I dyed my hair red + update

Hello hello. I believe we have all come to realize that I am not frequently uploading and that is because I never do anything interesting enough to upload or talk about. However my goal for this blog is that by December I will have posted more than last year. That should be easy considering I only work Thursday mornings and do nothing for the rest of the time. This isn't a new years resolution, this is just me realizing that I have many years to come to do whatever I want to so maybe I should stop staying in bed till 3pm or only watching YouTube all day. I was going to start all the planning in January but several things came up that I had to attend to. However I think that I am mostly done with them and can start planning out my year, or at least a few months.

There are several things I want to do (or accomplish) during this year and I have already started with one: redoing my room. But that one is not something I can do all in one go. Other things include doing more art, like painting and making ceramic thingamabobs. Then there are the stereotypical things like exercising and eating better but I really think that those things just need to become habits and everyday activities that you can start doing without thinking. For example my sister runs to work everyday and runs back home.

I'll try to take photos and post updates every so often so you can see whether or not I'm making any progress, but I won't be posting pictures of my room until I've finished everything and then it will be one long post.

So one big thing I did do last year was dye my whole head (of hair) red. My cousin Emily dyed my hair the first Saturday in October pretty much as soon as I landed in England. I wasn't scared because she dyes her hair quite frequently so I figured she would know what she was doing. It was a completely new experience for me and I'm happy I got to find out what that was like. I'm not sure how many photos I can get but I will post all I can find below:

This was maybe the morning after I had dyed it and this is without bleaching my hair first.

After the photo-shoot I did with Emily.

This photo-shoot was actually for my new clothes but I soon realized they were too hot for the Caribbean and I would need to style them differently.

You can already see the top of my head were the roots are growing out. 

(These photos are from just after October)

Now as you can guess my roots have grown out a lot and I'm not going to keep dyeing them because I want to dye my hair other colours as well and I want my brown hair to have lived a little on its own before dyeing it again. I know when I was Goggling images I only found straight red hair which wasn't helpful at all. So hopefully this is helpful to anyone whose hair is curly or wavy or frizzy.

Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye From Christy <3

My Carry-On Packing List

So I've already done a post about what I'm putting in my suitcase for this UK trip but I haven't done one for what I'm taking on the plane and as I'm currently doing that right now what a better time to write this and post it than 2 am. Whoo hoo. I am more productive at night though which kinda sucks but I'm hoping then maybe if I'm exhausted I'll finally sleep on the plane. Yeah let's hope that adds up.

Anyway I was originally planning on using my navy blue backpack but that got mildew and I didn't want to use it because that just feels a bit sketchy to me. As I had to buy a magazine anyway I went to Payless and bought a bag I had seen the last time I was there. I had been eyeing it for a while and along with the fact that my friend said it suited me it was also on sale so I was like YES.

It's a black faux leather backpack and I apologise if the picture quality is bad because I'm using my laptop camera; it's just so much faster.

It has the 2 small front pockets and then a bigger section that is pretty square but it can hold a lot as you're about to find out.

I originally had a large notebook in here but then I wanted to put more snacks so I had to use a smaller notebook and pack the other one in my suitcase.

So first off I have a magazine, a notebook and my pencil case. Usually I would just take a magazine with me but I'll be playing the Sims 4 on my laptop so I have some controls (and cheats) written in the notebook for if I forget.

Then I have my liquids bag and because I would have packed my handbag in my suitcase I just put all the liquids in one bag instead of my (#1, #2 and #3) system I had going previously. The products I have in here are Vanilla body spray, Vanilla hand cream, strawberry hand sanitizer, mouthwash and a lip gloss. I decided my scent was going to be vanilla on this trip, it makes everything a lot more connected but I had already bought the hand sanitizer.

Next up are my warm stuff. I have my plaid pyjama pants to put over my leggings so I'll be more comfy on the plane. I also have a purple/blue knitted beanie that my mum made in case it's cold when we arrive. The grey socks are past air plane socks which I will be wearing around the plane and I have 2 gloves to prepare for the cold.

The lime green and black ones are fingerless so I can still use my [touch screen] phone when they are on.

These brown ones don't fit my hands perfectly but will keep them warm especially as my fingers get so cold.

After the warm clothes I have other in case/vital supplies. An empty water bottle because you can't take water through security. A bag of various medications/plasters. A chapstick and minty stick that you smell when your nose is blocked (clearly I couldn't find a word for it). A packet of tic tacs, a packet of tissues and a packet of pads. I'm sorry if the pads make you feel uncomfortable but I am a girl and I'm not going to deny normal body functions, even to the internet.

Then I got the "beauty" stuff. A compact mirror (with kitties on it, it's so cute), my comb, my nail file and my make up bag.

Then I've got my purse & coin purse, my phone and that pink floral pouch is where I'm going to put my headphones so they don't get tangled up in everything; like usual.

