Hair. Last wash was Thursday night, a full wash with ACV. It's getting longer, I can tell... but it's also getting heavier in the updos. Strangely enough it feels less thick. I get almost three coils right now into a cinnabun but they all get progressively smaller so I haven't been able to successfully make a clover bun. A balanced painless cinnabun is getting difficult, and even worse is the figure-8. I'd hate to trim some hair off. The orchid bun is okay, but it keeps slipping out, which means I need to practice more, and the swirly bun is what I was trying to do when I discovered the orchid. Still haven't gotten the swirly to work yet, but right now I'm experimenting with different combinations of the rosebud bun (the bun around a bun) and the bunnytail.

Allergies are terrible right now. The bush outside the window has been hacked to death. I'm seriously thinking of getting Claritin or Alavert, or some kind of nondrowsy non prescription medication for hayfever. any nondrowsy suggestions welcome.

Work has been wonderful - Boss is hoping to give me the reins to be a CMS administrator ::fingers crossed::

Vacation/Business trip was a success, as usual I mixed both business and pleasure. I also met this amazing guy. This time there are sparks, and I've known his family for more than 15 years without knowing the guy himself... but it turns out we get along extremely well. Unfortunately he's two time zones away, but with some trips I think this might work.

i haven't been around in ages ... your hair looks so much longer in your avatar! i should go check out your old diary  8)
nice to hear you've got a great job. 

Thanks Curlgirl and Styg

Did you apply it for color, or just for conditioning?

Hey everyone

It's been so long since the last real hair board time. I've been doing my semi-supervisor's job while he's been on vacation and scoring a lot of extra hours.

On Thursday night I did a full henna with about 1.5 cup of final mixed henna goo.

75 grams of henna

1/4 cup vinegar

a bit of hot water

all the lemon juice I had left which was about 1 tbsp

The color wasn't as brilliant as the June session but that's because I didn't use much henna powder (and ran out of lemon juice anyways). but the shine and the scent have been great. Topped it off with Suave BioBasics and that was that.

Trimmed about 1.5 inches off in the past couple weeks, which puts me back at Tailbone.

I have to go shop for professional clothes and hopefully will catch up on hair board stuff later.

Thanks Khrome for the allergy med recs Maggie, it was for color. Love you all

Anais

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't been around. It's been a busy past few months.

I've been offered a job (edited to remove specifics)

massive amount of delayed spring cleaning

revamping my entire wardrobe to be more professional, more crisp, and more flowy skirts.

cooking, kid care, house stuff, gardening (new sunflowers on the way!)

painting, adding to my jazz collection

reading Jasper Fforde fiction

filling up a physical sketchbook instead of journaling by computer. I've been avoiding the computer while not at work.

Henna log:
May 19 2006
June 22 2006
- the A section and half of the B section of the New York Times.  
- 1 pair of vinyl gloves
- about 85 grams of henna (previously I'd posted 175 but that was wrong)
- a little less than 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup juice from a very sour orange
- about 1 tbsp ACV
- enough water to q.s everything to 1.5 cups henna goo
July 20 2006
- I did a full henna with about 1.5 cup of final mixed henna goo.
- 75 grams of henna
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- a bit of hot water
- all the lemon juice I had left which was about 1 tbsp
August 13 or 14 2006
- about 100 grams of henna powder
- 1/2 cup of undiluted lime juice
- about 1/4 cup hot water
This was the best mix. I got the richest darkest stain because this time I had a lot of lime.

State of my hair: At this point, my hair seems to be permanently reddish... I could probably stop hennaing for awhile but it's too fun to stop. I've reached 37 inches which turned out to be 2 inches away from classic length. I haven't taken any pictures that have turned out ok, mostly from bad lighting.

As for the amount of henna I've been using, it's different every time not just because of the amount of lemon juice I have available, but because of a lucky error. Originally I hadn't read the label and thought all the pouches were 100 grams, so I thought I was using 200 grams at some point when I was only using 100. My goal each time was to get about 1.5 cups of goo.

I think it's possible to use less henna and still get good color as long as you use a higher amount of lemon/lime compared to hot water, and wait longer for dye release. I use less henna powder but end up with more applications, so it probably balances out in the end. I really enjoy henna for the scent, so I chose to stick with using a little bit of henna at a time, doing so frequently.

Very interesting you said that about the scent,Anais,I had to terp my henna with lavender and sage and brown coffee!!   The whole thing was 300 grams of henna and 300 grams of indigo.  I froze what was left over and am waiting for Catherine to send me 100 grams of indigo to mix with the frozen sutff.  I love the darker color,but didn't get full coverage nor the grays totally covered so I'll try again when the indigo comes.  I'd rather not have red highlights,but deep burgundy highlights!  Trial and error!!