Today's hair

About time I tried the "Literally every girl on Pinterest"-boxer braid style. I don't see that style a lot in the wild, but it sure is popular online!

My main worry with this was the center part. I parted it ever so slightly to the side to avoid elongating my face and bringing too much focus on my chin.

The front part got a bit too big, so I lost some of the "crown" effect.

I didn't manage to braid tightly enough, so it sagged a bit instead of being as tight as I wanted. Also, it would have looked nicer with the braids placed further back towards the parting.

The parts got a bit too small on one side, so it ended up sagging at the neck too.

It was surprisingly hard to "tilt" my normal braiding pattern: I felt I had to think about what I was doing a lot, instead of just going on muscle memory.

Well, overall for a first try at a new style, I'm fairly happy with it. I think "I don't hate it" is well enough for a new style-attempt.

Overall, I liked the effect.
Not bad for a first attempt!

Welcos conditioners compared

It's not often I have three conditioners from the same brand and line to review, so I thought it could be more interesting to compare them to each other in a review. It should make it more useful and interesting instead of talking about them separately?

I'm going to compare them on a few different factors:

• First impressions
• Effect: Shine and manageability
• Ingredient analysis and interesting ingredients such as "actives": Oils, fruits, keratin, sunscreen

First impressions

Welcos Confume Baobab

Baobab. That's pretty cool! Those trees look seriously alien, so it automatically ups the cool-factor.
The product is white with a slightly fruity scent.

Welcos Confume Argan

I'm highly biased here because I've tried it before and know it's a great product. It makes my hair seriously soft!
But argan oil is really mainstream by now, so it doesnt really get any "cool" points.
This product is also white, but has a strange scent I can't really place. Wooden maybe?

Welcos Confume Argan Gold

There is actually gold in this! Now that is seriously cool.How decandent!
The product is vaguely yellow and has a scent that seems to be a mix of the other two: Fruity, but with something wooden in it.

Ranking for first impression:
1st: Definitely the argan gold for sheer showing off
2nd: Points for the cool and alien baobab tree
3rd: Good old argan oil

Effect

Welcos Confume Baobab
The baobab conditioner is really good for sure. Nice shine and good softness. I would have been a lot more impressed with it if the argan one hadn't been just that little bit better though.
But make no mistake: This is a really, really good conditioner.

Welcos Confume Argan
What can I say? This is a seriously awesome conditioner. One of my favorites for sure! No other product has ever managed to make my coarse hair this soft. It doesn't disappoint, even though my expectations were really high from past experience.

Welcos Confume Argan Gold
My love affair with the cool and decadent gold-conditioner ended as soon as I had to rinse it out again. It had a horrible effect once the product was halfway washed out: My hair felt sticky or glued together and stringy. The effect lasted even until I thought I had rinsed it completely clean. I rinsed it for a bit after that, but it kept feeling odd. The weird feeling stayed even after drying it off and only partially disappeared after I had added some serum to it. It kept having an odd stickiness to it for days.
The strange glue-sticky effect reminded me of the Palmers coconut oil fuckup from when I was new to haircare. Not a pleasant association.
However, it did seem to really boost my copper tones. Does it deposit gold into your hair? I just don't know. But I will try mixing it with another conditioner next time.

Ranking for effect
1st: The argan oil is amazin
2nd: The babob is really, really good
3rd: Uff. Argan-gold for sucking.

Ingredient analysis

Welcos Confume Baobab

Ingredients
Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone,  Behentrimonium Chloride, Isopropyl Alcohol, Laureth-5, Adensonia Digitata seed oil, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Hydrolyzed keratin, Butyrospernum Parkii (Shea) butter, Simmondsia Chinesis (Jojoba) seed oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) fruit oil, Macademia Ternifolia seed oil, Helianthus Anuus (sunflower) seed oil, Camellia Japonica seed oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Stearic acid, Glyceryl citrate/Lactate/Lineolate/Oleolate, Ceteareth-20, Ceramide 3, Phytosphingosine, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut oil), 1,2-Hexanediol, Portulaca Oleracea extract, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) leaf extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) flower extract, Lavandula Augustifolia (Lavender) flower extract, Chamomilia Recutita (Matricaria) flower extract, Camellia Sinesis leaf extract, Aloe barbadensis leaf extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance

Interesting ingredients:

• Adensonia Digitata seed oil. That's the baobab oil. And fairly high up the list too!
• Hydrolyzed keratin
• Butyrospernum Parkii butter. Shea butter
• Simmondsia Chinesis seed oil. Jojoba oil
• Persea Gratissima oil. Avocado oil
• Olea Europaea fruit oil. Olive oil
• Macademia Ternifolia seed oil. Macademia oil
• Helianthus Anuus seed oil. Sunflower seed oil
• Camellia Japonica seed oil. Camellia oil
• Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil. Argan oil
• Cocos Nucifera. Coconut oil
• Portulaca Oleracea extract. Common purslane, also known as verdolaga, pigweed, little hogweed, red root, pursley, and moss rose
• Salvia Officinalis leaf extract. Sage
• Rosmarinus Officinalis flower extract. Rosemary
• Lavandula Augustifolia flower extract. Lavender
• Chamomilia Recutita flower extract. Matricaria
• Camellia Sinesis leaf extract. This is the plant used to make tea, so... there's basically tea in this?
• Aloe barbadensis leaf extract. Aloe vera

This is a lot of oils and extracts...

