Yay :)

Hooray!

My massive Testerkorea haul has arrived!

It was actually a little embarrassing just how long it took me to place it all out for the picture... 

Now I have so much stuff I ended up doing what I've seen (and had a chuckle at) on K-beauty blogs: Having a spreadsheet just to manage all the products and potential routines you have available...

Throwback Thursday

Such fat and short braids!
I miss being able to tie my hair off with "regular" elastics instead of those miniature silicone-ones...

The importance of sleep

Getting a good nights sleep is one of the most important thing you can do for both your mind and your body.
This is where your body repairs and refreshes.
When you sleep, your body follows a sleep cycle of REM and non-REM sleep. This is called the ultradian sleep cycle. The different stages in sleep have different characteristics and effects. Each cycle takes approximately 90 minutes. It begins with light sleep and goes deeper before going light again.

There is a lot to cover here, so if you're interested, I urge you to look it up on your own. I will skip to the important stuff:
People seem to have a tendency to count their sleep in full hours. But to work with your body's natural cycle, try to calculate according to the 90 minute-cycle. Waking up in the middle of the deep sleep part as opposed to the light sleep can start of your day on the wrong foot. This is often where you wake up feeling cold and miserable instead of rested.
You may find yourself more refreshed from sleeping 7½ hours (5 full cycles) than 8 hours (5 and 1/3 cycle).
To further help your body's natural cycle, try not to have too big fluctuations in bedtime and when you get up. Don't sleep in more than an hour extra in the weekends. Of course you should enjoy your days off, but sleeping in too much will mess with the cycle your body has build up during the workdays.

Tips for hair
Getting good sleep is so much more important than any damage you might do to your hair, so always ignore a tip if it will interfere with the quality of your sleep!

Fun hair and sleep facts
Lack or sleep or bad sleep quality is known to cause hair loss
It's also said that during sleep is where your hair grows the fastest.

Protecting your hair
During the night, your hair will rub on pillows and sheets, and maybe even get caught between your body and the surface under you. To minimize this, there is three things you can do:

• Sleep on smooth fabric like satin or silk. Or look into a sleep cap of some sort. Maybe even consider wearing a silk shirt for when your hair gets caught between your body and the surface under you. What way you should go depends entirely on what you find comfortable
• Contain your hair (In a braid or bun) in a way that points "away" from the pillow. As in: If you sleep on your back, dont wear a single braid at the neck. If you sleep on your sides, dont wear double braids.
• If your hair is long enough to be caught under your shoulders or below, consider looping the braid up

Always contain your hair in one way or another during the night: Braid or bun, it doesn't matter. Just make sure it's contained in a way that will minimize the detangling you need to do the next day. Detangling causes mechanical damage, so getting into a good habit will make a difference in accumulated damage. It drastically adds up when your hair has to survive for something like a decade!

Igor's personal recommendation
I absolutely cannot sleep on silk or satin. It's too smooth and slippery and often feels cold to the touch. There is just something about it that rubs me the wrong way. But, there is a lot of difference in cottons, so I pick something that feels soft and has "slip". 
Remember: Be kind to your skin and change the covers often, so you don't rub in your own old dirt. If you have troublesome or sensitive skin, you may want to change the pillow cover every day or every other day.

Treating your hair
While you sleep, why not add some treatment to your hair?
It's as simple as adding a bit of oil or conditioner to your ends, then putting a thin plastic bag over and securing it with a bandage. Rinse out the next morning.
Just make sure it doesn't disturb your sleep.

Tips for better sleep
First of all: Make your bed and bedroom a place you want to be. 

Buy a mattress that feels comfortable to you. Have a bed frame that fits you (and your partners) lengths and sleeping patterns. Seek out information on what type of pillows you should get as this depends on what kind of sleeper you are. Do you prefer light blankets over you or do you feel calmer with more weight? How warm is it comfortable for you to be? Consider having at least two sets of covers for the different seasons.

