Fuchsia

I received some more ribbons the other day (because I definitely needed more!), and one of them was in a lovely fuchsia colour. I decided to make myself a cherry blossom comb with it, and here's the result. I was thinking of putting it in the shop, but then I changed my mind. I'd rather keep it myself. I haven't made any hair flowers for myself in ages, mainly because of the summer swap on TLHC. That reminds me, I need to buy some more yellow flower stamen. Off to ebay!

Vermillion Red

A week ago I decided to spice up my red hair colour with some Directions dye. I used Vermillion Red on the top layer and Pillarbox red on the bottom layer, but I can't see any difference between the colours. Next time I'll stick to one colour all over. I really enjoy the deeper red I get from using temporary dyes over the henna, and it's not too much of a hassle to do either. It took about 1 hour or maybe a bit less to apply, and I left it on for around 2 hours. I know that you're supposed to leave it on for much longer, but I'm too impatient for that. I still think I got a great result. 

I've only washed once since I dyed, and I'm trying to stretch washes a bit in order to make the colour last longer. I usually wash every 3-4 days, but this time I went 7 days without washing.
I want to try Flame or Fire next time, and I'm also toying with the idea of using Cerise some day, because I love that colour.

After rinsing out the dye and drying my hair:

Next day, after curling my hair a bit with bendy rollers:

Today, after washing and drying:

I made the ponytail by taking two sections of nape hair, putting them around the remaining hair and securing them on top with a flexi-8 in size XS.

Big chop

I finally cut my hair! My original plan was to wait until Easter break, but then I changed my mind. I cut off 30-35 cm in the end of February, and I love it. I'm now back to around waist-hip with layers and a U-hemline. My hair feels great, so silky and soft, and it's super-easy to detangle. I wear half-ups a lot, and only bun when I'm at work. Bunning is a bit of an issue due to the thickness of my hair, but I usually manage to get it up somehow. I love my Ficcares, because that's pretty much the only clip that can keep my hair in place. I also use a lot of bobby pins, and I have to keep some in my purse or pocket, just in case my updo explodes =P

A few hours after the cut, hair slightly wet.

The day after, combed out and very fluffy.

Half-up buns with claw clips

Half-up with small flexi-8, after doing sock bun curls

Insert Exciting Title Here

I think we should just conclude that I'm a terrible blogger. Seriously. I didn't forget about the blog, I just kept saying to myself "I'll do a post tomorrow instead". Clearly "tomorrow" means "never" in my world. Ah well. Once again I'll try to get better, but I'm not making any promises. =P

Since last time I posted, I've decided that I'll cut my hair back to waist during the easter break. I'm sick of these damaged, ratty, tangly ends, and I also want to wear my hair down more. I guess I'm just in the mood for a big change. I'll probably end up letting it grow long again after that, because I seriously doubt I'll be able to remember to cut my hair. =P
I've also learned to make fabric and satin flowers, which is a lot of fun. I made an obnoxiously huge tulip comb for myself today, and I'm so thrilled with it. I may open an etsy store some day, otherwise I'll probably drown in satin flowers.

Honey Marble and Silky Pink

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).

Ladybugs

Took my EmergentGlassworks ladybugs out for a spin this weekend. I love these, they are the cutest hair sticks ever!

EGW

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.

Logroll bun

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.

Figure 8 bun

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!

Drowning in hair

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..

First Impression - Hairwonder Hair Repair Cream

Welcome to the first installment of First Impression! The first leave-in I'm reviewing is the Hairwonder hair repair cream, a leave-in I've had laying around for a while. I'll be honest, I did try a bit of it on dry ends once, and it didn't seem to do much at all. I've never tried it on wet hair as a part of my LOC-routine though, and that's what I've done this time. First, some info about the product.

According to the website, this is a protein-filled leave-in that will instantly make your hair healthy, shiny, silky soft, and easy to comb. It's supposed to strengthen the hair and prevent splits and damage. It'll work for all hair types, and can be used daily.
I'm quite skeptical to using this daily, but that's just me.

Full ingredients list (from beautynaturals.com):
Aqua (Water), Quaternium 87, Ceateryl Alcohol, Glyceryl Caprylate, Propylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, PEG-15 Cocopolyamine, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Glycerin, Panthenol, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phytantriol, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Parfum (Fragrance), Aspalathus Linearis Leaf Extract, Camellia Sinensis (Leaf) Extract, Cassia Angustifolia (Leaf) Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria Flower) Extract, Humulus Lupulus (Hops) Extract, Melissa Officinalis (Leaf) Extract, Panax Ginseng (Root) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary Leaf) Extract, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene.

