Beast Mode... An Ayurvedic Hair Challenge

[source]

Is it possible to have a chilled out challenge? I'm trying.

The rules of the challenge are simple to explain but tricky to find in one place.

1. It is hosted and being run by Curly Proverbz
2. It is an ayurvedic/plant based challenge with a prize for the winner . It runs for 3 months and has two start dates: 1st Feb - 1st May OR 14th Feb - 14th May.
3. To enter the challenge [and the competition, I assume], you post a picture on instagram or facebook with the tags:  #beastmodehairkit #curlyproverbzhairgrowthchallenge, #bellebarorganic .

Prizes:

1st prize 6 months supply of the hair growth kit by belle bar.

2nd prize 3 months

3rd Prize $65 gift card for belle bar organic for email entry

4. If you hate DIY-ing with a passion, she has collaborated with bellebarorganics so you can get some of the products from them. She shows how she uses them here.
5. If you love DIY-ing (or have a ridiculously-sized stash to use up, like me 😅), then the essential videos seem to be:

• A hair tea [video for DIY recipe here and how she uses it in a week here]
• A hair oil [video for DIY recipe here, how she applies and uses it here] combined with scalp massage [video here]
• A deep conditioning mix [video here]

Because I'm DIY4lyfe, I fall in with the budget crowd, whose suggested routine looks like this:

The stuff in italics and bolded are my own personal notes as to how I'm going to modify it for myself.

#BeastModehaironabudget

Week 1

Prepoo with oil [Onion Garlic ] OR Gloss (1 tsp of your favourite ayurvedic powder) and conditioner

Shampoo & Moisturizing DC – Anita Grant Coconut Monoi shampoo & Shea Moisture JBCO.

Leave in conditioner – Shea Butter Cottage leave in or Anita Grant Double Cream

Use DIY tea max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

DIY Oil scalp and massage max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

Moisturise and seal daily [Using Jasmine oil or Almocado Coco Moisture Butter]

Week 2

Cowash or Clay Wash & Moisturizing DC. Rhassoul Clay or Eden Body Works Coconut Cowash and  Shea Moisture JBCO

Leave in conditioner – Shea Butter Cottage leave in or Anita Grant Double Cream

Use DIY tea max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

DIY Oil scalp and massage max 3 days in a week. [See recipe below]

Moisturise and seal daily [Using Strengthening tea or more moisturising tea and jasmine oil or Almocado coco moisture butter]

Supplements

Drink Bamboo tea at least every other day, take Vitamin D, eat lots of veggies 
[She suggests MSM, Vitamin C and a multivitamin]







My alterations & recipes
1. The Onion Garlic Prepoo instead of using the DIY oil as a prepoo.
I caught wind of this video down below and thought it was worth a try every other week. I liked her video on how Ayurveda could be applied to coily hair and how she showed her results using the prepoo over a couple of months.

I always have onions and garlic in the house so I thought, eh what harm can it do?💁🙈 Apparently, it's anti-bacterial so might sort out any grunk causing bacteria and contains sulfur which is good for growing hair follicles.

                                                                        We shall see.

Doesn't the hair tea look pretty??

2. My DIY tea this week consists of 1 tablespoon each of :

• Catnip - reduces split ends and conditions hair.
• Green Tea - blocks DHT and reduces shedding.
• Infused jasmine flowers - Waste not, want not, right? Left over from this successful venture. The leftover oil still on the flowers adds some richness to the mixture.
• Hops - adds shine, strength and makes hair appear thicker.
• Calendula - soothing, soothing, and even more scalp soothing! Moisturizes and restore strands, increases collagen production and circulation in hair follicles.
• Coltsfoot - contains high content of cystine (an amino acid), sulfur and silica (minerals); will strengthen the hair, promote growth. Soothes the scalp,  softens and adds elasticity and sheen to the hair shaft. Guards against microbial infection, and exhibits anti-inflammatory properties.
  
• Red Cornflowers - to make it look pretty and appealing!
• Lavender flowers - for the smell. The scent of hops is not to be trifled with.

When I made it into a tea, I used 2 tablespoons of the tea mix and I added 1 tablespoon of some ayurvedic powder (I couldn't find my henna) and 1 teaspoon of amla then poured hot water over it and left to steep for 4-6 hours.

