Poster Perfect

This is the poster I made for the Dundee College Fashion show in my Digital Imaging class. The fashion show is on the 1st of June at the Kingsway Campus and tickets are on sale now from the College. Thank you to the lovely Ivory Lovelust who is the model in the photo, if you follow the link you can see her portfolio pictures and like her on Facebook.

A Hairy Subject

Dark hair with red flashes

Hair, whether it be long, short, brunette, red head or blonde we all like our hair to look nice and in some cases even make a statement. My problem was that after I started dying my hair I realised there was a hefty price tag that came along with it every time I went to the hairdressers. I am admittedly a bit of a hair dye addict and like to change my hair often so you can imagine the problem I had with the prices catching up with me.

Dark hair with blue flashes

 So I soon turned to the idea of doing my own hair, as after watching my hairdresser dye my own hair so many times I couldn't help but think, It cant be that difficult, can it. So after visiting Sallys Salon Services I bought my hair dye and after that I have never had my hair dyed in a hairdressers again because can you really compare ten pounds for the hair dye to seventy? I have dyed my hair so many colours as you can see from all the pictures that I have provided.
These are the many hair colours that I have had throughout the years.

Dark purple hair with purple flashes

Hair mostly blue 

Dark brown hair

Dark orange/brown hair

The Irn/Bru hair

Pink hair

DIY Time:
Now I am quickly going to show you how I do my hair and the products that I use.

Before

This is my hair before I dyed it
It was Orange with Green in the fringe and I also recently got the side of my hair shaved (I know brave move!)and I dyed it to Red and Purple :)

















1. I always start by having a mirror and everything I need in front of me so that midway through dying my hair I don't suddenly need anything.
2. Always use Vaseline around your hairline as it prevents dye from making marks around your hairline, as you don't want big blotches of dye on your head!
3. Always use gloves I once didn't and it took me weeks to see the end of it
4. When dying your hair always start from roots to tips as if you start the other way around it will be difficult for you to see your roots and you don't want big missed parts in your hair, you dyed it for a reason.
5. Use conditioner for bits of your hair that you don't want dyed e.g. I didn't want to dye my shaved bit red I wanted to keep it brown so I put conditioner on it to stop the dye taking to it.
6. If your planning on putting flashes of colour in your hair (like I am) always start with that first and cover the different bit of dyed hair in tinfoil as you don't want the two colours mixing, it could be like a chemical reaction haha :)
7. Its always a bit tricky to do the back of your hair if you have someone to help you then that's great or if its late at night and your boyfriend doesn't know much about hair dying then what I do is position another mirror behind you so it reflects into your first mirror so you can see the back of your head.
8. So all your hair dye is in and your chilling, to get the hair dye to come out really vibrant put some heat onto your head using your hairdryer
9. When washing your hair use water that's a bit cooler than normal as it keeps the hair colour better if you use really hot water
10. Congrats you now have amazing hair :)

Some of the products I use

My hair with hair dye in and tin foil over the dyed bit for my flashes

After

      The finished result! Bright red hair with purple flashes. Hmm...wonder how long it will last. 

My friends have all had their own experiences at DIY hair dying too so check out some of their results.  

 Nicole - Dip Dyed her hair to a nice Blonde Brown colour

 

Shannon- Dyed her hair from brown to blonde recently

 Kat- Platinum blonde hair having her blue fringe first then pink

 It's not all about the girls! Jak- dyed his hair blonde with purple fringe 

So I have shown you my way of dying hair, I am not professional in any way at all, I have just learned by doing over the years but I have had hairdressers compliment me on my hair (always a good sign). 

The best thing about dying your hair is have fun with it! it might not turn out the way you planned the first time but you will get better as you go along. 

Here are some really good photos of different hair dying techniques and colours to inspire you?

Re-Blogged from iwannnabeforeveryoungg 

 

Re-Blogged from rose-tones 

Re-Blogged from candyflosses 

Re-Blogged from welikehair 

Re-Blogged from blackballons 

Re-Blogged from wehearthair 

Re-Blogged from fresh-as-a-peppermint

My Wrap

This is my wrap that I created in Semester one of College. I made the wrap in my textiles for commission class and I think out of everything I produced that semester I was happiest with the wrap. I embroidered some of the cone shapes on the sewing machine. To give the cones a nice round  shape I used wadding to pad them out. I was pleased with the way the wrap finished and sat. I wanted it to look different and interesting and I think thats exactly what you get from it.

