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2017 Week 2- developing a plan to take over the world, one post at a time…and an OOTD fail (kinda)
I decided to try and tackle my lack of confidence and blogging mojo this week, for which I turned to Courtney. As you may have read in some of posts in 2016, Courtney and I founded the Hull Foodie project as an offshoot of the Hull Bloggers collective that we’re both actively involved in. We’ve really enjoyed what we’ve done with us so far, but have decided that we want to up the ante in 2017 – try more places, promote more local businesses and encourage people to jump on board with us.Naturally food was involved in our meeting , to talk about it and not chow down may have been a bit torturous! We headed to Furley & co where we had had Philly cheese steak sandwiches and Haloumi fries with sweet chilli dip, yummy.
We’re still talking about the finer details so there’s no gossip we can spill yet, but I promise we will when we can! It was great to get some creative juices flowing and actually talk through ideas I’d had in my head with someone who could either tell me they were great or they sucked (thankfully Courtney and I are on the same page so it was more of the former) which started to take care of the blogging mojo issue.
Jumper Missy Empire/ Jeans Top Shop (Jamie)/ OTK boots EGOTh second issue of self confidence proved it was going to be a little tougher to crack.
I’d decided that I wanted to try and shoot some OOTD pics on our outing, which for various reasons didn’t really turn out as I hoped (hence me looking downcast) which definitely dented my confidence a teeny bit more. I know that most people have days where they don’t feel that great about themselves, it’s just frustrating having more bad days than good at the moment. But I’ll keep trying to dress up and show up, and hopefully I’ll get there soon.
Stay Sylish,
J 😘xx
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BEAUTY/ From brunette to blonde
Historically I’m a gal who gets bored with her hair pretty easily. However, for the last year I’ve kept it pretty easy and simple – my natural brunette colour (with a slight touch of a warm red) in a mid length style. But I started to get itchy feet again to really change it up and push myself out of my comfort zone, thinking that being brave with my look may give me a bit of confidence back.
Anybody that’s followed my posts for a little while may remember that I’ve had a bit of a blonde dip dye in the past (see pic below) but this time I wanted more. I wanted more blonde, lighter blonde and a choppier style to make it look textured and cool.
Inspo
These are some of the reference pics I collected to get a feel for what I wanted that I shared with my gal Chelsea (who works her talents at cook: hair in Anlaby). As I had a lot of dark colour on my hair already I knew it was going to take a few attempts to get to a point that I was completely happy with the colour. However, I also knew Chels would make it look good at every stage so I wasn’t worried!
Start point
Dark brown (my natural shade) with just passed shoulder length hair.To really kick start the lightening process I had bleach applied through the lengths which stayed on for a good couple of hours, using foils so that the look would be more naturally woven in to the brown rather than two separate blocks of colour. In the meantime my roots were touched up with my natural brown to keep a glossy contrast (and possibly to hide a few cheeky silver strands).
After treatment 1
The colour came out as very light brown-almost dark blonde colour that actually looked really lovely when a toner had been put over the top. This was the point that it could’ve looked too ‘warm’ and orangey if not done by someone who didn’t know what they were doing! Sadly, I speak from experience…I looked after my ‘do with colour protect and purple shampoo in between my first and second treatment, but as the toner washed out (about 2/3 weeks after) it did become a little warmer towards the mid lengths.
This time Chelsea freshened my roots again and applied more bleach (using foils again to blend) which was left to develop for about an hour, before rinsing and applying a toner.
After treatment 2
Voila, unmistakable blondie! The colour is beautifully blended and a gorgeous shade I’m super happy with, for now…hehe. For the style Chelsea took a bit more off the length to my shoulders (I have a short-ish neck so from the front it still looks pretty long) added in a bit more feathering round the front (to match my existing shorter fringe-y bits) and emphasised my choppy layer section.I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with hair products for bottle blondes during this process, so I’ll be doing a post on the ones that worked well for me soon. In the meantime thanks for stopping by, hope you like my new look!
Stay Stylish,
J 😘xx
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2017 Week 1 – what do I want this year to be about?
I’ve been pretty clear in my head that I’m not making any ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ for 2017. However, what I do want to do is review where I am in my life and make steps to improve it in the long term. That may sound no different, but to me this is about a critically thought out review and an achievable plan of action.I started by making a list, ‘What didn’t I like about last year’:
– I put on weight
– I lost confidence
– I lost my blogging mojo
– I lost the inclination to leave the house and ‘feel like me’
However I know from experience, even when you’re facing the toughest of times, that there’s usually something you can do to change the sitch you’re in. So I started making a second list, ‘What can I do to change that?’
