holy henna- lush henna hair dye

My first experience with the Lush Henna was definitely an experience. I was really looking forward to using henna to dye my hair as I had read that it leaves your hair lovely and soft and that it is chemical and harm free. Sounded good to me as the last time I dyed my hair clumps of it had fallen out in the shower (which was TERRIFYING). 

I got the caca marron and it started off well. I liked the big brick shape and lovely print detail on the top. It smelt quite strong but it seemed to be a lovely sweet smell. 

I had read a lot of reviews on using this product and due to my long(ish) hair decided to go the full whammy and use the whole brick. I melted it in a bowl over a pot of water. It took about twenty minutes to melt. I did it gradually adding more water when I needed to. Here was the result.

And a close up for those of you with poor eyesight..!

Lets be blunt, it looked like shite! It was fairly off putting having to put this on my head but I proceeded. Using this product will require a lot of TIME. Holy moly it took so long to get the henna in my hair. I started on the crown of my head painting it on with a hair colouring brush and twisting it into a bun on top. I continued this until I had a lovely massive bun and a sore arm from tiredness. 

The henna took easily an hour to apply and it was genuinely a horrible experience. I had to keep adding in water as the mixture continued to thicken constantly. It would crumble and fall in lumps on the floor when I tried to paint it on my hair. It was such a mess I can't even explain. I got so frustrated. I had put down newspaper on the floor preempting a mess but nothing could have prepared me for this, it just got everywhere. I had to stop a number of times to relay paper as the first layer was destroyed. It got on my floor, wall and mirror. I had to stop and start a lot to try and wipe down wherever it got. 

I left it on for about four hours. I thought that the hard part was over after finishing and cleaning up I could now be at ease but I was horribly mistaken. The mixture would drip down my neck and the side of my face despite having wrapped my hair in cling-film like. Four hours of a heavy wet substance on your head is just not fun.

Washing it off.. Again this took FOREVER. I think I shampoo'd my hair honestly about 10 times. It was like cement in my hair. When this came out it became like sand which refused to budge. I had to give up because my arms were so tired from trying to wash my hair. It still had a grainy feel to it when I finished up. Brushing it post shower would leave basically sand on the floor.

The colour difference wasn't much to boast about either. It left a kind of red tint to my hair which was barely noticeable  It did not feel like a treatment and my hair was not softer after it. 

I think it's pretty clear what my recommendation is going to be on this product. Leave it out! Don't bother. NEVER AGAIN. It's a pity that this turned out so poorly having heard such great reviews but for me it simply wasn't worth it. 

Goodbye for now

xx 

    

The Cambridge Satchel Company

I am a reasonable person with a reasonable expectations of my bank account. But oh lordy I've found a new obsession. The Cambridge Satchel Company has been in my sights for a while now and constant checking online just to look at it has fed the monster inside me that I call Want. To pay off my college loan or to indulge?! I am not unreasonable and there is a clear winner. 150 euro for the 14inch including embossing. I am not unreasonable.. It's not that expensive is it?!?

My mother is going to kill me :P

Toodles x

just a little update..

Oh lord I think I may have overdone it in the sales. My wardrobe has reached critical stage. I've had a love hate relationship with my bedroom storage but it's time to throw in the towel and start clearing stuff out. I will admit with absolute pride that I was one of the 'Stephens Day Wankers' that hit the sales early morning on the 26th of December. I am not ashamed of this. My fellow retail workers look upon this breed of shoppers with disdain and I suppose I should take a similar view but this is not the case. Ireland has only recently copied the British trend of 'Boxing Day Sales' as lets face it most of our beloved high street stores are British companies and it was only a matter of time before they followed suit in Ireland. Really it does not make a difference to me what day the sales start as I will persist on being first in the door in my favourite retailer River Island. And I was not disappointed as I picked up a few skirts tops and trousers half their original retail price.  I also hit up BT2 and treated myself to this gorgeous Guess bag. 80 euro off. Talk about delira ha. (The red shine is glare of a red top I was wearing ha)

I'm thinking of starting at OOTD on my beloved blog as a way of showing my sales finds. I know I am so late in updating a Christmas Sales related blog but to be honest I've had such a lovely guilt free Christmas that I've just gotten extremely lazy. Anyone who is a student will understand what I mean. That constant nagging in the back of your mind about assignments and exam study ruining your festive spirit. I couldn't be happier to say that I didn't have anything to do over the break for my Masters. Documentary done and Radio Week preparation meeting only tomorrow. So I've had a lovely quiet Christmas for the first time in years. 

SO that's me for my little update. I'm off to clear out my overflowing wardrobe then off to the charity shop I go.

Toodles x 

nail art connoisseur

I really enjoyed my ombré nails venture a couple of weeks ago. So I think to myself, 'I am a master of nail art and I can achieve anything', or so I hoped. I Googled, Youtubed and generally searched online for an easy design that I could achieve. I found a simple cross design and figured easy peasy I can do that no problem. How wrong was I? I cut a nail brush in order to get a slimmer more accurate brush that would benefit my design. But my ultimate enemy was gloopy nail varnish.. 

