How To: Change Hair Color With Minimal Bleaching

   I haven't made a beauty post in forever- mainly because I kind of have lost interest in the whole "beauty blogger" gig but this is pretty relevant I guess so I'm just going to proceed on.
   There's no doubt about it. My hair is damaged. Mainly from having an obsession with hair straightening that started off in 7th grade and has gone downhill from there but also partly from dyeing and bleaching my hair since the 5th grade. I had black hair for quite awhile which was a great lifesaver because it requires no bleach and also I barely ever had to re-dye it. Overall, a great decision and four month break. I of course got bored and basically destroyed all hair I had with excessive Ajax and baking soda treatments when the most efficient (and least damaging) thing was Color Oops. I then had an unfortunate incident with trying to go blonde and bleaching my hair three times in one day (REALLY bad idea) just to go back to black. Later on, I color oopsed one half of my hair and went Ash Costello using Adore Truly Red and Kaleidocolors bleach (it was an absolutely disgusting color and consistency- it also didn't work awesome and is about the same price as Clairol which is A+)

I basically had a constant soundtrack of "Death Of The Party" playing where ever I went

It overall didn't kill my hair but definitely wasn't great for it. The red faded quickly though (I also couldn't wear any color aside from black with it) so I ended up color oops-ing the rest of my hair and also bleaching to go to a purplish-pink (using Adore Violet Gem mixed with a bit of Adore Pink Rose).

I've always wanted to do a half and half and Harper (the scene queen who dyes my hair) was leaving for camp soon so I took the opportunity and went half blue half pink because it reminded me of cotton candy. That is currently the hair I have on my head!!

Though one of my biggest problems with hair dye is fading incredibly fast (ex: my purple hair earlier in the year) but to get the blue in and the purple on one side out, this was quite the opposite. I tried about everything- Vitamin C (crush up tablets, mix them up with Head and Shoulders, put on hair and let soak), Over-washing with hot water and Head and Shoulders shampoo, and the worst of all, baking soda (NEVER do it- this treatment does just about the same damage as bleaching and by then it's just worth it to resort to bleach). It wasn't coming out. The purple had faded to kind of an orange tinted purple shade but it definitely wasn't enough to dye blue over and at that point, I was way too over excited for this color and didn't want to wait and do more treatments over the next month (if your hair is completely fried, just keep washing with Head and Shoulders and hot water and you'll be good in a few weeks) and I have a little bit of life left in my hair so I resorted to the bleach bath. 

NOTE: a bleach bath is really the last resort- you don't want to do it unless you really can't wait like me or it REALLY isn't coming out (this mainly applies to darker blues) 

A bleach bath isn't nearly as scary as it sounds- yes it will damage your hair because that's what bleach does but won't hurt it as much as a regular bleach process will. Basically, what you do is take any shampoo you've got (I recommend Head and Shoulders) and mix it with about a packet of bleach (I've got short hair but a TON of it and one worked just fine on me) and developer (really doesn't matter what volume- I used 40 because I'm an idiot and that's all I had)- there's no real ratio. Whatever feels right I guess. Then, apply to hair as you would with regular bleach. I mainly focused on the side I wanted to do blue but since I had some mixture left over and wanted to go a lighter pink, I put a bit of it on the other side too. 

Even though I used to bleach my hair and used to have blonde bits all the time when I was younger, my locks are basically done with me at this point, their big "fuck you" to me is to never get to a decent blonde. This was surprisingly the only time in months I've gotten a good blonde!! This picture was taken because Sam thought the horrible bleach job on the pink side of my head was really funny but look how actually blonde it is!!

Since I was really worried about horrible damage on my hair (I'd bleached it fully a couple weeks before), I used two Not Your Mother's Intensive Hair Renewal Treatment packets I'd gotten from Ricky's the day before. Though my hair didn't feel better than before I'd done the bleach, it definitely wasn't as disgusting and unbearable to touch as last time. After letting my hair dry (no heat!!), Harper applied Adore Pink Rose on one side and Adore Baby Blue on the other. The final product was this cute thing:

I'm super duper happy to finally have half and half hair and feel like the emo Melanie Martinez. I'm real excited for it to start to fade and look a little more pastel-y- I've had it for a little over a week now and have taken around three showers using room temperature water and the blue has turned slightly teal which is pretty cool. Overall, I'm #livin #lovin life and my mom is questioning wether or not she wants to be seen in public with me. 

