[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

[HAIR] Ice ice baby!

So as I mentioned before, for my birthday I am getting my hair lightened, hopefully by quite a lot! My aim is to have it silvery white by spring, so I can wear it like that, or dress it up with pastel streaks.

My inspiration? These snow queen babes:

Tali xxx

HAIR: My hair through the ages

After seeing this tag floating around in the blogsphere, I thought I would add my few cents.  I have changed my hair a LOT over the last 8 years, not always for the better! If you want some comedy at my expense, read on!!

OK, I'm not going to show my hair before I started uni, as it was mousy and frizzy for pretty much the whole time between the age of 15-18!  

2006-2007

When I was in my first year of undergrad, my so-called 'friends' at the time ruined my hair completely! I was a total emo/scene kid back in the day and wanted my (male) friends to dye my hair black, purple and blonde for me.  Basically it turned black and grey/lavender, and not in the cool pastel-grunge kind of way! Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence for this - I dyed my hair back dark the next day but it faded pretty quickly and ended up looking like pic 1 (top left).  Blonde/bronde/mousy/whatever, and with the RIDICULOUS EMO FRINGE that I had for years haha.  
I then dyed it dark red by the look of things (pic 2), and then had dark purple underneath added, along with blonde orange streaks through the top (pic 3).  Whyy!  I alwyas had the same sort of haircut during these years - shoulder length with too many layers which made it look silly in retrospect! Then, thank god, I had it coloured again - this time a nice warm red/brown which looked really good! 
I should mention my BFF is in a lot of these pics -  I'm probably going to accidentally document her hairvolution in this post too (sorry debs)!! In the last pic she accidentally dyed her hair the colour of fire, basically.  I remember wetting myself laughing when I saw her for the first time with FIRE HAIR!!

2007-2008

This was the Australia year, where me and previously-mentioned BFF went to live in Melbourne for a year.  My hair was nice, my dress was beautiful but we lived in a disgusting state - just look at the background in pic 1!!! And that doesn't show the floor haha.  My hair was dark warm brown with a nice side fringe and layers, but it looks really good! I didn't do much with it afterwards - pic 2 is about 6 months later, on Fraser Island if I remember rightly, where its longer (including the fringe, how did I see!) and in its 'natural state'.  I actually love my natural texture - its all wavy and beachy.  
Then I got home, and wanted to have what I called 'sunset hair' (now known as reverse ombre?!) I wanted it blonde fading to mid brown fading to dark brown.  Sunset hair :) Pics 3 and 4 show this - I think it looks pretty cool, although the blonde is a bit brassy for my liking! My hair was nice and long by then too :)

2008-2009

I had probably only had my sunset hair for about a month when I wanted change.  Cue the crazy-hair era.  I went from sunset to pink/blonde/brown.  I loved this hair so much! It was a good length and cut, and the colour was soo cool!! I liked having a full, tri-colour fringe! Unfortunately I got bored of this after about a fortnight (whyyy) and went blue/green/brown instead! This was amazing, and I kept this for just under a month, before going pink all over (no pics unfortunately of this).  I was pink for Christmas 2008, and in the New Year of 2009 went back to a more natural colour - chocolate brown.  What wasn't so natural was the mad hair extensions (more on that in a sec) and of course the fabulous eyelashes :)

2009

Here are the terrible hair extensions! I didn't have them cut in to blend with my layers or anything, and they were pretty crappy quality too.  I remember they kept on dreadlocking themselves on the back of my head!! Eventually I had to throw them out because they literally turned into a birds nest.  I then decided I wanted to be a 'normal' person, and so began my journey to blonde.
First I asked for disconnected layers and to only dye the top section.  My stylist misunderstood (although maybe it was me not knowing what disconnected layers really were!) and so I ended up with basically a little hat-sized blonde section on top, with the rest dark.  I didn't go back to that stylist again!! 
Next, I started getting more and more highlights put through my hair.  Sadly, as good as my blonde may have looked if I was a bit paler, I had just got back from my Spanish house and was mega tan, with blonde hair.  Not a good look for me judging from pic 3 and 4!!!!