I have both a Rimmel London I <3 Lasting Finish in Black Cab and Nail Paint by BarryM 47 Black. I should say I've had both these nail varnishes a year at least. The Rimmel one says it is to be used within thirty months and the BarryM one says nothing. I've used these loads can't beat a bit of black when you're painting(!) the town red during the winter months. Goes great with everything. I used a basic white Sally Hanson polish in white for the base. Unfortunately for some reason when I used either black polishes they both came out very, well, gloopy. I don't know why this is, could be the quality of my DIY brush but it's probably because I've had the polishes for so long. Things look so much easier when you watch someone else do it online that's for sure. ANYWHOO I'm happy enough for a first attempt but it has definitely knocked my confidence in my pretense of being a nail art connoisseur...

the cut-out heel dilemma

I recently just purchased these beauties on boohoo.com, much to some controversy. When I showed my mother the shoes on the link online she was decidedly anti-purchasing. This new trend of a cut out heel I believe is a take on the Jeffrey Campbell hidden heel. The popularity in the online world is definitely apparent but I have never really seen anyone I know wearing these kind of shoes. SO naturally I was a bit weary on just how wearable this style is. I couldn't really find much opinion online either when I googled it as to whether they were comfortable or not. Are they comfy? Are they dangerous? These were questions I decided to take upon myself as a researcher and that I would have to figure it out for myself (and I had been sick and housebound after a surgery and looking for a nice treat and pick me up). So I got them and immediately was wowed at how unreal I thought they looked. Just to test my Facebook friends family I uploaded this picture of them. It didn't take long for people to respond in a concerned way. I was met by comments such as ' do you have a death wish??' and 'RIP' much to my amusement. Cocky as I was I tried them on and to my surprise they were extremely comfortably. OK you have to be a little careful not to lean back but I figured you wouldn't do this in a normal stiletto or wedge heel so I didn't see any added risk with these. 

But then I found this....

...and I became fearful!

Alas I wore them out a week later on a night out in Dublin City and was.. FINE :). Not a bother on me I found the shoes very comfortable throughout the night. Much more comfortable then some other heels I own. I will admit though that I think if you were to buy cut out heels in anything other than a boot it may not be as stable to walk in. With the boot your foot is pretty secure which is pretty important for your balance and I'm not sure that if it were not a boot this would be as easy. Also I wasn't drinking to excess that night so if you were to, again I'm not sure how stable you would find these (although excessive alcohol would impact the stability of any shoe!)

Having said all that I LOVE these bad boys and they will be my staple for nights out during the winter season. Two thumbs up for cut out heeled boots :) 

mastering procrastination

OK so I'm in my fourth year of university. Three years undergraduate and now a three semester year and a half of a masters, so I've got the whole college thing down to a tee. And by this I mean the procrastination. Now that I am a masters student I like to ponder on all the things I have mastered in my life and procrastination is definitely one of them. So I have an essay of 2,000 words, easy peasy just sit down and whack it out right? WRONG! I have come to realise that sitting down to write an essay may be one of the most difficult challenges that a young student has to face. How can you overcome this most difficult of tasks? Make a plan! Yes making a study plan has to be the best way to set yourself goals in order to accomplish what needs accomplishing. So I sit down in front of the laptop thinking that while I really should have this easiest of essays done already, making a plan now is the best option. So I plan (not start) my essay. Sorted! I want to finish off my book that I've chosen as a source (and have had in my possession and checked out of the library two weeks now) to be finished by this evening. Then tomorrow I will get cracking with my online research, and with ideas that are sure to be buzzing in my head get down to writing my essay. Or I could start my internet research now, the internet is there and ready to go. Waiting for me. Much quicker than reading an entire book. Yes it's decided that's where I'll start. First a little look at my Facebook page, then Twitter, then YouTube. Oh look, a tutorial on how to ombré my nails. Can I master what the tutor makes look so easy yet I'm sure I would make an absolute mess of? Much more challenging than doing my Live Radio Production essay on how technologies are changing the relationship between radio stations and their audiences. Challenge accepted. Ironic that my essay is on the advancement and benefit of technology yet it is this technology that has provided me with the oh so satisfying opportunity to procrastinate. But I digress, look at my pretty nails..!

Maybe tomorrow I will both read my book, do my internet research and type out my essay. 

Easy peasy..

the beginning of figuring it out

OK so I've wanted to set up a blog for quite some time now. I don't know if it's just me but holy Jesus it's taken me ages to find a site alone just to get started! So basically I want to share all about the trials and tribulations of my very exciting (all lies) life. I've been through a lot in my life so far that I believe sets me apart from everyone else. I was born with a cleft lip and palate and have had many surgeries and difficulties in my life as a result. I do not want sympathy for this apparent deformity and while I believe it has helped shape my personality and out look on life, it is not all that defines me. I am your average twenty-something year old girl with big hopes for the future. Because of the hand I have been dealt and how I have come out at (almost) the end of my surgical journey I want now more than ever to succeed. So here I am ready to tell  my story. I'm sorry I don't claim it to be an interesting one to tell, but there it is, I'm just still figuring it out....