Make your bedroom comfy and clean. Keep out the disturbing clutter and don't use your bedroom as a storage room. Also, you may want to try cleaning everything you can clean around the bed: Vacuum the mattress, dust the structure of the bed frame everywhere and wash everything you can. 

Just think about how large a portion of your day you spend in the bed or bedroom: Is that reflected in how you prioritize furniture and decoration? 

Get yourself some soft and comfy sleepwear too. Nothing that bunches up or twists uncomfortably. Sexy is not a priority, being comfortable so you sleep well is.

Make a ritual

Consider making a bedtime ritual. It can help kick your body and mind into "unwind" mode and sleep faster. 

Why not make it something that will further help you sleep?
First step of the bedtime ritual should be to put down the phones, shut down the computers and turn off the TV. No monitors on an hour before bed. (Igor says: Impossible, I know! Some sources even say two! It's just not possible for me. I make it the first step in my "Get my ass to bed" routine, and it can't get better than that with my work and nerdy lifestyle.)The light suppresses melatonin, which makes you sleep better.
As a side note: If you wake up to pee in the middle of the night, go to the bathroom without turning on the light. The sudden shock of bright light can seriously mess with your ability to fall back asleep and the sleep quality after.

Air out to lower the temperature and get fresh air in.
Have a pamper-ritual where you apply moisturizer or do something else so you wake up beautiful. Or how about a nice, warm bath ro help you relax?
Why not check that everything that should be "off" really is off? A routine like that can save you on the energy bill. 

White noise
It can seem like a strange idea to add more noise to your bedroom. But it works because external noise (Noisy neighbors, traffic, animals etc) is blended into the white noise and becomes less noticeable. It literally makes your brain pay less attention to the offending noise.
It's always the context of the noise that makes you react: If you're already annoyed at the neighbors noises, if a car suddenly honks it's horn or a dog starts barking. The noises you know and are used to doesn't cause a reaction, some times you might not even notice them.
The principle of adding extra noise is called "sound masking" because the offending noises are masked, rather than drowned out.
You can find many different resources for white noise. They seem to fall in different categories:

• Ambient soundscapes: Spacestations (I know, lol), well known background noises from TV shows, movies or games, interior noises from airplanes, crackling campfires, crowd noise etc.
• Machinery noises: Fans, air conditioning units, washing machine, heaters, vaccum cleaners, hair dryers, lawn sprinklers, traffic noises etc.
• Nature sounds: Rain, ocean waves, crickets chirping, jungle noises, birds singing, waterfalls, thunder, wind etc

When picking a white noise to try, ask yourself what you think will work for you:
Do you need the sound to be monotonous or can it vary?
More treble or bass?
Any noises that triggers a happy or relaxing memory?

If you're okay with leaving a computer on all night, try on youtube.
Relaxing White Noise videos offer 120+ videos all over 10 hours long with different white noises, usually in the nature genre.
Or try Crysknife007 videos with hundreds of videos. They are more sci-fi and science oriented and often very specific in the frequency.

Igor's personal recommendation
Yogayak videos offers lots of yoga videos (Why not do some yoga before bed to stretch and soothe?) and relaxing white noise videos with nature sounds. A lot of them with added healing music or frequencies to the mix. They combine different series of background sounds with a 174 Hz tone for reducing pain and Solfeggio frequencies for different effect.
I honestly find this channel very interesting and recommend giving them a try. 

I like something like this: Some bass and rather monotonous. No screaming monkeys, chirping birds or insects to disturb the peace. (I never got how anyone could find that relaxing?) 

This one has the 852 Hz Solfeggio for returning to spiritual order.

This one is very monotonous and has a lot of bass. It almost has a "static" kind of noise to it. I prefer the "deeper" sounds to put me to sleep.

