When I was in year 8, a massive desire to get more piercings began... I constantly found myself googling the best places to get pierced, the most painful and the most stylish. Upon telling my parents, they shut the idea down completely for reasons of their own.

As the years went by I became interested in other things such as Performing Arts, Dance and ofc building my social media, however every time I saw that someone had added to their piercing collection, I would get extremely jealous. 

In year 10 I began to break free of my parents reign a little and took more control over matters such as fashion, and with that came the opportunity to get more piercings...

I knew that if I was to get the piercings that I wanted, I was going to have to hide them at school because they have a strict policy over piercings, so I decided to wait til after prom. 

The school year ended and about a month passed when I realised that I still hadn't gone to get the piercings I wanted, therefore, I began researching the best places near me that do tattoos and piercings. 

Yet another problem arose, turns out it's not that clever to get a piercing the week before you go on holiday... this is because the water in the pool and sea will irritate your piercings and will probably infect them. So I had to wait an extra 2 weeks in order to get them. 

Finally, the day came where I decided that I would go, with someone or not, and get the piercings that I wanted for such a long time. I already had my single lobes pierced and the plan was to get double piercings on both sides and a single helix on the right ear. 

On the way there, I saw a stunning photo of an ear with a load of various piercings on it, and because I had the cash, I re-decided that I was going to get a double lobe on one ear, a triple lobe on the other as well as a helix. 

We ( me and my mum) arrived at the tattoo place and filled out a few forms, then I got taken to the room and my piercer began marking out the places where she was to pierce.

After the location was thoroughly checked by my mum, I had my double lobes first. 

The double lobes didn't hurt (that much), it was done with a gun and the process was very straight forward, the experience I imagine is similar to how a wall would feel if someone shot it with a staple gun. It took around 2 minutes to mark the position of the piercings and get the first piercings done.

Next the piercer pierced my triple lobe on my right ear, this hurt a bit more because the area was experiencing the trauma of the double piercing however it was nothing unbearable.

Lastly, my helix piercing was to be done. This was by far the most painful, and almost 5 days later, it still is. This could have been because it was done with a needle as opposed to a gun, but also because piercing the cartilage is generally more painful than the lobes. The process is slightly longer when your artist is using a needle as opposed to a gun, therefore I was able to find out which part of the process was the most painful. I found that the worst part of my helix piercing was not when she actually pierced through my ear, it was when she fed the earring through the hole, I think this is because you are basically sticking a titanium rod into a wound...

Walking home I found that my right ear ( the one with more piercings) was hot and it was throbbing, whereas the side where I only added one lobe was absolutely fine. 

Sleeping comfortably has been an issue as I sleep on my side, recently I have found that I am able to sleep on my left side as the double piercing has settled down, but before, I had to sleep on my back which I actuallllyyyyyy hated :) The bar used for my helix is extra long, this is because it can accomodate for any swelling, the only time I will be able to sleep on my right side, is when I get the bar changed to a horse shoe in about 6 months :)

Cleaning the piercings is easy, as is turning them. I have found that the most suitable time of the day to clean them is in the morning after a shower and before you go to sleep. I'm taking extra care by making sure that my sheets are always clean and my hair is never tangled in the helix's long bar. 

If you have any questions about my piercing experience, please be sure to leave a comment, or if you're shy of the public, DM my Instagram and we can have a private conversation. ♡

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I recently spent just over a week in Abu Dhabi, before we even thought about packing our bags, I was warned to read up about the dress code as it is a predominantly muslim city and the UAE is very strict over it's Islamic beliefs and all visitors should be respectful of that.

Upon research I found no conclusion as to what was acceptable to wear abroad and what was better left at home.  I only found vague tips of advice such as "always carry a shawl with you just incase you are told to cover up". Although, this was a very true and useful piece of advice... it still didn't answer my question of what was suitable and unsuitable to wear. 

I found the Abu Dhabi dress code quite hard to work with from a style and fashion point of view, however a few of my ideas reigned successful.

Before I start telling you the yes' and no goes to the Abu Dhabi dress code, I will tell you that it's not as bad as it's made out to be out there... although you have to dress moderately, I got away with shoulder-less jumpsuits and showing a small amount of my midriff. 

Firstly, I would be sure to pack 3-4 long maxi dresses, I know this seems excessive, but the reason for this is that, if you are going in summer, you will sweat through all of your clothes therefore having to wash them after each wear. I would also stay away from dark colours such as black or navy and gravitate to whites and cream colours, you don't need to worry about dirtying your clothes when sitting down on a bench due to the fact that the city is kept extremely clean. The reason behind wearing lighter colours is to keep you cool as the sun's rays will reflect off your clothes and not absorb into them.

Culottes and a modestly cropped top. Personally, I love this combination as it simultaneously combines modern fashion with the smart casual dress code many find in the workplace. I wore this both in the daytime and the night, I received no warning whilst I was out to cover up. Many of the staff were friendly and seemed to take no notice of my midriff or bare shoulders. When seeing major valued places such as The Grand Mosque and Louvre, I wouldn't advise wearing this, but for visiting the beach or getting lunch, Culottes are the way to go!

Jumpsuits! When visiting major places, I wore jumpsuits and maxi dresses and steered away from anything questionable. My jumpsuit was shoulder-less so I covered up with a shawl.  A jumpsuit that isn't shoulder-less would be fine in itself and it is a no for playsuits.  

