I guess this isn't your typical Throwback Thursday...
This picture is from circa 1896. The woman is Marie, my great-great grandmother. The man is Kristen, my great-great grandfather. The boy on the right is my great grandfather Lars Peter. There is a street named after him to this day in the city where this picture was taken. We know he was born in 1893, so we think this picture is some years older than 1896 since he looks about 8.
It's funny how dominant those heavy upper eyelids are in my family!
(The link seems to be a bit fussy, so here is to the article containing the picture)
This summer has been absolutely crazy, miserably hot, but today is the first official autumn day. I really hope the weather will calm down now!
About two weeks ago it abruptly became wet and cold, a complete change from the crazy summer weather. The wild birds that come to be for food have been busy sitting around our kitchen window looking miserable: "I don´t have enough fluff for this cold!"
Usually autumn means my scalp becomes really unhappy. I guess it's the cold and moist air outside and the warm and dry air inside... And being trapped under a hat whenever I leave the house.
Once that happens I'll see if I can prevent some problems this year by being more aware of the dry, dead skin/dandruff-like buildup on my scalp before it really starts to annoy me.
In more personal news: I´m going back to uni!
I´m not sure I ever mentioned it on my blog, but it´s on my "Unspecified some time in the future"-plan to add some diplomas and a degree to my degrees and eventually teach my field at university level. Some time in the future. I certainly didn´t think it would be any time in this near future.
But then after a chat with nurse-friend who just finished her candidate degree, I found myself browsing for options and there was this one, perfect semester I could sign up for. So I did!
Starting Monday, I will be following a single semester with pedagogy students. The semester is centered around methods and research about teaching and will be perfect for my CV.
However, I keep having this more or less vague feeling of panic about it. What was I thinking? I average well over 50 hours of work a week as it is. I barely see Mr. Igor as it is and I think I´ve been more or less constantly sleep deprived since we came back from Tenerife. The last thing I need is more work on my plate!
I keep telling myself that the worst thing that can happen is that I fail the course, but have gained some experience with working while studying. All that is really at stake is the tuition, but it doesn´t make the feeling go away.
Biologist-friend recommended subliminal background sounds for sleeping and I will give it a try...
In less terrifying news, Mr. Igor started his own business some months back and it has steadily been growing. It´s funny, I always thought starting your own business would be super difficult and complicated and would take ages to build your product and costumer base. But since Mr. Igor knows the right people it was a simple matter of one of his SEO-friends asking "Hey, can I outsource this to you? And please start your own business so I can bill you easier. Thanks!"
Maybe it´s because I have no ambitions whatsoever in management or a leader position, but it really blew my mind (Still does!) that it was so easy.
The braids held up well enough, so I went for my idea from yesterday. Royal bun where I wrapped bottom braid up first, then the accent braids simultaneously and last the top braid.
I think the result got a tiny bit neater-looking?
You don't see the thin accent braids as much, but it still has the massive, head-eating effect.
I actually quite like this, but it is very far removed from the inspiration of the original, historical hairstyle!
Yesterday I had the idea of putting the two back braids into their own little buns and have two vertically stacked buns instead of the massive head-eating one.
Of course this left me unsure of what would work best to do with the front braids...
I tried with wrapping them around the bottom bun first and then around both in a figure 8 motion, since the bottom bun is smallest. I carry the thickest and densest hair on my head in the area that the top, back braid takes up, so that braid always ends up the biggest.
It wasn't bad per say, but I don't think it looked that good either...
But it did give me the idea of wrapping the Royal bun by going bottom braid > accent braids > top braid. That should "disguise" the accent braids more in the bun.
I will try that tomorrow if the braids aren't too fuzzy and messed up.
Continued from yesterday's thought, today I tried the Royal bun-Caroline von Holnstein-idea.
Well, by now I guess it has evolved so much that it's barely recognizable from its origin...
The two vertically split braids put up in a Royal bun held with a Ron Quattro.
And the two accent braids pulled down and around as seen on the Victoria show, like Nightgerbil shared.
And I have to say that wrapping the accent braids down and around takes the entire updo from "WTF?" to "Actually wearable". I could actually see myself wearing this again.
The result is definitely "Head-eating bun". This is a massive, and very flat bun!
Last time I did a variation of Caroline von Holnsteins updo, i wondered if a Royal bun might work better to make this a more wearable updo.
I guess the result of this will be something cool, but also very far from the orginal and you probably can't tell it is inspired by a historical hairstyle anymore...
So I have kept the idea of the two accent braids in the front and split the rest in two horizontally parted braids. Tomorrow will show if this works or not.
Me: It is so sensitive, I get breakouts from my Neutrogena light therapy mask.
Yea, it´s not really that funny. Sorry.
No joke though: I get really annoyed when people "abuse" the classification of having sensitive skin.
Too often have I heard people say they have sensitive skin when they flat out abuse it.
If your skin is dry and cranky and your only "care" is to let your shampoo wash over your face when you rinse and maybe, maybe slap some crappy low SPF sunscreen on if you have to be outside in burning sun for too long, you don´t have sensitive skin. If your skin is oily and breaks out and you "care" for it by using whatever trendy, perfumy, brightly coloured, unicorn-themed product some editor was paid to advertise for in a glossy magazine, you don´t have sensitive skin. If your response to "Do you know if you have any allergies?" is "Uhhhh.....", you don´t have sensitive skin.
So. Back to how sensitive sensitive skin can be.
For over a month, I have had this annoying breakout happening at two spots near my hairline. Above my ears, symmetrical placement.
Usually a breakout at my hairline points to a sensitivity to one or more of my skincare products. Because of the "massaging" motion, you end up pushing excess products into the hairline with your fingertips. Especially the hairline around the forehead is a typical area to get breakouts if the culprit is a product. It never really spreads very far into my scalp-area though: My scalps moisture barrier is strong and resilient and rarely causes me any problems. CO washes are my holy grail to protect my scalp from dehydration and irritation. I wish I could do the same for the skin on the rest of my body.
But the breakouts only happened right there. Slightly below where my glasses rests. Just in these two spots.
But I finally figured out what the problem is: It´s my hacked Neutrogena light therapy mask.
The mask fits a lot tighter around my face than a pair of glasses, and the earpieces touches my skin right there. The plastic ear pieces. Of course.
*Sigh*
I already knew that you should be aware what you let touch your face when you have sensitive skin. And I knew that you should always look for silicone tools since they are less reactive to any chemical (And therefore any product it might come into contact with) and more resistant to bacteria colonizing it.
But still.
This was a surprise.
And now I need to figure out what to do about it. Removing the earpieces would ruin the point of the mask. Maybe wrap something around right at the contact point? Like a bandaid that I can replace often?
Awkward selfie trying to show where the problem is.
I was looking for my leave in-spray with SPF when I realized I have three completely identically shaped leave in-conditioner bottles. A quick Google search revealed that Garnier is part of the LÓreal group. Huh, I didn´t know that. Well, that explains it.
I bought the Garnier Fructis on Madeira last year, but for some reason I just keep bumping it to the back of the shelf and never really used it. Hmm.
