Nail wraps

It’s been 19 days since I put the leopard spot nail wraps on and other than a bit of wear among the edge of the nails, they look great! No peeling, chipping, nothing. I’m very, very impressed! The only downside with them is that I think they took a few chips of my nails off when I removed them, but I’m not entirely sure. It was hard to see if they did or it was some sort of glue/sticker residue. But then again, I have some pitifully thin and peeling nails so it’s not fair to judge the wraps on my suspicions. They actually last perfectly for so long that I see regrowth of the nails.

Hubby saw me warming towels in the oven and asked me what I was doing. I explained that the nail wraps requires heat to be removed and since I don’t own a hair dryer, I had to use oven heat and towels. Hubby then said he actually had one. He went digging for it and sure enough, we do have a hairdryer in the apartment. I had to laugh though: That thing has to be from the 70s! I need to remember to take a picture of that thing; it’s hilarious how old it is!

Anyways, mostly I wanted to try an idea I had for nail polish.
I have a light blue, a purple and a pink in the same brand and I wanted to make a “rainbow” where I mixed two colours to graduate them. The idea in theory was fine, but even after letting it dry for 30 minutes after the last coat, I managed to ruin it when we put socks and shoes on to go for a late night snack-run *sigh* So off with that again. I know it wasn’t your standard nail polish, but it was still a good demonstration of how much easier the wraps are in comparison!

(I always go outside the nail side when I paint my toenails. Its easy to remove the extra polish from the skin later and you get a better coverage and smoother cover when you just have to worry about the strokes instead of corners)

I then wanted to try the other kind of nail wraps. Strangely enough, the pink, white and black kind turned out to be a lot harder to work with than the leopard spotted ones. They were a lot thicker and harder to cover over the nails. Very strange since they were from the same brand and line!

I got a few “edges” on the wraps where they didn’t bend perfectly over the nail-shape so I doubt I will stay as happy with these as I were with the other ones. On experimental basis, I gave my nails two layers of a top coat before adding the wraps.

I’m wondering though: What is best for weak nails? What damages the nails most? Glue or nail polish? Will nail polish bind stronger to the nails than the glue and damage them when I peel them off?

Disappointed!

So I emailed Keavin of Ketylo yesterday and got the reply today.

My message was:

Hello Kevin,

I bought 3 sets of large corian ketylos through the group order for the LHC&UTT group on Facebook that Lisa Carter was manager of.

Today I was going to use a speckled blue pair for the first time and one of the sticks broke in my bun, forming a sharp edge and cutting my scalp. (The stick then further broke after I threw it on the floor. There might have been some cursing involved *Cough*)

I’m attaching a picture of the sticks after the breaks.

Are the corians more brittle than the dymondwood? (Which I have 3 pairs of too) Or have I just been unlucky that one of my sticks have been stressed and fractured somehow?

The dymondwood sticks have served me and my thick knee length hair for many years so I’m naturally scared of my scalp since corian sticks have failed on only the second time I ever used any of them!

I hope to hear from you,

Best regards,

Ida

His reply:

Hi Ida, sorry to hear about your experience with the corian. Corian is not a strong material and should only be used in updo styles that dont require a lot of bending or twisting. Dymondwood is much stronger and unlikely to break easily. The thicker and longer your hair is would suggest that you may want to use thicker sticks that are less likely to break. The wood and dymondwood are probably the best for you. Thanks and blessings, kev

I’m pretty disappointed in his reply to tell the truth. He didn’t even answer my questions! I’m not even sure what he is trying to say here? There is nothing wrong with his sticks; it’s my hair that’s too heavy? “Buy my dymondwood sticks instead”? That I shouldn’t use corian sticks in buns at all because they are twisted and bent? Eh?

We’re talking about a hair stick that I didn’t even get to finish putting in my bun before it broke and that cut my scalp open, so I guess I had expected an offer of replacement or a discount code for next purchase or something? The common opinion when I posted about the accident on Facebook was that Kevin would offer a replacement or something, but I guess not? I guess Kevins opinion is that I shouldn’t use corians at all so therefore I won’t be offered a replacement?

Disappointing when you’re dealing with someone who is known for having such a great customer service.

Anyways. I’m not really sure what to do now. I spent 101$ + the Paypal fee on these sticks. One is now broken and I’m not sure I even want to put the rest in my hair anymore. I could always put them on the trading board, but I’m honestly not sure I want to pass something that was inferior onto someone else.

