This blog will no longer be used (not that I have been using it for quite some time now anyway!) so if you want to stay in touch, please check out the above links :)
Love
Tali xxx
Thursday 20 February 2014
NEW BLOG UP AND RUNNING....
Hey guys! Please go follow my new blog - it's going to be lifestyle, beauty, fashion and fitness all rolled into one!
Friday 26 April 2013
[LIFE] Where have I been?! :o
As you may (or may not!) have noticed, I'm taking a wee blogging break. Nearly 4 months so far in fact!!! I decided to go have a mini hiatus because of how I felt about my blog - I don't take many pictures, and I don't like the pics I do take of myself (although that's probs a self esteem issue more than anything!), and to be quite honest bblogging/fblogging wasn't doing it for me, as I don't appreciate reading a million reviews about the same product! Yawn. In my opinion anyway, I don't mean any offence to those who love reviewing, it just doesn't do much for me!
I miss blogging though! I hope to make a full return before the summer, but currently I'm enjoying a life outside social media, and I'm not quite ready to come back just yet.
All that said, I am back on Instagram!! @sugarandsakura if you are desperately missing me ;) (doubtful).
In general life is pretty shweet ;) going to be buying my own house soon, I'm horse riding pretty much every chance I get, and yoga-ing in the time in between. Phd is going well too, and I have unicorn-vomit hair! What more could a girl need ;)
Love to all my blogger friends, and, like I said, I am on Instagram if you wanna look at pics!!
Tali
Xxxx
I miss blogging though! I hope to make a full return before the summer, but currently I'm enjoying a life outside social media, and I'm not quite ready to come back just yet.
All that said, I am back on Instagram!! @sugarandsakura if you are desperately missing me ;) (doubtful).
In general life is pretty shweet ;) going to be buying my own house soon, I'm horse riding pretty much every chance I get, and yoga-ing in the time in between. Phd is going well too, and I have unicorn-vomit hair! What more could a girl need ;)
Love to all my blogger friends, and, like I said, I am on Instagram if you wanna look at pics!!
Tali
Xxxx
Monday 14 January 2013
[HAIR] Back to blonde
I mentioned a few posts back that I was hoping to gradually lighten my hair up to an icy white blonde. Well, I had my first appointment to go blonde on on the last Saturday of 2012! Yes I know this post is a bit late haha - it's been in draft for ages but I haven't had a chance to take some pics :)
I went to Neil Barton in Edinburgh to get it done. It was my first time at the salon, but I cannot praise it highly enough! I was in there from 9:45 until after 3pm, but all the staff were so friendly and nice - offering to go out and get me some lunch if I was hungry and always being there if I needed anything. Even though it is a famous and award-winning salon, there was none of the bitchiness that you can get with some upmarket hairdressers, they were completely honest about how light I would be able to go, and refused to do anything that would damage my hair. I could go on forever about how lovely everyone was (and I got looked after by 4 hairdressers during my time there!) but you really just have to see for yourself if you are ever in the area. Also its 20% off for new clients, and the same discount for students. I got my hair done for £80 which I was so amazed at - I thought it would be well over £100 even with the discount!
First they put a disgusting-smelling colour stripper on my hair, to remove all of the level 4 dark brown dye I had on it. Then I got a full head of bleach, which lifted my roots up to canary yellow, but the midsection and ends of my hair were orange unfortunately, which meant that they had to darken all of my hair to make it even. This involved adding a yellow/red pigment on my roots to make them orange so that all of my hair was the same colour. They then added a level 8 neutral/ash blonde permanent dye (by Goldwell), left that on for a while, washed it out and added a semi-permanent dye to make the level 8 colour last longer, did a deep treatment as my hair was feeling a little frazzled by then, and finally cut it! I don't think I've ever had such a nice cut before - my fringe and the front layers really frame my face, but the stylist kept the length as I'm growing my bob out.
All of that... for £80! Such a good deal. I'm definitely going to go back - they advised me to wait 8-10 weeks before I get any other colour done to it, so in March I'll start having icy/ashy highlights to start lightening it up more, and then in a while have a full head of bleach. I can't wait to have my white blonde hair so I can grunge it up with lots of pastels, but right now I am absolutely loving having lighter hair - it adds so much more colour to my face and makes my complexion look warmer and more radiant.
