Wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Life is good.
Seriously, you guys, life is very good.

Yesterday I closed a project that has been taking a lot of my time the last months. It even required over a week in pyjamas, messy hair, too little sleep and barely leaving my work desk.

But now it's done and I'm very happy.

It was seriously therapeutic to put away all the books, notes and binders!
(I like using sailor moon as my reaction images because a) she's so funny and b) she has amazing hair so she's like my blog-mascot, but I always related more to sailor mercury)

Of course I have already signed up for another projekt.

(Part workaholic and part that I've found I really, really, really enjoy having a stay at home hubby! Being able to keep Mr Igor at home, free to play computer games, read and train all day makes Mr Igor very happy. And a happy Mr Igor makes Igor very happy.)

I start Monday.
Gulp.

I had hoped I would get a little more time to just relax, catch up on all the "nothing" I've been wanting to do and have more time to blog. But it sounds interesting, fits me practically and I know the new boss personally.

The only problem is that I have to get up pretty early and I will have an annoyingly long commute. But oh well. It's time limited but I'm not 100% sure for how long. I estimate 1-2 months. I find out Monday when I meet up with my new boss.

I'll have to get up fairly early, and since I'm not a morning person, I'm thinking I will make my "prefabricated" updos. Braid the day before, whip up in some sort of bun in the morning.
It made me think: How many easily distinguishable updos would I be able to make like that?

For the braid base: Single braid, double braid split vertically, double braid split horizontally, all of the above with a fishtailed base, all of the above with a French or Dutch base, maybe a triple braid base where I make two buns and wrap the last one around as a headband...?
Maybe high bun(s), maybe some fake bang-days?
Of course I will bun it using my all time favorite bun, the nautilus.

But would the different braid bases be enough that you could tell it's a different hair style?
How much difference would it make if I deliberately rotated my tools? (Instead of always reaching for my Ron Quattros!)

I must experiment with this.
Hair nerd science demands it!

So I've been enjoying my day off a lot. Tomorrow I plan on doing a lot of nothing too.

Today I mostly spent binge-watching Beauty Bible and Get It Beauty.

How much can you be into Korean beauty and not into K-pop and K-drama before you have to admit you're a koreaboo anyways?

Hmm. Nope.
No bingo.

Anyways.
Get It Beauty had a rather interesting episode on haircare. Although I disagree with some things (Didn't expect anything else), it also made me think.

In the episode, the use two different serums after washing the model's hair and it made me think maybe I should start applying some leave in conditioner as soon as I step out of the shower, before I wrap it in a towel and detangle?
For Korean skincare it's a common technique to apply your first toner or serum before you even start properly drying yourself off. Maybe it would work for hair too?
With coarse hair like mine, you want all the slip you can get to keep the damage down. Maybe I should try that?
Maybe I could use up some of the leave in conditioners that doesn't necessarily work for updo-creation. Once I start drying my hair, it will squeeze some of the leave in conditioner out again, but it would probably do it´s work and add slip to keep mechanical damage down.
Good hair care is really about maintaining habits that cause as little damage as possible.

Hair food: Snack

Look what I found at one of the local Thai food stores!

(For the locals: The one at Södra Esplanaden)

I paid 18,90 SEK for each. 

(15,3 DKK or 2,2 USD or 2 Euro)

I originally bought them out of sheer curiosity, but they turned out to be very yummy!
They are dried squid snacks with sweet and spicy flavor (Left) and hot-spicy flavor (Right). They look pretty much like on the pack: Thin "papers" of squid with little lines cut into them.

(Totally not propped up on two packs of Pocky. No)

The taste is very spicy and sweet for both kinds and it takes a long time to eat.
Sort of like beef jerky I guess, but doesn't get caught in your teeth like jerky.
It's a excellent snack because it takes so long to eat, so you end up feeling satisfied before you're done with the pack.

