Couple of non-hair comments and answers

Well, I guess it isn’t really a Q&A so in random order…

I love Terry Pratchett! I recently re-read The Colour of Magic and I swear it gets funnier and more insightful with each read!
~ umphie

So true! The first time reading his books I just want to know what will happen next and the second time around I can really just enjoy the “ride” and his insights

Really sorry to say that, but what's wrong with your legs? It seems they all are covered with bruises...

~ Anonymous

That would be the result of a severe and painful allergic reaction about 6 years ago. I had a violent reaction to something unknown and was treated for a year at a dermatological department. Unfortunately they treated the reaction with a whole lot of steroid cream and after half a year or so of treatment and without progress, an allergy test revealed that I’m allergic to budesonide, one of the steroids in the cream. The skin of my legs is thin and fragile and will probably never return to normal ever again. Even ingrown hairs or simple scratching results in bruising and big dark “wounds”.

Luckily my hubby and my friends aren’t so shallow they feel the need to comment on it or judge me for it (!)

You're such cute woman, you deserve better clothes, honestly! Wish you the best ^_^

~ Anonymous

Well, I take donations or cash towards that if you feel it’s such a big problem that you need to comment on it?

I know you're been considering getting a satin sleep cap so I thought I'd give you a review for mine.
First off the slippery part of the satin is on the outside of the sleep cap so it won't touch your skin. The bad news is that it hurts my ears a little because of the elastic.
Here's a link to the one I got, I believe they ship worldwide: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Satin-Hair-Bonnet-Night-Sleep-Cap-Large-Size-/370574373403pt=US_Hats&hash=item5647f4321b#ht_1816wt_939

~ Adelina

Cute! Totally cute in a kind of old fashioned way! Too bad it hurts your ears though. I think that would be a “deal breaker” for me? Think you could maybe stretch/expand the elastic a bit?

I was actually thinking of trying one of these: http://prettyanntoinets.com/category_4/Beanies.htm and cutting a whole in the back of it to pull my braid through. They look pretty “snug”. Or maybe one of her loc covers. Hm?

Do you have Aveeno products available where you are? They are amazing for skin issues--I use them in my bath (a powder to stop itchy skin) and they have lotions etc. My skin gets itchy after I'm at the barn and get sweaty and such, and I find these really help.
I've also found neutrogena moisturizer that my mom gave me as she couldn't use it, and it helps with flaky skin--I get eczema on my forehead and between my brows, and this helps better than the prescription stuff.
I have wanted to try clinique--I've also used marcelle brand items and they are hypo-allergenic and they were good, but neutrogena has really helped with my flaky, itchy patches--now, if I just kept up with it ;)

~ Darkhorse

I’ll put Aveeno at the bottom of my suggestions list. I quite literally have a document with all the product recommendations I’ve ever gotten. Once a product screws up for me, I go to check out the next one on the list.

I have some different Neutrogena visibly clear in my product graveyard. They had no effect at all and I felt I ran around smelling of the chemical “icy mint” thing all day.

Now ain't he cute eating your laptop. How often does he eat? It could get expensive feeding him...

~Kathy

Hehe, he was a pleasant surprise since he and a little crocodile buddy was a Christmas gift from my mother in law and last year she got us both… A small decoration pillow with a fox motive… *Twitches*

Do not disturb.

Guess who got their greedy little paws on the latest Discworld novel?

I wanted to buy it right away but hubby pointed out that since we couldn’t find it in paperback it wouldn’t fit into our collection. He does make sense from time to time.

So, I had to settle for the library version for now.

My plans for today and tomorrow pretty much only involves the book and tea. Yay!

    

Arginine

Took a detour to H&M on the way to the gym. I meant to pick up a few things: Cotton pads of the large kind since I have a weird aversion to the smaller ones and new eyelash colour since my “old” one seemed strangely non colouring the last time I used it. Can dye lose its colouring ability? Hmm?

They had an Elvital conditioner on sale that I’ve never seen before: Arginine resist x3.

The last couple of years I haven’t used Elvital a lot. They seem to aim for slightly higher prices than most “supermarket” brands and that makes me not pick them up unless they’re on sale.

Why would I use a conditioner for 40 kronor when one for 20 washes and conditions just as well?

