Anime hair is REAL!

Sock bun

Sock bun beginning with a scarf blended in and then wrapped around. Not as smooth as I wanted it to be, but maybe with some pins to keep the different coils from slipping it will look a lot better and work as a cute summer style?

Fun with hair

Technical oopsie

Syoss on sale

Another instalment of Igor’s patented haircare method of ”Whatever is on sale”.

Two Syoss products. One that says “In-depth care, oil-conditioner” and “Thermoactive oil-care for combability & nourished, shiny hair”. The other one says “Shine-sealing conditioner” and “Combability & long-lasting Shine-sealing”.

In-depth care, oil-conditioner

Looks and image

This one goes for the scientific approach: “Pro-cellium keratin” (What is that supposed to be anyways?) and “In-depth care oil-conditioner”. On the back it says a lot about being heat-activated. It is quite specific (Odd, actually) to require heat in a “mainstream” product for conditioning.

Scent

Fruity and soapy. I like!

Touch

Both of these are quite nice and thick and easy to apply to hair.

Rinse ability

I did my usual test with applying a drop of the conditioner on my hands, doing a pretend hand wash and then seeing how troublesome it was to wash off. This gives you a good idea of how difficult a product is to rinse off.

Both of these conditioners had an odd effect where when my hands were rinsed almost clean, they developed a sticky effect. Quite literally sticky where my hands felt like they stuck together on rubbing against each other, despite also feeling slick. Very, very odd!

Even stranger was that both these conditioners ended up making my hands feel dry after the hand-test. Very strange indeed.

Usability

Well, the product itself was quite nice and thick. Easy to distribute and very spill-free. But it was quite difficult to rinse clean. It did leave my hair beautifully shiny though.

I do however wonder if these products are more of a “reconstruction” kind of conditioner and would actually require to be followed up with some moisture (!) Maybe they would work wonderful with my cassia mix, which also is followed with moisture?

Price and value

I bought this one on sale, so it had the best litre-price in the store.

Ingredients

Aqua, yep, that is water.

Cetearyl Alcohol, keeps an emulsion from separating into its oil and liquid components.

Quanternium-87, I couldn’t find it on www.cosmeticsinfo.org but after some Googling I didn’t find any information about this being harmful. Not entirely sure what this is though.

Propylene Glycol, conditioning agent and surfactant.

Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, apricot kernel oil.

Hydrolyzed Keratin, this supposedly binds itself to hair and replaces the destroyed areas of your hair. I always find myself very sceptical of claims like this.

Panthenol, is derived from vitamin B5 and enhance the feeling and appearance of hair.

Isopropyl Myristate, a fatty acid that works as conditioning agent.

Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, took some work but this mouthful of a name appears to be a conditioning agent.

Citric Acid, helps preserve the product and balance the pH of the product to be closer to the scalps pH value.

Phenoxyethanol, prevents microbial growth and prevents product from spoiling.

Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, took some Googling, but seems to be a water-soluble ‘cone replacement.

Ceteareth-20, “Ceteareths are made from cetearyl alcohol, which is a mixture of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, and ethylene oxide. The numerical value represents the average number of molecules of ethylene oxide added to generate the specific Ceteareth ingredient. Ceteareth-2 to -18, and Ceteareth-22, helps to form emulsions by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified. Ceteareth-22 is also used to decrease the thickness of liquid cosmetics and personal care products.” Okay, this was a long explanation that basically explained nothing for me!

Glyceryl Stearate, “Glyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid, a fatty acid obtained from animal and vegetable fats and oils. It acts as a lubricant on the skin’s surface, which gives the skin a soft and smooth appearance. It also slows the loss of water from the skin by forming a barrier on the skin’s surface.” Does this go for hair too?

Sodium Methylparaben, yet another preservative.

Parfum, well, perfume. One sort of added scent or another.

Hexyl Cinnamal, Wikipedia informs me that this is a common additive in perfume and cosmetic industry as aroma substance. It is found naturally in the essential oil of chamomile.

Butylphenyl Methylpropional, is a synthetic fragrance compound. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Butylphenyl Methylpropional in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Benzyl Salicylate, functions as a fragrance ingredient and as an ultraviolet light absorber. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Benzyl Salicylate in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Linalool, is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with a floral smell similar to that of bergamot oil and French lavender. It is a naturally occurring substance that is used to make fragrances and flavors. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Linalool in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Benzyl Alcohol, fragrance ingredient and preservative. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA standards restrict the use of Benzyl Alcohol and Benzyl Benzoate in fragrances because of potential sensitization”.

Limonene, is used to make fragrances and flavours. It is naturally occurring substance found in many citrus fruits. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Limonene in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Out of all the products I have taken the time (Long, long time, I might add. It really takes forever) to analyse ingredient for ingredient, this is one of the better ones. None of the ingredients have any severe warnings linked to them, so that’s pretty good.

