Fluffy Odango Hairstyle Without Teasing

Voluminous hairstyles are often achieved through copious amounts of teasing (backcombing), but it can damage fine or already-damaged hair even further!  It also requires careful brushing at the end of the day to untangle the teasing without tearing or breaking your hair.

This hairstyle can be done as a single fluffy bun, double odango (buns), or even half-up fluffy buns!  Though if your hair is long like mine, you may need to make two segments in the twintails when you do a half-up.  I will make a note in the instructions for this!

I found this to be quite easy, though I do suggest you use a mirror.  Because I was taking photos in the 3-season porch, I had no mirror ^^; That is why my hair ends up a bit messy, but I hope you can understand the main idea!

Tools:

• hair ties
• bobby pins
• corkscrew pins (optional, but VERY helpful!)
• hair decorations (ribbons, clips, pearls, scrunchies, etc.)

Directions:

Start by putting your hair up in twintails where you want the buns to be.  You can also do this as one large bun, or one or two half-up buns.

Tie another hair tie at the end of one ponytail.  If you have layers, try to tie it at the end of the shortest layer so you don't get frizzies.

If you have very long hair or are doing this as a half-up, you may need to tie two extra hair ties instead of one; tie the first halfway down the tail, and then the second towards the end.

Form a hole in the middle of the hair between the two hair ties and flip the ponytail end through two times.

Once you have the ponytail flipped, grab small bunches of hair at the outside edges and gently pull to loosen the twisted hair, making it full and fluffy.  This is what gives you the volume! 

Now that you've got your desired fluffiness, form a bun as usual by wrapping the tail around the base elastic.  Make sure to tuck the tail in at the end so the straight parts don't show!

Secure your bun either with a corkscrew shape pin, or with several bobby pins.  The corkscrew shape is really easy to use and secure!  It also allows me to use more bobby pins for the fine-tuning later as they won't be fighting for space with all the other bobby pins I'd have to use just to secure the bun if I didn't have the corkscrew one!

Almost done!  Sorry this photo is difficult to see detail, but dark hair is difficult to photograph and I don't have a hair light >_<;;

Pull and arrange the fluffy bits of your bun to a shape you like and secure it with bobby pins.  I used brightly-colored hair ties to make them easy to see, so I had to make sure to cover them up with my hair fluff.  Of course it is better to use hair ties that are clear or match your hair color!

If you do not use a mirror, you may end up looking a bit wonky like this:

Decorate with whatever you like!  I tend to use lacy scrunchies as they help cover up any tails or elastic I failed to hide, are quick and easy and secure, and I feel like they help hold the buns in place as well.

This is a nice hairstyle for warmer months if you want to keep your hair off your neck.  I find that this is both faster and fluffier than doing a braided bun as the braiding takes more time, and even with fluffing, the braid is flatter that this flipped version.

Experiment with pearls or gems on pins, ribbons woven in, clips, hair combs, etc.  Remember that you can also add cute clips or colored hair pins to the back of your head!  Or perhaps a light veil or trailing crystals?  Use your creativity!

Please let me know if this was helpful at all!  I originally had filmed it as a video but the footage was unclear and I couldn't edit it to make it better so I redid it as a photo tutorial instead.  Thank you for reading and commenting as always! Let me know if you have any fun ideas for how to decorate odango looks :3

Kawaii Face Masks!

A bit of a late post now, what with my poor Natto baby's health these past weeks, but I am still happy to share these lovely Lolita face masks!

Face masks are quite common in East Asia, so I'd wondered previously why there were no reusable Brand masks from fashion brands!  We do have fun disposable ones, but they tend to be cartoon characters, animal print, etc.  Now you can truly coordinate your entire outfit by having the same fabric!

I first saw some Innocent World masks on Misako's YouTube channel, and went to instagram to see more!

Atelier Pierrot posted some contoured masks with a really sweet strawberry print I love~

Even the ear hooks are ruffled!

Gyaru brand Secret Honey has some cute masks that would work with Lolita outfits as well.  Cherries are always a good motif to have!

My favorite, hands-down, is the adorable mask from my favorite brand BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT which features not only cherries and flowers, but Usakumyachan and Kumakumyachan!!!!

