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 gram protein
• 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.