(Totally not propped up on two open packs of Pocky. No)

Also, the nutrition is awesome: 100 gram is just 80 calories!
Which means that a single 24 gram pack is less than 20 calories! And that's for a snack that takes a long time to eat. Although it does contain less than 2 gram protein for a pack, I still feel this qualifies as a "Hair food".

Hair food

Since I’m trying to lose some weight, I thought it could be fun to make some blog posts about food. After all, good “hair food” is basically healthy and often low calorie.

So, what makes good hair food?

• Hair needs protein
• Hair needs good oils
• Hair needs vitamins
• Hair needs minerals

Basically, whatever is good for skin, nails and your body in general, is good for hair too.

Hair doesn’t need carbs or the bad fats, unless you go so low in calorie-intake that your body transforms your valuable protein for energy, so low calorie is the way to go.

The first “hair food” I will show is my own stir fry recipe.

It’s been one of my diet stables since my “I’m in university and lives off beer and ramen” days.

It can actually be done fairly healthy as I’m about to demonstrate. Not bad for a 10 minute comfort food!

So, without further explanation: My extremely bastardized stir-fry recipe... 

The ingredients are: A pack of ramen, a handful of vegetables and/or meat and one egg.

The dish is always unique from time to time because it depends on what I kind of noodles I have and what vegetables or meat I have.

(Back in university, I loved cabbage with this: It’s dirt cheap, a little goes a long way and that stuff seriously never spoils)

My ingredients this time are:

• 1 egg
• 1 pack (83 gram) of shrimp flavoured noodles
• 100 g broccoli
• 100 g prawns
• 50 g fried tofu
• Bit of onion and garlic

Egg contains protein and lots of vitamins and minerals

Broccoli contains vitamin C and iron and is good for skin health

Prawns contains omega 3, are low calorie and full of protein

Tofu is high in protein and iron and is even said to boost hair growth

Noodles are probably not good for anything.

Pick your noodle pack apart. This particular brand comes with 4 little packs of oil and flavouring bouillon, paste and dried vegetables. 

Take the little pack with flavoured oil and use it for cooking your vegetables and meat.

Vegetables and tofu chopped up and ready to cook in the noodle packs flavouring oil.

While the vegetables and tofu cooks, prepare the noodles as the pack says.

Do not add any of the flavouring packs to this.

Add the prawns. Cook for a bit.

Add the drained noodles.

Add the egg.

Now you add the little spice-packs to the dish.

Let everything cook until the egg is done.

Done.

Makes for two portions. 

(I added a bit of spring onion to the finished dish, mostly because it looks nice)

Nutritional value:

• 50 g tofu = 140 calories and 11 g protein
• 100 g prawns = 100 calories and 21 g protein
• 100 g broccoli = 34 calories and 3 gram protein
• 1 egg = 70 calories and 6 gramprotein
• The noodle package with all the spices= 360 calories and 8 g protein

That makes the entire dish 704 calories and 49 g protein.

Since we split it, half a portion is only 352 calories and 24,5 g protein.

(I have not calculated the bit of garlic, onion and spring onion, but how many calories could that possibly add?)

Not bad for quick comfort food?

Igor's "barely there" two-step henna/indigo method

The focus is more on adding strength to the hair than to add colour.
This method uses a very light henna gloss that barely pushes the hairs colour more towards red.
It's followed by a light indigo gloss that helps correct the natural fade from sunlight and wear on the ends.
Be sure to adjust amounts of henna and indigo (And ingredients in general) to your own individual purpose.

Clear your whole day for day 1.

It is strongly suggested to use a bathtub as part of this.

Hair supplies

• Cassia
• Conditioner(s)
• Henna
• Indigo

Other supplies

• A pinch of sea salt
• Bandages, several
• Cling wrap
• Heating pads
• Metal foil
• Plastic bag
• Some old clothes
• Warm hats

Suggested for entertainment: A laptop with a series ready to go. You can easier move the laptop for comfort instead of having to adjust how you sit/lie with your head when the mud and warm hats are packed on.

Day 0: Preparations
Clean your hair of product and go to bed with "naked", product-free hair.
Make sure you have no appointments for the next day.
Get some snacks and entertainment ready.

