Album of the week - Bleachers - Strange Desire

On July 15th, Jack Antonoff A.K.A Bleachers released Strange Desire. 

This album is probably one of the best albums i've heard in a long time, not just because the sound is completely different, therefore difficult to put into a category, but also because it had the right balance between catchy, fun, radio songs to the slower. Unlike most, Antonoff has created an album that is far from dull.   The way Antonoff sings at time reminds me of Morrisey. In no way am I comparing the two, but there are faint elements of his voice and his sound that sound like they could be influenced by The Smiths. 

Even the collaboration with Yoko Ono was great. Slightly strange, but great and creative. (And if Fun split up, we will all blame her.) Songs like "I'm ready to move on" sound like they could be featured on a movie soundtrack, as it has a great instrumental moments which would fit great in some sort of dramatic trailer or movie montage. 

I recently bought the album on vinyl and on CD. They both have really pretty album art inside and the vinyl comes with a free digital download which can be burned onto CD. It's always great to see an artist take pride in the appearance of their CD's, as I personally feel a lot of artists don't put as much effort into creating an actual album, as digital seems to have killed physical copies. 

Recommended Tracks

Rollercoaster - A fun, upbeat and uplifting song to skip to.

Shadow - A cute love song without being ridiculously dramatic or cringe worthy.

I wanna Get Better - If you haven't heard that song, then you have been living in a cave! Or in England.... He's not big over here.... YET!

I'm Ready To Move On - A really great, really weird song that is great to look out of train/ car/ plane windows and pretend to be some sad character pondering life in a movie. 

Who I want You To Love - A slower song with more acoustics. Not as upbeat, but still as fun and a great way to end the album with a heavier more upbeat outro towards the end. 

Ombre - The DIY on Semi-Permanents

Ombre has become one of the biggest trends this past year. Not only Ombre hair, but dresses, shirts and even shoes.

I recently dyed my hair ombre peach, using Bleach London products. I hadn't heard anything about the product and happened to stumble across it whilst looking for other products in Boots. A lot of people on tumblr have been asking me how I managed to do my hair, so I thought i'd start off by giving you a step by step guide and some advice when dying your hair yourself. This was my first time dying my hair myself, and semi permanents are great, because if you don't like it, it will wash out.

Which takes me to Bleach London. I would recommend you use these products. They are cheap, have a variety of amazing colours and last for a long time. Unlike a lot of semi-permanents, Bleach London eventually washes out completely. I used the Awkward Peach colour on my hair and although it was fun, it washed out a gingery colour. I used touch of silver hair shampoo to fade the colour and my hair was perfect after this.

Be careful which semi-permanents you use! Bleach London and Fudge Box are great if you want a log lasting colour, but can easily be washed out/ colour ca be changed at last minute. Bleach London also have a great washing out liquid. Although it isn't magic ad touch of silver completely took the colour out, the Bleach London washing out liquid is great for fading a colour. Bleach London have a lot of dark blues and purple colours, and the Washing Out liquid makes these fade to beautiful pastel colours eventually. 

This is the colour I achieved when using Awkward Peach.

Step by step

First off, I would recommend researching hair salons in your area for colour specialists to dye your hair either ombre blonde or white. I would not recommend doing this yourself. The colour technician should back comb the blonde or white dye into your hair, which will create the ombre effect. If the colour technician does not do this, it may create a harsh line, creating a colour block instead of ombre, so make sure to search for a good salon! I only paid £25 for mine and although cheap store bought dyes may seem tempting, in the long run it's worth it. 

Next is finding the semi permanent for you! Bleach London has a  variety of colours, as does Fudge Box. Choose the colour of your choice and separate your hair so both sides lay equally on your shoulders, like it sits in the picture above!

You may want a towel or an old shirt for the next bit! Put small blobs of the hair dye in your hand, rub your hands together and lather through small sections of your hair. Your hair MUST be dry and you must have shampooed and conditioned it before for the best results. Bleach London is great, because it doesn't come out patchy at all.

Repeat this process until your hair is equally covered over your blonde or white ombre. It doesn't matter if you get some in your brown hair, it won't show up, which is why it blends so nicely into your ombre!

Leave on for 15 minutes. If you have a dark purple, blue, pink or any colour and you would prefer a pastel colour, you can either keep the hair dye on for only 3-6 minutes or keep the dye on for 15 minutes and use either a washing out liquid or head and shoulders shampoo to fade the colours to a pastel colour.

Wash off with luke warm water.

Your results should look as good as me did!

If you would like your hair colour to stay for as long as possible, Bleach London have a colour preserving shampoo and conditioner!

If you have any questions or anything i've missed out, you can contact me on my tumblr page.

www.clothcultism.tumblr.com