Saturday 31 December 2011

Things I learnt in 2011

1. Every time I read a (food) recipe that calls for coconut or grapeseed oil, I seethe internally, because I could be using that as a moisturiser instead.

2. Using my fingers to detangle my hair is frugal, efficient and less stress on my head.

3. 'Prison' can be a subjective term.

4. I can watch almost any programme as long as it is about food. Especially cakes. Especially the Great British Bake-Off.

5. Taking five hours to do a recap for just one episode of  a television show is not an efficient use of time.

6. Sticky tape will rip the nail polish of your freshly done (home) manicure right off.

7. Sulfates are not the devil. And there's a reason I buy samples before committing to the full product.

8. If you don't remove the metal buckle from your skirt before putting it in the washing machine, you will have to listen to it clatter impishly against the door until the blasted cycle is finished.

9. It's not easy being pescetarian. But it's not too hard either.

10. The snip happy stylist is not a myth. But complaining about snip happy stylists whilst being snip happy yourself is kind of hypocritical...

Sayonara 2011! I'm looking forward to what 2012 has to offer. I hope each and every single one of you reading this has a blessed 2012, full of joy, peace, love and care!

Friday 30 December 2011

Last Length Check of 2011

To be honest, I didn't think much had happened with my hair (I think that's the problem with interim length checks). I've been dealing with a lot of split ends, which has meant a lot of snipping out, and pulling out (don't ask, it's a really horrible habit I have). But my family were convinced that my hair was longer than it had been before, at some undefined point in the past.

Mum: You know, I never thought you'd get this far with your hair you know!
The Rebel Sis: Although I know you never would, if you did relax your hair, it would be quite long actually if you did.
Mum: She can't relax her hair. She's the reason all of us have given it up! If she relaxes her hair now, she'll have to deal with all of us!
Whoo! Inspiring to the very end! Though it's probably because I wear my hair stretched a lot more now, so they can see the length, rather than any real action on my part.

Last year I was here:



and here

And one year, various cuts, trims and chops later, I'm here...



and here.

Honestly, I can't see much difference from August's update! >.< I've had a lot of breakage, and gung ho chopping due to split ends so the lack of length retention isn't surprising.

I think I'll have to restrict my scissor activity this year...or increase it? Maybe the difference is that I'm actually dealing with the split ends now and noticing them, whereas before I was blissfully ignorant of the state my hair was in.

Let's not end on such a nebulous note though - let's look at my fringe (bangs). Around this time last year, it was a bright brassy blonde, dry and breaking off. This year, I think I've grown out the worst dyed bits. All I have left is the colour that was put on top of my undyed hair.

Now they're nearly too long to be called a valid fringe, since they nestle right between my nose and lip.


This year Arm Pit Length (APL)/Shoulder Length (SL). Who knows, I may actually hit Bra Strap Length (BSL)/ Collar Bone Length (CBL) next year (yeah right!).
Next Length Check: December 2012

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Four Months, where did the money go?

Since everyone is taking a look at what they want to change and what they want to improve and leave behind when the bells of the New Year toll, I decided to assess the financial damage I'd done in 4 months. As a student, I keep tabs on my money. I've got to. It's the way I roll.
Therefore as a student with mild control issues, I keep a budget, so I know what I've wasted spent my money on. Wanna see? Here's a slice:


This is the condensed version. When it's green, it's good, but when it's red, it's ridiculous. A lot of the budget amounts are things left over from my incredibly strict undergraduate days, so it needs tweaking to be more realistic.

