How I get my locks to look like glass (thanks John Frieda)

I had finished presenting a WI (Women's Institute) talk when a hand shot up and the owner of the hand asked

"How do you get your hair to look like glass?"

My response was

"Erm....(uncomfortable pause) I don't drink, I don't smoke, I eat prettily healthily (another pause and I began to wring my hands)....erm...and Moroccan Oil."

It really threw me to be honest. I know when I do talks about my business I am the centre of attention but the fact the lady had been eyeing up my hair made me feel a bit off kilter. I'm not a beauty expert, a beauty blogger, a hair fanatic, I just use what I use and have luckily found the products which work for me.

Before I start this blog post in earnest, I would like point out that over the years my hair has been all shades of colour under the sun: orange, blonde, a brief flirtation with black, light brown, dark brown and red. Growing up I was never satisfied with my hair. With eyes skewed by the ideal set by the beauty industry, rather than what I saw with my own eyes in the mirror everyday,  I fell for all kinds of 'promises' from the marketing of such products such as SUN-IN only to have my heart, and hair, broken. You 90's teenagers will remember that ghastly spray (which I pretty sure was just bleach in a bottle) that promised sun kissed locks. I wanted sun-kissed locks and since I didn't live in California where all the models in the adverts seemed to reside, I bought the Sun-In and sat on the back doorstep of my mum and dad's house using the pale rays of Yorkshire sunlight to enhance my dark brown hair. You know what you get when you mix dark brown hair with SUN-IN? Orange hair. Bright. Orange. Hair.

Me, Blonde, You, shocked.

At Uni I went all Sonic The Hedgehog and had red highlights which eventually lead me to blonde highlights and a short urchin haircut that made me look like a boy. So much so, my friend marched me off to get my ears pierced. For a while I was happy with brown hair, I grew it out and started fashioning it into an almighty quiff. Then I got restless. A hairdresser caught me at a weak moment and I started the slippery slope into full blown blondeness.  Hard to maintain, even harder to find the money for the upkeep every 6 weeks and the hardest thing? Coming back from an epic holiday in Ibiza, we headed out to a club in Manchester where I was thinking "I look awesome. I woke up like this" when a woman in said club approached me and asked "are you ok? You look really ill." Bye Bye blonde. That was the last time I dyed it.

Now it is in its natural state - a deep chocolate brown - which I don't dye and love heartily, I have finally made peace with my hair. I use Brilliant Brunette Shampoo & Conditioner in the shower, Moroccan Oil on the very tips of my hair (otherwise we have an oil slick situation on our hands) after I have towel dried my barnet, then I blow dry and straighten the fringe and front section with GHDs.

I'm glad I wasted days of my life in the colourist's chair because not only has the first 30 years of my life provided me with loads of photos which are hair-tastically hilarious, but I worked out what suits me, what I like and what I don't.

I guess sometimes you have to make many shaped hair wrongs to make a right.

Til next time...x

PS - any hair nightmares you want to share? Pop 'em in the comments section below...

A Positive Image

Kate Hardcastle is like a modern day gladiator fighting successfully across many arenas: customer service, public and motivational speaking, raising awareness for many a good cause including increasing the numbers of women in sport and now Image. Working in fashion, people can have the wrong idea that looks are all I care about. This is a misconception. Yes, looking good makes you feel great, knowing you have nailed it with your outfit is a natural high. BUT – looks are not the only thing and in today’s society sometimes we are guilty of forgetting that.

So this January check out  KATE HARDCASTLE and her A POSITIVE IMAGE campaign. Let’s get this clear straight away –this campaign isn't anti-fashion or anti-beauty it is merely encouraging people to LOOK BEYOND THE MIRROR to beat the CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE that many teenagers are going through on a daily basis.

Kate did a talk at her old school and walking down the corridor she got chills – bad memories came flooding back. So if our Yorkshire Gladiator had a bad time at school, and suffered from a crisis of confidence, she figured that lots of adults must've also carried bad memories from school into adulthood, negatively affecting their confidence and belief in themselves. So she started digging for facts:

·         1 in 4 teenagers is depressed and unhappy with the way they look.

·         3/5 of girls want a figure that is physically unachievable without surgery.

·         80% of girls and boys want to be famous as their career goal.

80% just want to “be famous” as a career goal. Wow. So where has this mind-set come from? Let’s turn our attention to TV: TOWIE, Made in Chelsea, The Valleys and Big Brother. The quota of reality TV is astounding but the lack of positive and credible role models is what is even more shocking. As Kate points out,

“There is no-one saying ‘This is how I’ve earnt my living, this is how I earnt my place in the world’ and the effect this has on young people is critical.”

So passionate is Kate about a Positive Image that she now speaks about the campaign at all her business engagements – the message is rippling out to MP’s, the world of sport, and fashion. Have you checked out the A Positive Image t-shirts? I’ve ordered mine. Hand crafted by the hand of former Red or Dead owner Wayne Hemingway the t-shirts aren’t some crappy charity t-shirt you use to go jogging in on a Sunday morning – they are awesome logo statements to have on any chest.

A Positive Image is first and foremost about increasing confidence in teenagers, harnessing their belief in themselves, creating some goals, letting themselves shine and that all this is possible regardless of how they look. So get involved this January – donate 1 hour of your time to help increase confidence in groups of teenagers. 

Tweet them up at @APositiveImage  and visit the A Positive Image website by clicking here.