My thought was that I could achieve the oval shape by anchoring the bun behind some pins at the top and bottom of the Dutch part.
Sort of like an elongated braided cinnamon bun, I guess?
Well, it sort of worked.
It did get a sort of oval shape, but I don't think it really showed enough to be noticeable, unless you already know?
I found this picture at my grandmothers place. I think I'm 14-15 here?
My hair was about hip length or so and I had started to grow my bangs out. Once the bangs were long enough to reach a ponytail, I cut everything to shoulder length. I've pretty much stuck with the one length, bangs free hair since.
This week is body-focused repetitive behavior-week.
Since I have dermatillomania myself, I would like to take a post out of my regular hair-posting-schedule to spread awareness.
There is a lot of good advice from clever people out there, but for me, the best advice is to pinpoint the problem. When do you pick? Why do you pick?
My own biggest trigger is situations where I should relax, but can't. Like, trying to watch a movie with your loving Hubby, but all I can think of is how many things I have on my to do-list for next week.
My own coping methods
Exfoliating regularly on areas I attack to keep dry skin from forming. It's easier to "grab" onto
Moisturize for the same reason
Keep nails short and smooth, same reason
Block access to picking: Facial masks and hand masks can help for short amounts of time
Mess with your skin in the good way. Clarisonic/Foreo, mud mask, moisture mask etc can help
Mess with something else to keep my hands busy
Watch someone else messing with their skin. Youtube is helpful. There is a surprisingly big "market" for videos like that. The key is to find your "thing"since there are so many types of videos: Plucking out hairs, removing ingrown hairs, whiteheads, blackheads, blackheads in ears, nodules, etc.
Since we have nowhere we need to go this weekend, I decided to do a Nodosaurus.
For some reason, the pictures I took for my old tutorials have simply ceased to exist? Perhaps when Blogger moved upload-site to Google photos?
So I wanted Hubby to help me take pictures for a new one.of course mr. Igor was more interested in being funny annoying, so this didn't turned out like planned.
The Nodosaurus is named for the armored "tail" it results in.
Since there is no Nodosaurus-song, here is the Brontosaurus instead...
It's a good idea to do this is your pajamas or some old clothes, since there is a high risk of getting conditioner on your clothes.
Start off with damp and detangled hair.
Protip
Leave the water running so you don't get conditioner everywhere when you need to wash your hands.
Start braiding your hair...
...Braid to about shoulder length
At around shoulder length, bring it forward over your shoulder.
And start adding your conditioner to the damp length.
(And as you can tell from my unimpressed expression, this is where Hubby started unfolding his "amusing" personality)
Distribute conditioner to the length and braid.
It can be a real acrobatic exercise to avoid getting conditioner on your clothes!
Of course it helps if you don't have a funny annoying person to entertain pester you in the bathroom.
Two commonly seen expressions on my face:
"I know where you live!"
"Meh, I still love you"
If your hair is as long as mine, poke a hole through the braid...
...And pull the length through.
Wrap the length around the braid itself until it's a fitting length for your plastic bag.
This is where you will be happy you left the water running!
If you keep leaning forward a little, the conditioned braid won't touch your clothes and you can continue without getting conditioner everywhere.
Put the braid into a plastic bag.
Pull the plastic bag through the braid as well.
(Ignore your "hilarious" Hubby)
Start wrapping the bandage around the plastic bag.
"Lock" the plastic bag down by wrapping the bandage over the part of the bag you pulled through the braid. This keeps it from slipping off your hair.
Tighten the bandage as you go.
(Ignore your "hilarious" Hubby some more)
Tie the bandage off.
And since mr. Igor will annoy me until I share: He wants you all to know how funny he is and how much he knows of meme's, so it was very important to him that you all know he thinks the Nodosaurus looks more like...
Okay, so here is a random advantage to the Royal bun: It's super comfortable to drive with.
Usually my buns get in the way of the headrest (Some times I have even taken a bun out for driving), but this one sits so high that I can keep my head back in a more normal angle.
Up for a showdown this time is two Garnier Fructis products.
Garnier Fructis Densify
Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage
Interesting fact
The US versions have different names and ingredient lists than the European counterparts.
Garnier Fructis Densify is called Garnier Fructis Full & Plush
Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage is called Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser
I found it funny that they re-translated the names when they were already in English. Why would they bother?
The colour theme is the same though.And I mean European counterparts in plural, because I found several different ingredient lists for the European versions!
I brought the Goodbye Damage masque home from Tenerife, and that one was pretty good!
