fake illness hair!

As you know, for what seems like an absolute age, I've been trying to sort out this whole henna/peroxide debacle. Well if you don't the short story is that I dyed my hair with henna but then didn't think about the fact that hair grows... The henna isn't strong enough to cover my roots and your not technically supposed to put a regular home hair dye with peroxide on your noggin as it can A-turn your hair pond green or B-sort of, a bit, make your hair fall off. So for a while I've been rocking some very strange two tone striped hair....not my best look! The thing is, I actually couldn't put up with the ridiculous hair much longer, I was making Katie Waissle's roots look subtle, so I dyed it! First of all I would never recomend to anyone to go against the safety instructions on hairdye as you can have ridiculously awful allergic reactions but I did it... and I have never been so terrified in my whole life! I decided a strand test was the way to go as at least if my hair did start to fall out, it would be underneath and no one would see it. A good plan I know. Well from putting it on to washing it off I became a compete and utter bag of nerves and completely convinced that my arms were starting to go numb, that my neck was swelling and that my vision was ever so slightly impaired. I am complete hypercondriac and nothing was in the slightest way wrong with me at all but it was honestly the scariest 30 minutes of my life. Luckily and I think its because I had left my hair for so long that the henna was pretty weak, it was a great success and I am now sporting some glorious un-rooty locks. So hurrah for me really but if you are in a similar henna based situation please do a strand test as so few ladies can pull off bald or pondy... 

xoxox

veggie dye- round 2!

I'm just about to attempt to dye my hair with the old veggie dye business.... wish me luck!

Then hopefully I'm going to be attempting to retro style it up a bit as it is paining me how I have let the bad weather affect my hair...bad Becka! 2 feet of snow shouldn't mean an unfortunate head! Pictures later!

xoxox

Vintage Queen...

Anyone who knows me knows that i am obsessed with the 1940's and 50's. I just think it was the most beautiful few years . A time of true romance and true fashion. Music that I never tire of hearing and films that I never tire of viewing! The years where Vivien Leigh and Rita Hayworth reigned supreme. Where Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall plotted to marry a millionaire and Judy Garland was bound for St. Louis....
So last Halloween I donned my 1940's housewife dress with such gusto it was quite scary! I was giddy for about a month before it verged on the ridiculous, but one problem was that i was really struggling with what to do with my hair and make up.. that was until i stumbled across this lady:

The lady literally saves my day! Her hair and make up tips are AMAAAAAZING and I've been using her pages religiously ever since! She has a video for literally every occasion and there all really clear and simple and practical to follow. She has also converted me to a huge amount of products that my face would be now miserable without! Also the woman's a fellow red-head! Us ladies gotta stick together and represent! 


A few of my favourite videos are:

Fun and Festive look- Will most definitely be rocking this look for my christmas eve meal with the ladies. 

Since I write a blog on cooking and hair could this video be more appropriate!?! I intend to make this Lemon Ice Box Pie asap, but I'm going to have to make it a bit more english because i can't get hold of Eagle Brand Condensed milk anywhere! 

The Judy Jetson!!!! Easy advice on how to achieve the look of surely the most glamorous mum on television! 

The Video that started off my Lisa Obsession.... The 1940's Pageboy! I've repeated this look so many times now, the method is fool-proof and never lets me down!

This is a great everyday hair! I wear it sooo much and it works a treat if you probably should have washed your hair but need to get another day out of it.

So i urge you to go check her out, she has a blog here on blogspot: http://www.lisafremontpages.blogspot.com/ or just search Lisa Freemont Street into youtube, you will not be disappointed and there's a look for everyone! 

To Henna or not to Henna??

Well, here's my predicament... After so much bleaching of my hair it was starting to very closely resemble a Wurzel Gummage style fright-wig. After a bit of searching and asking about, a few friends recommended to me that I should try henna dye... So I took myself off down to the lovely LUSH, one of my favourite shops ever! I have a complete excited little girl breakdown every time i go in there and could happily re mortgage my house for an extra bar of the brilliant Honey-I-Washed-The-Kids Toffee/Fudge soap...

                   

And in Billy Connelly style I digress... 

So In the end I decided to purchase a bar of their Caca Rouge. It comes in a block and you have to grate it down and mix it with boiling hot water to create a thick sludge that you paste on your hair and leave for approximately 6 hours... Little tip!! If you want the hair brighter mix in a bit of lemon juice to your mix, for more of a deeper tone, mix in a little coffee powder.

                 

Well my hair turned out great and I was quite happy with it. BUT! 

Not being the brightest little chicken i didn't think about re-growth and with Henna, it is pretty much a law that you cannot put regular "dye at home" style hairdye on it. The salts and chemicals mix horribly and the end result is usually either pond green hair that has to be dyed over professionally with a dark colour which is going to cost you an absolute fortune!!!!! or your hair breaks off and you have to have the pixiest of pixie cuts  and its going to take you a veery long time to regrow! 

Well, I had already pre lightened my hair so the henna came out great but now i am stuck with a complete roots problem! Because my hair is growing through darker the henna will not cover my roots to match the rest of my hair, so im stuck in the middle of a sticky situation..... The plan that I have come up with is as follows:

I am using the brilliant La Riche Directions Hairdye

                  

It comes in a huge range of bright and exciting colours and is a vegetable dye so it is safe enough to use over the Henna as theres no chemicals for it to react with. But I am left with a case of very noticable roots see!

               

That's me in the middle out with the ladies. So im going to persist with this whole vegetable dye business for a few weeks.... I don't know how I will cope with these roots, there my biggest fear! Then hopefully after a few weeks my hair will be sufficiently coated in vegetable dye that I can go at it with a regular home dying kit. I will of course be doing a strand test to see how it reacts with my hair and then condition, condition, condition!! So, back to my original question, to Henna or not to Henna? I would definitely do it again if I hadn't bleached my hair and wasn't going to have the whole roots debacle, It left my hair in beautiful condition and was silky smooth for weeks! But on hair that has been lightened and the no mixing of bleaches and Henna   upkeep is just not possible! So i'll keep you all posted on how it goes, If im posting bald pictures, you know not so well!! Keep the hairdye faith!!

xoxo