How to dye your hair at home

1. Find the right colour for you

There are some good online quizzes to take...
-Garnier Hair Colour Quiz
- Olia Colour Quiz

2. Choose a good quality dye with nourishing conditioner

eg. Garnier Olia, L'oreal Casting Creme Gloss, Garnier Nutrisse or Clairol Nice and Easy

3. Test it.

Many are tempted to miss out this step but you must test the dye first because allergic reactions to dye can be VERY nasty.

4.Set up with an old towel around your shoulders and old clothes in case of any spillages and some clips and a comb if you want to do your hair in sections.

5. Mix the colour and the developer together, don't accidentally add the conditioner to the colour (a common mistake)

6. Put on plastic gloves which should be provided in the kit. Especially if bleach is involved!

7. Start applying the dye from root to tip and be careful to ensure all layers and all parts of the hair are covered in dye

8. If you want to do highlights, I would recommend a highlighting cap. Place it on your head securely and pull through sections of hair and just highlight the hair poking through the cap. Or you can carefully highlight only the bits you want and then wrap these strands in aluminium foil while they develop.

9. Leave the dye on for the allocated time but check after a while and if it;s still not the colour you want you can leave it on longer, but not for too long!

10. Rinse your hair thoroughly in the shower, leave your gloves on and if you have used a cap leave the cap on for this. Then add the conditioner provided but don't use shampoo the first time you rinse your hair after dying.

11. If you are not happy with your result, do not do it again immediately. Wait at least a week to give your hair a chance to recover a bit and by then you might even like it. If you do it again immediately it is likely to go wrong and this is when you can be left with bright orange stripes or similar.

How to get wavy beach hair

How to get wavy beach hair

Going on some amazing beach holiday this year or just want to pretend? Want the perfect beachy waves to match? Here's how.

First of all, unless you're blessed with naturally beautiful blonde highlights, you're going to want to add some colour to your hair. I did my highlights at home and although it did take three attempts to get it how I wanted, it worked well and wasn't too costly. Also t probably didn't work well enough for me the first and second times because of my over-cautious and perfectionist nature. Anyway.. 


I would recommend two highlighting kits:

-Garnier nutrisse multi-lights kit

-L'Oréal Perfect Blonde Crème Highlight Kit

They are both simple easy to use highlighting kits with very nourishing conditioners.

You could also use any normal blonde dye of your choice.

For a full how to dye your hair guide visit my other post  for that. This is just a brief guide for the specifics of beach hair.

Work out in the mirror where you want your highlights, how high up the hair you want them to be and how many you want. 

Although normally thin highlights are recommended, for beach hair you can dare to take bigger sections for a bolder look. I would recommend starting roughly halfway up the hair but with some longer and some shorter highlights. Leave them on for a varied amount of time to achieve different shades of blonde. These highlights are not meant to be perfectly even, they should be random, as though they have been caused by the sun. If you want more of an ombre look simply apply most of the dye to the ends of the hair and less further up.

Once you've got the colour right, it's time for the styling. I try to avoid curling irons and straighteners as much as possible in the summer so I achieve beachy waves with out any heat damage. 

Wash your hair in the evening before you go to bed. With your newly highlighted hair you may want to try specialised shampoos such as...

-Tresemme colour thrive, blonde illuminating shampoo

-Pantene highlights expressions

-Herbal Essences Ignite My colour

Then, towel dry your hair briefly before thoroughly brushing/combing through. If you want you can then add a serum or oil to add shine and make your hair feel softer. 
I recommend....

-Elvive extraordinary oil

-Tresemme liquid gold


Then separate your hair into two sections and create two fishtail plaits. fishtail plaits give much better curls than normal plaits but you can of course experiment with the amount you do and can even just do one plait at the back if you find that gives you sufficient waves. If you're not sure how to fishtail plait, there are lots of simple tutorials on youtube. It is a very easy braid once you know how to do it.
Now you can sleep.

In the morning, check your hair is completely dry and if it isn't; briefly use a hairdryer while your hair is still in the plaits. Then gently take out the plaits and carefully comb your fingers though your hair, do not use a brush, this will make your hair big and fly-away.

Then add some sea salt spray or a similar spray that adds texture to your hair. Spray this in and scrunch up your hair.

Then add some mousse and repeat the scrunching, this will help the waves stay in place for the whole day.

Finally spritz some hairspray all over your head and viola! You're good to go!

My hair

My hair

                                   


                                 

Book Review: Things I know about love

Yet Another Book Review! 

Title: Things I know about love
Author: Kate Le Vann
Genre: Romance

<<<MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!>>>

This book was fairly simple and easy to read. It had a good, dramatic start which makes it much easier to get into the book. It was written in an informal, chatty style of writing as it was written as a diary/blog. The book was about an 18yr old girl called Livia that had been diagnosed with leukemia when she was 13. She had never been away from home or her mother but now that she was finally pretty much clear of her illness, she wanted to visit her brother Jeff in America.

              Livia writes about her previous relationships and what she has learnt from them. She writes a list called "Things I know about love" and as the story progresses, she adds to the list and changes it.
The first time Livia writes the list, all it has on it is:
             "Nothing that happens between two people is guaranteed to be private."
She adds things such as:
             "I don't know if you ever get over having your heartbroken"
and then later on in the book this changes to:
             "Hearts don't really get broken, but if you practise too hard with them, they can get quite hurt. It feels like they won't get better, but they do."

