Japan goals ver 2

3 years ago I posted My goals for study abroad in Osaka: get good at Japanese, make lots of friends, travel, practise guitar, go to lots of gigs and blog about my adventures. I think they're pretty sound goals! I'm going back to Japan, so I thought I'd do another list. Mostly the same ones, but I've got another couple of things I wanna keep on top of, plus things I learned from last time.

My Shizuoka goals//

Make friends!// Luckily I do have friends all over Japan, and I'll have people at work, but I want to make sure I make friends in Shizuoka who I can have fun with! Last time I was a student so it was comparatively easy to make new pals, but hopefully I won't be lonely this time...

Get involved with the community in some way// I want to make friends with my work colleagues, and I also want to enjoy and take part in Japanese traditions- things like going to a festival wearing yukata and visiting the temple at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Take the JLPT N1// It's been 2 years since I passed the N2, and I think that in summer next year I'll try and pass the highest level of the Japanese Language proficiency test. It's cheaper to take it in Japan rather than here in the UK, and although most jobs only want N2, I think I want N1 for my pride, haha. I also think it will be good to have a study goal now I'm not in uni any more.

Carry on cooking and baking// I want to keep eating healthily, and baking in particular is something that makes me really happy~ I especially want to make myself cute obento packed lunches! I'll definitely post them on instagram when I do ;)

Start saving money// I really want to have a teeny emergency nest egg of like a couple of hundred pounds in case things go wrong- this would make me feel a lot more calm and secure. (Like a real adult). I think I'll try and save like £50-100 a month?? Of course, I'm used to budgeting for food, rent and socialising at uni, but next year there will be other expenses I'm not used to- like health insurance, and separate bills (we opted for bills inclusive rent in uni to save arguments). Also, my laptop and phone are both getting a little older (please don't die on me please) so I need to think about big ticket items like that. Basically my main goal for next year is not to lose money.

Take photos every day// I take a lot of photos, but I always tend to regret not taking more- for example, I don't have as many of Leeds as I'd like, or of my favourite side streets in Osaka.
Also related to this is: post on instagram more regularly, and keep blogging at least once a week.

Japanese youtube channel// I definitely won't have much time for video editing, and blogging is my baby and always will be, but I do want to dip my toe into making some Japanese language content. I've tried filming a couple of times, but It's scary actually talking in videos though. :') Does anyone else feel like their voice sounds suuuper weird? Ahahah. I'll obvs let you guys know if I do end up posting anything on my Japanese channel (it will all have English subtitles, just like all my English videos have Japanese subtitles rn).

Walk/ cycle to work every day// I'm not a huge one for going to the gym, but I do like walking. I'd really like to live close enough to work to be able to walk/cycle to work and get my exercise and fresh air in every day.

Have a v aesthetic apartment// I'm staying at my friend's house at first, but hopefully during the year I'll move out and I'll be living on my own for the first time ever(!!). While I won't have tonnes of money to spend on a super zazzy place, I want to make sure it's nice :) I'm thinking MUJI and plants.

Travel// I won't have too much time off, but I want to explore more on my days off- I especially want to visit north Japan and Shikoku, both of which I didn't get to last time~
I also want to have a cute romantic onsen trip <3

Plan my future!// I have a lot of decisions left to make- where to go next etc. So I wanna sort myself out :)

So that's me! Thanks for reading! Do you have any tips for moving to a new place/ starting work?? I'd love to know!! <3
-Amy xoxo

So I've been keeping this kind of secret but (I'm going to Japan) // My emergency bleached hair care plan and mini wish list/ haul// Pink hair with Bleach London Rosé shampoo: review and befored and after//

大阪パリピツアー♡// Things I want to do in Osaka

So as I said the other day, I'm off to Japan again, and while I'll be based in Shizuoka, I'll be flying in to Osaka- my favourite city ♡
I lived on the outskirts of Osaka for a year on my year abroad, so I have sooo many good memories there. It's been a while since I was there, and I'm sure some things will have changed, but I'm soooooo excited to go back ♡ I'm not going to spend long there this time, so I've made a lil plan so I can hopefully make the most of being in Osaka!

So I've been keeping this kind of secret but

AHHHHHH I'm going back to Japan for the next year!!!
This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while, and I was going to write that "I don't know why I kept this so quiet". Well I do know actually, it's because my visa took about a million years (well, a few months, longer than we expected) to come and I was convinced that it would never come and I would have to give up on all my dreams and be unemployed forever (I was waiting for a while, it killed me a little...)
Buut,
I'm going to be in Shizuoka for a year! Doing a real person job!

My emergency bleached hair care plan and mini wish list/haul

So gang, I don't know if it's noticeable on the blog, but since cutting my hair short, it has a) got a lot shorter (I'm still not used to it) and b) got a bit thinner. I have been vaguely trying to grow it out, but I'm still bleaching it so I'm not particularly expecting miracles length-wise. My hair tends to go in seasons- from feeling really happy and smooth to feeling dry, sad, and yet still somewhat greasy, mmm. So a couple of weeks ago, my hair was feeling really dry and sad, so I decided to ramp up my hair routine and take even more care than normal of my poor abused hair.

