How I Got Pastel Pink Hair 2.0

Okay, I thought I'd got over the pink period of my life. I really did. But it seems I am back and maybe brighter than ever. I ran out of my oVertone Pastel Pink Conditioner. It was a sad day. 

                                                                        

I needed my roots touched up too, and wanted it pulled through to the ends to get the brightness back after being brunette for so long (9 months - but that was a lifetime to me), so knew I needed a good lump of the pink stuff to get my hair back to the desired colour... I had a problem. It was - OUT OF STOCK.

Seriously. Not only did I have to wait ages for it to even get here from Vegas, I now had to wait extra long for it to get back in stock. Sometimes I feel like the whole world is against me (I hear the worlds tiniest violin playing somewhere...). In the meantime I thought I'd go get some non-sulphate shampoo to try and get the colour to last a little longer. 

Well...

I went to Boots and was browsing the hair care aisles, when, I noticed 3 for 2 banners on all hair products. Okay. I came in for one thing. But if I don't take advantage of the offer, I'm basically losing money, right? Yeah, I know. But HAIRCARE PRODUCTS.

So, after deciding I definitely was going to take Ms.Boots up on this offer, I had a browse through the many ailses of hair products (St Davids, Cardiff has an amazing section). I just so happened to stumble upon Pastel Pink Shampoo and Conditioner. I could barely hold my excitement. Seriously. You see, before I ordered oVertone, I searched the entire internet (not literally, my Googling skills are not even a C-) and couldn't find anything similar in the UK. 

Well it seems Boots were keeping this to themselves.

Bleach London Rose Shampoo & Conditioner

I bought the Bleach London Rose Shampoo and Conditioner, along with the Reincarnation Mask. I absolutely beamed out of the shop. Like for real. Oh yeah, forgot the best part. THEY ARE £6.00 EACH!

Sorry for the caps, I just am that excited.

Boots were out of the actual hair dye when I first bought the shampoo and conditioner. I took it to the hairdressers with me and they put it on after having an all over bleach. Due to the brightness of the bleach (and me not having chance to bathe in purple shampoo) I looked a little like a pink highlighter. Still looked lovely though.

Just after having an all over bleach, using
just the shampoo and conditioner

Shampoo

Conditioner

I then used it myself at home. Left is the shampoo (so foamy) and right is the conditioner. It's great because it actually foams up which means it's easy to get it all over. Especially for an amateur like myself.

The Rose does build up more of a tone after continued use. However, as always, I wanted more. I started looking to order some of the dye to just give me a deeper colour. They've been out of stock on numerous websites for ages - so I resorted to getting it from eBay for double the price (I couldn't wait).

Bleach London Rose Hair Dye

Again really easy to get it all over. I'm not great with hair and when I've dyed my hair before I've left massive patches throughout but I actually managed to use this so that must be a good thing!I was absolutely chuffed with the results. 

It may look like it has a purple tinge to it - it's probably due to the Silver Shampoo I use as I put it on before I used the dye to brighten the brassy tones. As I've said previously though I'm a bit of a addict of the ol' silver stuff and I always leave it on for ages. 

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My Stay at Bryn Meadows Golf Resort & Spa

I definitely needed a relaxing break. And this was perfect. My boyfriend had booked us a spa break and a night stay in Bryn Meadows and it couldn't have come quick enough.

I popped the postcode in to my Google Maps and off we went. Although we did get stuck up a mountain on the trail to nowhere for 20 minutes. I guess the "don't trust your satnav" sign at the beginning of the road wasn't enough of a clue. 

Hotel Entrance

Lobby

The Room

When we got our key card, it was the furthest in the corridor. I thought this must've been a good thing... And it was. Our room was absolutely beautiful. We had a Premier Suite, and set in the grounds that it was, it was completely picturesque. 

Premier Suite

The bed was like a dream (not even kidding) I ended up napping in the evening because it was that comfy. I was so cwtched up in my slippers and robe. I didn't want to leave the robe, I practically lived in it for two days.

We had two balconies - yes, two - and both were situated basically on the golf course. Which meant you could sit and watch the golfers play, which would be perfect for people who actually enjoy watching golf.

The Spa

We had a mud spa and massage booked. We did have a rather disappointing phone call whilst we were on our way there. Someone had broken the mud spa so our appointment was unfortunately cancelled.

