New Hair | Elf Ear

I’ve been wanting to do something new to my hair for quite some time now. For ages I’ve been umm-ing and arw-ing over what to do, whether it be cutting it off and getting a pixie cut, dying it ginger, and yes even getting dreadlocks has gone through my head.

For one, dread locks take a lot of time to be created, and I wanted something instant, so that was out. A pixie cut would be cute, but my long hair is kind of a comfort thing to me and there’s no way I’d want to cut it off! And dying it ginger just seemed a little bit too extreme. Especially with my complexion, I really couldn’t have imagined what it would have looked like. With not knowing what to do, I’ve been a bit down about my hair for a while.

Anyway, yesterday came and I decided to be brutal. I’ve seen many people get their head shaved at one side, but I thought this would be a bit too harsh, and my hair is quite thin as it is, so I wouldn’t want to be chopping it all off now.

That is why I came up with a half pixie cut and half long do. I must admit, I was scared when I was having it done, but, with a bit of mousse and a good blow-dry I think it looks awesome.

I’m so happy that I’ve finally had something done to my hair after all of this thinking of what to do, I’m glad I waited, and didn’t chop it all off.

Also, having an ear poking out kind of makes me feel like an elf out of Lord of the Rings. All I need now is a bow and arrow - feeling empowered!

Let me know what you think of my new look… 

Elegant Touch | You live and you learn

For the next couple of weeks I’m going to be out and about seeing friends before we all go off to uni, shopping for the last bits and pieces I’ll need and basically just getting ready to move. It’s going to be exciting to start at somewhere fresh and new, but also sad to wave goodbye to the old. With all of this hustle and bustle going on, I wanted to look my best without having to make too much effort. This made me come to the conclusion of trying out some false nails. I’ve never done this before, I don’t know why, I guess I’ve never really considered buying them when I can buy a cheaper pot of nail polish that will probably last longer than the false nails themselves.

However, I branched out of my comfort zone and decided to delve into the world of stick on plastic.

I was persuaded to buy the brand Elegant Touch after reading some hot reviews and positive blog posts on them. I picked some psychedelic looking ones with a load of colour splashed in there so that they would go with anything and everything I have in my wardrobe. They looked great… in the box.

They came in a little cardboard box, and upon opening this I found that they were in a little plastic box too which I thought was very cute. Inside was an anti-bacterial hand wipe (a little bit like the ones you get with your KFC) two sets of nails (including some spare thumbs)and a nail file.

Bringing them home I was all excited to get them stuck on to see what they’d look like. There was a list of instructions I had to follow first to prime my nails.

• No1. Remove any existing nail polish (Bye bye purple!)
• No2. Bathe your hands in warm soapy water
• No3. Wipe all of your nails with the anti-bacterial wipe provided within the set

All of them were simple enough. I had my hands looking sparkly clean and smelling a little bit like the hospital, but that didn’t matter. 

Then came the application and again this was easy enough to do. You literally peeled off the back of the false nail exposing a thin layer of glue and then held them firmly for a few seconds on your chosen finger. I first put on the thumb and it looked good. It was the right shape, the exact length I wanted and a really cool pattern, with this one turning out so well I moved onto the rest of my nails. I finished my first hand and then my next and waited for thirty minutes which allowed the glue to dry and set. At first glance they looked okay, but it wasn’t until I started to file them down that they began to freak me out a little.

Whether or not it’s because I’m not used to them or haven’t worn them before I don’t know, but they felt so weird! The end near the cuticle didn’t feel secure and when filing them down I noticed they seemed to accumulate a lot of glue under the nail, on top of this, they didn’t seem to fit the shape of my nails either, they all seemed that little bit too big.

Having all these troubles I decided to take them off, but they were not budging. The glue was practically set and I felt as though I’d pull the top layer of my actual nail off with them! I read the instructions on how to remove them and it stated to use their ‘nail remover’ if having problems. Granted this was 5 o’ clock, the shops would have been closed. On with the peeling I went.

To be fair, it didn’t take that long to get them off and I was pleasantly surprised at how undamaged my nails underneath were.

I may try out the other set again soon, but beforehand I will be sure to file them to the size of my nail before sticking them on. However in the meantime, I will be using some good old fashioned nail polish instead, it may chip, but it’s not half as scary as these plastic claws I was fighting with today!