Hair....Vinegar and oil...My head is a salad!!!!

Hair update

Hey guys, just updating about my hair since last week I did a skin update.  So, I got on the Apple Cyder Vinegar bandwagon. 

Just  in case you haven't heard, vinegar is supposed to be great for balancing the pH of the scalp (thereby making the scalp more healthy) and smoothing the strands of the shaft of the hair.
 Since I gave up shampoo, I have been looking into other means of cleaning my hair and this seemed to be a good thing to try. Not really seen any wow results yet but as you know, I am a good proponent in the six week wait for anything skin related and I count my scalp as skin also.  So, by the end of the year I will see whether my scalp improves. 

Although the PR for this 'Bragg' brand has been OFF the roof, I checked out the 500ml bottle of the stuff which was priced at £10!!!!
Obviously I am not paying £10 for a vinegar unless it is Cherry Balsamic Vinegar handmade, personally for me by Virgin Monks in Modena. 

And since see no reason why this Bragg brand is any different from any other cider vinegar, I brought a bottle of  Aspall's Organic for £2.99.

Sorted!

My normal after washing (from here on in it will be after vinegar-ing) I use an Aussie deep conditioner for dry/damaged hair.

I have decided to buy grapeseed oil for my hair too, giving up all petroleum based products for my hair, I will stick to oiling my scape with natural oils and oils or Rosemary and Yarrow.

For daily care I use African Pride Shea Butter Miracle silky hair moisturiser.  It weighs my hair beautifully especially after a wash out and it is much more 'natural' than other similar products on the market. 

So, I will keep you updated on how it all goes.  Loving being proactive about my hair and skin.

Now for another acid peel on my skin....wish me luck!!!!






*Please note, I have not been paid for posting these links or talking about any product ever.  This is just my opinion only and what I honestly use day to day.

Working out again....plus skin at 24hrs post peel

Ok just finished my burlesque workout, I am starting with that as it is a touch easier than the bellydance fusion and I am more familiar with it. 
Firstly, I am surprised how much I could keep up with, besides the kicks which is always tough for me, I did everything from beginning to end despite a three year break.  I feel really warmed up and flexible now, my back feels great (had another hard night with the baby taking over the bed - result, terrible backache) and I had forgotten how great the endorphine rush from cardio feels.  I really enjoy it since I am not eating chocolate at the moment.

Skin update

My skin feels lovely and soft, not at all sore any more.  The feeling of soreness only lasted about ten minutes anyway.I don't want to count my chickens, but my face does seem a bit more even toned, but I will be able to make a much better comparison in six weeks.

Marginalisation, Racism and Exclusion - The politicisation of Beauty

Well that did not take long.  A mere few hours after I posted the link yesterday about this Tumblr with a nice diversity of women on it, this asshat from FB posted this reaction to the picture of this girl.

that chick not look like the woman or people of the Tolkien universe, because she is like black people, her nose and mouth and hair are of black people, this is not a matter of racism, maybe some people thing like this but is not, everyone that read any thing of tolkien universe will realise that is a white people saga, and that is the truth, in Japan there are samurai saga´s and are extraordinary, in China also like the tales of Monkey King and the ancient Emperors and many sagas that are extraordinary also, in Africa there are a lot of heroes and tales about black people like Shaka Zulu and other and are very good, so why white people not have their own extraordinary saga? this is not a matter of racism, I hope that understand the point

Yes dude I understand your point and yes your point IS a matter of racism.

And every single time someone says 'this is not YOUR story, your Elves, YOUR Princesses'...you are marginalising people and that is racist.

Here is a Fairytale for you.

Once upon a time, there was a young black girl living with relatives in a quiet little suburb where nothing much happened.  But once in a while, a marching band came by, the band was very colourful, with their silver Uniforms and their big tasselled hats, but what stood out to the girl was the amazing Majorette who led the band and her awe inspiring twirls of the baton.  "Auntie, Auntie, can 'I be a Majorette?  Please?????"   She asked her Aunt, with all the hope of youth and innocence about what it actually entailed.
"No, they don't let black people do that"  Said her Aunt, with all the authority one would expect from an adult who grew up in a different time.