Conclusion

I’m quite mystified by this conditioner!

Pros:

• Good price
• Left my hair shiny
• Nice and thick consistency
• The ingredient list is maybe the best one I have analysed so far. Good ingredient list that might actually do something good for hair and no bad ingredients
• Yummy scent

Cons:

• Left my hands feeling dry after my hand-test. WTF?
• Weird/difficult to rinse

So yea, I’m really not sure what to think of this one. I really think I should try it as base in my cassia mix and follow with moisture.

Shine-sealing conditioner

Looks and image

Because, well, I think it’s kind of funny to see what they use to hook customers. Is it the “scientific” Complexrepair Fast-acting Keratineconcrete Hair Mend Molecules (Patent pending) or is it the extract of African Silky Angel Wing Hibiscus petals they use to lure the consumers with?

Scent

Kind of soapy, not so crazy about it

Touch

Both of these are quite nice and thick and easy to apply to hair.

Rinse ability

I did my usual test with applying a drop of the conditioner on my hands, doing a pretend hand wash and then seeing how troublesome it was to wash off. This gives you a good idea of how difficult a product is to rinse off.

Both of these conditioners had an odd effect where when my hands were rinsed almost clean, they developed a sticky effect. Quite literally sticky where my hands felt like they stuck together on rubbing against each other, despite also feeling slick. Very, very odd!

Even stranger was that both these conditioners ended up making my hands feel dry after the hand-test. Very strange indeed.

Usability

Well, the product itself was quite nice and thick. Easy to distribute and very spill-free. But it was quite difficult to rinse clean. I found this one especially difficult to rinse out of my hair. Once I got bored and cramped up in my back, I still felt my hair wasn’t entirely clean.

It did leave my hair beautifully shiny though.

I do however wonder if these products are more of a “reconstruction” kind of conditioner and would actually require to be followed up with some moisture (!) Maybe they would work wonderful with my cassia mix, which also is followed with moisture?

Price and value

I bought this one on sale, so it had the best litre-price in the store.

Ingredients

Aqua, yep, that is water.

Cetearyl Alcohol, keep an emulsion from separating into its oil and liquid components.

Quanternium-87, I couldn’t find it on www.cosmeticsinfo.org but after some Googling I didn’t find any information about this being harmful. Not entirely sure what this is though.

Propylene Glycol, conditioning agent and surfactant.

Amodimethicone / Mopholinomethyl Silsesquioxane copolymer, a form of silicone. 

Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, apricot kernel oil.

Hydrolyzed Keratin, this supposedly binds itself to hair and replaces the destroyed areas of your hair. I always find myself very sceptical of claims like this.

Panthenol, is derived from vitamin B5 and enhance the feeling and appearance of hair.

Isopropyl Myristate, a fatty acid that works as conditioning agent.

Distearoylethyl Hydroxyethylmonium Methosulfate, took some work but this mouthful of a name appears to be a conditioning agent.

Parfum, well, perfume. One sort of added scent or another.

Phenoxyethanol, prevents microbial growth and prevents product from spoiling.

Lactic acid, naturally occurring organic acid and pH adjuster. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “safe for use in cosmetics and personal care products at concentrations of 10% or less”

Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine, took some Googling, but seems to be a water-soluble ‘cone replacement.

Ceteareth-20, “Ceteareths are made from cetearyl alcohol, which is a mixture of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, and ethylene oxide. The numerical value represents the average number of molecules of ethylene oxide added to generate the specific Ceteareth ingredient. Ceteareth-2 to -18, and Ceteareth-22, helps to form emulsions by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified. Ceteareth-22 is also used to decrease the thickness of liquid cosmetics and personal care products.” Okay, this was a long explanation that basically explained nothing for me!

Glyceryl stearate, “Glyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid, a fatty acid obtained from animal and vegetable fats and oils. It acts as a lubricant on the skin’s surface, which gives the skin a soft and smooth appearance. It also slows the loss of water from the skin by forming a barrier on the skin’s surface.” Does this go for hair too?

Sodium Methylparaben, yet another preservative.

Hexyl Cinnamal, Wikipedia informs me that this is a common additive in perfume and cosmetic industry as aroma substance. It is found naturally in the essential oil of chamomile.

Butylphenyl Methylpropional, is a synthetic fragrance compound. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Butylphenyl Methylpropional in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Benzyl Salicylate, functions as a fragrance ingredient and as an ultraviolet light absorber. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Benzyl Salicylate in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Linalool, is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with a floral smell similar to that of bergamot oil and French lavender. It is a naturally occurring substance that is used to make fragrances and flavors. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Linalool in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Benzyl Alcohol, fragrance ingredient and preservative. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA standards restrict the use of Benzyl Alcohol and Benzyl Benzoate in fragrances because of potential sensitization”.