The final list simply says
"1.Being
2. In
3. Love
4. Is
5. The
6. Best
7. Thing
8. In
9. The
10. World."

<<<< SPOLIER ALERT!! >>>>>

Livia falls in love with her older brother's friend and he begins to write his own blog which is simply about Livia. When Adam writes a blog it is written in a different font so that the reader can tell who has written it.
Adam takes Livia on a date to New York but Livia begins to feel unwell and then suddenly she falls unconscious and has to be rushed to hospital. Her Mum flies over from England because the Leukemia has come back. Adam buys Livia the expensive pair of shoes that she admired on their first date. Then Adam writes the last part of the story in which Livia dies.
                I was really shocked when Livia died because every thing seemed so happy and perfect and the book came to a sudden end. This was good because it emphasised the way in which Livia was as happy as can be and then suddenly it was all over.
                I read this book really quickly as I really enjoyed it. However I think to appreciate the style of this book the most, you need to read a variety of books and I will definitely read some slightly more challenging books as well.

I would rate this book 4.5/5

Book Review: Sleeping Arrangements

Another Book Review!

Title: Sleeping Arrangements
Author: Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeline Wickham
Genre: Romance

Sleeping Arrangements is about two families who go on holiday to Spain after being promised the use of a fabulous villa by their "friend" Gerard. However when they arrive they find that Gerard has double booked the villa and the two families are both there a the same time. 

<<<MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!>>>


           One Family consists of a workaholic named Hugh who hardly ever spends time with his family and feels like he doesn't know his children. His Wife is a glamorous stay at home mother, called Amanda, and their children are called Beatrice and Octavia. They also bring a young Nanny called Jenna who keeps making the situation better then worse again with her "jokes."
           The Other Family is a women named Chloe who had a son named Sam (age 16)  when she was 18, her Partner Philip and their 8yr old son, Nat. Philip is pretty sure he is about to be made redundant so Chloe wants them to have a holiday without thinking about work.
            Philip and Amanda think they are just two families that have never met with no connections but Hugh and Chloe used to be lovers when they were 20. Hugh panicked and left Chloe when she showed him her baby, Sam.
            Chloe and Hugh sleep together and Hugh wants to marry Chloe and start over again but they soon realise that they love their families too much to tear their lives apart. However that is not the only connection the two families have. Hugh works for the bank that is about to take over Philip's bank and therefore make Philip redundant.
Another little story running along the side is Sam and Jenna's summer Romance.

 found this book easy to read and enjoyable but it definitely seemed to be written as a light holiday read. The book was a mixture of romance, comedy and family issues. It felt like the book was covering about 2 weeks of their holiday but at the end I found that it was written about three days so it was very detailed for a 3 day story!
I would recommend this to someone that would like a bit of light relief on holiday. I would rate this book 3.5/5.

Book Review: The Last song

Book Review!

Title: The Last Song
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Romance

I Watched this film and I really liked it so I wanted to read the book. Lots of people had recommended it and I usually prefer the book to the film anyway. I also watched Dear John which was by the same author. I was amazed by how similar these two films/stories were.

<<<MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!>>>

The Last Song is about a teenage girl who hasn't spoken to her father for 3 years but then spends the summer with him. She is miserable, grumpy, selfish and tries to spend as little time with her father as possible. Then She falls in love with a popular, rich, beach volleyball player/ aquarium volunteer/ mechanic called Will. Everything is going well until she finds out her father has cancer and the main reason that he has  brought his children, Ronnie and Jonah to his home to say goodbye to them. Jonah has been working with his father, Steve,  on a stain glass window for the church, that Steve believed he burnt down, all summer. 
           When Ronnie arrived, she began to hang out  with some rebellious fire throwers, who's leader was called Marcus. Blaze was Marcus' girlfriend but Marcus began to fancy Ronnie. Blaze thought Ronnie was trying to steal Marcus from her so she stole CDs and put them in Ronnie's bag which meant Ronnie would end up in court. . . again.
           Will and his friend Scott go to Steve to tell him that it was them and Marcus' gang that were to blame for the Church fire. Ronnie found out and was furious because her Dad had been living with the guilt and rumours that he had burnt it down because he was practising the piano when it happened. She Told Will that she never wanted to see him again so he left for university.
            On the day of Steve's funeral Ronnie played a piano piece that her and her Father had been working on. Music was Ronnie and Steve's connection and Steve wanted to be a concert pianist but never quite made it so he wanted his daughter to make it. Ronnie hadn't played for 3 years but she began to play again when she found out about her father's illness. 
           Will turned up for the funeral and he decided he would move to a university nearer to Ronnie and he said it would be great if they could meet up one day, when she's ready.

I normally hate endings like that, which aren't all wrapped up but in this book I think the unknowing and the possibilities of what might happen next worked really well. This book was about love, family relationships and trying to make the most out of life.

I really enjoyed this book so I will probably read Dear John and the notebook as well because Nicholas Sparks seems like a very good author.

I would give this book 4.5/5