Caroline von Holnstein

Some time ago, Nightgerbil pointed out how much I look like this lady: Caroline von Holnstein.

I have to admit the resemblance is really strong. Especially in some of the pictures/scans where the haircolour is really close to mine. That sort of not-really-blonde, not-really-brunette kind of colour. The resemblance in some of the reproductions though... Not so much. 

The original painting is from the Gallery of beauties and she was 19 years old (And had been married for 3 years, had two children and lost both already) when the painting was made.

Her wikipedia page is pretty short and to the point, but I guess at that time, her story was quite extraordinary, because she did things that noblewomen just didn't. 

I have been trying to find a tutorial for her hairstyle, but with no luck. Since the painting is from 1834, it puts it right at the end of the time period you could consider regency. Her updo does remind me of the typical regency hairstyles, but instead of the front pieces being short and curled, hers are braided. It appears to be parted in the same place and shape as the regency updos. Also most regency updos seems to carry the "back bun" a lot lower. Most regency styles seems to have some sort of decoration, but this is in the end of that period, so the style could be changing...

Here's a Torin tutorial for a more classic Regency updo.

I did find one tutorial where Caroline's hairstyle is referenced, but here they say the finished updo was "inspired by" her style (In Swedish. Not sure how helpfull Google translate will be for those who don't speak Swedish). I think what they did at the neck probably is inaccurate when you look at the thickness of the braids? It looks like the back braid should be proportionally thicker than the front parts, at least in the original painting.

I think it's easier to see what was done on the reproduction of the original painting. 

The hair is split into two front pieces and one back. The two front pieces (green and yellow) and braided straight down, then looped forward and back to meet with the back braid. 

Now, what was done with the back piece I can't really tell. My best guess is a simple braid started off really high, then turned into a bun holding the two front braids down. The original painting and the reproduction both do have some thinner braids at the base of the bun, which might be coming from the front pieces?

In the reproduction, the bun is a lot flatter where the original painting has a bun that is taller than it is wide. The original bun could probably be recreated by making a Nautilus, and then wrapping the braids from the front pieces around the bun. The reproduction would probably be more accurate if you did a regular cinnamon bun with the braid.

I'm going to look around a little more, but since I've had no luck finding an accurate tutorial so far, I doubt I will be lucky...

The axe in action

The AKCwoodworking axe stick was one of my favorites when I received it, but in action it seems that the "blade" part drowns somewhat in my bun?

Dragon braid

I was poking around youtube to look for tips on the rope braid so I can do it on my own hair, when a tutorial name caught my eye: Dragon braid. 

It just sounded so cool, I had to check it out.

It turns out, it really isn't a braid though? I guess only in the loosest possible meaning.

The result does look really cool, but I don't think it would be something I would actually want to try on myself. It looks like the "braid" will lack some stability, and I don't like the idea of having so many little elastics so close to my scalp.

This tutorial here was the best and easiest understood I found:

So again, I talked a coworker into letting me try on her hair.

Good thing

Coworker absolutely loved it. She has rather thin hair and really loved the "fattening" effect it had on her braid. She said she felt really cool with it in.

Bad thing

I'm not so impressed. I mean, it does look pretty cool. 

But, I don't think you could tell this apart from a regular old Dutch braid from a distance. And it took a lot longer to create than a Dutch braid. Even with some more experience and training in making this, this "braid" would still be very time consuming to make. 

Also I felt like I struggled quite a bit to keep all the parts separated when I fed in new parts. I think it really shows too: The separations should be way sharper and cleaner. 

And personally would have to redo it so I could actually sleep on it. 

So...Not impressed. 

Throwback Thursday

*Giggle* Would you look at that first attempt of a crown wrap? So funny that my hair was too short to reach all the way around my head!

Now it can go a couple of times around...

Today's hair

The paranda actually helps to "fill out" the bottom bun and bring them closer in size. This might be worth remembering in the future...

However, I should probably have reversed the updo order. The loose hairs (Especially the short pieces around my temples) just look so much cuter with the royal bun.

