Saturday 26 July 2014

The sun protection experiment 2 months update

It's been two months since I started my sun protection experiment.
Time to report on what I have found.

I used up the Goldwell Dual Senses Sun Reflects Leave-In Protect Spray during the experiment, so the last two weeks I only used the Schwarzkopf Bonacure sun protect on the hair SPF test.


First

I have never thought of just how much dust and crap is in the air outside. I found out shockingly quick though. The set-up got really, really nasty in just a few days. I guess it got worse from sitting literally just inside a usually open window and being coated in a spray a lot. The wetness should really attract lint and stuff.
Still though. Ew.
Well, I guess the lint in the air explains why you some times take your hair down from a perfectly smooth updo and find mysterious tangles?
Seriously nasty though.

So please, please ignore the disgusting specks and dust caught in the hairs!

I tried to pick them out, but they almost seemed to "fuse" with the hair and spray-residue.

Second observation

The hair SPF test has a glossiness to it that makes me very suspicious of it. In my experience (And just I might be a cynical old rat here) this type of glossiness usually mask a crappy product hiding damage and making people want to buy it again for the "healthy shine". 

Third

The skin SPF really stained the cardboard. You can tell where the sticky tape is holding the hair in place: Under there, the cardboard still has its original colour. Around it, the cardboard is stained a yellowish brown that looks like aged paper.

Fourth and the most important

I definitely see colour differences:
  • The skin SPF patch is definitely darker than the control patch.
  • The hair SPF patch is definitely lighter than the control patch.
I took 63 pictures in total trying to get the effect, but I think it's very difficult to see any difference on the photos. Damn. I guess it's time for me to get a proper digital camera instead of my camera phone. The thought of buying a camera that would be used pretty much only for blogging does make me cringe though... But right now I have done a serious experiment where I feel I can't properly show the results due to camera quality and that makes me very unhappy.

Anyways. Pictures.

Indoors and in artificial light conditions, no flash




Indoors and in artificial light conditions, with flash


Outdoors and in natural light conditions, indirect sunlight



Outdoors and in natural light conditions, direct sunlight (Morning sun)



Outdoors and in natural light conditions, direct sunlight (Mid day sun)

In reality, the direct mid day sun made the hair SPF test very, very shiny, but that didn't even translate well in my phones camera. Hmm. 

So here is what I'm wondering
Does the skin SPF actively darken the hair or does it protect it from fading?
It does appear that the cardboard is slightly darker around the SPF for skin though!
So does it mean that the SPF for hair has darkening/miscolouring properties?

And does the hair SPF actively lighten the hair or does it just not protect from fading?

Let's compare to a fresh patch of shed hair from the collection. I got the shed hairs balled up a little more tightly than the SPF test, so it appears slightly darker in the middle. 

Indoors and in artificial light conditions, no flash



Indoors and in artificial light conditions, with flash



Outdoors and in natural light conditions, direct sunlight (Mid day sun)



Does anyone recognize any lightening or darkening ingredients in the products? 

Full ingredient list in first post
I'm not an ingredient expert (Not at all), but does someone else recognize any potential lightening or darkening properties in the ingredient lists?

I must admit I got a little weirded out by the potentially lightening effect of the hair SPF and put Schwarzkopf Bonacure sun protect back into the cabinet for now. 

Does anyone have any input on this?

Friday 25 July 2014

Do want


Okay, I know the pattern of these would disappear the second you put them in use, and that you would never see them in my hair anyways because they’re too big for my pitiful ends and that I’m a grown woman… But dammit, I wanted these to work for me!

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Today’s hair


Ropebun with the soaring butterfly Flexi


My favourite thing about rope buns is the pretty rope-pattern I can see from the front 

Monday 21 July 2014

Where have you been all my life?

Okay, if you don’t want to hear me rave on and on about how awesome the Clarisonic is, you might want to skip this post.
I received this about a week ago and I absolutely love it!
I’ve been itching to write about it, but I wanted to try it for a while but I wanted to wait until I had used it a few times.
So far the only minus I found to it is that they ask you to let it charge for a full day before first use. Holy crap, was it a long time to wait when you itch to try your awesome new tool!

So, my review of the Clarisonic Plus…
I already wrote I love this thing, and I really do.
It has a good, solid feel to it. It’s so easy to use. It doesn’t rotate, but oscillate so it’s not abrasive to the skin.
It has a gentle “massage” feel to it, but I can feel the “buzz” resonating in my sinuses (Or something!) and it made me giggle a few times.
After each use, I saw a bit of a flush to my face. But this doesn’t feel uncomfortable, just a sort of “activated” stimulated feeling.
My skin has had a nice glow to it since I started using it and have felt a lot smoother and cleaner.
I was warned I could experience breakouts as your skin gets accustomed to the manipulation and deeper cleaning, but so far nothing has happened.


It came in this big box


Opens up to a description of the use, effect and results


The Clarisonic plus unpacked: Charging cradle and the device with the sensitive brush-head that came with it as standard


Inside the box was a promotion from Skinstore where I got it from, the instruction manual and a brochure from Clarisonic’s website where I could get 25$ off on my next order (Which is pretty pointless since they don’t ship outside of the US like Skinstore does!)


I ordered extra brush heads too: A body brush and a delicate brush. I knew that if the Clarinoic would work for me at all, I would want to use it for the rest of my body too. The delicate brush head is for OCM cleansing: I figured it would be a good idea to get the gentlest possible brush head if I’m going to manipulate my skin for longer periods of time, like it is beneficial for OCM.
Awesome detail: For the face brushes, the white outer bristles don’t move. Only the inner parts (Black and white) move. This means that the little splatters that your brush whips up will be caught in the stationary bristles. It’s surprisingly clever. I guess most people will do their facial care in front of the mirror, so there will be no mess on the mirror afterwards! The entire body brush oscillates, but that isn’t a problem since you will be using that one in the shower.


The box also came with a gel cleanser and an exfoliating gel. I have tried the exfoliator on some dry areas of my body, but otherwise stuck with my Avene products.
The exfoliating gel wasn’t anything special. But I guess a product can’t have too much “bite” when you use it with a Clarisonic?


Since I ordered from Skinstore, I got 3 free skincare samples. The grey product is a 30 ml handcream and a very generous size for a sample!


Of course since I ordered it directly from the US, I had a problem with the current so I had to order an adaptor from another place.


But even with the price of the Clarisonic + shipping + adaptor + shipping, I saved over 400 SEK over buying it at Kicks! (Plus, I gained 3 free skincare samples where of one is basically a full product size)