2009-2012

I calmed down a little (hair-wise at least) after this.  The world probably sighed with relief when I dyed my hair to a nice light brown.  I love my hair at this time so much, and would love to get it back.  It was so shiny and soft when I dyed over the bleach, and looked so nice.  Unfortunately, when the shine started to fade after a couple weeks, I tried to dye it again to get the shine back?!! Yeah.  That doesn't work. It just felt gross! After this I didn't really dye it for a year.  I remember asking for ombré in summer of 2010, and then hairdresser refusing because it looked too grown-out!! 
Then I moved up to Scotland, and wanted a new change.  My hair was mega long (by my standards!) by then, and I dyed it about a level 3 or 4 brown - really dark, with a heavy side fringe.  
Then in spring 2011, I asked for ombré again, and ended up with orange hair and about an inch of roots!! I didn't go back to that stylist again either ha ha.  No evidence for that either I'm afraid - pics never did the orange justice!!
A few days before my MRes graduation summer 2011, I had it cut and dyed again.  Only the dye job turned it black, and my fringe ended up mega short to boot!! I don't like any of my graduation pics lol, I look awful!!
Anyway, then it grew out, and in autumn of that year I got my red bob.  I loved the colour so much, but I really wish I hadn't cut all of my hair off!! Regretted it ever since.

2012

After my red bob, I started growing my hair again, and got a nice ombré (finally!!) thing going on.  Next,  I had my ends bleached more and a bright neon orange/pink put on the tips. Loved this sooo much.  Only problem was that my ends felt disgustingly dry.  After a few weeks I had my hair cut by a T&G trainee with the intention of dusting the ends only! Unfortunately I could only choose certain styles, and she basically had to cut all the pink off to fit in with her chosen style :( That made me sad.  
Then I had a moments craziness and dyed it dark brown and blue and cut it mega short, and if you've followed my blog since July you'll know how that ended! Basically it faded to mint green after about a week, and I was walking around with the Worst Hair Ever for a few months :( In September or October I had it dyed brown all over, and now I'm just trying to grow it out so I can have long hair again :)

That concludes my hair chronicles!! What do you think? What are your favourite/least favourites out of all my colours? Have you ever had any hair 'mares?!

Tali xxx

An update and a question

I've been so ill this week! I think I have the flu but I'm not entirely sure - all that I know is that I've had a temperature and major flu-y/cold-y symptoms.  It's kinda gross! Anyway, if you follow me on Twitter you'll have heard me complaining for days! Feeling a little better today but still so weak; I played with the cats for 10 mins this morning and had to take a hour long nap to recover!! Weird.

Anyway, enough self pity! I got a Groupon for a local stables, and redeemed it on Sunday.  It poured with rain the whole time (probably why I'm ill now ha) but I barely noticed cos it was AWESOME! I had an hour lesson and, bearing in mind I haven't had a proper ride for like 18 months and I had only cantered once before in my life, I felt I kept up pretty damn well! Afterwards, I went on an hour long private hack through the woodland, and loved it - apart from when I got hit in the face by a massive tree branch!  
I love riding so much, and been horse-crazy since I could talk, but my family *glares at parents* would never let me have riding lessons, so I'm just making up for lost time.  For Christmas, Mike is getting me a years worth of riding lessons *squee* so I'm so excited for 2013 right now!!

That's enough horsey stuff, since I bet that like 99% of you bbloggers aren't remotely interested I'm sure ;) In my first effort to SAVE MY SKIN I bought some Naked hair products and a La Roche Posay moisturiser.  

Excuse the special effects for Instagram! 'Naked Style More Volume Body Building Mousse', 'Naked Care Mild Shampoo' and 'La Roche Posay Hydraphase UV Intense Light'

I don't like to talk about this much, but for the last 10 months I have suffered from a very sensitive scalp.  Not dandruff, not nits, just really itchy! I've been meaning to get my hands on this Naked Care Mild Shampoo for months now and I don't know why I waited so long! I've used it twice now since Sunday and I have no itchiness or discomfort at all anymore :) It was 2 for £6 on Naked products so I treated myself to the More Volume Mousse after reading rave reviews.  It left my hair so soft and shiny, no crisp after effects like some mousses have, and with lots of volume :)

I was actually after the La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Serum, but picked up this Hydraphase UV Intense Light moisturiser because Boots didn't seem to have my original choice.  This is where I should read labels - I have very dry skin, but the UV Intense Light is for normal/combination skin.  Oops! That being said, the hyaluronic acid in it seems to be keeping my skin very moisturised, so panic over! Hyaluronic acid is a very clever molecule as it can hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water, which makes it uber hydrating and keeps your skin looking plump and younger.  My only gripe with this product is when you get it in your eyes (which I always seem to, even though it never happens with any other product ever?!) it stings like crazy, presumably because of the chemical sunscreen ingredients.

