Friday 28 November 2014

Dresslink Review... Take 2!

I finally made my first YouTube video... bar one I have of a hand drawing of Dave Grohl playing the guitar.... but that's a different story...

If you would like to view aforementioned video (the Dresslink Review, not Dave) you can click here, or I shall (try to) slot it in below. My apologies if the audio is a bit quiet- I do have a HD recording camera, a "Bridge" FuijiFilm which should have picked up the audio perfectly but I guess I need to tweak my recording a little. I upped the volume with Audacity, so I hope it's ok. You can still just watch it without sound and play your own music I guess, you'll still see the quality of everything :)

If you would like to read my first Dresslink Review, you will find it here.



Thanks for reading/ watching and as always, if you have any questions or anything to add, please feel free to do so below or on the video itself.

Much love! :)
xxx

  

Monday 27 October 2014

Review!

SHUT THE PLUG UP REVIEW

So I know I may have said when I started stretching my ears that I was only going to 8mm or 0g... I lied... I went to 00g. But that's it! No more! I'm staying at this size!... I am!
Don't look at me like that...

Anyway, I went looking for some steel tunnels for my final size and came across  ShutThePlugUp.co.uk, where all the plugs are not only beautiful, but only £2.19 for the picture one's and less for others. So I ordered 4 pairs of picture, screw-fit plugs and 1 pair of double flared plugs (I normally won't get double flare's because I couldn't get them in before but I'm going to try again.) Of course, they have steel tunnels, what I originally wanted, but in my excitement, I forgot to order some. Go me!...








They are SO pretty!!! I'm in love.
Top to bottom: Anchor & Bird Screw Fit Acrylic Plug. Link  
Owl With Lantern Screw Fit Acrylic Plug. Link
Anchor & Flower Screw Fit Acrylic Plug. Link
Retro Batman & Robin Screw Fit Acrylic PlugLink
Skeleton Silver Rose Acrylic Double Flared Flesh Plug. Link

I ordered them on a Thursday and they arrived the following Friday, having been shipped on Saturday. So it took 6 working days. Also, postage was free as I ordered over £17.50 worth of stuff.

I will definitely be ordering from them again. The plugs are beautiful, the colours are incredibly vibrant and the prices are fantastic! My only complaint is that the Batman and the Owl image's are hard to make out, due to the size of the plug. I think the images are just a little too busy for the size. But I don't mind, all that matters is that I know I have Batman on my plugs :D 
Disclaimer: I paid for these myself, I am in no way endorsed by ShutThePlugUp. I just made a great purchase that I wanted to share.
Thanks for reading! <3 

Hair! And how to do it...


Hai everybody! :D

I did promise I would give some tips on hairdressing once I had learned a sufficient amount, so now that I've been training for 3 months now, I thought the time is ripe to start a super-post on all things hair! In this, I will include the basics: Shampooing, conditioning and the more complicated subjects like cutting and colouring and everything in between!

Just to clarify, I am a trainee hairdresser doing a 9month course in a training centre. We do Hairdressing Science, Hairdressing Theory, Barbering, Colouring, Cutting, Customer Service, Personal Effectiveness and for the fun of it, we have a Health & Safety Module aswell... Currently, we do 2 mornings a week where we take clients and practice on them, Wash & Blowdry's, Set's and Colour's are the services we do thus far, but we're starting to do basic trim's also. Then we do Men's cuts for a few hours in the evening 1 day a week. The men are generally from other courses going on in the area and the ladies are clients who have been going to the training centre salon for years.

Now that that's cleared up, onto what you came here for!
I shall start at the start, what we learned first. 