Hah: Having long hair has made me really cheap!

It was 49,50 and down to 19,50 so I picked it up just to try. The ingredient list looked alright: Glycerine high on the list, some cones, protein high on the list, followed by arginine and ending with a lot of ingredients I could recognise the name of but not remember what was exactly.

But what was with the arginine? All I could remember about it was that it was an amino acid, so… Protein.

   

     

Once I came home I Googled for it but didn’t have much luck in getting the information I wanted. All I could tell after trawling through page after page was that it’s a kind of wunderkind to hair loss promising to promote circulation and stimulate growth hormones. Hmm. In that case I guess the claim of “Nourishes the hair root!” isn’t quite as “Hah!!”-inducing as I first thought?

 

The whole time I kept having a feeling of déjà vu. Like I should recognise the dramatic black bottle. That I had seen it before. A very persistent feeling that wouldn’t go away.

I “thumbed” aimlessly through my blog hoping something would spark my memory and sure enough: Here.

What do you all think?

• An unusual black bottle (Did they run out of the cutesy plastic dye at the plant?)
• Highly contrasting pink/gold details
• Unusually hair science specific ingredients

I really should run the low risk of my hair disliking this one and stock up on it…

Hair diary

Sunday the 1^st of January

CO scalp washed with a handful of the red VO5. Slept on the couch with my hair draped loose over the arm rest to get it air dried as “down” as possible. Hubby has a good laugh over my awkward set up with towels and sleeping on the couch.

Monday the 2^nd of January

Took 10 years anniversary pictures!

After the photo session, I braid my hair dry. It’s so slippery and unmanageable to handle when dry!

Wednesday the 4^th of January

Did an overnight walnut oil Ankylosaurus according to my healthy hair project.

Thursday the 5^th of January

Washed the oil out with some blue VO5, some honey and a bit of leftover leave in conditioner. Mane goes up in a braided Nautilus bun and I slip a coveryourhair.com pre-tied bandanna over it.

I go to the gym for the first time in a month and feel really guilty for not having gone. Luckily Huff Huff-Girl is there. No matter how much I can beat myself up for not having used my gym membership, I’ll never waste it as much as her. All I have ever seen her do is power walk on the treadmills, she never uses any other machines and she doesn’t even stretch. Why would you pay for a gym membership to power walk when we have plenty of parks? It doesn’t make it better that she walks with this self-important look on her face and she actually speaks out the “huff huff huff” noises while she walks. She probably thinks she is doing an awesome job of getting in shape and burning fat. She amuses me so much.

   

Friday the 6^th of January

Although I would happily trade our bathtub for a big shower, it does have its advantages: I start the day with some meditation in the tub. I mix in a big bowl of strong green tea, a big blob of honey and some ACV. My skin, scalp and hair absolutely love that.  

Another braided Nautilus bun for the mane. I slip another pre-tied bandanna over it. I’m really growing out of them and I need to look into the fitted ones from annabandana.co.uk since they are supposedly roomier in the back. Unfortunately they don’t ship outside of the UK territories. I so hate when they don’t do that! Personally I wouldn’t mind paying even steep shipping as long as I can get the things I really want, but to get anything from them I would need to have someone in the UK receive it and ship it to me. So much trouble!

Saturday the 7^th of January

Got a bit too eager on making up for my lack of workouts. Now I have a blister and a sore back! Taking a day off from the gym and calling the laundry chore a workout.

I’ve been wearing a lot of braided nautiluses lately. Since it’s so cold, I cover my head a lot and the braided nautilus is simply the most compacted bun I have on my repertoire.

Monday the 8^th of January

Went shopping. Picked up some cassia and skin stuff too. I’ll use the cassia with my last pack of henna n placenta and see if I get the same awesomely red results as last time. (Why is it that when you see they only have 2 packs left you pick up both even though you only came for one?)

Since my skin has been irritated the last month and I’m not sure if it’s the weather or my products, I consulted with my list of future skincare lines to try. Clinique has worked pretty well for me for half a year or more, but I can’t be sure that it isn’t that the products have started irritating me, so I have transferred them to my products graveyard.

Going to try the new brand for a month to compare.

Sigh, if only my skin was as easy as my hair!