Black Roses - Sophie Lancaster - S.O.P.H.I.E

I sat here for a while thinking how I should start this off....

I've just finished watching Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster

I'm a flood of emotions. Angry, Sad, Happy, Thoughtful, Thankful, Bewildered....

Since I was a young teen I've been different....I've always been a mixture of "things" never settling for one particular style or music, or food....It's who I am. I'm too curious, inquisitive, intrigued, interested in the world to just pick one style of anything.

When I was younger, as defiant as I was, that this is who I am. It was seen that, that made me a "faker" because I didn't conform to just one thing. Now I'm older that is seem to be the norm, though not everyone like the same things, its ok to like a lot of different things. How I wish this had always been the case.

I've always been true to who I am, what I feel like at that time in my life, and yes its changed slightly over the years, I wear more colour than I used to (Red and Black was all I ever wore for a lot of years) I still have that side of me, I still have days where I want to just wear 2 colours. As well as the days where I wear 5 colours.

I've known about Sophie Lancaster since the day it came out in the news, it boiled my blood then, and it still does now! We live in a world so amazing and full of so many amazing people, places, cultures, that I never understood what drives someone to do that to a person just because they look different to them.

Through my early teens and college years I had names thrown at me, rocks thrown at me, I had people push and pull at me all because I looked different.

They looked different to me, but I didn't go around pushing and pulling them, throwing rocks at them or calling them names! That's just not a nice thing to do!
Even at my ripe age of 27 I still come across people, older, younger, the same age, who still want to call me names for looking different.

I am defiant, stubborn, I am my fathers daughter. I will not let what anyone says or does to me affect who I am! I am me, pure and simple, always have been always will be.

I don't just have friends who are only into the same things as me, they are all different from each other and that, to me, is the best way to be. It opens everyone's eyes to the oh so many different things in this world!

If you don't know about S.O.P.H.I.E please go check it out and see the amazing work her mum has been doing.

S.O.P.H.I.E is the main reason I found Illamasqua Make Up they support the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and I love that!!

If I could say one thing to anyone struggling out there with the fact that someone is different from you, ask them, go with an open mind and an open heart and find out about what they like, its doesn't mean you then have to like it, just understand it. Hate is born out of ignorance.

To the people who have been affected by name calling, abuse for being different, don't let go of who you are. You are AWESOME!!!

My only hope is that no Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Cousin, Friend, has to lose another person from their life due to an attack from someone just for being different.

Remember, someone out there loves you.

Keep it Positive

Nessa
xx

Festival Hair

As I wrote about in my previous post, I went to Download Festival!

Having been going for 8 years now (I did miss a few) I'd always struggled with my hair while I was there. Yes dry shampoo is a miracle, but with my hair being short and super straight I struggle keeping any volume in it after a day of not washing it, I also struggle while I'm sleep trying not to get kinks in it (as I'm sure many people do) and sometimes a hat just wont do!!

So I had always wanted to braid in synthetic dreadlocks. Mostly so I don't have to worry about my hair at all while I'm there.

This year with the help of Mama Ward (that's my mums name) we successfully installed dreads into my hair!

I got my dreads from a shop called PAKS (http://www.pakcosmetics.com/) I have always bought my hair colours from here (even when I lived in Yorkshire, I had them delivered) They are super cheap!! thy have EVERYTHING you will ever need hair wise. They have a Shop (well 3 separate ones, one for products, one for wigs and one for hair extensions) in Finsbury Park which is where I go, its a great place to find new colours or products. an Aladdin's Cave of Hair!

I already owned the Dreads I braided in my hair, I had previously sewn some into Dread falls for a Industrial Metal club I had been to (http://www.slimelight.com/)

So I cut them out of the stitching and braided them in my hair.

I used about 4 packets of dreads they are around £3.99 per packet (super cheap if you ask me) and a packet of elastic ties I bought from Claire's Accessories.

After watching many YouTube Videos Mama Ward figured out how to do a blanket stich and we begun.

We started at the bottom using inch by inch squares of hair, separating in two and using one side of the double ended dread as the third piece of hair to braid. As we went along we used a brick layer so you wouldn't see any gaps.
As I have a graduated bob it was harder at the bottom as there wasn't as much hair to play with.
This being Mama Wards first time at any kind of braiding this was the best one to come out >>

Apparently as a child I wouldn't let her practice on my hair!!!

Had I not been trying to grow out the blue that I currently am, my roots wouldn't have looks so bad!!

We tied each one off with an elastic tie (or 3, depending on my hair length and if there had been any layers)





This process took about 5 hours, so its definitely not something you should enter in with someone you don't like very much (cos you wont be able to escape them) and it needs to be someone that loves you very much for them to do this for so long to you!

I left my fringe out as I'm secretly (ok not so secretly) a massive EMO so I always have to have my fringe!!

The finished product was AMAZING!!

They felt a little heavy at first, but when you go from a short bob to all the hair, then its gonna feel different.

I had them in for just over a week. Over that time I only lost one dread from the back at the bottom (probably because my hair was short) I lost quite a few of the elastic ties while I was at Download (I was there for 5 days) but none of the dreads fell out, either their were extra ties holding them in place of the braid its self had stuck in.

I had a bow or a bandanna in everyday, but that's just my style. It also helped as the weekend went along to hide how bad my fringe was.

(Yes that is a slushy in my hand)












When I eventually had to re enter the real world and take them out, it took me about an hour to pull all the bands out (I snapped them as I went along)

 



My hair was HILARIOUS as I took them out! (apologies for the face, 5 days of drinking and not enough sleep does this to a girl!!)

Seen as I'd been in a field in these for 5 days I didn't keep them (plus at £3.99 I think I can afford some new ones)

I think this is my best look yet!! Having super straight hair this was a totally novelty for me!

Thanks for Reading! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

Keep it Positive

Nessa