Today's hair

Played around with starting a five stranded braid by first making three strands and then adding in another two in the next layer. I liked the result, but tomorrow will show how it works for a bun-base.

Mildly interesting

Don't that today is the last day for 10 % off on all orders (Both physical book and E-book and all hair products) at Nightblooming's Etsy store.
Either follow this direct link or apply the code BELLTOWER when you check out.

I spotted this ad for a recruitment agency at a bus stop. Even though the guy's beard-braid looks very much photoshopped on, I still thought it was mildly interesting.

Also, is the guy supposed to look like Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane) or is it just a coincidence? Especially since he seems to be doing that "staring in awe" thing at the woman.

Today's hair

Don't forget that you can get 10 % off on all orders (Both physical and E-book and all products) until august 15th at Nightblooming's Etsy store.
Either follow this direct link or apply the code BELLTOWER when you check out.

Nope, the seven stranded braid did not hold up well after sleeping on it.
I guess the amount of surface to hair volume, plus a restless night of sleep (Hot and humid) just really destroyed it. Or maybe it was the leave in-conditioner? Some of them provide noticeably less hold than other.
Also, and this is my laziness speaking: I really don't think you can tell the difference between a five stranded and a seven stranded braid? So the extra time it takes to braid the seven stranded braid seems like a bad time investment.

Today's hair

Don't forget that you can get 10 % off on all orders (Both physical and E-book and all products) until august 15th at Nightblooming's Etsy store.
Either follow this direct link or apply the code BELLTOWER when you check out.

Felt like playing around with making a seven-stranded braid. I did five strands first, then added another two from the hair at below top-of-ears level. 

The braid structure unfortunately feel very lose and not firm as usual. I think it simply has too much surface to the volume of hair it contains?

But the structure looks awesome!

Awesome Nightblooming order on the way (Plus discount code!)

Nightblooming aka Melissa wrote a book and since I'm a fan of how she can express herself, I had to have it. Seriously, the way she can describe her products is just amazing to me. This was part of the reason I wanted to interview her some years back.
So naturally I had to have her book and read her work on a full story. Can't wait!

I have asked Melissa to do another interview for her upcoming book, and she agreed to it!
Since we need to find a time where we can put our heads together, this is my readers chance to ask Nightblooming anything you would like to know about her book and products.
She also offered to do a special FAQ for us for those questions she receives the most!

And... *drumroll*

I have a special code for my readers to Nightblooming's Etsy store for 10 % off on all orders until august 15th.
Either follow this direct link or apply the code BELLTOWER when you check out.

I have ordered her book in hard copy: Heaven's Silhouette
Preorder and other cool stuff here as well.
It can even be preordered through Melissa's Patreon where it also comes with an upgrade package.
She has also done something so cool, and so, so very Nightblooming: She made a line of essential oil blends for the books universe.

I have ordered Aurelia: Iyarri Chronicles Signature Oil Blend,
Cæl: Iyarri Chronicles Signature Oil Blend,
Lucien: Iyarri Chronicles Signature Oil Blend and
Tiahmani: Iyarri Chronicles Signature Oil.
The last scent, Aamon will be released in august or September. I have ordered it as the free essential oil blend sample that comes with my book.

Naturally I also had to have some Sarenrae Blonde Herbal Hair Color and Conditioner,
Eilistraee: Gray, White, Colorless Herbal Hair Conditioner and the
Sunlit Meadow Herbal Rinse for Light Hair.
Since I had ordered so many oil blends already, I also grabbed a Green Scents Oil Blends in jasmine green tea.

For those who don't already know, the Nightblooming products are very well known in the longhair circuit and Melissa wrote some of the classic haircare literature:

 

Rehabilitating damaged hair naturally

Which I reviewed here

 

Coloring hair naturally with henna and other herbs

Which I also reviewed, here

 

DIY garden pergola cat enclosure

Which I have not reviewed since I don't have a cat

Today's hair

Pretty "new" hairsticks holding a cinnamon bun on a five strand braid base.

Today's hair

I was curious and made two little buns out of the "looped" braids. Of course this completely ruins the little loop-detail. But I was surprised to find that it didn't seem to add any extra hold. On the contrary it got pretty uncomfortable quick.

Today's hair

I figured the detail of the bottom braid wouldn't show, but it felt weird to just leave it "unlooped".  I think this looks pretty though.

Today's hair

Tonight's hairstyle is two horizontally split braids with a single "loop" before being braided. I'm going to turn this into a single, big bun tomorrow and hopefully the details will show.

"New" hairstick

Continuing the history nerding: I went to Trelleborg (The Danish one, not the Swedish one) with author-friend, engineer-friend and Mr Igor and came home with some nice souvenirs.
The weird poles and striped markings are from the museum setting up for a viking festival that we would miss by two days. A shame, because it looked like it would be huge when it were set up.

Trelleborg was a fortress set up by the first commonly accepted king of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth  around the year 980. He united the various warring tribes into a country (Which is why the technology is named after him), and the borders of mainland Denmark has overall been remarkably unchanged since.

My new throne room.

Following Mr. Igor out to the ring fortress.
Because of the festival approaching, there were quite a few cars and workers around to cut grass and do maintenance. It really ruined the view and impression!

Here is one of the few good pictures I got, where I stand on top of the fortification and look back towards where I took the previous picture. You can see the bridge over the ramparts, the stones marking the placement of longhouses and the reconstructed longhouse in the back.
Amazingly it looks like both rivers have barely moved their position for the last 1039 or so years! Today they still line up with the fortification really well.

Anyways. I bought myself a new coffee cup. It says "My drinking horn" on it and I had to have it.

I also bought two little bronze sword dangles based on the Glastonbury sword.
With a little bit of force, I turned them into sword dangles for two hairsticks I removed the original dangles from long ago (Cheap wooden "beads" that kept getting stuck in my hair) Much better!