you'll have to excuse the dodgy phone pictures here, because this week i did some things that were for me first, and for sharing after the fact. let's face it: i share just about everything here, so i suppose i knew i would - i just didn't care enough to capture the thing in a better way at the time. the thing - or things, i should say, fall into two categories: something i've waited for for ages, and something spur of the moment. let me explain..
i've been collecting tattoos since my 30th birthday when i finally talked myself into the scariest thing i've ever done, and allowed someone to prick me with needles for hours on end. the result of which was a piece of art that meant something personal to me, and that i would always have as a momento of that exact moment in time. since that day, i've sort of.. gotten a new one on every birthday since. last birthday - my 33rd and what should have been the 4th instalment, i was in japan. better, in some ways, terribly inconvenient in others, but nevertheless, i owed myself a tattoo.
fast forward to a few weeks back when i fiiiiinally found an artist i wanted to add to my half sleeve, and i sent an enquiry email.. only for her to literally take the booking and agree to see me within the month. the month! i mean - thankful that i am that i didn't get the classic "my books are closed" email, i wasn't expecting to have her agree to see me so quickly, but when fortune falls on you like that, you accept!
so, on wednesday just gone, i booked the afternoon off work and headed down to see tiggy at briar rose tattoo in south east london, for the newest and most colourful edition to my arm: beetrice. i am a great defender of bumble bees, insisting they are just dumb, fluffy, morons who - a bit like me, like flowers and honey, and are great for the earth. they mean no harm, and are often misrepresented as hurtful and nasty - but they're not! and so to show my appreciation for the doggos of the skies, i now have one permanently on my body.
not only that, but also some banging pastel petals, and my namesake flower: the erica. not many people know that erica is a flower, but i do - and it just is a massive coincidence that my birth flower is tough, everlasting, bitter to taste, and funnily enough - pink too. if there's any flower that perfectly describes me to a tee, it's that. tiggy did an incredible job, and i love everything - everything - about it. so that was thing one.
the second thing was definitely more spur of the moment. i'd had a basic root tint and trim in the books for some time, but the closer i got to the date, i didn't really feel inspired. then, late - very late one night, as i was looking through my own instagram account (as you do) and reminiscing about my hair of old, i found myself clicking my way around the treatwell app and booking in for a total hair overhaul. i'd just simply had enough. i'd been fifty shades of pink for well over a year, and totally bored of wearing my hair up everyday because it was too heavy and lank to do anything else. just had enough.
i'd scoured pinterest for some pinspiration, and roughly knew in my mind what i wanted, and so went down nice and early to my local salon for a total revamp. laura - my stylist - is a mega babe, and totally just gets me and how i want my hair to look. i barely need to convince her of anything; i show her pictures, we talk about how it will work for me, and she makes it happen. every time. this time, the brief was simple: chop. it. off!
by cutting off the dry ends - the lightest bits - and bringing my balyage up within inches of my roots, we were able to get my hair within two or three shades of magenta - as opposed to the many, many more previously, as well as "cool" my roots down with an ashy brown instead of the super warm burgandy, and - well, the final result is exactly what i was after!
it is verrrrrrry short - it's taking some time to get used to, but i am loving how bouncy and fresh it feels, and am working on solutions for the "can't get it in a high pony for the gym" problem i now have, and am becoming very familiar with a curling wand i found in my junk drawer so that i can try and recreate the perfect toussled 'do that i walked out of the salon with (after five long hours) on saturday. i also feel very "trendy", which is new, because i haven't really had "nice" hair in a long time, though i have always had "interesting" hair. now, i have both! and, i'm absolutely buzzing!