Notes
  • My other house mate has yet to give me her portion of the Internet money.
  • I spent money on clothes for netball - netball kit and er.. other necessary supports.
  • The annoying thing about my bus travel is that I still didn't spend enough to warrant a bus pass. If I had shopped less, I'd have walked more, I'm sure...
  • When I constructed this budget, I totally didn't take into account the fact that I might need to take the train for my placement. So if I don't want that amount to be true, I should probably claim the money back...
  • I had to get the sewing machine fixed. And that was not cheap. Neither was the excess amount of material I now have in my house. 
  • Toiletries? Eh, I got no excuse. Come on, have you seen what I'm like?!
  • I'm actually quite proud of the Christmas amount. I calculated nine people I was buying presents for, and tried to keep it down to £10 each. I managed this for the siblings, failed massively when it came  to my mum and didn't even bother when it came to the Wonder Thing. I put my hands up - I failed there. But it's a failure that only comes once a year and it's laced with mince pies to dull the pain.
  • Having to buy new stuff for this new academic year, including printer ink, meant my stationary costs shot up.
But on a more positive financial note - I finally set up my ISA! Yay! My grand plan is finally in action! 
Whoo-hoo! So far all I've contributed to it is £100 of my own, and £600 of my overdraft. It's okay since I'm a student, I don't get charged for going into my  And I do plan on giving it back, after I collect the interest on it, so it's all good.
Definitely something I should be keeping an eye on in the New Year....

Monday 26 December 2011

Curls for Christmas?

So, to avoid the inevitable question of "What are you going to do with your hair?" I decided to take preventative measures.

After some conditioning, I put my hair into Curlformers.





Now there was a distinctive difference from last time I used these. Last time, I used Giovanni Direct Leave-In conditioner, oil and flaxseed gel on damp hair.
This time, I used Tresemmé Naturals as a heavier leave in, as well as the oil and flaxseed and a bit of shea butter on damp hair.

You know what? The curls came out incredibly soft.

In fact, they were too soft. Even after being left in overnight, I had to leave half of the Curlformers in for a further half a day, because they hadn't held the curl.


And even after that, I still had to add some more flaxseed gel and leave the curlformers in for a bit longer.
Since they were a bit lower down, the curls were a bit more stretched than the others, so I was slightly lopsided. It's fine, I just bent my knee a little to balance it all out.

 

 When I eventually took them out, the curls were fluffy and undefined and slowly shrunk up through the day.


Ah well. It was fun while it lasted.


Friday 23 December 2011

Children's Christmas

I hope everyone reading this has a lovely, Merry Christmas and happy holiday time.

I'll just leave you with this sweet interpretation of Christmas while you enjoy your festive time.

Friday 16 December 2011

Duh Moment: Simple Satin Solution


I'm a rough sleeper. Please believe that when I say rough, I mean wraps-herself-up-in-her-duvet-sandwich-style-and-tosses-and-turns-and-slides-up-and-down-the-bed-while-waving-her-arms-like-she-just-doesn't-care-in-a-single-bed rough.

I think it's fair to say I probably expend more physical energy whilst unconscious than when I am awake.

Due to this, the slinky satin scarf I loving tie onto my head before I go to sleep doesn't stay on for very long, even if I put some head bands on. Tying the headbands on any tighter would undoubtedly block the oxygen to my poor, strained cerebrum and I simply couldn't risk it.

However, neither am I willing to once again deal with the breakage that comes from not wearing an appropriate scarf to bed at night [I've already got some from last weekend, when I forgot my scarf in the pursuit of sewing based glory].


Suffering succotash! Surely a solution should be possible

Safety pins to the rescue!

Simply take a safety pin...


and use it to secure a corner of your scarf to your pillowcase.



Repeat 3 more times for sublime success.


Thus it's settled - No longer is it necessary to stress about surrendering my scarf whilst submersed in the state of sleep.

You can secure the scarf with more safety pins if you so please - I just used four because that's all I could find.

Having been a more regular visitor to my local fabric shop meant I realised that they have a scrap box and occasionally, there is some polyester satin scraps available for the bargain price of about 20p a piece. If a shop near you does a similar thing if you find a big enough piece, you could use on of those as well and save the scarf for wearing under your beanie hats!

However, this comes with a few caveats - obviously I wouldn't really try this with the pillow case of a small child, in fear of the small possibility that they dislodge one and end up pricking themselves during the night.

If you do it for yourself, you have to check it at semi-regular intervals to make sure that the safety pins are still in position too. 

