January 2017 Favourites

And that was it for the first month of the year. Here are my favourites of the month of #Saltbae:

Essence Brow Designer in DarkBrown:

I have a bit of a sparser brow these days. I used the Blond for a while and as I changed my hair I changed the pencil.

This is available at Clicks, Dischem, Red Square and some Pick 'n Pays For R29.95.

Renew Perfect Colour in Passion Pink, Royal Sapphire, Purple Fantasy and Ocean Burst:

This purchase came from over watching Guy Tang. My Little Pony galaxy hair was calling me. Now there are unfavourable reviews on Instagram and their Facebook ads' comments but hair colour is actually chemistry and especially with fashion colours it's a gamble if you don't know. Personally the only problem I had with this kit is my own limitation. I loved it. It's a good product for a great price.

In my temp kits I got the powder and developer to pre-lighten. (I am a person who peroxides monthly and this stuff is boss)

100ml of colour cream. (A bonus, as the other brand that does fashion colours only have 50 for double the price)

2 conditioning treatments (Bonus tip: as my colour was fading in toned it with a bit of colour cream I had left mixed with a conditioning treatment)

Gloves, leaflet and mixing brush

AND a bottle of shine serum. (I LOVE that stuff. I'm glad I have 3 extra bottles so I can use it FOREVER)

Now I did this on my own in my guest bathroom . . . okay, my husband help with the back of my head. I went to my stylist and she was impressed with the results. She lifted part of the colour and there were real opal hair vibes. I will be buying the Ash Blond and taking it to her so we can mix a blue grey.

Woolworths Mens jeans:

WHAT! MENS JEANS!

Yes, I bought man pants. I wish to live in a world where men and women’s wear are created equally. Why are women's wear so expensive? An plain T for men: R39. Plain T for women: R80- R100. Why does a size 14 (38) in women’s come to my thigh and a men’s 38 (14) fit well? Why is one shop's 14 over size and another I can just pull up just past my knee?

I guess those are mysteries we will never solve. (Please don't come here with your 'men are bigger' stories. 38 is the inch measurement of the waist and 14 is another sizing unit for 38.) Also men’s jeans are made out of more robust material.

Potatoes:

I did not jump on the January diet wagon as I am already cutting back on bread, pasta and the starch section of the food groups but I can't leave potatoes. Baked, mashed or fried. I've scaled down the amount but I will never stop eating the potatoes. I'd rather have less than stop.

Went for an Eye Test:

For a new part of my Favourites series I thought I would add a health item instead of more food. So last month I went for an eye test and got two pairs of new glasses. On most medical aids eye tests are 100% covered.

I made an appointment at Torga optical. They have an option of buy one frame and get another free. They have a range of all kinds of glasses. That is actually why I went to them. The test was quick. I went in on a Wednesday and Saturday I could already go and collect my glasses. I had to pay in an amount but I got 2 pairs of fully functioning glasses.

Meitu

Recently there has been an influx of this app's popularity. This is my go to app for filters and editing.

The new Hand drawn feature will make you look dreamy A.F.

Window Shopping:

In real life and online. You can look and take in all these beautiful things and your bank balance stays the same. From furniture stores to just swatching my arms full of make up. Cost: R0. I especially looking at clothes that are nice but I'll never wear. Same with some lip sticks. My Takealot wish list also grew to almost a 100 items 3 quarters of it is things I will eventually buy, later.

I recommend that this can only be done with certain people or by yourself. I had experiences that involved a super judgemental people who just shops for themselves (immediate anxiety trigger) and I'm one of those people who loves pieces and colours even if it's not for me.

That's my that.

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Choose-day: Making the best of load shedding.

No one asked for this. For my non-South African Readers: Our Power supplier can not meet the demand for power in our country so we have a “share power” schedule forced on us. I use the term schedule very loosely as there is more of a general time it might go off and on.

There are a lot of angry people out there and I would not want to be their social media manager. I personally love the hash tag Eksdom. Hilarious.

I want to give you suggestions on how to use this unplugged time to your advantage.

Read:

Yup. Sounds super obvi but do it. I realize some people find it to be a chore but read a book your interested in. There are really books out there for every person. Don't even read an adult book. Teen and young adult fiction has become more than Sweet valley high. . . In fact this is what FrancinePascal is writing now:

Exclusive books link

Draw: 

 

Get a B2 pencil, a sharpener, eraser and a book (a cheap one is about R18) and start drawing. Start easy by just drawing your hand. If you want to get good at drawing something specific search and print a how to before hand and practice. Link for pony. Link for Kio.

Many people are all like:”but I can't draw”. You don’t have to show your book to anyone. You don't even have to tell any one you are drawing. Even if you start by tracing and shading the picture or wringing your name in a creative way

Jonathan Harris

Get awesome candles:

Hit up Mr Price home. They have the awesomest range of colours and scents. I have vanilla, Espresso, Cinnamon, Gardenia, and the beachy Miami. Arrange them on a dinner plate. Check their bargain bin rack for single plates or serving dishes. Pudding bowls are also nice

 Feeling even cheaper? Buy a few shot glasses and cute coloured Costas candles. Just R17 for 6. I love the pink and purple. Why have the plain white standard 'We have no power' candle when you can have these pastel wonders.

Beauty it up:

Clean your nails and paint them properly. By that I mean actually waiting for each coat to dry before applying the next.

Do an oil facial with some olive or coconut oil. Do any face mask. You have the time to switch off and relax.

Start a journal:

Buy a really nice pen and start wringing. It's doesn't have to be a diary entry (tho' some people use twitter and facebook for that). I could be for your reference to see who you have changed or for inspiration, like a to do list.

Here are some ideas. Write about things you love, places you like to go or where you would like to be. Answer some questions about yourself. After these rolling black outs, pick a time to write. Every Sunday or before bed or while you are waiting for someone.

Also remember don't only limit your journal to writing. Draw a picture, add an inspirational article. Just keep it positive. Don't weigh yourself down with the deep shit. The world has enough of that.

What are your ways to keeping yourself amused when Eskom is unamusing?

#nowifi #nolife #eskdom

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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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