Category Archives: tips

Hair Growth Myths & Growing Long Hair

Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something.


Long hair. Some of us crave it.  My hair is now longer, but in this photo I wore extensions to get my shoulder length hair to be the look I wanted.


I began my hairdressing career in 2004 and from that time I feel like I have heard it all.   As a licensed professional there is nothing better than being told by clients a) how to do your job or b) that they know better than you (and your mentors, instructors, textbooks, licensing exams) or that your knowledge is incorrect.  


From my time working in salons I have heard quite a lot of myths from misinformed clients.  There is one type of client I have had in my chair that confuses me the most. The girl who believe her hair can grow to a certain point and stops growing.  Those people you know who you are.


‘Who me?’  Yes. You. 
The thing you should know about hair growth is that your hair is in a continual cycle of phases.  About 90% of your hair will be in the Anagen or growth phase.  The other 10% will be either in Catagen or regressing phase and Telogen, the resting phase.  On top of that there are many different factors that can affect your hair growth and the health of your hair.  Things like your health, age, medicines, your diet, and how much sunshine you are exposed too. Ever heard of a Vitamin D deficiency?  Its very common in England.  Then of course theres alway the factor of heredity.  I have known a few friends who were blessed with always having very strong and very long hair and nails that grew like wildfire. It is in there genes.  
So back to the client who is telling me her hair touches her shoulders and then it all stops growing.  Though there are many kinds of hair loss, including after pregnancy, this is not one of them. If it was I was I would have heard about it. It is also not a disorder, which I have gotten most recently from a woman as part of her defense for my ignorance in hair growth.  
Your hair does not have eyeballs.  So it cannot say ‘hey I am now to her shoulders, we must all stop growing now. Heaven forbid she gets long enough hair to do this!’ (See image directly above).  If you were to shave your hair at that point you would see that your hair is still growing a week later.  It works just the same as the hair on your legs. If you dont shave it, it will keep growing.  
Aside from what was mentioned earlier there are other factors that can affect your goal of getting longer length of hair.  This includes how well you take care of your locks.  
1) SHAMPOO: If you are using a really harsh shampoo and using it every day you have higher risk for less than awesome looking hair.  I honestly believe that washing your hair with shampoo should happen no more than twice a week.  The in between times you use really warm water in the shower and scrub your scalp well.  I suggest natural shampoos free of chemicals, but to go the ‘sulfates free’ route if you are choosing a shampoo from your stylist or salon.  
2) TRIMS:  This can go both way.  If you skip your regular trims because you want to ‘keep all your length’ you risk losing more length in the process.  Why? Split ends.  The truth of the matter is split ends can split faster than your hair can grow.  So chew on that for a while.  However if you are getting regular trims and you do not see your hair getting any longer it could be a case of too much of a good thing. Either you are getting your hair trimmed too frequently and/or your hair stylist is cutting off too much in the trims.  If you wait forever to get your hair trimmed and then do it just twice a year you probably see less growth because more has to be taken off due to the health of your ends. 
3) TOOLS: Basically anything you do to your hair affects the growth. It is sorta like how people say ‘everything will kill you’.  Everything can damage your hair, including twirling it around your finger.  Your hair is dead once it leaves the follicle, despite the snazzy advertising campaigns of shampoo and hair product companies.  Heat can be the worst. So if you are a slave to your hair dryer and other heat tools you may want to second think that if you want to grow your hair longer.  
4)WET TO DRY:  Do you brush your hair when its wet? Your hair can stretch so much longer when it is wet than when it is dry, which means breakage.  You honestly should never let a hairstylist use any sort of brush in your hair until your hair is 70% dry.  A wide tooth comb and your fingers is good enough until your hair gets to that point.  Then switch to brushes.  
Honestly there are so many factors that can affect your hair it may take a little time to tweak things in your life and see how it changes things over time.  I do not blame you if you were under this assumption that your hair can only grow so long and then it just stops.  But lets be real. 
Image found from Tumblr not sourced.
If you are feeling a bit bummed about this shocking truth, here is a funny image I found about how girls react to getting their hair cut.  It is funny because it is true. 
So if you want long hair and you cannot wait you can always go the extensions route.  It is what I did and I am not ashamed to say it. I only wish I had known about it before. 😉  I currently do not wear them now because my hair has caught up with them so its kinda pointless.  Even if you do not wear them daily, it can be fun for special occasions and nights out on the town.  
PS. COCONUT OIL.  I swear by it.  Best thing for your hair and for growth. 
Q: Hit me with your hair  and beauty questions, what do you want to know?