Monday 5 December 2011

To run or not to run?

Warning - the following post is link heavy, because I didn't want to load the post down with seemingly irrelevant links. Well, I think they're relevant, but it's all subjective :)





A mistake was made and now the ball is speeding back through the air towards you. 


Towards the area you're guarding. 


You're tired but t's not about you right now though - it's about your team, who have been working seamlessly together like some living, feeling, panting, screaming organism for the last 45 minutes; about the girls who can't come into your space, praying that you do your job properly so that they can do theirs.  


Your feet are like lead and seem to be stuck to the ground but somehow you'e got to make them move and you've got to do it really fast. 


But the world seems to have slowed down to an unbearable pace and  you're not sure you'll be fast enough.


Your player has disappeared from your peripheral and something tells you that she's looming directly behind you, waiting for the chance to spring out and sprint. To the left or the right? You don't know - gotta stay on your toes. 


What's the score? Don't know, can't see through the sweat and to be honest, it doesn't matter because your moment is coming, and your chest is starting to tighten painfully, right now, of all times, such a bother! What's gone before doesn't really matter now - it's a new moment, a new chance, a new opportunity to prove your worth.


Left, she's gone left, your weaker side, but no matter, your reflexes have already taken over and you're not quite sure if you're sprinting of flying and as you leap - into the void? Into glory? - you experience the thrill of the speed of the ball on your finger tips...


Well, netball feels that intense for me any ways. To be honest, I love playing sports in general but netball is a sport I can actually compete in.

But lord, does it require a lot of stamina. And that leads me onto the topic of this post - Should I take up running or not?

Don't get me wrong, I love being active and I adore sprinting - just going full pelt, as fast as I can for a short amount of time. But I'm not sure about the actual act of running/jogging.
I've read people's experiences, about the bad memories they have with running, how they used to hate running but now they can't be without it or various answers to any excuses one may have; I love the blogs and the motivational speak that goes along with encouraging people to keep running.
Despite all that. Despite knowing all the health benefits and positives and good things about running and/or jogging, I still kinda feel like this:


And thus, as I do in every moral quandry I experience, I wrote a sort of brain ramble.

I hate running.
Well, I don't think I hate running, but I don't know if I'd be passionate and motivated enough to keep it up. 
Then again, my main motivation is that it would build up my stamina, making me a netballing BEAST!
 But a lot of the girls on the netball team who run are really slim and I really don't want to lose weight or change my physique in any way. I don't want abs, I don't want to be slimmer, I just want to do a Kanye and get better, faster, stronger. Plus, is running going to be able to help me do leg splits as easily as Jordan Casanova?
But it's free!
Well, almost. It can actually be quite expensive. You need to get trainers for one and those set you back at least £40 on sale. And I can't run if I don't have music, and putting your mp3 player in your pocket or down your bra is not a good enough way to keep it secure and maintain momentum. And if you want to go running in the winter, you need thermals, or to join a gym. Both of which cost moola.
But I would be able to go running with The Wonder Thing and that is (nearly) enough to get me strapping on some trainers right now.
Except he used to be in the top 1 percentile for his age range for long distance running and that's incredibly off putting for a novice like me. I can't even run a mile and for him 3 miles is just a little bit of a warm up or something stupid. Also, I know he has a fondness for hills. Um. No thank you.
Running with someone else would be a great way of motivating two people, getting some comraderie and bonding with another human being (I may have some problems with that).
I know that running is safer with a partner, but I don't know anyone at my (non) level who'd be willing to do it. I've tried it with someone fitter than me - the Little Bro. To say he left me behind in his dirt is an understatement. I felt like the Fenton dog guy must've felt.
I want the endorphin rush that people always talk about getting after a great run. Heck, I just want to be able to say "a great run" without being incredibly sarcastic.
On the other hand, I'm not a complete couch potato (despite what my television habits may imply) - I dance and I do yoga occasionally. 
However, I'll be honest, I need a proper timetable or class to go to in order to remember to do them consistently and to up my game instead of doing the same old same old. Running, I could do anywhere and it's easy to challenge yourself - adding hills, carving out new routes, trying to beat your personal best time. 
But I've also got to consider my fear of injury  -I got shin splints once after not warming up before a netball match and apparently they come with the running territory for some people. Uh. No thanks.
Then again, with the proper precautions, injury can easily be avoided.
If I run, I'll have to do it early in the morning (at least at first - to get over the idea people are staring at me). Which is fantastic in the summer. But just plain ridiculous in the winter.

