Hiatus.

Life is going to get really hectic from here on out for the next month.

For at least the next month.

So I'm going to take a break from the blog until the 21st of October. Maybe. I never can usually stay away.

See you then!

Tweet

Indecision

On Monday, my hair felt - well, heavy. The shea butter from last week was now backfiring massively against me and my hair felt leaden down and a general shade of bleh.

I dampened my hair with some oat water (you know, when you soak oats, the water turns cloudy? I was making some baked porridge and put too much water in but didn't want to waste it. I siphoned it into a spray bottle). So I threw two tablespoons of greek yoghurt in a bowl with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar (because I'm at my mum's, so I was Grylls-ing it). Mixed them up together and then saturated my sections hair in the mixture. De-tangling with it was pretty easy.

I finished up my baked porridge muffin cups - which tasted great with the yoghurt too! - and then jumped in the shower, made sure to rinse all yoghurt out. Then I conditioned with this random thing:

I'd seen it in the pound shop before, though I'd always seen the ones for darker hair. It claims to contain henna extract, though in what degree...*slightly sceptical look* I don't think there was anything special about it but I enjoyed the change of pace as far as the smell. Tresemmé Naturals, much as I love it, simply smells like bog standard conditioner. Usually, I prefer tasty smells, like chocolate, or coconut or berries or citrus. As long as I smell edible and not in that synthetic way (like banana flavours tend to be - bleurgh!). This conditioner wasn't yummy - I think it reminded me more of the products my mum used to use on me as a kid. It's got parabens in it, but apart from that, it looks CG-friendly.*

Then I did an oil rinse with my Felix Capillus. I wanted to slick on some aloe vera gel but...like I said, at my mums and my usual things were not available.

Bear Grylls may be unimpressed with my lack of innovation but I don't think my mum'd be best pleased if I started chopping up her cactus plants whilst visiting.

I plopped with a T-shirt, which worked surprisingly well. Usually, the T-shirt is wet and I'm still getting drips down my neck. My family officially have better quality stuff than I do.

Then I french braided my hair in my pajama style, in order to keep it stretched. I took it slower than usual and I enjoyed the results. There were less sections of hair missed and because I was focusing, the braid pattern was discernible and didn't get lost halfway down.. Yay! I cross the ends over and pinned them in place, then wore a flower in it. Like this.

And then I stayed at home, due to laziness saving my energy for the marathon I knew lay ahead.

I really want to cut my hair. But I want to see the length of it as well. And I want to dye it. But I don't think people at work would appreciate it. And I want to play with it but have the convenience of not having to do anything with it.

Decisions, decisions...why so difficult?

*I've been overly sniffing it, in order to jog my memory and now I've got a headache. So, basically, the smell may not be to everyone's taste, like most things.

Tweet

Hazy Hair Hangover

What did I even do with my hair last week? Sometimes, it's like I'm a character in the Hangover, but with less of a hangover and more of a really terrible memory.

*Searches through her phone*
Ah!
I started out in some kind of bun. Looks like I found my headband!

No clue where it is now though *lies down in resignation*

So I mentioned in my big hair post about a braid/plait out. I used some of my shea butter mix on dampened hair, and put my hair into 8 plaits/braids.

I assume I released the plaits/braids and then I..

er...

What in the name of - 

Aha! Yeah! I tied half of it up! Like I always do. Duh, self.

The next photo's a pretty decent shot of what it looked like.

The next day, it was like this. 

I realised I would have to re-braid/plait every night to keep a modicum of definition and to stop it getting too big. So I sprayed some water on it and then slicked on some shea butter and did three braids for the part of my hair that was hanging down freely.

But for the rest of the week, I just did one braid/plait, because when I'm tired, the last thing I want to think about is my hair!

Which explains why I can never really remember what I do to it...

Tweet

All Stereotypes come from Somewhere

Tea drinkers.

Biscuits and/or cake.

Jam and Jerusalem.

Horrible dental work.

The Queen on everything.

