Personal life/College/Future

So in the next 3-4 weeks I finish Art college and I'm terrified. I've applied for a Fashion course after summer and I've got a place if I pass my English. I know I'm only 17 but I'm 18 in a few months, a lot of people my age know what they want to do, to be. They're going to uni after summer, not their third year at college. Third college course.

I don't know what I want to be, a lot of people my age and older don't but really, they don't matter. That's there life. I can't help them, they can't help me.  There's so many things I want to learn but really I have one more year of free education. That is not long enough but I can't change that. I want my name out there.. I want to be someone important. Someone people look up to, I want to inspire people. I don't want to work in shops, bars till I'm unable to work.

I'm currently studying Art L2, I guess I'm doing okay, I'm not the strongest drawer. I don't have a lot of crazy ideas like my art teacher says I need. The next few weeks I'll be putting up my last exhibition considering I'm not doing art next year. Mainly because of the teachers, I know you don't get on with people throught life and you have to deal with it and get on. It's not that simple when you basically get walked all over. I thought art teachers were nice, inspiring. I cannot wait to get away from them, yes they've helped me learn but they've been horrible about it. I'm a slow learner, it takes a few times for it to sink in. I struggle talking, spelling  and they got frustrated with me. They didn't have time for me, I didn't/don't need 'special help' just time and patience. They don't give that me. If Im struggling they'll turn there backs, try and avoid me cause they get frustrated. And they're always right.

The past two years studying Art has been hard but I've also enjoyed it. I like making things. It doesn't have to look a certain way, its your choice. You're the artist. It's crazy that I'm consiered an artist when I feel like my work is weak, when others wouldn't. The next few weeks are going to be so stressful.

I've kind of rambled completely but oh well. I love blogging, fashion, hair whatever. I feel like I'm slowly making a name for myself. (Also there will be more fashion blogs soon. It's difficult taking full length photos when you're taller than your tripod so I need my boyfriend to take them)
The pressure to be someone is hard. But I guess once you're there it's worth it because you experience it all the way through. It's hard having anxiety and trying to get out there. I get nervous being in town alone because I feel like people are just staring at me, not because they may like what I'm wearing or they like my hair. I assume they just don't like me, I also have quite a moody face so that could be the problem.
I used to want to model, but I've always struggled with my weight, I consider myself big because I'm curvy. I know I'm nowhere near big but I guess it's all in my head. I've rejected chances to model (runway) for my friends art piece because I was too nervous to walk down and all eyes on me. I don't know, I guess you progress as you grow hey?

This was probably the most boring, pointless post but its always good to get everything off your chest

Bleach London Reincarnation Mask review 30/04/14

I absolutely love Bleach London products, the dyes always work well, so I thought I'd get some haircare. When I went blonde I brought a bleach from Bleach London and I got a little bottle of the reincarnation mask in there. That was the first time I had heard of it. I used it when I washed the bleach of my hair and it left it so lovely and thick. I didn't feel like I had just bleached my hair at all. I brought the 200ML one for £6.00 I thought this was such a good price considering I'd only use the mask once of twice a month. I tried it on my hair after I shampooed and left it on over night, it says on the box just for 10-20 minutes but because it was a mask I thought why not?

 When I washed it of in the morning my hair felt so soft when it was coming out of my hair, I don't know if its a conditioner but it doesn't say to condition after so I guess it is. I'm so happy with this product, I didn't have 'bad' conditioned hair but I do use heat and obviously heat protect but that doesn't help 100% so once and a while your hair needs a bit of loving, I feel like this is the product. I love trying out new conditioners, products etc but I feel like this will keep my hair lovely for as long as I use it, I even like this a lot more than Argan Oil. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone! For only £6.00 you can't really complain! 

Instagram - chloegrahammm

How to get pastel blue/mint hair tutorial 29/04/14

I thought I'd have a change from my boring blonde hair colour for a bit, I wasn't sure what colour I wanted to go so I did a bit of browsing on Tumblr and saw this gorgeous blue colour but it was clearly edited. I did a bit of research on directions,crazy colour and bleach London. I found a lovely  pastel blue colour called 'Blullini' by Bleach London.