Pick a series to watch. Maybe something you have wanted to start on for a while?
Get one that has finished airing already and fits your desired time-frame.
I strongly suggest something with subtitles as the cling wrap and warm hats seriously messes with your hearing!
My personal preference is something animated that has finished running already, so you can finish the entire story.

So my suggestion is a funny anime
Charlotte
Super-powered drama with some comedy in it.
13 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 5 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!)
Comedy and awkward teen years
12 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 4 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (Daily Lives of High School Boys)
Slice of life-comedy.
12 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 4 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

Hataraku Maou-sama! (The devil is a part-timer)
Romantic comedy.
13 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 5 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

One punch man
Super-powered comedy. Perhaps the most hyped anime of 2015 and with good reason!
12 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 4 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui! (It's Not My Fault That I'm Not Popular!)
A cringe-inducing comedy, that is also very sad. (I relate to this one on an almost physical level. Sigh) If you were awkward when you were younger and hated school, this one is for you!
12 episodes, 24 minutes. Total runtime a bit more than 4 hours if you skip the intro and outtro.

Day 1: Henna and overnight indigo
Mix your henna and indigo muds separately.

Igors recipes for calf length, iii hair:
Henna mud

• 100 g cassia
• 5 g henna
• 700 ml cone-free conditioner (A full Tresseme bottle minus 50 ml for the indigo mud)
• 1 ampoule Lador perfect hair filler

Prepare a "nest" in your couch or bed: Pillows, towels, entertainment and snacks within reach.
Prop pillows up so you are comfrotable half-sitting up. Have pillows under your knees.

Bring cling wrap, bandages and warm hats into the bathroom.

I suggest bringing your laptop into the bathroom for entertainment here. Have a series queued up so you have something to kill the time with in the bathtub.
Take your henna-mix and apply it to your hair. Section off hair so you can get all the way to the roots.
The mud is rather thick and can be difficult to distribute, so patch it on in sections.
You want to avoid too much messing around with it, since it is so grainy.
Because the henna-mix is so light, you don't have to worry about stains everywhere.

Once you have your hair covered in the henna-mud, wrap cling wrap around it.
Use the ends of the cling wrap to cover the hairs at your neck.
Cover everything with warm hats.

Don't wrap the around bandages when you get in the tub.
Just wrap the cling wrap and put warm hats over.
You want the worst of the dripping to be over with before you get out of the tub.
You only get that by actually allowing it to drip out.
Draw yourself a nice bath and angle the laptop so you can see it from the tub.

Henna and cassia are actually very good for your skin, so see this as a treat for your skin as well as hair.
I like to simply make a big pot of green tea and add it to your bathwater.

The bath is the only way I have found the dripping to be tolerable: No matter what I do, it will drip.
But allowing it to drip down while I'm warm and wet in the bath anyways, severely limits how freakishly annoying it is.
Dripping henna mud while you're out of the bath is seriously like a kind of Chinese water torture.

I like to stay in the bathtub for about an hour. It cuts about 80% of the dripping and makes the whole process a lot more tolerable.

Wrap the bandages around your hair to keep the rest of the dripping down. Don't wrap too tightly as it will cause headaches and discomfort.
Rinse yourself off, dry yourself off and get in some old clothes.
Then get in your prepared "nest".

Apply your heating pads to keep your hair and mud nice and warm.

Even if you have a desired time-frame to keep your treatment on, it will never harm your hair to keep the mud on for as long as you can stand it!
The key is to limit irritations like dripping, keep yourself comfortable with a nice "nest" and have some entertainment ready.

You will want to limit fluids as going to the bathroom with henna mud on your head is mildly irritating.

Once you are done with your henna-treatment, wash it out gently by soaking your hair in the tub and slathering conditioner on.
Using conditioner will also help you get the last leftovers of mud out.
Even after rinsing with water alone looks clear, your conditioner may turn green when you apply it!

