Wednesday, May 06, 2015

henna and temporary insomnia.

Kak teh (zaharah othman of  choc a block blog) together with Ailin (of Ailin from Aalborg) made a call for many of us former bloggers to kickstart our old blog again.

Really not much left to say as most of them have been said on my FB.

But of course, many things have happened since i last blogging actively. More nephews and nieces, only 3 of us siblings yet to get married, and getting more and more friends on FB.


Yeah i mention FB  for the third time now. That is how avid FB user I am.

Anyways....

There is a reason why we have to pay a certain amount of charge to pay people who does your hair, nails both manicure and pedicure , facial for skin care,  tailor your clothes, massages,  what not.

Well, in as much as I love to do some of them myself, sometimes it can be a messy business.

And so it happens on Saturday night when i decided to apply henna to my hair. I have tried doing it myself once before and i messed up a lot of things : my pillow case, my hair towel and not to mention my own finger nails. So after all that first episode of the henna drama, this time i thought i am more prepared. So there i was preparing everything necessary for my 2nd henna experiment:

1. a pair of transparent disposable kitchen gloves
2. a small comb, foldable one i got from airplane kit
3. a spoon and an empty tub to mix the henna powder from the satchet
4. a small cup half filled with water.


First i took a shower, wash my hair with shampoo and conditioner. Done.

With my hair still towel dry damp,  I picked the gloves and wore them gently so that they wouldn't tear. I began mixing the henna powder in the tub. This time i am very careful to add water bit by bit only and stir up the powder gently to create a liquidy paste. Not too thick and not too thin.

Things were going as planned. Not bad me. So the subsequent task was to apply those henna on my hair. See, i just had to henna my hair after seeing 2-3 strands of white hair appearing visibly right above my ears. So there i was ever so gingerly but gently rubbing those henna paste all over hair , right to the last end tip of the hair. While doing so, i tried as much as possible this time not to make too much mess in the bathroom. And then i picked up the foldable comb and went  combing the hair down so that all the henna coated all over my hair and to also ensure that they were all evenly distributed. Having done that, i twisted my hair and clamped it up with a hair claw. I cleaned up the tub, the comb and all the bathroom surface and floor off any henna stains and removed my gloves and chucked them in the bin.

And while waiting for the hair to dry up, this time i just let it air dry 1st. I didn't wanna touch the hair not until i was gonna wash it. It took me a while of course. I made sure my aircon and fan were on so i wouldnt sweat much. Coz if i did, some of the henna will drip on my face along with the sweat when my head starts feeling warm. About an hour after that, all the henna dried up completely and i went washing the hair again. And then washing the toilet again from all the stains. Not as bad as my 1st and it was manageable. Using the same old towel that I have used during my 1st henna experiment, this time i didnt care much if i was gonna stain the towel again. It already bore the indelible henna mark before despite me washing the pinkish towel with Vanish.

And all the process took me hours! Yes. Hours! It robbed me off my usual sleeping time and i couldnt sleep much after that. I laid a folded batik cloth on my pillow just so that no henna would stain in case i was sweating while i was sleeping.

Yupp, i didnt sleep till subuh. Only after that I could take some hours to sleep. And i didnt like it. Coz the next day, the sleeping pattern continued. Good thing Monday was a public holiday. And earlier on Tuesday , 05 May, I had my morning lecture. With barely enough sleep i had the night before, i went and did my lecture and all. 2 hours passed and its already midday. I tried to remain alert doing my work in my office but i think if i continued being  on the same sleeping pattern, it would do no good to me at all! So i decided to leave office earlier than usual , headed home. Yup i was right. Soon as i reached home, it only took me like perhaps another hour or so before i felt sleepy. There i was in bed sleeping like a log for 4 hours and woke up close to 10pm.
Got up, did whatever necessary and went back to sleep for a few hours and woke up before 3am. Had my my early breakfast, and did this blog writing.


The next time i am ever gonna dye my hair again....Hmm... No wait. Perhaps i will let the hairdresser do it. She took like nearly 2 and a half hour to complete the treatment everything including full hair blowing and all. I will just bring my henna sachet with me and let her do the rest. No i am never gonna wreck my sleeping pattern like that again. Being insomniac is bad i tell you. Its bad enough that I am a nocturnal person.

And thats why it is OK to pay them to carry such messy works for us. And of course we want to get good service from them too.




10 comments:

Fadhil said...

Salam Manal,

Nice post :-)

Sometimes, we have to accept that certain people are more skilled to do certain things than ourselves. As you said, there's a reason why we pay for such services.

At one time, I attended a course on how to do normal car engine servicing. You know, changing the engine oil and the oil filter. Not because I wanted to save money but just to learn a new skill. So when the car was due for servicing, I did it myself. It took me almost 2 hours plus sweat and grease all over. That's it, one and only time. There's a reason why mechanics exist. Mari lah kita berkongsi rezeki dengan mereka.

Sunfloraa said...

Salam Sis Manal,

I also believe that by engaging in the services of others we keep thee economy going ;) (truth is I'm not as Rajin as you!) 😬

ManaL said...


True OldStock, it is always so much better to have people to do such services for us. But its good that you learned those skills. Useful to avoid getting duped by the mechanics :D

ManaL said...


Sunfloraa,

Nod Nod :D

Kak Elle said...

Salam berkenalan sis

Sue.Aleen said...

salam kenal kak...

Yati WTL said...

salam perkenalan...

what brand of henna are you using?

ManaL said...


salam perkenalan kak elle

ManaL said...

salam perkenalan sue Aleen

ManaL said...

Salam Yati,

Indian brand, cheaper than Syurah:

Eagles

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/5/7/3/3/8/8/webimg/647080072_o.jpg