And here are the snacks. If you think it looks like a lot for just a plane flight, remember that it's at least 9 hours and if I don't sleep I'll be eating....CONSTANTLY. So I've got some sour gummy rainbows, gummy dinosaurs, York pieces, M&Ms, Goldfish (colourful), some tornado chips and zoomers which will get stuck in my braces but tastes so good so it doesn't matter.

I also have my jewellery bag but I got too tired to take a picture of it. I just packed a bracelet, some rings (like maybe 6) and I'll be wearing a necklace and 1 ring.

I'm so exhausted because it's about 3 am and I finally want to be asleep but I went through with this post so I'm happy about that. :)


Sooooooo.....that's it! (almost fell asleep there)

Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye From Christy <3

Dying my hair with Kool Aid

I had been thinking about dip-dying my hair red for a while now but this wasn't considered the "real deal" until it actually came out. I used Cherry flavour because my mum saw a tutorial on-line that said the Cherry and Dark Cherry weren't that different. This was just an experiment and we never thought it would come out as good as it did. So I boiled a cup full of water in the kettle and then poured it into a travel mug because I figured that would be easy to hold (like not burning my hands). I poured the whole packet of kool aid into the water and stirred it around for it to dissolve.
Then I parted my hair and tied my hair to what length I wanted to be dip-dyed. Once it had dissolved and my hair was secured I timed 15 minutes and soaked my hair in the cup of boiling kool aid.

It was quite boring actually. But the results were incredible, as soon as I took out my hair you could see it was red. Because we knew that the colour was going to run, as soon as I took out one side I would rinse it in a glass of water and dry it off with a paper towel so that it wouldn't drip all over everything. After drying each side I took them out the hair-ties and washed/combed out my hair under the sink.

What a nice action shot. Anyway here's what my hair looked like after I had washed it.

The we let out my hair and my mum blow dried it for me. And boy did it look nice.

So naturally I went and had a photo-shoot in my garden because that's what they do, those beauty gurus.

My hair is actually in a pony tail here.

My Teddy loved being a prop <3

I did this a few months ago and I was originally waiting till I got back from the beach to update you on how it lasted but then I forgot about it. So it did run and it ran onto my clothing but luckily the red came out my clothes so it didn't stain. The colour has stayed in my hair, although one side has faded faster than the other it's still there and it's really made me want to dye my whole head. I know that some people won't be supportive of this but I've been wanting to do it for a while and I figured now would be a good time to dye my hair. I no longer have anything tying me down that would restrict my hair not being it's natural colour like school or work so you can look out for that next. 

Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye From Christy <3

What Has Been Consuming My Thoughts Lately

I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing that I'm writing this as I'm feeling it but I'm going to do it anyway. Now for another high school graduate they may be thinking about college or work, but NO. Not me.

The VMAs were a few nights ago (maybe?) and I didn't watch it 1. Because I wasn't aware it was happening and 2. I don't watch award shows so I didn't care. However after it happened I kept hearing all these reviews and basically it was the best VMAs yet, so naturally I booked a time to watch it. Luckily they are showing re-runs all week because there was nothing on-line. But while I was on-line I noticed that the new Pretty Little Liars was on tonight and that it was gonna be big. My relationship with PLL is strange. I didn't really care for it when it was popular back in 2010, or whenever that was, but when season 4 was coming to an end it was getting exciting so I started watching the end of season 4 and the start of season 5. And I didn't understand most things so I decided to watch from season 1. I just finished season 2 btw. But I'm still watching season 5 episodes so I started trying to find out where to watch tonight's episode.

Long story short I followed the show on twitter and then found it on-line many hours later. In between watching the VMAs I watched the new episode of PLL. It was quite something for my emotions. Let's start with PLL. Mona was killed by a girl with blonde hair after finding out proof that Alison is A. Well I cried, even though I knew it was coming. Then I cried more because I watched Beyonce's performance and her speech and everything. And then I was (not really) scarred for life by seeing Mona's dead body; like did she REALLY have to have her eyes open?!? And did the camera need to ZOOM IN ON IT?!?

Onto more normal things; on Monday I couldn't remember whether it was Monday or Tuesday and frankly I was so happy about that. I think it was mainly because after so many years of school this was the first time I was not only happy on a Monday but didn't hate it.

I loved Taylor Swift's performance and Sam Smith's performance was something I enjoyed as well. I think that Nicki Minaj handled her Bang Bang performance really well. We all know what I'm talking about and if you don't then I'm sure you'll hear about it in the recaps.

I'm going to the U.K. for October and I know that I'll be taking lots of buses and walking everywhere so at the beginning of the year when I found out about this (not really January, I'm just estimating) I decided I should start exercising because let's be real, that's not something I do. Walking up and down the stairs in my house is the most exercise I get. And now it's about a month away from October and every day that passes I think," I still haven't done anything". And I'll probably reach England and be like," Why didn't I do anything?" orrrrrr I'm gonna be fitter than I thought I was and be fine; yeah let's go with that.

Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye From Christy <3

P.S. It's past 1am and sleep is my love;

so yes this is short.

Sharpie Art Fail

Quite a while ago I bought a plate and did a sort of doodle design on it in black sharpie. It was only today that I finally baked it. Set the oven at 350 degrees, put the timer for 30 minutes and went back to my laptop. Then I suddenly heard a popping sound coming from none other than the oven. You know, the place I had just put the PLATE in. Well I had never known what would happen during the baking so I ignored the first pop. But then they started coming more frequently and I started getting a bad feeling. Was my oven gonna expload?!?

Long story short, I called my mum upstairs and she was like yeah that's not supposed to be happening. She turned off the oven and took the plate out and we saw that the top of the plate had started flaking off. At this point in time I started doubting everything I had done prior to this. None of the posts I had seen telling you how to do the DIY ever specified what KIND of plate to use. And I had seen a post that said it was great because the mugs weren't breakable so I figured oh you use plastic.

 Bottom of the plate

Top of the plate

So I googled sharpie art plates exploding and only then did posts come up saying what kind of plates to use. Porcelain. Or just anything ceramic. And you know, I had wondered if it was safe to bake plastic as I thought it would start melting, but I did it anyway. And so here is a blog post about what NOT to do. Because I couldn't find any of my own.

 Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye from Christy <3

Packing for an Autumn vacation in England

So let's just skim over the fact that I haven't posted anything in more than a month and go straight to the reason I am finally here; I'm trying to write things in the heat of the moment and not just think about writing it down. So I am going to England and Scotland in October and I have started packing already. Yes you can laugh or think that I've officially gone crazy but I do have a valid reason why. You see I like being organised and knowing I have everything I need. However when I am packing I always feel like I have forgotten something and it drives me crazy, so I have started making incredibly detailed lists of every single item I put into my suitcase and carry on. To some people this may not seem necessary but it does make me feel better and calms most of my nerves.

So I started by choosing a suitcase. Small, medium or large. I took the medium because it forces me to pack smaller but I still have enough space for my bulky sweaters. Then I throw all the clothes I think I will need onto my bed, next to the suitcase. Because it's autumn I will need warmer clothing and although I need a lot, I don't want to over pack. And I always over pack. So here I begin thinning down. I pick up each piece of clothing and think whether or not I want to pack it. But I don't really think about it; I look at it and make my decision in a second. The things I want to keep I put in the suitcase and then I have a maybe pile which I will either go through later by myself or with my mum. The things I don't want will be thrown into my closet. And then when I've done the same with the maybe pile I will go through what I put in my suitcase and see if I really need everything in there. Just constantly thinning down.

To start planning my list I put down general items that I would like to take with me. And because I haven't been to England in Autumn I have gone through Google to see what other people have packed. And it was basically the same things I was thinking about so here's my almost finished packing list:

Basic Clothing
-Underwear, socks, tights*
-Tops; thin strap, 3/4 quarter sleeve, T-shirts
-Bottoms; skirts, leggings, jeans, sweatpants
-PJ bottoms + tops
-Jackets + sweaters
-Shoes; boots, flats, heels
-Dresses; long, short, high low

*tights are a great way to keep a little warmer when wearing a dress or a skirt

Toiletries
-Perfume + body spray;
-Deodorant;
-Braces gear
-Tooth paste
-Tooth brush + extra (because I use a specific kind for my braces)
-Brush + comb
-Make-up remover
-Face wash + moisturiser
-Vaseline lotion
-Vaseline large + small

-cotton pads

-razor

-hair cream/spray

Technology 

-Laptop + charger + case

-Phone charger with British connector + bright green cleaning rag

-Both phones + headphones

Comfort Items

-Bedroom slippers

-Plasters, painkillers, etc.

-Nail clippers + scissors

-Hand sanitizer**

-Neck pillow

-Umbrella

-Nail polish

-Make-up

**Make sure it is travel sized if you are taking in your carry-on

Extra Points/Organisation Strategies

-Plastic Ziplock bags #1

-#2

-#3(make-up)

-Purse; general day-to-day + fancy dinner

-Bigger bags; carry-on, handbag

-Pack all your clothes first and then put shoes down the sides of your suitcase to save space

Should I? Should I Not?

-Sneakers?

-Shampoo & Conditioner?

-Sun screen?

-Shorts?

This is still an edited list to my other one to make it appropriate to be on-line but my final layout will have an exact description of every item. Imagine everything listed above like this:

-purple plaid shirt

-black leggings x2

-navy blue waterproof

-black ankle boots

-nail polish; black and pinky-red

-dark grey denim bag

And as well as having it on my phone, I will have a backup list on my laptop because it will be coming with me. Going through all this does still make me have mixed emotions like feeling annoyed that I have to go through all this but it works out well because I know everything is as it should be and I am not stressed about forgetting something important. 