And it really, really irritates me that he ends his email with “blessings”. I know he mean it as something positive, but who says I want it? Who says I’m the same religion as him? Who says I want to be blessed at all? Would he not be extremely offended if I ended my email with “Satan loves you”?

I know it may seem as a small thing to be annoyed about, but it’s something that is so easily avoided by not being claustrophobically narrow-minded and automatically assuming the rest of the world is the same religion as you and would just love to be “Blessed”.

Bah. Yea, I’m sorely disappointed.

Ketyl-a-strophe!

Disaster! My beautiful blue speckled corian Ketylos broke today at the first time I was going to actually use them. And they broke inside my figure 8 bun and broke the skin of my scalp. Ouch!

I’ll be unable to wear up dos for a while I think. I can’t get a good look at how bad it actually looks in the back of my head but it really hurts.

I’m really upset. I’ve broken hairsticks before but they have been cheap plastic ones, not 32 USD for a set-Ketylos!



The tip broke in my bun and the second break is from me angrily throwing the rest of the stick down (May have been some serious cursing at this point too) So yea, the might survive a drop, but not being thrown down.

Look at that sharp edge it made when it broke! Argh!!

Blog post about the blog

Well, two new notes for my blog…

About a month ago I changed my settings so you no longer need to log into a Google account to leave comments. I changed it without making a notice of it to see how it would go.

On one hand I would like intelligent and interesting input.

But on the other hand, I know how much stupidity and human scum is on the internet and of course I’m not interested in that. Same with creepy, disgusting fetishist scum. Ew.

Well, we will see how it goes now I have announced it!

I was thinking of adding a label for question and answers too. I did make the Q&A page a long time ago, but it really feels like the place where words go to die. A lot of people send me questions over Facebook or in private messages on UTT about my blog and it feels a bit annoying when I deliberately made a section in my blog to ask questions. Now that I have changed the login requirement, I hope that will change!

Not entirely sure what to name the label. The Chamber maybe?

Yesterday’s hair

Hubby and I went to a party yesterday and I wore my hair in a figure 8 bun held with my new speckled grey corian Ketylos that matched the print of my CK shirt.

I ended up taking it down to show the length to some friends. I don’t like doing it unless it’s around people I know and trust. I always feel embarrassed over the attention it receives and that I’m “showing off”, but hey, how often do you see ultra long hair?

It’s still pretty cool you can wrap knee length thick hair up like this in less than 5 minutes.

Corian Ketylos vs. Dymondwood Ketylos

I found 4 differences between my new 7” corians and my old 7” dymondwoods.

• They are slightly thicker.
• The corians are just a smidge heavier: 25 grams for a set as opposed to the 15 grams of my dymondwoods. Not something you notice unless you hold a set of each (Or are curious and stick them on the digital scale like I did)
• As it shows on the picture, they corkscrew just a little less than the dymondwood. It doesn’t seem to make them “grip” any less when you screw them in though.  
• The dymondwoods have a much blunter end and stays almost the same thickness through the sticks length where the corians start tapering immediately after the last twist and comes to a much pointier end.  

None of the differences really matter though. You don’t notice any of them when using the sticks. I love the Ketylos for the simple beauty in their design and their beautiful wood/colour. They are extremely wearable and hairfriendly.

Testing my new headband

Hm, it really didn’t photograph well, did it? Weird.

(And it feels like I’m living in braided Nautilus buns. Oh well, they are my go to-style)

Hairgrish?

Found on the back of a bottle of Elvital volume collagen conditioner:

Anti-flat hair for 24 hours*

* Instrumental test after using Elvital volume collagen shampoo + conditioner + root lifting spray vs. classic shampoo

So if you use the shampoo and the conditioner and a root lifting spray you get more volume than if you just shampoo and don’t do anything further?

Gosh darn it! It’s a miracle product!

(And Hairgrish amuse me)

I’ve got mail!

Well, actually the Ketylos came a few days ago but the cold has been kicking my ass and I’ve felt totally unmotivated to do anything.

The three sets of corian Ketylos. It was really hard to get a picture of the true colours and patterns of these. The light blue ones have small specks too but it didn’t show well on the pictures

Package from Little Orca of LHC and UTT, who blogs here. Isn’t she talented?

