Vintage Polaroid Style Snaps from Square Snaps {Review & Giveaway}

The lovely people over at Square Snaps kindly gave me the opportunity to review their latest addition to their printing service; Vintage Polaroid Style Snaps. With every order you get a mix of 6 pastel coloured frames and I decided these would suit my images from Camp Bestival perfectly.

I went through my photo albums and noted down the picture numbers checking that they were not above 5gb an image. Then it was a simple process of uploading to the website, editing any shots that I wanted to rotate or crop differently then hitting the order button! The photos were quickly printed and distributed arriving securely in the post in a well packaged jiffy bag. The set of photos were sandwiched between two thick pieces of card and paper wrapped in place.

When I opened up the package I was not disappointed! The pastel frames worked really well and although they are randomly chosen the colours matched the content of each image perfectly.

I played around with how to display these and really wanted to put them on the wall in a rectangle - however my walls are so wonky that each time I put them up nothing looked straight! Therefore, I strung them up on parcel string with mini pegs and washi tape.

 

If you would like to try and win a set of 27 Vintage Polaroid Style Snaps please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

Closing date for the competition is August 29th 2015.

I also have a 15% off code valid until 4th September 2015 - just enter 76Sunflowers15 in the discount codes section when ordering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

x x x

 

Disclaimer: Square Snaps sent me a set of Vintage Polaroid Style Snaps to review and have provided me with a set to giveaway. As always, views and opinions are honest and are my own.

Going no poo

Thirteen days ago I took the decision to go full on 'no poo'; a process which means I have eliminated all shampoo and styling products from my hair washing and coiffing routines. Essentially I am avoiding anything containing sulphates, parabens and other added chemicals that are apparently completely unnecessary in cleaning hair. Let's face it, back in the days of pre-shampoo hair essentially cleaned itself and that is what I'm aiming to do.

I am going 'no poo' for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I have battled my hair for nearly 40 years now and have never found the definitive routine, shampoo and conditioner or styling product. I have spent a small fortune on shop brands, salon brands, 'eliminate the frizz' brands, you name it and I've probably given it a go. My hair is naturally wavy/curly/frizzy and it has never quite known what it wants to do. I have attempted to straighten it to battle the frizz, have grown it long and had short pixie cuts. For now it is chin length.
To see the amount of stuff I was putting onto my hair just over two weeks ago here is just a selection of the products currently cluttering my dressing table and bathroom:

Secondly, I am starting to think a bit more about the world around me; the world I will be leaving my children in one day, the world they will hopefully bring me grand children into one day. That world is going a little bit crazy and yes 'no poo' isn't going to stop war and conflict, solve world hunger or provide desperate people a home. It is, however, reducing the number of chemicals and crap going onto me, down the water pipes and out to sea. Yes, I know it's only a teeny tiny percentage but it is something. I recently sat and heard a very lovely lady say, "If I can't eat it I won't put it on my body." I have a way to go to be able to say that truthfully myself but I am starting from the top, of my body, down.

Thirdly, I have been inspired. That lovely lady I just mentioned? That's Lucy AitkenRead and she writes an awesome blog, Lulastic and the Hippy Shake, and she has published a book, Happy Hair ~ The definitive guide to giving up shampoo. This has basically become my hair bible and is safely stored on my phone and iPad so I can dip in and out of it for some great advice. I have had the pleasure of meeting Lucy a couple of times over the past two years and earlier this month she spoke at Camp Bestival about her 'no poo' experiences and she was, for want of a better word, inspiring. Check out Kate and her luscious 'recently gone no poo' locks too! I left Lucy thinking, 'Right, I can do this.' Then, whilst reading Lucy's book I will admit to a little fist pump occurrence when I read this quote;
 "...curly hair takes to it very well!...the most satisfying thing is loving my hair in its natural state, without needing products to change or 'improve' it."  - Amy

So, upon my return from the festival I washed my hair.
With Head & Shoulders.
And conditioned it with Aussie products.
Slapped on my curling jelly.
Diffused it.
And styled it with my Wella oil.
And this is how it generally looked pre 'no poo'.

The curls would hold well for a day but would be unmanageable the next morning requiring more products and the cycle would start again.

So, I went for it and wrote it all down.

Day 1
I washed with Head & Shoulders. This was needed in order to wash out the parabens and sulphates from the aforementioned products. I conditioned with a paraben free Naked conditioner and I was good to go. Once dry my hair went into its 'I have no styling products on me so I am going to frizz and fluff and drive you mad'. And it did drive me mad. I wasn't that well planned. I had no Argan oil, no coconut oil, nothing to help me. I did have olive oil though and how different can that be?! Through sheer desperation I applied a minimal amount to my hair to kill the frizz and fluff. It kind of worked. I had no plans to leave the house and my friend who popped round didn't think I was that weird.
Day 2
The first glance in the mirror told me maybe olive oil wasn't the best look but the product remained in my hair so I twisted my curls and was good to go.
I went to Sainsbury's pronto to buy a tub of coconut oil and ordered some Argan oil online.

Day 3
I was off camping today so I washed my hair using the paraben free Naked conditioner then smoothed just less than half a teaspoon of coconut oil through the ends of my damp hair. I twisted the curls and dried with the diffuser and it didn't look too dissimilar to when I would pile on the curling jelly - just less 'crunchy'.

Day 4
My hair looked a little bit greasy through the front this morning - this is a rarity to me. Camping meant I had no products to hand so just twisted the curls through with my fingers and got on with the day.
Day 5
Very similar to yesterday!
Day 6
Ditto days 4 and 5 but today we climbed to the top of the Glastonbury Tor where the wind blew my hair through quite vigorously. This not only felt good but seemed to help that greasy feeling!

