Festivals with Filthy Fox

Earlier this year I was contacted Filthy Fox, which is a website that offers a huge range of festival gear from camping equipment to glow sticks. As I was going to Download Festival this year they asked if I'd like to try out a product from their website, and after a little browse I decided I wanted to test out the X- ray Sleeping Bag Suit.

I  mainly chose this item because of the design, I have a lot of sleeping bags already but the x-ray image on this one really caught my eye and I loved the fact you can wear it; It seemed like the perfect thing to wear once the bands had finished so I would be able to sit under the gazebo at night without freezing to death.

The sleeping bag comes in a fairly basic black stuff sack with an orange drawstring and handle and the easy camp logo printed on the side to match. I've found it quite easy to get the sleeping bag back into the sack which is fab; with some of my other sleeping bags getting them back into their storage bags seems nearly impossible.

It has zipped arm holes and foot area so you can wear it and walk around staying snug. It has a drawstring around the neck so it can be more fitted (and won't fall down), and also a drawstring around the bottom so if you're shorter it won't trip you up. It also has a zip down the front for ease of putting it on/ taking off if the drawstrings are done up tightly.

Unless you're at a very dry festival or you're really tall I don't think you'll be able to walk around with the bottom loose. I tried to tighten the bottom around my legs so it wouldn't drag along the floor - but obviously then I couldn't walk properly! I discovered it worked best to have the bottom pull cords tightened around my waist so I could walk around; but then as the sleeping bag is folded over itself so it came down to just above my knees. 

The quality of the materials feels pretty good, so far I haven't had any troubles with zips getting stuck and the lining on the inside is really soft and felt nice against the skin. The only issue I could find with it was that it has a few loose threads (you can see them in the close up of the top of the sleeping bag), but they can easily be cut off and as it's not a high end product it's not a big deal.

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) it was another Drownload and I didn't want to get my new sleeping bag caked with mud so I didn't get to wear it outside of my tent, but it did keep me lovely and toasty at night which I honestly wasn't expecting as I had just gotten back from Thailand.

Overall I'm really happy with the sleeping bag and glad I now have this as part of my camping collection, I'll definitely be using it again as it's so cool and toasty. If you're after anything for a festival I'd recommend you check out the website as they have such a huge variety of things I'm sure everyone would find something they'd be interested in 😘😘

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X - ray sleeping bag suit provided for review from Filthy Fox. Though this item was received free of charge, this is not a sponsored post, and all opinions are the author’s own.

Mermaid / Unicorn Split Dye

I recently started to get urges to have beautiful multicoloured pastel hair again, though I was unsure how I wanted to do it. I've had pretty much every pastel colour alone, multiple ombres and split dyes so coming up with something different was a fun task.

I decided I wanted to combine two types of styles that I've had before, my mermaid ombre paired with my unicorn meld - but of course slightly altered. I also figured as my hair is shorter, now would be the perfect time to custom dye the Milk and Blush extensions the team had kindly sent to me!

As usual I used La Riche Directions dyes (Cerise, Plum, Midnight Blue, Lagoon Blue, Alpine Green, Apple Green, Spring Green, and Bright Daffodil) but I mixed the dyes into custom pastel shades using some white conditioner from Tesco (I used theirs as I knew it was definitely cruelty free).

I am absolutely in love with it!! 😍😍😍 

If you want to see how I did this see the video below 👇👇👇

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Update

So I seem to have disappeared from my blog/ YouTube again for a while. Although I've never really uploaded consistently I've always had the intentions of doing so, unfortunately my mental health always seems to get in the way. I get really motivated and inspired and write huge lists of video ideas, then I manage to create one or two and suddenly become really really ill again.

For those of you who don't know I have BPD, PTSD, Depression and Anxiety. So with these different disorders I suffer a very wide variety of symptoms; the worst thing for me is usually my BPD, when my moods become incredibly erratic I can't stay in one mood long enough to do anything and I become very self destructive. 

Whenever I'm handling my illnesses well I tend to take huge leaps instead of steps. I spent the whole of May in Thailand (I was planning on making a video of my time there but my CPU on my laptop can't deal with the quality of the video clips I took on my GoPro 👎), I dealt with being there quite well, I had some days where I felt I couldn't go on and was considering suicide again but luckily I met some lovely people there that brightened my days. The main person being the beautiful soul Celiah, she was volunteering at the same sanctuary as me so I met her 3 days after I got to Thailand and ended up staying with her until my very last day. ❤ 

I made one video when I got back and was feeling pretty ok, I then got offered a dance contract in Zante for the next 4 months and jumped at the opportunity as it's something I've always wanted to do. Unfortunately only a few days after I got there I started spiralling again, I had the worst panic attack of my life and was taken into hospital as I couldn't speak and had the most awful treatment I could ever imagine. Then after that I became incredibly unstable, depressed and once again suicidal. I only managed to stay there for two weeks before myself and my family were so worried about my well-being that I had to return home.

Since I've been back I've been very up and down. One thing that has had a positive impact on me is the fact that I started to have pole dancing lessons - something I've wanted to do for years but all the studios were far away and I didn't have the time or a way of getting to them. Through a friend I discovered a relatively new studio in a town near to me and after a few weeks started a 6 week beginner course, I've now done 8 weeks and am really proud of how I'm coming along with it. 

I've had some extremely difficult times, some I didn't think I would pull through. Some weeks ago I was so unstable one minute I was crying hysterically, the next raging uncontrollably then bouncing off the walls. I relapsed with my eating (I also used to be anorexic), so for a few of my pole lessons half way through I'd start shaking violently and felt like I was about to collapse, my vision would black out and I felt incredibly weak. I also relapsed with self harm after being clean for 6 months, so I felt like a complete failure; but in hindsight at that moment that was the lesser of the things my mind was screaming at me to do, so I guess it was a good thing. My Mother became extremely worried and was encouraging me to consider going back into a ward or respite house before things got too bad, but luckily a little while later I started to even out a little; I started eating again and my moods started changing at a more normal (for me) rate, of course they're still very difficult for me to deal with but I don't feel like an eternal erupting volcano anymore.

The past week or so I've been really working on my self care, I've started reading my spirituality books again, writing in my journal every day, colouring, doing extra yoga stretches and going on walks. I'm managing a lot better at the moment and I'm really hoping I manage to stay at this level or improve further. So, while I'm doing ok I'm going to once again try to work more on creating and writing on here - earlier in the year a few companies sent me items so my priorities are to get those posts finished, but I have a lot of ideas whirling around my head.

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