Today's hair

Okay, starting some busy days off with the royal bun. I really love that "crown" effect it has (Such a fitting name!)

Today's hair

I'm going to have a few really busy days ahead of me, so I hope these two braids can be used tomorrow and the day after that for updos, before I have to remake them. That would save me a little time...

I have braided a paranda into the bottom braid to match my shoes.

Another rope braid

The same coworker let me "borrow" her hair to try the rope braid on again.

I think I got a better hang of the technique this time. It felt a lot easier. I guess I just have to keep practicing until my muscle memory has a better grip on it.

Putting the ends up in a bun helped keep the shape a lot cleaner, but the bun itself was difficult to form because she doesn't have a lot of length to work on.

A few more tries and I think I can attempt doing my own hair. Hmm.

Today's hair

I was going to use my new Ron Quattro's for double buns, but I must have severely miscalculated the length I need?

I had to resort to my old Quattro-pins instead...

And arrrgh my poor skin really hate the summer heat and humidity in combination with my general stress-level. Sigh.

Neutrogena visibly clear

My skin is being super unhappy right now. It's the combination of workload (Stress and not enough quality sleep) and the hot, humid weather. 

So I have treated myself to the Neutrogena visibly clear light therapy mask. It wasn't even that pricey.

Why haven't I done that before? I love gadgets and devices!

It gives out blue and red light. The blue lights in the mask kills the acne-causing bacteria and the red light reduces inflammation.

I rarely get acne, but I do get a lot of redness and irritation from having sensitive skin. I guess it can't hurt to kill some bacteria without using a product though? But it's a shame you can't reduce or increase one light over the other.
There are more advanced masks out there (Even some where you can adjust what wavelengths/colours you want the mask to do), but this one was available on a website where I have successfully ordered skin and hair stuff from before. 

I hacked this incredibly wasteful product to get a lot more uses out of it:

The hack is really simple. You just solder a piece of wire between two points and done.

I found some other guides where you do some more advanced work on the device and hook it up to a USB for power instead of batteries. However, then you have to have a USB power source nearby when you use the mask.

Here's a guide for those who don't have a soldering iron:

I haven't tried this one though, so I can't say if it will actually work.

Hacking the device will however turn off the 10 minute timer and the display.

And here is my skin in it's current "Mad at you!!"-mode....

The mask is sort of warm(ish) and relaxing on the face, and it makes me want to use its warmth to make a sheet mask penetrate better. But I guess that would reduce the effect on the light quite a lot.

Pros

• It's a product free tool. Which means no risk of allergic reactions or intolerance or cross-reactions (Big plus for me!). It can just be tossed on top of your already established routine with no risks of screwing the routine up.
• Although it's not actually comfortable as such, it's still not something that is so irritating or disrupting to your life that you would shy away from using it. I use it in bed before going to sleep. It's a nice and relaxing little ritual actually.
• Easy to hack.

Cons

• Not actually that easy to do other things with the mask on. The light aiming right into your face makes it hard to read and I found there was a big difference in how easy I could follow something on a screen. My tablet was the worst and Mr. Igor's gaming monitor was the best.
• You can pretty much only see straight ahead and slightly upwards (Might depend on the shape of your nose as the "glasses" underneath the shield holds the mask in place) I walked right into the garbage bag that Mr. Igor had put out in the hallway and was a minute away from taking outside. Yuck. I can't recommend wandering around too much wearing it. 
• Cannot be combined with wearing glasses.
• Extremely wasteful product if you don't hack the activator. You're supposed to toss the activator with batteries and all when it reaches 0 and is programmed to turn off forever. Come on, Neutrogena... At least put in some smaller batteries or something? Four AA batteries to power this for 30 uses? Not cool. 

I expected Mr. Igor to joke about my desire to "put weird things on my face" or something like that, but he actually thought it looked pretty cool. I sort of agree. It's like a weird sci-fi welders mask (Yes, I can actually weld and I'm a bit proud of it). It's just missing the joint so you can tip down the shield over the attached glasses.