Limonene, is used to make fragrances and flavours. It is naturally occurring substance found in many citrus fruits. www.cosmeticsinfo.org says: “The IFRA Standard restricts the use of Limonene in fragrances because of potential sensitization.”

Trideceth-5, is polyethylene glycol ethers of tridecyl alcohol. The number in the name indicates the average number of units of ethylene oxide in the molecule. Long explanation, but basically this is a emulsifying agent.

Conclusion

I’m quite mystified by this conditioner!

Pros:

• Good price
• Left my hair shiny
• Nice and thick consistency
• The ingredient list is maybe the best one I have analysed so far. Good ingredient list that might actually do something good for hair and no bad ingredients
• Yummy scent

Cons:

• Left my hands feeling dry after my hand-test. WTF?
• Weird/difficult to rinse

So yea, I’m really not sure what to think of this one. I really think I should try it as base in my cassia mix and follow with moisture.

Notice how near-identical the ingredient list is for these two products? *Head scratch*

I guess my overall verdict is:

"Meh". 

This and that

For years I have considered adding a hint of henna to my cassia treatment. Yesterday I was window-shopping on http://www.hennasooq.com/ and noticed the chat function.

I decide to ask a few questions and who else but Little_Cherry is there answering my questions. The longhair circuit is small indeed!

Hubby’s comment was “You long haired people really are planning to take over the world, aren’t you?”.

Yes, yes we are.

In more annoying news, I was going to do a Nodosaurus and decided to shoot a video of how I do it, only to find that I absolutely cannot record any sound on my laptop. Seriously weird. The built in microphone doesn’t work and I can’t even tape sound from a headset. Truly weird.

Maybe it’s a sign that I shouldn’t bother, hah. Seems like the people who are really interested in haircare will find my blog and those who just wants to gawk at or perv on long hair can go find some other youtube channel. 

Fishtail variation

For Darkhorse ;)

Not so cute

I decided to try the triple braided bun from my last post.

It looks so cute on the model!

On me?

Yea, not so much.

They are definitely too big to be cute.

Note the short pieces at my neck. Still undecided what to do with them.

When Hubby saw me, his first comment was “Princess Leia buns!” Hm, yea okay, but… Not really what I was going for. *Pout*

Links and stuff

TLC recently had an episode of My Strange Addiction called Extreme hair, covering a woman with 21 ft long dreadlocks.

I didn’t succeed in finding the video of the show, but here is an interview with her showing her super long dreads.

I wonder how many times her hairs have shed off and been caught in the locs? Must be several shedding cycles in there.

I have to admit I do see the “weird” in it. I have always defended long hair as not being “weird” compared to say, super long nails. You can always just put your hair up and get it out of your way, which you can’t do with my example of super long nails.
But even I am having problems imagining you can simply “put away” 21 feet of locs, especially when they are usually thicker and heavier than regular hair.

According to the ladies at UTT who caught the show while it aired, they focussed a lot on how limiting the massive locs are for her and how it might be damaging her neck. Well, 10 pounds of hair is a whole lot, but I’m still amazed that such massive locs only weigh so little.

It was said she drags it along behind her or ties it up in a pouch on her bum, like you'd carry a baby in a carrier or piles it up on her head.

They also showed that she uses massive amounts of shampoo and never conditions, hm!

I did find these pictures from the actual episode: Link

Funnily the first picture didn’t as much make me impressed by her hair, but made me miss the US. My Filipino-American ex boyfriend had a kitchen almost exactly like that. Hah, funny how your mind works.

And speaking of long hair…

“Meet the Real-Life Rapunzel”

At first I was happy with this article: It is so very rare to read a piece on someone with very long hair that is even remotely positive.

I did however find myself confused a few times:

"You have to have patience to be in this house with all of this hair."

Why?

Russel says she once stepped on her own hair so she set some house hair rules which she calls "a big event."

Huh?

All women in the family must tie their hair back while in the kitchen, especially around the stove.

In my 8 years or more on the long hair circuit it seems to me it becomes the norm to wear your hair up after a certain length, so this statement left me very confused.

But all is not for vanity.  Russel and her daughters have donated some of their hair (20 inches, tops) to Locks of Love, an organization that donates hair to children suffering from medical hair loss.

Barf! I am so sick and tired of LoL piggybacking on every. Single. Article. Or. Video. About. Long. Hair. And no one ever, ever mentions the truth: Their “donations” to children are rare in between, most hair is thrown out, the majority of useful hair is sold to extensions for profits for the board and oh, right, the “lucky receivers” have to pay for their wigs. Barf! 

This link led to another link: 

Secrets of Women with Extremely Long Hair

It started off well. For a couple of lines.

Then I read the first gem:

What's the appeal of having a 50 minute shower regiment and a plumber on speed-dial ?

Ehm, who does that?

