Ridiculous longhair problem #372

When your bun is too massive to fit in the hole in the massage bench at the spa. So you take your bun down and just slip the braid through.

...And your aesthetician then accidentally steps on it. Ouch.

Today's hair

A five-stranded braid to a Nautilus bun.
Can't really say the five-stranded base makes a big difference from a three, even if you know it's different...? 

Also, my toenails almost matches my shirt, hehe.

Today's hair

I felt a weird mix of lazy and up for something fun with my hair, so... A five-stranded braid for a simple Nautilus bun tomorrow.

The SPF leave-ins are here

The SPF products for hair I ordered a while back have finally arrived!

KORRES Natural Red Vine Hair Protection
Well, it doesn't smell like red wine...

Not trusting the aloe vera it contains, so I cover my face and neck with a towel when I spray it on. 

Has a good glossy effect, so I'll be using it to "cover" a finished updo.

Bumble and bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil UV Protective Dry Oil Finishing Spray
This sprays out a massive cloud of mist!

Also a very good glossy effect.

Nice, "clean" smell.

I'll be using this on the length before combing and braiding/putting it up.

Shu Uemura Art Of Hair Satin Design

Pump puts out amounts that are just too small for my liking. But then again, I guess most people use less than I do!

Pretty slippery product, but my hair was still manageable.

I will be using this as regular leave in-conditioner for sunny days.

I'm curious how high SPF this should be equivalent to... 

Reply from P&G

Well, I want to share the reply from Procter&Gamble in all it's condescending glory.
Link to my Google photos with the reply from P&G
I didn't have high expectations because contacting a company like this usually just results in "Aw, poor you, whatever", but this is pretty bad.

I have in my hands solid proof that this product doesn't do what it's supposed to because it simply doesn't have the right ingredients for it, and what it's advertised to do and I basically get a condescending headpat because "personal sensitivity to any ingredient is very individual and may happen". Yep, because that was the issue I had with their product.

Barf.

Pinless heart-shaped bun tutorial

Here's a simple, heart-shaped braided updo that requires no pins or tools at all.

Start with your hair in two braids. I like the Dutch braids, but French should work just as fine.

Find two spots where you have a "gap" where you have fed in more hair to the braids.
You can pick a spot higher up or lower down than I have. Higher up risks making the bun "collide" with your ears which I find really irritating, and lower down will get the finished updo more of a bun-shape than a hart-shape.

Cross the braids at your neck and "feed" the braid up and through at the gap under the braid.

Tighten both braids

Find the spot where the two braids go each their own way at the neck.

Feed both braids down and through the spot where the two braids go each their own way at the neck. Cross them again.

Pull both braids up and through the gap under the braids where you fed the braids through the first time.

Tighten again.

Feed both braids down and through the spot where the two braids go each their own way at the neck. Cross them again.

Keep repeating the process of feeding the braids up and through at the gap under the braid and down at the spot where the two braids go each their own way at the neck, crossing the braids each time. Repeat until you run out of braid length.

Tuck the ends under the bun-formation.

Wiggle/adjust everything a bit and...Done! 

The final result is a low and elegant heart-shaped bun held with no pins or tools at all.

The way the "bun"is spread out like this, gives a very good weight and strain-distribution.

And now we wait...

Based on the replies I got on my Head&Shoulders review, I have contacted the mother company Procter and Gamble. I have to admit I'm actually very, very curious to see what they have to say about this...

The scrunchie trend...?

I've been reading about how scrunchies are trending in 2019 since... The beginning of last year pretty much?? But I haven't actually seen them in real life anywhere around me since the last two weeks or so (Pinterest is not real life!). I guess scrunchies have a feeling of 80'es/90'es, but in the uncool kind of way so it took a while to pick up? But now it looks like it's actually picking up and it feels like a natural continuation of last years bandanna trend.

But of course now I have a nagging feeling I might have tossed the old (So very old) scrunchies I used to have the last time I cleaned some stuff out of my closet?

Time to go digging around and see if I can find any still... I remember having a seamstress making a scrunchie out of a pair of dresspants I spilled toner on when I changed the cartridge. I had accidentally bought two of the same pair along with some other pairs in the same model but different colours, so I had a very cool matching scrunchie to the pants. Of course back then, scrunchies were very much out so I never used it, but I should still have it around.