(Of course this is a hint that she wants me to steal the little mermaid statue in Copenhagen, lol)

What was inside:

• Beef jerky. My undisputed favourite snack but unfortunately ridiculously overpriced here. (Which I really don’t understand since according to hubby, they also make it from elk up in the north of Sweden. So, if any kind reader would feel like sending me some…? *Hopeful puppy dog eyes* )


• Hair treatments, yay! Really looking forward to try these :) 


• Kitty-card!


• Scünci bendinis. Looking forward to try these.


• Swedish fish. Made me chuckle that these were manufactured in Canada, bought in USA and then shipped to a Dane in Sweden!


• Ouchless headband. Pretty and soft. I will use this a lot :)


• Argan oil treatment. Argan oil was the big craze some time ago on UTT so I’m really looking forward to try it

Finding hair-supplies in Sweden

Cassia: Life butiken

Coconut oil: Life butiken, some Ica's and Helse butiken

I found a nice selection of other oils and ACV at Coop, Ica and Willy’s too

Sunsilk leave in conditioner: H&M (But only the H&M at Nova Lund carries it)

V05: Willy’s and ÖoB

(Instant eyelash colour (Love!) from Depend: H&M)

Contents of my bags

There are a few threads on UTT about what emergency hair supplies people carry with them, so I thought maybe people would be interested in seeing the contents of my bag.
After all, if you visit my blog, you must be interested in my narcissistic rambles (Or have been really, really lost due to a weird Google search)

In my shoulder bag

A: My keys. They keystrap is a souvenir from Dreamhack. It also holds an USB-device, a Hello Kitty charm and a pendant that came with my expensive Jaguar S&D scissor.

B: Pen supporting the breast cancer fond.

C: My good old-fashioned paper calendar. I’m a chronic list-maker so this one is what rules my life lol.

D: Disinfectant (hand) wipes.

E: Gum. This one from Läkerol is quickly becoming a favourite. It’s very bag-friendly too!

F: My big slouchy bag bought last year at H&M that I absolutely love. It holds everything!

G: SPF 30 Nivea sun stick, SPF 25 Hawaiians Tropics lip gloss and a Lancôme juicy tube.

H: Ear buds and iPod.

I: Headphones. I prefer the headphones but they tend to make my ears sore after too long.

J: Sunglasses.

K: My wallet. I should have opened it to show the inside. Behind the serious black surface it has bright and happy neon colours!

L: Bus card.

M: Elisabeth Arden 8 hour cream. I’m so not impressed by this one! For such a hyped cream, the results aren’t impressive and neither hubby nor I like the scent.

N: Disinfectant spray in a handy, pretty little pen size

O: Sun lotion factor 15. Not the original content as the convenient, small bottle has been refilled numerous times over the years.

P: Sun protection spray for hair. Not the original content as the bottle has been refilled numerous times over the years. But I haven’t yet found such an efficient spray in such a small bottle form.

Q: Tissues. Never know when these come in handy.

Last row is contents of (R):

R: Makeup bag I got as a gift from Fatamorgana from UTT. It’s so cute!

S: A bit of my usual Lancôme foundation in a small sample jar.

T: Anti blemish gel sample from Vichy.

U: Anti-blemish, anti-redness foundation pen from Vichy.

V: Two sets of backup contact lenses.

X: Emergency comb I got from Isilme from LHC at the first Göteborg meet. It’s too small to be comfortable working with, but it will do in emergencies.

Y: Some different elastics.

Z: Two small clips.

1: Golden clip from Evita Peroni.

2: Perfume from Estee Lauder.

3: Emergency panty liners.

Not in picture but usually in the bag too: My phone (Used for taking the picture) 1-2 books (Mine and hubby’s) a nail file (I wonder where I lost that one?) Hubby’s wallet is often found in here too.  You know you’re married when you always end up carrying your hubby’s stuff around. “Honey, you have a bag. Could you…?”

My cute little 10” HP laptop and its matching case fit in the bag too, yay!

In my gym bag

A: Towel.

B: Bra and sport bra (Yes, I wear both even on a daily basis. It’s a habit from running and I feel naked and uncomfortable without) I always go to the gym wearing my sports bra and sports top underneath my normal clothes so I have less to change and can get out of the changing-room faster. So the bra and sports bra in my bag is what I intend to wear after finishing the workout.