Was this the American South under Jim Crow?  No, it was London in the 80's and I have no doubt  there was no colour bar with the marching band, it was just black people simply did not do it, not that they were not ALLOWED to but of course, I believed her.

Sadly my aunt who said that has passed away and with her passing goes any opportunity to discuss that issue with her and the effect it might have had on my confidence to feel that I could do anything I wanted to do.  But that is just what the expectations were for them, you just couldn't do everything you wanted to because "they" would not "let" you in. It killed that dream.  How many other girls have dreams crushed like that?  How many well meaning adults are still crushing dreams?

Exclusion, it is a subtle form of racism but so insidious, how many little girls thought they couldn't be Princesses because of it?  How many didn't look like Cinderella or Rapunzel so thought they looked stupid in the dress because they had the wrong skin colour?  Of course we now have Tiana, Tiana is ours.  So WHY would we EVER want to dress like Cinderella EVER!!!!  Don't you know we were kind enough to make Tiana for you???

So here I am Elficising myself (Yes I just made it up) and of course overjoyed for anything that I can be inspired by, that page was heavensent and then someone had to go and diss it, because they woman was not white.  Also devaluing her by not even referring to her as a girl or a woman but a 'chick' and pointing out her black features to other her even more.

I am just so grossed out by people sometimes.

But maybe there is hope for the future?

Updates: Ethnic Elves and dietary changes

So, someone posted this tumblr page on the Elves FB group.  What I like about it is that it is very diverse,

which is SO rare in pictures of Tolkien inspired Elves.  I mean, I understand, I am not unreasonable.  He wrote those books at a different time and Middle Earth as a Europe Expy.  (Am I not merciful?)  So, you know, I don't bust a blood vessel every time someone does fan art of cosplay of a grey elf with white blonde hair (any more than I would moan about (yet another) hot pale vampire with long jet black hair (Oh noes, there is a really sexually attractive vampire..gosh darn it!).  Galadriel (as played by Cate Blanchett is pretty, I get that, Lee Pace's Thranduil is attractive)  the blonde Elves look good, but that doesn't mean that we can't look beautiful, otherwordly and mystical also.

So, my daughter is on a vegan and soya free diet all of November and because I have not managed to wean her entirely (I know, I know, I am a total hypocrite 2.5 years IS waaaaay too long) I have to be vegan and soya free also.  Though I don't believe she has a true allergy to either of these things I think it best to do it and take it seriously, I don't want to be using steroid creams on her for years, it will seriously damage her skin, so it is best to check and see if a difference.  So this will be a good time to kick start my diet, seeing as I am going to be Vegan anyway.  Though to be fair a lot of my snack foods ARE vegan (lots of vegan biscuits out there and I love pretzels, popcorn etc).  I think as long as I increase the vegetable matter and decrease the bread, it will do me a lot of good.  In general my skin is pretty good and my hair looks lovely, it is soft and the braid outs are looking very pretty now that my hair  has grown a bit.  I don't think it will be long enough by June to wear it as is, but I am happy to say the determination to keep my hair natural and NOT heat treat it is paying off in spades!

New name, new purpose!

OK, I am going to do something I have not done before.  I am going to set myself a public target and I am BRICKING it!!!  a bit anxious.

I am afraid of failure, I am afraid that I will be public
ly humiliated by all of the 2 people that read this blog a year!  But I want this SO much, that I am willing to put myself out there for it.

So, as I have finally come through the fog of babyhood and my toddler is soon to go to nursery part time, I feel I need to take a good harsh look at my body start working on it.  I can't keep using post partum as an excuse two years on (yes I know I have written this before, but now I have a target) My target happens to be an event I have mentioned before, the Three Wishes Fairy Fest  

It is in mid June next year.

My aim is to be THE most awesomest of Elven Mothers there and anyone who has seen me dressed up the the Beer tent or at a Georgian ball KNOWS I can make this work.  I have eleven months and I am going to work my butt off.

Here is a black Elf as inspiration...she is so beautiful......so, it is countdown. I will be chronically my processes including dietary changes, hair, clothing and make up inspirations.  I will take pictures and I will post a comparison photo at the end.  If I fail, than I fail but I won't because I am a stubborn cow to be sure!

