I just found something I had completely forgotten about in my pile o' mess/totally-on-my-to-do-list-to-work-through-definitely-totally-pile...
Back in September 2020 I asked on my instagram if I should buy this wig:
The answer was yes, so I bought it, received it, put it in the totally-on-my-to-do-list-to-work-through-definitely-totally-pile, and then completely forgot about it.
It's a synthetic fibres wig that actually matches my own hair texture very, very well. Completely opposite of all human hair pieces I've ever felt, which have had completely different textures from my own. It has some waves to it, maybe? From the pictures it looks like the waves are mostly at the ends and it might be pretty straight if I cut it shorter...
I vaguely remember looking up some wig tutorials and deciding there were too much of them for my energy level at the time, so maybe I should try to take a look at it again now.
Does anyone have links to good and simple tutorials for how to style your wig? And how to hide a whole bunch of hair under it?
I always knew Morocco Method sells hair products, but I never tried any of them. Well, time to change that!
Morocco method only has one conditioner I can use since the rest of them have aloe vera in them.
The floating lotus conditioner has four extracts which I tend to avoid, but that may or may not be a problem. Luckily my scalp is pretty resilient compared to the rest of my skin and has a strong moisture barrier, so fingers crossed that the extracts are okay to use.
Okay, this is funny: The only difference from Luksus Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Luxury conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume) is that Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume) contains
allantoin instead of hydrolyzed collagen. Other than that, the ingredient list is a complete copy+paste of each other. So hydrolyzed collagen is luxurious, but allantoin is mild? Hm, actually that isn't half wrong, since allantoin is known for having a soothing effect on skin. Not sure it extends to hair though?
Interesting ingredients
Glycerin is a really good moisturizer and an humectant
Betaine is an amino acid with humectant properties
Allantoin has a soothing effect on skin
In conclusion..
Lady Igor says
None of these really did a whole lot. But my favorite is:
Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)
It doesn't contain proteins and it doesn't contain the potentially irritating Benzoic Acid.
I was ordering some other stuff from my usual training store, and on a whim, I threw some Under Armour headbands in the basket too. I've seen headbands used at the gym a lot, but I never really liked them before, so I'm honestly not sure why I got them....?
One of the things I got on purpose was the cool new water bottle. I wanted something to clip my gym card and keys onto, and I feel very clever for doing it. Heh.
Anyways, the headbands looked surprisingly nice!
They have that sticky silicone (?) line on one side of the headband to provide resistance and keep your hair in place. It was hard to catch in a picture though, since the layer is see through.
The seam welding the two ends together not only seemed strong, it is actually lowered compared to the rest of the fabric. No nasty sharp ends, nothing sticking out. I'm impressed. These are actually hair friendly!
Compare them to my old headbands that have a sticky silicone thread woven into them and a nasty sewn seam that sticks out a lot.
I went with a black and white theme for my workout. White headband, black water bottle and I matched it with black and white workout clothing. (Except for the elastic support for my bad foot, which is more beige) I felt cool and well put together. Funny how much that can motivate you?
Pretty, new, hair friendly Under Armour headband and a black leather Flexi 8 holding my massive bun. The braided Nautilus bun is still the undisputed ruler of stability for the gym.
I was impressed enough with the OGX conditioners I tried a while back to immediately order more of most of them. And since they also have leave in-conditioners, I had to try those as well.
I picked out three of them:
OGX Argan Oil Ex Strength Tame & Shine Cream
OGX Coconut Miracle Oil Air Dry Cream
OGX Bonding Plex Cream
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, keratin, sunscreen etc.
First impressions
OGX Argan Oil Ex Strength Tame & Shine Cream
My first reaction was to be mildly annoyed because this leave in-conditioner has another design than the other two. I missed that from the website when I ordered it. This has a sports bottle-opening instead of the pump bottle-opening. I would have liked to have three more identical products, so I'm not sure if this isn't the same line as the other two?
It's a pearly, slightly thin cream. It smells very sweet and a little fruity.
OGX Coconut Miracle Oil Air Dry Cream
This one is a bit thicker in texture. It's a little more matte, but still white and pearly. It smells very sweet and a little like coconut.
OGX Bonding Plex Cream
This one is also a bit thicker in texture. It's a matte white cream. It smells very sweet and with a hint of something I can't really place.
Why is this one called "Bonding plex"? Because of the polyquaterniums? The coconut one also contains a few of those, so why is it specified for this one? Because of the name, I expected it to contain Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate like Olaplex does, but no. So it's the quads? Those aren't really special or exclusive enough that they should name the product though?
