Smashed my hair into a big, messy bun and clamped it down with two Ficcares today. I had to put it up somehow, and I ended up with this. It's very comfortable, and I'll definitely try to recreate it tomorrow.
In other news, I only have one week left of my nursing home internship! Can't believe I'm almost done, these last 7 weeks have gone incredibly fast. I've learned a lot and I've had so much fun there. I'm a bit sad that this is my last week, but at the same time, it's going to be great to get back to school after the easter break. I'm ready to do some hardcore studying to prepare for my exam in june. June is still far away, but I have two enormous books about diseases and medical conditions that I need to read and learn, and I also have a ton of other assignments and projects at school. I think I'll be pretty exhausted by the time this semester is over.
I finally broke down and bought a Pearlized Caramel clip from cultmate.de. I've wanted one for ages, because I love the colour and swirly pattern. It's not as warm and orange-ish as it looks in the pictures on cultmate, but still very pretty. I really want a Dark Topaz Jewel too, but that will have to wait. I also have to say that I'm incredibly impressed with how fast this clip arrived. I bought it last tuesday, and it was here on saturday! Cultmate is awesome =D
With flash
Daylight, no flash.
I call this "the peanut butter jelly bun" =D
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).
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.
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.
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!
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. ^-^
I've finally decided to pass on the Ficcare Jewels. I got an email from Maidenlike, notifying me that she had all 3 colours I wanted in stock, and I really can't justify spending all that money on hair clips. Especially not when I currently find it most comfortable to put my hair up with cheap plastic/acrylic/whatever clips from Ebay.
I've been a bit torn about it, because the Jewels are so pretty, and who knows how long they will be available. Ficcare may suddenly disappear again. However, I honestly haven't worn any of my Ficcares for quite a while. I occasionally shove an Innovation or two in my hair, but the Maxes are currently collecting dust. I tried them in double buns earlier this week, but they were too heavy. I don't want to buy things I'm not going to use a lot. I either wear double buns with Flexi-8s, or regular buns held with claw clips.
If I were to buy 3 Jewels, it would cost me a small fortune. With shipping, and customs and handling fees, the total amount would be approximately €178. That's a lot of money for a few hair clips! I could buy 48 packets of floral claw clips for that. Each packet contains 6 clips, so that would be 288 clips. Crazy! Alternatively, I could buy 10 size L Flexi-8s (shipping included). I'll stick to the cheap stuff for now. ^-^
Never thought I'd actually want any of the glittery Ficcares. Certainly didn't think I'd end up buying a glittery silver Innovation, but I did and I'm very happy about it. Look how pretty! And sparkly! And it goes perfectly with the Zig Zag gold & silver Innovation I purchased from someone on LHC. Both are size Medium. Please excuse my hair in the picture, I washed it today and didn't have time to let it dry completely.
Hi! Terribly sorry for taking so long to do this post, but I was busy distracted kinda forgot all about it. I blame my boyfriend and my parents' dogs. Anyway, pictures!!
ETA. I forgot all about the comparison with my maximas. I may be able to do that tomorrow, unless I forget all about it again. Doh!
I decided to make a separate post for each clip. Honey Marble will be posted tomorrow, along with a comparison with my HM Maximas clip.
Something fabulous showed up in my mailbox today.. Two Ficcare Innovation Borders - Honey Marble and Grey. Both are size medium. They're so gorgeous, especially the Grey. I'll try to get better pictures tomorrow, but for now, enjoy these.
