Hair: A Dilemma

I don't know what to do with my hair, so I thought I'd blog about it. Because why not?

Most people would call my natural hair colour is blonde. Personally, I think 'dirt-track grey' (a loose translation of an totally endearing Finnish term to describe this particular shade of ash blond) is more accurate. As a kid, my hair was almost sugar white during summer, but it darkened with age. Now, it's, though still blonde, quite dark. And, in my opinion, dull.

I've been dying hair since I was 13 (purple, black, black-blue, browns, bleach blonde, reds... I've tried most colours that aren't neon), and hadn't seen my own hair colour apart from about half an inch of my roots between dyes until this year, when I decided to let my own colour grow back. I lasted for a good while, until most of my hair was of my natural colour. And then I got bored.

Exhibit A. The tone in the photo is slightly warmer than the reality, but you can get the idea. And you can also see my bun showing off the brassy leftovers from my previous haircolours!

We can all agree that it's a bit dull, right? Moving on to...

Exhibit B! I became A Blonde in June. I wasn't sure about the colour at this stage — it's a bit too bright and yellow.

It got better and the colour changed a bit though. Now I have good hair days when I love my hair colour (like yesterday!), and bad days when I hate it. So much that I actually have a ready bought hairdye waiting in the cupboard.

So, Exhibit C aka The Current State! From a day when I made the unfortunate decision to try out a middle parting (it just doesn't work on me). You can see I've got a fair bit of roots showing now, as it's been about 2 months since I dyed my hair.

In all honesty, I don't know what I want anymore. I would love a cool-toned ash blonde, or going back to dark brown, but it's all too a bit too high-maintenance and not that good for the quality of your hair. My hair thinned a lot in the past few years for reasons unknown (it used to be incredibly thick and shiny), and I want to take better care of it. I also really miss my fringe, but the wind up here doesn't make it an easily managed hairstyle.

Fringe(less), colour, length, parting... so many decisions.

Any ideas on what to do with my mop? Do you dye your hair, or stick to your natural colour?

Until next time,

Jenni

Haul: Beauty (and Other) Bargains Galore

You won't see much beauty posts in here, but I thought I'd post a beauty (& other bits) haul since I seem to have accumulated a lot of make-up in the past weeks (entirely without meaning to). Prepare yourselves.

So I went on a mad (for me) nail polish shopping spree. But! Barry M had 3 for 2 for all their things, and I was on a hunt for a dark wine red colour with purple undertone (after using 'Milano' by Mavala from my mother's cupboard in Finland) and a topcoat. So obviously, I picked up an extra shade, as it was free! The shades I picked up were Red Wine, Berry Cosmo and a clear base/top coat.

Then I went to Poundworld. Now, everyone always raves about Poundland for make-up bargains. And it is great. But I made some great discoveries from Poundworld too!

Revlon Perfumerie! I've been wanting to try these since they came out, but due to mixed reviews, I couldn't justify the £6.49 price tag. But for £1 each? Absolutely. I picked up the shades Wintermint (sparkly light mint green), Balsam Fir (dark green) and Wild Violets (shimmery black-purple). I also spotted Fresh Linen (white), Moonlit Woods (light purple), Powder Puff (baby pink), Italian Leather (shimmery grey-brown), Espresso (deep dark brown) and African Tea Rose (bright coral pink). So if you've wanted to try the Perfumerie range, now's your chance!

Poundland and Poundworld are both great for nail polishes at the moment, with vast ranges of Revlon, Sally Hansen, OPI, Maybelline and countless other great brands on offer. So if you're on a hunt for new shades to add to your collection, head there. Definite bargains to be found!

I also picked up a Rimmel eyeshadow palette in 013 Sweet Smoulder from Poundworld. I won't be using the pink shade (pink eyeshadows look terrible on me), but I like the other three shades and it was only £1, so you can't really go wrong.