DIY fenugreek oil 

Originally, I was going to make a traditional amla oil and then infused fenugreek but I...forgot 

So far I have some fenugreek infused coconut oil and some fenugreek infused sesame oil.

I'll be using both for my head massages and seeing how I like it 'em. 

Are you taking part? On Instagram or facebook?

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Do More With Less - Stash Busting 2018

How does this keep happening?

There are layers to this madness. Also, the rest of it is in my room.

Looking at this basket full of...well, stuff, I sigh.

My body feels heavy. 

Why do I keep hoarding? 

I find it so easy to tell myself that I'm actually quite minimalistic compared to some people but I know that the only area of my life that I'm truly pleased with how much (little?) I have is my skin care routine. I half want to push it all into a cupboard for another year, shoving my hand in intermittently for whatever single product I desire (ignoring all others!) and then rinse and repeat for the new year 2019.

Naaah. I can feel that this year is a going to be a year of letting go.

And jeez, isn't that a scary thought? To let go? To release? It's almost easier to stay in the spaces we've set out for ourselves than to explore the frightening liberation of a huge world without the weight. To stay buried under all the things I persuaded myself I needed in order to succeed at my hair goals and thus at life.

This year, I want to get down to mid back length (I'm about an inch or two away from my back bra strap). Having this hoard is definitely not going to help me get there. Lemme strip back and find what works for me, rather than trying to (unsuccessfully) emulate the success of others.

I'm still going to try and I AM going to be more mindful about my hair care. No more rush job on a Sunday because I think I should. I want to do less in general, so that I have the time to really experience the little I will be doing.

So rather than: 'wash deep condition strengthen condition stretch moisturise wait to dry style for twenty years go go go'...I want to just do one at a time and do it well. Does that make sense? I feel really wishy washy here and vague with my ramblings, but I know what I mean in my belly. I can feel the fire starting to crackle there for the fighting and struggling and fear and anxiety coming this year and I'm determined to face it without the weight of somebody else's armour.

The plan  hope/desire hair-wise for this year:

• Keep using henna.
• Moisturise regularly using my herb teas.
• Decide what products I like and will actually use (I'm a sucker for a good smell or a natural hair fad). I am currently building a spreadsheet and dear God, it is a behemoth of a thing. I know I'll be grateful when it's done but right now, it feels like extreme self-flagellation by Excel 😂
• Get rid of products I'm ambivalent about [including through this blog and instagram]. 
• Keep my needs and routines simple. 
• Connect with people, not 'brands', on Instagram. (You know what I mean. Can't have a conversation with an actual person, just getting media snippets and regurgitated niceties. If I don't know where their general interests lay...well, no ma'am, no ham, no thank you.)

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Simple Henna Experiement

What is in this unholy mix, I hear you ask?

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This Week's Tea

You ready, huh?

Welp, sorry to disappoint you. But the only scandalous thing around here (at the moment) is my shedding - absolutely shameful!

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Is this...Hair Dysmorphic Disorder?

Around this time of the year, my most terrible (hair-related) condition kicks in:

Hair Dysmorphic Disorder is anxiety based on:

- The mistaken idea that your hair is longer/shorter or bigger/smaller than it is.

- An unrealistic perception of your hair's current state.

- A distorted view of what your hair is actually like.

-Watching too many blasted Youtube videos at a time

Symptoms may include (but are not limited to)

• Excessively switching up your routine every two weeks as the last one clearly wasn't working because your hair absolutely, most definitely has NOT grown since you last measured it two seconds ago ....

But I just ate some veggies now and they're s'posed to be good for GROWTH!
Why am I still at this length?!

• Spending a long time and a lot of money trying to cover up what you think is wrong with your hair - if you can't pay the bills but you can buy that fancy 130% guaranteed growth oil, and you spend half your life upside down and nauseous for the sake of growth then you may be suffering from hair dysmorphic disorder!
  
• Constantly comparing your hair to other people's on the internet and thus losing all sense of perception. (Please read An Inch is an Inch for an idea of what this loss of perception looks like. Also, beware of Small Girls with Big Hair, and also petite ladies who seemingly have 3 inches between their shoulders and their waistline compared to your 14 inches.)

The hair on the small girl has literally been copied and pasted on the bigger girl. Promise. 