Not to worry. I still had a steam room, aromatherapy room, sauna, jacuzzi and swimming pool to immerse myself in. And that I did. 

I haven't been swimming for so long. The last holidays I've been on have been with the girls to the likes of Ibiza or Ayia Napa. Not exactly relaxing swimming holidays - especially when you're waddling around in a swimsuit that definitely wasn't made to touch water. 

My favourite part was definitely this little pool/jacuzzi thing they had there (picture above). They had little sections where you could lay down. It was so relaxing. I could've stayed there all day. 

We had an hour massage which was a little weird at first, found it quite awkward. But after 5 minutes I felt fine. When I had my head in the little hole and saw the masseurs feet I couldn't help but think of Phoebe doing some 'feet flirting' from Friends. 

She had very pretty shoes on which got me thinking did they have some sort of rule that they had to have pretty feet due to that being the only thing we could see? It made me chuckle. On the inside obviously.

The Food

(serious food porn alert)

It was good. Really good. 

For starters I had the Asparagus wrapped in Parma Ham and feta cheese. I had the chicken (if you know me well - this is a no brainier. I just looked for the word chicken on the menu).

Asparagus wrapped in Parma Ham with Feta Cheese

Goats Cheese

Chilli and Lime grilled supreme of chicken served with tomato, field mushroom, chips and Asian Coleslaw

10oz Sirloin Steak with tomato, field mushroom, chips and crispy paprika shallots

Chocolate Torte 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The restaurant tries to use as much local and Welsh ingredients as possible which is always a plus for me. And I'm not bias or anything, but it definitely tastes better ;).

We had breakfast around 9:00 am. There was a continental buffet and then you could order your cooked breakfast to the table. The buffet had things like croissant, different breads, jam (the cute little jam jars!), cereals, juices - great range.

Welsh Breakfast

I did ask for mine without the black pudding. I just can't do it.

When we left the hotel and got in the car, we literally felt like we'd left this fake world. Just left our stress at the door and relaxed for two days with someone pampering and feeding you.

Perfect.

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My Fake Tan Obsession

Having been very light skinned and being ridiculed for it when I was younger, when fake tan hit the high street I thought I'd found my saviour. Being called Casper, milk bottle and Snow White to name a few from the others kids in school, I quickly grew a hate for my ivory skin tone. What my Nana would always tell me was beautiful, I found quite frankly, embarrassing.

I was the skinny, pale kid, who got tested for Anaemia almost every time I went to the Doctors. Including a time I went with my mother - to her appointment. The Doctor took one look at me and said he needed to immediately test for it - again. 

No, I'm not anaemic, I'm just pale. 

I first started using the fake tan wipes. You could get them so cheap in a local pharmacy. People didn't really use fake tan then, but I remember feeling so happy that I could go to a party and not feel embarrassed about my colour. Fake tan slowly started growing, until it began to be a normal sort of thing. I remember my mother bought a bottle of St. Tropez mousse. We literally had it for ages (it was that rare she'd let me use it) and shared it between us - special occasions I was allowed it for!

As I've gotten older, I've learnt to get along with my skin better. It's still very much a working progress but I definitely don't feel the need to tan as much as I used to. I used to tan almost every week. Same routine. Now I usually just tan for occasions.

I got to a point where I'd feel so ugly without it. I still get that from time to time now, but like I said, a working progress.

I don't know if it's a sign of getting older, or if I'm just sick of pandering to other peoples opinions, but I just don't care as much. I'm not going to lie, I don't think I could go 'out out' without any tan on mind. I like dressing up too much and this is definitely part of my routine! 

I remember going to the Beauticians and getting my eyebrows waxed when I was about 12. The lady was talking about my freckles (I'd just been on holidays), I quickly started slating my skin tone and my freckles. She said to me, "a face without freckles, is a sky without stars." It really stuck with me.

I've become sort of a fake tan ambassador over the years. When people try to understand why I'd rather take a bottle of the good stuff on holiday with me than lay in the sun for hours, they just don't seem to get it. My logic is; I'd rather be sticky for a bit whilst the tan dries, than ruin my skin for a pointless sunbathe that's only going to leave me raw and sun burnt. I have a much higher risk of sun damage due to having blue eyes and fair skin. So, to me, this is a no-brainer. 

