Vintage Rocks Parlour, Home of My Little Pony Colour Do's & Stunning Bridal Ensembles Gave Me a 90s Hair Makeover

The Vintage Rocks Dream Team

My long term go-to salon is Belfast's  Vintage Rocks Hair Parlour. When Michael was a toddler he used to bring his own G-tech sweeper with him and brush up all the hair. With this year being so hectic, I hadn't had a chance to visit in months, so my hair had grown really long and definitely needed a makeover.

Yikes  

This is the 'before'. A home ombre job which wasn't too terrible, but that has roughed up the texture of the hair. Unstraightened this is the nightmare I'm faced with. 

I'd been watching a lot of MTV's Laguna Beach and The Hills recently and was totally sold on the over the top 90s' style dramatic highlights. 

Highlighted to high heaven on The Hills

What I love about going to Clare at Vintage Rocks is she will always try to do what you actually want. If I approached another hairdresser and asked for 'un-natural looking, 90s' mega highlights please' they'd probably assume to themselves I'd end up happier if they made them more natural and go ahead and do that. Clare will listen to what you want, should it be shaved sides with leopard print, or pink roots and blue ends, and if she can do it, she'll do it, and it'll look good too. 

On a similar note Clare isn't one of those heart stopping hairdressers who you ask to take an inch off and ten seconds later they've chopped about six inches off and you're getting a lecture about the ends being split. No, you're in safe hands with Clare and you'll never leave Vintage Rocks in tears! 

I have a lot of hair

So somehow, from dark brown roots with bleached ombre ends, Clare got my hair in one highlighting & toning step to an all over even effect. It's exactly how I wanted it, as usual! 

My hair being the straightest it will probably ever be

Vintage Rocks is pretty much your default destination in Northern Ireland for cool colours too. They are weird colour experts, so  visit their website and send them an email if you want to chat rainbow hair ideas.

Brides to be, check out their gallery and ask about trial dos in the salon. 

Incredibly Important Announcement: There's a Boots Beauty Advent Calendar

I still buy myself advent calendars, and now there's an actual one that's supposed to be for me. The Boots Advent Calendar is £30, but has over £65 worth of products, both travel size and full size, inside. Brands include Nails Inc, Soap & Glory and Seventeen.  

There is also a deal as part of the package where you earn three times the Advantage Points if you go on to buy the products you've sampled in your calendar. Pretty sweet. 

Buy Yourself a Treat, Pink GHDs, and Help Support Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Instant Hair. I'm Converted, I Love Wigs. Thanks, Wonderland Wigs.

Wigs to me always made me think of uncomfortable, sweaty hats of plastic-looking hair. Dreadful to wear for any length of time and not fooling anyone.  

Wonderland Wigs offered to let me try one of their pieces, and I thought why not? I doubted I'd actually ever wear it outside of Halloween though. Still, I picked a wig in my hair colour, to give it a proper chance. 

Why get a wig in the exact shade your hair already is, you may ask? Well, because I opted for a 3/4 wig. Instead of having to tuck your existing barnet in under a skull cap, a 3/4 wig sits on the crown of your head, starting where an Alice band would sit. 

The Wonderland wig attaches easily and securely with a comb style hair band, allowing your scalp to breathe. Each product page on the site includes an embedded video tutorial, if like me you are a bit clueless at how to get a natural look.

It looks quite natural doesn't it? Very handy for days when the straighteners aren't doing a good enough job. The wig I chose was £25.99 and comes in all hair colours. Wonderland Wigs also do dip dye, ombré, full head wigs, curls, buns, everything hairy!

Follow @WonderlandWigs on Twitter or join their Facebook Page for special offers and sales.

Here is my before and after, what do you think? 

My Kitschalicious New Gold GHD Hair Straighteners

Do you want to know something a bit embarrassing? Until now I've never owned my own GHDs. Yes, I've used GHDs but they've been my husband's ones, as he has longer and arguably better hair than I do.

So I'm very pleased with my new Sahara Gold GHDs, part of the Limited Edition Metallics Collection.

GHD Hair Straighteners

GHDs are the best straighteners available, a bold, blunt statement but if you've ever used them you'll know it's true. Other brands just don't quite give the same results as official GHDs, and I know my hairdresser uses them in salon for perfecting styles.

I have very wavy, frizzy hair naturally, which I wash daily, so I need straighteners to tame it lest I scare the general public.

I find it takes under five minutes to get it into a more sensible shape, this was my result this morning, without any styling product used at all. For an even smoother result there are products available on www.ghdhair.com to compliment your super styling machine.

The GHD YouTube Channel has helpful step-by-step guides to creating different looks with your straighteners. 

Want to See a Follicle Miracle? Paul Stafford Hair Saves My Barnet.

Today a hairdresser saved my life. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but scroll down to the 'before' picture & tell me the man hasn't performed a follicle miracle. Paul & his colourist Sharon took hair that wouldn't look out of place attached to a plastic witches' hat, and turned it into a shiny, healthy looking bob.

Of course me being me, it couldn't be a normal hairdo altogether, and Sharon mixed me a unique, bespoke colour. It's a petrol blue, inky, biro blue black that revived my straw-like head.

The man himself snipping away the worst of the frizz & broken ends. He bravely tackled my years' of home dying abuse. Paul's a stylish man, a life-long mod, you could say he's the Bradley Wiggins of hairdressing.

I'd mucked my hair up so badly that I ended up in his salon for four and a half hours, but it seemed shorter due to the comfortable atmosphere. Paul & colourist Sharon are great craic and the trainee staff are attentive & always smiling. It seems like a great place to work.

I can't believe the difference in my hair. If Paul's team can turn my before hair into a shiny bob like that, just imagine what they could do to a 'normal' head of hair.

You can get in contact to book your own makeover by visiting www.PaulStafford.co.uk or phoning 02890 662454