If you took something away from this then I congratulate you. I am going to look through my toiletries. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again. If you think I missed out anything you can tell me in the comments or if you have any essentials of your own.

 Nitey Nite or Good Morning.

Bye from Christy <3

Clothes Shopping

This is such a wide topic, I don't know where to begin and that excites me because 1. We will be discussing something I love and 2. I get to make a list so I don't miss anything out and I know where to begin (also I like making lists).  I feel like clothes shopping has a deeper connection than people realize because what you wear is a form of expression. An expression of who you are and what you stand for. Also it's a way for people to judge you. This could be positive but I feel that it is usually negative.

I think when I was younger (like 3 years ago) I used to care a lot about what people thought about me but now I like to say I don't care but I think I always will care, even if it is just a small amount. People tend to say when you are a teenager you are changing and that's the time you find yourself and who you are and I agree but I think you continue learning new things about yourself every time you are faced with something new; whether negative or positive. And I feel like your clothing style is the same kind of thing. When you are a teenager you don't usually have to have professional work clothes, so as a person gets older their style gets more refined.

So when it comes to shopping, how do you shop? Do you just go browsing around stores or only shop when you need something? Do you shop on-line or in store? I think when it comes to shoes, I prefer to shop in store but recently I bought 3 pairs of jeans in the same brand and size but all 3 fit differently. Now this could have just been that someone tried it on who wasn't the correct size and stretched it out but there are some things that don't stretch that easily and are still different. But I am continuously browsing on-line and you can see that on http://www.fashiolista.com/style/kissmarshmellow/ .

So when I was like 10-12 years old I would shop in the boys section and I had stopped because I thought people would think that was strange or weird but I started back and it isn't like everything in my closet is from the men's department so I don't care if someone thinks it is weird. I recently (yesterday) went on-line at http://www.topman.com/ and found things I liked and probably would have bought if only I was in store. So I'm putting up pictures of a few of the things I liked so you would see that it is perfectly normal for a female to be shopping in a male department.

99% cotton. That's like the definition of love to me. 

It's a phone case. But I can't find ones like this in the female department.

I love this ring but it probably won't fit me, though if it did I would buy it. 

I don't like boys with earrings but I like these earrings.

Basically in the men's department I look at the hoodies and jewellery because they are simple and plain and sometimes I want that. Actually I always want that but if I look for dark coloured items in the female department they are usually classified under "sexy" or "emo". There is no way you can stereotype the clothes I shop for. Unless random is a stereotype. Today I was on this website - http://www.29nunder.com/ - and I really like this website but I haven't actually purchased anything so I don't know about the quality of the clothing. But here are some things (not from the male department) I would have bought.

I don't have anything like it but I think I would use it with my lighter dresses.

Comfort level is on HIGH. I have an obsession with sweaters and this colour (burgundy/berry).

Different to my previous phone case, isn't it?

Mint green and floral and flowy. Looks good with both brown & black as a base colour.

Basically when looking to buy something I ask myself if it would look good with either black or brown as a base colour. I don't tend to mix black and brown, like red and pink or green and blue. I also ask myself when I would use it. I have bought things that I hardly ever use and I tend to feel very guilty but I do it without realizing and so I think A LOT before buying a clothing item. Especially when it's too expensive. But there's something else; how much is too much to spend on something? The only time I will buy something expensive (in my terms) is when I know I will use it at least once every week or everyday for a season.

I'm not one to follow main stream style so when shopping for clothes I usually pick and choose. I have been looking for decent length shorts for years but because the trend has been really short shorts I haven't been able to find any. I live on a tropical island and I want to be able to wear shorts out to like the grocery or something and feel comfortable but I can't do that so whenever I go out I put on jeans and that's annoying. Also, something that can jeopardize shopping for clothes is if you want something in the wrong season. So when I go to England in October I won't be able to look for shorts because it will be autumn and cold, even though it will be warm in the Caribbean.

When shopping for clothes something I do frequently is look at the material it is made from. My legs are really sensitive so I can only wear jeans with like 75% + cotton in them, not denim. And then I tend to buy my clothes from away (not Trinidad) and the material can sometimes be too hot for Trinidad but okay in say Florida. Which is funny since I consider them both to be hot countries.

Clothes shopping is a lot more than just liking the article of clothing, at least for me. But once you know the basics of what you like from the piece of clothing then it should really be easy. If this post helped you in anyway then congrats and I'm sorry for the lateness. Let me throw in a disclaimer : I wasn't paid to say nice things about the company/brands talked about above, I put them in because they were valid examples and I liked them.

Nitey Nite or Good Morning,

Bye from Christy <3