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Short hair, do(n’t) care? Plus a hair loss update.

Two weeks ago I gave my husband the scissors and I told him to cut. I knew that if it wasn’t done immediately, I wouldn’t have the guts and I would drag it out for even longer than I already have. My husband took 3 huge gulps of red wine and started cutting …

Short hair, do(n’t) care? Plus a hair loss update.

If you’re not familiar with my extreme hair loss story, this is it in a nutshell: stress and trauma caused me to lose about two thirds of my hair. The hair that was left became dry and brittle and it seemed like I was losing my natural curl. A huge shock also caused my hair to weaken at the root and once my hair reached a certain length, it broke off. For the last 6 months or so I have been trying my best to hide the hair loss by tying my hair up in the most pathetic little ponytail you can imagine. I couldn’t wear my hair loose as I was sporting a super fabulous 80’s style mullet. The only long hair left on my head was on the bottom half of my head.

Thankfully my hair started to grow again!! My hair is full and healthy and my curls are back with a vengeance. Thank you Trichotin!! Find my introduction to Trichotin over HERE.

But that pony looked horrible. The dead hair had to go. I was extremely calm that Tuesday evening when I gave my husband the scissors. I sat at the kitchen counter and gave him instructions to cut everything the same length. My hair was shorter than its been in years! But I was okay. Kind of.

So on Saturday I went to Tosca Hair and Beauty in Tyger Valley and my AMAZING stylist coloured and cut my hair into a style. Short. Very short. Thank you Tosca for taking such good care of me!! You guys truly are amazing and know exactly how to work with my hair (and with me!).

I went home and had a little cry. The short hair makes me feel 12 years old. The 12-year-old me that was gatvol of being bullied for my bushy hair and thought that if I cut it short, the bullying would stop. It didn’t.

But, for now, this is me. And my hair is healthier and stronger. And soon, I will be too.

Short hair, do(n't) care? Plus a hair loss update.

My family and friends all think I look great and my sister decided that my new style needs a headband. I think she’s right. It’s still taking some getting used to, but I’ll get there. What do you think?

xoxo

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Spree announces first image search shopping feature in Africa

I did a little online shopping via the Spree app last night. I have no idea how I survived last winter as I have nothing warm to wear! And Cape Town is cold. I ordered a poncho, chunky jersey and a scarf. Fingers crossed that everything fits! At least I’m safe with the scarf.

I placed my order just before 20:00 last night, and I received a sms this morning that my order will be delivered today. Today!! I am really impressed.

Then I received the below press release this morning. Wow. I just have to share this with you.

PS. This post is in no way sponsored by Spree; this is just too cool to keep to myself.

Spree announces first image search shopping feature in Africa

Have you ever seen a fashion item you absolutely had to have, but didn’t know how to find it online to make it yours? Now, thanks to Spree and their newly launched image search and similar style shopping app features, you can find all those coveted items online and make them your own. Spree is the first online fashion retailer in Africa to offer this innovative technology that identifies clothing or footwear seen in photos and images and finds you something similar in their app.

Spree announces first image search shopping feature in Africa

Within the existing search functionality, the Spree app now features a camera icon, which allows shoppers to take a live photo or upload an image from the smartphone photo library, and it’ll return visually similar items in seconds. And when you find something you like, you can quickly make it yours with the app’s easy checkout process. Finding similar styles while browsing is now also easier: shoppers can tap and hold any product image in a Category or Search results view and the feature will highlight items that are visually similar.

Adopting a mobile-app-first approach, Spree has initially launched the image search and similar styles shopping feature on the Spree iOS app, with a roll out plan to the Android app and the website scheduled for the next couple of months.

“Our goal at Spree is to make the shopping experience for our customers as easy and intuitive as possible, and with our new image recognition capabilities and similar style shopping feature, we think we have come closer to achieving this. Searching for items with photos and images saves consumers from having to type keyword combinations, which is especially challenging on mobile devices.

In a world where words are commonly replaced by emojis and images, it makes sense that our shopping habits follow the same path and we’re very proud to be the first online retailer in Africa to lead this visual trend.” says Sven Schoof, Spree’s Head of Customer Experience.

Taking advantage of the latest Artifical Intelligence (AI) technologies available, Spree’s similar style shopping feature bases its suggestions on silhouette, colour, pattern and texture, and customers can filter seamlessly by gender.

With AI tech being ranked in the top 5 trends driving change and growth in retail in the next few years1, the launch of Spree’s image search feature certainly sets the bar in shaping the fashion landscape in Africa.

The new image search feature works across phone and tablet devices, and is available in the Spree iOS app via the existing Search feature. 

Happy shopping!

xoxo