– Remind myself that I know how to lose weight, feel confident, be creative and be socialble, and that I have enjoyed every single one of those things in the recent past.
– get back to meal planning and cooking from scratch
– use exercise as a way to clear my my mind, focus my thoughts, and lose weight as a bonus
– seek new ways to manage low periods
– spend time with people who’s company I enjoy that I can be I be inspired by
My motto of the year will be this:
I’m going to do a weekly post (which now will be a week behind, as this one should’ve gone up in the first few days of Jan. Ah well, never mind!) with my progress, what I learn along the way and any tips I can pass on. I hope you’ll all join me on my journey and impart any knowledge of your own where you ink it may help me!Stay Stylish,
J 😘xx
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FASHION/ Golden Globes best dressed
Hooray for awards season and women with good taste! I’m really loving paler tones, girly details and textures this season and they definitely feature in my fave #GoldenGlobes looks
Louise Roe
Mucho blogger appreciation for this one! Really like the fact that it’s quite covered up with a hint of sexy in the cleavage and thigh high slit, and that the embroidery does all the talking rather than loads of accessories.my only teeny bugbear is he footwear; I really like the shoes but I’d have probably gone with something in a player or metallic colour .Guiliana Racic
My first two look and they’re technically no talking the the red carpet! G has gone for uber drama, uber girly, and I honestly think this is a “fashion moment” as she would probably say on #FashionPolice it kind of reminds me of something Lucy Liu worked on the Globes red carpet in 2013, in the sense that it’s floral and a huge dramatic shape, but this feels like a more timeless way or wearing the look. Emma Stone
A best actress award and a killer red carpet look? Great night for Miss Stone! The pleats and metallic start print make it feel really modern even though the shape is a fairly standard red carpet gown design. The colours are just lovely. Glad she wore her hair up to keep it really simple and focused on her dress, but I’m not quite as crazy on the necklace as I think it’s a tad too heavy for such a delicate look.Drew Barrymore
This is just boho Drew with a bit of glam and glitter isn’t it? Simple shape, on trend cold shoulder and cool toned colour palette, pared with laid back waves and ‘no make up’ make up. Girl just skooled us on how to frock up and still stay true to your personal style.Lily Collins
One of my fave fashion gals ain one of my fave colours (the other is blue. I know, I’m a total Maverick.) I think this a definite marmite gown because this kind of lace detail may not be up everyone’s street, but to me it looks great as it’s kep fairly light on top so isn’t bulking her out uncessarily and the shape is super flattering. Not crazy about much from the neck up but I’ll leave that part alone…What are your fave looks from last nights red carpet, are you a fan of the ones I’ve chosen?
Stay stylish,
J 😘xx
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FASHION / In with a bang
Welcome to 2017 y’all!
This is the first #ootd post I’ve done since May 2016. Not gonna lie- I’ve spent most of last year feeling rubbish as I’ve gained a bit of weight and insecure about a lot of things in my head (as well as being in front of a lens because I still can’t pull a decent pose!) But I can’t change very much of that immediately, so I thought I’d just go for and take a first step by posting my first proper outfit of the year.I wore this look to the premier events of the Hull City of Culture calendar – In With a Bang, a mahoosive fireworks display (think London on NYE with a northern spin) and Made in Hull, a trail of visual projections and soundscapes covering 70yrs of city history. Both were awesome, the latter is definitely worth a visit if you live close enough to stop by.
I would’ve worn something a bit more weather appropriate but on NYE PLT kindly sent me this jacket (amongst a sassy haul of other of other things) as part of an insta giveaway an dot seemed perfect. If you can’t turn up to watch fireworks dressed as a firecracker then…we’ll, I’m not exactly sure how to finish this sentence except to say I owned it and was super cosy!
Jacket Pretty Little Thing/Raiders tee Pretty Little Thing/ Coated leggings Next/ OTK boots EGO/Bag Miss Pap
Looking forward to this year will bring, hope you are too!
Stay stylish,
J 😘xx
About Me
I’m Jenny, nice to meet you. I’m a thirty-something who likes fashion, holidays and wondering about life. A lot.
Jenny Chat 