So I have been absent from the blogosphere for nearly a year now; 

but now I'm back with the blogging itch.

Selected some Instagram photos to give you an insight as to what's been going on in my life, some of which include excessive hair colouring (quel suprise), moving into the City and interning at new jobs! The cocktails and food speak for themselves; as does my waistline...

I'm interning at an absolutely great fashion label, working in the studio with some absolute babes and learning something new every day. Let's face it, if you're going to intern, it might as well be in something you're passionate about and I feel very strongly about not standing for being ill-treated just because you're not being paid - but that's going to be a whole new blog post in itself.

In the meantime, let's get talking!

I'm on Instagram (loismills) and Twitter (loismillsx) - let's connect.

images, lois mills  model, carolina mills

Pink Hair
So I've had pink hair for around two or three months now. It started off with an all over bleach that I hated, leaving me with bright yellow hair that I couldn't stand, so in a mad rush, I went out and found some semi-permanent pink hair dye by Stargazer and within half an hour, became a candy head.
Now, I cant seem to shake the obsession.

Sadly, my budget is not allowing me to go to a salon and have it professionally bleached and toned to a baby pink colour that I have grown to love, and so this blog post is about how I've managed (or not) to maintain and achieve the colour.

First, I googled everywhere about how to get pink hair (cheaply) and there was so much about using food colouring. With it being only 79p, I thought it was worth a shot, and with so many success stories all over the internet, how could it go wrong?
I'll tell you how - it didn't take to my hair.
I seem to be the only person who it didn't work for. Sure, it made it a little more pink than the faded orange colour it had gone, but it was not a permanent or sustainable fix, and I wasn't happy with the amount of patience that it required.

For quite some time now, I've had a pack of red hair dye floating around (one of my other near-crazes) and so the thought came to me - could I make the red dye pink? I mean, it works with paint, right?
There was only one useful post I could find on the internet, check it out, and see below of how I went about mimicking it. 

Step By Step:

First of all, I mixed up the red hair dye mixture. I sort of forgot it was a foam one, which made the process very difficult, but fine nonetheless. So yeah, I shook it and then poured it (scooped it) into a bowl. I then added lots and lots and lots of conditioner and stirred it all up with my hand - gross.
I started off by doing a strand, as I was unsure how the whole thing would turn out.
I only left it on for 5 minutes.
From the tester, it looked pretty red to be - kind of pink, but more red I decided after the comments from my older brother and little sister.
So then I cleaned out the shaking thing (that the dye came in) and poured in a mixture of conditioner and pink food colouring. To this, I then added three handfulls of the red foam dye and mixed it all up.
I then left it on for approx. 15 minutes.

As you can see from the bottom picture, it went a reddy/orangey/pinky colour, which I am actually pretty happy with. In real life it looks like a fantasy red-pink shade, but when my sister photographed it on her iPhone it looks luminous orange...bit awkward!

Maybe I left it on for too long or maybe I should have used more pink food colouring, but overall I am fairly happy with how it turned out, and am assured that it'll definitely last a hell of a lot longer than straight forward food colouring. 

The Weeknd

This weekend I saw The Weeknd at Wireless Festival.
I bet you're probably thinking that I stole the above image from some website; would you believe I took it on my own phone backstage? (Maybe the answer is yes, as the quality of my iPhone 3G isn't quite up to scratch in the world of megapixels)

I dont want to turn this into a bragging post, but I feel compelled to share my experiences of the day, as I have never had a day quite like it.

Missy & Myself

Those of you who know me on a personal level will know that my sister (featured above on the left) is in the world of music, something that I am frequently jealous of, and often consider upping my fashion roots and joining her. Usually, her being involved in such an industry never usually benefits me, but when she's friends with Drake's guitarist (Adrian) of whom is playing on the Saturday show, it all seemed to work in my favour.

Adrian hooked Missy (aka Claudia) and myself up with backstage passes for the event, and told us to meet him at the K West Hotel at 5pm that day.
Feeling a little disheartened at the fact that we were missing acts such as Rita Ora and Labrynth, I was unsure of what to now expect - in my head, we would meet him when the gates opened, we'd be handed free passes and the enjoy the day as we pleased.
It was only when we were sat waiting for Adrian and tabbing cocktails to his room number, that I began to get the impression that it might turn out just a little bit more exclusive.

Berry Fusion

Adrian, the rest of the band, Dinache (a backing singer for Colbie Callait, Rihanna, etc) and band manager came and met us for a few drinks, glasses of wine, mugs of Americano's to side the jetlag, shots of Patron XO, before we headed outside where a tinted-window car was waiting for us all.
We drove for what seemed like a good half hour to Hyde Park, where we were escorted by another car into  the backstage area. As we drove past, there were crowds waiting by the barriers, waving to us as the car went past, assuming that any vehicle that is escorted and driving slowly, contains someone of severe status.

As we got out the car, a variety of wristbands were instantly thrown onto us, before being quickly escorted into what looked like a metal container.

