Seriously cool Christmas hair

Rainbow hair colour

This was created to show off the hair colour, but as cool as it is, my fascination is with the crown braid and decorations.

This seems to be a milkmaid-type crown braid, but how do you "thread" the silvery string through the hair without getting the little stars tangled in it?
And is the string what is holding the braid in place?

No matter what, it seems such a simple, yet stunning idea. The decorations attached are so nice!
I will have to play around with this for sure.

Product showdown

Continuing my product showdown:
I usually buy my conditioners following the rule "Whatever is on sale", and then just grab one of each line out of the brand. So now I have a lot of conditioners from the same brands, but different lines. So I was thinking that maybe I should do a comparison for all of those "doubles" so in the future, I will only get the best one at the next sale.

Up today are:

L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage
L'Oreal Elvital color-vive

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

L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage

Has that sort of clean and "soapy" scent. Good, thick formulation. 

L'Oreal Elvital color-vive
Has that sort of clean and "soapy" scent. Really thick formulation, almost deep conditioner texture which makes it almost drip free. I like!

Effect

L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage

This left my hair incredibly soft and slippery, so much that it was actually rather hard to handle for me!

L'Oreal Elvital color-vive
Soft and slippery, but not as hard to handle as the anti-breakage.

Ingredient analysis

L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage

Aqua / Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Stearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Trideceth-6, Chlorhexidine Dihydrochloride, Limonene, Isopropyl Alcohol, 2-Oleamido -1, 3-Octadecanediol, Dipalmitoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Myristyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Citric Acid, Citronellol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Glyceryl Linoleate, Glyceryl Oleate, Glyceryl Linolenate, Parfum / Fragrance. (F.I.L. C42783/1).

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"

Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Amodimethicone, Hydroxyethylcellulose

When only looking at the top five ingredients, this is a emollient and moisturizing product.
Which means I would want to use this as a CO cleanser for the surfactant to dissolve scalp oils. I would also use this as a deep conditioner for a moisture booster.

Interesting ingredients
Cetearyl Alcohol is an emulsifier which means it can dissolve oils and be used for cleansing.
Glycerin is a really good moisturizer.
Amodimethicone is a cone particularly prone to build up.
Myristyl Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Glyceryl Linoleate, Glyceryl Oleate and Glyceryl Linolenate are emollients.

I would expect this conditioner to result in some very soft hair from the ingredient list.

26 ingredients in total

3 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger.  12%

3 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 12%

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

13 marked as "green" for safety. 50%

8 marked as "yellow" for safety. 31%

1 marked as "red" for safety. 4%

And two marked as "green-yellow" for safety.  8%

L'Oreal Elvital color-vive
Aqua/Water/Eau, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Esters, Tocopherol, cocos nucifera oil/coconut oil, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Trideceth-6, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, poly (linseed oil), benzyl alcohol, benzyl salicylate, linalool, Benzophenone 4, Amodimethicone, isoprpyl alcohol, alpha-isomethyl ionone, geraniol, citric acid, potassium hydroxide, butylphenyl methylpropional,citronellol, cetrinonium chloride, BHT, hexyl cinnamal, parfum/fragrance.

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"

Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetyl Esters, Tocopherol

When only looking at the top five ingredients, this is a emollient and surfactant product.
Which means I would want to use this as a CO cleanser for the surfactant to dissolve scalp oils. I would also use this as a conditioner for a moisture booster.

Interesting ingredients
Cetearyl Alcohol is an emulsifier which means it can dissolve oils and be used for cleansing.
Cetyl Esters is an emolient and should result in soft hair.
Tocopherol is an antioxidant. Questions is if it will rinse out or leave on.
Cocos nucifera oil. Coconut oil. Love it or hate it. For me, it results in closed comedones and irritation. This means I would avoid using this as a cleansing conditioner and getting it on my scalp!
Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate is a sunscreen ingredient. Nice!
Linseed oil. Does this penetrate?
Benzyl Alcohol. Another sunscreen ingredient. Very nice indeed!
Benzophenone 4. Three sunscreen ingredients in one conditioner. Very nice!

Since this conditioner contains coconut oil, I would not want it on my scalp. This is a protein-free moisturizer and I would use it as such.

26 ingredients in total

2 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 8%

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

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

2 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger.  8%

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

And one marked as a "0-2" for irritation-trigger.  4%

10 marked as "green" for safety. 38%

12 marked as "yellow" for safety.  46%

3 marked as "red" for safety.  12%

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %

Lady Igor says

I actually like both in each their own way, but... The L'Oreal Elvital color-vive is awesome for the SPF, but since it contains coconut oil I would limit using it to the ends. The L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage is a good deep conditioner all around and I would use this on my scalp to CO too. 

So I guess L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage wins. But reluctantly, since I really do love SPF in my hair products. The risk of irritating my skin isn't worth it though.