C: Gym shoes from Nike.

D: Gym bag from Adidias.

E: Jazz pants type of pants.

F: Sports top (I change between 3 sets that I like the look of)

G: Coveryourhair.com pre-tied bandanna. Some times I use this just for the pressure-distributing effect for long cardio-sessions wearing headphones.

H: Sports socks.

I: Bandanna type headband. Loose hairs sticking to a sweaty forehead drives me absolutely nuts!

J: My current read. When life nearly died- The greatest mass extinction of our time by Michael J. Benton. I like long cardio sessions on the treadmill at a medium pace and slight incline where I can read. Time just flies!

K: 0,7 litre water bottle. I prefer buying new bottled water ones once in a while instead of using the same old.

L: Best face forward face wash. Not entirely sure I like this one.

M: Biotherm face wash sample. Not entirely sure I like this one either! With my sensitive, easily irritated skin I’m always on the hunt for products that do their job without pissing my skin off.

N: Clinique all about eyes cream.

O: Clinique dramatically different moisturising lotion.

P: Viva la diva perfume sample.

Q: Gum. Hm, I do carry a lot of that around with me, don’t I? I really like this one. It’s an “uncomplicated” gum with mint flavour. No weird liquid centre or those little flavour bubble-things or explosion-like freshness.

R: Padlock for the locker and a little belt-clip hanger for the key.

S: Deodorant Fuel for life from Diesel.

T: Elastics. The pink ones match my Nike gym set and the white ones match the Hummel gym set!

U: A single clip for annoying loose bits.

I have a cold

I have a really bad cold so I’m staying in my pyjamas and feeling sorry for myself. Whenever I’m sick, I never wear my contact lenses so today is glasses-day.

My head was feeling seriously cold so I put a pre-tied bandanna on. The bandanna presses my ears into the glasses and my skull so it quickly started making me feel sore and irritated.

I tried simply having my glasses on top of the bandanna, but that slides down within minutes. Then

I came up with this:

The headband is perfect for keeping the glasses in place and now my head is warm and comfy!

Braided nautilus tutorial

When it comes to hold and stability, this is my superstar bun! Even without a tool inserted in the bun, it takes some jumping around or shaking my head to unravel this one, and even then it only does it gradually and hesitantly.

Start with your hair in a braid. French, Dutch, English, doesn’t matter.

Wrap the braid up in a loop. The size depends on how thick or long your hair is. As in: How much room you need inside the loop. Don’t make the loop too small as you need “wiggle room” for a hair stick or clip too. For some it might work to wrap the outer loop around the wrist or a couple of fingers.

Twist the braid around the base of the loop. I alternate hands to hold the loop in place while I twist the braid around with the other hand.

Tuck the braid tassel under the inner twists.

Insert Flexi 8, hair stick, Ficcare or whatever you want to hold the bun through the inner parts.

Done!

One thing I really like about this bun is that it “displays” the thickest parts of your braid and tucks the skinnier bits inside where people don’t notice them. Hehe…

Except for the time it takes to make the braid, this has got to be the quickest bun I know of.

My (gym) go-to

It’s no secret that my favourite up do is the braided Nautilus bun.

Hypnotica has instructions here for a non-braided version:

I have put it on my to do-list to make a tutorial for my adaptation so I wont go into detail here.

The nautilus bun in itself is almost self stabilising and the braided version is even more so because the “bumps” of a braid offers more slipping-resistance. Even without securing the bun with anything, I would have to jump up and down several times to shake the bun loose and even then, it does so hesitantly and gradually. Once it’s been set in place with a toy, it won’t budge. Also, the bun in itself is very flat and hugs your skull which is very convenient and helps prevents headaches. It’s perfect for the gym!

I prefer to secure it with a Flexi 8.

Stumpy

And this is how you easily do a heavy overnight oiling: Braid, smother hair in oil, put in a plastic bag and bandage it up.

But look how sad and short my hair looks covered in the bandage! It makes me want to go “Aww…” for being injured and pet it XD

(Is it bad that’s 3 pm and I’m still in my “pyjamas”?) 

The one where Igor gets tired of the Friends-style blog titles

Today I revisited an old friend I haven’t seen in a couple of years: The knotty bun

It took me a couple of try to get the technique right. Where to start, how to twist, how to stick it.

