u/Acrobatic-Action-149

I’m knitting the Romanesco Jumper. Knitted everything but one sleeve. Took a break a month ago and wanted to pick it up again yesterday. My problem is in the pick up of the stitches. Pictured here is the joint between the body and the sleeve for my finished right sleeve from the wrong and right side respectively (purl side will be the RS at the end). Now, I tried picking up the stitches 8 times, different days, different level of concentration. No matter what I do I can’t get a clean pick up like the one I did on the other sleeve, I always end up with a ridge. I kept doing the peak repetition one full time just in case it was one of those things that got better if I kept going, but nope. I even tried picking up from the wrong side (knit side) and purling just to get the ridge on the wrong side of the work, but I’d love to get a clean result as I got with the other sleeve.

I'm a shimmery lady and I also consume both western and eastern beauty products, so I thought about putting some swatches out in the world, considering that swatches of some of these products are not easy to find. Also, a little review. 

· Core palettes 1.0 and 2.0 by Isamaya (photos 1 and 2): all of the colors are gorgeous in the palettes and they are subtle -if not using a black eyeshadow underneath and/or wetting the brush (I use a silicone brush)-, which works for my everyday looks but might be underwhelming for folks who prefer more potent shadows. The formula depends on the individual shades, but I don't consider any to be dry. My favorite are the ones that feel more putty to the touch. To the core of the matter: are they worth it for 110 EUR? No. Not at all. I bought both on sale for around 83 EUR and still think I overpayed. Also, my 2.0 came with two shadows broken and customer service ghosted me so I had to initiate a dispute with PayPal.

· Singles (photo 3): Guiying Ice Temperature by HerOrange (1), Guiying Ice Purple by HerOrange (2), Noble Shadow Ice Moss by HerOrange (3), Ruby Flame single by Noiricorn (4), Never End by SheenEffect (5), Dream Shadow by SheenEffect (6), Midsummer Night by SheenEffect (7), Answer by SheenEffect (8), Pure Desire by SheenEffect (9), Puff by SheenEffect (10), Night Elves by SheenEffect (11), Starry Night by MAC (12) and Bougie paint pot by MAC (13). Not much to say, the shades from HerOrange are sheer and somewhat buildable but not a lot (I bought them specifically for being sheer), the Noiricorn one along with the SheenEffect ones are my favorite formulas for a reflective shade ever, and the MAC ones I use together -Starry Night on top of Bougie- for a glittery brown smokey eye

· Xenon and Xenon Mini by Natasha Denona (photo 4): all of the swatches are from Xenon, except the bottom silver that runs horizontally, that's the silver from Xenon Mini. I have two wolves inside me. One loves reflective shadows and the other loves monochrome eye looks. Both of my wolves are happy with these two palettes. If you don't like wearing grey and silver, don't buy them because that's all you'll get; but on the other side they're so versatile! The Mini one it's my loyal travel partner. Oh, and needless to say, don't believe the online swatches from the brand, Snowbow is not that pink.

· Kiko Milano Cult Colours 02 (photo 5): the shades might be "simpler" than others, but this palette has a special place in my heart because it was my first glittery palette. I mostly use it for smokey looks. 

· Fleeting Life and Starcore by Cheeryep (photo 6): Cheeryep is one of my favorite chinese makeup brands ever. They lean more alternative but they're very wearable even for the day, they're super buildable and the formulas are amazing. The creams are suuuper creamy and the mattes don't feel powdery at all. 

· Cordyceps and Sinensis by Girlcult (photo 7): both are part of the Compendium of Materia Medica collection, which centers around nature so of course browns and greens. Same opinions as with Cheeryep, but these palettes are perfect for traveling as their packaging is sturdy and small. 

· Lively by Cheeryep and Candy Puppet by Noiricorn (photo 8): two very different vibes but sometimes I combine them. Lively is your classic pink palette but with a very interesting twist, that green is my most used shadow of the palette. For Candy Puppet, I mostly use it for nighttime looks and just choose a random matte with a random duochrome on top. Nothing to add about the formulas, lovely all around.

