Bleach London Wonderment

I stumbled upon Bleach London products by accident. I used to work for the Optical side of a very well known chemist and occasionally took advantage of the discount. So just as I was leaving I went and bought Christmas presents and took advantage of the 3 for 2 they had on. I was actually one item short so purchased the Bleach London Spin the Wheel Hair Dye Set Which contains six miniature bottles of their temporary hair dye; Sea Punk, Blullini, Washed Up Mermaid, Violet Skies, Rose and Awkward Peach.

I used to love playing with my hair colour when I was about twenty, but then I grew up and not alot of people dyed their hair weird colours. Until, that is, Bleach London came on the scene and with the addition of 'grunge' to fashion, having crazy colours became cool again. And everyone could do it! The past few months i've seen anyone from fourteen to sixty-odd year olds with anything from a streak of colour to a whole head of colour. Personally I think it's bloody brilliant! I've heard quite good things about Bleach London and they do quite a few products starting from a home bleaching kit to shampoos and condioners to enhance your blonde. The dyes are really condioning too and smell yummy!

So, back to what I was saying. I thought I'd give this Bleach London a go. After all it was temporary and is a fun way to get ready for the weekend or a night out!

So this is what my hair looked like pre-colour...

pre-make up too! :P

So as you can see my hair is pretty light. Not exactly blonde, but I thought i'd give it a try. The instructions say to wash your hair with shampoo ONLY (no conditioner - this is VERY important) then towel dry hair, apply colour and wait for fifteen minutes. After this you can rinse out. I tried the Sea Punk and it didn't show up at all on my hair. A bit miffed, I had this excellent idea to dip dye my hair. Yup, I reckoned it would be pretty straight forward. So i jumped in my car and zoomed off to said Chemist, discount card in hand and purchased the Bleach London DIY Dip Dye. 

I read the instructions carefully and then read them again. I hadn't bleached my hair in about 6 years so didn't want to mess up! Included in the pack is everything you need: gloves, bleach powder, pre-lightener, blending lotion, brush for application, a wee tub and a wee tube of their awesome Reincarnation Mask.

Reading the instructions, it seemed pretty straight forward; put on the blending lotion to where you want the dip dye to start then apply bleach. BOY WAS I WRONG! It was super footery and by the end of it I just wanted to chuck everything out the window and cry. Not really cry, but it was really messy and by the end of it, there was bleach and blending lotion everywhere (good job I put a ton of towels and plastic bags down - i'm super messy!).

It took a good while to develop and even then it felt like it wasn't as light as I was expecting...

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make it lighter and I wanted to give my hair a rest from all the prodding about. So i added the rest of the Sea Punk. This time I added it to DRY hair (after reading reviews upon reviews) and got a more stronger, vibrant colour. It was still pretty light, but I put this down to my hair not being light enough!

So a few days later, I went out and bought another dip dye kit. This time I used L'Oreal Preference Wild Ombres No2 Dip Dye Hair Kit. Compared to the Bleach London stuff this was waaaaay easier. It had a wee plastic brush that you just brushed on the bleach and it just blended in with your hair. Luckily, I already had a guideline thanks to the other kit. This seemed to lift that little bit quicker and gave me the colour I was looking for. After washing and conditioning, I dried my hair then applied Washed Up Mermaid to my bleached bits. The Bleach London dyes contain a conditioner too so, as you're dying your hair, you're giving it a little bit more condition - perfect after a lot of bleaching! 

Et Voila!

There's obviously still some bits that didn't pick up the dye but I kind of like it as it merges well with my hair colour and doesn't look too blocky. I would definitely recommend applying the colour to dry hair first to get a better effect!

The pinks and purples tend to wash out easier than the blues and green (they tend to have staying power) but to get rid of them easier Bleach London have a Washing Out Shampoo for that (which is probably similar to Vosene or Head & Shoulders). Another thing I learned with getting rid of the green tinge is to apply the Rose dye over it and it tones out the green.

I also recently stumbled upon the Rose Shampoo and Rose Conditoner. This is great for keeping the pinky tones in your hair. Like the dye, it work a little on wet hair. I apply the shampoo to my dry ends before I get in the shower then wash out and you're left with a lovely pale pink colour. This is ideal if you haven't got time to apply the pink dye in your hair and you want a wee touch of colour. They also do a Silver Shampoo and Silver Conditoner for toning out the yellow in your hair.

I would definitely recommend the colours as I think they're great for adding a light touch of colour to hair without being overly bright. I'd advise to apply it to dry hair though, to get the best out of your colour. As for the dip dye it definitely worked, however just not enough. Either I should have left it a wee bit longer (which I was scared to do) or it's quite a weak bleach. It did give me that blended colour though which is what I was looking for.

Bleach London seems to have hit the nail on the head with it's array of hair care products. The packaging looks bright, attractive and catches your eye. It's also really easy to get a hold of them. Their hair care products are really good as well. Most of their products price around £6-7 and Boots tend to include them on their 3 for 2. So you can get a dye, shampoo and conditioner for a reasonable price.

Now excuse me while I go try out Awkard Peach...

Check out the Bleach Bible

Summer, Summer, Summertime....Lemonade

Time to sit back and unwind! Apologies for the nod to Will Smith there but I couldn't help it!

So Summer has well and truly arrived in the Highlands and for most it would be "taps aff" but here it was a bit more reserved kettle of fish with picnics on the bistro set in our garden and the idea of making homemade lemonade thanks to a Tesco version we tried recently.

This version of lemonade is really refreshing and really light tasting (despite the sugar) and I am really happy with the way it turned out.

