[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

MEMEME: Week in Pictures 3

(OOTD#1, me, stars and faded pink hair, OOTD#2, sunny Scotland, snug Sparrow, sleepy Sparrow, poppy, both cats, Italian cuisine week, foil head, new hair#1, Sparrow losing her bracelet, thigh tattoo ideas, Harley shop, new hair#2, Italian roasted veggies, grotty converse, Sparrow loving her dad, new top)

Hi! I've been AWOL for a while, so this is a massive catch up! Wow. Where to start! I had a week's annual leave where I planned to do sooOOooo much, and ended up having a very relaxed detox week.  This basically entailed daily yoga, jogging round the neighbouring fields (see pics for how gorgeous it is!) and eating a lot more healthily and mindfully.  Had Italian week last week at home, which entailed eating a ton of yummy food. Started back at work last Wednesday, and already I can feel the stress creeping back in :( It's not even my job that's the issue - it's such a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.  Something I need to work on anyway :)

Mike dragged me to the Harley shop, to show me the bike he wants! It was full of bearded men (how stereotypical!) and shiny bikes.  He has his first 'taster' sess a week tomorrow, and is so excited, bless him.  I've banned him from growing a beard though ;)

I realised when uploading all these pics that most of my kitty piccies are of Sparrow, and only one of Seren! This is not favouritism btw!! - just that Sparrow is more social with us, and also does the stupidest things! I'll make it my mission to photograph cutey dragon-nosed Seren more often :)

I've updated my hair (again, I know, I just haven't been happy with it the last few months, and still a bit scared of it now! Someone told me I look very sci-fi, which I suppose sums it up pretty well! I've got a black (ok, a warm level 4 brown, but looks black) and blue bob, with a full fringe.  I've never had such short hair before!! Can't even tie it back! I do love it, though the blue is fading to greeny-grey already, and I've only had it done 5 days!!!!!!!11 I don't even wash it every day!  

I've also decided that I want a new tattoo, on my thigh this time.  I fell in love with the above pic, but obviously want to make it my own and not copy somebody else's.  I'll keep you posted :)

I've started volunteering at a local riding for the disabled charity!! I went in yesterday to help out, and it was mostly feeding and grooming the horses as there weren't any riders that day.  I'm sure I've mentioned here how much I love horses, and to be able to help out a charity at the same time is awesome!

Um other than that, not much else to tell you! Oh I bought myself some new Liz Earle - they have an offer this month for the trio of skincare (Cleanse and Polish, Skin Tonic and Skin Repair), plus a full-size of the Sheer Skin Tint, all for just £41!!  I have tried and loved (and reviewed) these products before, so I was mega excited for the delivery :)

How was your weekend?

xxxxx

MEMEME: Week in Pictures

Not posted for a while - this week has been mega hectic! Took Tuesday off to get a (free!) Toni & Guy trainee haircut! It wasn't what I expected - they were only allowed to create styles from a particular book, so the inspiration pics I took in were a waste of time.  She took more off my length than I had anticipated - I only wanted more layers and my fringe cut back in - and ended up with a complete restyle! So bai pink :(

This is completely shadowed however by the AWESOME NEWS OF THE WEEK!! I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but I'm currently supporting my bf Mike through college and eventually university.  He's doing a Web Development course and is completely owning it! He's had a ton of clients and even got an award from his college! Anyway, there was a (paid) internship going at his college and we found out on Thursday (at 3am haha) that he got it! Woohoo.  So he's going to be getting a ton of experience working part time, while still studying his course, and it takes some of the financial pressure off me! Woop! 

So of course I have spent the last few days researching what I want to buy - I want to get a ton of new stuff for the apartment, for Mike and of course for me ;) hi Wildfox Lennon sweater!! My life has been a bit short on the picture front of late - mostly because I haven't really done anything that exciting recently due to being careful with the funds *yawn*.  Now that we don't have to be so responsible, expect to see a lot more exciting pics! Watch this space ;)

Edinburgh George St, new hair, suit up!, amazing Topshop sweater, celebratory coma-inducing Frankie and Benny's, Yin and Yang kitties

MEMEME: Right now (2)

Lana del Rey - Without You by sugarandsakura featuring layered necklaces

_________________


I'm currently chilling out listening to Lana del Rey (bought the album before my holiday in April, and I'm still listening to it almost daily - shows how amazing it is!).   I can honestly say I haven't tired of any song on the entire album.

I've finally (after years of browsing it) got a Polyvore account! I've only made 2 sets so far but I'm really enjoying it! I did Art for years at school, but seeing as I have a tecchy/sciency career now I feel like I'm losing all my creativity.  I hope this will be a good way to channel my artistic side :) You can see my newest set (inspired by Lana haha) above :)

I'm realising I really need to chill - Mike applied for an amazing internship and we're waiting to hear if he's got an interview.  Only thing is .. I think I'm more nervous about it than he is!  So I really need to take my mind off it, leave it up to fate and stop spending his salary before he even gets accepted..

I am currently mega annoyed at my face - I keep breaking out! I normally have perfect skin (other than my brief rosacea phase as described a few posts ago), but ran out of Liz Earle and had to go back to drugstore products.  I'm using a moisturiser that I quite liked before - Nivea Pure & Natural for sensitive skin - and I don't know if it's a dodgy batch I have but my skin has never broken out this bad *sob*.  

Going to Toni&Guys tomorrow for a cut - after my hair got massively wrecked by hour-long bleach exposure it just doesn't feel the same.  Obviously!  It's getting better, mostly cos I deep condition pretty much every time I wash, but could really do with a trim.  Can't believe the place I went to for my pink colour *forgot* to cut my hair??!! Le sigh.