Shampooing & Conditioning Hair
  • First, when shampooing on a normal day, you only need to shampoo the scalp! The hair itself will be cleaned as you rinse your hair, shampooing the length of your hair only tangles it, meaning when you comb it out later it's harder to do which causes breakages. 
  • Use a small bit of shampoo, you don't need tonnes! The size of a 2euro coin is more than enough, aim more for 1euro. See picture below that I got from Google Images.
Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwLkYNNae6ADueet6qeZTgWEmYiu3cXz7pJQPUrNPvuScv8qp6slTy4Zh14PCZfuoH1qJymbm9W3diHo-TAyZ_6AUJfzsXiRIQwD14-8cdRJusLYl5qLZXvXXhuS6mPKL5jnhuBGLVuBQ/s1600/2.jpg

  • You only need a second shampoo when your hair is really dirty or greasy, but generally 1 will be enough, 2 will only weigh down your hair and make it greasier. 
  • When conditioning, generally you only need to condition the ends unless you have just coloured your hair or it is in very bad condition. 
  • Shampooing your hair everyday is completely unnecessary. Aim for every second day at most- I know this might sound gross to some people but excessive shampooing is removing the natural oils in your scalp that makes your hair healthy and shiny. And if you feel your hair is always greasy and you think it needs washing everyday, you might be making it worse by doing so! Give it a break some weekend you're not going anywhere- use dry shampoo if you really can't stand it- and your hair will thank you. 
  • When combing your hair after washing- do just that- comb it. DO NOT, EVER, BRUSH WET HAIR!!! Use a wide tooth comb, or a detangling comb- brushing wet hair is one of the worst things you can do, it pulls and tears and destroys your hair causing breakages and split ends and is just so damaging- DO NOT DO IT!!! 
Use one like this one!!! Source: http://cityofhair.com/shop/image/cache/data/brushes/60180-600x600.jpg

  • When towel drying your hair, there is absolutely no need to rub it vigorously!! Pat it dry gently- your hair is most vunerable when it's wet so rubbing it like a maniac with a towel is only going to ruin it, opening the cuticles and pushing them up so your hair looks frizzy and feels horrible. It's wrong, again, DON'T DO IT! 
*The cuticles are the outer layer of the hair, they lie overlapping each other like fish scales or the tiles of a roof and when they lie down flat, your hair looks healthy, smooth and shiny. Hot water opens the cuticles to remove dirt and grease from them with the aid of shampoo. Cold water will close them. This is why you point the hairdryer down the shaft of your hair when blow-drying, this closes the cuticles and makes your hair soft and shiny!


Source: http://blackafrohair.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/hair_cuticle_big-jpg.jpg

Colouring

I won't lie, I'm struggling with all the colour theory at the moment. There is a lot in it. I will give a quick run down on some tips, and will add more as I learn :)

I'll start by just explaining volume (the American measurement) and percentage (the British and Canadian measurement). 

Hydrogen peroxide is the catalyst that causes permanent haircolour to work. When you mix a haircolour with peroxide, a chemical reaction occurs. (It's very hard to decide what you guys would like to know and what is just science stuff that I need to know, hahaha!) Anyway, here is a quick conversion chart:

3% = 10 Volume (or vol.)                  6% = 20 vol. (used in most cases)
9% = 30 vol.                                  12% = 40 vol.

(An easy tip to remember here is; For every additional 3%, add 10 vol.)

  • As soon as you mix up permanent haircolour with peroxide, it begins to oxidise in the air, meaning, it will start to lose it's strength straightaway. Therefore, the quicker you put the dye on, the more effective it will be. 
  • When putting on dye, section your hair in 4 parts- right in the middle to the bottom of your neck, and across the top from ear to ear. Like a hot cross bun! I did this before I started my training, and it really speeds up the process! 
Source: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/rbi-communities/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/step-by-step-dip-dye-colour/1.jpg

  • Start at the back with permanent colour. The hair at the front will be slightly more damaged naturally, due to the natural elements- sun, wind etc- hitting it constantly. Therefore, it requires less processing time than the back of your head will. 
  • Using tin foil or cling film (seram wrap?!) when bleaching or putting on permanent colour will help the colour develop and slow down the oxidization in the dye. Meaning it will work better for longer. 
  • When bleaching or using permanent dye, don't wash your hair for at least 24 hours beforehand. Washing removes the Acid Mantle- the scalps natural protective barrier which helps stop that burning sensation you sometimes get when dying your hair. This is essential and applies when getting your hair dyed professionally too.
  • Always apply conditioner after dying your hair, it deserves and needs it!
Cutting

Well, all I have to say here is, even if you do cut your own hair (as I did for years) it won't be the same as getting it done professionally- or even just getting a friend to do it :P In saying that though, I know you're going to do it anyway and I can see why. Cutting your hair yourself isn't something I can really help with. 