Relaxing incense etc.
Strangely, our ability to react to smells changes when we’re asleep. Studies have found that unlike sounds, smells won’t wake us up. This is literally why you need firealarms: The smell of a burning building wont wake you up.
Therefore: Calming scents works only for before you fall asleep. This doesn't mean that they don't serve a purpose, but the effect stop once you're asleep.

A drink won't help you

I don't think I need to put too much energy into talking about caffeine. Don't eat and drink right before sleeping either (But also, don't go to bed hungry). But it some seems to think that an alcoholic drink will help you relax and sleep. But REM sleep is greatly reduced with just two drinks. It also adds a tendency to wake up more often and therefore disturb the ultradian sleep cycle.

Humidity
While you're at it, why not do yourself a favor and add some humidity while you sleep? Dry air is known to irritate sinuses and throat, making your eyes dry and itchy and making your skin dry. It may even cause nosebleeds A study has also found that influenza virus can survive longer in dry air.
The ideal humidity level is around 40-60% depending on the sources.
You don't have to invest in a humidifier. Something as simple as a damp towel on the radiator can make a difference.

Multitasking: Beauty while you sleep
Why not multitask and do something for your beauty?

BB 2015 Fall/winter episode 5: Healing beauty

The episode focuses on stress relief and relaxation.
The sleep and relaxation-part with products begins at about 8 minutes.

Get it beauty: Sleeping beauty 1/2
Beauty products you can use before or during your sleep.

Get it beauty: Sleeping beauty 2/2
Mostly makeup focused, but part two of the show.

Igor's personal recommendation
My skin dislikes sleeping with heavy products. It has a comodogenic effect for me and I always wake up to irritation.
Dr. Hauschka recommends sleeping with a completely bare face so your skin can "breathe". (Good advice, but the brand doesn't work for me) For those with dry skin, this might not be possible. Try with toner alone if you can, or maybe an essence or a light lotion. If you do like your nigh creams, no problem. But maybe you can alternate nights and see how your skin reacts?

Last week in hair

A while back I got a request to go through a routine or daily care for my hair. Since it might be interesting for those with a similar or near-similar hairtype, it's been on my to do-list for a while now.
So, here goes: My very exciting week in hair!

Monday
I start off my week with a seminar in Denmark. As usual when I go there, I meet up with Frigga from UTT. I really like talking hair (theory) with her because her hair is so very different from mine. It's no fun talking about methods with someone who just does the same as you...

The Danish "Can it be summer soon please?"-weather showed itself from its best side, so it was awesome to go shopping in.

Frigga introduced me to a new shop that carries her favorite leave in-conditioner.

I think the brand Gosh was very, very popular maybe a decade ago?
So awesome to see leave in-conditioners becoming almost mainstream!

Haha. Good choice for cover-model!

There's a cute little hole in the wall-type sushi place in the city. I make a note of it for tomorrow.

Collected shopping:

• I used to really love the Glitter magazine for their damage free, simple updos but this one actually disappointed me. It used to be more "Use this tool like this..." instead of backcombing and such. Hmm!
• Two leave in-conditioners: Gosh Much More Moist (lol) I need to review this one... 
• A couple of nostalgia-scents: CK Eternity for hubby and CK one for me
• A sheet mask for the neck, which to my surprise had hyalurunic acid on the ingredient list

I had hoped the shower conditions had improved, but no. I did a long and not so thorough WO-wash and settled for a good body scrub. Put my hair in a single braid for a quick Nautilus for tomorrow.

Tuesday
More meetings today. Then return to Sweden to Hubby.

I woke up to soft cooing from outside the window. Cute but dumb: I could probably have reached out and touched it!

I get sushi to go from the little sushi place I saw yesterday.

Also I bring home delicious steaks for dinner.
Hubby trims my hair for me. After the trim, I put my hair back in a single braid.

Wednesday
I always wake up feeling really crappy and tired the day after seminars.
The good thing about working from home is that I can go with the feeling of crappiness and spend all day in my pyjamas. So I do. Eventually in the evening, I make three braids to make a headband+bun updo the next day.