Oh, I don't know. At least this post looks seasonal!

Monday 14 November 2011

Hysteria over the 'n' word - aided by the cheezburger cats


It's a fact that some words should just never be mentioned in polite company.

I was just innocently sitting down in the staff room, minding my own business and desperately clutching a(nother) cup of peppermint tea, as though this single action alone would blast my cold away and grant me again the ability to breathe with relative ease.

Since I'm sitting here now, still highly bunged up, I can confirm that my hopes were sadly disproved.

Ahem. Anyway. There I am, bunged up, hot mug in head, pondering whether the ginger in ginger cake was still good for colds when she said it.

I shot my head up in surprise, aghast.

"Pardon?" I asked. I felt my skin prickle coldly in anticipation of hearing the word again, in contrast to the relative warmth of the room. My whole body was suddenly on high alert. My ears tingled dangerously in disbelieve, and I'm sure I could hear the neurons firing off in my brain informing me that yes, I had heard her right. I could feel the fight or flight reflex building up within me, challenging me to stay put or grab my shoes and sprint for safety in a way that'd make Atalanta proud (no golden apple).

She repeated it again.

You know.

The 'n' word.



This word has an international history. Once uttered, it's almost compulsory to do a little subtle shuffle that takes you away from the person who said it.

I have no doubt that word has driven people to tears, a deep reflection of themselves and in some cases, baldness.

That's the power of it for you.


Monday 7 November 2011

Nathan vs Rudy: The Defense for the Split Psycho

You may have guessed by now that I'm a little bit of a TV addict. I love shows like K-drama, Glee (loved?) and Misfits!

Misfits is a British science-fiction-comedy (bear with me) that I kind of adore.

I'll admit that when I first saw the trailers and the Littlest Sis' addiction to this show, I was not impressed. The characters swore, did the dirty in the dirtiest way and simply didn't fascinating at all.

And then I actually watched the show.

3 seasons later, I'm still completely and totally hooked on this delicious and weird mix of Heroes meets better meets any teenage soap opera you can think of.

I may be exaggerating a lot.

For all major and minor fans, the advent of Season 3 brought a massive shock - the exit of Nathan, played by Robert Sheehan.


Aw, they were so cute together!
source

Anyway. The reception of this news horrified upset quite a few of my family who were in love obsessed with mild, sane fans of Robert Sheehan, and they immediately wrote off the entire series and the new character Rudy as a poor man's Nathan.

Seriously? Just because of one character's (voluntary) exit?

Let me try and persuade you why you should give this Season a chance [Spoilers abound, as I wish to speak freely].


Monday 31 October 2011

I made a dress: To Infinity and Beyond!

This dress and I have a long history, so you may want to pull up a chair.
If you're a seamstress or a sewist, you may want to stop now, because some of these pictures may be akin to watching a car crash/horror movie.

Just saying.

I first saw this dress in a hair forum - someone had posted up a thread saying 'I made a dress!' and, intrigued, I clicked my way in. I was stunned. She had done it in a stunning shade of bright yellow and hand sewn it. The others declared her crazy and I had to say, I completely agreed with them, though my skepticism was allayed when she pointed out that there was only one seam.


Monday 24 October 2011

Sesame Got Glee

I'll admit, I dropped off the Glee bandwagon a little bit.

My recaps stopped in the face of the four to five hours it took to do one and with the burgeoning load of my dissertation and various essays forced me out of it. Plus, there was that Rocky Horror Show episode (sooo inappropriate for so many different reasons) and then the Coach Beiste episode (like, what the heck? Coach Beiste is so awesome and getting a pity kiss off Will Schuester seems more of a punishment than a resolution) and I dropped out of the loop.

