Rope braid

It doesn't happen very often that I'm impressed with a hairstyle tutorial. Usually I find them overly complicated, potentially extremely damaging (So much backcombing and products and heat!) or just that the time spent results in something I can whip up similarly in 5 minutes or less.

But this tutorial impressed me:

I've been trying to rope braid my own hair before with zero luck. But this looks like something I could, with time and practice) actually make work with my own hair.
He makes it looks clean and simple, and the time spent creating the style seems absolutely worth it.

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

For my very first try at this, ever, I'm impressed. Obviously, I need to practice some, but the basic pattern is there. Some more experience and less uhm'ing and errh'ing at the attempt, and I think this could be really pretty.

Also, I think that putting the rope ends up in a bun might eliminate some of the messy sagging at the neck and create a cleaner, neater rope.
Hmm!

The Starfleet Science Insignia in action

I doubt anyone could recognize the symbol "in the wild"?
Embarrassingly I have to admit I didn't even recognize it myself when I bought it, so that's one point off my nerd card....

Matte Quattro i action

Okay, the matte effect is a little more discrete once it's in the bun, but I like that it doesn't "outshine" my hair!

The Quattro's are here!

Yay! The feel really strong and awesome. 

Especially liking the matte one in the foreground.

The cutlass in action

I like it!
The stick-part was is very smooth and hairfriendly and the topper-part is a fun little detail.
Too bad it almost drowns in my massive braided Chinese bun.

Later at work, I tucked the length of the braids into a full infinity-shape instead of the Chinese bun.

(Bandage on my neck is due to a staple somehow getting stuck in the strap of my work bag and it scratched me up pretty bad. Ouch. Annoying location for an injury.)

Product showdown

This product showdown is slightly different, because this time I'm not trying to determine which product I already own that I will buy again. This time, I've bought two tiny sized products and will see which one I will get in full size.

L'Anza Healing moisture Moi Moi hair masque
L'Anza Healing moisture Kuikui nut conditioner

First impressions

L'Anza Healing moisture Moi Moi hair masque
The little bottle itself smells vaguely and deliciously coconutty.

L'Anza Healing moisture Kuikui nut conditioner
This bottle also smells sweet and good.

Effect

L'Anza Healing moisture Moi Moi hair masque
First, I want to extend a complaint: This conditioner is seriously slippery! It made it impossible to work the tiny little bottle and squeeze it dry. I actually had to rinse my hands and the bottle clean, then empty it carefully into my palm while avoiding getting any conditioner on the other hand. It was surprisingly awkward!

L'Anza Healing moisture Kuikui nut conditioner
Same complaint about the slipperiness of the conditioner here! Although this time I was prepared and emptied it in one go, in the same awkward fashion as I did with the Moi Moi one.

Ingredient analysis

L'Anza Healing moisture Moi Moi hair masque

Water (Aqua/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycereth-26, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycol Distearate, Silicone Quaternium-3, Polyether-1, Dimethicone PEG-8 Benzoate, Keratin Amino Acids, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil,  Aleurites Moluccana (Kukui) Seed Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia (Macadamia Nut) Seed Oil, Calophyllum Inophyllum (Tahitian Tamanu Oil), Gardenia Tahitensis Flower, Cereus Grandiflorus (Cactus) Flower Extract, Ceramide-2, Glycerin, Dimethiconol Meadowfoamate, Dimethicone PEG-8 Meadowfoamate, Sodium PCA, Magnesium PCA, Zinc PCA, Manganese PCA, Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycine, Alanine, Creatine, Saccharide Hydrolysate, Magnesium Aspartate, Dimethicone, Cetrimonium Chloride, Steartrimonium Chloride,  PEG-4-Ceteth-20, Dipropylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, Trideceth-12,  Urea, BHT, Mannitol, Cellulose, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Isopentyldiol, Phenoxyethanol,  Fragrance (Parfum), Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Coumarin, Limonene, Linalool, Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289), Blue 1 (CI 42090), Yellow 5 (CI 19140)

Okay, here is something interesting: This little "sample size" conditioner has a different ingredient list than what I find on the full sized products online?

For this one, it was a lot of the same ingredients, just a different order of them.

This makes this product showdown a little odd, because I intended to buy the full sized conditioner of my favourite, but since the ingredient list for those are different, then...???

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"

Water (Aqua/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycereth-26, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycol Distearate

Based on the first five ingredients on the list

Interesting ingredients

• 
  

22 ingredients in total

2 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 9 %
1 marked as a "5" for acne-trigger. 4 %

1 marked as a "1" for irritation-trigger. 4 %

1 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 4 %
1 marked as a "3" for irritation-trigger. 4 %
1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 4 %

15 marked as "green" for safety. 68 %

5 marked as "yellow" for safety. 22 %

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %

L'Anza Healing moisture Kuikui nut conditioner
Water/Eau (Aqua), Glycerin, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Trimethylsiloxyamodimethicone, Keratin Amino Acids, Aleurites Moluccana Seed Oil (Hawaiian Kukui Nut),  Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oil (Hawaiian Macadamia Nut), Saccharum Officinarum (Hawaiian Sugar Cane) Extract, Hydrolyzed Algin (Sea Kelp), Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), Dimethicone PEG-8, Meadowfoamate, Sodium PCA, Magnesium PCA, Zinc PCA, Manganese PCA, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyquaternium-71, C11-15 Pareth-7, C12-16 Pareth-9, Dimethicone, Cetrimonium Chloride, Steartrimonium Chloride, Trideceth-12, Sodium Benzotriazolyl Butylphenol Sulfonate, Buteth-3, Propylene Glycol, Tributyl Citrate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Hydroxide, Polyether-1, BHT, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Fragrance (Parfum), Butylphenyl Methylpropional (Lilial), Limonene, Linalool.

