Product showdown

Up today are three Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in conditioner sprays:

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair

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 and my favorite: Sunscreen ingredients

First impressions

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length

The lid has a label with a drawing of a broken scissor and the text "Don't cut- Choose repair". Well, permit me to disagree. But okay, fine...

It has a clean and soapy scent and for the smell alone, this one is my favorite.
Mr Igor says: "Smells like a shampoo. Or bathing foam maybe? A bit sweet." Mr Igor approves. 

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength

It has a label with "Repairs and prevents: For lastingly beautiful hair" on the lid. I immediately dislike that part. You cannot repair damaged hair, only mask it with moisture and cones! Damage should always be cut off to protect the undamaged and healthy hairs that come in contact with rough and damaged ends.

Smells clean and soapy but with a more fruity scent as well.
Mr Igor says: "Smells like laundry detergent, but also kind of sweet. This one is my favorite."

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair
This one has the same stupid label with "Repairs and prevents: For lastingly beautiful hair" on the lid.
I like the packaging better. The shiny "metal foil"-like label on the other two ends up looking dirty with the first finger print.
This one left me mildly confused because it looks so much like the ultra moisture spray, which also says something about "hair repair" on it? Same colour theme on the packaging, same lid, same two-phase formulation, same peach-ish product colour, a lot of the same phrasing on the product? Strange.

But at least according to a US ingredient list for the Ultra moisture spray, this is not the same product.

Schwarzkopf Gliss Ultra moisture ingredient list
Aqua (Water), Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Dimethiconol, Cetyl PEG, PPG-10, 1 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-16, Lactic Acid, Fragrance, Cetrimonium Chloride, Panthenol, Sodium Benzoate, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed Keratin, Arginine, Acetyl Tyrosine, Arctium Majus Root Extract, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Keratin, PEG-12 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-11, Ornithine HCl, Niacinamide, Chlorphenesin, Citrulline, Biotin, CI 15985 (Yellow 6), CI 17200 (Red 33)



So maybe this is the Euro-version? Or a newer or older "edition" of whatever product line that goes with the peach colour scheme? Or is it just a coincidence that two so similar products are not the same product, just separated by continents and product laws? I don't know, but it did make me scratch my head.

I dislike this scent the most: It has a strangely fruity and overly sweet smell. I think I recognize it from other Gliss product: The Schwarzkopf Gliss Ultimate Repair conditioner which I also dislike the smell of. It's not as overpowering, but it's in the same scent "family" for sure.
Mr Igor says: "This one also reminds me of laundry. It has a sort of strong smell. Smells like clean stuff."

  

Effect
Okay, confession time: I could not tell the difference between these. I tried spraying half my hair with one and the other half with another over several days and... Nope. Can't tell them apart except for the smell. But they all do a decent enough job of what I want them to do: Adding some moisture to the ends for when they get too dry when I take too long at braiding them.
A few times I thought I could tell a difference in shine or slipperiness, but I think I was just seeing something that wasn't there. Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length, Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength and Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair have more or less the same effect for me.
It will be up to the scent and ingredient list to decide which ones I prefer.

Ingredient analysis

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length
Aqua, Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Paeonia Lactiflora Root Extract, Amodimethicone/Morpholinomethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Dimethiconol, Cetyl Peg/Ppg-10/1 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-16, Lactic Acid, Parfum, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate, Linalool, Benzyl Salicylate, Trideceth-5, Limonene, Benzyl Alcohol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Phenoxyethanol, Coumarin, CI 17200

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"
Aqua, Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Paeonia Lactiflora Root Extract, Amodimethicone/Morpholinomethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer

When only looking at the top five ingredients, this is a emollient and moisturizing product with a random root extract.

Uninteresting ingredients

• Random extract of the day is Paeonia Lactiflora Root Extract which is a pretty flower that I have no idea why it would be put in there. Google provides me with no information that would explain why this ingredient needs to be so high on the ingredient list. Not only does the root itself seem to offer no benefit, I'm deeply suspicious of the "extract". Why is this so high on the ingredient list? Can't it just be a "featured ingredient" or something? Bleh.

Interesting ingredients

• It has keratin in it.
• Benzyl Salicylate and Benzyl Alcohol are sun screen ingredients and hurray for that. I love seeing sunscreen, any sunscreen, in my hair products!
• Amodimethicone is a cone particularly prone to build up.
• Panthenol does maybe-maybe not penetrate and strengthen hair.
• Hexyl Cinnamal, Citronellol and Coumarin are fragrances. Why are three fragrance ingredients necessary?

27 ingredients in total
One ingredient that COSDNA couldn't find info on: Amodimethicone/Morpholinomethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer. Some googling informed me that this is a completely harmless cone.

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

No ingredients with an "irritant" rating!