Thursday
The headband+bun updo was an annoying fail. Bah. I guess it would only really work if your braids are "fresh" aka. you haven't slept on them and messed them up?
Hair could use a wash. Hmm.

Skin seems pretty unhappy. Uh-oh?

Friday
Ever had a product that you really loved? Like, really-really loved?
But because it was either pricey or difficult to get, you ended up saving it "For a special occasion".
And then somehow the "special occasions" just never really seemed to happen, because nothing was "special enough". Or something.
So the product ended up gathering dust despite that you really-really loved it.

That's how I felt about the WELCOS Confume Argan Treatment Hair Pack. I love-love it: It turns my coarse hair incredibly soft and shiny.
I used it up today in a 4 hour deep conditioning session with the heating cap and my hair was so incredibly soft and awesome afterwards.
Hair is now in a simple braid with some Matas' argan leave in conditioner.

Saturday
Hubby and I play Smash up half the day. I review the Matas argan leave in-conditioner.

I have ordered the WELCOS Confume Argan Treatment Hair Pack at Testerkorea.

Why haven't I done that ages ago?

I also ordered two other conditioners in the line:

Baobab oil

And argan + gold (Fancy!)

I have been avoiding ordering hair products because they weigh so much (Ugh, shipping)
But I figured: Hey, just get all the stuff I want and suck it up.
So I did.
After a lot of research and some math, I put together an order of haircare products, makeup and skincare products. I got a little carried away with the essences, but finally put it together so I have 4-5 possible skincare product routines.
My order clocked in at over 12 kg. Yikes. Maybe I should have milk and cookies ready for the poor DHL delivery guy?

Also, here is a general tip if someone should consider ordering something from Testerkorea
Often their products are misplaced in the sections and it makes it difficult to get the things you want.
So make sure to use the general search function!
This time, I wanted to get a good SPF mist. Not a Western-style spray, but a Korean-style mist.
When I searched for "SPF" in the mist-section I got two options: One containing aloe vera and one I thought was too pricey. Well, "pricey" is relative, but I could almost buy a whole set of the Secret Key snail products for the same price, so... But when I searched for "SPF mist" in the general search, I found another option for almost half the price at twice as much product. Sold, and thank you.

Sunday
Hair is in a figure 8 bun.
I think hubby has been feeling neglected lately (First I'm gone 6 days a week for 3 months, now I'm back working mostly from home and being too busy to give him attention) so we have a "date day" where we eat out, watch Civil War and hang around in the park to ea ice cream and feed the birds.

Skin has been increasingly unhappy since Thursday. Stupid skin. What is its problem this time?
Suddenly it hates the Eucerin ultra sensitive and the Scinic products that it has been happy with for a very long time. I suspect I don't tolerate glycerin anymore.
That would just be so typically my skin. I mean, honestly: Who is allergic to everyone's favorite plant, aloe vera? Me. Who has an instantly comodegenic effect with intense itchiness and breakouts to everyone's favorite oil, coconut oil? Me.
Who might as well have an intolerance to something that is just about in every skin product ever...? Yea, you guessed it.

Matas Argan leave-in hårkur

Strange. After all my worries about not being able to find a leave in product I'm willing to pay for after the orange Sunsilk one has been discontinued (?), suddenly I find leave in conditioners everywhere I look!

Maybe it's because people are beginning to see them as "BB creams for hair"? 

No matter what, I'm not complaining!

I bought this in Matas, which is a Danish beauty chain (I think it might have a few stores in Sweden too?) on a 3 for 2 sale.

The "striped" products are their own brand and are usually quite cheap. I paid 100 DKK (Around 13 Euro and 15 USD) for all three and got 450 ml in total. Good price for this.

Danish language lesson of the day: "Hårkur" translates into "hair treatment". 

The product has a "clean", inoffensive smell. Sort of soapy, I think?