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
First impressions Garnier Fructis Densify
I asked Hubby to help me sniff the conditioners because I have a slight cold and my sense of smell isn't what it usually is right now. He says this smells like "Chemicals. Red chemicals." Mr. Igor does not like strong smells. Not much help with the nuances there.
I think this smells like that typical Fructis-smell: Green apples. I remember when the brand just came on the market back like 20 years ago. I was at a boarding school and this girl in the room next door had bought it, and it smelled so strongly we had to ask her to put the damn thing in a bag or something! It smelled all the way down the corridor. Glad they have toned the smell down since.
The front of this conditioner boasts of being "Enriched with fibra-cylane + pomegranate extract". I have absolutely no clue what "fibra-cylane" is. But I guess they want you to believe it does something with the hair fibres?
Also it says it has no parabens. Groan. Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage
Mr. Igor says this smells like "Chemicals. Apples."
I think this smells just like that typical Fructis-smell: Green apples. The Goodbye Damage smells slightly less than Densify to me.
The front of this conditioner boasts of being "Enriched with keraphyll + amla fruit extract". I guess this is supposed to make you think of keratines? Amla sounds interesting though, it's a common ingredient in a lot of (Indian) hair treatments. What I don't like is that it says "amla fruit extract" where you can easily found it as pure powder. Delivering amla in a hair product in the form of an extract is not necessary. "Extract" can mean just about anything, as it is pretty much up to the manufacturer what they feel they "need" to do to "extract" the product.
This one also says it has no parabens.
Effect Garnier Fructis Densify
I'm very pleased with the result from this. My hair felt smooth, soft and well moisturized. It also did good job of cleaning my scalp. If I were to be picky, it left my hair a little too slippery.
Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage
I'm very pleased with the result from this. My hair felt smooth, soft and well moisturized. It also did good job of cleaning my scalp. If I were to be picky, it left my hair a little too slippery. They both had about the same result, and I would not be able to tell them apart!
Based on the first five ingredients on the list, Garnier Fructis Densify is a good cleanser and smells really strongly!
Interesting ingredients
Emulsifier to dissolve oils: Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollients to soften hair and soothe the scalp: Starch Acetate and Cetyl Esters
Surfactants to lower the surface tension between oil and water: Cetearyl Alcohol
Extracts of questionable value: Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Punica Granatum Extract, Pyrus Malus Extract and Citrus Medica Limonum Peel Extract
Niacinamide aka vitamin B3 is a very effective skin-restoring ingredient against ageing and environmental stress. Not entirely sure what good it would be for hair, but I can't protest against having it in a product that touches my scalp.
Protein from a mildly strange source: Hydroxypropyltrimonium lemon protein?
And, well, too much fragrance and preservative in this one for my taste.
25 ingredients in total 1 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 4 % 1 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 4 % 1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 4 % 15 marked as "green" for safety. 60 % 5 marked as "yellow" for safety. 23 % And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %
Based on the first five ingredients on the list, Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage is a good cleanser and a nice treat for my scalp. Interesting ingredients
Emulsifier to dissolve oils: Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollients to soften hair and soothe the scalp: Starch Acetate and Cetyl Esters
Surfactants to lower the surface tension between oil and water: Cetearyl Alcohol
Extracts of questionable value: Saccharum Officinarum Extract, Camellia Sinesis Leaf Extract, Pyrus Malus Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum Peel Extract, Radish Root Ferment Filtrate and Phyllanthus Emblica Fruit Extract
Niacinamide aka vitamin B3 is a very effective skin-restoring ingredient against ageing and environmental stress. Not entirely sure what good it would be for hair, but I can't protest against having it in a product that touches my scalp. Especially so high up on the list!
Protein from a mildly strange source: Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol and Hydroxypropyltrimonium lemon protein
And, well, too much fragrance and preservative in this one for my taste.
These two products have more or less the same ingredient lists, just with some extracts swapped out and the niacinamide in different places on the ingredient list.
30 ingredients in total 1 marked as a "2" for acne-trigger. 3 % 1 marked as a "2" for irritation-trigger. 3 % 1 marked as a "4" for irritation-trigger. 3 % 17 marked as "green" for safety. 56 % 10 marked as "yellow" for safety. 33 % 1 marked as "red" for safety. 6 % And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 3 % Lady Igor says These two products have more or less the same ingredient lists. Goodbye Damage has two ingredients in red for safety, but it also had niacinamide so wonderfully high up on the ingredient list. Densify however, has perfume really high up on the list. So... Some minuses for both products there. But since I honestly can't tell the difference in effect, I think I will have to award the victory to Goodbye Damage for the niacinamide.
