I'm finally done with the written exams, and now I've only got a practical exam left. I feel like the exams went pretty well, but definitely not as good as I would have liked. I'll find out the results in a few weeks. If I'm really unhappy with the grades, I can try again in a year, so it's not the end of the world.
In hair related news, I cut my hair today. I had reached classic when stretched, and now it's back to tailbone. My ends were so tangly, ratty and awful that combing was a nightmare, and it was such a struggle to put my hair up because the buns had become so heavy. Almost every updo pulled and was uncomfortable. I'm much happier with my hair now, I just need to buy some new hair scissors to even up the hemline and add layers. I purchased a pair of scissors this week, but it turns out they were completely useless. It felt like I was trying to cut fabric with paper scissors! It was damn near impossible to cut evenly, and I feel like all the hairs are going to get split ends from that cut. It was really awful. :( I'm sure I can fix the damage with another trim and a lot of s&d though.
My original plan was to cut back to hip+, but I'm very happy I decided to not cut that much. My hair is still long enough to do my favourite bun, the figure 8. It's more explody than usual, but holds well with a Ficcare.
Before the cut:
After the cut:
I just realised that I haven't posted since the middle of October. Whoopsie! I really didn't mean for it go so long between each time I post. The reasons for not posting are that I've been busy (as usual), I've been studying for my exams and I've been on the move. My boyfriend bought an apartment a while ago, and we moved in last week. All my stuff is currently in boxes, except for my school books and hair toys. Hopefully things will start settling down soon, and I'll have time to post more frequently.
My go-to bun lately has been the figure 8 with Ficcare. Simple, comfortable, and it looks pretty elegant most of the time (until my layers and grown-out bangs explode out of the bun).
Some new stuff showed up in my mailbox today! Because I totally need more of stuff! In my defense, they were on sale and shipping was free.
But over to the important stuff. First up is Etude House Silk Scarf Hologram Hair Serum. It's late and I haven't been able to get any pictures, so I've borrowed pics from google (naugthy naughty!).
This one is not as runny as serums usually are, it's actually pretty thick. I put a tiny bit on my hand and rubbed it in, and it felt like a regular serum though. It smells really good too, and I'm looking forward to trying it on wash-day tomorrow!
The next product is from TIGI's S Factor line. I've never tried that line before, but then again I'm pretty new to TIGI. I have the Candy Fixations Glaze Haze Semi-Sweet Smoothing Serum, and I'm pretty crazy about that one. They should really re-consider some of the product names though, they can get pretty ridiculous. Well, back to my new magical hair thingy. It's the TIGI S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer. It promises to make the hair smooth and shiny, and well, who doesn't want that? I also googled a bit before purchasing, and it appears to be a shimmery, glittery product. I have a bit sitting on my hand right now, and I can confirm that it's pretty shimmery, though it doesn't sparkle after being rubbed into my skin it actually still sparkles a little bit after being rubbed in. It smells AMAZING too, I hope that's a smell that will linger on my hair. It's difficult to describe, but it smells kinda fruity-berry-ish. A bit like strawberry, I think.
The last product is also from TIGI's S Factor line, and it's the Silky Smooth Moisture Serum. I think it's pretty obvious what this one is promising me. This one doesn't smell as nice as the the other ones, it's more of a weird green apple smell mixed with soap. A bit fishy when it's on my hand, but it changes to a soapy smell after a while. Not too unpleasant though, as the smell isn't as strong as the other products. The texture is nice though, and it certainly made the skin on my hand very nice and smooth. I'm curious to see if this products will do amazing things to my hair, or if it'll be disappointing. I hope it'll be amazing, maybe it'll distract me from how annoying my hair and scalp can be.
I finally got the Amethyst Jewel, and it's really pretty but.. I don't know. I think I'm just underwhelmed by it. I've heard so much about the Jewels being amazing and glowing, and this one is just a bit.. meh. I do like it though and I'm sure I'll wear it a lot, mainly because purple is my favourite colour and I think this one will look lovely with my Silky Pink. It's just not as stunning as I thought it would be. I'm definitely done with the Jewels now.
meh.
Figure 8 bun with an EmergentGlassworks stick today. It's so pretty, but I rarely wear it due to the size. I must have had a fit of insanity when I bought it, because why on earth would I need an 8" hair stick? Ah well. I got to wear it today, and yes, it was visible from the front.
My new size L flexi-9 from Cultmate.de. It's like the Emerald Dream, but in purple! No action pictures this time, I haven't gotten time to take one yet.
I finally found a comfortable way to wear my ficcares.. I think my problem is too much hair, and also headcurve. The clips usually hurt a lot if I wear them on middle of the back of my head, but they don't if I place them high up on my head. So high logrolls = perfect! I wore it today and it held up wonderfully. I may have purchased a large Amethyst Jewel because I was so happy..
