How to: Bleaching and dying for pastel hair.

I’ve always bleached my roots myself and never really stopped to think if that was unusual or something many people are scared to do. Last week I attended a hair-dressing event and the stylists I was working with seemed impressed but also a little horrified that I would attempt something as dangerous as bleaching my longish, blueish (direct quote) hair myself without fear of it all falling off.

I know there are millions of hair tutorials and tips available online but I was re-dyeing my hair last week and decided to take some pictures and share what I do. I included the bit at the end with the colouring, just in case anybody isn’t familiar with the conditioner trick.

IMG_5497So fist of all you need to mix the bleach. I use a powder bleach and a 9% peroxide. If you only need to lighten your hair slightly you can probably use a 6% and there is also a 12% but I wouldn’t recommend using this on your own unless you know your hair is very thick and hardy as it could easily cause snappage.

IMG_5498I use two mirrors to do my hair so I can easily see the back and make sure I haven’t missed any bits out.

IMG_5499Tie up the top part of your hair and brush out the bottom section.

diy bleachingYou should be able to clearly see a section of root that needs bleaching.

how to bleach hair yourselfStart applying the bleach using a brush. I always start at the bottom and work my way up as the top of the head doesn’t require as much development time.

IMG_5507Look closely to make sure you don’t miss any bits but be aware that the colour doesn’t lift instantly.

IMG_5509When touching up your roots, try not to overlap the bleached areas too much as it may cause damage to your hair.

IMG_5510Use a comb to section the hair. Straight sections will make it easier to apply the bleach and know where you are up to.

IMG_5512For the bottom layers, I bleach around the head in a semi circle, one layer at a time. This is the last section I treat this way.

IMG_5514The remaining hair is considered the “top section”.

IMG_5516Separate it from the rest of the hair.

IMG_5517Section the hair and bleach one at a time

IMG_5519Try to keep the partitions as straight as possible.

IMG_5520Move your way across the head, from one side to the other.

IMG_5523When you have covered all dark areas, leave it to develop. The time varies depending on the colour you are trying to achieve. I dye my hair very light colours so I wait for it to go a light blond, which takes about 40 mins.

IMG_5526This is what it looks like when I rinse out the bleach.

IMG_5527In the next step, I add the colour. I use mainly directions, but you can try this technique with any semi-permanent hair dye. You will need a bowl of conditioner and the colour(s) you want to add to it. I hardly ever use just one colour as I like to mix my own shade. This time I’m using turquoise and violet.

IMG_5528I have been using these two pots for a few months now but this time I’m adding slightly more turquoise for a slightly more vibrant result.

IMG_5531When mixed, it looks like this.

IMG_5533Section the hair as before and start applying the dye mixture.

IMG_5534Make sure to coat the hair as evenly as possible.

IMG_5536When coated, leave for at least 20mins. If you only used a tiny bit of dye you can even sleep with it on all night. I leave it in for different amounts of time depending on the shade and effect I’m going for.

IMG_5537After rinsing it out and drying your hair you should have a nice pale colour. Newly bleached roots often absorb more colour but it usually balances out after a few washes.

Please let me know if you found this useful or have any questions.

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Body Jewellery portraits.

I seem to keep things in my long-term goal pile for years until one day something just clicks and they work. Easily, with hardly any effort, as though this was the day they was supposed to happen and that’s why they didn’t make sense any of the times I had considered them before.

Self-portraits are one of these things. The idea first occurred to me about 6 years ago but whenever I thought about trying it (or even set up the self-timer as an experiment) it just never seemed right. Until last week.

I had been sent some new pieces of body jewellery and decided to present it on a series of beauty portraits in different colour schemes.

The first one I tried features dark red eyeshadow and a nude lip (which I never wear out due to my lips being naturally darker).

silver piercing 2piecing portrait 1 copyBlackline captive ball septum ring, jeweled labret ball by bodyjewelrypiercing.com

tragus ring with star, small jewelled labret balls bodyjewelleryshop.com

Chainmail necklace: Richard Ayres

For the second look, I opted for a classic cat eye and dark red red lip, using my favroutite Dior lip gloss and pencil.

piercing red 1piercing 2 redsmall blackline internally threaded gem, black wooden plug, crystal ball septum ring: bodyjewelleryshop.com

 internally threaded star: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

For the final look I used soft peach and gold hues to create a glowing complexion.

gold piercing 1new gold piercingSmooth segment septum ring and large crystal labret ball: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

glass plugs and small crystal labret balls. bodyjewelleryshop.com

Gold and steel dragon-scale necklace: Richard Ayres.

I think the last set is my favourite at the moment. I’d love to hear which you guys like and also if anyone has any tips for making sure the colouring remains the same accross all the images you are retouching. I’m getting more into retouching recently and this is one of the things I find most challenging.

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Gloss and fuzz

The latex swing skirt is one of the most wearable items from the Eustratia SS 14 collection and I wanted to incorporate it into a more casual daytime outfit as an example.

The outfits I’ve featured on here have been predominantly black so I chose the translucent pink skirt, firstly to add a bit of colour and secondly because I love the way you can see the legs silhouetted beneath it.

I’ve always loved combining textures and I think faux fur/feathers look great with latex or patent leather.

Unfortunately by the time I got round to photographing the outfit it had started to rain so you will have to excuse my hair.

latex skirt 3latex skirt 1skirt backskirt openskirt sidewaysskirt 2Top: Topshop

Faux fur gillet: Bird’s Yard

Latex skirt: Eustratia

Platform brogues: Rock & Candy

Bag: Vivienne Westwood

Body Jewellery: bodyjewelrypiercing

Photography by Richard Ayres

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Silver thorns

silver thorns 2a copysilver thorns 1silver thorns 4silver thornssilver thorns 6silver thorns 3I managed to get these images in just before the rain yesterday, it seems srping isn’t here after all. I’ve pretty much lived in this cardigan for the last year so I think it deserves to be featured. I’ve had several replacements but non of them seem to work quite as well.

Cardigan: Topshop

Shirt: H&M

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

tights: M&S

Boots: Jeffrey Campbell

Jewellery: Richard Ayres

Septum ring: Bodyjewelleryshop

Images by Richard Ayres

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