I'm debating whether to get back into it this winter or not. I mean, it's difficult to completely cut something you adore out of your life.

In the meanwhile, I found this and think it's genius. If you're a bit of a Gleek like me, then you'll recognise the brilliant quips that are so integral to the show, like Sue's quip about Will (Mr Goo?)'s hair.



And if you're not a Gleek, then you can take a gander at the dance moves of the 'I love my hair' muppet showing some moves whilst considering her career.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

The Day of doing the Most: Part 2

Continuing on from Monday's post:

So my hair is wet, quite clean and my guest is downstairs cackling at Secret Garden. I went to join her and decided to try out some Curlformers.

You better believe I jumped on that bandwagon. I've always wanted to try roller setting but the effort seemed far too much. I wanted something simple and easy that I wouldn't constantly need to re-arrange. This was before Curlformers started selling in Sally's in th UK, so I bought some off ebay.



My hair was still damp, so I separated my hair into four sections. I applied some Giovanni's Leave in and my oil mix to the area I was working on and then separated that into two and divided them into smaller sections until I was happy it was small enough to fit, but big enough that I wouldn't be there until time ended. I twisted the roots [to stretch 'em] before putting them into the Curlformers. I realised that

1) If you try and pull the section into the Curlformer and it doesn't fit or gets stuck, your section is almost definitely too big.
2) If you can't even pull the section down after wrapping the hook around the twisted root, you may have the hook too far up near the root of the hair. Slide it down the hair towards the middle until it works better.

It took me two episodes of Secret Garden til I was done, so that's about 2 hours. I'm not sure if the Faerie's insistence on helping me made it shorter or longer. I actually ran out of Curlformers - I think I used 48 in total -  so I had just the one lonely section, which I just twisted and pin curled because I was tired. I didn't find that my arms got tired, but that might just be from the netball/because I'm Supergirl.

Spot the Odd one out...?
They weren't completely pain free [my impatience and failure to take my own advice bit me in the butt several times] and some of my hair did get caught in them, but you're touching your hair; breakage happens.


Sleeping on them wasn't too hard, though I'm a rough sleeper so it wasn't exactly easy either. 
I simply separated the Curlformers, so there was a space for my head to get to the pillow and I wasn't lying on a massive wad of plastic.
Every time I rolled about to turn on my side, I remember that in my half conscious state thinking "Ooh. Curlformers." And that's it really.
 I have serious, serious problems when it comes to getting all of my hair stretched and I was sure that I would be the exception and would soon be selling these back on ebay.
When I took them out in the morning, my jaw hit the floor, I was shocked. Flabbergasted. 
Somehow, they had worked. To prove it, I took multiple [and probably an excessive amount of] pictures.









I didn't want them as a set - I was only using them for the [pretty awesome] stretch and I thought my hair in my curls were slightly Shirley Temple-esque. I was only seven curlers away from her signature style, so I think my point was valid. The Faerie and my housemate also want to try them out now. Some of my ends were a bit puffy because I confused the sizes - I have a mixture of the long and extra long and the hair at my crown is longer than my hair at the sides. Next time, I'll have to remember to use the right sizes on the right areas.

After all this faffery and activity, what did I do?




Put my hair into a sock bun. And it felt GOOD. It was sleek, but without the inevitable tangling that I know would come if I had done a wet bun. I didn't use any other styling products on it, apart from a little bit more of my oil mix. I was very much enamoured of the effective stretching from Curlformers, because I've tried quite a few techniques - braids, twists, banding, bantu knots - and none of them came close. It's not something I can do on a regular basis though, because it is a lot of mucking about and effort.

Maybe I could get someone else to do it for me...