Those are just my initial thoughts on these products - I've only had them for 5 days so I'll do a more indepth review on them in a couple of months!

Now my question is this:

As you may or may not know, I kind of ran away from this blog a month or so ago, as I was dissatisfied with bblogging and didn't know what direction to take this blog in! Right now, its a total mix of personal (lifestyle I guess) posts alongside beauty and fashion bits.  Is there anyway you guys would like me to improve on this? What posts of mine do you prefer to read? Is there anything you would like me to write about more, or less?

Please give me your thoughts - by comment below, on twitter or even email!  I would really appreciate them :)

Tali xxx

MEMEME: Where have I been?

Hey, sorry I've been a bit AWOL the last few weeks! Things have been mega hectic - working ridiculously long days (7:30-5:30 anyone?!), helping out at a local stables on a Saturday and trying to catch up with people in what little spare time I have! Oh and therefore falling asleep in front of the TV at like 8pm a lot of nights too due to the above hecticness! Woohoo party animal :|

However, I have managed to fit in some 'playtime' - me and my two BFFs descended on my sister's new home in York last weekend for some proper girly time and an awesome reunion.  I couldn't remember the last time the four of us were all in the same place at the same time, so it was really good for us all to catch up together.  We explored York and walked a lot, went out Saturday night and did a cheeky bit of shopping too!

L-R BFF#1, my sister, me and BFF#2!

 Me skiving at work (lab timer always at hand though) in the sunshine

 Topshop's amaze-ing A/W collections - I am pretty much lusting after every single one of their products!! Get in my closet now.

 Sneaky Topshop purchase - a necklace I've been eyeing up for ages

Yorkminster - totally awe-inspring :)

So what else is new? As you can probably tell from the first picture, my hair has faded from an awesome blue and chocolate to ... mint and chocolate.  It looks so stupid, and I really wish I had gotten it fixed before my weekend away! I can't be dealing with the crazy upkeep that is bright colours, and I also am sick of having a sleek bob that looks crap unless I straighten it every day! Don't get me wrong, my stylist did a great job but the colour and style are both really high maintenance!!

So.  I have set myself a challenge.  STOP OBSESSING OVER YOUR HAIR! I swear to God, I have gone from being obsessed about skincare (and we all know how that ended *cough*mostsensititiveskinintheworld*cough*) to being obsessed about my hair.  As you can probably tell from this blog, I have changed my hair colour+style approximately once a month since Christmas.  I think it's just cos I look at pics of people on the net and be like "ooh i like their hair.." and try and copy it, especially cos I'm not very happy with myself/the way I look currently.  But at the end of the day, I know what suits me best and that's long and dark choppy hair.  So no more obsessing.  No more changing.  No more dissatisfaction! (Cheesy motivational speech ahoy).  I am setting myself the challenge of growing my hair out, not looking at hair blogs/tumblrs and only getting a TRIM every 3 months.

I'm going to give myself until the date that my job contract ends - November 1st, 2015.  So that's it for the rest of my time in Scotland! No more hair craziness.

Mike and I are planning our next few months - we're thinking of starting snowboarding in the next couple weeks, I want to start having proper riding lessons next month and he is getting into aggressive skating + biking.  Well, you're only young once right?! We're both doing everything we've always wanted to do but always made excuses for why we don't do it.  I just feel like, neither of us drink anymore so we don't go out at night that often, but that doesn't make our lives boring - I think we're more daytime people tbf, so we should do lots of outdoorsy activities.  

Oh, and planning a mahoosive shopping trip end of next month so watch this space ;)

Other than that, not too much is going on.  Cats are still nutters.  I'm addicted to GoT (nearly finished book 3!).  Doing yoga every night - it's really making such a difference to my strength and flexibility! I fully recommend fitsugar for lots of different yoga sequences for every problem.

Have a great weekend people, I'll be snuggled under a blanket watching Jackass and Breaking Bad (I'm such a guy lol).

xxxxxxxxxxxx

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: 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

HAIR: Sneak peek

Ta da! The long awaited (by me at least!!) pastel ombre pink hair I have been dreaming about since winter.  It was a struggle between me and how I feel a 25 year old should be, but of course in the end I won ;) I'm not going to be young and able to get away with crazy hair forever..although I will probably try when I'm a granny haha.

