Ombre Hair

I bought this Loreal Paris brush-on dip dye ombre kit on the weekend because I thought my hair has been looking quite dull recently and ombre ends is a little less dramatic than dying all my hair. Also, I knew I wouldn't have any allergic reactions (as I usually do to hair dye) because this stuff doesn't (or shouldn't) come into contact with my scalp. Thumbs up from me! I really wasn't sure how this would turn out, so I went for a proper ombre kit rather than just buying blonde hair dye and dying the ends. This set came with a handy little brush into which you put a bit of hair dye and brush it through you hair. The dye had to stay in my hair for a lot longer than usual hair dye so I had no idea what would happen, and hoped it wouldn't turn ginger!

I love the end result! Especially now that I've embraced my natural curls, it makes my hair look more lively and I really love the golden colour (not ginger, yay!) The only downside it that it's made my ends very dry, well, more dry than usual and it still smells slightly of dye, although that fades after every wash. I'm not sure how even the dye is, and the only way to find out is by straightening my hair, which I don't plan to do in this dry, wintery season. I'm glad I liked how this turned out because the dye is permanent (and I hardly ever cut my hair, I want to grow it out), I usually go for semi permanent dyes so that they'll eventually fade out and I won't have to commit to one colour.

What do you think of ombre hair? Have you tried it?
x

What I've Bought (Part 3) and Party Nails

I've been spending again. I set out with the aim of buying a new winter skirt for college and instead bought all of these goodies.

♥ Company Magazine

♥ Loreal Ombre hair dye

♥ Primark heart tights

♥ Models Own Purple Blue Beetle Juice

♥ Models Own Disco Mix

♥ Collection 2000 brown liquid eyeliner

♥ Primark green and tan backpack





With the two nail varnishes I bought, I found that when they were combined they made some pretty sparkly party nails. I now want to experiment more with layering nail varnishes and colours and there are so many to choose from the Models Own range!

I'll soon be doing a post to show my newly ombre-d hair, and a little DIY, watch this space!

Liebster Blog Award

 A great big Thank You to Le Fresne for nominating me!

The Liebster Blog Award “is all about discovering blogs, and helping those with less than 200 followers to get recognized."

The Rules

· Each person awarded must post 11 facts about themselves

· Answer the 11 questions the nominator has set for them

· Create 11 more questions for the bloggers they will nominate

· Choose 5 bloggers to nominate

· Let the lucky bloggers know

Eleven facts about me:

♥ I have all four of my wisdom teeth, and they hurt! 

♥ I plan to dye my hair every colour of the rainbow, but maybe not all at the same time...maybe.

♥ I wish it was normal to wear flower crowns everyday, no matter the season.

♥ I have incredibly tiny hands and feet (size 3) and they are shrinking!

♥ I'm a terrible cook, but I still enjoy cooking.

♥ I carry a book around with me everywhere.

♥ I named my blog Short And Sweet because I am 5'2.

♥ I would love to write and/or illustrate my own book one day.

♥ I wish I was good at singing and music, currently learning guitar and teaching myself the ukelele.

♥ I can wiggle my ears.

♥ I am currently hooked on playing Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii.

Le Fresne's questions:

♥ What did you have for breakfast?

Just cereal, my favourite is Special K with red berries. I'm usually in a rush in the mornings.

♥ Do you have a favourite sound?

I love music scores from films, especially when there are strings and the music gets so overwhelming that it gives me goosebumps.

♥ If you could be a character from any book which would it be?

I would be any character from the Harry Potter series (provided they don't die at the end) so that I could go to Hogwarts and learn magic.

I'd also like to be Eragon Shadeslayer from the Inheritance Cycle, so that I could ride dragons and do magic and fight with swords and just be awesome. 

♥ Favourite thing to do on a rainy, autumn day?

Read! And once I've read enough I like to draw the main characters from the stories.

♥ If you had to live with only books, films or music which would it be?

Ooh this one's tough, I love reading of course, but I also think I couldn't live without music, and then there's films which constantly amaze me with their special effects and imagination. I can't choose!

♥ Favourite winter beverage?

Hot chocolate, and also a sip of mulled wine.

♥ What piece of clothing do you think you'll wear most this autumn?

My burgundy flare skirt, I wear it all the time and it seems to go with everything!

♥ Who is your style inspiration?

I'm not sure, because I don't yet know what my own style is, but I'm always looking at the fashion blogs, and I have definitely started to experiment more since finding them.

♥ Where is your favourite place in the world?

I'd say my room, but that's only because I spend most of my time there. I quite like London, I don't visit often, but when I do it's always really exciting and it's such a beautiful city!

♥ Which blog is your current favourite?