I looked on YouTube to see if anyone has used it yet and they had. I thought the colour was gorgeous but I would dilute the dye with conditioner anyway because I have long/thick hair. 

This will make the dye last longer. It will also make it lighter, I tested the dye on an old extension. One diluted and the other not, just to see the difference (the bottom isn't diluted)

 I was happy with how it turned out so I put it on my hair, before this I wet my hair and towel dried it because I find it easier to apply. As it was going on I didn't notice much of a difference, it said leave it on for 15 minutes but I thought I'd leave it for 40 because id already diluted it and weakened the dye. As I washed it of and looked in the mirror it just looked like I had toned my hair, there were a few strands that had taken to it but no where near what I wanted it to look like. I didn't want a big difference, just a 'oh, have you dyed your hair?' difference.

 

Then I remembered I had some leftover Turquoise hair dye by directions, I thought if I diluted a bit of that with the Blullini dye something would happen because turquoise is a pigmented dye. 

I diluted them both and mixed them together, I had a pastel blue colour in the bottle and I thought I'd go for it, if it went wrong I could easily get rid of the colour. I left it on my hair for around 30-40 minutes. I noticed a big difference in the first 10 minutes. As I washed it out this was the outcome. 

 I'm so happy with it, like I said I didn't want a massive difference and I'm looking for work so I knew I would easily get rid of the dye if I wanted. I've had this hair for around a week now and its not really changed, I wash my hair almost everyday too. It didn't take as well on my extensions so they're fading faster than my natural hair but its not a noticeable difference! (doesn't show up well on camera) I am going to dye my hair once more with this dye then do something right bout of my comfort zone, I won some dye from Ebay the other day so I'm waiting for it to arrive, if you want to keep updated on my hair colour and how I do it follow me on my Instagram. Thanks for reading! :)

Instagram - chloegrahammm

Microbead Hair Extension Review 22/04/14

So i've been fed up with clip in hair extensions for so long now. They weren't comfortable, styling them with my natural hair was annoying and I hated putting them in and out but I wanted longer hair. I've worn clip ins on and of for around 3 years now and I recently heard about 'Micro bead extensions' I always thought they were a bit strange and thought they'd be uncomfortable. I did my research about them, how to put them in your head, how to look after them, how to wash your hair with them, how many do you need blah blah blah. Also I didn't know where to purchase them because I didn't want them to be to pricey! I looked at a few reviews on YouTube and found some from Ebay, they have a few different options in how many extensions you want, either 50, 100 or 200 strands. and a hell of a lot of different colours. I never know (still don't) what the 'normal' is with how many you need in your hair, but I ordered 200 strands in 18inchs because I have thick hair and it was more than enough! I still have some left over. 

Anyway, I ordered the extensions and they came to £55.00 and I think that's a really good price. The delivery was so fast, they came in around 2 days. I didn't realise when I ordered that I've purchased the clip in extensions with this company before and the hair is so good for the price! I would say though, if you want WHITE hair the 'Bleach Blonde' isn't so bleach. It tones, but not very good. it might depend on your toner though! 

I also ordered some bead pliers because you have to clamp the beads on your hair, They didn't come before my extensions and I was really impatient so I just used some from the shed hahah but I thought they worked well at the time but I realised how loose the beads felt on my hair, they were slipping down my hair. (I'm not going to explain how to put micro beads in, I'll leave the video I learnt of down below because I'll make it 10x more difficult!) But I had them all in my hair and then I had a shower so the hair would blend better once it was dried but my god, it's so difficult to wash your hair the first week or two with them in! i'm used to it now but you might struggle. I also cut the extensions a little bit because they looked a bit fake. 

When my pliers came I tried putting a strand in to test them and I would definitely recommend buying some because they are a lot stronger than normal ones and they can grasp the bead perfectly. Some of the strands have fallen out of my head so I've lost a lot of hair that i'm quite gutted about. (This was because I didn't tighten them enough) I went through all the beads again and tightened them. 