The only tip I have for the actual cutting is to tie your hair in a ponytail at the very bottom of your neck, then tie it in sections lower and lower til you get to the length you want to cut off. Keep your hair straight and even in the ties, and cut the ends off with a sharp scissors. I have used this method so many times! It gives a beautiful straight across cut! In fact, watch the beautiful LilithMoon do it on YouTube! Link here! (Also, Boots have hairdressing scissors for less than €10 and professional one's are acually quite reasonable if you plan on cutting your own hair for years to come! Link here for a Boots scissors!

This is the razor I have. Source: http://www.coolblades.co.uk/images/P/efalock-pink-pioneer-razor.jpg
When using a razor to "feather" or soften your layers, ONLY use this on wet hair! Otherwise, you're only causing more split ends. And be very careful, go slow, you can easily take too much off.


Really, that's all I can say for now on cutting hair :) 


Straightening

  • Section your hair to make it easier for yourself, use small sections instead of bigger ones.
  • Go over it once, slowly and get it right the first time! There's no need to go over the same section more than once, you're damaging it more and it's unnecessary.
  • If your hair is due a trim but you're not ready to let the ends go just yet, give your hair a tiny turn in at the very ends to help hide the split ends.
  • Use heat protection spray. Seriously. In fact, I watched a video yesterday that explained if you spray a heat protection spray on the back of your hand and hold the blow drier over it, if it's a good spray then you shouldn't feel the heat on your hand! I must give that a go!

Well, I think that's it for now. There will be more, but as I said, it's hard to know what you guys would need to know and whats just too technical if you're not in the field :)

I hope you enjoyed this post, or at the very least I hope you learned something. Let me know if you have any questions or anything you want to know in particular and if I don't know the answer, I will endevour to find out for you! 

Sunday 5 October 2014

Dr. Martens, they need no further introduction!

I did it, I bought another pair of Dr. Martens. This time, I paid full price (the 14-eye Lilac one's I have I was lucky enough to get on sale for €58!) Well, I say full price, I did get the 10% student discount. 

I bought them in the ever-faithful Schuh Store in Limerick City Centre. The full price was €130 and I got them for €117. They're ever so nice in there- I spent a good half hour there trying to decide between the black and the cherry red one's (having spent month's previous agonising over the decision too) and they never once made me feel like I should hurry up. On the contrary, they tried to help me decide by telling me about their 365 change of mind thingy, where if you haven't worn them and decide you've made the wrong choice, you can bring them back with no fuss.

The Cherry Red one's are SO beautiful, easily the prettier choice;

Picture from: http://www.armynnavy.com/catalog/catalog/images/dr_martens_cherry_red_8_eyelet.png

But the black one's are the more sensible choice- they go with everything, I can wear them to work and I do find myself thinking I can't wear my Lilac one's sometimes because they "won't match" or "won't look right!" So I went for the safer option and got the black one's.



My lilac pair, with ribbon laces from the Dr. Martens site for €4


The only issue I met was the size, I was 99% sure (there always that 1% where I second guess myself!) that my pair at home were a UK size 5- my usual size- but the UK size 5 in the 1460's were too big on me, they even LOOKED way too big! So I had to get a size down, size 4. When I got home and held up the soles of the old and new pair together, they were the same, but the old one's are size 5 and the new one's are size 4?? Perhaps it's down to one being made in Thailand (Lilac pair) and the other made in Vietnam! Either way, if you're planning on buying a pair, be sure to bear this in mind, try them on and don't go by the size on the tag!

Dr. Martens are notorious for being a pain (literally) for breaking in, but I've been wearing mine around the house for 2 day's now and they seem fine! A bit of the tongue hurts when putting my foot in but so far that's the sum total of breaking in issues. We'll see what happens on their first day out though...

Anyway, happy days for me! I saved up for weeks with the idea of getting these and I've been planning on buying them for months so to finally have them in my loving arms is a great feeling. The link to them on the Schuh.ie site is here.

I shall leave you with a few pictures of the new addition's to the family. Aren't they adorable? And not a bit camera shy...









Sunday 17 August 2014

New Items and Good News...