Effect
OGX Argan Oil Ex Strength Tame & Shine Cream
This one was surprisingly thicker to work with than it appeared from the first look at it. It was almost difficult to distribute evenly because of the texture. But once it was in, it felt pretty smooth and good to work with. The hold was pretty good for a leave in product. It didn't do a whole lot for shine though, despite being part of the name. It has a sweet smell that lingers in the hair once it's dry.
When I rinsed my hair out the next day, it felt a little... funny. Like, dunno, it's hard to describe. Like a little crispy, I guess? It was weird. Usually leave in products turn into a slippery goo and just slip off my hair and down the drain when exposed to water like this. But this was a little odd.
OGX Coconut Miracle Oil Air Dry Cream
I could write pretty much the same about this one: The leave in product has a weird texture that made it a little difficult to distribute, but once it was in, it had pretty good hold. It overall just felt a little "Neutral", as in that it didn't really impress me with anything. Hold was ok, shine was ok, manageability was ok. I liked the scent in this one a little better though. It has that artificial coconut smell that doesn't smell like real coconuts, but is pleasant enough as it is, so I don't really mind.
OGX Bonding Plex Cream
I was pleasantly surprised that the sweet smell of this one disappeared after a while. It wasn't unpleasant as such, I just prefer my hair to not really smell like anything.
This one was also sort of "Meh" to work with too, but it did leave my hair a little more shiny than the other too. It was way easier to distribute in my hair than the argan oil one though. The hold and manageability it offered was really nice too.
I'm... not sure I can really say something from the short ingredient list. Or even from the full one. This one has so many strange ingredients. It almost sounds more like some sort of weird fabric to me?
Interesting ingredients
Cetearyl Alcohol is an emulsifier which means it lowers the surface tension between oil and water so it can dissolve oils and be used for cleansing
PVP or Polyvinylpyrrolidone also commonly called polyvidone or povidone, is a water-soluble polymer that functions as an anti static
Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil is the feature ingredient of argan oil
I'm really confused at these ingredients. First we have a bunch of carbohydrates from the cassava plant, which is often used as a thickening agent in food. It's not even good for protein content or anything like that. Then a I-don't-even-know ingredient. A quaternium, completely normal and expected. The featured coconut oil ingredient. Then finally a pretty flower extract, which is advertised for on the front label.
Interesting ingredients
Polyquaternium-37 is a quaternium ammonium compound and will bind to the damaged areas of hair
Cocos Nucifera Oil is the feature ingredient coconut oil
Gardenia Tahitensis Flower Extract, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract and Caryocar Brasiliense Fruit Oil. There are no explanation on what "extract" really means. There is an episode of The Snailcast where Shell of Holysnails talks about how a supplier to her webshop offered her ruby extract to add to her products. Which is completely nonsensical, but explains a lot of what extracts can be. It can be something good, but it can also be a root quickly dipped in a bucket of alcohol. What it takes to extract the extract is never specified.
Polyquaternium-28 is a quaternium ammonium compound and will bind to the damaged areas of hair
Polymethylsilsesquioxane this is some sort of silicone judging from the -xane suffix?
Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate. This is a preservative made by fermenting radish root. My best guess is that it simply sounds "better" than the names of normal preservative ingredients
I thought this would be the product I would find the strangest ingredient list in, since it advertises itself as "Bonding plex" and what have you. But nope, this is the most normal and plain ingredient list. It almost sounds like a regular conditioner, actually.
Interesting ingredients
Cetyl Alcohol is an emulsifier which means it lowers the surface tension between oil and water so it can dissolve oils and be used for cleansing. Strange to see that in a leave in-product.
Glycerin is a really good moisturizer and an humectant.
Polyquaternium-37 and Polyquaternium-47 are quaternium ammonium compounds and will bind to the damaged areas of hair
Amodimethicone is a silicone
In conclusion..
Lady Igor says
It's funny: With such different ingredient lists, they products were still more or less the same. Same more or less "Meh" effect.
The one I liked the best was OGX Bonding Plex Cream, based on the ingredient list, that it felt pretty good to work with and that it made my hair slightly more shiny.
Not really a massive difference though. I was generally not impressed with any of them. Strange and disappointing since the conditioners were so impressive!
Well, wow. Just when I thought the Swedish mail couldn't disappoint me more than it already has... It did.
I bought these Flexies in two orders, one back on the black Friday sale (!!) and that one didn't show up until two weeks ago! That is how incompetent, awful and deliberately useless the Swedish mail is.
I thought of composing the timeline of exactly how bad this has been, including multiple rude and useless customer "service" reps contacts and a customs website that plain didn't work in any way whatsoever, but I think I have made my point. 3 months to get my order. 3!
So that was one thing that has sucked really, really badly.
The next thing is Lilla Rose.
They suck too.
They sucked as Flexi 8, and they suck as Lilla Rose.