Make up and beauty

Just posted this on my FB and wanted to put it in here too.  I am particularly interested in the eyebrow style.

I am currently growing my (albeit fairly threadbare) brows out, my friend is going to shape them and I want her to find a more 50's shape than the modern shaping one tends to get with the threading.

Fortnightly check in

I finished my two week teeth lightening 'treatment'  It worked well and my teeth look fab.  Not artificially sparkling white, just back to normal ivory and not having that weird green tea tinge they have acquired over the years since my green tea habit began.

I am not seeing much change to my face but I will give it more time, you never know.

The biggest change has been what the juicing is doing to my milk supply, I feel so abundant and now I just can't seem to get the babe off my teats!  It is a bit regressive as she is actually supposed to be reducing her feeding and having more food. But I don't know whether the extra nutrition is making my milk taste simply yummy or what but she can't get enough of it. 

I know weaning is going to be really, really hard with this one!

When tradition and worldview collide.....

It would be fair to say that most of the people I know are not religious and yet they are the most ardent celebrants of that most Christian Festival of Jesus's birth.
Now I am not going to discuss how to have a splendid vintage Hanukkah or some such, that was already covered by our lovely Glamorous Vintage Housewife, Bethany over on her blog

(As an aside, I really do appreciate how much more they incorporate a Holiday 'Season' that includes other religions, over here we don't really have that and sadly, that means a lot less appreciation of diversity. )

But  instead I am going to talk about how my deep seated Victoriana self is triggered at Christmas, let it just be known that there isn't a version of 'A Christmas Carol' that I have ever missed!  This season to me speaks of Plum puddings, wood fires, parlour games by candlelight, and, of course lovely, lovely Victorian frocks.

When my daughter was little, we took her to the Rochester Dickens Festival that happens every year, I went dressed up in my rather proper green bonnet, green velveteen jacket (with black trim) and Campbell (I think) Tartan skirt (hooped petticoats).  I was disappointed by the half hearted costumes by some of the locals but I must admit that most people were very well dressed!  I even met three lovely Rochester ladies when I was running my Victorian group.

So what happens when you love THE most traditional of Christmas imagery but do not celebrate it yourself?

I still have not found the best way to handle this conundrum, but until I find it, I will just keep enjoying my Dickensian scenes

And enjoy whichever new version of A Christmas Carol I happen to come across every year!!

Fantasy costuming

Have I mentioned some of my favourite shows for costumes recently?

I am not a big fan of the Beebs 'Merlin'  it is a little bit juvenile for my tastes, I am more a 'Excalibur' type of girl but the outfits they suit up Morgana and Guinevere with are, frankly, amazing, especially Morgana who tends to be dressed in bold, primary colours which resonate with the Goth side of me!!!  I am also totally in love with the American show, Once upon a time, set in Modern day small town Maine and also Fairytaleland. Some of the gowns worn by Big Love Alumni Ginnifer Goodwin are Lush! Although she rarely wears them, Snow  is more often seen in leathers, yep this version of Snow White is not a helpless Maid but actually kicks some butt!!!  Rock on Warrior women!!!!!

Guinevere

Snow

Morgana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I would love to re-structure my Intentional Community along Fairytale lines. Tourism income plus a life less ordinary and a bit more magical....bliss!!!!

Half moon nails

As some vintage gals may know, the fashion of the 40s (I am unsure of when it ended or indeed started, was to paint ones nails and leave the pale half moon semi circle by the cuticle unpainted.  Now I heard about this years ago in my 1940s hairstyles book which I brought when I was still re-enacting.  However I made a right hash of them and gave up.
Yesterday I happened to see a picture on the lovely Glamorous Housewife's blog of the fabulous Dita with her glorious red nails done this way, coupled with some advice on how to do this nail trick in the latest issues of Vintage Life Magazine.  I thought I may give it another go.  Luckily for me, this time I am armed with some nail art pens, the pens have two ends, one a narrow brush and the other a metal pipette.  I used the pipette to draw a border over the semi-circle and then painted up to the border...so viola!

So, not perfect my any means but not bad for my first go with the nail art pens.  What do you all think?