41 ingredients in total

1 marked as a "1" for acne-trigger. 2 % 

6 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 14 %

1 marked as a "4" for acne-trigger. 2 %

1 marked as a "1" for irritation-trigger. 2 %

2 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 4 %

1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 2 %

And 1 marked as a "0-2" for irritation-trigger. 2 %

32 marked as "green" for safety. 78%

5 marked as "yellow" for safety. 12 %

1 marked as "red" for safety. 2 %

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 2 %

Welcos Confume Argan

Ingredients

Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone, Behentrimonium Chloride, Isopropyl Alcohol, Laureth-5, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Citric Acid, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Benzophenone-5, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 19140, CI 15985, Fragrance

Interesting ingredients:

• Hydrolyzed Collagen
• Oryza Sativa Bran Oil. Rice oil
• Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil. Argan oil
• Benzophenone-5. Sunscreen

Short and to the point! I like this ingredient list and I appreciate the SPF.

19 ingredients in total

2 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 10 %

2 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 10 %

1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 5 %

12 marked as "green" for safety. 63 %

5 marked as "yellow" for safety. 26 %

1 marked as "red" for safety. 5 %

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 5 %

Welcos Confume Argan Gold

Ingredients

Water, Amodimethicone, Behentrimonium Chloride, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Alcohol, Laureth-5, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Citric Acid, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Olus, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut oil), Tremella Fuciformis (Mushroom) extract, Poria Cocos extract, Aloe barbadensis leaf polysaccharide, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopherol, Gold, Benzophenone-5, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 19140, CI 15985, Fragrance

Interesting ingredients:

• Hydrolyzed Collagen, 
• Oryza Sativa Bran Oil. Rice oil
• Amygdalus Dulcis Oil. Sweet Almond oil
• Cocos Nucifera. Coconut oil
• Tremella Fuciformis extract. Mushroom
• Poria Cocos extract. I had some trouble figuring out excactly what this is, but it seems to be a Chinese herb from a fungus?
• Aloe barbadensis leaf polysaccharide. Aloe vera
• Gold. Pretty far down the list, but there's the gold!
• Benzophenone-5. Sun screen

Well, points for actually containing gold! Seriously, it could easily just have been a marketing gimmick, but this did in fact contain gold and not at the very bottom of the list.

Note: This ingredient list differs from other listed ingredient lists I've found online for the same product!

30 ingredients in total

1 marked as a "1" for acne-trigger. 3 %

3 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 10 %

1 marked as a "4" for acne-trigger. 3 %

1 marked as a "1" for irritation-trigger. 3 %

3 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 10 %

1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 3 %

19 marked as "green" for safety. 63 %

6 marked as "yellow" for safety. 20 %

1 marked as "red" for safety. 3 %

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 3 %

Interesting that there is such a difference between the "actives" in the products. Usually a brand and line just changes the "active" ingredient?

Ranking for ingredient analysis
1st: The argan oil ingredient list is short, sweet and to the point, so the trigger warnings and safety warning gets rather high where just one or two aditional ingredients could lower it significantly. But still. Points to argan oil again.
2nd: The babob is an example of how flawed this kind of statistic is: Because of the high number of extracts, the % of potentially problematic ingredients gets lowered.
3rd: Well, it's not that the argan-gold has a bad ingredient list, but it doesn't stand out positively either.

Lady Igor says

This shouldn't be a surprise by now, but...

• Favorite, and one of my all-time favorites: Welcos Confume Argan
• Runner-up and will purchase again: Welcos Confume Baobab
• Will not purchase again and will not recommend: Welcos Confume Argan Gold

Inositol: Month one

I started taking inositol a month ago to the date. Originally it was for my dermotillomania, but as I kept reading about it, I kept running into it being used for PCOS. Now, PCOS is one of those things that makes me feel a little worried because some symptoms really match up with me.
I dismissed the thought (Like a bunch of times!) because you can always diagnose yourself with something online... Or make a horoscope match.

But still...

So. A month has passed and I have upped the dosage by one gram each week. Which means I'm at four gram a day now.
It doesn't seem to have done anything for my tendencies to pick though.
But...

Here's some TMI, so highlight at your own risk:
I don't track my period. I always get a "warning" 2-3 days ahead because my skin flips out on me. Just as good as tracking the damn thing.
Except, this time it completely snuck up on me. Complete surprise, out of the blue.
Why?
Because my skin has been averagely happy for a month now. A distinct lack of ups and downs over the monthly cycle.
Also my period was so, so much more easy to deal with this time. Less cramps, less discomfort.

So.. This means that I have reduced symptoms of PCOS that I didn't even know I had?
(Or more like: Was in denial about?)

That was fast

Hmm. I had honestly thought I would take at least a month off, maybe two: That would allow me some vacation at the same time as hubby for once.

But yesterday, administrator-friend popped up on Skype and the conversation pretty much went like this:

Her: How's it going with the vacation? Started looking for jobs yet?
Me: Uh, not really....
Me: *Side-eye to the two half written applications I haven't touched for days*
Me: [Embarrassed smiley]
Her: [Giggle smiley]
Her: Want to start upstairs on the first of august?
Me: .... Ok.

So there went my vacation plans. Hmm.

It's another project-based job for 3-4 months, which was what I didn't want. But it's in a place I know, where I know a lot of my future co-workers already and I know it's pretty nice there. I'm also rather overqualified for it, so it might be pretty easy and I still get my full pay for it.

So it has some good sides and some bad sides. But I can look around for other work while I'm there.

It also affects my planned "bumming around and do nothing for a while". Damn.
Suddenly I have to actually tackle my "Want to read"-list and my assorted "Stuff I want to get done"-list.

I had plans about conditioning my hair a lot and doing a light henna gloss (It's been a long time! Like, months?)
So, time to get moving on that...
Maybe also take a look at my "assorted ideas" folder for my blog and see if there is something I should write before my workload goes up again?
Do you guys have anything you would like me to write about?