how to grow luscious long and healthy hair.

First of all, I would like to say I haven't got a magic potion to give you hair as long as Rapunzel's overnight. These are just some tips to help keep your hair healthy as well as helping it grow in the long term :)

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1. Your hair is what you eat - eating junk food and food with little/no nutrition will make your hair very unhealthy. Make sure you eat the right food and have a healthy diet. I recently did a post on the '10 Commandments for being healthy', you can read it here.

2. Oils - coconut oil, mustard oil and olive oil are great for your hair. Any oil will do and you just put it in your hair an hour (or more) before you wash your hair. I also did a post on how to keep your hair healthy and how I use oils in my hair. You can read the post here.

3. Easy on the washing - don't wash your hair everyday as it was get rid of your hair's natural oils, causing your hair to be dry. I wash my hair around 2-3 times a week. 

4. No heat = healthy hair - try to reduce the amount of heat you put onto your hair as overheating you hair can cause it to stunt its growth, so it will take longer to grow. If you do use heat, always use a heat protectant. 

5. Trim regularly - trim the ends of your hair every 4 weeks (each month) as it was reduce split ends and hair breakage. I always trim my own hair as I don't trust hairdressers because they always seem to cut off too much!

6. Less is more - try to use as little products on your hair as possible. More products will lead to product build up, causing you to wash it more often.

7. Be realistic - don't expect your hair to suddenly become long. This process will take years at a time so you have to be dedicated.

I hope you found this useful, just remember that you need to care for your hair!

Kayla x

the 10 commandments for being healthy.

I definitely am not the healthiest person in the world and I can't give you an overnight miracle to get you to be healthy but all these tips will help you in the long run, I promise!

I'd like to clear something up first though: I am not super skinny and I have never dieted (I love food too much haha). I don't really believe in diets either because when you stop eating, or eat very little, your body thinks that you won't be getting food for a while so it stores up all the fat. Storing up the fat means that you will basically gain weight, defeating the purpose entirely. 

Secondly, I have little desire to be skinny. I would personally rather be my size, which isn't fat nor skinny, and still eat the food I like. I won't be a hypocrite and say eat 5 fruits and veg a day because I definitely don't do that but being a vegetarian, means that I do eat a lot of vegetables.

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1. Exercise - when you do hardcore exercise like marathons, etc, you may be thinking that you've burned loads of calories. Wrong. You've actually just used up a lot of the water stored in your body. To burn and get rid of fat in your body, you have to exercise daily. Not exercise like running down the road once, I mean tough exercise like marathons. As it may seem, marathons don't appeal to most people so find what suits you. I particularly like to do yoga and I play tennis every Saturday. 

2. Be with friends - get your friends to try being healthy too, it will be much easier as you've got people to support you. 

3. Be happy - it's easier said than done. Being happy means that you won't start eating out of boredom or sadness - trust me, I've been there. Being happy also links to exercise as it releases endorphins, keeping you happier.

4. Sleep - make sure you get at least 8-10 hours of sleep, if not more. You need your sleep so your body can be restored for the next day. Also, when you're tired, you mainly start to drink caffeine to keep you awake. This is a complete no no. Caffeine is not good for you, especially if you have it everyday.

5. Be a water baby - it's not scientifically proven that you need 6-8 glasses of water a day but make sure you always drink enough water.

6. Queen of the crop - eat veggies and fruits, daily. If you hate most fruits and vegetables, like me, find a fruit that you like and eat it everyday. I chose bananas and I eat it pretty much daily.

7. Salads - an easy way to get your 5 a day is to eat salads. If you're like me and really fussy, try and only put stuff in it that you like. I always put lettuce and tomatoes in mine. I recommend that you don't eat salads everyday as if you use dressings like olive oil or salad dressings, this would be really unhealthy and could lead to high cholesterol.

8. Quit it - smoking and drinking alcohol too often will deteriorate your health and body. Try and quit, it's better late than never. 