The Jet Black was holding the bun really well on it's own, but I added another clip (Creme) just to make sure that the bottom coil didn't fall down and ruin the bun. It was pretty important for me today, because we were doing practical stuff at nursing school, and I couldn't have my hair fall down while I was in my uniform.
My favourite season is almost here, so I'm celebrating with a fall-themed flexi-8. This is definitely one of my prettiest customs :)
Isn't it gorgeous?? This lovely tulipwood Jeterfork arrived today, and it came all the way from Australia! It's part of a swap, so my VotePalantine fork is currently on the way to Australia. I hope it arrives soon! Sending stuff always makes me nervous, I'm so afraid it'll show up broken, or just go missing.
I had to do a sectioned nautilus to prevent is from completely disappearing in my hair. I wore it in a regular nautilus to school today and I felt pretty fabulous with my new, pretty fork in my hair. Then I got home and realized that the bun had eaten the fork. Couldn't see it at all, it was just a huge mass of hair.
My very first Jeterfork has finally arrived! I'm very happy with it, the wood is so pretty and I think it looks really nice with my hair. Unfortunately I keep underestimating the size of my buns, so the fork ends up hidden most of the time. I think I need a 5-prong next time!
Things have been a bit quiet around here lately. Sorry about that. The reason is that I'm now a nursing student, and I've been terribly busy. I'll make it up to you with a few bun pictures. I recently mastered the figure 8 bun, and now I'm obsessed with it!
I'm still quite upset about how uncooperative my hair and scalp are after hennaing, so today I'm wearing the most comfortable buns in the world - JJJ's Clip Buns. I love that tutorial, it's just fabulous.
Yet another cinnabun! I know, I'm incredibly imaginative when it comes to updos. I did do something different today though. I started the twisting very high up, and I didn't make a ponytail base first. I just twisted and bunned! I'm clearly feeling very wild and crazy today.
I hennaed yesterday, so I have the usual nasty post-henna texture today. It's kinda silky and smooth-ish, but at the same time it seems very dry, and it makes horrible tangles if I just look at it wrong. It makes no sense at all. I'm really looking forward to next wash day.
Look who's hiding in my cinnamon bun! It's my delightfully odd-coloured Lite Blonde! It kinda freaks me out that the colour looks so strange in pictures, because it looks fabulous in person. Maybe it's just not the right colour for my hair. However, I don't care. I'll wear it anyway!
I have a few more bun pictures for you. The first is a bee-butt bun that looks surprisingly small, but only from the back. I should have taken a picture of the side-view, because it was sticking really far out from my head. I only used 5 long bobby pins for this one.
The second bun is a cinnamon bun, held with mismatched leopard clips. Love them!
Surprise, I bought something new! The surprise isn't really that I bought something, because I do that all the time. It is that I bought a comb, because I think I have already made it very clear that I don't like combs. I have a wooden wide-tooth comb, and I absolutely hate it! I have only used my Tangle Teezers for the last 6 months or so, and I really like them.
However, I'm easily brainwashed enabled by the things I read on LHC. I saw a thread about a shop called EternallyInAmber, which sell handmade acetate celluose combs, and I was intrigued. Smooth, seamless, nicely shaped, and so many pretty colours! I decided on a Pink Granite shower comb, because I wanted one with a handle. The shipping is high, but totally worth it. I don't think I have ever had an item arrive so fast, especially considering that it was shipped from USA (I'm in Norway, for those who didn't know that already)! It shipped on Friday, and it was in my mailbox on Tuesday. Amazing!
I think this comb is one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. Baby pink with dark purple and silver flakes, it's just perfect. Colour shouldn't matter much when it comes to hair tools, but for some reason it does. I want all my things to have pretty colours!
I had to try it right away, of course, and luckily I hadn't brushed my hair that day (not the day before either). I got to test it on some pretty nasty tangles, and it worked them out so easily. I'm amazed by how gentle and smooth it is. It just glides through my hair, enabling me to carefully get the tangles out. It's definitely much more hair-friendly than the TT.
I put it through the true test today, when I used it on my weird, clumpy, air-dried, post-wash hair. Same result as on Tuesday, it was so easy to detangle with it. This was partly because I was a bit naughty, and used it on towel dried hair too. I never comb or brush my hair when it's wet, but I wanted to see how gentle the shower comb was on wet hair. Answer: very gentle. No snapped hairs, and no pulling or yanking. I always pull my waves apart anyway, because I find that my hair dries faster when I do that. The comb does a much better job at that than my fingers do.
I'm so happy with this comb, and I've already ordered another one to use as a travel comb. The shop has a super awesome discount code, 50FOR10, where you get 50% off your order if you spend more than $10.
Good morning! I got up early with the dogs today, and for once I actually bunned my hair right away, rather than leave it down until my morning coffee(s) had been consumed. I decided to try a nautilus bun with one of my XXL Flexi-8s, since the XL is too small for that bun. It fits perfectly! I had to start the bun with a ponytail base for stability, otherwise it would pull and be uncomfortable.