A Talk On Front Porch Step

   If you don't feel like reading the entire statement I've got prepared, this sentence sums it all up: Warped needs to get their shit together. Let's take this back a couple months. In January, the band's single member, Jake McElfresh was accused of sexual harassment of multiple underage girls through text and in person confrontations. Screenshots of messages got out and all hell broke loose- there was a pretty obvious divide: the ignorant Front Porch Step fans that were excited to see their favorite band at Warped and those actually concerned for victims of McElfresh's actions and future young girls he could possibly harm. Even if McElfresh had learned his lesson and wouldn't repeat this, those who manipulate and harm anyone should NOT be given opportunities to thrive within this industry. There was a petition started against Front Porch Step playing the tour and though it did not reach it's ultimate goal, conversation was sparked and founder, Kevin Lyman, said he was dealing with it- around two days later, the band was dropped from Pure Noise and Allison Weiss, who had planned to tour the UK with McElfresh, made a statement saying she had left the tour. Though radical and great procedures were being made, there continued to be no statement from Lyman. In the end, a statement on Lyman's twitter was made that FPS would not be attending. However, on July 1, In Nashville, our favorite band was due to play. Needless to say, I along with thousands of others, were furious. How dare Lyman allow this to happen? Especially after calling him off? Thankfully, there was countless backlash against McElfresh on multiple member's of tour's twitters telling him to not stick around or else "you want to find out what half the people on this tour want to do to you" and to see Man Overboard at the same time instead. Dan "Soupy" Campbell even cancelled his performance in the acoustic basement due to play after FPS. There were even discussions at band tents on the issues of allowing a sexual abuser play a major music festival. Although most of the right publicity for the performance was displayed, there was inevitably going to be comments from fans supporting him. Most supporters claimed there was no evidence against McElfresh's actions along with saying they'd see him at Warped. Luckily, this was a complete one time thing, FPS played twenty minutes and then left. On a music website, it was said that this performance was a part of a rehabilitation process and that supervisors were there, Warped Tour also did not pay him. Lyman reported, "Since no one has filed a charge, for me it’s time to move on. He’s not on the whole tour, this is one piece of a puzzle of trying to bring people back that have made mistakes in their lives. He could be going to jail, and if there had been charges against him I assure you he wouldn’t have been here." Though this statement is riddled with many different controversial things (such as why is performing in front of fans !!the people he's hurt!! part of his therapy) the line that sticks out the most to me is "this is one piece of a puzzle of trying to bring people back that have made mistakes in their lives." zoom in a little more on one single word: MISTAKES. What Jake McElfresh did is NOT a mistake. Forgetting to lock the door behind you before you leave the house is a mistake. Sexual harassing multiple underage girls is a crime. Jake McElfresh did not make a mistake. He committed a crime. To sum up this large hunk of writing, I am livid Warped and Kevin Lyman allowed Front Porch Step to play this year's Nashville date and I believe the incident has sparked some great conversation on how to make music festivals like this more safe and how to avoid things like this. Overall, this entire situation is a wake up call towards Warped Tour. If something like this happens again, I can guarantee I will not be attending the festival next year. 

Research:
♥Kevin Lyman Explains Why Front Porch Step Played Today's Warped Tour: 'This Was a One-Time Supervised Part of a Rehabilitation Process'
♥Musicians React to Front Porch Step Playing Warped Tour
♥Everything We Know About The Sexual Harassment Allegations Front Porch Step
♥Front Porch Step Speaks Out In Lengthy Statement "You deserve to hear my side of the story"

i'll get a heart tattoo

lots and lots and lots has happened. wow. I just have so many cute pictures and moments that i want to share that i've just decided to compile them all here.

I went to see my grandma last Friday. Most of my family on my mom's side is located outside Center City Philadelphia in cute towns that look so homey and wholesome and different from New Jersey. We visited the cake shop I used to go to when I was a really little kid and get petite fours with my name on them.

