Progress with crown braid: today's crown braid is good enough to be left on until I leave home  . I think I'm starting to get hang of this.

My hair care routine now:
Wash&Condition: CWC wash with Body Shop's Olive shampoo and honey conditioner. This is the best combination I've ever used. Once a week hair mask with Wella vitality care&repair mask. Feels good too. Vinegar rinse with white wine vinegar every now and then. Wet combing. Should try VO5 hot oil some day.

Other products: Rose water for everything, jojoba oil for oiling after wash. Aloe vera gel for styling...as well as some hairspray. I don't feel good about using hairspray, but I can't live entirely without it either.

Combing&Brushing: Plastic, very wide toothed comb is enough. No regular brushing. I have a natural bristle brush made from some white hair.  ??? It's softer than boar bristle and won't penetrate my hair. I use it only occassionally after oiling.

Styles: French braid for every night: otherwise French, Dutch and classic braids, cinnamon bun, haven't had a dressy bun for a while.

Necessities: Bun nets, ponytail holders, bobby pins, plastic and metal pins

Toys:Hairsticks are always good...though I haven't worn my cheap ones for a while. Scrunchies are lovely but can be worn at home only. Hairfork.

I don't think I need to make any chance for these routines...everything seems to be working pretty well. My hair looks very healthy and shiny.

My crown braiding practices continue. Today I trier French Crown for a first time. As first attempts usually, the result of this one wasn't pretty. But annoying wispy hairs in front went nicely into the braid, so for that part it looked better than my Dutch versions (which are still far from great, but less bad). So I might concentrate my practicing on this type.

Today I gave myself my "pampering treatment": home facial, vinegar rinse& hairmask treatment at the same time. Now I feel really relaxed and luxurious. ^^

I tried to make a dressy bun for Christmas, and found out that my hair has outgrown that style too. If I make loops, the ends end up being awfully long, and as I don't like messy styles, that style has to go from my list. Have to figure out something new... 

My Maiden's Treasures hairsticks arrived today. Their sticks parts are plain, natural colored wood, and the beads are beautiful. I liked them immediately.  My collection of beautiful hairsticks has grown this month so much...I really have to restrain myself better in future.

But I still love every stick.

I have- but the result looks rather weird. In theory, my hair is long enough for braided bun, but in practice I think it needs to be longer for the result to look good.

Thanks for support, novusfemina  You're right, having beautiful hairsticks helps. I guess I'll have to concentrate in acquiring new ones so I can stay happy until my hair grows a bit more (isn't that just the best excuse... )
I haven't noticed that feeling, maybe because I never wear my hair down, except when I'm washing it. But it would be a small wonder if it didn't do that.

The euro/US dollar development is becoming better everytime from hairstick addict's point of view. There are some beautiful hairsticks in the store right now, but as I won't be able to buy every beautiful pair I find, I've decided to wait until IndividualiStix page and DecoStix page have been updated, before fetching my Visa.

I guess it's time to think of some new year hair resolutions.
1) I'm not going to cut or color or perm.
2) I will not set my foot into a hair salon. I will learn to do my treatments at home with help of my spouse.
3) I'm not going to buy any cheap hair toys (ponytail holders and such necessities aren't toys).
4) When buying hairsticks, I will try to be practical and buy only such sticks that I can expect to use a lot.
5) I will do my best to treat my hair gently.
6) I will restrain my urge to talk about hair outside these boards. I will remember, that most people aren't interested at all about growing hair, hair care or hair toys.

Thanks, strawberryfine!

I checked my split hair situation late yesterday night, and found again lots of splits. I think that the more exotic-looking hairs had damaged at my hairdresser visit, but I'm also beginning to think, that my hair is really fragile and splits very easily. In that case just need to learn to live with it.

And I invented a new bun! I posted the instructions for my figure 8 lookalike bun to my wanted:bun styles thread. I'm happy again, as the result is really quite beautiful. I'm sure that when I reach BSL, I can also do a pretty infinity lookalike bun in same manner.

Grow hair, grow *wonders if self suggestion can make hair grow faster*

My hair isn't yet long enough to be so impressive...though it feels longer when I keep it in a bun. When I take it down to make my night braid, I always feel a little disappointed. I guess I subconsciously believe, that if a person is able to put her hair in a bun, she must have a truly long hair- and when my hair is down, the mirror shows opposite evidence. 

I've been trimming lots of splits again. I guess this time isn't as bad as last (well it shouldn't be, considering all the trouble I went through then). But it's bad enough to make me consider again, whether there are any secret tricks that reduce splitting.

Today I was wearing my green Maiden's Treasure hairsticks at lunch at my spouses' dad. His fiancée was there, and she really grabbed my sticks them while they were still in my head. I was flattered -they are nice hairsticks, after all- but still it felt very unpleasant. I hate it when I have to smile and be polite in a situation like that!