This is what the beads look like when they're in the head, i'm not a professional, they aren't put in in straight lines, This is my first experience with micro beads. (Also ignore my roots they need doing) 

I have had my extensions for 3 weeks now and I would Never go back to clip ins, They are so comfortable in your head, I forget I have them. They don't show if you put them in properly, the hair extensions itself are really good, the shine stuff the company puts on the extensions to make them smooth has worn off now but they still feel lovely if you treat them well (deep treatments, head protections) there are some brown synthetic hairs in the extensions but what are you expecting from a cheap company, you can only see them when you really look. I would definitely recommend this company to anyone also to buy micro beads. If you're not sure (not confident) to put them in yourself ask someone to help you or go to a salon and ask them! 

Instagram - chloegrahammm

Hair Tutorial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35B9TBLeq94&hd=1

Hair Extensions - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-20-22-24-Micro-Ring-Easy-Loop-100-Human-Hair-Extensions-REMY-DIY-SALON-/181161591045?pt=UK_Women_s_Wigs&var=&hash=item2a2e128105

Extension Pliers - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hair-Extension-Pliers-for-Silicone-Micro-Rings-Beads-/271125151710?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Hair_Care_Brushes_Combs_PP&hash=item3f20517fde

2nd Polyvore 15/3/14

True Decadence clothing
$66 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Topshop clothing
nordstrom.com

Topshop white trousers
topshop.com

Platform ankle booties
$83 - ark.co.uk

Lips makeup
amazon.com

I love this look, for summer days or summer nights. 

Instagram - chloegrahammm

Chunky Black Boots Review 10/3/14

I've been looking for some chunky soled boots for so long and they've either been too expensive or just not what I was looking for but I found these on Ebay and I was smitten. I didn't know what they'd look like and the quality because they were only £24.99 but they're so lightweight, obviously the quality isn't like something from Topshop but for the price I'm more than happy with them. 

They're just such lovely shoes, to dress up or dress down and super comfy too. If you're looking for some spring boots i'd definitely suggest these! 

Mind the dog hair on my clothes too, wearing all black clothing with a moulting white affectionate dog isn't the best. 

Shoes - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WOMENS-BLACK-FAUX-LEATHER-LACED-LADIES-GRIP-SOLE-HEEL-ANKLE-BOOTS-SHOES-SIZE-3-8-/131106781086?pt=UK_Women_s_Shoes&var=430271654945&hash=item1e8692b79e

Instagram - chloegrahammm

Up-cycle Project 9/3/14

As you may know I study Art and Design L2 at college, and for this project we had to Up-cycle. If you don't know what that is it's basically turning something worth nothing into something worth a lot of money etc. Personally I really enjoy stuff like this, it's always good to fix things instead of throwing them away.

The only problem with me is I'm really bad at coming up with ideas, but I knew I wanted to do something fashion based because that's where I want to go in the future. I always liked the runway type style because it's so different and weird. I did some research on runway fashion and saw so many different head cages, I thought they looked amazing. the way they can fit right on your face or just balancing on your neck. I got quite a lot of inspiration from this and decided to draw up some ideas etc. 

There was a lot to consider though, what was I going to make it out of? is it going to be safe? how will it sit? how will it go on? etc etc I decided to use two hanging baskets that were all rusty and horrible. I had to pick the paint off and stand it all down till it was smooth. Next I painted them white and attached them together leaving two open so your head could get in. and I had to cut out a hole so it would rest on your neck. but from that the ends were unsafe. They would stick into the models neck. I found some polystyrene balls and hot glued them on so they were safe. this made it comfortable on the neck/shoulders. After this I went and picked some sticks and twigs and painted them white and hot glued them on. While I was doing this I noticed the hot glue made cob-web type leftovers from when you move the glue gun. I stuck with this and put it all around. and made the sticks a lot more bulky. And I'd finished. I was so pleased with the outcome, considering we only had a week it wasn't as good as I could of made it with the painting and stuff but for the time limit I wasn't bothered. 

