LIFT ME UP

Uh oh, double trouble. Had a bit of fun whilst taking these photos because this is the lift in my apartment building and obviously it has to be used. Managed to dodge quite a few people but ended up going to the ground floor with a lady then went straight back up without it being obvious what we were up to: "oh! I've forgotten that.. thing. We must to go back up for it". Not sure how believable that was but I guess the neighbours would find out eventually that they are living next to a *whispers* fashion blogger.

Anyway, I thought the light would be just right to show you my pink hair. Or rather, lack thereof. This is the second time I've used the new L'Oreal Feria Pastel toners and the second time I've been disappointed. Fair enough, last time my hair was a dark-to-mid blonde and it was unsurprising the colour didn't take well, since this product is made for bleached hair. This time I applied it all over my head, left it on for an hour, then found just the very ends had turned a peachy colour. I'd perhaps recommend this as a conditioner for those with pink hair already to keep colour fresh but I don't see how it could possibly turn the soft candy pink it shows on the box.

I don't have much luck with L'Oreal hair colour products (that, or they're crap) but it's so hard to not use them as they seem to own everything. Anyone who has ever seen my Tumblr knows I dream of having a flowing, pastel mane, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to achieve it then please let me know. Next try will be hair chalk!

I'm wearing:

Wildfox tee

H&M sample dungarees

(similar, or check out pink suede..!)

Jeffrey Campbell Suebee shoes

Topshop socks

PLATINUM EVIL

White hair, don't care. Actually I do care, a lot, about everything, but that doesn't rhyme. And my hair isn't actually white, either; not yet. Not through lack of trying. A couple of toners and purple shampoos on from my yellow hair and this is the result: kind of creamy-ish with platinum ends. In daylight it's paler and less brassy than it is under my camera's flash, but I haven't seen much of the outside world recently thanks to the awful weather.

FYI, to get from my virgin roots/caramel lengths to this I used L'Oreal Feria Extreme Platinum Power - which is sticky and hard to spread throughout your hair: use two boxes for any hair longer than mine, or alternatively just use a high volume bleach - plus Colour Restore Iced Platinum and Pro:Voke Touch of Silver shampoo.

Still not exactly sure what to do with my eyebrows, mind. Willing some root to show through so I look a bit more normal..

DOUBLE, TRIPLE, QUADRUPLE LEOPARD

Working in fashion retail (and especially a department store) you get kind of jaded looking at stores' new stock. Is that another sequinned dress? A new style of studded jumper? And the jeans you bring out every season in a slightly different shade..? Well, last week I spotted a new item in Warehouse and finally got excited about it. A floppy leopard hat. I go through leopard phases, changing my spots yearly or so, and right now I am thoroughly immersed in the print. I love to wear this hat with my furry H&M coat, and can see myself wearing it with my Evil Twin kimono and old ASOS booties, too.

You know what they say - triple in your teens, double in your twenties, and a single leopard item thirty and above. Trouble is the faster I approach the latter age bracket, the less I care what they have to say.

Warehouse hat Evil Twin tee via Eternal Envy Oasis tee Evil Twin kimono Old ASOS boots Old H&M via British Red Cross coat
Oh, and you might notice that I am brunette once again. It certainly wasn't intentional - I used Garnier Olia in "Dark Beige Blonde" and the result was this horrid greyish, muddy brown. Somehow it looks better in pictures, but trust me, in real life it's dreadful. I can't get in touch with anyone from Garnier or L'Oreal (judging by their Facebook page they've probably been busy with everyone else's Olia-related complaints) so I will just tell you guys not to use this product... unless you fancy hair the colour of fresh sewage, that is. Good job I enjoy wearing hats, huh?

BLOW-DIY

I'm so bad at styling my hair. Seriously, I've never blow-dried it properly, existing solely on putting it into a bun until dry for messy waves, or, when desperate in cold weather, using the hairdryer I got in year 10 to quickly dry my hair upside-down. So when I received an email asking whether I'd like to try out some GHD products for my blog, my gut reaction was no... I'm not up to the task! However I gave myself a bit of a pep talk, eventually manning up and accepting the challenge.

I did consult the GHD Hairstyles page, and whilst there are some lovely examples featured there I thought it best to walk before I could run, so started with your standard blow-dry. Now, I actually go to a barber for my haircuts nowadays (and a bloody good barber he is too) but I tried to emulate what I'd seen hairdressers do in times past - applying the GHD Straight & Smooth spray, sectioning off, using a big brush - and I feel I did an OK job. I even got a bit cocky towards the end and attempted to flick my front layers out, Farah Fawcett-style. It didn't work, but that is almost certainly because I am crap at styling my hair, and not the brush and spray's fault. I finished up with the Final Shine spray, which should be used sparingly... natch, I used it liberally.

My hair still looked about ten times better than it normally does (amazing how far a little effort goes) but I'm not sure I'll be trading in my Roitfeld-esque low-maintenance locks for a glossy blow-dry any time soon. I'm just far too lazy..!

PS. If you're wondering what I'm wearing, here's the deets... my Mina feather print tunic is about a zillion years old, and my necklace is part of a very generous parcel from Jon Richard Jewel. In love, and still full of the warm fuzzy feeling the receiving of a care package brings.

George at Asda gilet

Forever 21 jacket

Mina tunic

Oasis pleather trousers

Forever 21 bag

Love Label boots