Polite and unwilling to cause confrontations

Extremely (if not overly) well spoken.

There are a lot of stereotypes about British people in the international community but the following conversation is only explicitly refers to one of them.

Can you guess which one it is?

I was on my way to the race track, in my sports gear and merrily swinging my drinks bottle. I think the Script was playing. It was a gorgeous day (or I wouldn't have been on my way to the race track).
 On my way down, I come across a gang group of girls on the walking path. I sighed, because they looked a bit...well. One of them approached me.

Girl: 'Scuse me, have you got any cigarettes on you?
Me: *sighs again* No, I'm afraid I don't.
Girl: You sure?
Me: I don't smoke.
Girl: 'Course you do, you've got yellow teeth!

...¬_¬'
At that, I started putting my ear phones back in and turned away from her.

Girl: Can I have a drink out of your bottle?
Me: O_O *Stonily* No.

In my defence, I like to think I took the high road.

Tweet

Term 3: When it all goes Pete Tong

When I think about my grand plan, and the actual reality, I get slightly overwhelmed with sorrow and want to lie down and not get up.

Athriftymrs was not joking when she was talking about how organisation = being thrifty. In the last week, I lost something and the costs and repercussion costs amount to more than £150.

So yeah, being organised spatially does help you out when it comes to things like saving money.

A few months ago, one of my house mates asked me whether I was task or people orientated.
I immediately said task-orientated - I love having goals and working towards them.
But. I'm not a robot. In order to have been completely task orientated, I would need to ignore a lot of people.
And be heartless enough not to cover people when they're standing in front of you, looking into the depths of their purse/wallet/pockets.

I feel I should mention this.

Because these last three months have been a bit of a financial car crash.`

I'm trying to take the stance that money spent is money spent and there's nothing you can do to make it come back. In the end, it never really belonged to you anyway.

Nuff talking. Here're the figures.

Tweet

I Can't Do Big Hair

I did a braid/plait out this weekend, using tap water and some hair oil.

Unlike when I do twistouts, I didn't immediately hate it. Having had to twirl the ends meant that they weren't as scraggly as when I do a twistout, and blended in well the tighter curl style.

But I still found myself pulling the top half up into a ponytail and only leaving the bottom part.
I've always said I have a problem wearing sets in my hair just as they are.

And this weekend, I worked out a few reasons why (SPOILER: it basically boils down to vanity):

1. The  idea that big hair suits everyone who has the potential to achieve it is a myth. When my hair is at it's most voluminous, I look ridiculous.

2. I get mushroom hair. This is mainly due to the shape [or lack thereof] of my my hair.As soon as any soon of fluffing occurs, the top half billows out and lo and behold, thus appears my resemblance to your average supermarket portobello.

3. I don't have the personality to wear big hair. Not to say I have no confidence - I'm confident in who I am. And I am someone who like hiding behind her hair, not having it draw attention to her.
No, seriously, I really don't like people looking at me because of my appearance. It makes me very uncomfortable - eek! It's just not my style (though as I write this, I'm wearing a yellow top with a pink and purple printed skirt. And I'm happy with it).

4. It acts as a sort of homing beacon for fluff and other stuff whenever my hair is out and being loud, which will necessitate a wash day sooner than expected.
Which makes me feel like it's a waste of time.

This isn't to say I hate big hair completely - I think it's fun and at times, it's a massive relief. But it's not my go-to way of referring to my hair and I don't think I'm particularly bothered about the pursuit for volume. That's never really been a problem - it's just not very flattering on me at the moment.
I guess I'm definitely definition over volume then [like this gorgeous picture of Alice from Alice in Nappyland.

However, it seems that in every blog post I read or vlog I watch, big hair is touted as the ultimate destination, making me feel as though the fact I think smaller hair suits me should be a dirty secret...like using hair grease.

Maybe it is just me?

But I guess that's okay. I'm not doing all this to my hair to simply get caught up in someone else's rules.

Heck, this is going to be my new passport picture! :)

Tweet