What you will need:

3 unwaxed lemons, cut randomly (skin on - the lot!)
140g sugar (to taste, you can add more)
1 litre water

Add the lemons, sugar and half the water to a blender or food processor and blend.

Place into a sieve over a bowl and stir until all the juice has come though. Discard the pulp (coz there will be seeds and rind there - YUCK!)

Add the juice to the rest of the water and chill. Add ice to serve.

Simple as that really! If you want to make it PINK lemonade, add raspberries or cranberries for a bit more tartness and a lovely pinky colour :)

Pardon for the lack of arty photos!

Butternut Squash,Cabbage and Green Lentil Curry

Say whaaaaaat? Curry that's healthy? AAAAND vegan? Yes! Yes, it is!

I am a super fan of curries. I am not, however, a super fan of the aftermath of curries. Yes, the bloats, the gurgles and the inability to move.

So I found a curry recipe online that included lentils and decided to put my own twist on it using the basic recipe I found. Of course I included my all time favourite veg - the Butternut Squash. Seriously, this guy ca do no wrong in my eyes! AND! You only need one pan! Plus a tray to roast the butternut squash and parsnips.

I thought i'd need to accompany this dish with rice, but I found the lentils helped fill out the meal and there really was no need for any side dish. Which is a step in the right healthy direction as a) no naan is involved and b) no stodgy rice.

You can obviously add and subtract veg depending on what your personal taste is and of course make it hotter and mix it up with different spices.


So here's my spin (Serves two - and some for lunch the next day)

For the roast veg;

1 Butternut Squash - peeled and cubed
2 Parsnips - peeled and cubed
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Madras Curry Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Pepper

For the Curry;

1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Onion - diced
3 Garlic Cloves - or less depending how much you love garlic!
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 cups Veg Stock/Broth
Half cup Green Lentils (or any other type you fancy!)
A few leaves of Cabbage - or a handful of Spinach

Preheat your oven to 220oC/Gas7/fan 200oC. Place the Butternut squash and Parsnips into a bowl and add the oil, spices and salt and pepper (about a pink of both) and toss until all is covered. Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes until soft and brown at the edges.

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion starts to look transparent.

Add the spices and give a good ol' stir until the place smells amazing! Add the lentils, cabbage and the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat then simmer for about 10/15 minutes or until the lentils have soaked up the stock and you're left with a thick curry.

Taste to see if you need to add anything - Salt? Pepper? More spice?

Serve into bowls and add a good old dollop of Creme Fraiche or Yoghurt. Prepare to eat it all as it's so goddamn YUM!

Okay, so that's me done with the recipes for today! Hope you find them as delicious as I did and as easy to make!

Vegan Butternut Squash and Quinoa Chili

Okay so I would have put up a finished article photo, except that I forgot and ate it all!

I've been dipping my toes in the vegan/gluten-free side of life and quite frankly I am loving it! I love trying out the vegan version of things where at the end of the meal, you don't feel like you need some Oompa Loompas to roll you out the room!

This was my most recent experiment and it turned out delicious! Really tasty and left us feeling full but not bloated or in need of a nap.

It was really simple to make and doesn't take forever, like most chilis I've made in the past!

Basic ingredients are; (you can add or take away - much like standard chili)

Half butternut squash - peeled and cubed
Half cup Quinoa
1 onion - diced
1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic - finely diced or minced
2 cups of veg stock/broth
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (mild or hot - or mixed!)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Add the oil to the pan and wait until it's hot. Add the garlic and onion and cook 'til soft and slightly brown.

Add in the spices, butternut squash, kidney beans, tomato puree, quinoa and stock.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes until thick and the squash is soft but still has a bit of crunch to it. You don't want it to melt into the sauce!

Serve with some salsa or some greek yoghurt.

DONE!

Simple Fish Pie Goujons

Healthy food seems to have taken over my life in the past two months. Not only does it taste good, it makes me feel good too! Some stuff can be a bit manky tasting, so I've been trying out a few recipes to see whats the yummiest way to get good stuff in me without feeling like i'm eating cardboard constantly.

These beauts are hands down the easiest and quickest dish I've ever made that's tastes DIVINE!

For two people, what you need to make them are;

1 Sweet Potato (or normal potato if you don't like them - however sweet potatoes are healthier!)
Cream Cheese
2 fillets of haddock, cod or any meaty white fish - cut in half vertically then halved horizontally (so they're like goujons! You should have eight pieces)
prawns (I've literally no idea how many i just fire them in - but maybe half a pack?)
Tsp of Paprika (mild or hot)
Salt and Pepper

Start by peeling and slicing the sweet potato into cubes. Boil for about 15/20 minutes until soft and crush-able.

Heat your oven to 220oC/fan 200oC/gas 7

While these are boiling, get a baking tray and line with grease proof paper. Sprinkle over salt and pepper.

Mix the prawns with some of the cream cheese and paprika until it's covered. I normally put a tablespoon in first and give it a good mix so as not to overwhelm the prawns with all this cheese going on!

Place the fillets onto the tray, top with the prawns (allowing maybe 3-4 per fish goujon - depending on the size of prawns!)

Next, drain and mash the sweet potato with some of the cream cheese. Spoon over the fish pies.

Now you can add Parmesan over the top to give it some crispiness, however we used these tremendous pitta bread crisps we found in Markies to ass extra flavour and crunch. it was amazing! I imagine you can add anything on top. You know, to some degree!

Put in the oven for 10 minutes, until piping hot.

ENJOY!