Throwback Thursday

Hehe. Look at that!

That was the little "nest" I created for the long hours of waiting for the first time I was going to do a light henna treatment. Looks so cozy!

The initial dripping drove me absolutely crazy even with the piles of towels, and later I realized that the best way to deal with that was to stay in the bathtub for the first hour or so. It doesn't change the annoying dripping at all, but since it drips wet on wet, it becomes a lot less annoying.

Story time: Breaking the wash

Back when I first started learning about methods for haircare, one of the things I really wanted to learn was how to do the most gentle washes possible.
I quickly started working on the conditioner only washes. Before I shaved my head, I would shampoo something like 3 times a week. But I started alternating with CO washes and trying to stretch the time before I had to shampoo.
After maybe half a year I had gotten it down to shampooing once a week. But after more months of trying, I just couldn't go lower. My scalp would become greasy and itchy and I would give up.
This was back when LHC was awesome and you could learn everything worth knowing, so I asked there for advice. Someone told how she had the same problem, but after letting her hair go uncomfortably greasy, it was like the plateau "broke" and she could go CO exclusively. She suggested it was something that would recondition your scalp into becoming less oily. I wasn't sure how/if it would work, but I figured why not?
I took the advice and found a stretch in my calendar where I could get away with very little social interaction.
(Who wants to see someone's nasty, greasy hair? We have social standards for hygiene for a reason! Seriously, pandemics have been halted by teaching people basic things like not spitting everywhere on the street. People not washing their hair to be "crunchy" or whatever is one of my pet peeves.)
After a week with no shampoo, I felt greasy and uncomfortable. But I kept going.
I think I managed to go 11 days before I caved in and shampooed. By then, my hair felt you could break it off in bits and light it like candles. So seriously nasty! I could barely stand myself.
But the tip worked. For some reason, and I'm not sure I can formulate the logic behind why it worked, it worked. Being allowed to completely grease over seemed to convince my scalp it needed to produce less grease.
After that, I went exclusively CO. It was very successful for me. My scalp loves CO and is completely at peace with it. CO has managed to help my scalp build a strong and resilient moisture barrier and it feels completely normal and healthy. It is completely different from my skin everywhere else which is highly reactive and irritated.
I still shampoo maybe once a year or so though; Usually in the autumn when my scalp becomes unhappy with the wet and cold air outside and hot and dry air inside, and I can't be bothered to keep CO'ing the flakes.
It was disgusting while it happened, but the result was awesome and worth it!

Today's hair

Two French braids put into a braided Chinese bun. A simple classic.

Christmas calendars

You all know I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to Christmas calendars. Last year I got four really nice ones for myself. This year I have controlled myself a little more.

Wasn't really so hard to stop myself though! Last year had a lot of (surprising) failures and I just didn't feel as excited about the selection this year.

The almost shocking failure last year was Lumenes calendar. I was super excited about it, and it was just a near complete failure for me. The only product two I ever really got any use out of was the beauty serum, which despite the name was more of a BB cream, and the Glow boost essence, which I liked enough to repurchase in full size. But the cream in the same line caused me a painful breakout because it contained sea buckthorn which the essence does not.
The calendar last year also contained a lot of creams, and I've come to a point where I think my skin just doesn't like creams in general? Too heavy products cause clogged pores and irritation for me. I need multiple layers of lighter products such as toners, essences, ampoules, serums and SPF or maybe a light lotion on top. No creams.

The cool thing about the failures from last year was that a lot of the products were so nice that I could put them in my "potential gifts" pile. Every time I had a birthday or event that required gifts, I could grab an extra from the pile. I always found something in the pile that the person could enjoy: A cream I didn't dare use, an eyebrow product I would never use anyways, some handcream with way too much perfume in it... It made me look like a super considerate friend who had spent a lot of time looking around for a luxurious extra gift.

So, here are the two Christmas calendars I have ordered for myself this year:

Look fantastic
This one was my second-favorite last year! And the box was seriously pretty (I kept it, but have no clue what to use it for)
This year it looks less pretty and a lot like the Skinstore calendar from last year, but the contents seems just as promising.