12 marked as "green" for safety. 44%
11 marked as "yellow" for safety. 40%
2 marked as "red" for safety. 7%
And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4%

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair
Aqua (Water, Eau), Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Amodimethicone/Morpholionmethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Dimethiconol, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-16, Lactic Acid, Cetrimonium Chloride, Parfum, Sodium Benzoate, Trideceth-5, Linalool, Coumarin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Phenoxyethanol, CI 17200

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"
Aqua (Water, Eau), Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Amodimethicone/Morpholionmethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil

When only looking at the top five ingredients, this is a heavily cone-y product with some oil. Which is fairly typical for a product boasting "repair". They tend to either go heavy on the proteins or heavy on the cones.

Interesting ingredients

• Contains Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil.
• Panthenol does maybe-maybe not penetrate and strengthen hair.
• Amodimethicone is a cone particularly prone to build up.
• Linalool, Coumarin and Hexyl Cinnamal are fragrances. Why are three fragrance ingredients necessary in addition to parfum?

Also I find it quite interesting how different the two ingredient lists are. Often it's basically just the "active"/selling point-ingredient that has been swapped out along with a few ingredients for stability or scent. But these two have very different ingredient lists.

Since this conditioner contains coconut oil, I would not want it on my scalp. This is a protein-free moisturizer and I would use it as such.

21 ingredients in total
COSDNA still can't find any information on Amodimethicone/Morpholinomethyl Silsesquioxane Copolymer, but it seems to be a harmless cone.

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

No ingredients with an "irritant" rating!

10 marked as "green" for safety. 47%
8 marked as "yellow" for safety. 38%
1 marked as "red" for safety. 4%
And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength

I founds several different ingredient lists for this one floating around online?
Pretty strange. This is the one I had on mine, which was bought in Normal in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Aqua, Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Dimethiconol, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Polyquaternium-16, Lactic Acid, Parfum, Cetrimonium Chloride, Sodium Benzoate, Linalool, Benzyl Salicylate, Limonene, Phenoxyethanol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Alcohol, Ci 17200, CI 15985

Applying the Beauty Brains "First five ingredients rule"
Aqua, Cyclomethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Tocopheryl Acetate

When only looking at the top five ingredients, this is a moisturizing, cone-y product with keratin. Not bad for a start?

Interesting ingredients

• It has keratin in it high on the list.
• Cetyl Esters is an emolient and should result in soft hair.
• Panthenol does maybe-maybe not penetrate and strengthen hair.
• Benzyl Salicylate and Benzyl Alcohol are sun screen ingredients and hurray for that. I love seeing sunscreen, any sunscreen, in my hair products!
• Why does this need both parfum, linalool and Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone for fragrance?

I find it quite interesting how different the ingredient lists are. Often it's basically just the "active"/selling point-ingredient that has been swapped out along with a few ingredients for stability or scent. But these have very different ingredient lists. There are some similarities though: All have keratin, polyquaternium-16 and panthenol in them.

21 ingredients in total

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

No ingredients with an "irritant" rating!

9 marked as "green" for safety. 42%
10 marked as "yellow" for safety. 47%
1 marked as "red" for safety. 4%
And one marked as "green-yellow" for safety. 4 %

Lady Igor says
Ehh... I feel like this became a whole lot of nothing really. Let's award some points and see where it gets us?

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: Best scent (1 point)
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: Okayest scent
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: Worst scent

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: Contains sunscreen ingredients (1 point)
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: Contains sunscreen ingredients (1 point)
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: No sunscreen ingredients

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: No oil
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil

I will not award any points for either or, I just thought this was interesting since they have so many other identical ingredients like keratin, polyquaternium-16 and panthenol

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: Acne trigger warnings
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: Least ratings for acne and irritations (1 point) 
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: Acne trigger warnings

• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: Random annoying flower extract
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: I like this ingredient list the most for the keratin and panthenol so high on the list (1 point)
• Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: Nothing memorable about this ingredient list

Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray supreme length: 2 points total
Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength: 3 points total
Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray total repair: 0 points total
So we have a winner in Schwarzkopf Gliss leave in spray sensational strength

Ridiculous longhair problem #72

Spot two ridiculous longhair problems in the picture below:

#1: Headrests. Stupid things. No matter how I place them, they always force my head into a mildly uncomfortable position. But then again, I guess they aren't designed for an orange-sized bun behind the head?

#2: My massive around-the-ear headphones (Sennheiser is love. Sennheiser is life) colliding with my equally massive braided Chinese bun. Award winning German engineering versus award winning (I wish. lol) Danish hair.
The hair wins (The hair always wins. Did I ever tell the story of how my hair murdered a car cooler?) so the headphones are constantly sliding slightly forwards. The headphones are awarded a pity point for being able to still deliver perfect sound even though they are constantly pushed away from their intended resting place.

