Tuesday, May 27, 2014

My trip to Japan - part 2 - Harajuku (picture heavy)

I've had all these unfinished drafts about my trip to japan lying forever now so I decided to deal with them and finish them to the best of my abilities since I don't remember as much as before I'm sorry...!
So...
On our second day we decided to head to Harajuku, I was VERY excited to go there and I could hardly wait. I didn't feel so fab though so I didn't take any pictures of myself. Harajuku was way better than I could ever have imagined, it was magical. I have never liked a place as much as Harajuku, I felt right at home there. Everywhere you looked you saw fashionable people wearing the coolest outfits! Stores in every alley and stores everywhere you looked! It was plain heaven.


Since we went around christmas and new years all I can say is... SALES! Everything was already cheap before the sales so once the sales began... I might have gone a bit crazy with the shopping. Let's just say that my luggage weighed a total of around 40 kg + 8 kg of hand luggage AND everything was vacuumed packed... It was not so fun trying to pack everything I can tell you that, ended up throwing away at least one pair of shoes *cries*.
Well then back to the main subject...
I did some shopping the first time in Harajuku of course and bought a new wig in Bodylines store. It was way better than I could have expected it to be and it was so much easier to shop there instead of on their website since you could actually see and feel the things they sell. I ended up with 4 wigs from them during the trip, no regrets!

(Haul from first time in Harajuku and second time!)
My favorite store in Harajuku has to be Closet Child without a doubt. It was amazing and way better than their online store! Almost everything in there was in mint condition and some things even had the tags still attached, that would never happen in a secondhand shop here in Sweden. They also got in new things at least once a week but I went in there almost every day and I found something new almost every time. At least 80% of the clothes I bought in Japan came from closet child, that says a lot. Other than that I can't really name a favorite shop in Harajuku besides Ghost of Harlem that resides in La Foret, a big mall like building packed with brand stores. It was really cool in there but I preferred walking around Takeshita street and Harajuku street even though the streets where packed with people most of the times.
I might do a post about different stores in Japan that everyone should visit at least once!

So this is me posing on Harajuku street one day in! The bag says "boys & men" which is one of those debuting(?) boy bands that sometimes perform in Harajuku upstairs by some cafes, I don't regret going there one bit! Me and my friend where just casually walking down Harajuku Street when we potted these super cute guys handing out flyers so we decided to head over to them to check it out and it turns out they where a boy band! Later that afternoon they had a show and they where so kind and changed their clocks and everything since we couldn't quite understand when the show started haha. They where amazingly cute and they even waved from the stage since they recognized us, so embarrassing... ( ///A/// )

(Amanda, Juria, me & Jen)
We also managed to run into Juria! Most of you probably know who she is, she is amazingly cute irl and very polite. She and her friend where heading down Takeshita Street eating crepes but she still stopped and took pictures with us, so nice ~! (My friends also managed to spot Re:NO when I wasn't with them *cries* so jealous)

Even though I'm not that fond of 6% Doki Doki we still had to go there, it was so colorful and amazing wow! All the shop staffs where so cute and taller than I thought they would be! I'm wearing platforms in this pic but they are still almost taller than me (I'm just 158 cm but still). I never bought anything from there but some of my friends did~!

 
"The SAD Cafe" was one of our favorite things to walk by, we never went in since it was always closed by then, but man I must go in there next time! The pictures below are just a super cool window display that we found when we took a shortcut, it's a alice in wonderland themed wedding! So amazing ~!

Now to the food, in Harajuku we mostly ate at an "italian" restaurant that resides on the left at the takeshita street entrance, they had both pasta and pizza which was really good, except for when we accidentally ordered in pasta covered with these tiny fishes that Japanese people eat, ugh.
My favorite place to eat in Harajuku is probably Jonathans though, they had the best hotcakes ever and their pasta was delicious! They also had a drink bar so you could drink as much calpis and melon soda as you possibly could to a very cheap price yum!
I'm not too fond of the Japanese food so it was great for me that they had all these "italian" restaurants everywhere heh...! Bellow is basically what I lived of off for 3 weeks, pasta, pizza and hotcakes. Best diet ever I know!