Hi everybody! I know it's been an awful quiet couple of weeks here at Cotton Candy Hair, but I have a good excuse, promise! If you follow me on Instagram then you probably already know, but I am now a Trainee Hairdresser (YAY!!!) so all that spare time I used to have? It's now gone- Poof. I'm up at 6:45a.m. every morning and not back til 4:30p.m. when I then have to do some revision from the day, do some exercise and then try to regain my energy and before I know it, it's bedtime again... I have an underactive thyroid so the early starts are proving difficult for me and I think it's harder for me to adjust than it would be for your average Joe. However, I am finally getting my career on the right path and loving every second of it so all complaints can be ignored :D 

Image from: http://www.londonhairinstitute.com/css/scissors.jpg


Anyway, I'm here to tell you about some stuff I've gotten over the last few weeks. I had to invest in some new clothes, I seem to only have Band T-shirts and funny tops instead of some formal tops I can wear for work, so that had to be rectified. Also, we have to wear shoes that protect the top of our feet (in case we drop a scissors on them...!) and that are comfy for standing all day, so new shoes were also on the list. I did want to get the Memory Foam Sketcher's shoes, but they're SO expensive! I also picked up some hair accessories that I wanted so my hair can be a little more "hairdresser-y" for work and not it's usual, pink but still a bit un-remarkable self. 

So let's get started shall we? First up, we'll take a look at the new shoes! I was in TK Maxx the other day and spotted a pair of Rocket Dog's boot's. I got a brown pair in there last year that I wore practically every day until it got warmer and I had to graduate to something my feet could breathe in, so I knew they would be comfortable for all day standing. They're a military style, black lace-up boot and were €46.99, which I did think was a little too much to pay but if I'm going to be wearing them all day, every day then I guess they're worth it.

May I present, The Rocket Dog's!!!






Next, let's look at the tops I got. We're eventually getting tunic's, but at the moment we just need to look neat and tidy, so I went to Penneys (Primark) and got 2 tshirt tops and a shirt. The first is a paint splatter effect, see-through long sleeved top, which looks beautiful. This was just €9! (I think Penneys has gotten a little cheaper?) The next is a white shirt with mint green hearts all over it, which was cut down from €10 to €5. I also got a black top with black and white flowers on the front, but that's in the wash so I will include a photo in the near future. That was also cut down to €5. And I may as well throw in the Kimono I got last month too- that was €13 and of course, the weather got colder as soon as I bought it so I've only gotten to wear it once *sad face*


 







Speaking of buying items and then the weather getting chillier... I also got this one piece in TK Maxx last month too, it was €12.99 and I haven't had a chance to wear it at all yet! It's beautiful though and will be perfect for that heat wave we're supposed to be getting at the end of August! *fingers crossed!*


I also had to invest in a new pair of dark trousers. I'm not 100% sure if these are black or grey, or just a very dark grey, but they're really comfy so should be great for work. I got these in TK Maxx, along with those awesome Rocket Dog's. They were €12.99. RRP €43.99...







With regard to accessories, I decided to try out the Tangle Teezer brush that everyone is raving about. I picked the purple and pink one (I would have gone for green and pink, but there was none there at the time) and I got it in Sally's Salon Services the day I applied for (and got) my Sally's Trade card! Which was a very happy day for me, I felt like I was finally living my dream and becoming a Hairdresser! The brush was €13.50 or something very close to that. I have tried it out once or twice and it did take a massive tangle out of my hair with little to no effort! So thus far, I'm quite impressed by it. 






Finally, some pound shop sponge rollers (€1) so I can have heat-free curls, a hairnet from Boots so I can sleep in said rollers (€1.49) a gorgeous red rose hairband (€2) and some cute hair bobbin's from Penneys (€2 and €3) and a couple of necklace's from my local Saturday market for €4 each. 










I hope you enjoyed this post! It feel's so good to finally be getting my life started and I'm happy that I'm so busy, but I will make an effort to keep this blog going. Sometimes I can't think of something that I think you will all enjoy, so any ideas for future posts are appreciated! Once I've learned more, I plan to share any tip's and tricks of the trade that I learn with you, so keep an eye out for that! For now however, I will carry on learning and sharing any beautiful new purchases I am lucky enough to make!

