Hi everyone!

Despite the cheerful title, today’s Igor is a cranky Igor. My parents came to visit two days ago and I showed them around Lund where we managed to get caught outside in what can only be described as a tropical downpour complete with the streets turned into rivers.

I didn’t think much about it until I spent all day yesterday sneezing and feeling sluggish. Damn!

Well, I ended up cancelling the yoga class I was going to attend with Chemist Friend today, just to be on the safe side. I really, really don’t want to get sick.

Of course having cancelled the class, I’m now feeling almost completely fine.

Then I decided to do a girly beauty night instead only to find that my beloved epilator had died on me. Sigh! I mourn for it. It has served me well these past… 10(?!) years. Oh well, pedicure and face mask and all will be done anyways.

The good thing is it gives me lots of time to spend with you guys! *Creepy smile*

First, I would like you all to take a read at the comments on A bit more of Q&A. I think stories like these should be required reading, not for having long hair but for being a person living among other people in general. Sheesh. I don’t hold much love for the human species in general, but this still left me lost for words.

I like the “horseshoe bun”. (I think I may give it a go, if my tailbone length hair is long enough.)
If it is comfortable and stable, then you have found the solution to your problem on your own. ;)
Super Clips (http://www.ficcare.com/Products.aspx?collId=56) can hold more hair than the Maximas style. Unfortunately, the choice of colours is quite limited. Have you looked into these?
Camille

I actually bought a set of two of those in large and black. I only kept them in my hair for a grand total of 2,3 seconds in 3 attempts. I think they have too much of a “scissor” effect instead of a “pliers” effect and all 3 times they shot out of my buns. It wasn’t nearly as funny as it sounds like: One of them nearly broke a mirror. I ended up trading them away.

About your border Ficcare clips flaking along the edges... Well, I have a blue one and it does that too... I would not buy clips from the Border collection again. However, the Lotus collection have a better finish, although the design is not for everyone...
Camille

*Nods*

You know, its weird/funny that before I bought them, everyone seemed to rave about them but after I bought them it seemed to be common knowledge that duh, the border collections totally flake, didn’t you know that? Argh.

Wow! Gorgeous! I had no idea these photos were from a phone--what kind of phone is it? It's pretty darn good!
Darkhorse

All my pictures are taken with my Nokia N82 which is a really old model. I’ve kept it because it has a good camera with a good flash. Unfortunately I really need to replace it now because the battery is dying on me and I refuse to pay the very high price to replace the battery when I can buy a new phone for that price (Seriously, F you Nokia. That is so not cool!)

And even more unfortunately, I’m super picky when it comes to phones: I don’t like touch screens so it needs to have a full slide out keyboard for texting and a camera that is better than what I have now (5 MP) and a good flash.

I would swear I saw a nice Nokia the other day with an 8 MP camera, flash and slide out keyboard but now I can’t seem to find it on the website or any other place at all, so WTF? Frustrations!

I’ll probably end up getting this one though: Link. Even though the camera isn’t better, which is what I wanted.

So pretty! This style really suits you, Igor :) I like the idea of securing the 'do with the braided-in scarf. Does the other braid slip? I know it looks like it firmly sits between the Dutch braided part and the scarf braid, but I would like to know if you threw in a few pins for fortification ;)
Ohtawen

No pins!

The first braid started slipping, but then I held it in place and wrapped the second one around my head and held it in place with it. At some point where I wrapped the excess scarf around the braids, I wrapped it around the “loose” braid ends and pulled them through and around with the scarf.

Errh, I’m not sure that explanation made any sense at all?

I’ll put it on my to do-list to take pictures of the process next time I do this style!

Dear Ida, I can't figure out how to post a private message to you, so please forgive me asking here: I've hair nearly as thick as yours but not nearly as long (I'm hovering between classic and a bit below, I always cut back). I have to wash my hair every 2 days, otherwise it's a greasy mess that ichtes. And I just can't seem to get my hair entirely dry. I wash in the early evening, leaving it open to dry. But my nape never seems to dry, it's always a little damp and looks greasy, even if I shampoo with harsh stuff. Since you have thick hair as well I'd love to know how you do it. Thanks! Greetings from Germany Anni Gothic Lolita from LHC
Gothic Lolita

Hi Anni!

