Thursday 29 May 2014

Easy mermaid/ wavy hair tutorial. With no heat!






Many time's I've made my hair wavy and curly using the easy method of braiding my hair and leaving it for a couple of hour's or overnight, but this time I wanted it to be less uniform and wavier, so I tried a new method that I thought up myself and with the help of a YouTube video. It turned out really well so I thought I would share it with you!

Step 1:


Your hair can be wet or dry for this, but I think the closer it is to freshly washed, the stronger the results, so I would advise either having wet hair or dampening it first. Then, section the hair into four section's.

{Part it down the middle, like two ponytails, then split each of these in two, going from your ear's to the back of your head. This doesn't need to be neat, in fact, it may be better if it's messy}


Braid each of these section's as far to the end as possible, then tie with either small bobbin's or those little hair elastic's you can get in Claire's. If you have a long tail after the hair bobbin, try twisting it and looping it back into the hair tie to give the ends a wave. 


This was the next morning,  please excuse the mess :)

Step 2:
If you're going to bed, or just hanging around the house, you can just leave your hair like this, or tie up the braid's. I decided to experiment though, so I took each end and pinned them at the opposite side with bobby pin's, in a criss-cross manner, and tucking in each end behind bit's of hair. It kept my hair up all day and it looked really nice too! I might even use that style in future for a day out or even for a formal occasion, though I would do it much neater, it would need clear elastics at the ends and the pin's would need to be hidden.


Step 3:

After leaving it for a few hour's until dry, or overnight, all you need to do is let it down and you're done! You can either brush through the curl's for a softer effect or simply separate the wave's a little for a mermaid effect. Then all you have left to do is style it how you want to! I just straightened my fringe a little and added a floral headband. 

From the back, you can see how parting it into four section's create's higher curls and a less consistent wave


The results!




If you have any question's, please ask. And I would love to know how you got on if you tried this method! 





Tuesday 27 May 2014

My Gallery!

This isn't really a blogpost, I'm just letting everyone know that I have a timeline for my crazy hair adventures, please feel free to browse through the photo's, it proves I really do love having pink hair ;) 

http://cottoncandyhair23.blogspot.ie/p/gallery.html


Bonus photo of my collection of hair dye's, just cos:



Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to comment, ask me a question or just say Hi! :)

Monday 26 May 2014

Penneys [Primark] Stuff!


I was a bit naughty this weekend. On a hunt for the elusive Hogwarts logo t-shirt that I have seen on so many Instagram posts, I was in not just one, but two different Penneys. I didn't find the t-shirt, but I did find some other lovely little pieces! I'll have to stay away from the shop for a few week's now, lest I over spend even more! :) 




So, first I got a beautiful crochet waistcoat, for €13. I did feel this was a little over-priced, since there really wasn't much in it, but I had been looking for one of these for a few month's now, since I started watching American Horror Story- Violet wear's clothes very similar to this and she always looks beautiful! I could only find a size Medium, but I tried it on and it fitted perfect so I went for it. 

Next, as per usual, I wandered into the Men's section- they always have awesome t-shirts- and I spotted this Heisenberg T-shirt! Well, I am a massive fan of Breaking Bad and I missed out on the last Breaking Bad t-shirt that Penney's had, so I had to get this one! I got a size Small, it's a little baggy, but I don't mind that at all and I will sew up the sleeves to give them a more feminine edge. This was €8. 






The next time I was in a different Penney's, I got some essential's. I needed a cooler Pajamas for the summer month's. This t-shirt top and bottom's are so cute, I had to choose them. They have this wonderful print of animal's attached to Hot Air Balloon's and it has such an almost vintage style to it that I just fell in love with it! It help's that the bottom's are this vibrant turquoise colour too. This was €10, and the 5 pack of sock's, which were badly needed, were €3.50. The last item is a wonderful bikini set. Last summer, we had such a crazy heatwave that when I went to get myself a bikini, there was barely any left, so this year I thought it best to get ahead of the crowd. It has a lovely print of an old fashioned map of the world, complete with postal mark's from the 1920's and 30's, and at €5 it was a steal. 





The short's seen in these photo's were from H&M a few month's ago. I am usually a size 8 or 10 in trouser's etc, but I had to get these in a size 12 for them to fit! I think there's something odd about H&M's size's. The necklace was from Penney's last summer, and the jean's I have had for about 5 years now. 

Thursday 22 May 2014

Dresslink.com Review! [Edited 02/08/14]

So I ordered some stuff off DressLink.com 2 weeks ago, and it arrived last Friday. For those of you who don't know, DressLink is a (Korean? I think...) site that sells super dooper cheap clothes, shoes, bags and accessories for women and kids. I saw a YouTube video of a haul/ review on this site, went for a look and the rest of my morning was occupied by looking through all the gorgeous stuff on offer, and believe me, there is a lot!

Many of my Australian friends are massive fans of the "Blackmilk" clothing brand, who make high quality dresses, skirts etc of various different styles, sometimes following a TV or movie series (for example, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter) or just in tartan, stripey etc patterns. However, being the type of girl who tends to prefer quantity over quality when it comes to clothes, this brand is too pricey for me, even if the clothes are beautiful and the quality is amazing. So, I ordered some replica‘s of Blackmilk‘s dresses from Dresslink for €6.31 each and they did not disappoint! 