Drake's Backstage Area

Inside, as seen above, was a room filled with tables, candles and centre pieces on top. It was one big open space, with a buffet, sofas and lining the edge of the room were other doors, leading to other rooms. We were shown inside the one that was labeled 'Band', although I noticed there were others; 'Drake Management', 'Drake Hospitality Team' and 'Drake DR'.
Adrian was keen for us all to head straight back out and behind stage, eager that we wouldn't miss The Weeknd. As we left, I turned around to see a guy in a grey hoodie entering the room we just left. It was the man himself. Damn, I thought - I missed him.

Little did I expect to then find myself stood next to him backstage, nodding our heads to the beat of Abel's songs. I found myself turning to glance at him occasionally; as cool about it as I was trying to be, I was stood next to Drake for God sake; I had to have a peak. He turned to look at me at the same time, and unlike my prior fantasties, I didn't strike up some witty conversation, I didn't woo him with my pink hair and charm, but merely smiled weakly and turned away.

What happened after that involved bumping into Rita Ora, stuffing our faces with the free food, slurping up the free alcohol, and trying to be casual about the fact that I was eating chicken off the bone (something I usually would grimace at doing) whilst eyeing up Drake and The Weeknd chatting to various associates in the same room as us. It's hard to try and be cool and sexy when you're trying to swallow gristle.

Time flew past, and before anyone in the room knew it, it was time.
Drake gathered us all round in a circle before we left, and prayed; thanking God, thanking Toronto, thanking everyone in the room and blessing us all.

My sister and I ended up side stage with the other 'VIP's and watched the show, me with a rather strong combination of Gin and Ice Tea. The experience was totally surreal. And amazing. Though you would never in a million years believe all the mania that happens backstage; all the people that are required just for one act.

After the show, we all headed promptly back to 'our area', where Drake re-appeared in a grey tracksuit and socks, accepting everyone's congratulations on the show.
Claudia and myself sat around with Adrian and The Weeknd's producer, talking studio time, working out in Toronto, and an assortment of other things which didn't necessarily ring relevant to me.

It was time to go, to catch our train home, leave wonderland, and so with that, I followed my sister's confidence in saying bye to everyone.
First we went over to Abel (The Weeknd) and had a quick chat about the show, after which he hugged my sister, and then offered out to me; was I really just about to hug the guy who I've been playing on repeat since before he hit the mainstream? Idol is a strong word, but the love I've had for his music for over a year and a half is unlike any prior obsession.
We hugged, with me making a few sarcastic comments about sharing the love (too much time around Canadian's) on which moved onto his horror about my height in comparison to his, leaving the whole group analysing the height of my shoes - not quite glamorous or full of love, but a moment I will treasure nonetheless.

Drake at Wireless

My sister confidently approached Drake to say bye, of which they discussed his show and after party in LA (which she had attended), as I waited in the background, feeling a little out of place.
She turned to leave, when he held out his hand to me.
I took it, obviously.
He looked me in the eyes which made me feel totally starstruck and thanked me for being there.
What contribution I had made to his experience, I have no clue, but the polite sentiment was still greatly appreciated, and made me feel like I had a purpose to be there, rather than just the fashion tag-along in a music industry where everyone is so close knit.
I sad that I was the one who should be thanking him, wishing him a lovely evening and that maybe we'll see him at his show in the Fall, and with a smile, left.

I cannot thank Adrian and my sister enough for providing me a taste of what a magical world they call 'work', and maybe, just maybe, we'll all meet again.

So I am acutely aware that I don't spend as long focussing on my blog as I used to; and looking back to the reason I first started this blog, I have almost become hesitant to express myself on here - even though it was created for that sole purpose.

I'm feeling like I'm stuck in a bit of a rut recently and seem to be unable to come to the conclusion on any decision I have to make. I'm not sure what I want from anything and yet I feel a huge weight is upon me, as if everyone else wants everything from me.
I think one of my biggest issues right now is the fact that I'm not sure the paths I'm going down are the ones I want to be on anymore; and if they're not, then which direction to I bloody turn to now?


Dont settle, dont lose focus, dont limit yourself.

So, I've kind of been trying to be productive seeing as I am jobless (which has meant turning down two internships, sob) which has led me to put all my focus and attention into developing a site in which to sell all of my clothes. 

Those of you who know me personally will know quite how much wasted money funded my dirty habit of shopping, and now I feel it's time to finally clear out the closet. I also want to see if I can create a successful platform for selling via Tumblr, as it is one of the fastest and most on-trend social networking site of the moment. 

Pray for me that it works.

Out with the Old;
My sister and I have an unhealthy addiction with shopping, but more to the point, with buying stuff that we'll wear once and then never see again. My wardrobe in particular is overflowing with items that most of my friend's have never even seen me in.
My financial situation (I am the worst with money) has led me to make the brave move and clear out the closet, so get your hands on my first ten items here which are on sale until Wednesday.
If your a social butterfly, check us out on Twitter and Facebook.

Nearly There Now
Something very strange has happened to me; for the first time in my entire University life, I seem to have finished a portfolio with time to spare - deadline is Friday.
Usually I would still be up and doing it on the morning of the hand-in, but recently I've adapted some new geek ethos; come into Uni in the day and max it out from a usual 9am-5pm (albeit my attendance has consequently suffered) and then when you get home in the evenings, you have time to chill out and unwind.
You may be sat there thinking, 'well, durh' - but trust me, this is a revolutionised way of thinking for me.