Captain's log

Almost six hours ago I turned in the final project for my last degree. And I. Am. So. Tired. Holy shit. The last semester has been awful and I have felt tired and crappy the entire time. But now it's done. Over.

....Unless I fail.

Today's hair

I tried something new today: A Challah bun but made with two vertically stacked braids and held with a Ron Quattro fork.

And I really loved it! 

It was seriously pretty, simple and held fairly well. Not the last time I'm doing this bun.

Morocco Method order

I always knew Morocco Method sells hair products, but I never tried any of them. Well, time to change that!

Morocco method only has one conditioner I can use since the rest of them have aloe vera in them. 

The floating lotus conditioner has four extracts which I tend to avoid, but that may or may not be a problem. Luckily my scalp is pretty resilient compared to the rest of my skin and has a strong moisture barrier, so fingers crossed that the extracts are okay to use.

Ingredient list

Aqua (Water), Opuntia Ficus-Indica (Prickly Pear) Extract, Acetic Acid (Raw Apple Cider Vinegar), Saponins (Green Tea), Xanthan Gum, Montmorillonite, Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Linum Usitatissimum (Flax) Seed Oil , Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Phenylpropanol, Salicylic Acid (White Willow), Tocotrienols (Vitamin E), Gaultheria Procumbens (Wintergreen) Leaf Oil, Salvia Sclarea (Clary Sage) Oil, Glycerin (Vegetable), Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Citrus Aurantium Amara Fruit Extract, Citrus Sinensis Peel Extract, Citrus Reticulata Fruit Extract, Lactic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Linalool

Oh, hey, xanthum gum! 

I just had to try the Diamond Crystal Mist Conditioner & Moisturizer for the wackiness of "highly energized liquid crystals from the Himalayan Mountains of India". 

Sounds much better than those boring old weakly energized liquid crystals from the Saint Elias Mountains of Canada! 

Ingredient list

Aqua (Water), Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Quartz crystals liquefied into a base of Hypericum Perforatum (St. John's Wort) Oil, Rosa Rubiginosa (Wild Rose) Oil, Santalum Album (Sandalwood)Oil, Boswellia Carterii (Frankincense) Oil, Commiphora Myrrha (Myrrh) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grapeseed) Oil

I also ordered the Mineral Mud Hair Mask

Ingredient list

Montmorillonite, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Prunus Dulcis (Almond)Seed Oil, Corylus Avellana (Hazel) Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Oil, Lavandula Officinalis (Lavender) Flower Oil, Pogostemon Cablin (Patchouli) Leaf Oil

Today's hair

Yesterday I did a Chinese bun where I had all three braids in play to create the bun, instead of finishing one braid at the time. So I wanted to try something similar for a Nautilus bun with all three braids, but it's a little hard to explain and I think I will have to make a video on it.

1. I crossed the two top braids where the bottom braid is
2. Then wrapped the bottom braid into a Nautilus bun
3. I pulled the outer loop of the Nautilus out bigger than it needed for the inner bun
4. Then caught the two top braids under the hair stick along with the inner bun
5. And finally I wrapped the two top braids around the bun

It got super flat and very comfortable!

Today's hair

I turned the three braids into a Chinese bun. Instead of fully wrapping a single braid at the time, I basically had all three in motion at once to wrap them more nicely. I think it worked pretty well?

I brought the hair stick home from Lanzerote last year and I really like this one!

Today's hair

Today's hair is three cinnamon buns. I like how they are big enough to touch each other and stay nice and flat on my head. I do wish I had some more discrete hair pins though, but I'm not sure smaller ones could actually keep the buns under control?

Today's hair

Today's hair is three braids split with two on top and one at the bottom. I hope two get three days of updos out of these, so I don't have to think about my hair for work.

Product smackdown

   

A while back I reviewed the conditioners from this brand and now I'm trying the spray-based leave in conditioners. 

I'm going to compare them on a few different factors:

First impressions
Effect: Shine and manageability
Ingredient analysis and interesting ingredients such as "actives": Oils, fruits, keratin, sunscreen

Luksus Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume
Balsamspray til Tørt og Beskadiget Hår Uden Parfume
Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume

Translated... 