I officially have a new obsession. The Ficcare Innovation clips! I received my first one from a trade, and I love it so much. It's pretty, the spring is so strong, and it's incredibly light! I hope Ficcare brings back the Innovation clips, preferably with the new enamel colours. Imagine Jewel Innovations.. *Swoon!* ^-^
Here it is in a sectioned nautilus bun. Love it! <3
Sectioned buns work with L Ficcares too! I was worried size L would be too big, but it fits perfectly. I do need to make the bunning section slightly bigger though, but not much. There's still plenty of hair left to twist around afterwards. This may even be more comfortable than with flexi-8s, simply because the Ficcare holds my bun in a death grip. It does. not. move. at. all! I tried shaking my head and jumping up and down, and the bun remained glued to the back of my head. I'm amazed. In fact, so amazed that I kept my hair bunned the entire day, even though I only stayed inside after work and could easily have gotten away with just a loose braid.
Speaking of flexi-8s, I purchased a new one. A custom, of course. The new FOTM was very pretty, but I would have preferred it in gold. I almost always prefer gold, which makes it pretty ironic that my new custom is in silver. I'm getting the Roman Stone Lite Sapphire in large, with both lite sapphire and clear Aurora Borealis beads. Steve at flexi8.com sent me a picture to make sure they got my instructions right, and it looks gorgeous. I can hardly wait!
I've also decided to part with one of my XL flexis, simply because it doesn't look that good in my hair and I almost never wear it. A fellow LHCer mentioned that she was interested in it, and I think it's better to pass it on to someone who will appreciate it. I have looked through my collection, and there are a few other pieces I'm not loving anymore either. Not sure if I'll be putting those up for sale too, at least not yet.
I purchased a super cheap 12-pack of spin pins on ebay, and I was a bit disappointed, but not surprised when they arrived. They didn't have the little bump on the tips that my Hair Scroos have, so the tips were quite sharp and not very hair and scalp friendly. Otherwise the pins seemed fine, but obviously I couldn't put something like that in my hair without fixing it first. I experimented a bit with one if the pins today, and tried to make ' end bumps' by adding several layers of clear nailpolish. It appears to be working, because the ends aren't sharp anymore, they seem more like the Hair Scroos. A bit time consuming to do this to 11 more pins, since the polish has to dry between each layer, but I've got next Tuesday off and don't have anything better to do. I'm happy that I will be able to use my pins after all. The seller also included a few telephone cord elastics, and I'm very skeptical. I know of other LHC members who use them without any problems, but they look hazardous to my hair.
Lite Lavender Silky in a sectioned bun, as the sun sets.
Well, I splurged on toys and tools. Actually, it wasn't particularly splurgy. Hardly spent any money at all. I bought a purple Salong Elite TT and two flexi-8s, XS and S. I took the liberty to slightly alter one of them, because I'm hopelessly addicted to aurora borealis sapphire beads. I'll pass on the EGW clear glass stick for now, I'll get it some other time. I have a few custom Mega flexis thought out, but I'll wait a bit with those too.
Ficcare has been hinting that the Jewel Collection might be released soon, and I'm on the Maidenlike waiting list for 3 of those. Though 'soon' in Ficcare terms could mean next year. And I'm pretty far down on the waiting list, so I may not get any clips right away. I'm not even sure if I want more clips, because I'm so thrilled with the collection I already have. Pretty sure I'd regret it if I didn't get any though, because Amethyst, Royal Blue and Emerald sound amazing. I'm confused.
In other news, I went into Glitter (Norwegian store full of shiny, pretty jewelry and hair stuff) for the first time in many, many years, and discovered that it's actually pretty awesome. They had all kinds of fun stuff that other shops don't carry here, like Hair Scroos. I bought two pairs, and last night I used them to do a sloppy cinnabun. Great success! I was so excited that I stayed up much later than I had planned, because I didn't want to take the bun down. I need more of those.
I also did a successful scalp wash today. I made a loose braid, tied a plastic bag around it, and held it up with one hand while I washed the rest of the hair. I wasn't in the mood for sitting around with sopping wet hair the entire day, because I've got stuff to do. Like baking! I've made cranberry buns with custard filling twice this week. Delicious. I make my parents and my boyfriend eat most of them.
And picture time, because I wore a Mega flexi in a disc bun today.
Here's a bunch of buns I've done during the last month. :)
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