Looking Good

Name: Katrina
Age: 19
Favourite Shop: Topshop and Primark
Clothing Influence: Blogs, friends style and what's in the shops
Where did you get what you are wearing: Primark and New Look

I loved Katrina's outfit because I felt that she put it well together I loved the dark cropped trousers with the floaty pale top. The shoes then set off the whole outfit I feel bringing it together. I think this outfit shows that you don't have to hit your nearest Havery Nic's to get an everyday glam look.

Isolated Hereos

Our Last but by most certainly not least hotspot visit was to Tinroof studios where Isolated Hereos work hard on their up and coming collection. Samantha who is fresh from graduating Heriot Watt's Galashiels campus is busy tying up loose ends as its only a matter of days before her clothing collection is due. Samantha is currently producing a collection for ASOS marketplace which means she gets to control the volume of clothes and how much they sell for which suited her better as she wanted that control. Samantha explained how lucky she was as 90% of people don't get through when they apply for a spot on ASOS Marketplace and yet she got through first time. We then quickly came onto the topic of yet again why Dundee? Samantha explained to us that although going to study in Galashiels that she was originally from Dundee and that she knew there was cheap studio space here so she set herself up at Tinroof Studios. She also said that Dundee is really cheap to produce and that she knew that the prices would be really good to make her clothing here. She also decided to stay in Dundee because of the fact that its up and coming. Samantha said that one of the most inspiring places to her in Dundee is Tinroof Studios because everyone is always creating and its inspiring to be working around so many other creative minds. I want to thank Samantha for seeing us especially as she is so busy and her collection looked great.

Neo Design

Another one of our hotspot visits was Neo Design. Where we met Tracey who designed some of the Jewellery in the shop as well as being the owner. Tracey told us that she exhibits her own Jewellery here as well as other designers, all the jewellery sits in its own collection so it looks more like a gallery that way. We asked her what inspires her work and she told us that it used to be modern geometric shapes and patterns but now her work is more organic.

After looking around at lots of the interesting jewellery pieces in the shop and resisting buying anything, which believe me was hard. We soon got onto the topic of why did Tracey decide to open her shop in Dundee? She told us that she studied at Duncan of Jordanson and after graduating began looking to open a shop. She firstly thought of Kinross but dismissed it shortly after. She then told us it was ultimately between Dundee and Perth and she thought that Perth already had so many jewellery shops and would another make a difference? So it was only after she weighing up the two places she realised that Dundee was a "no brainer" and that it was the best place for her to set up her shop. We then quickly went on to discuss with her what her favourite thing about Dundee is, Tracey wasn't sure what her favourite thing about Dundee is but she had some interesting insight about Dundee saying that Dundee is great because everything is in reaching distance and that there is a great diversity here and she thinks the current waterfront projects will help people see that.I would like to thank Tracey for her time and for letting us see her beautiful Jewellery.

Queen's Gallery

Recently we were sent on hotspot visits to various businesses in Dundee as part of setting up our blogs. The aim of the visits was to find out more about the businesses and to why they had decided to set up in Dundee and not anywhere else. We began our first visit at the Queen's Gallery where we met Joyce the owner.

She talked us through how she placed the paintings and pieces together and that she only took on professional painters. Although only taking on professional painters that doesn't necessarily mean older painters in her eyes, as she will go to Duncan of Jordanson (which is the local art school) and scout potential painters that could be in the gallery. Joyce tends to sell the most amount of paintings when she goes to art fairs in the likes of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cambridge as it brings a lot of art lovers out at the same time. When we asked Joyce the important question of why Dundee? she told us that at the time the DCA was currently opening and the area was going to become a cultural quarter so thought it would be the perfect place for the gallery. Joyce is really excited about what's happening in Dundee at the moment and says she is, "looking forward to the future". I just want to thank Joyce for her time and for allowing us to look around her gallery the work was beautiful and she was lovely to talk to.

 

"I am excited about where the gallery is today as its been here since 1999"