9. Easy on the supplements - try not to take a lot of vitamin supplements. As I don't eat my 5 a day, I take 2 daily vitamin supplements that are actually designed for kids. I would say that the daily limit for vitamins is 2 as if you take anymore, they will literally pass through your body as your body can only take in a certain amount of each vitamin and mineral. So you will basically be left with very expensive urine.

10. Hygiene - personal hygiene is super important, especially if you have a low immune system and don't want a nasty flu or cold. I always carry around a bottle of hand sanitiser whenever I go out.

I hope you found this useful and you can always tweet me @kaylathreads if you have any questions!

Kayla x

october favourites.

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~ American Apparel - I know this is a bit odd to put as a favourite but I've really been loving their clothes this month and hopefully, some time next week, I'll be able to go to their store in central London and pick up a few clothes.

~ Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran // Everything Has Changed - I adore this song and as a huge fan of Ed, I've been waiting to hear it for ages now and it has definitely lived up to my expectations.

~ Teen Angst...Naaah by Ned Vizzini - you may have seen this a couple times in my 'What I'm Loving This Week' posts and it is a hilarious autobiography by the charming man himself. It's a funny account of his teenage years and I half wish that I read this before I started secondary school, it definitely would've given me a couple tips!

~ Ed Sheeran - I've loved the great man himself for many years now but on October 14th, I went to his gig in Hammersmith Apollo, London. If I can, I'll try to put up some pictures and videos from the night but oh my, it was insanely amazing. He had 3 support acts but my favourite was a gorgeous guy called Passenger, (real name is Mike) and he is a beautiful singer. Also, I managed to get a cheeky last minute picture with Mike!

~ Garnier 7 Day Body Lotion (Aloe Vera) - This body lotion is literally the best lotion I've ever used. It absorbs quickly and keeps dry skin at bay. I might do an in-depth review of this, let me know!

I hope you liked this!

Kayla x

10 autumn essentials.

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1. lip balm/chapstick

2. snood/infinity or circle scarf

3. gloves/mittens

4. cable knit sweater

5. ankle/knee high boots

6. quality coat

7. knee high socks

8. denim/plaid shirt

9. leggings

10. jeans

I hope you liked this cheeky little post.

Kayla x

the A/W wishlist: updated.

Pull and Bear Black High Waisted Jeans // American apparel Helvetica alphabet T-shirt

Topshop Cable Knit Pom Pom Hat // American Apparel Velvet Skater Dress (youth)

H&M Black Wool Hat

As you can see, I've added quite a lot to my autumn/winter wishlist compared to my last one here. You may realise that the AA alphabet top I show above actually shows the letter 'n'. I'd just like to clear that my middle name starts with 'n', it's Nadia by the way, and I prefer it to my name, Kayla. 

I hope you liked this post!

Kayla x

how to redecorate your bedroom on a low budget.

I originally planned to do a post on how to redecorate your bedroom for free until I realised that there were a lot of things I wanted to say but they actually costed money. So here is my ideas on how to redecorate your room on a low budget, emphasis on the low. Just to let you guys know that I'm not going to talk utter rubbish as this time last year, I completely changed my room, you wouldn't even recognise it now!

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1. Pick a theme - you should pick a colour scheme or theme in your room. My room's colour scheme is red and white, with three walls being white and four walls red. A really great idea is to pick one wall to be a feature wall and it could have a different colour to the other walls. If you're on a super low budget, try checking if you have any pots of paints at home and you could use those.

2. Less is more - when choosing your wall colours, you should always remember that the colour(s) you pick have to be suitable for all seasons. Bright colours aren't advised as they are super distracting. If you're going minimalistic, try using neutral colours like whites, beige and creams.

3. It's all in the details - if you can't paint your walls completely, buy a small tester pot of paint. You could draw an outline of anything you like on your wall, eg. your name, and you could paint it on. Tester pots are really cheap and are around £2ish.

4. Move it all around - by simply moving your furniture, you could really change your room. 

5. Mirror, mirror on the wall - whether you're a girl or a guy, we all need a mirror in our room. Small ones are really cheap or you could get a big one so you can see your whole outfit. 

