I love this thread!!!
My steppin out event will be going to university in september. I'm currently on a gap year as I didnt get into uni the first time round. So I have decided to make this year as productive as possible and that I will look fabulous during freshers week.
1.The first thing on the list is build an amazing wardrobe of clothing. I've started to do this by throwing out clothes that I no longer wear. Also buying less clothing meaning instead of buying loads of cheap rubbish, I'm saving up a bit and buying quality pieces plus less impulse buying. Taking the time to see if anything I'm lusting after will fit with what I already own, plus not buying near replicas of clothes I already have (This was a big problem of mine)
Final Update. My wardrobe is shaping up nicely now. Since I started this challenge my clothing choices are more refined. Just two weeks ago I went to a vintage fair and bought a skirt that slots perfectly into my current wardrobe
2. My body. I'm far from overweight (I'm 105.5lb and 5,2 ) but I lack any tone and definition to my body as I do no exercise and my current weight is just down to being young. I found this pick on the internet, this is what I want. Would also love to have Kelly Rowlands' bum. To do this I have just bought the insantity dvd's and am starting tomorrow.Have completed a week of the insanity dvd's and they are so hard. I have actually gained 3 lbs but I think its muscle so hopefully its working
4th March update. Have just started my third week of insanity. I did a fit test and my stats have improved from when I first started and I've started seeing some definition in my stomach and I've gained another half pound
18th March update. So these past two weeks I've fallen off the bandwagon when it comes to exercise but I am going to start afresh this week and hopefully do a full week of workouts.
24th March Update. I have jumped back on the bandwagon sort of. I managed to do 5 out of the six days of exercise so I'm pleased with that. Now lets hope that I can continue this over the forth coming week
29th March update. This is only a quick update. I just measure my bum I have gained 2 inches, I am so happy
18th April update. Since the last update I have been consistent with the exercise except for this past week. I am having terrible knee pain when walking. So I'm taking a week to recover. I did a bit of research and I think it's the fact that I have quite flat feet is causing the issue. I'm going to order some special insoles for my trainers and hopefully that will do the trick. Even though I haven't done anything I'm still seeing definition in my ab area, which I'm obviously pleased about
Final update My body is almost where I want it to be and I think the final piece of the puzzle is improving my diet. I am embarking on a mix of the paleo and atkins diet. I eat way too many carbs
3. Hair. I am currently SL aiming to be somewhere between APL and BSL. To do this I am taking hair skin and nails vits, doing a CO challenge, DCing twice a week, LOCing whenever needed, staying away from heavy protein and most importantly fighting the urge to constantly cut my hair. I just get so scissor happy. Just uploaded a starting pic of my air dried hair.
4th March update. I have lots of new growth. I relaxed three weeks ago tomorrow and on average have 2.5 cm of growth which I'm very happy about. There is even a small section that has 4 cm of new growth. So the vitamins and castor oil massages are working. I just need to work on my retention so I can keep all of this length
10th March Update. This weekend I decided I wanted to enjoy my hair whilst PS'ing. Normally all I do is bun it in different positions on my head, gets a bit boring. So anyway I went on the internet and found about six different styles I can do whilst keeping my ends tucked in. And I bought a hair doughnut so I can do a nicer bun. I was also in search of a seamless comb as I found a couple of mid shaft splits. I treated myself to a mason and pearson rake comb. Before I started this journey I would have never splashed out on such a comb, but now I know what things I can scrimp on when it comes to my hair (like shampoo). I had an amazon gift voucher as well so I only had to pay for delivery.
Another positive thing about this weekend was that I found a picture that I had forgotten I had taken of my hair when I first started looking after my hair properly. It was by chance that I was looking through my phone pictures whilst putting off pree pooing my hair and thinking that my progress along this journey has been slow, wishing that I was already APL, that I found a picture of my hair when I first cut off all the damage. My hair was chin length, the pic was taken on the 22nd of October according to my phone and today it is past SL plus I've cut off 2 inches in that time. So in around 4.5 months my hair has grown 4.5 inches. This revelation has inspired me to keep taking pictures, upload them and date them. I've uploaded the October pic. I also took another picture of my little sisters hair and hers has grown just over an inch since the end of November so she is happy as well.
18th March Update. I revisited prepooing with coconut oil this weekend and tried DIY steaming and a new shampoo. Not too keen on the shampoo, its an Aussie one and the smell lingers for a very long time. At first I liked the combination of the new methods I had tried, but my hair felt a bit fluffy and flyaway although I did have more swing. Then I decided to do an elasticity test on a shed hair and it stretched and stretched and streched until it broke. So even though I didnt think it was possible with my low porosity hair I had a moisture overload. I think I will continue with the EVCO overnight prepoo if I follow it with a protein conditioner. This little experiment reminded me of a product I tried over two years ago. This was before I discovered LHCF it has the same effects. Fluffy, flyaway hair. I didn't like the results so stopped using it. Even though I only left it on for five mins. I'm thinking I might revisit Aveda and this time use the condish along side a 5 min protein spray. I could do this in the shower without having to get out and save me soo much time
24th March update. Because my hair was so fluffly after the steam/EVCO experiment I decided to was my hair the day after as I couldnt stand it, plus I had a dry and itchy scalp so had dandruff (I think it was caused by the castor oil as I know that it is drying on the skin and since I've stopped using it the flakes have gone). I prepooed with Elasticizer, shampooed, sprayed in Redken Extream Cat and conditioned with Nexxus Humectress. My hair has never ever ever felt so good. I've used all of these products on their own before but never together. It seems to just take my hair to the next level. So I think I finally have my regimen and staple products sorted. Plus the whole routine only took 40 mins and only 20 of those were in the shower. (I hate hopping in and out of the shower, I have dry skin and this just worsens the problem
18th April update. Since I've last updated my hair has surprised me a lot and I'm starting to question if I am low porosity. I did aphogee 2 step a couple of weeks ago followed my humectress and my hair loved it. I've also started co washing every day or every couple of days as I've started to use njoys old sulphur mix and my hair is nice and moisturised. I'm going to keep up this new regimen. I am also bunning my hair until after my exams in couple of months as I want to wear it down when I go out in late June
Final Update I took a komaza analysis and as I suspected back in April my hair is in fact normal to high porosity and not the low I thought I was all along. I didn't reach my hair goal, but thats okay I'm still on my way. Plus I put in waist length box braids before I went to uni and have been maintaining them, so my hair looked fab
4. Saving. I have just gotten my first job (mum wouldn't let me have one before) Its at KFC so the wage aint great but its something
Saving didn't really go to plan. My hours were extremely sporadic.Even if I was in I would only work for an hour a week. They even didn't pay me for three hours of my time once so in the end I quit as it wasn't worth it. I still managed to save a decent amount of money
5. Last but not least improve my knowledge. I know there are going to be a lot of very smart people at unay as I have offers from some top institutions. So that I can keep up with these people and do well on my course I plan on doing a let of reading up on economic topics that are not on the exam.
Final Update This is still an on going goal for me but my knowledge has improved so much since I started this challenge