I took my little sister, Rachel, to see Heffron Drive at Webster Hall the other night. I'm not a big fan of the band (Rach loved Big Time Rush and we kind of have an inside joke about Kendall Shmidt).

The opening act, Janet Devlin, was actually gorgeous- very folk (a mandolin!!) and had a really haunting voice- maybe only good music that night.

Pretty close to Kendall himself. The show was completely acoustic which I found pretty cool- I wish I actually liked them. The crowd however, was disgusting. There were constant choruses of "take off your shirt" and other (more sexualizing) comments.

yours truly and Janet Devlin. 

(me waiting on the curb after the show)

I've been watching quite a lot of Almost Famous it's one of those movies that doesn't really get old for me. This overall "Tiny Dancer" scene really got me last time. I don't know why. 

the 4th of july was a thing. the gang lit sparklers and slept in a tent. a lot of fall out boy was played. 

very uneventful post, kind of just a collection of things I want to remember I guess.

pretty pretty (playlist)

playlist of pretty songs with pretty lyrics and melodies and structures.

"I promised myself I wouldn't let you complete me"

♥"Is There Somewhere"- Halsey
♥"Watch That Man"- David Bowie
♥"Hold Me Down"- Halsey
♥"You Know I'm No Good"- Amy Winehouse
♥"I Am Not In Love Anymore"- Liza Anne
♥"Panic In Detroit"- David Bowie
♥"Legit Tattoo Gun"- The Front Bottoms 
♥"Wild World" (live)- Cat Stevens 
♥"Jet Pack Blues"- Fall Out Boy
♥"Clone"- Metric 
♥"Love Is a Losing"- Amy Winehouse
♥"Funny You Should Ask"- The Front Bottoms
♥"Too Bad About Your Girl"- The Donnas
♥"Clairvoyant"- The Story So Far
♥"Bodies"- The Sex Pistols
♥"The Wanderlust"- Metric
♥"Too Far Gone"- Sir Sly
♥"You Wanna Get Me High"- The Donnas

pretty pretty from annlouise on 8tracks Radio.

i don't have to be a lady, i don't have to be your baby

   Lately, I have been getting into a lot of Kate Nash and The Donnas all over again. I don't know why. I maybe just have been in an angsty teen girl mood lately. My recent favorites have included:

Kate Nash- "Mansion Song" 

the beginning is my favorite- I really like when she kind of just screams or talks really angrily like in "Rap For Rejection" or the second verse of "Conventional Girl". I hadn't listened to Kate Nash for awhile which is quite sad because I remember when she used to be all I was into. 

                               

The Donnas- "Too Bad About Your Girl"

The Donnas are overall one of my favorite girl bands- they're just really fun and their lyrics have a certain humor to them. The energy in this one is incredible and the lyrics are really fun to just blast and sing along to. 

Florence + The Machine- "Swimming"
I had a Florence phase in the beginning of the year where I just obsessively played all her albums and nothing else and this is by far, my favorite song of hers. It's so calming and her vocal range is gorgeous.
(Speaking of angsty girls, there's a documentary on Netflix called The Punk Singer that is all about Kathleen Hanna and Riot Grrrl and is one of the best things ever and I'd recommend it to anyone!!)

    Me and my friends have been cute as always. The other week, Aran, Sam, Harper and I spent the Friday night together. We found a shopping cart from the local super market on the field and Aran rode down the hill on it. He also took photos of us in front of a wall. What a true friend. 

what a bunch of cool, edgy, teens

   I just finished my journal. It's always weird finishing a notebook because the new one is always hard. My lovely girlfriend bought me a really pretty book and I covered it in stickers from the Rookie Yearbook 3 and free ones I got from a meet up with Tavi Gevinson. I've been carrying it around in my purse so when I start up classes at LIM, I can just write down song lyrics or bits of poetry or random thoughts I get when I'm sitting in parks or in the middle of class or something, I don't know. 

    My hair is pink/purple. I don't really know what color it is. It was originally purple dye but I liked Harper's color so much we mixed some of that dye in too. It depends on who you talk to. I call it pink. I really like how it looks and feel a million times more confident. Woo. 