Unfortunately it seems you cannot choose the mask print for BABY's novelty fair... maybe they can make more masks in the future, though!

Restrictions are lifting as I write this, though some places still require face masks.  Social distancing, though voluntary, seems to be enforced at the shops I have been to.

The weather is improving, and I find myself wishing Natto had lived just a bit longer so I could have gotten him a harness and let him  outside again.  I'm certain the ground squirrels and birds in the yard are glad that I didn't let him out though ^_~  He's a hunter!

How are things where you are?  Hope you are all staying safe!

Eternal Rest for Natto Baby

Unfortunately Natto passed away on May 15, 2020

He had been unwell for three days, lethargic and struggling to find a comfortable position to rest/breathe in.

Then on the afternoon of the 15th, he suddenly got up and seemed completely normal for several hours.

He tried to eat a bit and hopped up onto the bed with me (I had been working) to snuggle and get scritches

He bopped me with his head and nose as usual.  His dry nose was wet again and he kept snuggling up and pressing his face against mine.

He flopped for belly rubs. He loves belly rubs.  He's a dog cat, really

He also booped me with his snoot.  Sometimes when I reach out to boop him with my finger he'll stick his nose into my finger first.  He also boops me on the nose with his nose.  I don't remember which of us started doing that first, but it's a thing we do :P

i stopped working and put on some YouTube to play in the background while we snuggled.

Then we got up when Andy came over (I'd asked him to pick up broth for Natto as he had refused food for three days) and fed Natto some broth.  He walked around as usual, looked out side at the world, and watched Andy and I set up the 3-season porch to be a work area for me.

Later, I was streaming Luigi's Mansion 3 on Twitch when he cried out.  Unfortunately he did not make it through the night, we were unable to find a vet to come euthanize him, and he passed away.  It was rather horrible, really.  He'd lost use of his hind legs and later lost control of his lower body entirely and then his body seemed to seize up on him slowly until he died.

The worst part is, this is likely because he was out of his heart medication so his heart, which is weak, was not pumping blood to his body effectively which caused it to shut down from the extremities upward.   And he was out of his heart medication because the vet had not responded to the refill orders I'd placed.  I'd called the refill line when he ran out, though got no response.  So I looked online and filled out a refill form.  The pharmacy replied to let me know they had put the refill order in the day I called, but the doctor had not responded.  Without his heart medication for two weeks, Natto's heart couldn't pump enough blood to keep him alive.

So that's a bit of a rant.  I've been crying for four days now and am exhausted.  Andy took me to drop Natto off at a crematorium.  The gentlemen there were very kind, grandfatherly folk.

I wish he could have survived until my birthday, but I hope he no longer suffers his breathing problems (congestive heart failure causes fluid to build up in the body cavity and compress the lungs because the body increases blood volume to make up for lack of pumping and it causes excess fluid to leak)

Some posts I had in the works will again, be delayed, sorry.  They may not even be timely by the time I post them but ah well.

Thank you for reading, commenting, and sticking with me throughout this time.  Keeping myself distracted is a part of what keeps me going.

Natto Baby PERSISTS!

HE LIVES!  Well, for now. Natto pulled through; the emergency vet at the university was able to drain 200ml of fluid from his chest and prescribe him some medication to keep him going.  Unfortunately, his heart condition has worsened since they last saw him a year ago.  He has very advanced congenital heart failure, as well as blood clots in his heart.  The medications he's on now will help keep fluid out of his chest cavity, help his heart pump more strongly, and help prevent blood clots.

Bald spot from where he was shaved so the fluid could be drained

Getting him to take the medication was a HUGE struggle.  Tried everything I could find online, and have settled for crushing the pills (they are chewables and also supposed to be cut) and mixing with milk and butter and smearing it on his paws. He is very upset by it, but will groom it off.  Honestly, I may buy a syringe so I can shoot it down his throat in one go -_-;

Extremely grateful for all the kind and sweet comments! He's still such a sweet boy and comes for cuddles and boops his nose on my nose and all that good stuff.

I also filmed a hair tutorial but I'm using a different video editing software and cannot figure out how to sync the audio and video O_Q  So that will be coming.... EVENTUALLY!!!

Thank you everybody for sticking around and for commenting!

Took a much-needed bubble bath with my teddy bear to relax -_-;