Rituals
The surprising favorite last year was the Rituals calendar!
I used, and enjoyed every single product in the calendar from last year (I think?) within a few months, so I'm getting the pretty 3D model this year.

Cool thoughts and hair theories

First of all: I really love the intelligent feedback on my weird experiments and rants.

So thank you all!
This is what makes blogging worth it!

Funny, I wonder if my scalp gets sore due to the location of an updo/braid.
I remember when my appendix ruptured and I went into hospital with a top knot, and it stayed in that style for four days (Was the easiest to lay in a hospital bed with). My scalp never felt sore----now, I wondered if it was due to surgery and I was SO dry there!! I did brush it out and re-tie it, but it was never tender. I wonder if it's because it was balanced on the top of my head and didn't cause any pulling downward. So, perhaps using that theory if you had more updos at the top of your head, rather than the back, there may be an easier way to stabalize it? Just a thought :)

Darkhorse on An experiment in laziness: Day 5

That´s interesting!

Actually it confuses me a bit: I had the thought that maybe it was the slow moisture drain from my scalp (Since I didn't rinse or otherwise treat it between updos) that contributed to my scalp becoming sore in the end.

But then you describe that you were really dry at the hospital and it didn't leave your scalp sore. Hmm!
But wouldn't you be more exposed to dry at your work? I mean, hospitals have industrial A/C and will try to keep the climate dry to reduce bacteria and fungal growth, but working with horses at a barn should be a really dry climate too. All the sand and hay should really suck the moisture out of the air, right?

I once tried to explain the concept of needing longer hair to do certain styles if you have thick hair to someone and got a very weird look for that, but I know what you're talking about!
Basic cinnamon bun works the same for me, as it did for you: okay on waist, quite bad at classic. It worked nicely at tailbone length.
I can't get a Nautilus right on me, but I recently tried out the Lazy Wrap bun, which I never got to work at phases where I had longer hair, so:
Updo structure of LWB bun x (Waist-to-hip length/iii-hair type) = Good structural integrity
Updo structure of LWB bun x (classic length/iii-hair type) = Bad structural integrity
No matter at what hair length, I never could get anything to work out where you need to form loops and then reach through that loop and pull the remaining length through, there doesn't seem to be a point where I a) don't have enough length to pull through or b) way too much length so that it all falls apart.
Do you notice "sliding" and think that length factors in? No matter how long or short my hair is, buns, braids and ponytails slide down to my nape and disintegrate. I like styles to be quite high, otherwise I look frumpy, but as it all slides down, I frequently have to redo them. It's probably because my hair is unevenly distributed and the majority is on the back of my head and nape area, but not much on the front and sides.

Buchfreundin on Ratios

*Grin*

Oh yes, that weird look. It's just one of longhair things that it seems only the weirdest most seasoned thinks about.
Can you link to the lazy wrap bun? Last time I tried to find a good tutorial I found that there were a couple of different methods and all of them resulted in very different updos for me. It was strange.

I definitely think length factors in. I think once you reach a length where your hair is noticeably longer than necessary for an updo, you will get some sliding. If your hair is so long you just have to take a few extra loops just to get the entire length put up, you will get some sliding. My reasoning for thinking this is that you're "done" with the structure and now you're just tucking length up. If you have to form extra loops, there is nothing anchoring or structural left in the updo and you just keep piling on a slippery mass that is going in the same direction with the same tension and it just adds more load to the updo. You should need to add additional anchoring, structural hold or just a direction change to distribute the tension.
*shrugs* At least that's my theory.
Also, I think hair type is a factor here. Soft/slippery hair should exponentially increase this effect. (Gotta love coarse hair! Coarse hair don't care.)

As for your personal, non-theoretical sliding, I'd like to ask what type of tools you use? I find that using thicker sticks or forks seems to "push" the style apart and accelerate any instability. This is one of the reasons I love the basic Ron Quattro's: They are just so thin that it doesn't seem to affect the updo at all.

Happy Halloween

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Ratios

So, here´s a thought I had after my lazy experiment.

It seems to me that all updos have a ratio or some sort. Length to thickness. Outside of that ration, the updo just doesn´t function like it should.
I mean, it´s common knowledge that if you have thinner hair, you are capable of doing certain updos with less length than those with thick (So unfair). You simply need more length to "go around itself". But it seems like the structure itself of the updo gets ruined by both longer or shorter length compared to the thickness.

