I dyed my hair pink

21 Jul 2019

... or at least I tried to.

Every summer I always say, 'This is the year that I dye my hair pink', and every year without fail, I don't. Until this year.

Stargazer Cosmetics sent me over some of their Yummy Colour 4 colour hair strips (these ones) to try out so I thought that it was as good an opportunity as any to seize control of my dreams of pink hair for summer. I opted to use the pastel pack as I wanted a lighter shade of pink.




I enlisted the help of my friend who regularly dyes her hair and we sat in my room following all the instructions and everything appeared to be going well. You can even see from this photo that the pink was taking to my hair.




However, that was when the fun stopped. On the box, it says that the dye was supposed to last 5-15 washes depending on colouring. I hadn't pre-lightened my hair and that may have been the issue but as soon as I stepped in the shower after leaving it on my hair for longer than the allotted time. It all washed out IMMEDIATELY! I had to wave goodbye to my dreams of pink summer hair. I still have a couple of brighter colours left so I may have to try again but for right now I'm afraid I have to give this dye a thumbs down :( 

I'm sad because I love the concept and I really wanted to love them but unfortunately they just didn't work for me! 

Have you dyed your hair before? If so what colour and how did you like having funky hair?


Getting Thrifty With It

11 Jul 2019

I'm not going to lie to you, this post has been sitting in my drafts for MONTHS so I thought it was definitely time I finished it and got it posted, more for my own sanity than anything else but here goes.


I love a good thrift. I think my love of thrifting stemmed from the fact that I used to be a checkout operator in a local charity shop and when the store was quiet I would always take a look around to see if there were any bargains I could snatch up. I usually ended up with t-shirts, some jackets and mostly books but my most incredible thrift shop purchase to date (and probably ever again if we're being realistic) is this mustard yellow Zara puffer jacket (pictured below), which I managed to pick up for the bargain price of £2.25! I KNOW RIGHT!


Anyway, some people really struggle with thrifting and how to find good things when thrifting but the art lies in knowing where to look and as someone who has previously worked in a thrift store, I feel like I have a unique perspective. So here are my top thrifting tips!

Shop Around
When you're starting out, don't just limit yourself to one shop. Usually, if your community is anything like mine, you'll often find multiple thrift shops or charity shops in pretty close vicinity. So don't give up if you don't find anything you like in the first one you look in. Different shops will cater to different people, so someone else's favourite shop may not be yours and vice versa.

Frequent Visits
If you pop into the same shop often enough, chances are the staff will start to remember you and may be able to point out some stuff that they think you'll like or even keep some stuff back for you. While I worked at a charity shop, they got in a whole load of science textbooks and because they remembered that I studied Biomed, they kept them over for me and they just so happened to be my exact recommended reading for my course that year!

Don't limit yourself to one section
It's quite easy for things to get mixed up in thrift stores so the exact items you're looking for could be hiding among other sections. I can't tell you how many times I incorrectly labelled men's clothing as women's clothing and vice versa.

Give yourself time
Don't expect to just walk in and instantly find things you love. It can take a lot of hoaking about to find something so you may need longer than you expect to have a look at everything, even if the store seems small.

Don't be afraid to try things on
Thrifting is exactly the same as normal clothes shopping. Things can look good on the hanger but once you try it on it's a completely different story. Thrift stores typically have dressing rooms for a reason. Use Them! While it looks like a bargain, if you don't actually like it, it was just a waste of money!

Online Thrifting
While depop and poshmark have been around for ages my new favourite thing is an online thrift store called Thrift+ (check it here). Not only can you find preowned/preloved clothes but it also supports different charities through purchases so you get to be ethical and support charities. It's also super easy to navigate and they have a boutique section so  you can shop either high end or high street brands.

Do you like thrifting? If so what are your top tips and what is your best thrifting find to date? Let me know in the comments below!