Your hair might feel cranky and dry as you rinse it clean. That is normal.
It will feel awesome and strong once you add some regular conditioner or leave in-conditioner.

But there is one more step to go: The indigo to correct the natural fade in your ends.

Indigo mud

• A pinch of sea salt (Like, two shakes of the saltshaker)
• 2 g indigo
• 50 ml cone-free conditioner

Comb and braid your hair to around BSL/mid back length, or however long your hair is before you want to adjust the fade.
Apply the indigo mud to the rest of the length and braid your hair with it in. Loop the braid up into itself if necessary.
Put a plastic bag over it and wrap a bandage tightly around the bag.
To secure the bag to your braid, pull an edge of the bag through the braid and then "lock" it by applying the bandage over.

Go to bed with your "mummy braid" and sleep on it.

Day 2: Rinse clean and ignore
The next day you can rinse the indigo out in the morning or leave it on a bit longer.
CO wash with your normal preferred conditioner after rinsing the indigo out, to make sure you get all the grainy mud out.

Do not wash your hair again for 48 hours after the treatment, to make sure you give the henna and indigo time to oxidise.

Salicylic acid

I just used the Rainforest brilliant shine conditioner in a mix with VO5 and it was pretty good. Of course it was only a mix, but it still seemed good. I looked the ingredients up and Bodyshop have them listed on their website: Points for that!
COSDNA's analysis of it is pretty  good.

But I was extremely confused over the product containing salicylic acid!
I know why salicylic acid is used in skincare products: It makes cells in the upper layer of the skin shed faster, and helps clogged pores return to normal. So it's an exfoliator that also works in the pores.
But is that an effect you want on your hair?

My first thought was uh. No, not really.

A little more research revealed that salicylic acid is used in shampoos to treat dandruff for the same reasons. And that yes, you might actually want this in your hair product.
Hmm.
Since I dont use shampoos, maybe this is why I haven't realized this before.

Since I tend to get a bit of dandruff around autumn because of the change in humidity and temperature, maybe I should actually use this particular conditioner to CO?
I haven't seen any conditioner (Well, any product actually) containing salicylic acid before, so it's worth a shot.

Beavertail

Not exactly one of the styles I find in my rotation a lot, but for some reason I felt like it.

I added a bit of "French" to the middle braid to eat up some of the length, but it still poked out a lot.

Swap, part III

Charlaine received her package!

Phew.

The waiting and hoping that your friend receives the parcel is the worst part of swapping, so it was a huge relief it arrived in one piece.

Pictures borrowed with permission from Charlaine's facebook.

Bottom right is the little extra I added (And debated endlessly if I should add it or not!): A golden Evita Peroni "Fakkare"

She looks happy, so it makes me very happy.

Wolverine?
(Note to self: Teach Hubby to be creative with taking pictures too. He could learn a thing or two from Charlaine's hubby!)

Charlaine says the clip only works in a rather messy bun, but I'm still happy it does work for her. Those Ficcare-shaped clips can be really tricky to get to work, which is why I debated for so long whether I should add it or not.

Frankenproduct fail

This morning when I went to use my new Frankenproduct to fix my hair, it just went splot! all over the floor.

The slightly-too-thick texture from two days ago have now degraded into something almost waterlike.

WTF?

I pumped some out on the kitchen table to show you guys: Look at the splashing around the "pool" and look how completely flat it is! The texture is almost like milk!

How does this happen? Was there an ingredient-wrecking enzyme in this??

It's not the first time I've seen it happen, but usually it leaves some clumpy nastiness. This is completely smooth and runny.

Anyone?

Frankenproduct

Damn. Yesterday I used up the last of my trusted Sunsilk leave in-conditioner. This morning, I discovered it had been the last bottle I had in stock.

This is double bad because A) The price, shine and hold is absolutely perfect and it's been my go to for ages. So I've usually been using it for my "base" and mixing in pricier, "better" stuff and/or sunblock. 

And B) the "sports bottle" type bottle is perfect for squeezing out the amounts of leave in-conditioner I need.