• Constant incredulity at the difference between the 'growth' of your hair and someone else's - "How come her hair is growing so fast?? Mine doesn't grow. My hair is broken/useless/not as great." etc etc 

Ma'am! Have a seat. Her hair was already longer to begin with.

This often results in a sense of dissatisfaction, distress, and a lack of remembering how awesome your hair actually is.

Post inspired (especially the last point) by this picture and  then this picture.
How'm I gonna be this old and can't tell the difference between mebbe Armpit Length and definitely Waist Length??Mess...😅😂

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Fine Bun

Styled in 10 minutes flat à la Neffyfrofro yesterday night.

I think I'm going to have to keep this in for another night and day.

My hair never does too well in buns. It doesn't want me to have nice thing and thus I fear this will not end well 😕
Wish me luck y'all 😂😭

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Wash Day Inspired by 22nd Century Natural Woman and the Ladies of Chad

That is a long arse title but writing this up made me feel like this wash day was a long one. 

I promise it wasn't as long as it apparently appears.

I started off by slathering my head in the last of my fenugreek infused coconut oil.

It shouldn't have been the last but I got fed up and made sure it was.

After about an hour, I jumped into the shower with Mane Choice Easy on the Curls Shampoo, making sure to cleanse. Usually I twist or plait my hair but today I decided to bantu knot instead.

There were a few moments of unraveling but I liked it better - it made my hair easier to access for the different steps and I felt I was manipulating it less.

Then I stroked on a DIY deep conditioner  I'd made earlier inspired by 22nd Century Natural Woman's Deep conditioner. (Her channel is here).

I used:

• a tablespoon of shea butter,
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 generous tablespoon of honey
• about 1/4 cup (60ml) of freshly boiled rosemary tea (rosemary leaves + hot water - DONE)
• 2 teaspoons of guar gum.

Experimenting down to my very bones, I started off by throwing everything except the guar gum and rosemary tea in a bowl and smashing them together with my electric whisk.

No dice.

So I just kept adding guar gum and rosemary tea in turn until it all sort of came together and stopped looking like it was on the verge of separation.

My deep conditioner ended up having an interesting moulding dough texture (too much guar gum?)

 but it slid on my hair smoover than a 90s R'n'B love song.

 Aaaaall my liiiiiife....been waiting for someone like yooooou

Bantu knots were the stretch keeper of the day and they were all covered with a plastic cap and then submerged under with an impromptu head wrap before wandering around for a while.

In public or just in my house? You deciiide...

Came back and uncovered everything. I'd expected the DC to have hardened but it was still liquidy and soft.
I rinsed it out easily with warm water and there was some exceptional slip thanks to the guar gum. I bantu knotted again (SERIOUSLY. WHY HAVE I NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE?!) and smothered my hair in a T-shirt to dry/be less wet.

What to do next? Well, I'd seen this video on facebook...



And I thought to myself, yeah, nah, I don't know where to find chébé seeds (a gluten free brand just comes up - okay, okay so I did try to find it - LOL! 😂) but I found the slathering action of the concoction really soothing and reasoned it was just really well protected with heavy protected then braided. I do that anyway without the heavy product. And when it's the first of July, but the coconut oil looks like this:

Solid as a rock!

Then maybe my hair needs a little bit heavy duty protection.

So I left on Alikays Lemongrass leave in, and then added my butterful delight from Almocado - the Twist and Twirl cream. It's a water based butter cream and I think I may be in love. But more on that later.

I went in with the butter on the ends - as in, no subtlety here please, I want - no, need -  to believe it is buttered.

'Cept even MORE generous!

My hair went from this on the ends:

Bare hair

With Alikay Naturals Lemon Grass Leave In

To this.

Aaand finally, with Almocado Twist and Twirl Buttercream!
I choose this area to show the different squiggles on my head too - although it made a significant difference on the right, I don't think it made any on  the left.

And then I braided it. I did have some obvious residue because I've never used so much before (and a little of this stuff normally goes a loooooong way for me) but, like I said, I was inspired by the women of Chad for some extra protection against our British summertime weather™. I popped a scarf on it then bed.

This morning, some of the plaits still had white stuff but by the end of the day, it was all gone.

I'm hoping that the extra butter layer helps with moisture and keeping my ends feeling nourished. We'll see how that goes.

I mean, I'm just like....I better not wake up tomorrow with some crispy hair.

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The Hope of the Vote.