All the way back in 2011, I wrote this to Flexi 8:
A fairly reasonable thought from a super-longhair, right? Like, a big part of their market... Right?
And... Basically what has turned into their Flexi Flip today... Right?
So, a really good idea from a customer, right?
Nope.
I received the following reply:
Basically: "LOL, are you sure you're not just too stupid to work our product correctly?!"
So condescending. They can hide behind nice words, but that's their message.
I especially liked the part where I'm being informed that the stick curves like it does because it "provides more comfort" despite me contacting them because it doesn't.
Basically:
Me: "Hey, your product hurts me, but here is an idea to make it better"
Flexi 8: "No, you're wrong. Also, you're probably too stupid to use the product right. Here's how to use it correctly."
I refused to buy another Flexi for almost 10 years after this.
Anyways. I was dumb enough to order more Flexies through their new website (New owner?) and using an affiliate link from someone I thought was a nice person, someone I had even talked to through Instagram before. Someone who even took the time to thank me directly for the order using her link.
The first order I received was actually the last one I ordered:
Two Flexi Flips, a hairstick and an XXL Flexi.
Notice how neatly all the products have been hand-crossed out on the order form. Check, check, check and check.
The flips are super tiny, even thought I bought the largest they had.
"EX compares to MD, LG, XL"
Meh. More like large maybe, definitely not the XL.
In fact, it was so small that it hurt my hand trying to push it into my hair. Look at the bruising in my palm! Ouch.
They work for two smaller buns, not for a single one for me.
Begrudgingly I have to admit that the Flexi flip has amazing hold once it's forced in place.
I tried my best to get some good photos of the Flip-construction.
Part of why it can "flip" is that it doesn't have a decorative centerpiece like the regular Flexies.
I would however be a little worried that the "semi-open" construction of the center piece would be really good at catching on hair. It would have been nice if it had been closed, but I can see how it's impossible to construct the Flexi without having an open centerpiece. I would want to turn the open part away from my hair.
Second part of why it can "flip" is that they have little indents to secure the "8" into on both sides of the stick-part.
It's nice to have the option of doing this.
But as I wrote in my original mail to Flexi almost a decade ago, this is something more needed for the extra large Flexies. As in: Not this size. More and heavier hair needs a larger and studier tool to hold it, and then you really need to distribute the weight a lot better. You especially need to stay clear of having a single contact point for the tool on your scalp. That's a lot of pressure on your scalp and hair.
Still though. The "flip" is good for hold and stability.
A "true" XL and XXL Flexi flip would be very welcome though.
The hairstick I got for free was actually the prettiest part of the order, and the one I was most excited about. Simple with a nice choice of wood and a cute little bee-dangle.
Anyways. Back to things that suck.
Remember how someone had neatly crossed out the products on the order form?
Yep.
Someone put this abomination of a Flexi together without noticing how badly they had screwed the construction up.
Someone packed it in a little plastic bag.
Someone put it in my package.
Someone crossed it out on the order form.
And no one noticed the problem?
The stick can barely reach the decoration in the middle! How could they not have noticed it? It can't even close on itself, much less with any hair inside it.
And worst of all: When I contacted Flexi about this obvious production error, they ignored me.
I contacted the person with the affiliate link. She ignored me. Repeatedly.
I contacted Lilla Rose by the email on their website. They ignored me. Repeatedly.
I contacted them on Instagram. They ignored me. Repeatedly.
And just to clarify: I went something like a week between each attempt to contact them.
Lilla Rose has a return policy with a time span for how long you can return your items, and since the Swedish mail was so useless and awful, I was over that time. Hence, why I needed to talk to them before returning the production error Flexi.
Not until I contacted them on Facebook, did they react. And then only to first "defend" themselves by saying they had nothing to do with my lack of replies the other places. After that, magically I got a reply by email from the website.
Whatever.
I was obviously right to judge them for being awful back in 2011 and I should not have given them a second chance.
I will not ever give Lilla Rose/Flexi 8/whatever any of my money ever again. They have taken too much of my time, effort and money already.
The order I placed first was the order that I received last thanks to the Swedish mail:
The size difference in the Flexies is pretty fascinating to me.
Regular XXL (Gingerbread man design)
Flip EX (Green and blue beads)
Regular medium (Fly Agaric design)
Regular Small (Seahorse)
The medium and small are almost identical in sizes!
And look at the size difference between the XXL and the Flip EX, which "compares to MD, LG, XL" according to Lilla Rose.
According to Lady Igor, the Flexi Flip compares to a large regular Flexi. No more, no less.
The ones I was most interested in were the leather or fabric based Flexies, and they turned out to be pretty nice. The wooden sticks actually match the colours really well.
I really like that this one doesn't have any weird bling or details that can get caught in your hair!