Doh. 

Time to get creative! So I went digging though my drawers to see what I had in storage.

More than I expected. Whoops! 

• L'Oreal Elvital extraordinary oil oil-in-cream. 

I like this one, but it offers way too much slip for my hair on its own. It needs to be mixed with something or I can't put my hair up.

I kept finding these at a good price in Denmark, so I really stocked up on them. 

• Tonymoly hair serum
• Mane 'n tail moisturizer-texturizer conditioner. 

These caused the same effect in my hair: Too much grip and a funky kind of texture left in it.

The Tonymoly bottle is awesome though: It dispenses a good amount of product, so I already knew it would be the basis for my Frankenproduct.

• Haken natural baobab oil. 

It leaves behind an amazing shine, but makes my hair intensely slippery and unmanageable. It has a super thick, almost glue-ish texture. 

• L'Oreal Elvital extraordinary oil. 

It leaves behind an amazing shine, but makes my hair intensely slippery and unmanageable. It has a super runny, almost watery texture.

• L'Oreal Everpure lasting moisture leave-in creme. 

I have a vague memory of not liking the ingredient list, but I'm not sure why I stuck it in the back of the drawer.

• Pantene 7 in 1 perfector BB creme. 

I haven't even gotten around to try this one yet!

• Matrix biolage UV sparkling lotion. 

This is actually a pretty good leave in-conditioner that offers nice hold and shine. But it contains absolutely no UV-protection, so it kind of pissed me off. False advertising, anyone?!

First step first: Finding a suitable container for the almost-full Tonymoly serum. 

Second step: Put a label on it or expect to forget what I put in the jar anyways, lol.

The empties: I found some leftover Avéne SPF 50 with physical sunblock that I put in the mix, emptied two L'Oreal Elvital extraordinary oil oil-in-creams, the leftover Matrix biolage UV sparkling lotion and a few pumps of Haken natural baobab oil for shine.

It got a bit thicker than I expected, but overall it had the right mixture of shine and hold. And I managed to clear out some bottles for space. Score!

Pouf!

What do you get when you leave your hair in double Dutch braids for three days because you're too lazy to fix it up again?

Pouf!

New year's resolution

I've always considered new years resolutions to be really stupid.
They're the real life version of "liking" fuck cancer on Facebook and not donating your time or money to help those affected by it.
All talk and good intentions, no action.
And people usually forget about them about a week later.
If your resolution was something you actually wanted to change, you would have changed already and then it wouldn't be necessary to make a big fuss about it all ceremoniously, right?

Anyways. Since I've already done something about it, and it really is something I do want to change...
My new years resolution is that I want to lose weight.

I have a skinny build with small bones. I'm not supposed to carry a lot of weight. (Compare my wrists to Hubby's and they're about half the size of his!)
And since I met Hubby, I have gained something like 15 kg (33 pounds)

Talk about a relationship-gut!

Around the time I met Hubby I was around 53-54 kg.
It wasn't the skinniest I've been as an adult though, that was some months before where I had dipped under 52 kg.

It wasn't pretty on me. Under 55 kg and I have all these bones poking out in places.

55-57 is my preferred weight and what I have weighed most of my adult life.

Now? I'm at around 64 kg.

My highest ever was 68, which I hit some months ago. It was a real eyeopener. I suddenly hated my body. And I hated how I had let myself go like that. But I guess you are less likely to notice those things when you're all happy and loved-up?
And I decided it was time to do something about it. So I have.

I dont have any body check pictures, but let me show what I mean with some old braid pictures.

52 kg maybe? Right before I met hubby.
Too bony. You can see the bony outline of my shoulder blades.

57 kg maybe?
I have some padding, but still have a waist and defined hips. You can see the shoulder blade bones, but not defined.

67 kg maybe?
No definition around shoulders. No waist curve. Love handles.
Also, I'm fairly sure I'm sucking it all in here.