Had crepes for the first time as well, they where super delicious! But even so I have to say that crepes are a bit overrated tbh, but they where still very good, I'd recommend you to try them at least once!

(worst picture ever but the only one I took haha...)




That's all I have on Harajuku for now, I could probably write a whole essay about it but I will spare you. If you're wondering about the things I bought I will make a post about that later no worries ~! It really was a great experience and I miss waking up and going to Harajuku all the time. If you visit Tokyo you HAVE to go there, you won't regret it!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Grey Hair - How to obtain and maintain it

Long time no see? I've been quite busy these past weeks but today I decided to take some time off to blog. I recently dyed my hair gray and well why not make a quick guide on how to obtain grey hair!



Before I began I had platina blonde hair which I recommend anyone who wants to obtain grey hair to have, if it's too yellow or darker the color won't come out right. I used silver shampoo at first and left it in until most of the yellow tones had turned more blue/purple. This makes sure that once the color starts to fade it won't look dirty or yellow.

This is the color I recommend, it's called Berina hair color cream - light grey color A21. I have tried another permanent dye and toners but this is the one that has worked the best. You can find this color really easily on ebay just by searching the name I've written above. This is a permanent dye not a toner so it will damage your hair slightly like all permanent dyes, but with this dye I barely noticed it.


The dyeing process

The dye doesn't come with any obvious instructions, it does have a few on the inside of the box but they weren't that helpful so I took matters into my own hands.
  1. Put on a pair of plastic/silicon gloves then grab a small bowl and a spoon, you will need these to mix the dye. Pour the whole tube and the liquid in the flask into the bowl and mix it thoroughly, keep mixing it until it's smooth and you can't tell the difference between the two things. 
  2. Wet your hair and towel dry it. Now before you apply the dye to your entire hair I would suggest that you try it on a small strand of hair to see how it reacts. The recommended time to leave this dye in before rinsing it is around 20-40 min, so during that time check the hair on a regular basis by taking a little bit of water on your fingers and rub a small area of the dyed hair gently, by doing so you will be able to see what the dye looks like underneath. If the color looks nice you can continue to step 3.
  3. In this step we will start by rinsing the color out of the small area that you've already applied dye to, then we can start dyeing the whole hair or the particular areas that you want grey. Start by applying it by your roots and work your way out, using either an application brush or your hands (I would recommend the brush at first). Remember that the furthest parts of your hair will probably take more dye since it's been treated more than the area near your roots, that's why you should start with the roots and work your way out.
  4. Once you've applied the dye to your whole hair you wait, now this is the tricky part. This dye have a lot of blue tones so if you aren't careful your hair might end up looking blue, and that's not what you want. I only had this dye in for 15 minutes which is 5 minutes less than the recommended minimum time and my hair almost turned blue. This time will vary though depending on the quality and color of your hair before you used this dye, so remember to check your hair on a short regular basis during the entire dyeing process (you can use the same technique that you used earlier!).
  5. Once you think the dye has been in long enough and you think the color looks good rinse it out using shampoo and a lot of conditioner, then you're done! Hopefully your hair will look great and you'll be ready to rock that grey hair like there is no tomorrow!

Maintaining the color


So grey is a really hard color to keep in your hair since it will fade out very quickly, so here's my tip on how to maintain it properly. You will need directions silver toner and a good silver shampoo. You can get the directions toner off ebay and I would suggest you ask your hairdresser or go to a proper haircare store for tips on what silver shampoo you should use.


  1. Use the silver shampoo when you wash your hair (but not every time since your hair will become dry then!) to avoid it turning yellowish, just remember to not leave it in for too long or else it will turn purple/blue.
  2. Every now and then after you've washed your hair you will notice how it might start to get yellowish in certain areas or that the color has faded but it still haven't reached that point where you want to dye it with the permanent dye again. This is when you use the the silver toner from directions! Apply it after you've washed and towel dried your hair using your hands, rub it in at the yellow areas or in your entire hair, remember that this color is a toner so it won't hurt your hair and the longer you keep it in the better the color will stick. Then just wash your hair like you did before and then you're done!
This is what I do to dye and maintain the color, I hope it has helped at least a little!

GOOD LUCK!