Monday 10 October 2011

The Day of doing the Most: Part 1

I kind of cheated on my personal quest to put twists in for two weeks straight, since I started taking them out, and then was reminded I had somewhere to go which resulted in this style:


I'd started to remove the braids in the back on the left hand side, so I quickly  twisted the loose section, forming a sort of pseudo peacock fan thing.

It looks way less crazy from the front, I promise.

On Friday night, I finally took all the braids out, finger detangling to get rid of shed hair . I was happy. But also tired. I quickly did my hair in the usual lazy style, pre-pooed my entire head with Vatika oil, on with the satin scarf and then off to bed I popped.

I woke up and wanted my hair to have a little sniff of the gentle Saturday morning rain. It was less then drizzling. It was literally like soft, gentle sprinkles of icing sugar.

Wet, cold, icing sugar rain.

I wasn't too worried - If you remember, I had a head full of Vatika Oil.

Anyway. It feels like I've literally been in protective styles since, ooh, February (what with participating in the 3in6 challenge since February and the hilarious lack of sunshine in the summer). Thus, I was a little bit cheeky and let my hair out a little bit in my most favourite style from my childhood: The Minnie Mouse ears.


It's basically my hair split down in half vertically, with each section tied up with a hair band. 
The style always used to remind me of Minnie's ears, and the fluffiness of it always appealed me.


Though it's not quite yet up to the standard of Jazmine from Boondocks yet... 

Not now but someday...one day!
source
After jaunting about in the icing sugar rain, buying vegetables, eating falarrrfel (emphasis compulsory ) and then drinking juice with The Faerie at Lady V's, I decided it was time to go home.

I had originally planned to do the yoghurt treatment as well as a Cassia (yeah, remember those?) but The Faerie was staying over and there's only so much K-drama you can leave a guest to watch by themselves  without being extremely rude.

An all in one bonanza was my only option. I mixed

2 tablespoons (30g) of Cassia
with just enough hot water to form an extremely thick paste and
4 tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt and
2 tablespoons of Apple Cider vinegar.

It smelt like vinegar and looked like pea and mint soup.

  

Mmmm, yummy!

I slathered my head in this delightful mix and only just had enough stuff to cover my entire head. I leapt around my room for about 10 minutes, throwing things about in the pretense of cleaning my room, before leaping back into the shower and rinsing it all out before conditioning. I forgot how bitty Cassia is when it comes to rinsing it out.

Then I progressed onto the stretching...
But I'm tired now, so that'll have to be in Part 2.

Thursday 6 October 2011

The Plaits are out!


Relief. Sheer, sweet, tangled relief.


How my mama would cry if she knew this picture was out on the internets.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Assortment of Plaits

I'm sure I mentioned last week that  I put my hair in braids. I have about 50 on my head.

A few are as fat as a child's crayon, whilst others are a similar width to quite thick sewing thread.

It's officially been a week and I already want to take them out.

The weather has been so dry and crisp that my housemate and I have been falling over ourselves to do laundry so that it can dry adequately in the sun.

In short, perfect weather to let the hair loose.

But it's only been a week!


They're not even frizzy yet...
..and I don't think I have enough strength to undo the braids and then put them back in this weekend.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Wangari Maathi

She never released a single or albumn, so her death won't be reported in the news.


I first read about this woman in a copy of the book 'Speak Truth to Power'. I remember reading her story and being amazed at all she had managed to achieve. She truly took multi-tasking to a whole new level:  a determined women that continuously battled discrimination and campaigned for equal benefits; a virulent activist for human rights and democracy that stood up for what she believed in, even when her own government was against her;  the only African woman to have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize for her actions concerning the Greenbelt Movement, a conservation project that also worked to reduce women's poverty in Kenya.
Her life was continuously threatened by the government who was suspicious of her growing influence as a woman but she just never gave up. Her resolve and courage are simply inspiring. If you can get your hands on her life story (c'monk, I know you can Google it), I'd seriously encourage you to take a gander at it.

I hope that her dreams will continue to bloom, flourish and bear fruit.

