Updates

So... I got the job.

Pay negotiations are done, benefits negotiations are done.

But I have some drama from my current job, since they don't want me to go.

Right now I'm at a weird point where new work is willing to let me get away with 32 hours/week (4 workdays) even though they asked for 37, and old/current work is willing to let me go down to 24 hours/week (2 workdays) just so both places can keep me. It's weird to be so wanted.

I'm honestly thinking of saying yes to that offer.

Pros

Old/current job has the best pay (by far) and a workload that is really easy. 

New job has the awesome title that will look showy on my CV, and it will be a fun challenge to fill the position.

Cons

Old/current job has the worst administration I have ever experienced. Seriously.

New job is located on the "wrong" side of main Copenhagen, so I will want to move closer as soon as possible (We have talked about this for years, so it's not really something new as such)

What would you guys do?

So... Now what?

Now that I'm done with school (For now. I could see myself returning at a later point) I find myself at this mildly weird point. For so long I have run the blog more or less on auto pilot because I haven't had the energy to get really creative. But now I have all this time freed up.

...At least for a few months, since by the time this post goes up I'm in the middle of a job interview for a job that I'm slightly overqualified for degree-wise, but will land me at more of a boss role than I've ever done before and I'm slightly underqualified for (lol) And since I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared to leave my current job, I will see if I can do both with current job maybe at part time.

So... Now what?

I have a bunch of notes and saved up pictures for inspiration I would like to work though. Some of them are embarrassingly old and have been stuck in my "inspo"-folder for ages.

I'd like to make a few more videos: I was thinking of a "Professional updos for the superbusy superlonghair", I would like to make a few more basic updo videos for superlong hair and I would really, really like to make a hair edition of Stella Jang's Colors song (Which would take a crazy amount of planning, time and effort, but would be super cool!) 

And I could see myself having some sort of "Summer of love" plan, since I haven't made a real, conscious and planned effort for my hair health for ages. 

But... What else?

And yep, that's what I'm asking you guys: Now what? 

What do you like to see, what do you like to read or watch? What can I do that the other longhairs in the longhair circuit doesn't do?

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.