Hm, gosh I think it sounds like you have a separate scalp and hair issue going on here. Lets start with the scalp: I do get some itchies/flakies but they seems to have almost disappeared now which leads me to conclude it was a winter problem from being cold and moist outside and hot and dry inside… But if yours persist even though its summer now, it must be something else. I know I have seen threads on itchy, greasy scalps but I never really paid attention to the so, hmm, on top of my head…

I wonder if your harsh stuff is maybe so harsh that it irritates your scalp into producing more grease. Have you tried scalp scrubs such as sugar scrub or cassia? If you have a tendency to get flakies, these will be a good supplement to your shampoos. Have you tried ACV rinses or dips to finish your washing routines? ACV will help restore pH problems if that is what irritates your scalp. (One tablespoon to a normal kitchen bowl sized amount of water) Other than that, I wonder how hot your washing water is: Too hot water is known to provoke greasy-attacks. Does my memory fail me or was there something about Monistat fixing scalp issues too? Hmm? Anyone?

About your hair, I wonder if maybe it needs a good clarifying. Hair that feels “confused” with dampness or greasies some times needs to be clarified. I know you wrote “shampoo with harsh stuff” but I still wonder if it is the “right” kind of harsh. After a clarification hair should literally squeak (!) which is the sign that all the natural oils have been stripped. If it’s done with the right shampoo, it shouldn’t be necessary to repeat it.

On the other hand, I wonder how long the greasies have been a problem. Is it fairly recent or is it ongoing? I know Little Orca had a problem like this not too long ago and the only thing she could do was to wait it out.

My hair seems to dry slower when it needs to be conditioned. It quite feels like my hair needs to conditioner to fill it up and expel water or it will act like a sponge for a long time.

I think what I would recommend is to look for “the right” kind of clarifying conditioner available in Germany, shampoo it without following it with a treatment and see what happens. How your hair acts after that should tell you more about what state it is in. I’m fairly sure I saw an article on LHC about what you can tell from how your hair reacts after a clarifying?

Other than that, I would try washing at a lower temperature and finishing with ACV rinses.

I hope you figure out what’s wrong!

Hi Igor I heard you were the expert on biotin and I have a cystic acne outbreak on my face from too much biotin. My doctor wont help me and it hurts so bad =( Do you have any advice? Im sorry to admit but I used to think you were wrong and biotiin was harmless but my doctor said it was deinfetely from biotin so I want to be anonymous
Anonymous

Hi Anon.

Sympathies!

I really feel sorry for you. Cystic acne is absolutely horrible!

For those who haven’t experienced it, I can describe it as having a splinter in your face. Except that it doesn’t just hurt, it has that distinct sick feeling to it like an infected wound. I’ve experienced a lot of pain in my life, broken bones and really bad sprains but cystic acne is up there on the top 10 of the most painful things I’ve ever been through. Usually when something hurts, you can do something to relieve it: Put ice on it or put the injured limb up, but with one of those nasty underground zits there is no relief. It sits right there in your face at all times, hurting when you eat, you smile or even when you shift positions in your sleep!

My advice is this:

Look up anti-inflammatory foods (I could do that and give you a list from Google, but go through it and find something to your own taste instead) and eat a bunch of them.

If you can get away with wearing a band aid on your face during work or school, do that. It will keep you from scratching and further irritating it.

When you can get away with it, smear the strongest Tiger Balm on it you can find. Try just putting it on the “cotton” part of your band aid.

When picking a band aid, pick the cheapest and most “plastic-y” ones you can find. You don’t want something that actually allows your skin to breathe, you want to create a real little sauna under there. Heat and moisture will help promote circulation and help your body clear it up.

Once you think you can actually drain it (Which is never as soon as you think or wish anyways!) try steaming it for a long time to open the pores before squeezing.