Also, I find it telling how I'm more or less undressed in the first two: Usually when I do my hair, I'm more or less naked. That way I don't risk spilling leave in-conditioner on my clothes. After fixing my hair if I needed to take a picture, I usually did it before bothering to fully dress. Now I make damn sure I have clothes on. That should have been a warning sign for me, really.

So. What am I going to do about it?

I can't change a lot about my work. It consists of sitting on my ass in front of a computer or sitting on my ass in a meeting (Where there is usually ample supply of caffeine and sugary treats)
I don't really enjoy exercising. Not at a gym anyways. I tried.
Yoga is awesome, but getting to a yoga place requires more time spent on transportation than what really works for me at this point. I need something easily more accessible. If it requires too much transportation first and it's something I don't "have to" do, I'm very likely to skip it.
I enjoy mountainbiking, but again, getting to a good trail takes a lot more time than I'd like.

If exercise takes too much time or effort before you have even begun, I just dont get it done.

So that pretty much leaves dieting.
Of course this is where the problem was originally. Hubby and I have gotten into a really bad habit of "deserving" treats. Really, the relationship-gut problem.

We really need to stop that. And since hubby is staying at home, we have no excuse for not eating healthy, homemade food.

So there you have it: My new years resolution. To eat better so I can get the body I used  to have back.

First monthly trim out of many

I got my pretty Hubby to give me a 3 cm trim. As usual he complained and worried all the time, but still did an awesome job.(He is cute that way!)
He used the Etude tool for the initial trim, then adjusted and trimmed the rest by hand.
3 cm off, right to the millimeter. That set my growth back two months. And next month, I will set it back another two months. Funny thought!
We took a full length picture, but the crappy winter light made it pretty useless, so here's one with the tools, the trimmings and my nice, short tassel.
I absolutely can't tell I lost any length, but my ends feel happy and healthy!

Swap, part II

Look what arrived today!

Thank you, Charlaine! 

I have to start off with a complaint from Hubby: He was very disappointed with how much Charlaine had emphasized it was for me only and there was nothing for him.
Hubby then wandered off sulking and muttering something about being treated different for not having "crazy long hair". 

He's a moron but I love him anyways. 
(Also he is so spoiled he has nothing to complain about to begin with)

The drawings are so cute I could barely get myself to destroy the packaging! 

What I received: The Ouidad double detangler, two really nice strong elastics and two Ultra Doux avocado and shea butter oil conditioners!

The comb is enormous!
One thing is when you look it up and see the dimensions listed, it is an entirely different thing to have it in your hand and feel the size and weight of it. 

Everything unpacked.
I'm very much looking forward to try the conditioners. It has a good scent: Sort of warm and fruity. 
Charlaine and I have near similar hairtypes, so it will be very interesting to try one of her favorites!

Swap

The sweet and awesome Charlaine contacted me after reading my complaints about breaking my combs and offered to send me a Ouidad double detangler.

So sweet!!

I suggested we did a swap and Charlaine agreed to it. Also I got permission to write about it!

She is also sending me her favourite conditioner: Ultra Doux avocado and shea butter oil.

Sounds good!

I think this one goes under the name "Respons" here?

Looks familiar, right? 

I haven't seen an avocado and shea butter oil one before though! 

So I'm looking forward to try it.

It was a bit difficult to find something Charlaine would be interested in since her hair and scalp is very different from mine, and her skin is every bit of difficult as mine.
Some day I need to find someone who has "normal", easy skin and get them to take my enormous pile of skin stuff that I can't use myself. Haha.
I did find some things in the end though.

All pretty and wrapped up including a card.
I really like swaps so I always put too much effort into wrapping it up and stuff, lol.
I added a little extra thing (Middle package) that I have absolutely no idea if Charlaine will like or not.
Can't wait to hear from her about that!

This is the problem with having everything wrapped up and ready to go: I always find something extra to add!
Cute little handmade chocolates and a scalp scaler that didn't really work for me. It would be nice if it worked for Charlaine, but if it doesn't: No big loss.
That's the beautiful thing about swaps :)