#BlogEveryDayInMay

*photographs found here belong to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

When People Oppose and Attack You

Today is the eight day of May with the Blog Every Day in May challenge.  Feel free to join in and if you catch this anytime through out the month feel free to just jump right in.  Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.


Today’s post may seem quite short in the spectrum of my normal long winded thoughts or photography heavy posts.  I honestly believe the advice I have to give can prevent a whole lot of stress, heartache, and toxicity from others into your life.  Maybe what I have to say will not benefit you personally, but someone close to you.  Whatever the case may be I hope this wisdom can heal or protect hearts of others.

Advice from Bonnie Rose:Do not let unsolicited advice or negative judgments from others affect your heart, mind, and soul.  If you care too much about the negative judgements and  toxicity of others, it will in turn make your life toxic too.  Only heartache and stress can come of it.” – Bonnie Rose (author of A Compass Rose blog)

No joke. Every time someone in my life has said something angry, negative, or mean towards me they have had something else going on in their life.  Of course at the time I will inevitably get sad, hurt, and even angry by response.  How else would you react to someone throwing unsolicited advice, negative comments, or hateful actions about you?  In retrospect looking back at the many times this has happened, every time the person throwing this toxicity into my life has been dealing with something personal in their own life.  To state it simply people like to point fingers or address the wrong in others before looking at their own life and to avoid dealing with their own problems.  

There was the friend whose parents were going through a divorce, or the friend dealing with an impending divorce in secret, or the family member going through a miscarriage  and trying to get pregnant.  Just three examples of people dealing with real and seriously life issues that have decided to throw dirt in my face, so to speak.  Real people going through real problems and then attacking someone else for whatever reason, be it true or false. To be honest I took them out of my life and focused on those that really mattered.  I only wish I knew back then what I see plainly now.  Whatever angry and toxic comments and actions they were directing at me was just them covering up and ignoring their own problems.  It is not right, it certainly is not fair, and it most definitely is not nice.  But you do not have to let the negative unsolicited advise of others affect you so deeply.  

If it happens take a moment to mediate and reflect.  Obviously if you are in real danger or there is a threat, act accordingly.  But if their attack is not all that threatening and it just involves you ignoring them, blocking them out, or removing their toxicity from your life  then do the later.  

We may not be able to control other people but you can control how you react.

Sometimes people oppose or attack your choices simply
because they are different or remind them of their own.
Don’t let it get to you, be kind and make decisions you
know are good for yourself and the world.  Question everything. 
We have to be the change we want to see in the world.
 Nirrimi Joy Firebrace Brisbane, Queensland 

Q: Have you ever noticed this to be true with people you have interacted with in your life? 
How have you dealt with the toxicity of others?
#BlogEveryDayInMay
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*photographs found here either belong to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

Doing Laundry and Helping the Environment

Last week I talked about Doing the Laundry – UK vs USA and the pros and cons that come with it in each country.  I got a lot of great response and feedback from the post, thank you readers!  Make sure to take a read if you have not had a chance yet.

As an update, this weekend I was able to catch up on quite a bit of laundry that had been piling up.  Saturday we had a very warm cloudless day of sunshine. In England that means you forget your previous plans and react like it is summer by donning shorts and sunnies to head outside in the sun. I remember last year when we had our fluke day of summer in the early Spring.  My family had headed into Brighton on the train and I had never seen it packed with so many bodies headed to the shore.  Girls are wearing short dresses and shorts and you would think we were all at club med. We take our sunshine days seriously in the UK.

Back to the laundry situation. I made sure to move all the wet laundry outside and run another load to put out before we left on our country walk.  When we came back hours later our laundry was practically dry. This never happens if there is cloud cover, despite the sun being out. It was really great. I could get used to this but I checked the weather report for the week and looking a bit gloomy on that end.

However there is always a reason to find the positive. Today I am bringing to you the upside to doing laundry.  As a working mother I live to multitask and what better to do that with then to combine your passions with the things that must get done.  If you are a regular reader you know that my family is really big into buying locally, conservation, being ecofriendly.  A few months ago I was trying to find a UK version of the US’s borax. Basically because I am an avid user of Pinterest and wanted to make our own laundry detergent at home to be more economical.  However I realized upon asking all my friends in the UK that Borax is not easily obtained here.  More so it is apparently ‘too toxic for normal people to use’.

