Hair and genetics

Hah. I swear this wasn't on purpose, but to this day, it's almost exactly a year ago since I mentioned mine and Mr Igor's 23andme results. I kept getting mails from them, so I figured I would check in and see. And they have updated and overhauled a lot, so that was kind of cool. 

The dandruff prediction is new, and I'm not really sure what to think? I have a bit of seasonal dandruff when the weather gets cold and wet and the indoors become hot and dry in the autumn. Although I'm not entirely sure that it really is dandruff, because it might just be my dry scalp being slightly drier around that time. So I guess pretty accurate? Maybe?

Ugh. That blasted photobleaching. It bothers me.

Now, here are three hair related in a row, and they have updated most of these with far more details. Which is pretty cool actually!

I actually thought your hair structure was pretty simple? A result of less genes in the work? Seeing it represented like this was really interesting. And how weird that I have so many genes for curly hair?

I could say the exact same with my hair colour! I didn't know it had so many genes involved? I thought it was a Mendel's second law thing where dark hair was dominant and light hair recessive? Or am I thinking of eye colour? But my individual hairs come in all colours from light blonde to dark brown with an overall result of dark blonde/light brown, so I guess that explains it. It's actually kind of funny because mr Igor is very "patchy" in comparison to me: He has areas with blonde, areas with brown and areas with black hair (And grey and white, but don't tell him I told you guys) where all my different hair strand colours are all mixed together in one big mess.

My parents strongly disagree. Heh.

I am still incredibly butthurt over this. Still. I love my copper tones. Which I apparently don't have.

They included an explanation of the widows peak in the update, and it turned out I had gotten it wrong? I thought a widows peak was that rounded hairline that some people have? But it's the other way around, a widows peak is the triangular/V hairline. Whoops.

So I personally think I do have a widows peak? What do you guys think?

23andme also updated the ancestor composition, and this was really interesting! Now their results have put me a lot closer to my original predictions. Back in November 2018 I said:

As for the genealogy, I expect a lot of Danish. Like, a lot.
My great grandfather was from an area that was disputed territory between Denmark and Germany, so he experienced being both German and danish in his lifetime. His family name was Langholz, so that fits with the area too. So I expect about 12 % German there.
Supposedly I also have a sailor from the Spanish armada in my lineage, but my grandfather found a hint that he might have been a french mercenary instead? So maybe he was a French mercenary in Spanish service?
I strongly suspect this is where I get my hair from. Scandinavian hair just doesn't grow as thick and strong as mine.

And... Yea. Got a lot closer to this now!

No more of the British, which confused everyone in my family when it showed up last year.

A lot of Danish and some German, with an especially strong hit for the north where Langholz is located. But not in the area of my sister from 200 years ago: Caroline von Holnstein. Would have been a little freaky if that had matched!

...And holy crap: French. Right there, at the Spanish border too. How cool would that be if grandpa was right?

Hair and Fuerteventura

Mr Igor and I really enjoyed Fuerteventura. It was very windy and very much a desert island, just like we had been "warned", but it was very enjoyable.

Impressive nature, so much history, really great food and a constant pleasant warmth in the air. Not too much, not too little.

I honestly didn't think it was possible that one island could have so many different types of beaches!
Golden sand, black sand, red sand, grey sand, beige sand... And let's not forget about the popcorn beaches! We found two smaller deposits along the beach in Corralejo and of course the bigger, famous one a 5 km hike away.

I did my best at protecting my hair from the near-constant sun and wind with SPF, protective styles and headwraps in different styles.

Of course the access to really nice pools and a really nice spa didn't make it better. 

I could feel how dry my skin got from the chlorine...

But still... Worth it!

But the real problem was with the water in the pipes. The water in Fuerteventura is seawater, with the salt removed and treated somehow. I've been trying to find any actual data on how it's been treated and what is left in the water, but with no luck. All I can say is that it smelled... Strange.
Something slightly like chlorine, except not. Almost sort of like ozone. I think it was mostly the smell that bothered me about it, my skin and hair seemed surprisingly okay. A little dry, but that was to be expected. No major hissyfits from either the diva Hair or the chaotic mental patient I call my skin.

