Going back to 505

[smokingboot]

All the below shows is the obvious re the Arctic Monkeys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWHkR4O8cyc

This weekend saw us in the company of chums november_girl and ephraim. It became a throwback to the old days of november_girl's flat, where folk would eat, drink and pass out, usually leaving larians and november_girl to sit and talk til dawn, only to wake much later at the behest of a late lunch/football match/whatever.

I'm having a minor regression myself. Gone is this year's earlier sparkly-nailed, sunkissed boot, not quite golden tan streaks down her arm, not quite blonde streaks in her hair. The nails have come off, and I've decided they need a rest, so now all that's left are my own chunky little nails painted ruby, like a punk rocker's kid sister. The so-called tan has gone with the so-called summer, and the hair?

Ah well, the hair. I decided to take a leaf from a certain velvet_the_cat and try Lush Shop's henna powder, branded by Lush's happy marketers as 'Caca' because that's what it looks like. Some joke.


See, I remember henna powder; you mixed it up into a hot paste and put it on your head which you then put in hot towels and applied constant heat to; the more heat, the redder the result.

Well,in the local Lush cosmetics shop, they recommended mixing it up, slapping it on hot, wrapping the whole thing in cling film and leaving it for 1 and a half to two hours. I left it on for 3, busying myself cleaning the sink, the bath and walls, taps and doors within a 25 yard perimeter of total environment boot. I admit, I enjoyed scaring my love by walking round with a clingfilm head and binliner dress, green goo dripping all down my shoulders, but that was as far as the fun went. Then I spent an hour trying to rinse this rubbish out of my hair, little bits of grit still clinging to my scalp after four shampoo applications. The result?

Matt brown hair. All streaks and all natural shine gone too. It was later explained to me by the people at Lush that the strange lacklustre quality might have been due to the clove oil they put in to make it shine. Clove oil? that's for toothache isn't it? The brownness may have been due to coco powder, they said. Coco powder? In henna? Why would I want to dye my hair in coco? So much for lovely red hair. They said I should have left it on for 5 hours, and tried to offer me another block of their 'finest persian henna', but I don't think so; my scalp is still itching from this debacle. I took my money back instead. I'll be rinsing my hair in rosemary tea made from my own herbs grown out the back; it won't make my hair red but at least it will help recover the shine. Lush henna? Caca indeed.



So right now, the person in the mirror is a brown haired white skinned freckled woman with stubby nails. Well, my rota starts again next week, and I will sparkle this up as appropriate, cos I love that aspect of my work, but today I also like what I see. Been thinking about the past recently. Have decided to keep the good bits.
Now, back to 505.

Comments

[velvet-the-cat.livejournal.com]

How odd. The rinsing I agree is hard work, but the lack of shine? Strange.

Sorry it's not worked for you honey.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

*grins* Don't be sorry, it was an adventure! You should have seen larians backing away from me. He's a brave man, but even his heart quailed. The cats just hid.

[clawbeast.livejournal.com]

lol hugs :D

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

LOL! Thank you, but would you hug me in a bin liner with my head covered in cowpat?

Take your time on this one:-D

[clawbeast.livejournal.com]

Do I get a bin liner to wear while doing it? If the answer is yes, then probably, if no, then it is more of a virtual hug :D

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

A virtual binliner for a virtual hug! Thankfully the cowpat is virtual too:-D

What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I admit, I enjoyed scaring my love by walking round with a clingfilm head and binliner dress, green goo dripping all down my shoulders, but that was as far as the fun went.

Zo. Tell me: how ovten do you haff zees flashbagks to 1976. Hnn?

Re: What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

It could have been much worse.

Re: What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Gott in Himmel!

Re: What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Put me off zoider cider for decades, right up until trying Magners with ice earlier this year.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

What shampoo did you use to wash it out with?

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

My first attempts were with Tresemme's Vitamin C deep cleansing shampoo for 'build up and pollutants.' Clearly this impressive remit does not include mud shingle thick enough to coat the barnacles of a margate trawler. So when I took my distastrous head back to Lush, they gave me a tiny plastic carton of their citric shampoo, 'I Love Juicy' which got rid of the grit, but has not recovered the shine.

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Weird. Henna reacts really strangely with a lot of things (notably anti dandruff shampoo, wherein it turns pink) but I've never heard of not being able to get it out before. (Fnar).

My herbal says that a wash of rosemary and lemon should restore the shine, but you probably knew that already. I'm sure you're still gorgeous.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, all I am sure of right now is that I am not very bright!

I don't think the henna would have been a problem to remove, had it not been bound into my hair by the power of that villainous clove oil, also the culprit for the matted result. I have no idea what that stuff is in the mix for. They say it's to add shine, but henna will do that beautifully all by itself; the addition mars rather than makes, I feel.

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

It was lovely to see you both - we both had a great time. However, I must point out that it wasn't quite getting light by the time we turned in, although that may have had more to do with the clouds than our timing. And I was far more sober than I think I ever was when entertaining at my flat - quite refreshing really. Do I sound like a morally upright citizen now?

Journey back took nearly 3 hours, so a slight improvement on the way up, but not much!

Thanks for a lovely weekend...

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Glad the journey back was better. Regarding moral uprightness, I just think you are finding new ways to combine Rad, Trad and Bad:-)

[squintywitch.livejournal.com]

The only way to recapture sunkissed Boot is to go on holiday again. LARP squad wine tour the revenge!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

It must be done!

I have 3 bottles of bubbly in the fridge and no real ability to do anything. Where shall we go first?

[squintywitch.livejournal.com]

Turkey... Cappadocia... Constantinople... Caves...

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

*sigh* That will be quite a tour, and I feel it becoming a reality too.

Not that Turkish wine won't wreak fearsome rewengee of its own...

[imthelorax22.livejournal.com]

I love putting henna in my hair!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

I used to love it too! There was a brand of henna powder called 'Henara' which was very reliable. No coco powder or oil of cloves! Now Henara shampoos and conditioners are easy to find, the powders much less so. If you know of a trusty brand I can buy online, I would be very grateful to hear about it:-)