There is a special joy with reading stories with young(er) people, especially when it is their first time to be exposed to a favourite of yours and even if the youfs that I'm talking about don't necessarily belong to you.


This time, it was the tale of Prometheus. Chained to a cliff face for daring to bring fire to the mud marching human kind, doomed to spend an endless eternity being pecked and nipped and chomped at by liver-thirsty eagles, his time seems quite tragic.

And then Pandora's Box is open. Out comes the evil, the terror, the carnage, the mess, the horror and the nightmares to ravage the Earth below and its inhabitants. Gloom! Doom! Homework!

But the final breath.

The tiny glimmer.

That little sparkle.

And suddenly, somehow, there is something. Not now, but a maybe. A possibility. A consideration of the future with a tiny, earnest desire and expectation.

Quietly, they comtemplate the ending of the story. One pipes up.

"That Hope....it's kind of important, innit?"

Yeah.


Yeah, it is.

Please don't give up and please do vote.

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Beauty Shop Bloc

I have started a new habit of popping into my local beauty shop, just to see what they've got - one of the things that helps bump a product up on my 'more likely to repurchase' list is whether I can grab it and go on the ground.

When I went in a year ago and saw Shea Moisture, I was impressed. 

Then Mielle Organics popped up last month (totally took advantage, I 'on currr). 

I stuck my head in last week and now it looks like this:

We got TGIN! We got Alikay Nautrals! We got Mielle Organics and Design Essentials all over the place!

They had to add an extra slab of shelves for all the extra products they've been buying in...!

My main question is - who is telling them this?! 

Are the beauty shops lurking on the Nappturality or Long Hair Forum?

Are they following Mane Objective and NeffyFroFro on instagram and youtibe? 

How do they know?

I imagine it to be quite like a covert organisation. Robes that cover your face in shadow are optional but greatly admired.

Ahmed and Ranjit are comparing their favourite deep conditioners in the light of a flickering candle.

There is an impromptu workshop on the difference between creams, puddings and soufflés happening in the atrium, when you hear an impassioned cry:

"Dude! Have you felt this leave in? Light as a feather mate, light. as. a. feather. We are NOT leaving until we get two boxes of this, as well as the rest of the range."

I'll be honest - if it means that I get Eden Bodyworks and/or ManeObjective and/or Camille Rose on the ground, then I'm totally cool with this. But I'd loooooove to see local brands like Almocado and Shea Decadence being this easily available too...how awesome would that be?

Till then, the internet continues to be my friend.

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This is not a photo.

It took me a full 2 minutes to realise that this was a drawing.

And another to work out that this was done by hand.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat. 

Viola Davis, finished! 📚 #HowToGetAwayWithMurder #art #Illustration #portrait #fanart #drawing #draw #freehand #handmade #colouredpencil #makeup #violadavis #htgawm #abc #netflix #Sony #tv #tvseries #annalisekeating #suicidesquad #blackbeauty #redlips #news #roses #artnouveau #popart #realism, w/ @violadavis

A post shared by Will Costa (@_willcosta) on Oct 12, 2016 at 5:29pm PDT

It's official. Film, TV, theatre, drawing....Viola Davis looks amazing in any medium.

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10 weeks old

When you bring something new into the world and you're blown away by how it's all worked out and how amazing it is, you...you just have to share, don't you?

It's only right.


Somewhere around the 13th of March, this all started.

So that makes it...2 months and a fortnight. 10 weeks.

10 weeks! 

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Pros and Cons

On the one hand, I'm proud of myself. Unlike my normal ridiculousness, I waited a week after settling out of my wash and go before doing a curlformer set, so it wasn't as much as a struggle.

Clearly not outgrowing Curlformers physically.

But it feels so much heavier than normal....

And it feels like it's taking years and yonks to dry!!


I'm focusing on the long term goals...but I'll need food to see me through.

S'gonna be a long weekend.

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1st Wash Day of 2017

...done on the 2nd, posted on the 3rd.
Natch.

After two weeks of 'doing-the-absolute-least-while irresponsibly swimming in-the-sea-whilst-wearing-only-a-bun-for-protection' bidness, I needed to make time for my hair. It was fast showing signs of neglect and rebellion.