I had a voucher for extra 100 points at Boots when you bought any Collection or Natural Collection products, so I picked up this powder blush in 'Dusky Pink' from Natural Collection for £1.99. It's a really lovely shade and I've been using it a lot. I actually haven't had a powder blush for a good while, as my old one broke ages ago and I've been using Rimmel's Stay Blushed Liquid Cheek Tint (in 004 Sunkissed Cherry) for the past months. I must say though, I miss my broken Lasting Finish Blendable Powder Blush & Highlighter in 'Winter Glow' by Rimmel and wish they still made it. It was such a perfect autumn/winter shade.

While I was in Finland, I found these Max Factor Lipfinity Lip Tints in shades 'Mystical Mauve 02' and 'Marshmallow 05' for 2e and 2.95e each. Pretty good, don't you think? I can't find them on Boots website anymore, so I assume they're being discontinued. You can still find them on various online shops though! I've just ordered myself 'The Royal Plum 06', which is a beautiful dark red.

 

 I also picked up a matt powder (since my old one broke in the suitcase) by Lumene (a great Finnish make-up brand) which was on sale for only 5 euros (I think the original price was 15e). I got the lightest shade, which is called 'Vanilla Cream'.

A little non-beauty find in the mix, I got this turquoise waist belt 70% off at Accessorize (£4.50), and I was so happy with this. I've been wanting an elasticated waist belt for ages but haven't found that I liked (except for some gorgeous ones on Etsy!). This is perfect though, it's quite narrow, simple and in a great colour. 

I also got this nailfile-tweezer-mirror set from Poundland. I forgot my tweezers in Finland so I needed a new pair, and these were just really cute. And only £1!

I got these cat eye sunglasses for 70% off at Accessorize (£4.20). They looked so good that I had to get them even though the summer seems to be over!

TKMaxx is one of my favourite shops, and this time I picked up this beautiful Orla Kiely notebook (£4), which is still being sold in Waterstones for £14.99! The paper tag around the cover had some damage, but as I would have thrown it away anyway, I did not mind the slightest. I'm planning to use it for my dissertation planning (eek!).

I also bought a new (incredibly soft) CRÈME Organique powder brush and a new hairbrush by elite Professional (both £3.99) on same trip to TKMaxx. Both were much needed purchases! My old powder brush was a very old kabuki brush from Primark and while it did it's job fine, it was time for it to go, and my old hairbrush was doing more damage than good to my locks. I could feel the difference immediately. The brush works on both wet and dry hair, and is really great for detangling (which my old one definitely wasn't).

I ordered some bits from ASOS (which I will share in another post), but for some reason I decided to include this belt by Pull&Bear (£1.50) in this post. Probably because it fits the colour scheme so nicely haha.

Aaaand that's it for now. Wow. That is a lot of things! But considering it was all fairly well priced and a lot of the things I bought were actually things I needed (notebook, hairbrush, tweezers, powder brush, facial powder...), I don't feel bad about it.

I feel like haul posts just work better as videos. But I don't feel comfortable making videos? Haha. Blogger problems.

Until next time,

Jenni

This Week I Love... #6

Another Friday, another weekly favourites post! Slightly later than usual, since I've been battling with absolutely crippling headache since coming from work (I actually thought I might pass out when I got out of work, it was that bad) . It's slightly better now, so I thought I'd finish this while it's still Friday.

I'm moving next week, so this week has flewn by as I've been busy on my days off with planning and slowly packing away my belongings.

But I've still had time for other things, such as...

Movies

As some of you might know, I work in a cinema. You'd think this would make me less enthusiastic about spending my free time in cinemas, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, I have been to see 3 movies since Sunday. For those interested, the movies were Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For, Lucy and What If. Out of the three, I think What If was my favourite (though I enjoyed them all). Zoe Kazan is far too cute (and her character's wardrobe was perfect) and it was such an easy movie to just watch and enjoy. No need for thinking, just enjoying a simple rom-com, which is sometimes just what I need.

My list of movies to see for the next 7 days includes If I Stay, Before I Go To Sleep and The Guest. I'm tempted to go and see As Above So Below, but I'm not very good with horror movies so I may have to pass. And I'm sad I missed The Keeper of Lost Causes!