Time to start digging...

5 ways to wear the scrunchie trend
These 6 Hair Accessories Will Spike in 2019
The 90s Hair Trends Making A Huge Comeback This Year
Is the scrunchie trend basic or brilliant?
The scrunchie hair trend
Why throwback hair accessories are cool again
Etc. There are so many links to articles about this.

What do you all think about this?
Wearable? Practical? Just embarrassing? Pinterest-only? Clickbait-y for style sties? Nostalgia in a fun way? Or were scrunchies just never actually cool?

Sun protection products for hair

I made an order at Lookfantastic.se for some skin stuff. While I was there, I searched for "hair + uv" (Well, "hår + uv" in Swedish) to find some hair products with UV protection for the upcoming sunny season. To absolutely no ones surprise, running the ingredients through COSDNA's analyser showed no SPF ingredients at all in many of them. Most of them were just full of silicones to smooth and hide the damage. Even though I absolutely love silicones and my thick, coarse hair would be a mess without them, this pisses me off. But then again it shouldn't surprise me given how many people believe that heat protection products work.

I ordered three leave in products with actual UV protection.

Shu Uemura Art Of Hair Satin Design
This was the only leave in product in cream/lotion form I could find with actual SPF.

Aqua / Water, C13-16 Isoparaffin, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Octyldodecanol, Peg-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Parfum / Fragrance, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Polyquaternium-11, Laureth-7, Maris Aqua / Sea Water, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Benzophenone-4, Limonene, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil / Jojoba Seed, Oil, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Bambusa Vulgaris Extract, Citral, Sodium Hydroxide, Crithmum Maritimum Extract, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Triethanolamine.

The SPF ingredients are Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate and Benzophenone-4.

KORRES Natural Red Vine Hair Protection
It's a sad proof on how hard it is so find leave in products with SPF that I'll resort to buying one that contains aloe vera! I'm very much allergic to aloe vera if it's pressed with the skin as opposed to being peeled before pressing, and there is no way to know how the aloe vera juice in this product was prepared. I will simply have to try it and see if my skin flips out on me or not.

Aqua/Water/Eau, Glycerin, Aloe Barbandensis Leaf Juice, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Citral, Citronellol, Coumarin, Geraniol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract, Isoamyl p-Methoxycinnamate, Lecithin, Limonene, Linalool, Oleyl Oleate, Panthenol, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Polyquartenium-10, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Stearamine, Tocopherol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract.

The SPF ingredients are Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane and Isoamyl p-methoxycinnamate.

Bumble and bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil UV Protective Dry Oil Finishing Spray
Why do some of these products have such ridiculously long names?
This is in a pressurized can, so I'm quite curious to see how different it is to distribute in my hair. I expect it to be a lot easier than the pump-type bottles.

Water/Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Petrolatum, Cetearyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Myristate, Ceteareth-20, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, PVP, Squalane, Beeswax\Cera Alba\Cire D'Abeille, Microcrystalline Wax/Cera Microcristallina\Cire Microcristalline, Bertholletia Excelsa (Brazil Nut) Seed Oil, Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu) Seed Oil, Pentaclethra Macroloba Seed Oil, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Pantethine, Urea, PEG-8 Dimethicone, Sodium PCA, Cetrimonium Chloride, Panthenol, Polyquaternium-7, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-7, Polyquaternium-51, Trehalose, Myristalkonium Chloride, Quaternium-14, Phytantriol, Panthenyl Ethyl Ether, Sodium Hyaluronate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Fragrance (Parfum), Linalool, Citral, Limonene, Geraniol, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Chlorphenesin, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol.

The SPF ingredients are Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Ethylhexyl salicylate and Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate.

I'm considering doing another SPF experiment this year. First of all, I have a way better camera (Well, phone, but whatever) now and I should be able to actually show the difference. Second of all, I'm now (painfully) aware that some products doesn't contain the SPF they advertise they have, so I could do an experiment with products that actually contain SPF.

Today's hair

I managed to tame some of the flyaways with some water and a bit of leave in-conditioner and got an extra day out of it.

I should have picked some smaller pins for it, but didn't realize until I saw the pictures.

This... Heart-shaped, wrapped-under-bun-thing is one of those updos that I really like but for some reason it tends to fall out of rotation. Not even sure it has an actual name?