 

This is what my wash days normally look like like, unless I need a shampoo which  switch out the cowash for. The leave in will vary, as will the stretching style but the rest is pretty much set in stone. Start as you mean to go on, old boy, and all that, what!

First of, I let the water run through my hair and used the pressure to help me gently separate my hair into sections - four in all.

Then I started up with Eden BodyWorks Coconut Cowash on a section, carefully using its slip to soften and slide out shed hairs from the root, then putting the section under the shower head to help me remove the shed hair completely. Like maaagic *sparklesparkle*.

Then I applied in the Aphogee Reconstructor and left it in while I moved on to the next section to rinse (most literally!) and repeat.

My right side sections were fine, because that's the side that the bun was on and where the hair was most stretched.

But my left sided sections...? Whooo-wee! That was a trial and a doozy and retribution all in one. I could definitely tell that that side had barely been stretched during my two weeks of tomfoolery.

Thank goodness for great products.

I think that took me about...half an hour to an hour?
Which compared to my old dry detangling times of about 3 hours, I'll take it, son.

That meant the reconstructor was in each section for at least 5 minutes, which they all needed, if I'm honest. I rinsed it out, then added the Shea Moisture JBCO Masque. Normally, I leave it in while I clean my surroundings but when I need a little TLC, I pop on a shower cap and pop my head under the heat cap.
And if today wasn't a TLC day. I don't know what is, my friend.
I used the heat cap for about 15 minutes (lost track of time), then rinsed out the sections. As I rinsed out, I softly detangled again with my fingers, then separated each of the sections into two twists. Shower time - done!

Now, styling/stretching time. I'd already decided to go back to an old favourite.
Curlformers.

Unravelling each twist, I clipped up half and then lavished on generous amounts of Eden Bodyworks Pudding Souffle to the other half that was left down.

Mathematician's hat on, I divided each half into about three further sections, taking each section as I went and putting it into a curlformer rod. Some of the halves felt small enough to just go into the rods.

I confused myself by doing this, instead of doing my normal numbers game. Usually I run out of rods before I'm done, but this time I had what seemed like a multitude of rods left.

What in the what - ? Why so many left??

But it had taken me less time than normal to put them in (like 30 - 40 minutes instead of an hour. This is also partly because I foolishly always want to do a Curlformer set after a month of washing and going and the detangling after the wash is nearly enough to finish me off ;_;).

I sat back under the heat cap to dry the curlformer set because I don't have patience to wait the minimum 6 hours for it to air dry...which was a good thing because it turns out my sections were too dang big!

Instead of my normal hour under the heat cap, it took around two ¬.¬
Clearly the time I'd saved putting them in was doubled and then stuck onto the end of my drying time.

The results though...:

Can you hear that? No biggie, just angels singing songs of glory upon my mane.

Light (especially after getting all those rods out), fluffy, bouncy, shiny, delicious...
How my feels and looks after a curlforrmer set never fails to amaze me.

I started playing around to separate the curls and make my hair look fuller...

 

I need to stop now orelse this'll just turn into a vanity collage of me fluffing my hair. 

Luckily this is all photo based (and I don't know how to use a camera), otherwise you'd just have a ten minute video of me shaking my hair in yo' face.

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My Joy

When I'm happy, I dance.

But I've been a bit mopey these last few weeks so I've needed other people to do it for me.

When one is miserable, one watches this video. The pure euphoria mingled with an occasional mean mugging expression on QueenTeddy's video makes me swoon, sigh and hold up a white flag in acceptance of how knocked out I am.
This video is blooming marvellous to me and definitely brightens up any dull, dreary day I'm having.

I have replayed this several times. I probably am watching it now.

Happy dance by @queenteddy - #africandance #africanworkout #africangirl #naturalhair #QUEENTEDDYVIDEOS #dance #coupedecale #makosa #teddysjourneyto50pounds #danceto50pounds #afrobeats #africansong #makosa #congolesedance #camerondance #nigeriangirl

A video posted by SheabutterCottage (@sheabuttercottage) on Nov 12, 2016 at 4:52pm PST

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Wash Day - Return of the Mixtress?

This was the wash and go.

Nearly two weeks later...


Eeeeeeesh. All shrunken and tangled.
By day 6, I knew it needed a wash but by that point, it was too late. So here I am. Guilty as charged of neglect and laziness. There were days with no scarfing, no spritzing, rough ponytail styling....