Tartan

ASOS Tartan Check Scarf, £16

It must be autumn, because I want all things tartan. This always happens in autumn/winter season. What If didn't help, as Zoe Kazan's character Chantry was wearing the cutest tartan dress at the end of the movie (I wish I could find a picture) and I want it. No luck so far, but I do have a pile of turquoise tartan fabric in a box, and a sewing machine, so I think I'm going to go hunting for a dress pattern. Also, why did I listen to my friend last year when she told me not to buy one of the tartan dresses from Primark (you know the one)?

This massive tartan scarf from ASOS looks absolutely perfect, and I am sure to pop it into my basket next time I make an ASOS order. Which probably will be soon, since I have absolutely no self control.

 Exercise

Triangle Pose from Jennifer Jarrett's Good Morning Yoga Sequence

I've really got back to my exercise routine after my holiday and I feel so good. I mean sure, any sort of movement is sort of painful now since I just did my first Bodypump class in weeks... But it's the good kind of pain, an ache that tells you that you've worked hard and your muscles need a little bit of time to recover now. So I'm taking it easy with some yoga. I also got new pair of trainers since I forgot my old ones in Finland (I was going to get rid of them soon anyway so I guess it was okay), and exercising suddenly because much easier. I've been a bit lazy and overindulgent in general this summer, so I think I need to do some extra work to get back on track, but it's a good start.

(PS. Triangle pose is probably one of my favourite yoga postures ever, it just feels so opening and yet almost effortless at the same time)

Candles

Lily-Flame Pink Grapefruit Candle, £8.50

I know, I just had candles in my weekly loves last week! I've been burning so many candles this week as well though, and I also bought two new candles. Even though I've told myself not to buy anything since I'm moving out next week and do not need anymore things to add to the pile I need to somehow pack up. Somehow, it hasn't stopped me from down far too much shopping anyway.

But yes. Candles. I don't know what it is, but from the moment you light up a match to lit your candle up, there's just something so lovely about them. The smell, the light, the warmth. Everything. It's noon and I don't need to be burning a candle, but I still have one burning on the table in front of me. Because it does actually make me happy. It's the little things in life, right?

I recently discovered pink grapefruit scented things (through a new handwash) and now I want everything with that wonderfully zingy scent. Including this candle (and about 8 others, since Lily-Flame candles just smell too good).

Until next time,

Jenni

ootd: breton cats

 Just a quick little outfit of the day post from the other day before I rush out of the door, featuring breton stripes, cats and not-so-good hair moments. Really basic, but the top is just too cute.

I experimented with a middle parting for a day.

Top: Topshop, Jeans: Zara, Crochet flats: New Look

As you can see, it doesn't really work for me. Do I just have a really small forehead or something?

Also, I need glasses that don't reflect haha

Oh well. Time to go back to a fringe?

Until next time,
Jenni

OOTD: Tired, But Dressed Up

Return to Aberdeen meant the return to the task that has been haunting me for the past month: flathunting. Finding a flat that doesn't leave one living on porridge and tinned beans is a true challenge, let me tell you.

 I seem to have managed though, and as the weight lifted off my chest, I felt able to concentrate on other things again. Like blogging. So here is an outfit from the very day we found our new flat!

Body: Primark, Skirt: Primark, Shoes: Modcloth

Despite the fact that the heavy grey clouds and rain have returned to Aberdeen after the beautiful weather we had for my first three days back, I decided to try to look nice for the day. Even if I had to leave the flat later, and I knew it would start raining again (and I'd lost my umbrella). Curling my hair was probably utter waste of time, but at least it looks a bit nicer in the photos.

Cat earrings: Gingerpickle

Does anyone else get this sort of energy from being dressed up? I seem to just slump and laze around if I'm wearing leggings and a baggy jumper (or pyjamas!), but if I put on nice clothes, and put my hair up, I'm more likely to get things done. Just me? Okay.

I'm definitely channeling autumnal vibes. Especially when I actually left the flat. Here's a quick mirror shot — after I'd already got soaked in the rain of course. My hat was handknit by yours truly, my trusted leather biker jacket is a TKMaxx find, boots are old Hush Puppies and my bag is vintage from my late grandma's closet.

Until next time,

Jenni