The pump dispenses a good amount of product. It's white and fairly thick, like a good cream consistency.
It offers pretty good hold but just a bit too much slip for my taste.

Ingredients
Water, cetearyl alcohol, butyrosperum parkii butter, argania spinosa kernel oil, behenoyl PG-trimonium chloride, dimethisone, cetyl palmitate, glycerin, quaternium-87, bis-cetearyl amodimethicone, cetrimonium chloride, panthenol, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, tocopheryl acetate, behentrimonium methosulfate, helianthus anuus seed extract, hexylene glycol, parfum, sodium gluconate, citric acid, lactic acid, phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate.

Before I start commenting on COSDNA's analysis, I have to say how thrilled I am to see my old friend shea butter as ingredient #3! Very nice.
(Gosh, this takes me back some 10+ years when shea butter was all the rage in the longhair circuit!)
And argan oil comes in as #4. Really, very nice indeed.
Near the end of the list, it also contains panthenol and sunflower oil.

• Two two's and two one's for acne.
• One two and one one for irritant.
• Nothing scored above a four for safety.

Not too bad.
I will definitely buy this again.

Today's hair

I wasn't really pleased with my last attempt to make a single bun out of three braids.

So I figured, maybe if I used one of the braids to make a headband...?

Looks good from the front.

But in the back? Not so much.
I guess it doesn't help that three braids instead of one creates my surface, which creates more options for hairs to escape from the braid.
That fuzzy pipe cleaner look just isn't a good look.

Trim

When it comes to hair care tips, I tend to mentally separate them into three categories: "The good", "the bad" and the "Meh, I guess it can't hurt". 

The Morocco Method's lunar trimming schedule falls under the  "Meh, I guess it can't hurt" for me. Meaning that I don't really believe my hair could in any way care about when I cut it, but hey, why not?

I can't explain why it would it work, but I cannot explain why it would hurt either. 

Also, I have a "Holy f***ing shit, what the f***ing hell is wrong with you to give out such shit advice, motherf***er??!? Are you actively trying to kill people?!11!"-category, but luckily that one is very rare. Last case of that category I remember was a nutcase on a hair forum, who claimed that as long as you took your supplements "With a good attitude" you would never encounter side effects. 

Uh. Wut.

So there you have it: Anyone who ever encountered side effects from medication, interactions from medication, allergies and other problems: It's your own damn fault for having a bad attitude.

Great advice.

Anyways. The Morocco Method. 

Lunar Hair Care charts

Back when I went "Try all the things!!" to get my hair to grow faster I would S&D after days like thicken, lengthen and strengthen. 

Of course it never seemed to do anything for my hair growth, but still... Can't hurt, can it?

It felt a bit nostalgic to check the lunar chart before trimming.

Pre-trim: Dripping wet hair.
We're experimenting with how wet my hair should be to make it easiest for Hubby.

Trim. Hubby took off exactly 3 cm.
I think I would have preferred a bit more, but he was so proud of how exact he was I didn't want to complain.

After trim.
Didn't make a lot of difference, did it?

Side by side comparisons...
I'd say the only difference is in that the "post trim" was combed out a little smoother?
Oh well. Still good to get rid of some of the old ends.

As always, afterwards I put my hair in a low ponytail and snipped a tiny bit (Like, less than ½ cm) of the ends.
I think when you make a trim with loose hair, you can get a "wrong" hemline for your updos: I'd like my braids to be as long as possible with as little tassel as possible, so I should trim for that effect.

Awesome (And scary) new tool

I've been wanting a silicone mask cover for a while.
Since watching this episode of Beauty Bible actually.

(Starts at 32:32 if the embedding doesn't work 100%)

I do love my sheet masks, but it is very irritating that you're stuck laying down while wearing them. It's not always so comfortable when you try to watch TV or be on a laptop at the same time.
Testerkorea did have some stuff, but those are more "belt" types for depuffing your V-zone (The V your chin and neck forms) and not for holding a sheet mask onto your face.