Today's hair

The updo is a wrapunder bun or The pinless, heart-shaped bun

Getting pretty messy with lots of flyaways, but I think it actually works with this style?

I love that this updo is only held with two tiny elastics!

Today's hair

The two Dutch braids are still looking okay, so I made two braided buns out of them. I had placed the braids a little too forward though, I would have preferred the buns a little further back.

Today's hair

Today's hair is a braided Chinese bun 

The stick is a WoodArtJewelry made from bone and wood

Starting the braids a "layer" higher almost resulted in a headband-effect that I really like

Today's hair

Two Dutch braids.
I'm really happy with them. I spent a little extra time to get a more precise sectioning and started my "layers" higher than normal. It was time well spent, I think.
(Just for fun I timed myself: 20 minutes. Hmm. More than I thought!)

Today's hair

Yesterday I was wondering if there was some sort of updo I can do, that for some reason slipped out of rotation. And there is: The sock bun.

I thought it had slipped out because it's not on a braid base and therefore needs more time in the morning. But as soon as I had put it up, I could feel the construction sliding. Even though it's based on a ponytail (Two elastics for added stability) it was quickly uncomfortable.

So I took two Ron Quattro pins and nailed the hair donut to the elastics inside. That solved the stability issue, but also felt kind of stupid: If I wanted to do an updo that was held up by pins or sticks, why not make some other, any other, updo?

Even though the pins are super discrete, it still annoyed me.

A sock bun does end up as a massive head-eating bun though!
Even hubby who is used to seeing my hair commented on the size of it.

The sock bun is really a head eating monster bun!

Advantage to having long hair #372

You can always find a use for an extra egg yolk or two for a nice little protein kick for your hair.

...Which is pretty nice when the Japanese souffle pancakes (Seriously yummy btw) calls for more egg whites than yolks.

Thoughts on time management and efficiency

A while back Anon asked:

"Can I ask you about somehting non hair related? I will go back to school this autumn and I really worry about how to balance school and part time work and a life and I worry about money too. I think maybe Igor is the right to ask about that because you seem to work a lot?"

Let me just start off with that I have no qualifications in time management or anything like that. I don't even think I've ever read one of those self help books or anything?

Anyways.

My tips on time management and efficiency on a short time budget:

Ask yourself what you can do for tomorrow's you
Tomorrow's you get tired and stressed too. What can you do to help?

If you're like me, any item on your mental to do-lists adds stress to your life. So even something simple like taking five minutes to tidy up your home (Focus on clearing up surfaces like tables and floors. Stacking things looks more organised than things spread out) will help you tomorrow.

Nice to do and must do
This is one I struggle with: Learn to separate your "have to do" from your "nice to do". Just because something is on your to do-list doesn't make it important. Yes, having a list full of "nice to do" is stressful, but learning to separate your "have to do" is necessary to remain sane.

Speculate in "open" and "closed" time
I don't know if there is a specific term for this, but this is what it's called in my head. For instance, coming home from work and having nothing else planned, so you have nothing to do until bedtime is an "open" time space. The time between putting laundry on and it finishing, is a "closed" time space.
"Open" time space is best for things like work, reading, blogging, hanging out with friends... Those things where you would like to do the thing until you get bored of it. "Closed" time space is perfect to get annoying little practical tasks done. They're especially good for doing those things that your future self will thank you for, like cleaning the kitchen, packing your work bag, taking out garbage, printing something you need in physical form, updating your calendar etc.

Have an in/out station
Create a space where you hang planners, calendars or notes so you can keep track of what you need to get done. This is also where you can put things that have to go out of your home, like letters and work stuff. Things that needs to be dealt with eventually, also goes here.
I keep my three bags here: A Kipling shoulder bag for "off duty". Two identical Samsonite shoulder bags that you can tell apart by the university ID and work ID card attached to the zipper in the front. There are hooks for hanging keys and umbrella and such. A magnetic whiteboard week planner.
However, it's on my to nice to do list to put up some better boards: We could use a month planner, a better week planner and maybe a blank one too.

Money
I guess my only advice here is to clean up your monthly expenses as much as possible. But this is all things we all know already: You don't need that daily calories-and-coffee-bomb, you don't need a Netflix account. If you want to buy something non-essential like a box subscription or a gym membership, maybe you can find it as an option where you pay for it now for so-and-so long instead of a continuous expense. That way it's more like a gift to yourself instead of a monthly expense.

Hope this helps?

Back to three

Huh. Funny how "normal" messes with your perception of things.
After a few days messing around with five and seven stranded braids, my bun looks kind of weird with a three stranded braid base. Like... Bulky? Puffy? Undelicate in structure?