I find it fascinating that you can produce something like this from two simple objects. I guess that's why I took the course. 

Instagram - chloegrahammm

First Polyvore wishlist 3/3/14

I've only just discovered Polyvore and I wish I didn't because my wishlist is getting a hell of a lot bigger! but this is quite a grungey style. Black goes with everything, so why not dress all in it? it's perfect if you want to dress up or dress down, this is more of a dressy look because of the red lipstick, I thought it'd make the outfit pop. I love this outfit, I'd happily wear it everyday.

Everything is from Topshop.

http://chloegraham-499.polyvore.com/

Instagram - chloegrahammm

Primark Haul 21/2/14

Hey Guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while but i've been super lazy! I'm going to try my hardest to get back into it. So, I've been having a few trips into Primark over the past month and these are the 

things i've got my hands on! all these items were in the sale also, in total for the 8 items I paid £31.00 

I was so chuffed with the bargains because they're all such lovely and easy clothes to put with anything, either it be smart, dressy or casual. And because they're so cheap I can easily buy two of my favourites because I'm an Art student and all my clothes get ruined so they are easy to replace. (I'm sorry for the messy room by the way, it's hard taking a full length picture when you're 5ft10 so I have to put my camera in front of the mirror to see what i'm doing! also it's late and i'm lazy)

Cropped grey turtle neck - £1.00

High-waisted black skinny jeans - £10.00

Corduroy black pini dress - £5.00

Grey knitted jumper - £5.00

Black and red speckled turtle neck - £3.00

Black turtle neck - £3.00

Corduroy black skater skirt - £3.00

Black statement ring - £1.00

Everything that I have on is just randomly put together, I haven't styled anything up. 

Instagram - chloegrahammm 

Sarahs Hair Extensions Review 29/1/14

Once I got my hair silver I thought i'd treat myself to some new extensions because my old ones were getting a bit gross, I've heard people talk about 'Sarahs Hair Extensions' so I thought i'd try them out. They weren't too pricey and I got a 16% discount with free delivery because I follow them on Facebook. They came two days after I ordered them and when I opened them I was really happy with how they were. I obviously had to tone them because my hairs silver and I got them in Bleach Blonde. I used the PRO:VOKE Touch of silver - Twice a week brightening shampoo on them for 5 minutes and they turned silver, usually I get worried with hair extensions because they are virgin hair so the colours will take straight away but they came out just right. once I was looking closely at them I saw that some of the stitching of the clips and the tracks were quite bad. Not on every extension. I know I didn't pay much for them but I expect them to still be good quality. I was very disappointed. 

The extensions are also quite thick at the top (what is good) but at the bottom they're quite thin. I'm not sure if that's because I have thick hair but I got the full head with 8 Pieces so I thought it'd be thick. There are also a few with double wefts that I didn't expect so I was happy about that. 

I've only had the extensions a few days so I'm hoping they last me a while, I don't use heat much and if I do I use a low setting to give them a bit of curl to make them look thicker. I paid £39.09 for them with the discount, I got the 16 inch Bleach Blonde full head set. Without the discount they would have been £45.99 

Personally for the extensions I think that is too much money. I don't know if I got a crappy set but I'll have to sort the clips/wefts out because in time they'll fall apart. I'd only suggest buying them if there's a discount. 
They are also too thin for my hair, you can see where my ends stop with them so I'll have to pay more money for another half a head of extensions that I didn't want to do. 

Overall I think the extensions are good but they could be a lot better! If they were thicker at the ends and were made a bit less sloppy they'd be perfect for the price! I can't complain a lot because you would have to fork out at least £70-80 for good extensions. Like they say you pay for quality. 

Hair Extensions - http://sarahs-hair-extensions.co.uk/clip-in-hair-extensions/bleach-blonde-613-clip-in-human-hair-extensions.html

Instagram - chloegrahammm