green, as mentioned in my previous post I dyed my hair green for Halloween, using Directions Alpine Green (check that rhyme). Just the ends but still. My hair is green and unfortunately I'm a lot less edgy than I like to think. I'm a country girl who's standard outfit is leggings, t-shirt and vans. I cannot pull off green hair. Despite the reassurances of my friends that it looks good, Halloween is over tomorrow and I don't want children to start running from me in fear.


I think I look like the wicked witch of the west, the boyfriend has nicknamed me Shrek and today I was judged by a man with a tattooed face who was purchasing 36 loo rolls and 4 bottles of hand sanitiser. So it's go-time for the green. Our 3 day love affair is over.

After hours of desperate googling yesterday and praying I wouldn't have to bleach my ends for the 4th time this year I'd landed on my routine. Unfortunately, the bleach is involved. I've got it on now as I type and the fact my hair is already looking nice and blonde again gives me hope. Unless of course I'm now going to have blonde ends tinged with green. Being the genius I am however I've sorted something to combat that. My internet wandering took me to a forum post from a girl who had used the exact same dye I had and treated it with a Vitamin C rinse. She appeared to have incredible results so I instantly added vitamin C tablets to my 'hair rescue' list.

After bleaching my hair is definitely back to blonde/brown at the ends! But there's still remnants of green higher up in my hair so the vitamin C rinse is go. This is most definitely one of the less appealing things I've ever had to put on my hair. 15 crushed Vitamin C tablets mixed with as much shampoo as I'd normally use looks a bit like toxic waste...



The vitamin C mix stayed on for an hour and it really toned down the vibrancy of the green. I was massively impressed with this mix, especially as it was a totally natural mix. It broke down the dye really well.

After this was left with (platinum) blonde ends with a delightful 'i've just been swimming' green tinge to them.


As you can see, I couldn't quite pull this look off (particularly as it clashed with my green top) and so dye job number 3 was needed. I'd read online that a brown dye simply wouldn't do the job in covering my green disaster and I need something red.

However I had broken the number one rule of hair bleaching and was dying my hair without allowing a week to recover (if you put dye straight onto bleached hair it will appear a lot darker due to the porous nature of the hair after bleaching.) So I figured a dark blonde/light dirty brown would do the job . I found the perfect colour in Garnier Nutrisse's Dark Golden Ash Blonde (7.31) being 3 shades lighter than the John Frieda Dark Chocolate Brown (4BG) I had used on the top of my head it would create the perfect subtle ombre I wanted.

The dye was easy to apply as is expected from Garnier dyes and also smelt AMAZING. The luxurious conditioner also provided my hair with some much needed TLC after the trauma I had put it through. In addition to putting this dye on I also bleached certain bits of hair that still had green in them that I had missed (my hair is very layered and very messy so finding all the green took time!).



The result was both fabulous and unexpected. My hair now has a very subtle Ombre look to it with a rich chocolatey brown on top fading into a dirty blonde/light brown on the bottom. Both colours are warm in tone and this have given my skin some much needed colour for the winter months!



I had planned to dye over the parts I'd bleached at the last minute with the Garnier dye afterwards but the few small bits of blonde provided a beautiful highlighted effect and fell in just the right place to frame my face and give the look some structure and definition. I also ended up with a lovely blonde touch to my fringe which helped the look 'fuse' better. Previously my ombre had been very half and half with the top being dark brown and the ends being blonde. Now the whole look flows really well and I couldn't be happier!

So, have I learnt my lesson to leave my hair well alone? I think so. I've been very lucky to go from blonde ends to green ends and back to ash blonde ends without my hair falling out. However my ends are now pretty battered and I'm sure the next few hair washes will be filled with a fear of my whole barnet coming off in my hands.

I've invested in some seriously hardcore moisturising hair products and me and the GHD's will be taking a break for a while to allow my hair to rest. I wouldn't recommend putting your hair through what mine has been through at all but if you have a hair emergency I am now well educated in hair rescue and happy to help!


Liss xoxo

Movember

Movember by alicia-faye-myers featuring asos