A friend in Oxford referred me to try Ecover laundry detergent. What I found out is that Ecover uses only plant-based and mineral ingredients. This means it is not only gentle on your clothes but your skin as well.  It has complete biodegradability and minimum impact on aquatic life.  Their packing is made from sugarcane to be renewable, reusable, and recyclable. Those are three ‘r’s I can stand behind.

Check out this information graphic for more details on  how doing laundry and helping the environment  can be done at the same time.

Cleaning the seas, one bottle at a time
Cleaning the seas, one bottle at a time. Visit The-Splash for more information and to read our pledge.

Q: Have you tried or do you use Ecover products?  Have you found ways to be Eco-friendly in the household?

x
Bonnie Rose

*These statements and words are my own as I am passionate about being eco-friendly for our health and our environment.   

Are you a ‘No Reply Blogger’?

Self Portrait on timer by Bonnie Rose Photography © 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk


When I first started blogging in 2005 this was not an issue. The only people who commented on my blog anyways were family members.  However at the start of this year when I became involved in the blogging universe I was told by another blogger that I was a “no-reply blogger”.  To which I responded in my head, ‘–a what? What is that? How do I fix it?’ After a quick search on google I realized that even though I would comment a ton on all my favourite blogs, my account was not connected to my email address.  What that meant was the owner of the blog could not reply to my comment.  I was glad to know that my comments were not being ignored.  But that sort of defeated the purpose of building a conversation and starting a relationship with another blogger.  

Are you a a no-reply blogger?
I honestly had no idea I was one and I have already helped others in my same situation.  But tracking down every single ‘no reply blogger’ can be time consuming.  I love getting comments because I love getting to know other people. Some readers will leave the sweetest comments on my posts. I get excited and look forward to replying to their comment…only to have my heart sink.  

How do you know if you are a no-reply blogger?
It is really easy. Go comment on your own blog. The email you get will either have your e-mail address or this: noreply-comment@blogger.com. Obviously if it has the later you are a ‘No-reply Blogger’. This is what I look for now before I write back nice thoughtful replies to comments, before they get lost in the blogger abyss

What if you do not change your settings?
Its fine really and as you read further along  you will see that this is more pointed towards bloggers who use blogger and not another blogger platform.  However I try my best to respond back to comments on the blog where it is a ‘no-reply blogger’.  I just dont know what the actuality is that the blogger will return back to that post to see if I replied, since there are no options for notifications to blog comments. I spent a lot of time reading and commenting on blogs never to hear back from the bloggers before I found out about this issue.  Which is disheartening because the blogging community should be a two way street of sharing, reading, commenting, and creating dialog and friendships between people. It is why I blog. 

How do you connect with your readers? 
Change your email settings.  It seems easy enough, however when I was trying to do this myself with having Google+, I realized you kinda have to work around the system by deactivating Google+ first.  You can find all the steps below:

For Google + profiles, visit Rachel’s post and for regular blogger profiles, visit Emily’s post.

Okay but what if I use WordPress, Typepad, Tumblr, etc and not on Blogger?
If you do not blog with Blogger than there are two things you can do.  One is you can make sure you have a Google+ account if only for connecting with the bloggers who do use Google+.  Its security settings seem much easier for me to than the ever changing ones on Facebook.  Set it up and then just have it so that other bloggers can respond back. Or actively use it. The choice is there. 

Otherwise make sure to leave in your comment your email address or a link to your blog (where your email address is easy to find) so that if you comment on a blog, the blog reader can reply back easily. You can read Sandi’s experience with being a ‘no-reply blogger’ and the problem being the Blogger platform. 

I hope this helps clear things up.  I try to respond by email to all my comments and then go back on the blog and reply to those who are ‘no-reply bloggers’. 

Cheers,
xx
Bonnie Rose

Travel Thursday: Be Smart with your Vacation Photos

Ryan and I on the funicolare in Napoli, Italy taken by my friend and photographer,  Liisa Roberts.

I have always considered Napoli, Italia fondly with a special place in my heart.  I had the pleasure of living in this historical city twice in my life during my childhood.  For a total of six years Napoli, also known as Naples, still holds the ranking title of the longest place I have lived in my lifetime.  I begin this travel post in this way to explain quite clearly why ‘I should have known better’.  That was a statement I said quite frequently after having my phone stolen.  It is pictured here in a newly acquired (but not for long) case from one of the amazing markets in downtown Napoli.  