I paid a visit to the Long Hair Community , a chat room that looks as if it too hasn't been trimmed since the dawn of the internet

*Gigglesnort* Aheum. Sorry.

'Longys', as they call themselves

Huh? We do? When? Where?

Wow, what do you know? 8 years or more in the long hair circuit and I learn something completely new from some random journalist-chick. 

Tailboner: Someone with hair that extends to their tailbone.

What the hell has this chick been smoking?

Maintaining a five foot plus mane requires more than just shampoo and conditioner. Those are "stretched" to a minimum to avoid brittle, dry ends, not to mention drain clogs.

Journalist-chick has a serious fixation on the drain clogs, doesn’t she?

Anyways. Shampoo is stretched, conditioner isn’t. Of course the drain-clog-fixation keeps her from realising such a basic fact.

Vinegar washes between washes to sap out the excess moisture.

What?

A wooden wide-toothed comb is used (possibly for hours) for preliminary detangling followed by a Boar Bristle Brush or BBB which helps remove "greasies" and manages flyaways.

What??

Finally cornstarch and even cocoa powder (for brunettes) is employed to pat out and absorb scalp grease without the hassle of a day-long shampoo process.

Wait, just 3 lines above this, the journalist reports that shampoo is stretched to a minimum so how come people suddenly have the hassle of day-long shampoos?

As a dyed-in-the-wool 'shorty ', with a pair of scissors at the ready in my bathroom and life-long urge to shave my head, peering into the minds of 'longys' is eye-opening.

Wait, I think I get it. She didn’t actually get the information at LHC. That would explain why she insists on longhairs being called “longys” and how completely wrong she is with her basic information.

Another dumb article full of misconceptions.

I really need to stop reading these.

Oh hey, is this drain clog-fixated journalist related to this guy?

Something a little more light-hearted: 

The 12 Most Horrifying Parts Of Having Bangs

*Chuckle*

The 18 Most Offensive Things People Say To Redheads

Seriously??

28 Fashionable Haircuts The North Korean Government Wants You To Get

Hey, I wrote about this some time back!

Maybe we should use this as a comeback when people push that tired old “You need a haircut!” BS

I trust everyone have seen this delightful fail by now?

The first time I saw it, I kept chanting “Let go of your hair…” inside my head, lol. It felt like she kept the heat on her poor hair forever! That little spiral of smoke that comes off at around 1:07 and 1:10 has me laughing a little too much for my comfort.

And yes, it is apparently a real video! 

Here are 27 cute hairstyles that doesn’t necessarily require heat

I may have to try a few of these.

I also have to try the first one here:

It ends up looking like a flattened figure 8 bun variation.

And maybe some cool headscarf styles: 

Speaking of head scarves: Here is a very cool blog with lots of styling options.

Wrapunzel

The punny blog name makes me smile too. 

And see if I can get this to work with my length

And finally, silly but worth a chuckle...?

Igor’s random recommendations

• Acuvue one day contact lenses. I have been wearing contact lenses for 15 years or so and have tried a lot of different ones: Coloured, week lenses, month lenses. But these are simply the best and I keep returning to these. I order them from lenson.com.
• Decubal bodylotion. Great, simple bodylotion that I keep returning to. This is a great example of counting the ingredients instead of reading them. Only 9 ingredients. I don’t think you can get this one outside Scandinavia though? I get it at the pharmacy and it is used at all hospitals here. 
• Matas fodpeeling. This works like a mixture of an acid peel and a scrub. It’s absolutely wonderful for any kind of tough skin. Hands feeling a bit rough? Just do a pretend-hand wash with a few drops of this and slather with cream afterwards. Voila: Baby soft hands. Only available in the Scandinavian Matas chain.
• Montagne Jeunesse dead sea facial mask. Best facial mask I have ever tried in my life, hands down! It might be a bit rough on sensitive skin, but it really sucks impurities out and leaves my skin squeaky clean. I find it in random beauty stores.
• Sunsilk leave in conditioner. I love this thing. Creamy texture, good effect and a price I’m willing to pay (Unlike the vast majority of leave in products!) I get it at H&M.

I have chosen not to recommend any conditioners because everyone has different results. But if I were pressed for recommendations I would name the blue VO5 conditioner for CO washing and that orange Schwarzkopf Gliss conditioner that says something about “19 ingredients” for deep treatments. But then again, my hair is very easy to get along with and only seems to dislike Palmolive’s conditioners and too much protein.
Big recommendation for getting an epilator too. They leave you looking naturally hairless instead of those sharp edges from shaving or waxing. And it lasts for weeks too! I currently have a Braun silk epil 3, but I think it’s not as good as my old model which name I can’t remember.

Also not in the picture: Intrauterine device. Ladies, you should seriously consider getting one in copper if you’re in a committed relationship. No more weird hormones and side effects.