The view was beautiful today, so I'm including a picture of that too.
Click it to see a bigger picture ;)
The amazing, magical towel that dries your hair super-fast, solves all your problems, and makes you look fabulous! Got a bad hair day? Put on the Turbie Twist and make a fashion statement!
Ok, I'll stop now.
I've read about this product on LHC many times, and I've seen it on various blogs and vlogs, but I've always put it off as something that would never work for me. Then I saw a video of CinnamonHair using it on her superlong hair, and I decided that if she could use it, I definitely could. And so I bought a 2 pack, purple of course, and somehow it managed to arrive on the day before wash day. Magical!
Yes, I had to borrow a picture from google this time, because I ripped my box in pieces, one towel is wet, and the other is... hidden somewhere in that black hole I call a closet.
I still had my doubts about it, especially after opening the packet and seeing how small-ish it was. Not exactly small, but it didn't seem big enough to hold all my hair. Turns out I was very, very wrong. I actually have lots of room to grow in, and I think the main reason for that is that my hair is so thick. Twisting my hair up and putting it over my head really eats up a lot of length, and I didn't have much hair to put in the twisty loopy thing (I know that doesn't make much sense, but I had a hard day at work and my brain isn't working properly).
As for drying capacities, I'm very impressed. Actually, make that incredibly, extremely, super-impressed. I left my hair in the Turbie Twist for about 15-20 minutes, and it had dried up a lot during that short amount of time. It wasn't wet or drippy when I took it down, it really didn't drip at all while I put on my leave-ins and serum. Some parts, like the very ends, had almost dried completely! During regular air-drying draped over a towel, my hair remains drippy for a very long time, and it takes ages for it to dry.
After I had applied products to my hair, I draped it over a towel, as I usually do, and then waited for it to dry. It didn't take long. I think my hair was almost completely dry after some 3-4 hours, which is pretty amazing for me, as my usual drying time is 8-12 hours.
My first impression of the Turbie Twist is very positive, and I'll continue to use it. It's so easy to use, and it really speeds up the drying. I'll report back in a few months and let you guys know if I still love it.
Finally! A comfortable Ficcare bun! Haven't been able to use them for months now, so I'm pretty thrilled that I made it work today. Please ignore the visible pins and scrunchie. ^-^
Today's updo: Folded braid. I thought these were impossible until I saw JJJ Longhair's tutorial. Then I realized that I had just been doing it wrong - at least wrong for my hair. I'm extremely pleased with this method, and I may try it with a Ficcare tomorrow. I tried with a Flexi-8 today, and that didn't work at all. I had to re-do it with these clippies.
I really like how my hair colour looks in the sun. I just ordered a new batch of henna, and it should be here in two weeks time. I haven't hennaed for months now, and my roots are getting crazy. ^-^
Today I tried a sectioned variation of JJJ Longhair's Clip Bun. I've tried to do it without sectioning, but my hair is still too thick to do the first step. Not even my biggest claw clips manage to fit over the twisted hair. So I divided my hair in two and put each section over my shoulders. Then I divided those sections in half, ca. right behind my ears. I made a low ponytail with the back sections, secured with a folded elastic, twisted up and clipped. Then I continued twisting around and pinned the hair with long bobbypins. Then I twisted one of the front sections around and pinned, and added a few medium claw clips to make it extra secure. This would definitely have looked better if I had used clips in other colours, but oh well. The leopard ones were closest to me. :)
The clip in the center is one of my Korean chiffon bow clips, which I love. They're not the strongest clips, but they make up for it by being super pretty. I think this colour is rice white? I certainly don't think it could be camo brown (I have both). I think it's a bit weird to call it rice white, when it's actually more of a dusty pink though. I'm a complete moron, because that is in fact camo brown. Doh! But it's still weird to call it camo brown, right? Because it's a dusty pink colour.
It's not the prettiest bun in the world, but certainly very comfortable.
I did a sectioned bun with one of my XL flexi-8s today, and.. it's almost too small. Granted, the sections I took out weren't that big, but this flexi could hold all of my hair a few months ago. ALL OF IT. And now it's drowning in a sectioned bun. When did this happen? I didn't think I'd "outgrow" the XL so soon. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Does this mean that I'll have to use the XXL if I want to make a regular nautilus bun? Will that be neck-breakingly heavy? Do I really want to find out? How come I have 3 tangle teezers and none of them are clean? Do I need another one? (yeeeeees!) So many questions!
My last posts have been very short and fairly pointless, but don't worry, something more interesting is coming soon.. A new First Impression post! I tried a new product today and I'm very excited about it.
Oh sweet Flexi-8, how comfortable and gloriously beautiful you are! I feel like I may be going on a flexi-8 binge again soon..
This was supposed to be a logroll bun. I'm not entirely sure why it's such a blobby mess, but I think it's because I was too lazy to twist my hair before bunning. Ah well, at least it's comfortable.