   As a gay female blogger, I feel as though I am obligated to talk something about the new laws on same sex marriage which are incredible!! and really really awesome!! This definitely isn't the end of discrimination (My wedding will not be held in Indiana or South Carolina anytime soon), it's a really huge step in the right direction. When my mom found out the news, she called me up telling me to marry a "nice jewish girl" and demanded grandchildren. My band, Phantomized, also showed our pride with a snazzy logo change for the day 

I was in charge of putting it up and ended up writing up a post that looked like it was done by Harper and Sam about how proud they were and how it "really hit close to home" for their lovely guitarist, Ann, who is "very gay and very happy".

   I've started up writing music again which is great because that always makes me happy. My two latest songs have been for my girlfriend, Madison. I'm mostly proud of "Picket Fence Yard Song" even though it is a little strange- Madison argues that it isn't weird, just she doesn't understand what I'm talking about at certain points. 

I start up LIM in about two weeks- I'll have much more to talk about then.

i wasn’t born to be a skeleton

Hi hi hi- so in my last post, I had a whole thing on how my hair was fully black which was a rather short lived phase. Last week, I made the impulse decision to put a shit ton of red in my hair and I love love love it and feel super punk and like Ash Costello. I've also gained a considerable amount of weight due to excessive snacking but I feel like a badass bitch. 

♥Buffy The Vampire Slayer tee: hand-me-down

♥tennis skirt: thrift (eat your heart out American Apparel and your $50 skirts)

♥chunky sandals: Nordstrom (I'd like to thank jesus and BP fashion board for giving me a 30% discount)

really classic emo kid photo

i’ll steal your honey like i stole your bike

*title from the best song of ALL TIME, "Summer Girls" by Lyte Funkie Ones*
Wow. I haven't done anything here for AWHILE. Before I get back on track, I have a couple $uper cool updates:
♥My hair is black again. Yeah I realize the exact thing I'd been working SO hard to get out is right back in again. I had blue, purple, and green hair for a hot second but it was absolutely terrible so it's back 2 black. I look a little something like this at the moment:

classic ann in class selfie

♥I SAW ALL TIME LOW!! The band I have been talking about since the blog has started I saw live about a week or so ago in New York. Sam and I waited ten hours (God bless her) in a line that just got fucked over by VIPs but I met Adam Elmakias and saw all the members walk by. I was going to write a post about it but nothing can do it justice. To sum it all up, the concert was this:

I couldn't stop sobbing through "6 Feet Under The Stars", "Damned If I Do Ya", "Stella", "Therapy", and "Lost In Stereo"- I immediately calmed at my all time least favorite song, "Missing You" 

just me and a friend

State Champs- I actually really like their music but they completely were horrible live due to encouraging rowdiness and making literally no comments towards the people trying to leave due to panic attacks. 

Jenna McDougall is a sweet baby angel live. End of story.

Seeing my favorite band was super overwhelming

Back view when Sam and I left the crowd to make an easier exit by the end

beginning of the day of Sam Slaughter and Ann Ambulance waiting in the eternal line

us outside ATL's tour bus (yes I did cry)

 ♥Wanted to share my Converse that I decorated with Valentine's decorations from last year when I was into making wild headbands (still love doing it- just haven't had the time). These shoes were kindly given to me for free from a marketer from the company

♥I finished BP- the program wasn't the greatest but sure looks good on college applications and I got free coffee so why not? I have re-applied because the girls are so sweet and I find out wether or not I got in in a few days!! 
♥I have new music up on Soundcloud along with my band, Phantomizing's first cover of "I Miss You" by Blink182 

I promise to be much better with posting this month (May was kind of wild)

Misconceptions of the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" Trope

 

Lately, the entire idea and trope of "the manic pixie dream girl" has been my favorite topic/argument within not just film making, but modern media. So what is this manic pixie dream girl? Well, the name stemmed from a review of Elizabethtown done by Nathan Rabin. Rabin describes Kristen Dunst's character as

"that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."

hence, the popular term in American film making towards movies such as 500 Days of Summer, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Almost Famous, Juno, and a ton of others. Discussing the sexism in the MPDG is beating a dead horse- it's been talked about for months and months but what is an honest to god, ukulele playing, Smiths fan, record enthusiast, manic pixie dream girl and a woman who has been deemed perfect by a man when in actual life, has flaws (and is usually quite problematic)? These two separate plot lines usually end up getting lost in translation and it's because sometimes, it's hard to tell wether or not the male protagonist has made this woman out to be a MPDG or that is her actual character. 

