Mid Week Catch Up & My New Hair

Hi all

Sorry my posting has been so limited these past few weeks. I'm still trying to find that work/life/sleep balance whilst at uni and even the best intentions have left some of the less , but still, important things postponed.

This weekend saw me hit 1 month in the capital city. I suppose that makes me an official resident now. It still doesn't feel real that I live here but yet it feels so ordinary now , almost as if London has lost some of that sparkle instilled when I was growing up.  However I am still completing as many touristy things as possible whilst I'm here. Recent adventures include The British Museum , The Museum of London and Shepherd's Bush Market /  Westfields shopping city.

I also managed to complete my first Uni assignment this week ! Although I never had a problem with this before it still felt good to get the first one over and done with.

Today I also had the pleasure (or rather experience) of getting my hair cut in the city. I walked in at 9am and eventually walked out at 2:30 pm . To be fair - I was one of 6 hair models in an academy teaching new students and they did do a beautiful job. The best bit was the price ... Free ! Even though I had a full head of colour and flashes put in.

Here is the best "before" photo I can find :

You also get to see my face - Hi there , this is what I actually look like (or did until this morning). The colour was a mid orange/red tone which had been on since late September and cut in a bob/ taped crop to my face.







And after :

This is what I look like now. They re-dyed all of my hair !
The back and sides are a mid chestnut/chocolate brown which is a bit darker than my natural colour. The fringe is made up of 4 layers of colour - brown , magenta , brown and then a dark charcoal grey. They cut the back really short so that it sits close to my head and follows the natural line , the sides were thinned and just softened slightly. The top is the thickest bit with loads of layers and "pointing" put in so it is really choppy and textured.

I think you will agree that they did a great job and as a student on a budget a free haircut was more than what I bargained for.


If you are wondering how I ended up being a hair model this is the story ...

Basically, in Topshop last week I was approached by a woman from a company called "SACO". At first I thought she was going to ask me where I had gotten a top from but she explained that she was a 'model scout' . Cue suspicion and weary looks. However she said she was after hair models and had noticed my root re-growth and thought that I may be interested in getting my hair cut soon.

As it turned out I was actually considering getting my hair cut because I walk past the Toni & Guy Academy everyday who are always after models and will give them a cut for free (dying costs extra).

She gave me her business card and we exchanged numbers - I figured I could always ignore the call if , after investigation , they were dodgy. I then went back to halls and looked up the company. I had a nosey around the website and googled the address. The London premises were 10 mins walk away from me so I also went for a wander to see if it was an official business. It turned out that there was a salon there under the "SACO" name and everything checked out.

The next day I received a voice mail asking me to call them back to try and arrange an appointment. I did and was offered the next Wednesday (today) at 9. I also confirmed the address and the charge - I didn't want to walk in thinking I was getting a free cut only to leave with a bill for £50 + .

This was the last I heard until yesterday (Tuesday) I received another phone call confirming my appointment and that they would like to take a few more details when I arrived at the salon.

So that was that until today ...

I arrived today at 9am promptly and signed in at reception. Here I found out that the other details they were after was my email address. I was then ushered into the salon and sat for the next hour whilst the students figured out which model they would be using and how we (the models) would like our hair cut. The biggest problem for this part was that all the models were english or french and the students only spoke portuguese. This meant an interpreter had to give all the directions from the head hairdresser before any cutting got to be done.

At 10.30 I was shampooed and conditioned. First cut was made at 11, mostly cut by 12 and dried by 12.30. At this point the dye went on and I was left for 30 mins before being shampooed and dried off again. (I had a small heart attack at this point as they had bleached my fringe blonde! I have never and will never want blonde hair in my life). Luckily an english speaking student explained that they were re-dying that bit a dark grey/black so the blonde would disappear. The next lot of dye was applied and left for 20 mins before being washed again. A third blow dry and finishing touches to the front and back left me with the hair I have now. I was then photographed from all sides and left to go at 2.25 pm.

