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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