My only problem was my sensitive scalp - it's been fine for weeks, but the full head of bleach kind of made it really bad again. The symptoms only lasted a few days and it's totally fine now. I'll spare you the gory details too ;) All the same I'm a bit hesitant to have anything other than foils and vegetable-based dye (Manic Panic etc) in the near future as it was pretty scary!! I wouldn't blame the hairdressers in any way - they checked on my hair and scalp at regular intervals to check for chemical burns etc and took every precaution possible.. it was just my sensitive skin, which is something I should have probably warned them about beforehand!!!
All in all, if you are ever in the Edinburgh area, go to Neil Barton Hairdressing. It was a fantastic, chilled-out pampering experience and I'll definitely be going back :)
Tali xxx
I went to Neil Barton in Edinburgh to get it done. It was my first time at the salon, but I cannot praise it highly enough! I was in there from 9:45 until after 3pm, but all the staff were so friendly and nice - offering to go out and get me some lunch if I was hungry and always being there if I needed anything. Even though it is a famous and award-winning salon, there was none of the bitchiness that you can get with some upmarket hairdressers, they were completely honest about how light I would be able to go, and refused to do anything that would damage my hair. I could go on forever about how lovely everyone was (and I got looked after by 4 hairdressers during my time there!) but you really just have to see for yourself if you are ever in the area. Also its 20% off for new clients, and the same discount for students. I got my hair done for £80 which I was so amazed at - I thought it would be well over £100 even with the discount!
First they put a disgusting-smelling colour stripper on my hair, to remove all of the level 4 dark brown dye I had on it. Then I got a full head of bleach, which lifted my roots up to canary yellow, but the midsection and ends of my hair were orange unfortunately, which meant that they had to darken all of my hair to make it even. This involved adding a yellow/red pigment on my roots to make them orange so that all of my hair was the same colour. They then added a level 8 neutral/ash blonde permanent dye (by Goldwell), left that on for a while, washed it out and added a semi-permanent dye to make the level 8 colour last longer, did a deep treatment as my hair was feeling a little frazzled by then, and finally cut it! I don't think I've ever had such a nice cut before - my fringe and the front layers really frame my face, but the stylist kept the length as I'm growing my bob out.
All of that... for £80! Such a good deal. I'm definitely going to go back - they advised me to wait 8-10 weeks before I get any other colour done to it, so in March I'll start having icy/ashy highlights to start lightening it up more, and then in a while have a full head of bleach. I can't wait to have my white blonde hair so I can grunge it up with lots of pastels, but right now I am absolutely loving having lighter hair - it adds so much more colour to my face and makes my complexion look warmer and more radiant.
My only problem was my sensitive scalp - it's been fine for weeks, but the full head of bleach kind of made it really bad again. The symptoms only lasted a few days and it's totally fine now. I'll spare you the gory details too ;) All the same I'm a bit hesitant to have anything other than foils and vegetable-based dye (Manic Panic etc) in the near future as it was pretty scary!! I wouldn't blame the hairdressers in any way - they checked on my hair and scalp at regular intervals to check for chemical burns etc and took every precaution possible.. it was just my sensitive skin, which is something I should have probably warned them about beforehand!!!
All in all, if you are ever in the Edinburgh area, go to Neil Barton Hairdressing. It was a fantastic, chilled-out pampering experience and I'll definitely be going back :)
Tali xxx
Tuesday 1 January 2013
[LIFE] Happy new years!
image from weheartit
Happy new year everyone! 2012 has gone past so quickly, so I really hope I can try and hold on to every moment in 2013. I already know its going to be a great year - I start my PhD, we have a long weekend break booked in February and hopefully we'll be able to get a longer holiday later on in the year. Oh and I finally get to fulfil my childhood dream and get horse riding lessons. Woo!
I am writing this post to recap 2012, and also to announce my resolutions for 2013. Exciting! I love making resolutions, as I am a total believer in turning over a new leaf, starting afresh, and so on. While I think it's important to make these new commitments on more than one day a year(!), I do like the general 'new year, new start' principle.
My resolutions last year were:
My new year 'resolutions' are to take more time out for myself, and relax more. Be more patient and kinder to myself again. And try and get my confidence back, cos I feel like a shell of my old self!! I also want to take more pictures, cos I've barely taken any this year!! And blog more :)
Hmm. I spent the first few months of 2012 yoyo-ing between being totally miserable with my life and going "yeah! I'm going to turn it around!" The last few months have been a lot better though - I'm starting to realise that I do spend too much time hitting refresh on my phone, and less time actually relaxing. I've also started to do yoga at home regularly, so I guess in that respect I have made some progress! However, I have definitely not taken more pictures, or at least not on my camera - my Instagram account shows that I am taking much more pics on my phone though! Blogging is as always a bit sporadic, as I lack the time and sometimes the inspiration to do it on a regular basis.