Sorry about the lame pic - it's too dark and cloudy to take pics today, and besides my skin is acting up at the moment :/ don't know whether it's hormones or my new moisturiser, but I'm not used to it and I don't like it!!

HOWEVER, amazing pics to follow soon I promise!! 

Tali xxx

MEMEME: Right Now

Had a nice week - up and down since my decrease in meds, but been busy which has been good! 

 Currently waiting for: Mike to finish cooking his speciality spaghetti bolognese! So hungry my tummy is rumbling! 

 Reading: Stephen King 11.22.63 - got to the stage now where I can't put it down! 

 Looking forward to: my hair appointment next weekend, getting rid of the red and going a bit caramelly/beachy. Watch this space! 

 Thinking about: my hair now! Haha. Gonna stop messing with it so much - want to stop dyeing it once i go back to an easier-to-maintain colour next week, and let it grow and be more natural. Also going to stop heat styling it so much. This means it's currently very curly!! 

 Today I: went for a nice walk in the Pentland Hills for an hour, and then had a relaxing arvo with aforementioned book :) bit strapped for catch (payday on Tuesday woo!) atm so was good to have a low cost day! Lusting after: these beauties from Republic - dip dye candy jeans at a mere £35. Come in 34" leg too which is perfect for me!

What have you all been up to this week?

HAIR: My little pony

Aaagh! I was so happy with my hair in the colour+style it was - my red bob looked funky enough to satisfy my alternative-ism (new word) yet cute enough to not look too 'out there'.  I am 25 now after all! I shouldn't be dyeing my hair crazy colours anymore! Right? Right?!

Wrong.

I've had my eye on the pastel hue trend for a while now.  But I resisted the temptation, somehow.  I guess I thought maybe I'm *too old* for crazy hair.  Regardless of my motives, I managed to avoid running to the hairdressers with a My Little Pony in hand, shouting "I want its hair!!"

That all changed last night, when I saw this post and I started thinking.  I LOVE all kinds of *crazy* hair.  I used to have blonde, pink and brown hair in my youth (it looked AWESOME).  Then I went turquoise and blue and brown.  Then pink with white highlights.  I loved it! But then the real world hit, and I started having post-uni interviews etc and the cool hair simply had to go.

I contemplated the chalk (pros: looks amazing; cons: washes out straight away and dries your hair out) and dismissed it as it just wouldn't look right in my red hair, and wouldn't last long either.  I started thinking about my crazy dye days.  And started investigating.

And found all these:

 (1)

  (2)

 (3)

 (4)

 (5)

 (6)

(7)

(Images found on Google search and/or here)

I, quite simply, fell in love.  

So how am I going to go from being a vibrant-redhead to a pastel princess? It's going to take some time for sure!

1) Lots (but not too many!) protein treatments.  These not only will improve the condition of my hair and decrease porosity, but are also great at lifting dye a bit.  Not so good if you want to keep your dyed hair healthy and coloured, but great if you want to start over.  I love Ion Reconstructor Treatment (you can get sachets at Sally's for about £1!)

2) Keep my tresses healthy and conditioned for the inevitable ...

3) Bleach bath.  I'M GOING TO THE HAIRDRESSERS.  DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME!! Unless you like orange hair that falls out and breaks.  I need to speak to my stylist and pray that she thinks this is feasible!!

4) Dye to a light ashy brown base.  Again, I'm doing this at a hairdressers.  Even if you're broke (my purse hasn't recovered from Xmas!) you have no excuse - go to your local stylists and book an appointment with the trainee.

5) Go pastel! I'm thinking pastel streaks a la picture number (1), with the cut in the style of piccie number (4) - choppy and with a full fringe.   And for the pastel colours? Lilac, pale pink and sky blue.  Hell yeah!

I've also found this magical little ingredient -

 (Fudge Paintbox - Whiter Shade of Pale)

This is basically a toner to neutralise golden tones in platinum hair.  It can also, however, be used to make pastel colours out of the normal Fudge Paintbox dyes which are normally mega vibrant.  

What do you guys think? Are you a fan of the pastel trend, and should I really go for this drastic change? I think I've already made up my mind though....!

xxxxxxxxx

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