Luksus Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Luxury conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)

Balsamspray til Tørt og Beskadiget Hår Uden Parfume (Conditioner spray for dry and damaged hair without perfume)

Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)

Luksus Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Luxury conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)

First impressions 

This really doesn't smell like anything! Like, maybe vaguely of cardboard or something?

Effect

This one made my hair feel a little crunchy at the ends?

Ingredient analysis
Aqua, Glycerin, Betaine, Hexyldecanol, Hexyldecyl Laurate, Behenamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Sodium Gluconate, Lactic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate

Interesting ingredients

Glycerin is a really good moisturizer and an humectant

Betaine is an amino acid with humectant properties

Hydrolyzed collagen is a protein

Balsamspray til Tørt og Beskadiget Hår Uden Parfume (Conditioner spray for dry and damaged hair without perfume)

First impressions 

This really doesn't smell like anything! Like, maybe vaguely of cardboard or something?

Effect

This one felt pretty good. Nothing fancy that really made me notice it, it just did a good job keeping my hair moist while I finished braiding it.

Ingredient analysis

Aqua, Glycerin, Bis-(Isostearoyl/Oleoyl Isopropyl) Dimonium Methosulfate, Creatine, Behenamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polysorbate 20, Panthenol, Caprylyl Glycol, Dicaprylyl Ether, Glyceryl Oleate, Triticum Vulgare Protein, 1, 2-Hexanediol, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Benzoic Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol

Interesting ingredients

Glycerin is a really good moisturizer and an humectant

Creatine rebuilds and strengthen the hair structure

Panthenol does maybe-maybe not penetrate and strengthen hair

Triticum Vulgare is wheat, so wheat protein

Benzoic Acid has trigger warnings for both acne and irritations

Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)

First impressions 

This really doesn't smell like anything! Like, maybe vaguely of cardboard or something?

Effect

This one felt pretty good. Nothing fancy that really made me notice it, it just did a good job keeping my hair moist while I finished braiding it.

Ingredient analysis
Aqua, Glycerin, Betaine, Hexyldecanol, Hexyldecyl Laurate, Behenamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Allantoin, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Sodium Gluconate, Lactic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate

Okay, this is funny: The only difference from Luksus Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Luxury conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume) is that Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume) contains 

allantoin instead of hydrolyzed collagen. Other than that, the ingredient list is a complete copy+paste of each other. So hydrolyzed collagen is luxurious, but allantoin is mild? Hm, actually that isn't half wrong, since allantoin is known for having a soothing effect on skin. Not sure it extends to hair though?

Interesting ingredients

Glycerin is a really good moisturizer and an humectant

Betaine is an amino acid with humectant properties

Allantoin has a soothing effect on skin

In conclusion..

Lady Igor says

None of these really did a whole lot. But my favorite is: 

Mild Balsamspray til Normalt Hår Uden Parfume (Mild conditioner spray for normal hair without perfume)

It doesn't contain proteins and it doesn't contain the potentially irritating Benzoic Acid.

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Surprise awesomeness

I was ordering some other stuff from my usual training store, and on a whim, I threw some Under Armour headbands in the basket too. I've seen headbands used at the gym a lot, but I never really liked them before, so I'm honestly not sure why I got them....?

One of the things I got on purpose was the cool new water bottle. I wanted something to clip my gym card and keys onto, and I feel very clever for doing it. Heh.

Anyways, the headbands looked surprisingly nice!

They have that sticky silicone (?) line on one side of the headband to provide resistance and keep your hair in place. It was hard to catch in a picture though, since the layer is see through.

The seam welding the two ends together not only seemed strong, it is actually lowered compared to the rest of the fabric. No nasty sharp ends, nothing sticking out. I'm impressed. These are actually hair friendly!

Compare them to my old headbands that have a sticky silicone thread woven into them and a nasty sewn seam that sticks out a lot. 

I went with a black and white theme for my workout. White headband, black water bottle and I matched it with black and white workout clothing. (Except for the elastic support for my bad foot, which is more beige) I felt cool and well put together. Funny how much that can motivate you?

Pretty, new, hair friendly Under Armour headband and a black leather Flexi 8 holding my massive bun. The braided Nautilus bun is still the undisputed ruler of stability for the gym.