When I go on vacation I travel with my DSLR, which I carry like my baby and protect with my life.  However I have not always been as smart with that precious item either.  Whether you plan to take photos with your phone, a small point and shoot digital camera, or a higher end DSLR with a range of lenses, these would be my tips for traveling with said items.
Be Smart with your Vacation Photos:
1. Be prepared.  Decide which camera/s you will be taking and make sure you bring all the necessary accessories.  Depending on what is normally in your camera bag, pack accordingly.  Make sure you travel with your battery (and spares), your charger, memory card/s, and a memory card reader. I would also suggest your lens cloth to clean your lens.  
2. Be smart.  For those with multiple lenses a tip I would share is making sure your lens caps have an elastic attachment so that when you take them off they are still tethered to the lens.  Its really easy to lose a cap or look like a target for a thief when you are juggling many items. I’ve nearly dropped and lost a lens cap or two trying to capture a photo in slightly dangerous spot.  The less you have to worry about can be the better.
3. Be cautious.  Do enjoy your vacation and do not allow negative stimgas to ruin a memory.  But with that said remember this ‘everyone is suspicous’.  So if you are in a more crowded area, tighter space like a train, or just out in a busy part of a city be aware of your surroundings.  I lost my phone while I was holding my DSLR tightly but then snapping a photo of a delicious Neapolitan pizza.  My phone was quickly and easily grabbed from my hand and it went on a chase with a thief who jumped on the back of a moped and was gone in a flash.  I was too comfortable being ‘home’ and should have really been more cautious. Lesson learned.  
4. Less is More.  Piggy backing off of the previous tip I have learned that less is more in regards to the digital age.  When I lived in Italy before I was taking photos by film and new exactly how many exposures I had left on that roll of film. No I can easily take hundreds of photos in a day with both my phone and my camera.  I will use my camera for certain shots and my phone for less conspicuous and more artsy shots with fun filters.  I would say rely on one camera for one moment and don’t get so distracted by capturing that you miss out on the moment or let someone take advantage of your touristic endeavors. 
5. Keep it safe.  Back up at the end of every day when you are on vacation.  Clear those photos off your phone and onto your hard drive.  Load them online to a drop box, flickr account, etc.  Its best to have your photos saved and stored in more than one place.  If you do happen to get something stolen or lose a bag, you can rest assured that your photos are safe.
My favourite thing about traveling is being able to reminisce the moments and memories in the years to come and share with my family and friends.  I have lost photos from my phone being stolen and from back up cds being lost in a move.  Enjoy your travels and be smart when taking and saving your vacation photos.  
An extra word of advice: Do not let your photos collect dust inside your computer to not see the light of day.  Photographs are getting lost and forgotten in this digital age.  If you are going to take the time to capture your experiences, print them and display them in your home.  
What advice or lessons have you learned why traveling with your camera?  I would love to hear your stories, comment down below. :) 

Ask B: How did you get started into photography?

I love photography.  It has been something I have enjoyed since being a young girl.  I started with film and now I am predominantly shoot digital, while still collecting film cameras.  Since that time the age of digital cameras has improved vastly.  The first digital camera we owned used a floppy disk! The quality of photos that phones take now a days is incredible.  If I do not feel like lugging around my big DSLR camera, I simply just rely on my iPhone.  Technology is always improving. What has gotten me is seeing how our expanding knowledge of the subject tied together with practice also evolves the quality of the photographs.  It is that natural progression as you strive to get better that has propelled me into my continual love for photography.
In 2005 my father gifted me with a Nikon Coolpix 8800.  It was not as tiny as the coolpix cameras  are now. It actually looked like a DSLR in size and shape although you could not change lenses.  I had just become a mum for the first time and had a great little subject of which to take photographs.  In 2007 a few months after having my second son I had really gotten interested in learning to shoot manual.  I started going to photography meetup groups with other military wives.  Almost all of them were shooting with DSLR cameras (primarily Nikon or Canon), talking about the lenses they used, and shooting in manual.  There was only so much I could do with my Nikon Coolpix and I was so entranced by the quality of photographs the other mums were producing of my own kids from the meet ups.  When my camera started giving me a lot of difficulty it furthered the need to move up in the camera world.  That was when we we got the Nikon D70 DSLR.  
Let me just say that it is not the camera you own that determines how well your photographs turn out.  Yes the quality of the camera and the lenses do make a difference. However its the person behind the lens knowing how use the camera and their vision for what gets captured in the frame that counts.  I took so many out of focused and badly exposed photographs while I was learning to shoot manual.  Not to mention having little subjects that move very quickly! 
I have included in this post a few of the very first photographs I took on our first DSLR and all though they look nice enough I can rip them apart years later as a photographer.  From the camera settings, to the lighting, to uneven shadows, the composition  body parts being cut off, the subject too centered, too many distracting items in the frame, etc.  I really think its true that we can be the worst critics of our won work.  I was looking at the photographs below today and realized something.  It is not about the level of experience at that moment, but why I took the photograph that is so important to me. All my photographs at this time in 2005 – 2007 were of my kids capturing their innocence and their moments of happiness.  I got into photography to capture the memories and to be fair, my reason for staying with it is pretty much the same.  
These smiles are why I continued my study in photography.
<3   
*All photographs are property of Bonnie Rose Photography. All Rights Reserved. 



