Monday, May 12, 2014

DIY Avocado hair mask

Today, I decided to do a bit of cleaning around the house... Then I decided to pamper myself instead and made a hair mask for my hair..

Growing up, my hair has always been boy cut with spikes till I was 15. Then I grew my hair long for a long time.. When my hair was growing out, some people at uni used to nicknamed me the 'boof' yep! Cos my hair gets really boofy like a lion's mane. After uni, I moved to Melborne and started work and my hair has always been ridiculously short with all sort of reddish tinge throughout.. 

All those bleaching and dying must have really caused havoc to my hair.. I've noticed them thinning considerably and when I started growing it long again.. I realised.. The boof is totally gone ;( *sobs* eventhough I hated the nick, I loved how thick and puffy my hair used to be.. My pride and joy, my lion mane... All gone!

Anyway, I digress.. Hair mask! Supposedly should make your hair super soft and super shiny... I'm going to try a variety of masks with a core ingredient, avocado - full of amino acids, protein, iron, potassion and folic acid.

Ingredients
1/2 a mashed avocado (mash with fork)
1 tsp of honey
1 tsp of extra Virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk (don't waste your egg white.  Use it as a face mask - Great for oily skin!)

Mix all the ingredients and combine.  

Apply on your hair and wear a shower cap for 20 - 30 minutes.  (I used a small plastic bag). I tried once without any covering and my hair felt yucky with all the ingredients drying up on my hair and scalp.. Yuck!

Rinse with lukewarm water and use a mild shampoo and conditioner with cold water.

Your hair should be super shiny! 

Best when you are having a shower and cleaning your bathroom at the same time. Sure does make the 20-30 mins go pretty quick!

Happy Monday, folks!

Xx

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Valborgsmässoafton and 1st of May

I love how the Swedes celebrate so many things.  I have spoken of Midsummer - here and here where we danced around a maypole (phallus symbol) and with yesterday and today.. I thought it's high time I talk a bit more about culture and tradition in Sweden.

30 April is another huge thing in Sweden.  Here we call them Valborgsmässoafton, where we gather around as a group watching a huge bonfire.  In Germany, it's called Walpurgisnact.  Bonfire burning here in Sweden was started as the burning of staked witches but today, the bonfire are lighted to celebrate the ending of Winter and the beginning of Spring.  It's a huge public event where they have different bonfires around different parts of Sweden.  We'll gather around with our loved ones just watching the bonfire.  It is usually pretty cold still and the heat from the fire is quite comforting.

Most people usually work for half the day as the next day, 1st May is a public holiday (International Workers' Day)

Having been here for the past two or three Valborgs, I am really ashamed to say I never had the physical chance of observing the tradition.  Last night I tried attending, but unfortunately as I was at a friend's place having dinner for her boo's b'day, we missed out as when we went out around 9.30pm, turned out the bonfire had ended earlier because it had started drizzling...


Anyway, happy Spring day!!

Xx