Key ingredients:
Jojoba seed oil
Provitamin B5
Vitamin E
Corn protein
Wheat protein
Soy protein
Rooibos leaf extract
Green Tea leaf extract
Senna leaf extract
Matricaria flower extract
Hops extract
Lemon Balm leaf extract
Ginseng root extract
Rosemary leaf extract

There's a lot of protein in here, which is why I've been wary of this product. I've read a lot of horror stories about protein overload on LHC, and they've scared the crap out of me. I do think that a bit of protein every now and then is beneficial though, and I don't think this leave-in will destroy my hair. I sure hope it wont! =P

My first impression:
I used this leave-in as the C in LOC, meaning I put it on after Nightblooming's Triple Moon oil and Freya salve. I reduced the amount of oil and salve this time, because I didn't want to put too much product on my hair.

Texture: Smooth and creamy, very easy to apply.

Smell: Doesn't really smell like much, but it's not good. However, the scent disappears after it has been applied to the hair.

After drying: My hair dried as normal, though I did have more spirals than I usually do. My hair didn't look shiny, but it never does before it has been brushed.

Detangling: This went surprisingly smooth. Despite detangling my hair before washing, I always end up with tangles after I'm done. I brush these out when my hair is dry/a bit damp, and it can take anything from 10 minutes to half an hour (or more). This time, it only took me 5 minutes to brush all of my hair with the Tangle Teezer.

Overall: I'm quite pleased with the results. It has been a few days since I put the leave-in on, and my hair is still soft and shiny, and very easy to detangle. My hair feels a bit producty, but that's likely because I accidentally put too much leave-in on. I wouldn't use this daily, but I think for occasional use it'll be fine. I'll continue to experiment, and I'll write another review in a few months. 

I'm also adding a picture of my hair on day 2 after wash day. It was very smooth and silky, and my waves were almost brushed straight. 

Braided Cameo Bun

I wasn't going anywhere today, so of course I decided to do a fancy-ish updo. This isn't a new flexi-8, but at last I got some good pictures of it. I thought it would be perfect for a braided cameo bun. Cameo buns are usually a cinnamon bun with an English braid wrapped around, but I didn't want to do a cinnabun. I did a centerheld rosebun with a fishtail braid wrapped around instead.

Braid progress

I haven't noticed much progress in my hair this year. It has grown, sure, but nothing amazing. At least it doesn't feel amazing, it has just been the usual average/slow growth. I've gone from hip to a bit past bcl, which isn't that long in my opinion. I didn't notice much of a difference until today, when I did a fishtail braid and took a picture of it. The tip of my quite wispy tail juust reaches my crack (braid shrinkage). I decided to dig up some older braid pictures, and lo and behold, my hair really has grown quite a bit. Take a look:

This picture is from 15.02.2013. I think this was my first truly successful french braid. I actually wanted to do a dutch braid, but accidentally used the wrong technique and ended up with a french braid. The ends reach waist.

This french 4-strand braid was done on 05.03.2013. The angle makes it seem longer, but it's still around waist length.

09.04.2013, still not much difference in length.

23.05.2013. The huge sweater makes it difficult to tell, but the stretched out tassel is around hip length.


And finally today, 16.01.2014.

I'm happy. My braid seems thinner, but I think it's because my hair is oily and dirty. I'm due for a wash.

Welcome

Ah, the usual "Hi, this is me, welcome to my blog"-post. Not that there are anyone to welcome, as I find it highly unlikely that anyone will read this. Ah well, let's get this over with. 

I'm KittyBird, a 23 year old woman who loves long hair. My hair is currently at the elegantly named BCL/Butt-crack length, and my goal is to grow to terminal length. In other words, as long as it can get. My hair is iii, 2a/2b, medium strand thickness. Currently sporting a fancy, unintentional reverse ombre, because I'm growing out black chemical dye and dyeing the new growth red with henna. I'm addicted to hair toys, with my current obsession being Flexi-8s. My hair is mostly bunned, but I try to keep it down when I'm at home, so that my scalp gets to rest.

This blog will contain mostly stuff about my hair, but also a lot of other random stuff. Enjoy!