I guess it depends on your taste, but I don’t like the “knot” to be underneath the tail, so I start twisting at 12 o clock. I twist clockwise and coil clockwise too.

Other than just remembering the tactics, the only art in the Knotty bun in my opinion is how to stick it. You need to find the place where the tail crosses itself at the start of the “bun” (!)  Then insert one stick between the two tail-parts (1) Tilt the stick to push the top part of the tail towards your head to pack the “bun” closer to your head for more comfort (2) Then push the stick through the hair like usual (3)

I don’t know why I haven’t worn this one more often. It’s surprisingly comfortable and very good at keeping my hair out of the way, even with a past waist length ponytail hanging free. Maybe it’s the half-bun shape that provides enough shape and “lift” to keep it free from my shoulders and from getting tangled in everything?

(And it totally tickles my ego in the right way that even with a half bun, my hair is still the longest I spotted all day)

It made me very aware of my hair-habits though: I can feel it on my shoulders so I automatically do a little “shrug” when I sit down, but there isn’t enough length to get it caught under my butt.

Hubby really liked it and asked why I don’t ear it more often.

The one where Igor is really happy

When I first started this blog, I didn’t expect a lot. My first and only priority was to “free” it from LHC and in general stand on its own.
But even then, it was quite a surprise to come from the heavy trafficked LHC to more humble page views.
After all, in the end the only credit I had to give LHC was that you got a whole lot of page views on anything and everything you wrote no matter the quality!

I still think it was a good experience for me personally though. Every once in a while every one of us needs a good slice of humble pie.

Now that I have gotten used to that my blog is still on the upstart, it made it so much more special and dear to me to find this:

So a big Thank You to the sweet Gossamer or Gossycraft for the mention and the very, very sweet words!!

The one where Igor’s hubby catch on

Hubby has a cold so I made him a pot of camomile tea with honey in.

Hubby: Oh, yum, camomile tea! Hey, I didn’t know we had any? … Wait, don’t tell me: It’s in the hair-cupboard with all the other food stuff you reserve for your hair, right?

Clever man.

Hair weight and headaches

I think everyone with over BSL hair have heard comments on hair weight and headaches:  

“Wow, your hair must be so heavy!”

“Don’t you get headaches with all that hair?”

Uhm, no. But thanks for not being able to keep such an unintelligent comment inside your head?

The truth is that hair isn’t heavy at all. An average inch of hair weighs about 50 µg. Calculating from those numbers and actually attempting to weigh my hair (That isn’t easy to get accurate!) lands my thick, knee length hair at around 250 gram. That’s not a whole lot, is it?

The weight of hair itself doesn’t cause headaches.

What actually causes hair-headaches are:

• Unevenly distributed weight from an updo where a lot of weight is pulling on a few hairs
• Not packing the updo close to the head. Its basically torque like we know from physics and mechanics

But today after my cassia-treatment I can feel it. Not a headache as such, but more feeling… Irritated and heavy in the head.

Of course this is after first 1 hour 15 minutes of cassia and then 3½ hour of V05!

So how much weight do I have piled on my head?

Water weight: I’m not sure how much the moisture inside my hair adds to the weight. Double it? Less? More? The only way to know would have been if I weighed it before adding the conditioner. I will set it to just 100 grams extra (Equals having absorbed just 1 dl of water, which I doubt it set too high)

Conditioner: 200 ml = At least 200 gram

Cling wrap and metal foil = Are less than my digital scale can register, so 5 gram?

Heatpack = 85 gram

3 warm hats = 240 gram

So that ads up to 630 grams (!) extra weight left piled up on my skull for 4 hours and 45 minutes.

As I wrote already: I don’t have a headache, but my head doesn’t feel entirely happy either.

When it takes so much to actually cause a headache, why do people cling to the headache-argument against long hair? 

Cassia day!