This one also has a different ingredient list than what I find on the full sized products. Odd.
Where the Moi Moi conditioner had a lot of the same ingredients just in a different order, this one was very different from the full size ingredients list I found online: The full sizes have more silicone and qauterniums, and the small size is missing featured ingredients like Tahitian Sea Water and Chlorella Vulgaris Extract. It's no loss for the defect to be missing Tahitian sea water (But... why? What benefit could this possibly have?) or sea kelp extracts, but it is a little odd to pick that out of the ingredient list.

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"

Water/Eau (Aqua), Glycerin, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cyclopentasiloxane

Based on the first five ingredients on the list,

Interesting ingredients

• 
  

27 ingredients in total

1 marked as a "1" for acne-trigger. 4 % 

2 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 7 %

1 marked as a "5" for acne-trigger. 4 %

1 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 4 %

1 marked as a "3" for irritation-trigger. 4 %
1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 4 %

17 marked as "green" for safety. 62 %

6 marked as "yellow" for safety. 22 %

1 marked as "red" for safety. 4 %

And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %

Lady Igor says

Throwback Thursday

For a long while, while my hair was short (Well, that's subjective I guess), the double braid was the best and only way to secure my hair at night.
it's still one of the most comfortable ways to contain my hair, but at it's current length I need to put it up in some sort of bun for work and cooking.

The AKCWoodworking sticks are here

These sticks are really smooth and hair friendly!

I like the fun and quirky topper-designs and how the length of the stick is the perfect kind of pointy, yet rounded. Not the last order I will place at AKCWoodworking for sure.
Looking forward to try them!

(Thanks to PostNords totally weird, inconvenient and uneven service, the Quattro's that I ordered the day before probably won't be here for at least another week or so. Hmpf.)

That new-hairstick-love

I love the new WoodArtJewelry stick!
It's so smooth and pretty.
The curve follows my skull while still having room for the updo around the edges for it, so nothing gets pulled or pinched. So comfortable! More hairsticks should copy its shape...

Investigating that "velcro" effect...

I wanted to do a mini CO scalp wash today since I had a small amount of flakeys where my part had been yesterday. I had a bit left in the Inecto super moisturising coconut conditioner and decided to use that up. 

Even though I was careful to not leave it on for too long (Spoiler: I did not like this conditioner when I used it last time!) and just needed it as a "base" for a quick scritching to get rid of the flakes, I still got that "pissy hair" effect from it.

My hair also absolutely hated the Inecto marvelous moisture argan conditioner from the same line, and Lovea Conditioner Shea butter conditioner.

Time to compare ingredients and see if I can find a culprit...

Inecto super moisturising coconut conditioner

Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Stearyl alcohol, Isopropyl alcohol, Sodium benzoate, Citric Acid.

Inecto marvelous moisture argan conditioner

Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Stearalkonium Chloride, Arganisa Spinosa (argan) kernel oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Stearyl alcohol, Isopropyl alcohol, Sodium benzoate, Citric Acid.

Lovea Conditioner Shea Butter

Aqua (Water), Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Panthenol, Parfum (Fragrance), Methyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Ceteareth-20, Bht, Magnesium Nitrate, Pantolactone, Ci 19140, Ci 15985, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool.

The Inecto's of course has a lot of repeat ingredients, but Lovea has a few as well:

Inecto super moisturising coconut conditioner
Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearalkonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Stearyl alcohol, Isopropyl alcohol, Sodium benzoate, Citric Acid.

Inecto marvelous moisture argan conditioner
Aqua (Water/Eau), Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Stearalkonium Chloride, Arganisa Spinosa (argan) kernel oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Stearyl alcohol, Isopropyl alcohol, Sodium benzoate, Citric Acid.

Lovea Conditioner Shea Butter
Aqua (Water), Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Panthenol, Parfum (Fragrance), Methyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Ceteareth-20, Bht, Magnesium Nitrate, Pantolactone, Ci 19140, Ci 15985, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool.

• Cetearyl Alcohol and Cetyl Alcohol are both oil soluble fatty alcohols that are used as surfactants. So, in the same family, but slightly different. 

• Cetrimonium Chloride is a preservative, nonionic surfactant and antistatic according to COSDNA. It is used to prevent static and build-up in the hair. It is present high up on the list in all three products. 

• Since I have coarse hair, I'm suspicious of the oils/butters in all three products. Especcially since they are so high on the list. Coincidence? Or a trend?

Cetrimonium Chloride seems like the obvious culprit according to this: It's the only repeat ingredient in all three products, and very high up on all lists. Actual ingredient #2 and #3 in the conditioners.

But here is the problem: It's also on the ingredient lists for products I like, such as:
Schwarzkopf Gliss Ultimate Repair conditioner. Pretty far down the list, but still there.
L'Oreal Elvital anti-breakage. Again, pretty far down the list.

And really high up on the list (Actual ingredient #1!) on two of my favorite leave in-conditioners: L'ANZA Keratin Bond protector and conditioner.

So now I feel like I'm back to square one. 

Maybe the problem is in an ingredient-family, and not in a single ingredient, such as the cetearyl alcohol and cetyl alcohol. There could be more examples like this on the ingredient lists, but I don't know enough to recognize it unless they have almost the same names. It could also be the oils/butters. 

I guess there is nothing to do but keep watching for products that has that weird effect, and keep comparing ingredient lists for them?