Hair and Hangovers

Hello lovelies! Sorry it's been a while. To be honest I've not been feeling that up to blogging lately, lots of eating and sleeping and catching up with friends and family has been keeping me distracted over the festive period. Its new years eve eve and this is me only starting to feel a bit back to normal! Tree is down and christmas pressies are finally away (does anyone else do that thing where they just keep all their presents in a pile for ages and sit and look at them?! haha) Things have been totally dead on the work front, but at the end of January we are filming a second series of Fill Your House For Free with Kirstie Allsopp so I'm looking forward to that, and hopefully things starting to get busy again work wise. The joys of being a limited company. I am so grateful for the time off when I have it, and the freedom that comes with being my own boss but reality starts to sink in when nobody gives me holiday pay at this time of year!

Remember I was having a bit of a moan about my hair? The Bleach London kit did me well but my roots started to grow in pretty quickly. So the week before christmas I went to Rainbow Room just off Glasgow's George Square to get it redone. Above is the before (in the car park lift on my way to the salon - classy) and below is the after...

4 hours and some chopping and colouring later, this is what I ended up with :) An ashy blonde, couple of inches off the bottom, and the bangs are back.

I know the ash blonde is a complete contrast to my dark brows, but I really love it. For the first few days it didn't feel like my own hair! It was just the overhaul I was looking for, and I can't thank Rainbow Rooms enough for the great job they did. I've been told I can go back in for a complimentary fringe trim too, which I think is a great wee added extra and will be helpful when my fringe starts to brush my eyelashes. Hopefully I won't let it go for as long as that though.

Boots had a 3 for 2 on their Bleach London products again so I restocked on the silver shampoo and conditioner. I was so tempted to get one of their coloured dyes as my third product but was a bit hesitant after hearing mixed reviews about them. Plus I don't want to alter my blonde locks so soon! I opted for the split fix serum which I have been using to smooth my hair down while still wet before I blow dry it. After drying, I straighten and use a little bit of hairspray to tame it, and finish up using this Moroccan Oil Glimmer Shine Spray. I hate having too much product in my hair, but still don't like it feeling flat and lifeless so I have found that using the split fix serum, a tiny bit of hair spray then the shine spray have been the perfect combo. The shine spray leaves my hair looking glossy and feeling smooth, without the build up. I'm worried that the normal Moroccan Oil would be a bit too heavy for my hair so I'm glad there is a lighter alternative.

The day after my hair was done, I donned my glad rags for the evening and went on a Christmas night out to the Cathouse with Heather, Emma, Kyle and Grant. I wore this dress from Missguided, and was initially a bit worried about boobage control... but improvised with some double sided tape from my kit box! It was a really good night, but my goodness I cannot handle hangovers anymore. After having lots of hair lovin' myself I gave the guinea pigs and Dexter some tlc for a couple of hours on the friday night before we went out.

My weapons of choice for the animals! I never knew until recently that Paul Mitchell did a pet range. My mum has been using their shampoos etc for as long as I can remember, so I was intrigued to see how this range compared. I do like to give the pigs a wee bath every few months as they can get quite stinky (sorry piggies)

Well hey there Oscar! This is his 'before' (mega lolz)

And during! I like to make sure that the water is nice and warm for them, I was so worried in the past about burning their sensitive skin but found that they were just as uncomfortable in water that was too cold. Think something along the lines of baby bath temperature.

All wrapped up in his towel and ready for a blow dry. This is definitely the part that he liked the most. Who doesn't love the feeling of a warm hair dryer when you're all chilly and just out the bath.

Gary was away out by the time it came to Dougals bath so I didn't want to stress him out by pausing for too many pictures. I used the oatmeal shampoo and spray on conditioner on both pigs, which smelled more like marzipan! I cut their hair too while it was wet (which I find to be easier) and once they are completely dry (you need to be very careful of this, they would catch a chill if you put them back in the cage even the tiniest bit damp) clipped their toe nails. As you can see Dougal is quite a shaggy character, he is named after Dougal from the Magic Roundabout after all, so I found the spray in conditioner had the best effect on his hair. I chopped off any matted pieces of hair and was able to brush through the rest. Oscar wasn't as much in need of a bath as Dougal was, but I'd like to keep on top of it now that I have these products. Just want them both to feel as clean and comfortable as possible.

Couldn't forget about Dexter! I did give him a bath when he was a baby but I wasn't up for the stress of doing that before a night out. I know cats clean themselves but Ragdolls have very long and thick fur so do need a wee hand in keeping on top of things. I used the waterless foam shampoo on Dexter, which comes out like a mousse which you keep brushing through and after about a minute it completely dries in! I've never used a product quite like it. The breeder I got Dexter from uses talc on her cats, but I'm worried about the effects of him licking it off (as you can see in the photo above he was trying to give me a hand) but these products are all animal safe and completely non toxic so I'm not as worried about him ingesting it. The wipes have been handy for his eyes and paws too, and erm, bum. I don't want to freak anyone out here but any other owners of long haired cats will know what I'm on about. Chasing your cat around with wipes in effort to remove any dangling nuggets is definitely not the nicest of jobs! Haha.

Come saturday morning after the night out, I was feeling absolutely bloody awful. At 24 I still haven't found alcohol which I can drink that doesn't make me feel ill the next day, or the perfect hangover cure for the morning after.

For now, bacon rolls and a glass bottle of irn bru seem to be the best contender. Hangover comfies of choice include this tartan crop top from Abandon Ship Apparel (which Leah got me for Christmas) cat leggings and comfy bra top from Persunmall. I've been rotating between the two recently. Who has time for uncomfy bra underwire poking into you when you're feeling on deaths door? Also, I apologise for the recent mix of SLR photos along with iphone ones. I need to get better at sticking to my proper camera in 2014 but sometimes it's just so much easier taking a wee sneaky one with your phone or ipad.

I was extremely thankful to have received two parcels the morning before which were going to help me through my hangover too. This festive kit from Pioneer, which container paracetamol, coffee, sweeties and new headphones. And a parcel from my gal Chloe with new eyelash curlers, nail art, a christmas bauble for the tree and lots of yummy edible things from the Christmas market on her recent trip to Germany. Sugar definitely helps!

I laid easy on the alcohol for the rest of the festive period, and on christmas day where I had lots of family to visit and was driving the whole day. I didn't manage to escape the food hangover though. SO MUCH FOOD. I love this time of year, the food especially, but my goodness I feel like I'm only just recovering from it now. Too scared to step on the scales but safe to say that a full detox will be commencing on January 1st! I will be back with a more festive post soon, if you're not all too fed up of them already.