It has seriously been ages since last I really spoiled my hair. Yesterday was supposed to be a cassia 4-in-1-treatment day according to my Project Knee Length plan. It has turned out to be a huge waste of time to have planned that one out since it seems I mentally rebel against the idea of having my haircare planned out like that. Sigh. I guess it doesn’t help that I actually did hit knee length, which is something I seriously doubted I ever would at the time. Classic to knee is the second most frustrating growth stage I have ever been through. Argh! I guess since I hit knee length I have been slacking on the hair care…

4 in 1 treatment
Cleansing
Conditioning
Scalp exfoliating
Mud bath

Igor’s golden tone cassia mix
50 ml cassia powder

50 ml of camomile tea
One pot of green tea
200 ml of conditioner

Directions
Mix cassia powder with cold camomile tea and the conditioner.
Cover hair in the mud and wrap the length of the hair up in a pile (Do not braid!) Cover with cling wrap, heat pack, metal foil (Charming!) and a warm hat. Wrap some old towel over your neck and shoulders as it can drip!
Stay warm for 30 minutes.
Pour the leftover teas in the tub. Fill halfway with water (Or quarter way, at least enough to cover the scalp when you lay down in it)
Remove cling wrap and hat and hop in the tub.
Allow length of hair to soak in the water to dissolve the bulk of the mud (This is often referred to as a “mermaid soak”) before scrubbing the scalp (This is why you shouldn’t braid) The cassia mud is excellent at exfoliating the scalp, but the grainy structure of the mud might be rough on the hair strands.
Soak in the green mud bath and enjoy. Some people use cassia and henna specifically for skin and nail health, so spend some time soaking and relax.

Follow with a good deep conditioner as the cassia seems to be somewhat drying.
Rinse and continue styling hair as usual.
Enjoy the feel of clean and conditioned hair and a fresh and exfoliated scalp!

Ingredients for some hair pampering <3
Cassia treatment with cholesterol, Franck Provost and V05

Conditioning with V05

ACV dip

One thing is for sure when it comes to cassia: It doesn’t look pretty!

It doesn’t get better once it’s mixed with water in a tub. Especially not when it forms foam from rinsing conditioner out…

My first nail-wraps!

Hubby took one look at the package and decided they were tacky. Then he made a reference to Peggy Bundy. Hmpf. He can bite my shapely behind!

When I got ready to apply them, I ran into a problem. The packaging tells you to apply heat from a hairdryer to soften and active the glue. Yikes. I have never even owned a hairdryer!

So what is a clever girl to do? Why, she heats up towels in the oven and wraps them around her toes. Hah.

It was pretty easy even when it was my first try ever and I didn’t even have the tools they required. But in a few days I’ll see how they last and if the lack of hairdryer-heat screwed it up.

I really like them!

But I will have to half-agree with hubby though. They would have been really tacky if I had long nails. On my short toenails they just look cute and fun.

The Bathroom

Introducing a new category!

When I first started this blog, I wanted it to be about (my) hair. But the sad fact is that it’s not very exciting for me to blog about it. As much as I like writing, I like blogging and I like my hair, there isn’t much of a thrill in it.

So I’m introducing The Bathroom: Non-hair beauty entries.

As I mentioned Wednesday, I ordered some stuff from Nelly.com.

This might be of interest to the Swedes reading this: At the moment some Libresse products comes with a 100 kroner Nelly.com discount code if you buy for over 500 kroner.

I didn’t plan to spend any “extra” money this month with 3 sets of Ketylos and an expensive calculator coming my way, but I just couldn’t say no to some girly products with a discount. Especially since they have a nice selection of nail wraps and I’ve wanted to try those for some years, but just never got around to it.

My order arrived today:

• 2 sets of nail wraps
• 3 funky nail polishes
• French tips
• Gym shirt
• Puma Jam deodorant (Have loved all scents Puma ever made!)
• Slightly bronzed blusher (Been wanting an in-between blusher for a while now)
• (And a free magazine)

Hair fodder

Something you rarely hear about when it comes to pros and cons when it comes to hair types is that thick hair eats hair tools and toys. Ficcares squeak in protest. Elastics die just from looking at my hair. Hair sticks snaps. Flexi 8s struggle to close over my buns.

I picked up this pack of metal-free black elastics when I was getting groceries. Hubby helped me unpack when I came home: “Hey, those should last you a while” He said.

Hah. Watch me.

Thursday the 8th of September

Having one of those days where I just can’t be bothered. The mane is getting really greasy and need washing pretty bad, but meh, just can’t be bothered. Maybe tomorrow.

Made a simple English braid and twisted it up in a Nautilus bun held with a Flexi 8.

Have errands to run.

Not sure if want

I just ordered some stuff from nelly.com and they have this thing here…

Link 

    

   
As the title says: Not sure if want. I guess in the end I think its more a fun object than something I really want or would use?