6. Shed some light - a lamp is really great to light up your room. If you have a bedside table, it's a good idea to put your lamp there so you can use it before you go to bed. Alternatively, you could put it on a desk.

7. Make it your own - select a wall or an area on a wall to personalize. In this area, you could add pictures/photos, posters and loads of things that give you good memories! On my wall, I have a couple of pictures of me and my friends/family, a couple of gig tickets and an autograph from the amazing singer songwriter, Passenger, you should all check him out!

8. Tick tock - add a clock to your room. It could be a totally cheap one to give your room a vintage/antique look or you could customise one by adding things around it!

I hope you found these tips useful!

Kayla x

what i'm loving this week #2

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Music: Passenger - The Last Unicorn

Book: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Film: 21 Jumpstreet and Guess Who?

Skincare: Boots Botanics Calming Day Cream

Hair: Naked Renew Strengthening Shampoo

Fashion: Serena Dr Martens

Blog: dizzybrunette3

Youtube: NiaSays

I hope you liked this, even though a couple of them were the same as last weeks! 

Kayla x

costume ideas // hello halloween.

Here are all the links, in one handy place, to the posts I wrote about Halloween costume ideas!

source: weheartit

Katniss Everdeen
Glee/Varsity Cheerleader

Thing 1/Thing 2

Alice in Wonderland

Where's Wally/Waldo?
Velma from Scooby Doo
Nerds

Here are a few ideas for costumes but I haven't done any posts on them:

Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland)
Dorothy (from Wizard of Oz)
Hermione Granger/anyone from Harry Potter
Bella Swan/anyone from Twilight

I hope you like these costume ideas!

Kayla x

dove go fresh pomegranate body wash review.

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£2.40 from boots

I bought this body wash really only because I ran out of my other one. Before this, I had never used a body wash by Dove but I had high hopes after using their shampoo and conditioner (which are amazing). In boots, I saw a row of Dove body washes and picked up the one which smelt the nice, which was incidently this one that smells of pomegranates and lemon verbena. 

For £2.40, this is an absolute bargain. It smells amazing in the bottle but the only bad thing is that it actually doesn't smell as nice when it's on the skin. Thankfully it's not overpowering so you'll only smell it if you take a cheeky whiff of your arm.

This is by far, the best body wash I have ever tried. When I came out the shower, my skin felt so soft & hydrated. You know that really soft and smooth feeling you get after shaving your legs. this is just how it feels. The other downside of this is that it doesn't last. I went to bed with soft legs and woke up with half dry legs all over again. I do think this is really amazing and when this finishes, I'll definitely be buying another one, maybe a different scent though.

Kayla x

costume ideas - velma (scooby doo) // hello halloween.

For the last costume idea of my Hello Halloween segment, I'll be showing you how to get the simple costume of Velma from Scooby Doo!

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For this costume, you will need:

~ glasses - £1.16 from ebay

~ turtleneck - £21 from stylepit

~ red skirt - £13 from asos

~ orange socks - £2.99 from ebay

~ red heels - £10 from ebay

I hope you like this!

Kayla x

costume ideas - nerds // hello halloween.

source: weheartit

For this costume, you need:

~ nerdy glasses - £0.61 from ebay

~ plaid/checked shirt - £17.99 from pull&bear

~ braces/suspenders - £2.30 from online-fancy-dress

~ high waisted skirt - £5.00 from asos marketplace

~ bow tie - £5.39 from amazon

~ brightly coloured/striped knee high socks - £1.75 from amazon

~ trainers/plimsolls - £1.99 from ebay

To complete the look, pull your hair back in a high ponytail or two ponytails and carry around a couple of textbooks/a rucksack on two straps.

If you're going for the 'sexy nerd' look, wear a plaid/tartan skirt that is pretty short but still modest! 

