Pinterest Addiction: Cocoa Hair Mask

Unlike a lot of professional internet surfettes, I don't have a tumblr or a twitter. I don't do video posts/blogs. I don't have a Wordpress blog. BUT I do have a Pinterest, which can be quite bedazzling to behold.

I have to limit my time on the blasted thing, because I spend more time looking at pins to do than actually doing them. I've decided that I should try to do at least one pin a week.

Some background on this particular post... I've been dying to change up my hair lately. I'm growing it out, but it's reached the dreaded "half point" where it's not really long, not really medium length, and lacks any interest. There was a point where I was ready to chop it for a pixie cut and dye it Christina Hendricks Red, but then I remembered that I need to have it long and "natural" colored for Gettysburg.

Such a pretty color!!!!

I mulled on the ideas of cutting and dying for a week now and I've decided I won't cut it until after Gettysburg, and red is really hard to make convincing. Sigh. Stuck with my hair as is.
I trimmed the dead ends, and then came across a pin regarding naturally darkening your hair with cocoa. O.O I think I can handle that!

This is the pin I ran across... it calls for regular cocoa, but of course, in my infinite wisdom (note: sarcasm) I changed it a little bit. I'd like to darken the ends of my hair or darken it all to a deeper shade. Soooo this was the recipe I ended up concocting:

1/2 c. Natural Yogurt (I used Chobani)
1/3 c. Black/Dark Cocoa
3 Tbs Regular Cocoa
2 tsp  Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp  Honey
1 tsp  Olive Oil
Plastic Wrap or a Shower Cap

Mix all the ingredients together and apply to wet hair. Secure hair in a bun, cover with plastic wrap or shower cap and let sit for 1-3 hours.
According to the original post/recipe, the yogurt is supposed to open up the hair so it can accept the darker color, and the vinegar acts as a mordant to lock the color in.

that's pretty dang dark.

I kind of panicked after I mixed up the recipe. It's SUPER dark and I was feeling kind of like Anne Shirley.... "He said it would turn my hair a beautiful raven black--he positively assured me that it would."


 *cue nervousness* So here's my hair before I put on the stuff:

You can see it's kinda blah as a cut, and I don't want a blanket color for it, I'd just like to liven it up a bit and darken the ends.

Now, I didn't realize this was going to be a paste when I started this project. I figured it would be more like a watery solution to comb through the hair, so I doubled the recipe as I always do (my hair is both thick and long-ish). In order to get this stuff to get to all of the hair, I had to wet my hair to begin with, then apply the paste. Make sure you're naked and in the bathtub, with the shower curtain drawn.... the stuff gets EVERYWHERE.

It feels pretty weird, I gotta say.

Real fun, real fun.

I put my hair in a top-knot and covered it with plastic wrap. Make sure to keep a damp washrag with you to wipe off any that decides to run down your face or neck. I was sweating with the plastic wrap on my head, which led to some drizzles.

I left it on for 3 hours then washed my hair like normal. I had to scrub my shower after it was washed out, because it looks like I had massacred a chocolate bunny. Thankfully it didn't stain my tub, which was my biggest concern. I blow dried my hair, then went to bed because it was late, but managed a picture the next morning.

Morning face! Yay!

Slightly off color view of hair.

So what did I think of this whole thing?
Well, my hair was REALLY shiny, which was nice. But it wasn't as soft and had a tendency to tangle more than the oil, vinegar, and honey rinses I have done in the past.

Did it do what I wanted it to?
No. I was after this mask to darken my hair, and it did the opposite. The ends of my hair are now a little brighter and almost reddish in color. I can see it working great for someone who's hair is real brown, but my hair is a brown black, so fading into a reddy-brown isn't what I had in mind. The second picture above is closer to the color of the ends than the picture before it.

Would I do this again?
Nope. I wanted darker, and got lighter. I may go back to the coffee soaks I did in high school, they actually did darken my hair really well.

Photo Friday

 "Woman Seen from the Back" ca 1862, Paris, France
 This is a really wonderful backview of a woman's hair, dress and necklace. I find it to be really educational since this is a rare seen view of a real woman from the period.

Salted Paper Print from Glass Negative, ca 1862, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Here's the description from the Met:

"A wealthy amateur photographer and a familiar figure at the French imperial court, the viscount Onésipe-Gonsalve Aguado de Las Marismas joined the Société Française de Photographie in 1858. With his better-known brother Olympe, a founding member of the society, Onésipe Aguado was among the early makers of photographic enlargements. The two brothers also collaborated on tableaux vivants that depict with wit and playfulness the fads and amusements of elegant society.
At once a portrait, a fashion plate, and a jest, this fascinating image expresses Aguado's whimsical mood, and is probably an extension of his work on foreshortening. It is strangely devoid of depth, as if the sitter were a two-dimensional cutout, a mere silhouette. The figure brings to mind the compositions of such painters as Caspar David Friedrich and René Magritte, both of whom made haunting use of figures seen from the back."

Snow White

This year for the Athens Block Party I dressed up as Snow White!

 I set my hair about 2 hours before with roller pins. I did exaggerated fingerwaves at the front and barrel curls at the back, alternating direction with each row. After I combed through it with my fingers it was extremely easy to put up.

I already had the skirt, which is a corduroy circle skirt, and I made the rest the day before-day of. I wore the costume with my Blue Stays and made the bodice + stomacher out of Navy moleskin upholstery stuff (with a piece of yarn to give the yellow line at the front). The sleeves are tiny little puffs of light blue poly lining fabric and tufts of red chiffon. The Ruff is a piece of stiff curtain lining (from the drapes I used for my Ophelia 1910's bodice) with a small channel sewn in to house wire from a white wire hanger. My apple was a ball of yarn with a scrap of green fabric for the leaf

Photo Friday

© Bridgeman Art Library / Rafael Valls Gallery, London, UK
Painted by J. Mulnier

Today's Photo Friday is going of an 18th century woman with a ridiculously huge hat.... but I want it.

Have a great weekend!

Pincurl Hair Trial #1

I like vintage styles and have never heavily experimented with the ways to achieve it.One look I really like is Diane Kruger's hairstyles in Inglourious Basterds. But, she's blonde and her hair is nowhere near as thick as mine.

If only...

Another option is curlier, more Marilyn in style; but my hair is far longer and thicker than hers:

Sooooo cute

This hairdo is really cute too, but I would have to the style a little longer than hers.

So where do all these styles start? Curls. Does my hair curl well? No. It does not. My hair does not hold curl for more than 2 hours, even when wet setting it. I also, have never found a good method of curling it. There always seems to be something weird about it, be it only curls at the very bottom, or random pieces of hair that didn't curl at all. So, I've been doing a lot of digging on the internet and I found this tutorial (by Tami at My Moving Finger Writes) and smacked myself for not thinking of it before. Barrel Curls!

So, on tuesday night at about 2am I set out to make these happen. With my hair still damp I put my entire head in barrel curls and slept in them for the night with a vintage silk scarf. The next morning I took pictures:

Here's the silk scarf!

The silk scarf really kept my curls from getting disheveled and frizzy. I was so surprised 

Then I lightly combed through with my fingers and voila! Pretty curls like I've never had before!

!!!!!

Since I've finally found a good curling technique, I'm going to have to work on styling them, be it loose finger waves or what. But I'll keep you posted!