In general, I feel a lot happier in my own skin - or at least I've stopped feeling like I don't know who I am etc. I think this is one of those cases where if you don't think about it, you're doing just fine :) While nothing particularly major happened in 2012, I feel like I have grown as a person - a person who I really do like. And that is a big achievement!
My resolutions this year are:
- To continue looking after myself and making sure I relax
- To learn patience
- To get fit! I am very excited to start working out more, and can't wait to start using the gym at work regularly. I want to start doing yoga 3-4 times a week as well, and I want to get some decent running trainers for when the weather gets warmer (fair weather jogger here!!). I don't want to lose weight - maybe tone up a little round my middle, but in general I just want to feel better and start looking after my body more.
What are your new years resolutions? Do you always stick to them? How was 2012 for you?
Tali xxx
Monday 31 December 2012
[BEAUTY] Why I failed the no-makeup challenge
A while ago I wrote about cutting down my makeup usage dramatically, in order to improve my complexion. Well, I lasted a grand total of 8 days!! Ahahaha. My plan was to only wear eye makeup, and give my face a break. 8 days was all it took to make me realise a few things:
Makeup is fun!
I sometimes feel like messing around with fashion, beauty and hair is the only creative outlet I have left. Working in science in a very technical role has decreased my artisticness so much in my opinion - I used to love art textiles at school, but I now lack the ability to come up with new ideas. Makeup etc gives me a chance to play around with different colours and styles, and I love being able to build up from a blank canvas (my face!) and try out different looks. Wearing mascara and eyeliner only was boring!! I missed contouring and shading and mixing up different colour combos.
Makeup gives me confidence!
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you about the self esteem boost a healthy dose of concealer gives. I was getting weary of everyone telling me how tired I looked by not concealing my dark shadows, and I was very aware of my red unconcealed nose!! Also, sometimes a gal just needs to peacock a bit and wear some vibrant eyeshadow and/or a bright lip.
So yes, I failed, but I have learnt from the experiment - my skin was very clear during the 8 days!! Although I have since only worn makeup on my eyes, cheeks and nose, I have started breaking out quite badly around my mouth?! I'm hoping its just my terrible Xmas diet that has done this! Anyway, I want to have a few consecutive days a month where I go back to the bare minimum of mascara+eyeliner again, just to give my skin a break.
Tali xxx
Makeup is fun!
I sometimes feel like messing around with fashion, beauty and hair is the only creative outlet I have left. Working in science in a very technical role has decreased my artisticness so much in my opinion - I used to love art textiles at school, but I now lack the ability to come up with new ideas. Makeup etc gives me a chance to play around with different colours and styles, and I love being able to build up from a blank canvas (my face!) and try out different looks. Wearing mascara and eyeliner only was boring!! I missed contouring and shading and mixing up different colour combos.
Makeup gives me confidence!
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you about the self esteem boost a healthy dose of concealer gives. I was getting weary of everyone telling me how tired I looked by not concealing my dark shadows, and I was very aware of my red unconcealed nose!! Also, sometimes a gal just needs to peacock a bit and wear some vibrant eyeshadow and/or a bright lip.
So yes, I failed, but I have learnt from the experiment - my skin was very clear during the 8 days!! Although I have since only worn makeup on my eyes, cheeks and nose, I have started breaking out quite badly around my mouth?! I'm hoping its just my terrible Xmas diet that has done this! Anyway, I want to have a few consecutive days a month where I go back to the bare minimum of mascara+eyeliner again, just to give my skin a break.
Tali xxx
Sunday 30 December 2012
[MEMEME] What I Got For Xmas
Ok so I know what I said - that I didn't want to write about my Xmas pressures because I didn't want to sound materialistic or like I was bragging! However I have loved reading everyone else's posts on this subject, plus I want to share what I got - not to show off but because I am so excited about everything!! Please bear in mind that Christmas for me - this year and every year - is about spending time with my loved ones, gifts etc always come second to that :)
I guess my main present was what I'm writing on currently - my beautiful iPad!
There's a funny story around this - my bf offered to get my one for Xmas to help with my PhD (so I could work from home and not be stuck reading papers on a laptop), but I changed my mind at the last minute as I prioritised a hair appointment!!!! Hahhaha, only me... Anyway, I ended up having major envy of Mike's parents' iPads, and was so gutted I had said no to getting one. So you can imagine the look on my face when I unwrapped it on Xmas morning! Priceless :) I'm so grateful for it and have been tapping away on it ever since.