One thing is subjecting my skin and hair to wind, sand in the wind, sunlight and poolwater, but not being able to get rid of it by washing in good, clean water? Not good. I seriously considering using some of our bottled drinking water for it, but that felt like too much trouble. I figured I should just enjoy the vacation and deal with it once I got back home to our super clean, very natural water instead. My hair should bounce right back after a treatment or two.

We met JP and Sue of JP in Fuerteventura
(First shoutout at the timestamp. We're not featured in the video though)
Wonderful, sweet people!

 

I also met my nemesis!
Complete with creepy, unblinking eyes in his poop-emoji-shaped face, boxing glove-hands and kneeless legs with webbed feet.

Nightblooming fangirling in progress, part III

Nightblooming aka Melissa wrote a book.
So not only does she have a popular Etsy store, a fairy tale-like home, is a published author, she is also nerdy and has great hair.

Throw in a horse or two, and being a paleontologist, and she has pretty much accomplished every single one of my childhood dreams. I'm jealous.

So. What do I think about her book?

Well...

This book is seriously pretty. There is something about a nice, solid hardback book with quality print that just changes the reading experience.

It felt like this book deserved something special... Something magical, something... Colour changing...

I think I brewed my Blooming Grove Caduceus & Mollymauk Butterfly Herbal Tea too strong because I didn't get as much colour change as I wanted to when I added the lemon. Pout.
But it was still very sweet and good.

Strangely it seemed my silicone Nessie tea infuser was acidic enough to trigger the colour change? The drippings on the steel kitchen bench remained purple and the Nessie drippings were a pretty pink. Weird.

Anyways. Back to the book.

Nightblooming wrote a very sweet message for me:
"Ida, I love that we started the longhair journey together and along the way we grew into friends"
Daww.

It's pretty hard to write a review without spoilering anything.
But I have two points I would like to make about it.

I like how efficient Melissa is at using tropes. If used correctly, tropes aren't tired and overly done, but a very effective way to get the story moving. You get going with the plot faster and more streamlined than if you start trying to explain every little thing about a characters backstory and, well, character. It's nice to get the story going as soon as possible.

I also really like that Aurelia doesn't get all hardened and mean and tough after the things she has been through. It's nice to see a character remaining emphatic and well, herself, instead of ending up a completely different character with different reactions in the end. 

The first chapter in the book can be read for free here and the rest of the 403 pages can be found here.

The second book is expected around fall 2020, but we can follow the progress for Mourning's Dawn here

Heaven's silhouette reviews on Etsy
Heaven's Silhouette reviews on Goodreads

Also, don't forget you can follow Melissa on Patreon, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

BFRB week

BFRB Awareness Week

As you all probably know, I suffer from Dermotillomania, so happy body-focussed repetative behavior week to everyone! Let's spread awareness.

9 Tips for Managing a Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior From People Who Have Them
Before I Ruin Myself
BFRB.org
Body-focused repetitive behavior
Body Focused Repetitive Behaviours
Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours: the complex disorders that are more common than you think
Derma support network
Dermatillomania: meet the people who can’t stop skin picking
Diary of a skin picker
Excoriation disorder
How I'm Living With a Skin Picking Disorder
Inside the Nightmarish Body Habit Disorders That Affect 'One in 50 People'
Reality just hit
Skin picking support

 

 

 

 

Nightblooming fangirling in progress, part I

My Nightblooming order finally, finally got here!

And with it, my copy of Heaven's Silhouette.

Of course PostNord Sweden ruined some of the joy of this for me because it took so crazy long to get here. Just five days to cross the 6800 km from Winona, Minnesota to Copenhagen, and then 11 days for the last 60 km or so from Copenhagen to Lund.

But enough of that. Onto the fun stuff!

While I read through the book and get ready to review it, you guys can read the first chapter in the book for free here.
Also, don't forget you can follow Melissa on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

Nightblooming sent me a few samples of tea for me to enjoy while I read the book. So sweet of her!
She must have read my mind because I regretted not ordering the Miruvor herbal tea while I was ordering stuff.
She also sent me the Blooming Grove Caduceus & Mollymauk Butterfly Herbal Tea 2 tsp Sample Critical Role which is a colour changing butterfly tea (What?) that changes colour from Mollymauk purple to Caduceus pink when you add something acidic to it. I had to test that!

 

For those who have questions, here is the FAQ that Melissa promised us a while back!

We asked Melissa about Heaven’s Silhouette, growing real-life fairytale hair, and how she bridges her real-life alchemy into her fantasy writing.