Look, I'ma try to make it up to my hair, okay???

To help release the tangles, I used my argan oil conditioner on dry hair to start to weigh it down, making it easier to detangle and separate the strands.

 When I jumped in under the shower, it all activated (a la the Avengers when someone yells 'Avengers - assemble!') and made it easier to release the tangles and get rid of the shed hair. I gently separated my hair into six sections as I was going and worked on each one, one at a time., continuing to add conditioner as necessary.
Man, was it necessary.
I ended up finishing the bottle!

After I rinsed it out, my hair felt a little dry, which had always been my problem with 'traditional' cowashing using conditioner. So I remedied it with my absolute fave Edens Bodywork Coconut Cowash. I made sure to massage it into my scalp and smooth down my strands, separating the larger parts of entangled hair with my fingers. and then rinsing it out immediately and twisting then repeating on the next section.
It's seasonal shedding time, so by the time I was done, it seemed as though Cousin It had rocked up for a quick visit. It took me an hour in total to detangle and wash my hair - wrinkly fingers galore my friends.
Wrinkly. Fingers.

After this, I applied my homemade Henna Gravy (well, that's what the Wonder Thing calls it).

 I'm working on tweaking the recipe but today it had henna infusion, yoghurt, honey, olive oil, fenugreek infused coconut oil and guar gum (LOVE!) in it and is based on this goat milk recipe from Shelli of Hairscapades. This is definitely a tweaker (agh, cottage cheese lumps!) but it was worth the strange smell. It went on like an absolute DREAM!!

As soon as I applied it, my hair starting lumping together in the sections where there are curls and waves and it slid through my hair SO easily. Shelli was not joking about the slip!


 I left it on for about...20 minutes? As I rinsed, I notice it was a little bit hard to the touch but it rinsed out easily and left my hair feeling completely yummy - strong and not dry, ready for my leave ins.

I followed up with Eden Bodyworks Soufflé. I'm on a using up binge and I realised I've been sleeping on this when I used it in the wash and go that caused this wash day. It feels lovely and creamy but doesn't build up on my hair.


My ends felt a little drier so I sealed with my Aloe Gel with Shea Butter mix. Each twisted section was then transformed into a plait (except for two mega jumbo twists in comparison, which became four plaits).

I have no pictures of this but the soufflé always goes on creamy and white and eventually dries clear. I don't know why but it's helpful in avoiding questions!

When I pull out the butter-y products, as opposed to the gel products, it feels like pulling out the cardigans and tights, ready for autumn layering.
Maybe I am ready for winter.

I reserve my right to take that statement back if I get another morning like this before November...

*sigh*

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Rejects Wash and Go.

It started with two buns.

I had some free time, and still have some excess (summer) products from last year's adventures that I thought I'd better use up.

So here we go.


1. I jumped in the shower and co washed with Eden Body Works Coconut Cowash.
It will take a meteorite of an an event/product to stop me from using this cowash - f'real, f'real. I'm on my third? Fourth? Tub. I LOVE this!

2, I wanted strengthening of my hair's pattern and I didn't want to spend aaages in the shower marinating, so I used Aphogee's 2 minute reconstructor. Am I the only one who has to plan their hairstyle before they wash so they know what products to use? Otherwise, I just end up in a foaming, flustered flap.

3. I jumped out and used my As I am Leave In Conditioner. Lazy Quick Review: Love the citrusy orangey scent, has no slip and feels a bit weird after you've handed it, but works well on wet hair and as an underwear layer on my wash and go because it's light and has little to no build up. The packaging drove me MAD though. The ink is water soluble, so every time I touched the label with wet hands for my wash and go, I'd end up with black specks everywhere. In annoyance, I pulled off the label, but the glue was tougher than the writing ink and now it's like having gentle velcro on the bottle when I handle it.

On top, I layered Eden Body Works Pudding Soufflé, inspired by Christina and her sister. My hair looked like I'd put soufflé in it, but it dries clear.

I'd originally bought it as a moisturiser for dry hair but it does so very much better as a leave in on wet hair.

Then I finished off with Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I like it but it's 2) too expensive and 3) slightly too sticky/tacky to the touch even nearly two weeks later.. It's soft but touchable (kinda...) hold can't be denied and neither can that deee-licious scent. Plus, a little goes a long way. I thought I'd finish it this time around but no. I still have enough for another go it seems.