The first updo that got ruined for me was the basic cinnamon bun. Some with thin hair could do this awesome staple at just shoulder length. I had to wait until waist/hip-ish. And then around classic-ish, the cinnamon bun just stopped working. It simply slid all over the place, pulled and was irritating.
Updo structure of cinnamon bun x (Waist length/iii-hair type) = Good structural integrity
Updo structure of cinnamon bun x (Classic length/iii-hair type) = Bad structural integrity

A braided version took longer before I could even do it but also worked for longer. But I prefer the Nautilus for the better stability so I rarely did that one.
Updo structure of braided cinnamon bun x (Classic length/iii-hair type) = Good structural integrity
But this is probably due to being able to anchor the braid better. A hairstick through a braided bun, and that bun isn´t going anywhere. Sure it might pull and pinch and be uncomfortable, but it´s not going to fall.
The four braided cinnamon buns from four days ago were both surprisingly cute, super comfortable and didn't budge all day, so:
Updo structure of braided cinnamon bun x (Knee length/ 0,25 x iii-hair type) = Even better structural integrity

Speaking of the braided Nautilus bun. I love the Nautilus. At around knee length, it´s my workhorse and savior on busy days.
But, trying to do two braided nautilus, each on half my hair doesn´t work. It gets this weird effect where the middle part becomes too irregular and folds over or "pops out" in a way that ruins the structure.
Updo structure of braided nautilus bun x (knee length/iii-hair type) = Good structural integrity
Updo structure of braided nautilus bun x (knee length/ 0,5 x iii-hair type) = Bad structural integrity

But where the braided nautilus fails miserably on half my hair, the royal bun (formed of two even thinner braids, so in actuality on each a quarter of my hair) is just awesome. Actually that seems to have even more stability than a single royal bun (formed of two braids, each half my hair)
Updo structure of royal bun x (knee length/iii-hair type) = Good structural integrity
Updo structure of royal bun x (knee length/ 0,5 x iii-hair type) = Even better structural integrity

Solve for X, ladies and gentlemen....

I can´t really get closer to a formula here. But then again, once you start factoring in the structure of each individual updo.... ehh....

Let´s just leave it at that.

An experiment in laziness: Day 5

Out of pure stubbornness I kept the braids in and did two horizontal Royal buns.
No one at work has commented on the halo. Hmm! 

Scalp is slightly itchy and a little sore to touch in the partings in the back. Not noticeable greasiness though, but when I scratch the sore parts of my scalp I can feel the oil underneath my nails.
Strangely, the dry flaky sebum my scalp tends to produce the most of, haven't really been provoked by this experiment. Does my scalp really dislike rinsing? I thought it liked it? But I guess "It feels good" doesn't mean "It's actually the best choice"? Does my scalp really like to be left this much alone?
Strange.

Although I guess in theory I could do five days on the same braids, I don't think I want to do it again. Not feeling put together just isn't worth the time saved.

An experiment in laziness: Day 4

Okay, the halo is getting irritating now. I tried to tame some of it by running some leave in conditioner through the loose hairs to gather them up a bit for a more purposely-messy look, but after the commute to work the effect was ruined.
My scalp is really longing for a rinse.
It has been really awesome to be able to jump into the shower without worrying about my hair though. A real time saver there.

Today's style was two low nautilus buns.
I didn't notice until lunch that one nautilus was more pointy (Or whatever you want to call it?) than the other. Double nautilus buns have a tendency to get too much "inner" compared to "outer" and then it "pops" out. I guess it's too much length compared to the thickness of the braids that does it. A single nautilus doesn't have this effect.

Yesterday's four buns was the definite win so far, and this has been my definite fail.

An experiment in laziness: Day 3

Felt like playing around with it a bit on the third day and did four little cinnamon buns.
The halo is now developing more all over than just at the edges.

The four little cinnamon buns were super cute!
I don't think I've ever done these before?
This is definitely something I will do again!
Also, this is a fun and playful style so the flyaways doesn't actually hurt the look...