BALAYAGE // Hair Transformation

Recently my hair underwent a big refresh ready for spring and summer.

My 'before' hair had the remainders of ombre/balayage from years prior. It was brassy and warm toned and NOT how i wanted it!

I asked for a cool toned balayage at the hairdressers, and i love the results.

The process took around 3 hours from start to finish, it took a lot of time and patience (mainly for the hairdresser).

My hair is naturally fairly warm toned, so my hair had to be lifted, coloured and toned to enable a cooler tone throughout my hair.

I kept my natural hair colour at my roots, so the hair dye was blended into my natural colour. Not all hairdressers agree to do it this way as its more difficult to get a good blend between shades, but as my roots were natural my hair lifted well and it wasn't as difficult to blend.

Spring OOTD

A few weeks a go the sun made a slight appearance, so, of course i had to take full advantage.

After being wrapped up in jumpers and jeans for too long, i was a little too excited to wear something other than denim.

Alcudia // Mallorca 2018

Here are some delayed photos from my trip to Majorca in October. This was a last minute break as i just really wanted to have a holiday before the summer sun was gone!

Enjoy.

Perfect Summer Dress

Summer clothing is something that i struggle with every year. By the time Autumn rolls around I'm SO ready for chunky knits, jeans and boots.

Instead of purchasing summer shorts and skirts this year that are a little out of my comfort zone, i decided to purchase a couple of simple style dresses that i know i will get my wear out of but still look and feel good in.

I purchased the dress below in the floral print as seen, and in a muted pink/dusky pink shade. So far i have got so much use out of both of the dresses, i find them so easy to wear during the day as they are made out 100% cotton so they are so breathable and comfortable in the summer heat.

Click here to visit the ASOS dress on their website. Its currently on sale at £17 from £25 

Summer Go-To Shirt Dress

I've been living in this striped beach dress throughout my travels in Australia. In the evenings it's the perfect dress to throw on as it still light and airy but just enough as the sunsets and it gets cooler. 

It's currently summer in Australia so during the day it would be too hot to wear, but it's ideal for an evening stroll on the beach, out to dinner or a late night trip to the ice creamery! 

I bought the dress from New Look last summer. If it's not available I'm sure they do the same dress in a different print, or there will be loads out there from different shops. It was inexpensive (under £20) but really well made and the quality feels amazing. 

I tend to roll the sleeves up a couple of times for a casual look, but they are full length so either would look good. I wear the dress with the top few buttons open. There's a draw string in the middle that looks great done up slightly, or loose. 

Im Going Travelling...

If all goes to plan i should be going away at the end of October on a big travelling trip. We will be starting in Australia and spending a few months travelling around the gold coast. We're not sure whether to go on from there or come back after Australia but we have a few ideas floating around at the moment. Nothing is set in stone just yet. The idea is to potentially land in Brisbane and hire a camper van. I never realised the amount of effort that goes into planning a massive trip.

We spent a long time deciding on a destination. But obviously thats the first big decision to make. Australia both appealed to us, and its such a popular place to travel that we figured doing a popular route would teach us all the tricks we need to know when travelling so that when we travel different countries in the future we have some knowledge behind us, rather than going massively off the beaten track for our first big trip.

Next we decided on a time length. We new that going in our winter would be ideal for my work, and it would be Australias summer. Going for a few months means we can really make the most of it and relax at the same time without it being too stressful and intense.

A camper van seemed perfect for us as its our accommodation and allows us to travel. When i went to Australia in March we were going to get a camper van, I'm really glad we didn't as it wouldn't of worked because we were really central in Sydney. Whereas a trip like this seems perfect for a camper van. This is definitely the thing that is going to cost us the most money whilst travelling, but we can justify this as it is our home and car for a few months and we need to be comfortable. We are thinking about hiring a mid-sized camper van to ensure we have enough room. As we will be there for Australias summer we need to make sure we don't overheat!

Nothing is set in stone for our trip yet and we are still planning to make sure we get everything as right as we can. We could even change our mind and choose a completely different destination! But for now these are our plans.

If anyone has any tips for travelling, especially in Australia please let me know, it would be much appreciated.

Spring Has Sprung

I love all the bright coloured flowers that appear during spring. 

My garden has transformed from dead grass and golden leaves on the floor to fresh green grass and gorgeous flowers.

Im definitely no photographer but i love taking pictures so thought i would capture some of the lovely colours in my garden at the moment. 

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Sydney, Australia 2017

A couple of weeks ago i got back from a trip to Sydney Australia. This was my first long haul flight, which (apart from New Zealand) is about as far as we can travel from the UK, so i didn't ease myself into long haul flights! The flights were painfully long and boring, and even my last few days in Sydney before flying home; my mind was consumed with thoughts about the long flights that i was about to endure.

Sydney definitely wasn't what i expected. I had my own picture painted in my head before i visited and i imagined Sydney to be so grand and pristine. Whereas the truth is, the city is very similar to London or any other large city. The suburbs are beautiful, but again there are lots of areas that aren't so nice as well. I guess its like anywhere you go that has good and not so good areas in the same town/city. However i only think this picture had been painted in my head because of the massive hype there is around Sydney. It was a trip i will remember forever and i really did have a great time, but in all honesty i don't think i would visit Sydney again as i feel like I've 'done' it.

I visited in March and April 2017, which is their Autumn. I expected the weather to still be warm and for the sea water to have warmed up all Summer. But the weather was fairly rainy most days and for some reason the sea was so cold! 

Nevertheless, below are some pictures i took throughout my trip (minus the rainy day pictures!)