Last Week I Was A Chameleon...

I've been known to have red hair for a rather long time now. Customers that so delightfully forget my name refer to me as 'the young one with red hair'. Quite the compliment I'm sure you'll agree. For about a year now I've been bored with my red hair; once the girl kept in isolation for mad hair colours at school and the envy of my friends that it didn't fall out through reckless dying.  It was time for a change. I'd settled on red when I got my 'proper grown up' job and still couldn't quite let go of my 'alternative style' but over time it becomes a pain to maintain, preparing for my wedding (NEXT YEAR GUYS!) means I suddenly care about it being healthy and having the choice to not have it red has suddenly become important. 

My hair is the kind to stay red- full of red pigment, I knew it would be a task. My beloved Boots advantage points I'd saved for years were put to good use and throughout the last week I've slowly succeeded in finally ridding the majority of the red from my hair (quite the feat after years of over-dying!) 

1) Strip the artificial colour from the hair. I did this knowing that the colour below had been peroxide blonde- yes it meant that my hair always held the red well but I knew this would be the cause of my stress over the rest of the week. Sure enough, it became a browny/orange/red colour.

2) For the next two days, I washed my hair with an ash toner to help minimise the orange tone.

3) Pre-lightener. I would advise most people to leave a little more time between stripping the colour and bleaching the shit out of it, but as noted above, I'm pretty impatient with my hair and once I get started, it all changes pretty fast. Note to self- wait until you don't have work the next day because you're hair will actually glow in the dark after this. As you can see above, it went pretty pretty pretty orange. But at least it was all one colour for once. 

4) Three more days of toner shampoo (make sure it's purple/blue based for cooler tones).

5) Ice Brown dye, has turned out to be a little darker than I'd imagined it would, but hey this is last night. I know from previous brown hair experience that it'll fade a little after a couple of washes and I'll be left with the cooler, brown hair that I've been longing for. I'll give it a little trim after a few washes and then it's growing time!

So what do you think? Of course I may decide that I do want my red hair back for our wedding (I still haven't quite let go of alternative emo Sophie) but most of all, I want that option! 

Love Sophie Xx

A Review of Philomena By Martin Shoesmith & My Week Off Work AND 2014BloggerChallenge: The Skincare Diaries

Hello! As always thank you for taking the time to have a gander at my little page! This week as you know, I have been free of work and early mornings, and high heels! It's been magical! I've had a lovely time! This afternoon I wanted to give you a quick catch up and to let you know all about my love for the book 'Philomena' By Martin Sixsmith! I want to also catch up with my posts for 2014BloggerChallenge! (I may or may not have missed the first post due to the BT fiasco!) And it's something that I really want to be a part of! So something I also wanted to talk to you all about, and hopefully to hear some tips from the rest of you, all about my winter skincare regime! (Which let's me honest, for me, isn't much. Lazy bones!)

So I watched an interview with Dame Judy Dench (isn't she such an inspirational actress?!) about the film version of Philomena being released. I hadn't actually seen it advertised, nor did I know about the book until Ms Dench mentioned it. The way that she described the story really interested me and I ordered it that day. When it arrived, I was reading something else that actually, I was finding hard to read. But I ploughed on through and I genuinely think that I barely put Philomena down over the next week. The story is about an Irish woman called Philomena, who as a pregnant, single woman in Ireland in the 1950s, was sent to give birth and raise her son in a convent for the next 3 years. After their bond grew strong and Anthony, (his name was later changed to Mike by his adoptive parents) was old enough to be taken away. He was adopted to an American family, and despite having a very "American Dream" style upbringing, always thought of the faint memory of his mother.

I don't want to be a spoil sport so I shall pretty much stop there, but the beautiful style of writing, gripped me to the page at every opportunity I had. And lets just say, they are reunited, but not as you probably hope. I'm currently browsing other Martin Sixsmith books to read! Since I finished it, I haven't chosen what to start next BUT I did spend the whole afternoon on Tuesday filling out the scrapbook I got for Christmas, all about my trip to Rome in November (and *cough* *cough* all about my engagement!)

As for my winter skincare regime. This is hard for me! Mainly because one of the first reasons I started blogging was actually to find out more about this sort of stuff. I'm a bit of a rubbish girl. I never got shown skincare tips, make-up or hair tips. So for the last few years, it's stayed pretty standard. So, a few things I would always recommend are;

1. Plenty of water. This is easy for me because I'm always thirsty. I don't believe in all that set amount crap. Just drink as much as you can remember to! Nobody cares if you pee more often (unless you're Harps, in which case, you ALWAYS mention it!). But you'll really notice the difference. Also, on that note, I've really started to notice the differences between eating because you're hungry. And just feeling hungry because you're dehydrated.
2. Plenty of fresh air! Once again I'm lucky with this! After all, I live in beautiful Cornwall! But a good walk, will not only blown the cobwebs away but help your vitamin D levels, ensuring a nice, healthy glow in the colder months. Who wants to look like their face is withering away in the wind?
3. I LOVE ASTRAL! I actually swear down that it's the best overall moisturiser around! It's so cheap and has been out forever, but I love it. I put it on every evening after taking off my make-up AND about 10 minutes before applying make-up in the morning.
4. I love all Soap and Glory products. They smell beautiful and their "Hand Food" creme is definitely my pick for the harsh weather. I just got some more for my birthday! Yay! 
5. Lip Shit Lip Balm-OH MY GOD WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! It's by far the best smelling/tasting lip balm I've had in ages! I've got the Raspberry and Lemongrass one at the moment, but am sure to be stocking up before it gets any bleddy warmer!

So there it is, I hope you've had a good browse. I'd really love to know any other simple, top tips over the winter. And as always, thankyou for taking the time to have a gander! 

Some other posts from 2014BloggerChallenge Skincare Challenge that I love are;

• http://www.salocainwonderland.co.uk/2014/01/skincare-vitamins-and-diet.html
• http://anothergirlyblg.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-skincare-diaries.html
• http://simplyroxilicious.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/skincare-2014-blogger-challenge.html

Love Sophie xx