Kayla x

boots botanics calming day cream review.

source: boots

£6.99 from boots

This 50ml tub of Boots Botanics Ultra Calm Skin Calming Day Cream with SPF 15 (what a mouthful!). It costs £6.99 from boots but when I bought it, it was reduced to around £3-4. I bought this a week or two ago and was very eager to buy it as I heard quite good reviews about it. 

This is definitely, only for people with dry skin, trust me, it feels like putting sunscreen on your face. The SPF 15, makes it feel really heavy and oily on your skin but it is perfect for me in winter. I've found this hydrates all the dry patches on my face and after a few uses, I realised that a little goes a long way.

I really like the packaging but I think £6.99 is a bit steep considering you only get 50ml? Other than this, I'm pretty chuffed with this product but I really wished that it wasn't so heavy. However, I'm really happy that it has SPF, even though it is heavy, it's really good for your skin, no matter what the weather. This is perfect for winter but I do think it will be too heavy for summer. But hey, it's pretty much natural, so it's a win-win situation for your skin!

Kayla x

autumn skincare routine.

In Autumn, I tend to slightly switch up my skincare routine to help keep my skin hydrated in the cold London months.

source: weheartit

In the morning, I wash my face with Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Scrub and after, I moisturise with Boots Botanics Calming Day Cream. That's really it for the morning.

In the night, I'll wash my face again but this time I only wash it with water since if I wash my face too much, I get a lot of spots, weird huh? I then again moisturise with the same Boots Botanics Calming Day Cream. On in the night, if I notice any spots on my face, I use the Clean & Clear Advantage Spot Treatment directly onto the spot. 

Twice a week, instead of using a scrub, I use the Garnier Pure 3 in 1: Wash, Scrub and Mask. I actually only use this as a mask because I think it's the nicest mask I have ever used, seriously. 

Also, twice a week, I use the Neutrogena Spot Stress Cleansing Lotion. I put this onto a cotton pad and swipe it all over my face to remove dirt, oil and impurities. I don't use this everyday because I find that my skin freaks out and I get massive breakouts. 

As you can tell, I don't use a lot of products on my skin because 1) I don't have the time in the morning/I can't be bothered and 2) for my skin, and my hair too, less is more as it gets oily throughout the day, even though it's pretty dry. I don't cleanse and tone my skin for the same reasons and I don't think I've ever found a cleanser or toner that I can use daily without getting breakouts - it's great to have sensitive skin ugh.

I hope you liked this even though it was a lot shorter than I expected.

Kayla x

costume ideas - where's wally/waldo? // hello halloween.

source: google images

For your costume, you need:

~ red and white top - £7.25 from ebay

~ blue jeans - £10-16 from next

~ red and white hat - £2.25 from ebay

~ brown shoes - £12 from zalando.co.uk

Kayla x

costume ideas - glee/varsity cheerleader // hello halloween.

Here's some ideas for a Glee or just a normal cheerleader costume!

source: google images

For the costume, you need:

~ cheerleading/pleated skirt - £9.97 from ebay

~ white crop top - £5 from asos

~ white plimsolls - £12 from asos

~ red & white pom poms - £3.99 from partyrama.co.uk

~ white ankle socks - £3.99 for 3 pack from amazon

I hope you liked this. You could change the colours, add WMHS onto the top with fabric pens or even any other cheerleading team!

Kayla x

what i'm loving this week #1

I decided to start doing 'What I'm loving this week'. It's pretty much my weekly favourites and I probably will end up forgetting to do it every week but fingers crossed!

source: weheartit

Music: The Script - Exit Wounds & Jack Johnson - Good People
Book: Teen Angst? Naaah by Ned Vizzini
Film: The Perks of Being a Wallflower & (500) Days of Summer
Skincare: Garnier Pure 3 in 1 Wash, Scrub and Mask
Hair: Naked Renew Strengthening Shampoo
Fashion: Serena Dr Martens
Blog: gh0stparties
Youtuber: clothesencounters & dailygrace

I hope you liked this, I'd love to know whether I should keep doing this every week and what are you loving this week? :)

Kayla x

costume ideas - thing 1 & thing 2 // hello halloween.

source: google images

For this simple costume you need:

~ thing 1/thing 2 top - £7.99 from ebay

~ red leggings - £4.49 from asos marketplace

~ blue wig - £1.99 from ebay

If you prefer, you could swap red leggings for red tights instead! You could even paint your face bright white to complete the look.