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Viscose Maxi Skirt

I mean seriously, I make one or two skirts, and suddenly I think I'm an expert.

The worst thing to do after you've bought a fabric that you think might be tricky is to google it and have it confirmed.

So. Viscose. Slippery, silky, slide-y.

The sequel to the pre-wash, if you like. How did I cope?


Reasonably well, I'd say - I do have a skirt out of it. It didn't take very long to do either. I decided not to cut the fabric and just gather it at the waist.  The less sewing I did, the better I reckoned.

So I :

1. Sewed a side seam with tissue paper pinned under the fabric.
2. Sewed a 4 inch channel (2 inches deep on both sides) at the top.
3. Measured the elastic around my waist and cut trimmed to size.
4. Inserted the elastic in the channel and stitched it together using a zig zag stitch in two places and backstitch over them twice to make it super secure.
5. Realised I'd made a mobius loop by sewing the elastic together the wrong way and proceeded to hunt down my seam ripper, undo my hard work and fume furiously like the most timid downtrodden sailor.
6.  Repeated 4. but the correct way this time.
7. Did a 1/2 inch and then 4 inch hem.

And it still touches my ankles. Well, the floor. I could be a bit more generous with the hem, I guess, so that I stop tripping myself over but I quite enjoy having to pick it up in a princess-like manner when stepping down from the door say or, you know, awkwardly clambering over a stile in the countryside.

I AM ACTUALLY IN THERE.
Oh, and the waistband is just under my bosom.

I found a few things - viscose is notorious for shrinking and my fabric didn't shrink evenly, so one of my side seams was slightly long on one side, so I trimmed upwards to let them meet. Other than that, once I'd worked out where to put the tissue paper, the longest part was number 5, which took about half an hour.
I didn't finish the seams and I should. I will. Well, I might.
I used a 34mm wide elastic, which was fine, but it's not non-roll, so my elastic has ended up folded in half around my 'waist'. My waist just can't do big waistbands I guess.

Next time, I'll use non-roll elastic for the waistband and see how that turns out.

Fabric wise, I love it. Like my cotton maxi skirt, I don't start burning under my skirt when it gets too hot bu.t unlike my cotton equivalent, when it's a little breezy, I don't feel like I'm standing in my underwear in public!
It is swishy and flowing and absolutely perfect for summer. I'll take 5 please.

Unknowingly inspired by Cashmerette.

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Rag 'n' Bone Man - Wolves

Mr Simple (I can call him that now, right?) and I have been a little bit obsessed with a show on BBC called New Blood over the last month. Funny, heart-stoppingly thrilling and quick paced.

Oh, and it had an AWESOME theme tune and introduced me to Rag 'N' Bone Man.

If you can, turn the bass up till your table is thumping and sing loud enough to startle your neighbours.

I do.

It helps me feel better when I miss the (occasionally begrudging) bromance between the two main characters Rash and Stefan *sniff*

Keep the wolves from the door

I hear them scratchin' like I don't know better

Won't you keep the wolves from the door? 

Won't be long before I cave in and open up -

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3 flat bags

As well as my plans for myself, I've also been working on a little something-somethng for three littlies that I know....

I have to confess - if you'd told me I'd make what are essentially three flat bags this year, I'da said you were crazy. I'd thought flat bags were mad BORING and...well, flat. No excitement!

Well, maybe I've changed my mind. A little. 

A lot.

Plus, I needed the sewing practise.

If the first bag looks familiar, it should - it started out as an interesting way to use up my scraps from the riding hood cape project. All the drawstring bags in this post were upcycled from scrap fabric I had lying around and made using this tutorial (the first is slightly longer because I was making the measurements up as I went). So this is quilting cotton, and red fleece...

Denim (from a pair of old jeans) and green scrap satiny fabric with green drawstring. I was definitely channelling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when I thought this up and I'm glad it worked out as I imagined. The satiny fabric frayed like no-one's business, so it's on top of some more denim so as not to undermine the integrity of the bag, especially with the rambunctiousness of the new owner >.<

The final one is cotton poplin, chosen specially by the recipient, who couldn't decide between pink and yellow, so received a satin lined patch pocket. It was only after I put it on that I realised it was ever. so. slightly. crooked.
Beh, I thought.
        Two surprises instead of just one.

 

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