On to swimwear... EVERYTHING IS FINE! Except for nudity and skinny dipping.
However, be sure that when travelling to the area you intend to swim in, you wear something to cover up such as a maxi dress.

Lastly, all shoes, open toed, closed toed, strappy or simple are acceptable in Abu Dhabi anywhere you go, unless the place you are visiting states otherwise.

If you want to see what I wore in Abu Dhabi, be sure to check out my Instagram as all the photos will be uploaded there... please show me your love and support by sharing this article and following my social medias. My goal is to be a young influencer and work in the media, in order to do that, I must work hard to get the following I need to make my dream a reality. So please be active in the comments and help a girl out. 

Until next time... 
Maya ​♡

Hi, due to popular demand, I am dedicating an entire blog post about how I managed to grow all my hair back after losing it to Alopecia Areata. 

Regular readers will know that I lost my hair due to stress and anxiety around 3 years ago and made a video about it as I was scared about my classmate's reactions when we came back for the next school year.
You can watch the video here:

As you can see... I lost most of my hair in a very quick space of time, it took around 3-4 months for me to reach my 'peak time of baldness' before I started recovering. Looking back I can identify exactly what I was doing wrong in self care terms and I am happy to share them with you. 

1) I was eating way too much sugar and processed foods.

What I mean by this is that I was skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner and instead living off of processed foods such as microwaveable meals, pot noodles and large packs of crisps. This was super bad for me because it meant that for a long amount of time, my body wasn't receiving the nutrition it needed to maintain healthy functions, skin and hair. The fact that I was consuming 2-3 large packs of crisps and chocolate a day meant that my hair follicles were becoming weaker as they were not being renewed and restored. I have learnt that sugar is extremely dangerous to me, this is because I have a very fast metabolism so I couldn't physically see the harm that too much glucose was doing to my body as I didn't gain weight. 

As soon as I started eating organic and went on a processed foods and sugar free diet, I felt myself becoming stronger. My dad is a restaurant owner and has also served as chef, i'm lucky that he knows how to work with raw and organic foods to make perfect meals. He started cooking meals that supported my dietary needs which helped a ton. It helped to boost my confidence because I had something to be proud of, as well as gave my body the vital nutrients it needs. I believe that if I didn't change up my diet, I wouldn't have grown my hair back at the rate that it did. 

As Alopecia is an auto-immune disease I decided that I wanted to bombard my system with the vitamins that I was severely lacking. I went to my chiropractor to take a deficiency test, afterwards, she had me taking 6-8 large pills a day of the pure vitamin. 

2) I was not drinking enough water.

I cannot stress enough how important drinking water is! If you are not drinking enough water then your body cannot function properly, therefore making it 10X harder to grow back a full head of healthy and strong hair. The benefits of drinking water are endless... And if you don't like the taste of water, mix it with a low sugar cordial. If you struggle to find the time or find yourself forgetting to drink water, have set times like when you wake and before you sleep to drink water, you could also set specific alarms during the day reminding you to keep hydrated. 

3)I was straightening my hair everyday.

If you are losing your hair, it means that your hair is weak and you should probably stop faffing around with it. I was doing the complete opposite. I was straightening my hair everyday with the highest setting everyday without a heat protective spray. It was killing my hair and essentially killing my hair follicles, thus causing my hair to fall out. To avoid further scalp irritation, stay away from heat products and avoid hairstyles such as tight ponytails as it causes strain to the follicles.

4) I was extremely stressed out.

I was stressed due to my grades falling at school as well as other small and irrelevant things. On top of this, the thought of losing my hair brought me to an all time low. I fell into a depressive state where I slept all day, stayed in my pyjamas and never went outside. I started fighting against my stress by attending weekly chiropractic treatment to calm me down and also fix my neck(I was carrying my heavy bag on one shoulder and now that shoulder sits lower than the other). 

I also started practicing meditation and mindfulness. I focused on self acceptance and eliminated the fear of losing my hair by coming to terms with it. I researched the auto immune disease and accepted that it would take over my life for a little while. When partaking in some guided meditations, it made me realise the sheer amount of work that my body does on a daily basis, I learnt to change my mindset that ' my body is weak and that's why i'm losing my hair' into ' I can't maintain my hair, but I can maintain breathing, digestion and so many more amazing things'. This positive mindset helped me achieve a full head of hair and I think that without positivity, I would have found it hard to talk about hair loss therefore not being able to help others. 

I was introduced to the Law Of Attraction through the book " The Secret" which my mum was reading at the time. As a strong believer now, I can see that my positive mindset at the time helped me overcome alopecia and gave me countless positive opportunities.

5) I surrounded myself with the wrong type of people

The people that I surrounded myself with often had a lot of drama which brought me more stress. In a sense, the constant dramas created an unsettled. insecure and unsafe atmosphere, which was the opposite of what I needed. As soon as I changed my friend group to one that accepted me, I felt comfortable to be myself. Having 3-4 close friends where you can be 100% vulnerable around really help me to become bald and brave when talking to people. I tried my best to eliminate all the negativity in my life.

If anyone has anymore questions for me regarding Alopecia, leave them in the comments or feel free to Direct Message me on Instagram. ♡