Summer 2016

As I write this, I'm currently sat in my house at university, procrastinating on the dissertation work that I should be doing, and instead choosing to reflect on the summer that I had this year.

It was a great one. I experienced so many new things and really spent some time relaxing and preparing for my final year at university.

I went Zorbing, I went on the fastest zip line in the world, I went surfing for the first time, I attempted a tree-top climbing adventure, I dyed my hair, I got a tattoo, and I got to spend time with my family and friends.

Anyone who knows me in real life will know that extreme sports and adventures aren't really my thing. But this summer I really tried to push myself and do things that I've never done before. And it worked out really well. The zip lining was one of the most fun things that I've ever done, and I'm terrified of heights. I couldn't finish the tree-top climbing adventure due to this same fear, but I still attempted it and I'm proud that I did. I so nearly didn't get my tattoo, but I just went for it and I absolutely love it.

I still don't love heights, and I can't surf to save my life, but I will always look back on this summer and remember it as a good one. I had some of the best times, and I'm so looking forward to the future.

How was your summer?

Review: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Image Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Calling

I dislike long, rambling book reviews so to sum this up in a sentence: I LOVED this.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka. J. K. Rowling for those of you that don't know this), is a masterpiece from start to finish. Perhaps I'm slightly biased because of how much I love the Harry Potter books, but I'd like to think that even if this wasn't written by J .K. Rowling, I'd still love it just as much.

Cormoran Strike is a broke, out-of-work detective who takes an apparently open and shut suicide case purely for the money. Robin is a newly-engaged agency worker who is sent to work for Strike temporarily. This is a detective/crime novel, and the aspect that I loved most about it was the story. Despite the apparent simplicity of the case, it is engaging from the first page and keeps you guessing right up until the end.

I also like that, despite this book being the first of a series of Strike detective novels by Rowling, it can still be read as a standalone book. The case finishes and ends within the novel and to me, that's really important.

If you haven't read this, I would highly recommend it. I mean, if you haven't read the Harry Potter books (and who hasn't, let's be real), I'd probably start with those. But this was fantastic, and I thoroughly look forward to the second one.

What books have you been loving lately?

My Experience With: Henna Hair Dye

At the ripe old age of twenty years old, I have yet to dye my hair. I've never done it, I've just never felt the need to dye it, so I've always just left it alone. However, over the last year or so, I've desperately wanted to do something different with my hair: either cut it off or dye it, and so in order to test this out I decided to do it using henna hair dye.

The reason for this is purely because it's made with natural ingredients and I don't want to do too much damage to my hair. It's also semi-permanent, meaning it will wash out over a few months, and I thought that this would be a good place to start for someone who has never dyed their hair before.

As you can imagine, henna hair dye only comes in dark colours, because henna itself is a dark product. The one I used was from Lush, and theirs come in four colours: Noir (the darkest, almost black colour), Brun (a dark brown colour), Marron (a medium chestnut colour) and Rouge (with redder tones).

I chose to use Brun, since I have brown hair anyway, and the plan was only to go a little bit darker, without going black. I was really looking forward to it and set aside an entire Saturday in order to ensure that I did it correctly. However, after everything, I was left utterly disappointed. I followed all the instructions to the letter, and left the hair dye on for the maximum amount of time that was recommended and then some, and yet it still made no difference to the colour of my hair. If anything, it made it slightly lighter, as you will see in the pictures.

Henna hair dye is an interesting experience to say the least. It will stink your house out, it takes five times as long as chemical hair dye, and to me personally, it didn't make much of a difference. Maybe I should have used the darker dye, or maybe my hair just doesn't take to henna dye, but I certainly won't be using it again.

Before on the left and after on the right! :(

Have you ever used henna hair dye? Did it work for you?