Like this.

I had some problems finding one, but ended up finding them on Amazon.
However, not all of the listings will send to Europe!
I got mine here.

So I ordered two, one for using and one for backup if the first should eventually break.
It arrived with an "assorted" Amazon order.
Hubby instantly stole the book, so I had peace to play with the silicone mask.

Oh boy, this looks creepy.

Like, really creepy.

When I showed hubby, he made a squeaky noise. He then informed me it was in fact a very manly squeaky noise. Then he compared me to Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky, before parking himself in front of a desktop to play Warthunder with great intensity so he didn't have to look at me any more. Hmpf.

It didn't get any less creepy-looking with a real sheet mask underneath.

It has it's issues: The fit is just odd. It's quite tight on my Caucasian face especially the nose, while still being too big at the forehead and too loose at the chin. But then again, all sheet masks have odd fits too and never seem to fit anyone's face, ever. Also, it got pretty uncomfortable behind my ears from the loops after a while

However, it serves the exact purpose I bought it for: It holds a sheet mask to my face while I sit upright.
I don't think I could use this while working though. It manages to both push and pull at the tissue and muscles around my eyes, so reading or writing a work text might be headache-inducing in the long run.
But it is absolutely perfect for using in front of the TV or just browsing the internet for fun.

I like it. This is what I wanted.

Also it might be useful for when I want hubby to leave me alone.

Done!

Finally done with the project. No more obnoxious transportation! Back to spending all day in my pyjamas and working from my own computer!
Hooray!

To be honest, it's going to be such a relief to get out of the transportation.
The transportation has just been insane: The Swedish train company seems to just blame all the problems on the border control and refuse to acknowledge the crazy delays and problems, because everything is the border controls' fault!

The border controls have been the least problem. Never any delays there and at least they served a purpose. It's been the delays and problems for no apparent fault that's been frustrating.
Just to begin with, the trains going back inland in Sweden always had to wait in Malmö for no apparat reason. Biochemist friend said she heard this was in order to get the trains back onto schedule, but since they always had to wait at least 15 minutes, why not move the schedule up like 10 minutes?

Of course this is the one thing the train conductors doesn't feel to inform you about at all. Here's an unfunny fact: All Swedish train conductors seems to think they are radio DJs. They will blab on and on and on about all sorts of dumb stuff. The weather outside (No, really, I'm not joking), every single connection by train and bus from the upcoming station (Not like there are giant signs everywhere for that once you arrive, right?) how happy they are to have you on board (What.) and naming every station on the route (Not like that flashes across the infoboards on a regular basis!)
I guess they think they seem friendly and engaging but it's just irritating. Especially when some totally cheery persona yaks on and on when you're crazy delayed and you're trying to calculate how much later you will be home. It feels plain insulting on top of injury.
I guess they assume people will go "Oh, I will not vandalise this train because the train conductor was so funny!" or "I won't beat up the train conductor in frustration over being 35 minutes late because he said he was so happy to have us on the train!".
As I already wrote: They're idiots and have no idea what matters to their customers.

I honestly don't think there haven't been a single day where there at least wasn't a delay on the route.
Usually it was more than a delay though: Trains not showing up at all, trains stopping for no apparent reason and everyone ordered out, trains that didn't stop at certain stations to make up time, trains that suddenly had to go as regional trains instead and stopping at every single little shit village on the route, trains unable to leave the station anyways because the staff didn't show up(?), you name it.

Of course the train company seems to take no responsibility for any of their general uselessness and extreme inconvenience, because everything is the border controls' fault!

Anyways. I'm looking forward to spending lots of time in my pyjamas and wearing the same (boring) braid.

I've accumulated a bunch of new products, so my to do list right now consists of going through those for reviews. Last month have been good for finding leave in-conditioners, so it makes me very happy!

Today's hair

My "work bun" irritated me, so I made a figure 8 as soon as I got home.

It's been a while since last I made one of these!