Q: Why did you get into photography and of what do you like to take photographs?

I broke up with my facial cleanser

Tuesdays Tips & Tricks 
“Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?” – Monty Python and the Holy Grail

In the last several years as a Beauty Therapist and Hairstylist, my bathrooms in all the places I have lived have been littered with a vast array of beauty products.  Though some have come and gone, others made reappearances through out the years.

Coconuts.  I grew up thinking they were funny. I also grew up with monty python and if you did too you can connect the dots.  On my honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexico I realized just how yummy coconuts can be.  A few years later my husband and I  had the pleasure of living in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, for four years. My youngest was born there and my kids grew up with the sweet pleasures of island life.  Though we no longer live on the island, you cannot take the island out of this girl.

Coconuts for cooking? Yes, please!

I love to try new things and a couple of years ago we tried coconut oil in our coffee for health benefits.  This went on to be used in replace of other oils in a lot of our cooking.  Thanks to sites like Pinterest the many uses of coconut oil has been revealed to so many.  To be fair since we began buying it by the jar fulls, I feel like I am a constantly finding new uses for this miracle oil.

When it comes to facial cleansers I am a hopper.  I will try this one for a while and then try something else.  Maybe perhaps because my skin is never normal.  It may be beautiful and perfect for a few days then the next week its broken out and then the next its really dry.

What is a girl to do when she is unhappy?

Break up.

Since 2003 I have been using a little bit of bicarbonate soda (baking soda) mixed in my facial cleanser of choice a few times a month to exfoliate the skin.  So when I heard I could mix it in with coconut oil in lieu of my facial cleanser it made perfect sense.

Here are my tips for breaking up with your facial cleanser with a DIY option:

What you need:
Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Bicarbonate Soda/Baking Soda
Baby hair brush
Water
Facial towel

Steps:
1. Flush your face with warm water to open up your pores.
2. Mix a small amount of bicarbonate soda in with the same amount of coconut oil.  My oil tends to be in a solid state.  Make sure to warm it up in your hands to cause it to liquify.
3. Once the two ingredients are mixed together well you can apply it to your face.
4. Rub gently in circular motions with the pads of your fingers.
5. Using your baby hair brush which you have warmed up under hot water, continue to rub your skin in soft circular motions.  Only do this step once a week for extra exfoliation.
6. With your hands rinse your face with water.
7. Use really cold water at the very end, flushing your face a few times.
8.  Pat, do not rub, your face with a clean facial towel.

Advice:

  • It is advisable to try using the bicarbonate soda every other day and use just coconut oil for washing your face the days in between.
  • Your face will appear oily as soon as you are finished but the coconut oil will absorb into your skin within minutes.
  • Use extra coconut oil (small amount works wonders) on any spots as an acne treatment.
  • Consult your doctor if you are unsure about any sensitivities you may have as I speak just from my personal experiences from using this on my skin.  It works GREAT!
My final thoughts after breaking up with my facial cleanser:  Why didn’t I do this sooner?!

 
My skin has been clearer and I have not had any new breakouts since trying this out.  My skin is also getting moisturized so well by the coconut oil that my makeup goes on a lot smoother. Since the coconut oil cleanses, tones, and moisturizes I have a lot of extra space in my bathroom cabinets that is much needed!  But the best part…
 
…I smell like coconuts and cookies all day and night long. 😉 Yummy. 
* Photographs belong to Bonnie Rose and cannot be used without written consent.