That's pretty much it for the moment :) what are you all up to today?

Tali xxx

HAIR: Tali meets My Little Pony

Hey everyone! I'm chilling out on the sofa with Mike after watching the lamest movie ever (Bad Teacher - Marshall from How I Met Your Mother was the only thing holding it together!).  

Anyway, as I hinted (ok, gave it away) the other day, I finally decided that 25 is NOT too old to go back to my pink hair! I can't get away with being awesomely cool (ha) forever so I may as well suck it up while I can.  When I was 21 I had pink and blonde and black hair...yes I was a skanky scene kid to the max...and it was awesome! That coupled with the whole pastel hair trend that I have been quite frankly OBSESSED with since winter, meant that I had to do this.

My inspiration:

 So. I booked an appointment at my local hair and beauty college as they needed models.   As cheapskate as this sounds, I can't remember the last time I paid full price for my hair!! I always go to trainee stylists because they do an amazing job and are supervised every step of the way.  This time was slightly the exception - the student went on a break for an hour (the horror!), leaving bleach on my hair, while I was panicking and thinking "my hair my hair!!".  It's a tiny bit damaged, but definitely salvageable!!

Anyway, onto the point of this post!

So. First came the aforementioned bleach:

I already had subtle ombré - caramel dip dye that meant that the colour lifted pretty speedily.  So by the time an hour was over it was mega light!

Then they applied the pink dye.  It was a mixture of different Goldwell quasi colours.  I am really impressed - I always thought it was alternative brands like La Riche Directions, Fudge Paintbox and Manic Panic that were the only manufacturers of crazy colours, but Goldwell have really produced some fantastic colours.  Even better, even after shampooing my hair this morning, I didn't get a bright pink blood bath in the shower - I think this colour is going to last a good long time.

Excuse the crazy one-eye iPhone shot!!  The stylist left this on for ~30mins, and when it washed off.. wow!! Check out the finished product ;)

I love it so much! Let me know what you all think :) Are you a fan of 'crazy colours' or do you prefer natural shades only?

Tali xxxx

MEMEME: Week in pictures

Resolutions: I will schedule my posts better! I will!

From top left: Pentland hills 1 and 2, feline love, poser Monday, OOTD Wednesday, pastel nails, new hair, lap cat, hooked on that book

HAIR: Tali and Ombré, finally united!

My hair and I are no strangers to the ombré concept. Nearly 2 years ago I went into a salon, asking for dipdyed ends and darker roots. The hairdresser basically refused, saying it would look like grown-out highlights and she didn't want to do it!!!! Ombré then became more and more popular, every picture taunting me of the hair I wasnt "allowed" to have!

 Just over a year ago I went to another salon (I had moved to Scotland by then) and asked for it again, showing pics of what I had in mind. I walked out with orange hair and one inch of dark roots!! The orange was kinda my fault, as the stylist had warned me that the warm brown I had previously had on my hair would pull warm. However, she pretty much gave me a reverse ombre - I maintain to this day that if she had only bleached the tips I could've pulled off the orangeness!!

 Anyway, I hope the above rumblings gave you some insight to my ombre longings! For the last few months Ive been torn between pastel and ombré.. Or pastel ombré for that matter!! I eventually decided that ombré would be kinder on my hair as I wouldn't constantly have to refresh the colour. And if I do want pastel I'm going to chalk my tips. 

 Now, I'm writing this down for the world to see: 

 TALI - STOP DYEING YOUR HAIR!!! 

I always go straight for the dye whenever I feel a little 
[down/insecure/unconfident/bored/dissatisfied] 
with myself and/or my life. I now want to leave my hair and just focus on its health - good products, limited heat styling, lots of biotin - and if I do feel any of the above, I'm going to do something that will actually help my life and not just try to "start afresh".

So, my hair!!

It started off like this:

With maaajor bad roots!!

The hairdresser backcombed my whole head: 

 LOL I looked half vogue, half scary monster

The stylist then coloured my roots/midsection to my natural colour (level 5), and bleached the ends.  The backcombing helped prevent there from being a visible line between light/dark

The finished piece:

Yep the duckface was a freebie haha (sorry I'm a poser)

The ombré won't photograph well on my iPhone grr, and my camera battery is dead.  But take my word for it - caramel dip dye and a warm level 5 for the rest! It's lovely and I feel much more like myself as a brunette again.

And the best part? No more roots, no more fadeage, just my natural hair growing back in, with caramel dipdye for added dimension! Woohoo :)

Let me know what you think!

HAIR: Redheads do it best....

After a disastrous red hair dyeing incident that did not go well and took months, if not years, to stop rearing it's ugly rust-coloured head, I swore never to even consider going back to red!! That was, until I saw this picture: 

I was HOOKED.  The gorgeous red wine-esque, slightly violet, slightly pink tone was to die for! So I spent a month getting my dark-brunette hair in shape for the plunge (think masques and protein treatments).  

I also opted for this style of cut:

Even though I normally hate bobs! Yes, all change here!

My hair was bleached to an inch of it's life to lift the dark colour I had on there.  It looked amazing bleached though - very autumnal shades of russet, orange and gold.  I almost made the stylist stop right there lol.

So the outcome:

(DISCLAIMER: no pics do it justice!! It is full on magenta/violet and absolutely gorgeous.  Also an inverted bob which this pics don't seem to show!)

<3 <3 <3 <3