Mike also got me....
£50 to spend at the MAC counter at Harvey Nicols, which I spent yesterday on this:
A Jamie Oliver 15 minute meal recipe book - I've been loving watching and/or trying out the recipes from the TV show :)
Lemon Bon Bons which I'm 100% hooked on (bai teeth) and the Warhorse DVD
Mike's family very kindly got me a £30 Next voucher, which I may put towards a certain pair of boots I've been eyeing up, and some lovely Avon eyeliners :)
My parents got me...
£50 to put towards a waterproof coat for when I go riding/help out at the stables. I went to Superdry yesterday and made a sneaky purchase:
They also got me an umbrella that changes colour when it rains (how cool is that!!), and lots of choccies cos they know me too well.
My sister got me a lovely top (I'm wearing it in both pictures) and an aromatherapy massage voucher which I can't wait to spend!
My friends got me...
The Naked2 palette, Nails Inc polishes, beautiful candles, a gorgeous asymmetric hem skirt, Sleek eyeshadow palette and some Body Shop goodies
All in all I have been one spoilt girl! I appreciate everything so much, and can't wait to use everything :)
It's my birthday on Wednesday! I know that Mike is getting me riding lessons for a year (eeeeek!) for my present, and I also got my hair done yesterday which was another gift.
All in all, I am so grateful for everything and for everyone in my life :)
Tali xxx
I guess my main present was what I'm writing on currently - my beautiful iPad!
There's a funny story around this - my bf offered to get my one for Xmas to help with my PhD (so I could work from home and not be stuck reading papers on a laptop), but I changed my mind at the last minute as I prioritised a hair appointment!!!! Hahhaha, only me... Anyway, I ended up having major envy of Mike's parents' iPads, and was so gutted I had said no to getting one. So you can imagine the look on my face when I unwrapped it on Xmas morning! Priceless :) I'm so grateful for it and have been tapping away on it ever since.
Mike also got me....
£50 to spend at the MAC counter at Harvey Nicols, which I spent yesterday on this:
A Jamie Oliver 15 minute meal recipe book - I've been loving watching and/or trying out the recipes from the TV show :)
Lemon Bon Bons which I'm 100% hooked on (bai teeth) and the Warhorse DVD
Mike's family very kindly got me a £30 Next voucher, which I may put towards a certain pair of boots I've been eyeing up, and some lovely Avon eyeliners :)
My parents got me...
£50 to put towards a waterproof coat for when I go riding/help out at the stables. I went to Superdry yesterday and made a sneaky purchase:
(Disclaimer: Please ignore the messy background - towels etc!! Need to tidy my apartment stat!)
They also got me an umbrella that changes colour when it rains (how cool is that!!), and lots of choccies cos they know me too well.
My sister got me a lovely top (I'm wearing it in both pictures) and an aromatherapy massage voucher which I can't wait to spend!
My friends got me...
The Naked2 palette, Nails Inc polishes, beautiful candles, a gorgeous asymmetric hem skirt, Sleek eyeshadow palette and some Body Shop goodies
All in all I have been one spoilt girl! I appreciate everything so much, and can't wait to use everything :)
It's my birthday on Wednesday! I know that Mike is getting me riding lessons for a year (eeeeek!) for my present, and I also got my hair done yesterday which was another gift.
All in all, I am so grateful for everything and for everyone in my life :)
Tali xxx
Wednesday 26 December 2012
[LIFE] My Christmas
I'm writing this from my parents house, where I've been for the last 24 hours. I spent Xmas morning at my in-laws and then met my family at my grandpa's hospice and returned home with them :)
It was really nice sending the day with both of my families - I do see my boyfriend's parents as my second family! Dinner was yummy as always, and my presents were out of this world (I'm writing this from my shiny new iPad!) but I don't want to make this into a haul post as Christmas Day, for me anyway, was about spending quality time with my family, nothing else :)
Hope you all had a magical day - what did you end up doing yesterday?
Tali xxx
It was really nice sending the day with both of my families - I do see my boyfriend's parents as my second family! Dinner was yummy as always, and my presents were out of this world (I'm writing this from my shiny new iPad!) but I don't want to make this into a haul post as Christmas Day, for me anyway, was about spending quality time with my family, nothing else :)
Hope you all had a magical day - what did you end up doing yesterday?
Tali xxx
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