What’s Heaven’s Silhouette about?
It’s actually kind of amazing how hard this question still is for me, and why it was such a relief when I made my book trailer--then I could point people to that.
“When I was little, other children called me a monster. A painting proved them right.”
With lyrical prose and atmospheric world building, Heaven’s Silhouette tells the story of a young woman’s search for her heritage - and in the process she finds herself. 

Amid a tempest of feathers, magic, and blood, Aurelia is drawn deeper into the heart of a millennia-old struggle. If she’s not careful, the consequences will tear her body, her heart, and the Iyarri in two.
Aurelia is a character that exists in the gray spaces, in between the halves of her world. The larger inspiration for Heaven’s Silhouette, and the series of The Iyarri Chronicles became an exploration in what happens when halves and pieces, real and perceived, get torn apart and pushed back together.

Do you have more books planned for the series?
I do--the second book, Mourning’s Dawn, will be out next fall, and I’m already in the process of drafting the third book in The Iyarri Chronicles. For those readers who are antsy about years-long delays in between books, I have a progress tracker that shows where I’m at in the process for each book--you can see the one for Mourning’s Dawn at the bottom of its page I’ve also planned a prequel and bonus content for my Patrons, like an illustrated guide to the Iyarri.

How do the Iyarri-Chronicles herbs and oils you make at NightBlooming tie together?
When I was creating the Iyarri I thought a lot about what made them culturally distinct from humans, and also how their wings influences everything from the clothes they wore, how they styled their hair, to what sorts of grooming all those feathers demanded.
The Iyarri clean and scent their feathers with specially-blended oils. Each Iyarri creates their own oil, giving their wings a signature scent.

Aurelia’s, for example, is an essential oil blend that smells of crushed Irish gardens, green moors, and nighttime dew smudged with vanilla. This blend then either becomes a mister that’s usable both as a perfume or a linen mister, or an oil that’s perfect for skin, hair, beards, and massage. I do one oil blend a month, some inspired by The Iyarri Chronicles, but all my oils are inspired by literature, fantasy, and folklore.

Tell us more about the Iyarri and how your real-life experiences with long hair found its way into your fictional worldbuilding?
One of my pet peeves in fantasy is how hair is treated: never tangles, worn down in battle (as if it isn’t getting in your face / gives opponents a really nice place to grab), braids are always a thick as a piece of cord wood and never taper, etc. 

In general, Iyarri wear their hair long, but up so it’s out of the way of their wings. In developing their hairstyles, I borrowed a lot from things I knew about long hair from personal experience: wearing it in twists and buns and plaits. I’ll cop to having an immense trove of hair accessories, and the Iyarri have their own hair ornaments, too: beads, feathers, and twists of metal. 

This extends to the oils for each character, too. When they’re done oiling their feathers, whatever is left on their hands they then smooth over the ends of their hair.

I’m sure our readers haven’t forgotten about the gifts you mentioned, tell us what you have for them.
The hardcover of Heaven's Silhouette is exquisite and a true representation of the work inside. 400 pages long, it includes the first chapter of Iyarri Chronicle's Book 2: Mourning's Dawn. The book itself has copper foil stamping, each page is printed on high-quality paper, and the dust jacket is matte with a spot-gloss finish, making it a total joy to hold in your hands.

When you order the hardcover of Heaven’s Silhouette from Etsy you’ll receive a beautiful metal feather bookmark and an Iyarri Chronicles perfume blend sample of your choice. I’ll also hand-sign and number the book! Patrons (at any tier) get to choose not only the color of their bookmark, but also the copy number they receive.

The ebook also comes with four printable bookmarks and a printable version of the full cover art. If you’re a Patron, you’ll get the special Patron-only version of the ebook, which also has the first chapter of Mourning’s Dawn.

How can people support you as an independent author and our resident long-haired herbal alchemist?
I could never, ever do all of this without people who believe in me. I nearly walked away from publishing Heaven’s Silhouette because the dream of being an author just seemed a bridge too far, and I never would have started NightBlooming without people who told me over and over they loved what I was creating for them. 

My biggest support comes from my Patrons through https://www.patreon.com/melissalynnherold. Their monthly contributions, their belief in what I do, allow me to bring them the things they love while being part of the entire creative process.