   500 Days of Summer is most definitely the best example of an "ironic manic pixie dream girl" and it's pretty fucking obvious. I mean it hits you right in the opening sequence when some of the characters recall what love means to them and our protagonist, Tom, is silent. Also, Tom's backstory is a huge red flag- he grew up on romance movies and has basically been depressed all his life because he hasn't found "the one"- he has been looking for a MPDG all his life. When Summer comes around, she not only has a backstory (something most MPDGs don't get) full of flaws but also really has no interest in Tom. She has her own opinions and openly tells Tom she doesn't want a relationship yet Tom is still convinced she's his soulmate because they like the same Smiths song (their biggest hit by the way) and had a fun time at Ikea. If the entire plot within Summer and Tom doesn't put out a giant waving banner saying "END THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL" than Tom's friend, Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler!!) is the instant message- Paul describes his hot dream girl who loves sports but then says he loves his girlfriend more because she's real. The entire meaning of the film is that though we can dream up our quirky, magical, partners, they aren't real and true love isn't based off of your expectations but how you actually feel for someone. 

   But wait!! What about all the other movies listed? The three other films said previously just so happen to be other misconceptions of this trope (wow Ann how did you do that?)! Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is not only one of my favorite movies but also book series. Ramona Flowers definitely can come off as an MPDG though with her rollerblades and multi-colored hair but is actually quite the opposite. Scott is almost parallel to Tom- he's been depressed lately and has been broken up with his dream girl so when he sees this woman in his dream, he convinced she's the one. Ramona is getting over her own problems though and really isn't looking for a relationship when Scott approaches her. She breaks things off multiple times and in all, is extremely cold towards Scott yet he keeps fighting for her even when their relationship is on thin ice. But there's a reason for this- just like Tom, Scott has this idea of what romance is due to his rough breakup with Envy Adams and him believing he was in love with her when she was horrible towards Scott. He thinks of Ramona as Envy in the way she's tough and upset with her life and latches on. Ramona isn't the manic pixie dream girl, Scott is just living in a delusion that she is. Onto my favorite movie of all time, Almost Famous, I can see how Penny Lane can seem like a MPDG in her carefree attitude but just like Ramona and Summer, is afraid of commitment and isn't very interested in the male protagonist. She explodes at Will multiple times and claims she's leaving him for his own good because he's just so infatuated with her when she isn't as innocent, quirky, or fun as he thinks. Juno is just like this but a little bit more twisted when Mark, a man much older than her and the adoptive father of her child, claims he's in love with her. Mark is obviously unhappy with his marriage and when Juno, a cute, angsty, quirky even, teenager comes into his life, he's at a last resort with love and claims he wants to be with her, ultimately scaring Juno away. 

   In all, this manic pixie dream girl character doesn't just extend to film, it's expressed in many different songs (ex: "Five Colors in Her Hair" by McFly) and it's pretty fucking hard to mix an actual MPDG up with a man obsessed with a girl who he believes to be. 

kick me in the face please it’ll make whatever i say sound like poetry

Yet another post where John takes photographs of me and Sam and I look about the same in every single one. On Saturday, John and Sam came over and we walked to town to get my hair cut because I had yet another over the trash can haircut that needed to be a wee bit corrected. We then got pizza and hair dye and I basically felt sorry for myself because of my hair.

me looking slightly like a stereotypical manic pixie dream girl

sam wrote out "pop punk pizza" in tribute to jarrod alonge (but completely forgot the last word)

we brought john's penny board to the park and i really have no clue what sam is doing 

john and i going ham on just dance

sam being an angsty teen and me sniffing a flower?

pretty typical post. I have cute friends and they take cute photos and I'm slightly cute.