PVMNTS @ Key Club, Leeds 22.05.18

Soo I went to see PVMNTS with my girls in May, and never got round to blogging about it! It's been a while, so I think I'll keep it short and sweet today!

Pink hair with Bleach London Rosé Shampoo (review and before and after)

So I've had this Rosé shampoo for a while now, and I've got to the end of the bottle as I've been using it pretty regularly- this is possibly the last chance I'll have to do my hair pink for a while, so I made the most of it! The shampoo is a pretty versatile product- you can use it just to warm up your hair, to maintain pink dyed hair or to actually add a light pink tint to your hair.

Before//

I used it on silver/white bleached hair:

After// 

After one wash, the pink tint is kind of visible, but if you use it for about three or four times in a row when you wash your hair, the pink is definitely noticeable. Not as bright as if you'd gone ahead and used a dye, but definitely noticeable. I think it's more noticeable under artificial light:

Application//

I've had the pink turn out quite patchy before- the shampoo is pretty pigmented so be really careful that when you shampoo your hair and make sure you're distributing it evenly. Or you can mix it with some normal shampoo so it's a bit less pigmented and easier to apply- this is what I ended up doing a lot because I have no time for patchiness. (One time I basically had an accidental pink fringe when it only took to the fringe and the top of my hair where I'd slapped the shampoo on at the start... not the look I was going for...) It also isn't great at colouring my yellowish roots, although it's not an actual hair dye so maybe I'm asking too much on that front.

I also use this if I've been using too much silver shampoo- my hair sometimes gets a greenish blueish tint if I'm not careful, and Rosé shampoo is great for getting rid of that and warming up my hair a bit.

Although I occasionally use it to add a tint to my hair, I definitely wouldn't recommend leaving it on your hair for too long as it's not a treatment or conditioning vegetable based dye, it's a shampoo that will dry out your hair if you let it. I only leave this on for the time it takes to shampoo my hair, and then rinse it straight out after about a minute. If you really want brighter or longer lasting pink hair, go for Bleach's Rosé dye or something like Directions' Carnation Pink, both of which I've used before and recommend.

Longevity// 

If you keep using this on white bleached hair, your hair will stay light pink. Otherwise, I've managed to get all the pink colour out in one or two washes with a normal shampoo. If you're really stuck and need to get back to a silver colour fast, I'd use silver shampoo or a clarifying shampoo. But I love using this shampoo for a subtle pink tone that's about as non-commitment as you can get.

Did it stain my hair//

No, but it did take on some parts of my hair more than others, as I mentioned earlier, so I do recommend mixing it with a tiny bit of normal shampoo to help avoid this problem. In general though, I think pink is one of the colours that tends to wash out easier and I've never had a problem getting my hair back to white after using this shampoo.

Cost//

At £7 per 250 ml bottle, it's not too expensive, as you can colour or add a pink sheen to your hair multiple times, or just use it as a normal shampoo if you've got pink hair already (obviously your £1 supermarket shampoo is cheaper but). It's cheaper to just add some pink dye to your own shampoo, or if you're looking for a brighter pink, to add it to your conditioner or hair mask.

Overall//

I think it was a nice product- quite pigmented and it smells good. I used it all up, which I wouldn't have done if it was a terrible product. I did like this and was glad I tried it, but it's definitely cheaper to make your own. When I use this I always mix it in with a teeny bit of normal shampoo to dilute it, because it's quite pigmented and can leave pink patches if you're not careful. Also, if you're specifically wanting to dye your hair pink, and aren't worried about needing it to be subtle or if you don't need to get back to normal asap, I'd definitely just buy an actual pink hair dye- a lot of them are probably going to be kinder on your hair, compared to a drying shampoo. (check out my post comparing Bleach London's Rosé and Directions' Carnation Pink, both hair dyes I recommend).

But if you want a pink tint to your hair with no commitment, are trying to get rid of green tones in your hair, or have pink hair 24/7 and want to use this to help maintain the colour, I'd definitely recommend this <3

Thanks for reading! Have you ever used pink shampoo?

Edited to add: I repurchased this to help combat green tones in mine and my sister's hair every once in a while. I like having a bottle lying around, it's reassuring...

Hair update: Barely there pink hair with DIY pink shampoo// Bleach London Fade to Grey Grey toner// review and before and after// Bleach London Rosé vs Directions Carnation Pink

East London day// Brick Lane vintage kilo sale haul and OOTD

Today is another *flashback* kind of post- I have a fair few outfits and photos from last year that I didn't share as I was too busy dying and trying to wrangle my dissertation... but luckily all that's behind me now, so I'm getting to work on the backlog :) This day was at the end of January, the best part of a year ago(!!) when me and my friend Lizzie had a day in London <3