That time I went to . . . Chinese new Year

Every year for the last few years I’ve been going to the Chinese new year festival in Cyrildene and this year it’s the year of the Horse! 

Here is a quick guide to my way of doing Chinese New Year:

 

Do

• Go for the cultural experience. It feels like I’m transported to another country
• Check out the shops. There are things imported that you probably never thought we got in South Africa
• Be respectful. There are going to be food stuffs you’re not use to in our Westernized country
• Enjoy more Pak choy
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Take photos. It’s all super Instagramable
  
  
  
  
  

Don’t

• Go if you’re against fireworks
• Go if you’re planning to make trouble (They have extra security and Police for that evening
• If you are a picky eater. That evening most restaurants have set menus of the most delicious foods. MMM Pak Choy
• Take your small children or animals sensitive to loud noises

É’s top tips:

• Most shops trade with cash. I usually have a few R100 to pick up a few things
• Follow the dragons or wait by the shops with the most fireworks. (The dragons eat the fruit offering walk through the shop then they fire off the fireworks.)
• Take earplugs
• During the night book a table
• There are no real bathroom facilities so keep drinking to a minimum (I won’t usually say that)
• Go back during another time and walk through the shops
• Eat a mooncake at the Bakery
• Eat five of those pork sticks they braai next to the road.
• Buy a bubble tea
• Keep yourself and your bag safe. I have seen 3rd degree burn stories of people who got in the way where they clearly shouldn’t have been. And you for sure don’t want to replace all your stolen stuff
  
  
  
  
  Which Lunar new year festivals do you go to?
  
  
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Doing Business with people . . . with purple hair

For a while I have been following Pretty Pandora on Facebook. As you could guess I like my oddly coloured hair and with Pinterest sparking more interest in all the colours of the rainbow hair it was only a matter of time before I started looking for product to give the same result.

The hard part was picking the colours. Especially since she got a teal colour in earlier that week (Mermaid hair!!!) I was in the My Little Pony vibe so I got electric purple, deep blue and a flaming pink. It was as easy as I in-boxed Pretty Pandora and placed my order. She gave me banking details with a reference I must use. The day she received my payment she posted my tubs.

Here is how I used the product:

A bowl you don't mind messing up

Conditioner or I used normal Previous Christmas’s unused Body lotion

Gloves are a must

An old damaged towel

Foils if you do peekaboo highlights like I did or want colour only on certain places

Highlight brush to mix and apply colours

A shower cap to limit mess

AND the pretty Pandora dye powder

This is how sectioned up my hair

I didn't colour my whole head. . . YET. I just wanted peekaboo colour that I could hide and didn't colour close to my face

Hair dresser tip: Fold foils about 2 cm over a piece cardboard. I hacked up the box the dyes came in.

The cardboard keeps the hair steady on the foil

And with the help of my sister we foiled my colours in. Pink, purple, blue, pink, purple, blue

After this I put on a shower cap and did a few things around the house

Pretty's instructions are to leave it in for an hour though in our conversation she said she sleeps with her colour over night (Semi permanent colours need all they can get to last) I left mine in for two and a half hours.

This was two weeks on after colouring

Top tips For maximum results:

• Don't condition your hair before you do this. This dye gets mixed with a conditioner so your hair sucks up the colourful goodness of the powder.
• After colouring keep washing to a minimum. Opt for a dry shampoo or baby powder.
• This works best with lighted hair. The lighter the hair the brighter the colour
• Wear a shower cap or wrap a plastic bag around your hair. Heat assist it the colouring process. (Good call sleeping with it. Everything stays nice and warm)
• The old towel must also be used for after colour drying.Unless you like rainbow towels.

Pros:

• Was so easy to order
• Easy to understand instructions
• Fun variety of colours
• Cheap compared to other very similar products. Three tubs for R180 Postage included
• Awesome specials

Cons:

• Post office is so slow (Hopefully the business grows enough to afford a courier company)
• That I didn't find this company sooner
• That you probably haven't ordered yet.

Thanks for the great service and excellent product Pretty Pandora!

What Pretty Pandora Dye colour would you colour your whole head?

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