Day 7
One thing I am noticing is that I have no itchiness and there are no flaky bits of product in my hair. Today we went home from camp and this is how my hair was looking following nearly 5 days of no washing - a record for me!

A bit fuzzy round the back but generally, for me anyway, not too bad. I did feel in need of a wash though so attempted something new.

Lesson learnt; pouring a beaten egg over your head from a wide mouthed mug will result in most of it hitting the bath floor before your head! Post wash though and my hair was looking its usual self - but without the usual pile of products. Please note that these pictures were snapped not long after drying and my hair is never dried fully so the hair still looks wetter for a while.
Day 8
I just twisted the curls and was good to go - this regime is getting simple!
Day 9
Ditto day 8.
Day 10
I wanted a hair wash but just used water before the coconut oil. I am wary as I live in a hard water area and a friend found this to be awful on her hair and gave up 'no poo' as a result.

The hair was twisted again before diffusing almost dry.
Day 11
Usual twist and go!
Day 12
Ditto day 11. Tonight though I gave my scalp a massage as it just felt it needed a bit of a rub. This made my hair go completely messy and it was starting to feel 'heavy' at the roots so I planned an egg wash in the morning.
Day 13

I was better planned today and put my egg into a narrow bottle which enabled me to pour it a bit at a time over my scalp and rub it in and leave it for five minutes before conditioning with the coconut oil.

Once it was diffused today it looked 'softer' and less oily. Whether this was due to the better use of egg or just the progression of time I don't know.

Now what?
I will continue with this routine and monitor the condition of my hair and scalp. It seems to be going a little too well and I fear that something major is just around the corner - probably just as I go back to work! Maybe the curls are counteracting the lank feel many straight haired 'no pooers' encounter and I have yet to have an issue with any 'smells' - I do have a bottle of essential oils at the ready should that be an issue!

Have you gone no poo?
Would you be tempted to?!

x x x

Project 365 2015 #33

Week 33 of Project 365 for 2015 has been a lovely one stripping it all back to basics and enjoying some slow living camping and exploring.
Perfect.

Project 365 #33

Day 221
We headed off to Greenacres Camping and set up camp. The husband brought all our gear in the van, gave us a hand to pitch the tent and then it was just me and the kiddos for four nights under 'canvas'.
Day 222
Today started wet so we headed down to Montacute House. It was all going well until the boy caught the girl's finger in a gate - it got squished well and came out a lovely shade of purple. To cheer her up we bought some extra marshmallows on the way home for the campfire that night.
Day 223
We had a lovely afternoon on the beach at Brean Down today. The sun came out for us, we made an awesome sandcastle, ate ice cream and walked out on the natural pier giving us amazing views across to Wales.
Day 224
Today we headed to Glastonbury for a walk up the Tor. We then had a wander around the town where I spotted this awesome graffiti. Later, back home, strangely it came up randomly on my Facebook feed and I now know it is by a famous graffiti artist, Stik. So, Facebook taught me something!
Day 225
Back home today sadly. Luckily the forecast torrential downpours didn't arrive so we could decamp in the dry which is always a big plus. Back in the garden more sunflowers had come out.
Day 226
The boy's big tooth finally came out so for now he is known as Gappy!
Day 227
Following a lazy morning pottering at home we headed out to a local park for a kick around with the football and a play on the basketball court. Some good old fashioned parklife for a Saturday afternoon.

x x x

 



Brean Down {Country Kids}

We had a fantastic camping trip this week at Greenacres Camping and on a warm sunny day, as we live in land locked Wiltshire, we were desperate to go to the beach. We craved the sea, the beach, ice cream and space so we perused the map and decided to head out to Brean Down.

The approach road runs through caravan park alley with scatterings of shops, amusement arcades and pubs. Not what we were craving but I knew that there was a light at the end of this particular tunnel. Once we had driven as far as is physically possible we parked up in the National Trust car park - free for members otherwise £3 for the day - and unloaded the boot of the usual beach paraphernalia and necessities; beach tent, towels, picnic, drinks, swimming gear...crucial things missing!? Bucket and spades! Luckily there is a well stocked National Trust shop where we picked up two spades and a bucket and we were good to go.

We took the steps over the sea wall and before us found a surprisingly quiet beach which loads of space as the tide was, what looked like, miles out.

But this was fine as had our bucket and spades and we had tonnes of sand. Word of warning here - the beach is sandy but as you go out towards the sea at low tide there are dangerous mud flats and quicksand exposed, reassuringly the lifeguard was on his tannoy warning people if they ventured too far out. So, we stayed at the top of the beach and got digging. Led by the children we all dug out a moat, built castle walls, created turrets - with varying degrees of skills, mine being the worst, and blinged the exterior with tiny clam shells found on the beach by the girl.

And then we wanted people. "We should have brought our Lego men", said the boy. Then he had a genius idea, "Pebble people!" The two of them found pebbles and with a pen scavenged from my bag they set to work creating their own set of knights to protect the castle.

A couple of hours later and picnic consumed we started to hear the gentle swoosh of the waves as the tide began to come in. As the afternoon progressed the sun got brighter and brighter too; perfect timing for a dip in the channel.

The water was warm and with warnings not to go too far out the two of them were in and having an absolute ball.

With the bribe of ice cream before the shop shut we packed up our beach tent and went and chose our favourite Marshfield Ice Cream flavours - the best ice cream FYI! With sandy hands clutching waffle cones we headed up the 218 steps - as counted by the girl - to the top of the down; a natural pier a mile and half out to sea separating Brean from its neighbour, Weston-Super-Mare. We headed out to the end taking in the breath taking views all around us.

We finished the day picking up Fish and Chips from a chippy in Wells on our way back to our campsite - a perfect end to a perfect day.

If you're looking for a fantastic campsite in Somerset take a look here!

x x x