Oh I can't chose just one! I'm constantly discovering new blogs, but there  are a few I'm always visiting. My favourite are the fashion blogs, seeing a person's style develop and finding out what they've been up to. I also like the artsy blogs with incredible photography and illustrations, they're great for those days when I need to be inspired.

♥ What made you start your own blog?

I wrote about this on my very first blog post; to gain more confidence in myself and to develop my own style, to be part of the blogging community. I also think that making a blog will be a great help in getting  the job of my dreams (something in fashion) and to make friends who could help me achieve my dreams. In short, it's about gaining confidence and being a step in the right 

direction career-wise.

My questions:

♥What inspires you?

♥Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

♥What three things make you happy?

♥What made you start blogging?

♥What is your dream job?

♥What advice would you give to a new blogger?

♥Which 5 words best describe you?

♥If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

♥What would you do if you won the lottery?

♥Which song can you relate to the most and why?

♥What is your favourite thing about Autumn?

Tag, you're it! My nominations:

Ellie at A Little Wishing

Missy at Never A Dull Moment

Mandi at Living For Pretty

Megan at Happiness Diamonds

Sarah at Clothes Drawer

Things I've Won

Gosh I am so inventive with my post titles, but I couldn't think of anything witty or snazzy so I just went for something basic. Now, I love entering giveaways as much as the next blogger, but I consider myself a very unlucky person which was why I was so amazed to discover I had won not one, but TWO giveaways! I waited until both deliveries had arrived so that I could blog about them together, so here goes. 

The first giveaway I won was by Abbie at ohabbie. Her giveaway was very festival themed, and because I love festivals I decided to enter. I won a very colourful bracelet, an equally colourful peacock feather headband, and some dainty heart earrings. Even though festival season is over for this year, I'll definitely be wearing these things next year, and I like to wear the feather headband just for fun because it reminds me of summer. 

The second giveaway was held by Molly at The Geeky Peacock where I won $50 store credit at FragranceNet who sell well known brands in makeup, perfume, skincare, haircare and aromatherapy. It took me a long time to chose what to buy but eventually I picked a smokey eye makeup palette by Lauren Luke, Bed Head Treat Me Right peppermint hair mask and Bed Head Ego Boost Split End Mender Leave-In Conditioner (what a mouthful!). I thought I'd treat my hair especially as the cold wintery air is arriving and I have noticed my hair getting dryer. I've also vowed not to get it cut at the hairdressers until it's long (they always cut off too much anyway) so it needs some extra TLC. In the parcel that arrived early in the morning I also received two little perfume samples and a free compact mirror, nice one!

The makeup also came with a super fruity lip gloss which I have been using daily. I've been needing some new makeup as my current makeup is getting a bit old and clumpy, the colours in this palette are nice and simple, and there's even a little message on the mirror saying "I just want you to feel special, Lauren :)" Well thank you Lauren, I do feel special now. This complete makeup palette for eyes, cheeks and lips has now become my new daily makeup set.

The Ego Boost split end mender is a bit of a lifesaver as I get terrible split ends and dry hair. This Ego Boost not only leaves my ends feeling silky and smooth, but it smells incredible and I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff hairdressers use once they've cut your hair, so it's nice to give my hair this little treat, and only a small amount is needed each time so the bottle will last ages.

The Treat Me Right peppermint hair mask is also something I've been needing for a while. I never have time for baths so I tried it out in the shower in the morning which was a great idea because the strong peppermint is perfect for waking me up. It felt very refreshing and I could feel the cool peppermint getting to work on my hair. I left it in for 5 minutes and could instantly feel the results, my hair felt very soft and lightweight and still smelt of peppermint! I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick way to revive their hair, or looking for a bath-time treat.

So those are the things I've won, be sure to check out Abbie and Molly's blogs and head over to FragranceNet for some great deals on well known brands. The only negative feedback I have is that even though this was an international giveaway, I still had to pay for shipping and VAT so bear that in mind when entering international giveaways.

Have you used these hair products before, or have I persuaded you to buy them?

Instagram Update #1

I was planning on doing a different post for today but I ran out of daylight for the photos, so instead I thought I'd share some of my Instagram photos, I don't know if I'll make this a regular thing yet. 

1. One of my many desktop backgrounds, saw this and couldn't wait for winter and all the snow.

2. Changing out of my suit into this cosy outfit

3. My cat Tom looking more like a chipmunk

4. Early morning deliveries are so exciting, but also made me late

5. Monty couldn't resist an empty cardboard box and hopped straight in 

6. Gorgeous galaxy print on a chiffon dress I painted myself (DIY coming at some point)

Music I've been listening to: Bronte - Gotye / Kingdom Come - The Civil Wars / Home - Gabrielle Aplin / To Build A Home - The Cinematic Orchestra / Almost Everything - Wakey!Wakey! / Revival - The Rocket Summer