Admittedly I would not have picked this style out of a magazine but it has grown on me and the stylists were really proud of  their work. I have no idea how long the colour will last in the fringe but fingers crossed it won't all come out in the first wash.

Anyway, I know this is generally my shoes of the week post but I thought I would share with you my haircut adventure and then this post is really long so my regular post will be up on Friday. I have a great pair lined up for you which I can't wait for you to see.

Speak to you soon


GoodyTwoShoes x

Freshers Week 2012 A Tradition Too Far ?

Hi all

This post is on a slightly different tangent than previous posts but I feel that this topic is something that needs to be discussed.
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As every new university student finds out "Freshers" is what you may know as your first week away from home. Unfortunately, this week (sometimes weeks) is not a nice introduction to your fellow flatmates and course buddies over a cuppa and some biscuits, rather an intense binge drink and hungover cycle many find hard to break or say "No" to due to peer pressure.

Most university's will encourage people to go out to various events laid on and have a good time. However, not everyone will stick to their previous limits. For many students this is the first time they have truly been free from their parents and away from home for a long period of time.

Faced with a new environment , living with strangers and encouraged to socialise most new students hit freshers week hard. Seven days of partying all night and barely staying awake in the first few lectures ( if they make them) does allow you the opportunity to meet your new friends in an intoxicated state making bonding as a group easier. But at what costs ?

For some its just the constant hangover , for others it can be much more serious. In one case a freshers student at UCL collapsed and later died (Fresher student collapses ).

Some may believe that this culture would be easy to say 'No' to. As a girl who likes to go out but not drink I know from experience how pressurised you are and the expectations held by your fellow freshers.

My halls put on a night out to various clubs every night last week. Predrinking would begin at 8 and most nights go on til 10.30 when you would make your way to the club of choice , undoubtedly to buy another drink before stumbling back to halls around 3 - 4 am. Every night at dinner I would get asked the same set of questions - "Are you going out tonight?" "...No" "Oh." and then nine times out of ten the person would ignore me.

By the 4th night I eventually said yes and agreed to go out on the Friday to one of the biggest events here at LSE - "The Crush". By this point it seemed people had began to bond over tales of the night before or shared hangover woes. I felt left out and isolated in my choice to abstain and buckle down to work for a very intense degree.

So I got ready and headed to "pre-drink" in the common room which is where I hit my first problem. I had not gone out yet , I did not know anyone properly enough to go and sit with them and everyone was in groups. I ended up sitting on the couch with a drink , watching TV, hoping that someone I knew a bit better would appear. Luckily a guy from my floor came over and we chatted for a while before he had to go. Shortly after I found another girl who I knew from a brief encounter in the lift and we created our own group to head off.

The night itself was fun and action packed which definitely gave me something to talk about in the morning. I did meet some new people but I also ended up with a huge bump on the head , losing one of the people I went with, getting soaked on the way back and had to evacuate the building due to the fire alarm being set off.

Interestingly though, when I asked my peers if they would talk to their drunk friends when they were both sober the majority said no. This suggests that there is definitely other ways to introduce yourself and break down the barriers between new people.

When it comes to freshers it is a hard line to walk. Yes you want to celebrate getting to uni and surviving on your own but how much is too much?

My advice to freshers next year is be prepared to party but know your limits. Don't be afraid to say "No" some of the time and don't worry about meeting new people. Freshers is just one week out of many and there will be more opportunities along in the future.

As for me I have made more friends through mornings cooking breakfast in the shared kitchen, saying hello to other people on my course and knocking on doors on my corridor. I still talk quite frequently to the people I went out with but some will be better as drinking buddies than study groupies.



Other interesting articles relating to freshers :

http://london.tab.co.uk/2012/09/28/there-was-pigs-blood-everywhere/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9456328/Cambridge-students-warned-they-could-be-attacked-if-they-wear-academic-gowns.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/18/freshers-week-2012-facebook-friendly-students-fraud_n_1892667.html

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2012-10-06/video-warning-on-binge-drinking/




GoodyTwoShoes x