The quality isn't phenomenal, but they wont fall apart, the fabric is good, the colours are super vibrant and the stitching is perfect! They feel like that silk you might get a pair of patterned leggings in, or sort of like a bikini- smooth and shiny! Lovely, in other words. However, I wore the Alice in Wonderland dress on Saturday and I noticed when I got home that one part at the front (perhaps where my shoulder bag had rubbed off it throughout the day) had gotten a tiny bit bobbly. Maybe this had been there before or maybe it was a once off, only time will tell. Although, I got a pair of leggings from Romwe.com last year, same fabric but much more expensive and they did the same thing after a couple of wears!

I also got a lovely jumper, which I haven't worn yet, but is also good quality (again, €6.85 I think). The only flaw with this was that the lace on the shoulders was sewn on top of the fabric instead of underneath and it has some slightly unsightly edges to it, but these could be sorted with a scissors. The material in this wasn't quite as good either- its a little bit thin. 







Shipping ranged from €1~ up, depending on weight and whether you want ChinaPost, tracking or a courier (3 courier‘s to choose from if memory serves me correctly.) I paid €11.45 for FedEx 3-5days shipping. Dresslink emailed me when they'd sent my order to the courier, that was Wednesday. It arrived Friday, 9 days later (11 days after my order date.) So FedEx really messed that one up! The tracking on their site said estimated delivery was the Wednesday a week from when it left. Also, according to tracking, the package visited the same depot in Germany twice, going to Sweden in between... no idea why! When I tried to contact FedEx to see why my parcel was taking so long, their reply was that I had contacted the wrong department and they offered no advice on where I should contact... but thats a story for another day.


All in all, I would definitely recommend DressLink.com (maybe not FedEx) they even give you discount codes for even more savings! And they literally have clothes to suit everyones tastes! One thing I will recommend is to read reviews on individual items before ordering them, sizing can come up a bit small on this site and many reviews recommend ordering a size up. This seems especially true for shoes. These items fitted me perfectly though, I am a dress size 8-10 and they're stretchy too!

Go on, give it a go :)




Edit: 2/08/14

A friend in Australia ordered from Dresslink after my recommendation, however, her story didn't go as well as mine. I feel it is only fair to inform you about this and let you make your own mind up after hearing it. Here is a summary of what happened, in her own words:

"
I ordered a swim, two dresses and two shirts, I received the swim, one dress and one shirt two weeks after ordering. The shirt was entirely the wrong size, at least 3 sizes smaller than advertised, the swim didn't fit, but I expected that. The dress was good. Didn't receive the other shirt or dress.
After weeks of emails asking for my items I got a response around 40 days after payment. Got an apology, my items weren't in stock now. They offered a refund. I accepted. They asked if I wanted a store credit or Paypal refund. I said PayPal refund. They sent another email in response asking me to specify what refund option I wanted. I, again, said paypal. Heard nothing again. Got no refund." So, after emailing them numerous times (I'm talking, at least 10 emails to them!) when half of her order arrived, they eventually replied, offering a refund that she accepted, but she never got. Her money was wasted and all she has to show for it is a wrong sized shirt, a tiny swimsuit and only a dress that fits. Which is outrageous and has honestly tainted my view of this site. It has made me very wary of ordering from them again. As for my strong recommendation to you, the reader, to order from them, here you have both a very good experience with them and a horrible one, so now, it is your own decision from here as to whether to go for it or not. I am sorry to have to report this bad experience, but I feel it is only right to tell you the bad along with the good. Has anyone else had any good or bad experiences with Dresslink.com? Let the world know in the comments below and help others decide!

*Disclaimer: No, I do not have any affiliations with DressLink.com, Romwe or FedEx, and opinions expressed in this review are just my opinion based on my own personal experiences.


Wednesday 21 May 2014

Introduction... of sorts.

Welcome, welcome!

What does one say in an introduction to their very first blog post? I don't know, so I'll tell you a little about myself to start with and we'll see how that goes, shall we?

My name is Janica (Jan-ee-sa... rhymes with pizza!) and I live in Ireland. I'm a ripe young age of 25, last time I checked, which is young but it feel's old when so many people are younger than me, ha ha! I paint and draw- though granted not as often as I should, I'm probably wasting my talent somewhat, but I'm trying to get more art done! I also read a lot, and play too much Xbox... but that's ok.

My hair. Where do I start with my hair? Unfortunately, it's currently blonde (thanks to Colour B4 removing the boring brown I had in it) and I find it SO boring! Pink is by far my favourite hair colour to have but it does take a lot of maintenance, though not as much as lilac or red. Watch this space though, it won't be long before I cave and dye it back to pink!

I am kind of obsessed with clothes- I certainly have more than I need and buy more than I can afford, but isn't that a woman's prerogative? I  LO-O-O-OOVE Penney's! (Or Primark to anyone outside of Ireland) And if I could, I would buy something in there every day of the week...

My hopes for this blog are to keep a colourful record of my clothing purchases and hair adventures, hopefully to brighten up someone's day or give people idea's for hair colours and give them that little push if they want to dye their hair a crazy colour but just don't feel confident enough.

Join me! And together we shall explore the realms of clothes, hair, art and candy floss- amongst the craziness in between!

~~~~~

Let's get lost!
Follow me, I know the way! :D