Thank you so much for reading and enjoy your day/ evening/ night! Feel free to share any thoughts you have on this post, or any tip's you have for getting up early ;) 

Much love xxx




Monday 28 July 2014

"Crazy Factory Piercing" Review

(Logo from Google Images)

I ordered from Crazy Factory Piercing last week, and boy was I impressed! Here is a quick review, in case you were thinking of ordering from them.

On Monday last week (21/07/14), I ordered a few bit's from Crazy Factory, and the very next day I got an email saying my order had been dispatched! Then, just two day's later (Thursday 24/07/14) my parcel had arrived at my address in Ireland. All the way from their factory in Thailand, to their dispatch centre in Germany and then on to me in Ireland, in just two days is outstanding by anyone's standard's, so I would absolutely recommend them for speed of postage.

What did I order though?! Well, you may or may not know I am stretching my ears- and have been for about a year and a half now (For those of you who aren't aware of what this means- in short it is the process of stretching a piercing to a bigger size in order to have a bigger earring, or plug as they are known for stretched piercing's, in your ear or wherever you might be stretching.) I am currently at my original goal size of 0g or 8mm, but since I got there, I've decided I want to go to 00g or 10mm. It was inevitable I think :P Anyway, in order to stretch from a 8mm to a 10mm without skipping a size and putting my ears through unnecessary trauma, I had to get a 9mm taper and plugs (The kit I got on ebay at the start of my stretching journey skip's 7mm and 9mm) so I ordered a stainless steel taper and two steel tunnels. I also ordered two plug's for my final size of 10mm for when I eventually reach it. 


Taper: €4.20 Link
Steel Tunnels: €5.60 (for two- don't forget to change the quantity if you need two!) Link
Galaxy Plugs: €5.18 (for two) Link

Lightning Bolt Plugs: (Glow in the Dark) €4.90 (for two) Link






I also ordered a gorgeous Hair Flower (Link) and a beautiful Dream-Catcher Necklace! (Link) These were €0.98 and €1.75 respectively. My total order was €22.61.








This is all my order together:



So, I would absolutely recommend Crazy Factory Piercing! The quality isn't as great in the necklace as I'd like, but for less than €2 I don't mind. The rest of the items are all very good quality. So whether you have "normal" ears, stretched ears, lip piercing's, nose piercing's or simply want a necklace, bracelet or hair accessory then check them out! They also have free shipping Worldwide for orders over €20, which is excellent, and if you spend less than that, shipping is calculated by weight (I think) and isn't that pricey either. 


~~~Bonus Tip: If you sign up for their newsletter's, they send you points every month that add up for money off your next order, you also get discount code's sometimes- on this order I got 20% off my total in their summer sale, which brought my order down from €22.61 to €18.63!~~~

If you have any more question's or have any comment's about this site, please feel free to write them below or go to my Facebook Page!

Link to Crazy Factory.

(Disclaimer: These were bought out of my own money and I have absolutely no affiliation with Crazy Factory whatsoever, aside from being a returning customer.)

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Follow Me!



Let's get lost! 

Follow me, I know the way! ;) 


All my current link's can be found at 



Click the "Come Visit Me" link at the top of the page! 



I am on Lookbook, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin and The Blogger Programme! 




Thursday 10 July 2014

Bloglovin

Finally, I'm on Bloglovin! Bear with me while I figure it all out properly though! Come, join me ;)

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12541585/?claim=e3n8hqzz4ef">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>




Tuesday 8 July 2014

OOTD!



This is my first Outfit of the Day post, so be gentle ;)




It was warm out today, but it did have some chilly time's, so I wore these amazing Harley Quinn legging's. I paired them with what I'm 99% sure is called a Batwing top, so that was fitting with the Batman theme! The top has a lovely Aztec styled Robot on it, and I'm wearing shorts underneath it. To complete the Batman theme, I wore my Converse with The Joker and Harley Quinn on them.  I also wore my Harry Potter Lightning Bolt necklace! 








Legging's: Romwe.com link
Top: Penneys/ Primark
Shorts: Penneys/ Primark
Necklace: A local market stall 
Converse: Schuh (I think they are discontinued) link

Feel free to comment or ask any questions and have a brilliant day!