Kayla x

costume ideas - alice in wonderland // hello halloween.

Alice In Wonderland is such a simple costume but I'm going to add a bit of a modern twist to it!

source: google images

For the costume, you need:

~ blue skater dress - £20 from asos

~ white apron - £3.99 from nisbets.co.uk

~ white knee high socks - £2.95 from amazon

~ white petticoat (to go under the dress) - £4.44 from ebay

~ black bow alice band -£1.30 from mias-accesories.co.uk

~ black high heels (or just regular pumps if you want) - £17.99 from amazon

Optional:

~ white detachable peter pan collar - £4.01 from ebay

I hope you found this useful. I'd love to know what you're going as for Halloween!

Kayla x

costume ideas - katniss everdeen // hello halloween.

I decided to start a new segment on this blog as it's coming up to halloween. The 'Hello Halloween' segment will have loads of costume ideas, party ideas and just things to do on halloween in general which I'll be uploading daily!

Today, I'll be showing you how to look just like Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games!

source: google images

Firstly, the costume, you need:

~ black trousers/jeans/leggings - £22.99 from pull&bear (you can get a cheap pair of jeans from primark, etc but I particularly like these jeans from pull&bear)

~ brown leather/pleather jacket - £16 from forever 21

~ plain black top - £4.75 from forever 21

~ brown boots - £19.99 from shoezone

~ bow and arrow set - £10 from ebay

You can jazz up this outfit by stacking bracelets or adding a satchel bag.

To do the authentic Katniss hairstyle, watch this great tutorial by bebexo

I hope you found this useful. What are you going as for Halloween? 

Kayla x

gym/p.e essentials.

Whether you're just doing compulsory P.E for school or want to shed a couple of pounds at the gym, there are some definite after workout essentials:

source: weheartit

~ a gym bag - this is pretty obvious. It's better to buy a proper gym bag than using a plastic bag since a lot of people mistake it either for rubbish or as their known, trust me, I've seen it before.
~ a refreshing/hydrating drink - a cool drink, water is usually the best, after before and during exercise is essential.
~ trainers - a good pair of trainers will go a long way. Invest in a good pair of running shoes, they're a lot better than wearing converses or plimsolls!
~ a snack bar - a healthy snack bar after exercise will hopefully fill you up between meals so you're not starving and to restore your energy. Granola bar or a cereal bar are just as good.
~ a body spray/deodorant - I always put on deodorant before I workout as I don't want to end up smelling like a walking pile of dirty laundry! After exercise, I spray on some body spray, I especially love Hollister ones, and ta dah - it's like you never even sweated.
~ beauty essentials - it's always a good idea to have a small cosmetic bag to hand with all your essentials like a hair brush, lip balm, etc.
~ and finally, your workout clothes - this is probably very obvious, always wear clothes that you feel comfortable in, comfort before fashion as I say!

Kayla x

my autumn resolutions.

Hello everyone! I was stuck today for what to write for a post but then a random idea popped into my head, "what about autumn resolutions?" I'm sure someone has already done it and I know that I never keep to my New Year's resolutions but I thought, why not? Instead of resolutions to always do my homework on time and all that jazz, it's going to be a bit more beauty/fashion/just life in general related.

(source: weheartit)

1. To read more books - I read a lot of books if I'm honest but since school started, I've just reread my old ones since I'm too lazy to buy some more. Ones that I particularly want to read are It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini and What Happened to Goodbye? by Sarah Dessen.

2. Eat less junk food - What can I say...I am addicted to crisps and chocolate. I really need to get healthier so I'm going try! *fingers crossed*

3. Spend less money - I find myself splurging on expensive clothes during autumn/winter time. So I'm going to try and spend a little less.

Do you have any autumn resolutions?

Kayla x