Saturday 28 December 2013

Pastel Pinks & Blue Skin

Top is from American Apparel | necklace c/o I Love Crafty | skirt c/o Faith & Lola | shoes from Ebay

There was a time, back when I had the real-life-pink-hair to match, when I would dress almost exclusively in pastels. I still have to stop myself from bleaching my hair and going back to pink ALL THE TIME, reminding myself that if I do this, my hair will go brittle and shrink and I'll have to cut it all off. But I still love at least pretending that I have pretty pink hair now and again. I'll admit, I've even missed the weird looks that having pink hair and dressing like this gets from strangers.

I just learnt about this curious condition today. The people pictured below are not merely doing a Tobias Fünke - they are actually blue.
The Blue People of Kentucky became famous in the mid-1800s for, as the name implies, being blue. A rare recessive genetic condition called methemoglobinemia caused many members of this family to have blue skin - but were otherwise, essentially, pretty healthy. Methemoglobinemia causes higher levels of methemoglobin relative to hemoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen) in the blood, which reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood of affected individuals, causing cyanosis - or blue skin. As hinted at in my last post, blood does not become blue when it is low in oxygen - in fact, in people with this condition, their blood becomes chocolate-coloured. But because cyanosis develops, these people often have blue-tinged lips and fingers, and in the more extreme case of the Kentucky family, their entire bodies can appear blue.
Most people have less than 1% of methemoglobin in their blood, but with this condition levels of methemoglobin can rise to around 20% and cause cyanosis without any other health problems. Exposure to silver can also cause a condition with a similar appearance (but with totally normal oxygenated blood) called Argyria. This isn't generally harmful, but can cause people to be irreversibly blue for the rest of their lives. Dayyy-um.

I hope that you're all having a wonderful day so far!







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15 comments:

  1. Loved that piece of science at the end - it's really interesting!
    Your outfit is adorable today! (:

    Yuen @ The Craziest Paradigm - a 'lil bit of rust & stardust

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  2. this is amazing, i love reading about interesting genetic oddities!

    weirdoland - pigeongray.blogspot.com

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  3. Wohhh blue people. So cool.
    Also this outfit is so magically pink and lovely. I just love your skirt paired with that floral top and your pink wig. You look adorable!

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  4. I found your blog because a friend of mine linked me to your lookbook, suggesting we look alike haha. Can see it a little but you have MUCH cooler style. Love all the outfit posts, awesome wigs/hair too :)

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  5. You look like a princess mermaid haha!

    Becky
    xx

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  6. i love your top and shoes, they are lovely. the necklace is great too and i would really love one haha! turning blue seems pretty cool but i don't think i'd like it to be a permanent thing... but still, i guess halloween would be sorted as you could definitely go as a smurf!

    xo Sarah
    http://absolutelysarahx.blogspot.com

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  7. Pastel pink is such a great colour for hair - I mean, any pastel hair colour is great! But, as you say, a lot of bleach is needed and it is crazy damaging. Still, you look wonderful!

    ~K | bluehairinbelgium.blogspot.be

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  8. You look like a princess ! Lovely !

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  9. Pretty! Loving the floral top <3

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  10. Just wondering, is Faith and Lola an ethical store?

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    Replies
    1. I don't know. I got this skirt way back, and don't currently have it on me (I'm travelling atm), so I'm not able to look at the tag to see where it was made...
      You could email the owner Charli to ask before you buy anything from there [ havefun@faithandlola.com ]
      xx

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    2. Thanks a lot! I think it's really great that you reply to everyone :]

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  11. Very pretty!! pastel is so fun. I lol'd at your Tobias reference.
    That is so interesting and strange. I learn so much from your blog!

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  12. i know... it's so hard to not what all those pretty colors in our hair!! :) but this looks awesome too :) love the look

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  13. Swoon for pastel loveliness!
    I use colloidal silver for immune support. Though, the exposure/ingestion to ever becoming blue would have to be in obsessively insurmountable dosages.
    ♡ Dulce

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