Dieting, hair and me

I’ve been debating whether I should be putting this in writing and on my blog or not. On one hand, I feel exposed and that it’s deeply personal. On the other hand, it’s a part of my life (And of concern to the topic of my blog: My hair) and I have a strong dislike against those blogs where women go on about how they “Eat anything they want to!” and posts pictures of their food, lots of snacks and candy and still weigh less than my favourite boots.

I don’t want to promote such a fake view of reality.

The reality is that I weigh 64 kg.

The reality is that I have a very narrow window where I like my body: 54-56 kg.

Below that and I have bones poking out and look unhealthy.

Above that and my fat starts piling up between my hips and upper thighs and I absolutely hate my body.

So yes, I hate my body. I have gained 10 kg in the less than two years I have known hubby. Talk about relationship-gut!

I have tried cutting out candy and snacks, but forbidding them makes them even more tempting! I love cooking, I love food and I love eating.

So, without controlling my diet I eat more than I can burn. It doesn’t help that hubby and I want to snuggle up on the couch with movies and snacks.

And it doesn’t help that this is what I feel about going to the gym at the moment:

But whenever I try to go on a diet, all the “forbidden” food is tempting me.

Strangely when I fast (About once a year) I’m doing really well. Maybe it’s because I have systemised my day and organised what I can eat and when? So whenever I feel cranky or hungry, I know I have so-and-so long until the next allowed meal or drink.

Maybe that’s the way to go? Calculate a diet with the exact number of calories and what foods and when I can eat?

I will have to pay attention to how much protein I get on the diet then. About 3 years ago I went through a really, really stressful year and I lost a lot of hair without noticing. I must have lost a just few extra hairs each day since I didn’t notice it, but it all adds up. I can clearly see the regrowth today. It adds up to about the thickness of a finger, so it’s quite a lot!

Of course this makes me very paranoid of any diet changes. Protein shakes aren’t a lot of extra calories for a lot of protein if you just use low fat milk. I really should incorporate that in a diet to make sure.

I’m really tired of hating my body. I should get myself together to do something about it…

To be continued!

New page

I put a new page up.  I have added some of the information I often find myself wanting when I see pictures or read other peoples blogs.

It’s basically just some stats on my own hair. I especially find myself wishing I knew how tall people are when I see length shots!

I really hope people can see out of my growth rate that I really don’t have a super woman’s hair growth or anything and that it’s just a question of time and not doing any harm in the process!

Funny ^^

Water

I’m back in Sweden again after having visited my parents for their anniversary. It’s been a while since last I was back in my native Denmark. To keep it hair-related, I noticed how there isn’t a big difference between the water in Skåne and in Svendborg where my parents live. Usually when I come to visit my parents I find my hair being unmanageable and slippery after just a single shower there



Denmark is a classic ice age landscape with lots of small hills and lakes created by the ice’s forces. Underneath the surface, the composition of underground can change drastically within just a few meters depending on the material the ice left behind.

Drinking water is pumped out of the underground, filtered and analysed before being sent out to consumers, but if the results are within parameters, the water isn’t further treated. Nothing is added and nothing is subtracted from the water.

This naturally means that there are big differences in mineral contents between areas. Skåne is the same ice age landscape type as the vast majority of Denmark, but they remove some of the calcium

In everyday life this means nothing more than a slight difference in tap water flavour, how often you need to remove calcium deposits in water boilers and showers and that when you buy laundry detergent, you will find a small map in the back showing recommended doses calculated for the median water hardness of the different areas.

I notice a difference when it comes to hair. I do prefer the slightly softer water like that of Skåne, but it’s been a surprise a few times to find my hair being suddenly slippery after having been washed in soft water when I lived in areas with harder water. Harder water offers a bit more “grip” which I do like, but it seems to add slightly to the build-up speed.

Of course some longhairs find themselves buying showerheads and speculating in water hardness and mineral deposits.

I absolutely hated the chlorinated water I experienced for instance in USA and the salt water (!) in Fuerte Ventura. Both made my skin itch and killed the shine and manageability of my hair.

Now I wonder what exact water hardness they have in Skåne and Lund in particular.

1 dH = (1 °dH ≈ 0,178 mmol/l) = 10 mg of calcium in one litre of water.