Monday 26 September 2011

Claiming Collarbone and Shoulder Length - Aiming for Arm Pit

It dawned on me suddenly when I was chatting to my mum:

Mum: You know, I was surprised. I was so certain that [when you stopped relaxing] all your hair would fall out. But it's actually grown!
Me: Mmm, it's down to my armpit now.
Mum: [Instantly skeptical] Really?
*A Simple Thing pulls her hair down as proof and Mum laughs*
Mum: Me too, I can stretch my hair that far!

She couldn't, but that's not the point.

I have problems with efficiently stretching [read: I'm too impatient and busy to wait for it to dry properly and I never plan it right], and I'm guessing that unless I straighten my hair, it's never actually going to be seen for the length it actually is. So why do I bother claiming APL?

To be honest - I don't know.

Maybe my goals would be more realistic if I looked at them in the right context. For example, if one day I did twists and they brushed APL length, I'd fall over in pure joy. But I don't blow dry and or straighten my hair, so that's not my reality right now. There's something quite cool in the fact that only I (and you) know how long my hair is -  but then sometimes that means it doesn't feel as real or factual. I don't want to prove it to people for the sake of it, especially since I'm not doing this for them.

I'm doing this for me.

Although we know where my hair goes down to, for now, if anyone asks me then I'm claiming shoulder length in general...



and collarbone length when gently stretched.



Achievements that I'm all very proud of :)

Friday 23 September 2011

Duh Moment: Oh Snap!

Snapped whilst I attempted a bun...


My first outing with a banana clip? No good. It quickly lost its a -peel.
What? Come on, that was a good one!


Font continuity? What's that?

So I thought I'd try something with a hair comb instead...


Maybe they're still in there.

Maybe this happened because my hair was tired of bunning.

Or maybe it was telling me to stop being so lame and get some studier, non plastic hair accessories.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Condition and Make up

So I mentioned the rain once in this post and then, as though it heard me and felt I had declared some kind of challenge it just. Kept. coming. I was completely and utterly sogged out by the weekend, and my hair had still been in its punily stretched bun (I mean, I had washed it but then it went back into a bun. Obviously, my head is harder to get through than cement).


I did try stretching it but I'm useless when short on time and the most that ever happened was French braids.

After the abysmal treatment of my hair last week, what with rain and wet bunning and avoiding detangling, I decided I needed to condition it well (because kissing your hair is weird)  in order to make up. So when I went shopping last Saturday, I literally went through the aisles and thought to myself - "Hmm. What food have I not yet put on my head?"


 Okay, I'll be honest, that's not the actual yoghurt I bought that day. I bought this one.


Because I was only looking at the Greek Style bit and didn't look at the bit that said 'Coconut'. So it's got coconut bits in it and is quite tasty with some honey, but wholly inappropriate for slathering on my head.

I also picked up this:



At the time, I was considering something with the vinegar and yoghurt with a dash of honey and olive oil for extra yumminess.

And then, I promise this actually happened, I was doing my blog rounds that very evening and saw this:



Huh. Well. Okay. I'll try it that way!

It's basically 2-3 tablspoons of Greek Yoghurt + 2 tablespoons of Cider vinegar.
Leave it in for 20 minutes.
Rinse it out with your conditioner.
Apply Aloe Vera Juice as well and then get going.

On Wednesday morning, I followed that process in the morning, used my Tresemmé Naturals Conditioner, squidged the excess moisture out with a T-shirt (since I left my microfibre towel at high and refuse to buy another one) and used my Giovannni  Direct Leave in in lieu of aloe vera juice.

I am blatantly delicious.

Note to self: Don't do this treatment in your room whilst wearing black trousers - you'll end up with your own constellation.


 Initial impressions? Eh, it was okay. Since I've only done the treatment once, I don't have much to say about it.

I'd seriously learnt my sectioning lesson by now after a truly horrible detangling session the day before, so my hair was in four sections. I'd started braiding one bit, but I had to go to class. So I popped on my satin scarf, a hat and twisted my fringe and went out.


Hmm. This looks familiar.

And then I put it into braids that night whilst completing my course reading.