Hair | Crown Braid

Hello lovelies! So after having short hair for quite some time I have really been enjoying being able to play around with plaited hairstyles. I learnt to braid by playing hair dresser to my younger sister. I've been loving this hairstyle to keep my hair out of my face during long uni days. And you don't have to worry about any tension headaches. 

Shopping | Buying on eBay

Hi lovelies! When you first start shopping on eBay it can be a little intimidating. You've no doubt heard many a horror story of goods never arriving, arriving broken or banking details being stolen. I am an avid eBay shopper and I promise it isn't a scary place. Here are my tips for shopping on the site. 

1. Refine your search

If you aren't looking for an exact item a search on eBay can be quite daunting. I highly recommend refining your search by using the categories in the left side bar. When shopping for vintage clothing on eBay I tend to place a limit on price, as well as searching only for specific prices. It can also be a good idea to limit your search results to items listed in your own country. This cuts down hugely on shipping and customs costs. 

2. Always pay via PayPal

Do you have a PayPal account? If not I highly recommend getting one. Not only does it simplify all transactions, but it also gives you lots of extra safety guards. For one your bank account or credit card information does not get released to the seller. Also if you happen to run into any issues with the item i.e. it's faulty, counterfeit etc you are able to raise a claim through PayPal and get the issue resolved quickly and easily. 

For example I once purchased a necklace that arrived broken. After the seller did not respond to eBay messages I raised a PayPal claim and the money was refunded to me within days. 

3. Check shipping costs

Often the item with the lowest price may not work out to be the cheapest once you factor in the cost of shipping. Especially when getting items shipped to Australia the cost can work to be almost as much as the item you're buying. 

When I am searching for a specific item I prefer to sort the search results by lowest price (including shipping). This makes sure that I am getting the best deal overall. 

4. Bidding on Items

When bidding on an item with a long auction time (7 to 10 days) it's always best to save the item and come back to bid on it on the final day of sale. By bidding at the start of the auction you only drive up the price you have to pay at the end of the 7 days.

It's easy to get excited and end up spending more on an item than originally intended. I tend to treat eBay like thrifting, if the clothing is too expensive then it wasn't meant to be. Plus with all the items listed daily something similar is bound to come up again. 

5. Common Sense

If an item seems too good a deal to be true, then it probably is. Back when I first started shopping online I was ecstatic to find a set of Mac brushes for less than $20 on eBay. Now of course that price would ring alarm bells, but my 18 year old self got sucked in and stuck with a bunch of knock off brushes. My advice would always be to read the description of items carefully. 

If you're ever in doubt of an item then it's a great idea to check out the seller's feedback. With many of the larger stores on eBay you're unlucky to experience a problem, but when it comes to individual sellers I always make sure to check.

So those are my five tips for a successful shopping trip on eBay. I'll probably follow this up with a post with tips for selling on eBay as that is a process I found very daunting initially. 

Have you got any tips to add?

Jess x

DIY | Pink Party

Fudge Paintbox in Pretty Flamingo (available here)

Hi lovelies! So the big reveal! After teasing you with mention of it in the last few posts here is my pink hair in all its glory. The only reason I didn't post this tutorial is that I wanted to get an idea of how the colour would wash and if I'd notice any fading. 

I'm pretty happy with the results so I thought I would should you how I did it, as well as giving some tips I figured out for when I re-dye it. I didn't want the colour super intense all over, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

I used a semi-permanent dye from Fudge and sadly it has washed out very, very quickly. If you're wanting to achieve a similar look in your own hair, I would advise pre-bleached hair to put the colour over. Personally I'm not brave enough to bleach my own hair so I choose to get mine done professionally and then pop the colour over the top. 

The look I was going for was a kind of pink ombre effect. In order to get this I mixed about a third of the bottle in with some conditioner (any kind will work) and covered all my hair with this. The directions on the bottle recommend leaving the dye on for 30 minutes, however as it is a semi-permanent dye it's fine to leave it on for longer. I left this initial colour on for 1 hour. 

Rather than rinsing out the colour I then took some dye undiluted and ran it through the ends of my hair. After leaving the colour on for another 30 minutes I rinsed everything out. 

You can see the end result up above. For a first attempt I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out. As I mentioned though the colour has faded very quickly. Next time I dye my hair I will be leaving the colour to develop for an even longer time. 

Besides the quick fade time I am loving have brightly coloured hair. My only problem is deciding on what colour to dye next? I'm looking into Manic Panic as they have fantastic reviews, but if you're looking for a cheap and quick colour fix the fudge dyes are excellent. 

What colour should I try next? 

Jess xx

How-To | Temporary Hair Chalk

 Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you'll have noticed that temporary hair colour has been a big trend recently. Many a hair care company have been releasing coloured chalk promising vibrant, temporary colour. However, these retail upwards of $10 for one colour. Having a strict uniform code I didn't want to sink a lot of money into something I could only use infrequently. Thankfully eBay came to my rescue where you can pick up a pack starting from $2.99. 

I couldn't find the exact pack I used, but they all work in much the same way. Find out how they work best after the jump.