If you read my previous post you’ll remember that I was a bit disappointed about the UK plug for my new ghd IV. Some of you left me lots of helpful tips in the comments, including one from Helene telling me I should be able to simply swap the UK plug for a European one.
I woke up today with the plan of doing just so, but before heading out I decided to take a closer look at the plug again, just to work out what kind I’d have to buy. That’s when I realized that the part where the plug is attached to the cable looked an awful lot like the ordinary European ones. “Maybe this won’t be so difficult,” I thought, “if the plugs are that similar I should definitely be able to change the thing myself.” (Can anyone see where this is heading, perhaps?)
I unscrewed the plug, too, wanting to do this properly so I would be perfectly certain I knew what kind of plug to buy. The pessimist in me must be incredibly stubborn, because it still insisted that I’d have to go through the whole operation of changing the plug myself. Then I opened the UK plug, and -
Yeah. That’s right – what you’re looking at is a perfectly ordinary European plug, oh-so-cleverly put into a UK version. This discovery lead to a strange combination of feelings: “Airam, you must be the most stupid girl in the country” and “clever ghd-people, I KNEW you weren’t stupid!“. To top it off, when I shared my joy with my sister Cookie on MSN, she said, somewhat unimpressed, “didn’t a girl tell you that in a comment yesterday?”. I checked, and brilliant Cindy from Hanginaround had actually suggested I check if the UK plug was simply a box that could be removed to reveal an ordinary European one. Clever girl. To sum it up, here’s what I’ve learnt since yesterday:
1. If a quality product seems impractical or stupid to you, it’s quite possible it’s you being impractical or stupid.
2. Always read comments twice (so you won’t miss anything if you’re having a stupid day).
And would you like to know the best part? The ghd IV is bloody marvellous. But more on that in a later post, for now let me just say:
ghd-people, the socks are off.
Yesterday I got a note in the mail telling me I had a mystery package that couldn’t fit in my mailbox and had to be picked up at the post office. My thoughts immediately went to the ghd IV straightener I ordered from Lookfantastic (on January the 22nd, if you’d like to know) – and I was right! I got home, opened the black, fancy box and touched what must be the Rolls-Royce of straighteners.
It looks expensive (and, well, it was). The outside is smooth without being slippery, and the golden plates seem glossy enough not to damage my hair at all. Now, I naturally wanted to try it straight away (pardon the pun), but then I looked at the plug. A British plug? But I believe the website said it had a universal plug, which would make travelling easier. This is definitely a UK plug, though. I enter Feelunique to see if I’d misunderstood something, or if they’d simply sent me the wrong item.
“Now with universal voltage for optimum performance wherever you travel.”
It takes a few seconds before my brain realizes that even though it says voltage, it doesn’t say anything about the actual plug.
Fortunately I’ve got an old adapter at Boyfriend’s from last time we went to London, and I don’t tend to drag my straighteners around with me anyway, but must confess I feel slightly hoodwinked still. The product description definitely gives the impression that the straightener will work in any country without the hassle of external adapters, when it actually won’t work anywhere but in the UK without one. I suppose if you buy it in Norway it will have an European plug, but then you’ll have to pay almost twice as much.
Because of all this I haven’t gotten to try it yet, but I intend to do so later after having fetched the adapter from Boyfriend’s. And ghd-people, I’m telling you:
this straightener better blow my socks off.
UPDATE: Click HERE to read how it all worked out in the end!
Filed under: Challenge, Hair, Makeup, Music-Airam, My Life, Nails, Polyvore, Style Guides, fashion
Tomorrow night my band is playing again. I’ve decided to wear all the things you see above, but I can’t for the life of me choose the rest of the accessories. I’ve put together three variations in Polyvore, tracking down images of items I actually own to make it as realistic as possible (the nail polishes aren’t the exact ones I’ve got, but you get the idea). I know this is rather at the last minute, but if anyone has any opinions I would be very grateful indeed!
This Monday I was going to a birthday party and had absolutely no idea what to do with my hair. I’d tried my usual solution: making it really messy, but for once I just thought it looked messy. Then a bright idea popped into my head: the faux bob. As I have layered hair I did it in a way that would allow my shortest layers to hide any bobby pins and the ends of my hair, but if your hair is all one length I suggest you try this method. Here’s how I did my messy version:
You need:
A dry towel/a comb for teasing, hair spray, bobby pins/mini jaw clips
1. Start with dry hair, preferably hair with some sort of product in it already. Use a dry towel to mess up hair. You can, of course, use a comb and tease the hair, but the towel-trick can save you a lot of time if you’re in a hurry. Just rub it all over your head, and don’t panic when you remove the towel – you can brush it down a bit if it’s too big for your liking.
2. Flip head upside down, spray with hairspray and then – I just learnt this, actually, by watching this video – wait for 20 seconds to allow hair spray to dry. If you flip it back before the spray is dry, the volume will just collapse after a few minutes.
3. Divide your hair into two sections by parting it at the back (just the lengths, not from the top of your head).
4. Take small sections of hair (I divided each side of my head into about three sections, so I had six in total) and roll them from the bottom up to where you want your “bob” to end. Use a bobby pin/jaw clip in the same colour as your hair and fasten the little roll to your head. It doesn’t have to be a perfect roll as we’re going for a messy look, the important thing is that the bobby pins aren’t visible.
5. Repeat until all your lengths are tucked in. Try to shape your “bob” nicely, and make sure both sides are equally long.
6. Pull the top layers of your hair to loosen them. It doesn’t matter if some hang longer than the supposed length of your bob – people will know it’s not a real bob anyway.
7. Finish with a little hair spray, and may I suggest a pair of chandelier earrings? It looks delightfully feminine when they dangle against your now bare neck.