Coming back from Dominican Republic when I was around 19, got on the plane and a member of the Cabin Crew turns to me and goes, "Oh, you've been hiding from the sun for two weeks, have you?" and let our a massive laugh. It was as I was walking up the aisle of the plane. I was so embarrassed.

The many years of tanning experience I have had has left me with a lot of handy tips for the perfect tan. Check out my guide to a better fake tan here.

I still haven't been able to find a foundation that I like with my skin tone. I've tried quite a lot of different ones, but I find I need more coverage without tan on. Because of how light I am you can see any blemish I have really easily (nightmare)! 

Are there any you can suggest?

A mistake I have made (which I'm trying to conquer now) was to only buy make-up for when I had tan on. Which left me wanting to not go bare even more. I'm now starting to build up my pale collection, just as much as my dark.

What's your take? Are you a fan of the tan or do you prefer au naturel?

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How I Got Pastel Pink Hair

I've been wanting to have coloured hair for ages. Last time I tried it I got so fed up of the up-keep I ended up just dying it brown. I tried to have it pink and purple before. The purple managed to stay a bit longer due to the silver shampoo I use (which I often use to much of and end up with streaky purple-y bits anyway). I've tried the Crazy Colours and Directions, but neither managed an all over colour, and neither were a long-term fix.

I THINK I'VE FOUND THE SOLUTION!

Well, after browsing Instagram (I do this almost every night, just keep scrolling...) I found this stuff from Las Vegas called oVertone Haircare that was colour depositing conditioner. I had brown hair at this time and immediately wanted my silver locks back to try this! 

I booked an appointment to get my hair bleached and ordered the Pastel Pink Complete System. This included 8oz Daily Conditioner, 8oz Go Deep weekly treatment, and a special gift - 2oz bottle of their Daily Conditioner for traveling.

I'm pretty sure I annoy the hell out of my hairdresser. However, in one sit (and two full heads of bleach) I was back - albeit not as lusciously silver as I remember. 

The set is $45 to buy, which is the equivalent to about £30. I did get hit by the shipping cost though, which brought it up to £44. But - this lasted me about 2 months! Not bad at all.

Luckily it had got here from Vegas by the day I'd had it bleached - as my hair was half blonde, half orange! EEK. I think if I had used this on my previous silver hair it would have taken so well, but I must say for the colour of my hair it took amazingly.

I was using my Clynol Colour & Care Silver Shampoo with the Daily Conditioner, which was helping with the brassy tones of my hair, this helped the pink along as I continued to use it. I did make the mistake of using my Aussie Shampoo to give my hair a break of the Silver Toner with my oVertone Conditioner, but it practically stripped the pink out of my hair! Although, this is a good thing if you want rid of your colour quickly. 

The trick is to use a non-sulphate shampoo. I went back to using my Silver Shampoo as it seems to keep the colour on nicely. When I have bleached hair I practically bathe in the stuff. It's an absolute god send. 

Would you have your hair coloured?

Psst! Check out how else to get your hair pastel pink here!

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Visting London

I'm finally home, cwtched up in bed after a weekend with my bestie.

I love London, but equally couldn't wait to get out of the hustle and bustle. I was so nervous about travelling up alone, but I managed to score a two seater all by myself. So it was feet up, snack bag open (yes, a bag dedicated to snacks - it was a three hour bus ride!) and Pretty Little Liars all the way there.. Not too shabby!

We went sightseeing (you have to, no matter how many times you've been, right?) and to the Science Museum. I think I was expecting a giant Techniquest, but it was interesting all the same... Although, we definitely had the most fun in the gift shop. Probably the best part of any day out!

Yes, that's a selfie stick in my hand. Honestly, it kept us laughing all day long. Between the looks off people and the fact we couldn't take a decent photo they turned out hilarious. I hadn't used it yet, and thought that this weekend was the perfect opportunity to whip it out.  

And trust me to have chosen the hottest weekend in the history of the world to go to London. Honestly, it was so damn warm. As if it isn't hot enough squished on the underground like a tin of sardines, you have to chuck Sahara Desert weather on top of it. Although it did make for pretty pictures.

In the night we went to Fabric Nightclub. It was open until 9am.. Crazy! But we did last till 6:45. Getting a bus and overground home at that time was not one of my greatest moments. But it was definitely worth it, we had a blast.

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