DIY Hair Tie & Bobby Pin Organiser: Tutorial

January 13, 2018October 9, 2017

Like most people with long hair, I have a million hair ties and bobby pins that end up strewn all over the bathroom. I’ve tried organising them with jars and hooks, but it never seems to stick.

I recently saw two life hacks for how to keep everything neat: a magnetic strip for bobby pins, and carabiner clips for holding hair ties. Why not combine the two into a not-entirely-ugly organiser and stick it to the wall? Yeah, that’s what I did. I’m a low-key genius.

To put hair ties into the holder, you can just press the hair tie in and it’ll click into place. Taking the hair ties out is slightly more effort but much less than scrambling around trying to dig one out of who-knows-where.

You want one too? You’re in luck, I have instructions!

DIY Hair Tie Organiser

What you need

A5 piece of perspex (Amazon, eBay): You can go larger or smaller depending on your hair accessory holding requirements, but this works great for me. Shiny works best with the suction cups. I went for opaque because I didn’t want to see the cups, and black because everything matches it.
Double sided suction cups (Amazon, eBay): This is what I’m using to fix the perspex to my wall. I like this because it doesn’t leave any marks on the wall or the perspex, but unfortunately the quality of these is pretty variable so in the pack of 10 I received I had 2 deformed ones. I also considered using a double-sided pad covered in tiny suction cups but it didn’t work at all.
Adhesive magnetic strips (Amazon, eBay): I got the 15 mm wide strip with adhesive already attached.
Carabiners (Amazon, eBay): I used carabiners that were around 4 cm (1.5 inches) long. I bought these specifically because the non-clip side was completely flat, so it would have a larger contact area when I stuck it to the perspex. The number will depend on the size of your perspex but I found that placing them around 6 cm (2.5 inches) apart was perfect.
Gorilla glue (Amazon, eBay): I’m sure other glues will work, but this is what the guy at the hardware store recommended and he knows more than me. I suspect that a slightly less brittle glue might actually be better. (Edit: I’ve since replaced it with silicone glue and yes, it does work better!)

I bought everything except the glue off eBay, but it took weeks to get to me. If you aren’t rushed, at current eBay prices it works out to be less than $15 AUD. Bargain!

L’Oréal & La Roche-Posay’s My UV Patch Review

November 26, 2016

I was really excited to hear about L’Oréal/La Roche-Posay’s My UV Patch, a recently launched electronic wearable that can measure your UV exposure. La Roche-Posay have some of the best sunscreens on the market, so you know they’re serious about sun protection. My UV Patch is a blue heart-shaped patch that’s about the size of a large coin and half the thickness of an average strand of hair. It can be worn on your skin (the back of your hand is recommended) for up to 5 days, lasting through showers and swimming. You apply your sunscreen over the patch, so you can see how much UV protection you’re getting with your regular sunscreen.

Here’s how it works:

Stick the patch on your hand
Enter your details into the app
Scan the patch with the app when it tells you to (around every hour)
The app tells you whether or not you’re being sun-safe, and whether it’s time to reapply sunscreen
The app gives you a chart of your UV exposure throughout the day, and tells you when you’ve had too much sun (how much of your “sun stock” you’ve used)

JORD Wood Watch Review

August 27, 2015

Today I’m reviewing a JORD wood watch. JORD is one of the many companies coming out with wooden watches now – apart from their obvious hipster appeal, they actually have a few advantages over metal and plastic. Firstly, they’re very lightweight, which is a big plus if you’re into chunky watches. They’re also not as sweaty and sticky as plastic. On top of that, the natural wood grain finish is gorgeous! The raw wood finish is more fragile and needs more upkeep than metal or plastic though – I wouldn’t wear this to the gym.

JORD wood watches are made from sustainably sourced wood. I picked Ely in Dark Sandalwood to review. It’s crafted in an elegant deep brown and black theme, with eye-catching silver accents. The attention to detail in this watch is very obvious when you see it, from the smooth links to the carefully engraved JORD logo on the back of the watch.

Do Asians really need their own sunglasses?

November 21, 2018July 9, 2015

(Note: When I write “Asians” here, it’s shorthand for people of Asian ancestry, in particular East Asian.)

My entire life I’ve had difficulty getting glasses that fit me. If a pair of sunglasses fit me around the front, they’d tug my ears forward. If they fit my ears, they’d hug my temples too closely and give me a headache. During my PhD, I had to wear safety glasses for hours every day, and all of the lab goggle styles stocked in the store would give me a headache after an hour, except for one… which gave me a headache after THREE hours, and cut into my ears, so much that I’d sometimes have raw spots around my ears (gross).

Look at this shit. Look at what I have to put up with. The frames are actually cutting into my cheeks, and if I wear the glasses for more than 5 minutes, I have indentations on my cheeks when I take them off. When I smile the glasses rise by a centimetre. And these are the BEST ones.

I’ve also had issues getting fitted for a motorcycle helmet – I could only squeeze my head into one helmet out of the three aisles of helmets at the bike shop, and it squished up my cheeks like I was some sort of Disney critter.

What gives?

It turns out that I’m not just suffering from a persecution complex – there’s a reason behind my sad plight. Glasses are just racist.