· Icy Nude and Pretty Grunge by Huda Beauty (photo 9): I love both color stories, but the formulas are not the best. Mattes are okay (they're good, but for 72 EUR each I would expect more), but the shimmers and duochromes are hit or miss. Some big misses are Bling and Diamond Dew, they are super chunky. Bling literally feels like sand and I've never used it on my eyes, can't say I would recommend doing it. In my opinion the best way to work with the chunkier shadows is using a silicone brush. So, do I recommend them? Yes, they are overall good palettes. Would I buy them full price? No, the brand has several deals throughout the year. Are they a necessity? No. Can they work if you only have these two palettes? Sure thing, they are versatile.

· Retro palette by Natasha Denona (photo 10): I love the shimmers on this one, but I actually recommend it as a whole. It was the perfect replacement for the aura of She's in Parties by Melt and it lets me do both romantic and more soft goth looks. As usual with Natasha Denona palettes, the formulas are immaculate. 

· Ambition by Cheeryep (photo 11): saved the best for last. This is the palette that made me love both asian makeup products and glittery shades. This is what a lot of people wish Isamaya palettes would be (and for almost a sixth of the price!), super creamy and pigmented and they don't feel crusty when they're dried down.

Hope this post helps someone reach their glowy potential.

I want to start by clarifying that for the past 12 years I’ve had my head shaved to a 3, so I know absolutely nothing about hair, and my question isn’t meant to be sarcastic. 

I live in Germany and my German is so-so, so I can communicate with my hairstylist, but sometimes I can’t find the right words to fully explain what I want. 

I started growing my hair out in August of last year. Three months ago, I went to a salon in my city that’s known for its alternative haircuts and brought the first photo as a reference. My hair wasn’t that long yet, so I told them to do whatever they thought was best so that we could achieve this cut in the future. Of course, they told me that my hair in the back wasn’t long enough yet, so they mostly just trimmed the sides and my bangs. They also cut my bangs straight across, even though, as far as I could tell, they looked layered in the photo. The experience was fine, and I was generally satisfied because I knew I wouldn’t get the exact look from the photo on my first visit.

For my second visit, a month later, I booked the same stylist again. I figured my hair wasn’t quite at the ideal length yet, but maybe we could try a style similar to the one in the photo, just shorter. Well, I don’t know what happened in between, but I walked out of the salon looking like Coconut Head from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide but with very short bangs (which I asked for). In the end, they did something weird with the blow-dry and brushing and didn’t use any styling products, whereas the first time they used sea salt spray and a cream for medium curls (my hair isn’t straight like the person in the photo, but it’s barely wavy).

Finally, yesterday I had my third and last appointment at this salon. This time I booked a different stylist, using the same reference photo for the third time but asking for the bangs to be a little shorter and the sides too, kind of like a mullet. Long story short, I ended up looking like a chopped-up Coconut Head again, and the back was cut two months’ worth of growth off. So my question is, am I asking for something impossible given that my hair is more wavy than hers? Is it a styling products problem? Should I moderate my expectations? The salon has great reviews and I’m really confused.

Edit: pronouns

I want to start by clarifying that for the past 12 years I’ve had my head shaved to a 3, so I know absolutely nothing about hair, and my question isn’t meant to be sarcastic. 

I live in Germany and my German is so-so, so I can communicate with my hairstylist, but sometimes I can’t find the right words to fully explain what I want. 

I started growing my hair out in August of last year. Three months ago, I went to a salon in my city that’s known for its alternative haircuts and brought the first photo as a reference. My hair wasn’t that long yet, so I told them to do whatever they thought was best so that we could achieve this cut in the future. Of course, they told me that my hair in the back wasn’t long enough yet, so they mostly just trimmed the sides and my bangs. They also cut my bangs straight across, even though, as far as I could tell, they looked layered in the photo. The experience was fine, and I was generally satisfied because I knew I wouldn’t get the exact look from the photo on my first visit.

For my second visit, a month later, I booked the same stylist again. I figured my hair wasn’t quite at the ideal length yet, but maybe we could try a style similar to the one in the photo, just shorter. Well, I don’t know what happened in between, but I walked out of the salon looking like Coconut Head from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide but with very short bangs (which I asked for). In the end, they did something weird with the blow-dry and brushing and didn’t use any styling products, whereas the first time they used sea salt spray and a cream for medium curls (my hair isn’t straight like the person in the photo, but it’s barely wavy).

Finally, yesterday I had my third and last appointment at this salon. This time I booked a different stylist, using the same reference photo for the third time but asking for the bangs to be a little shorter and the sides too, kind of like a mullet. Long story short, I ended up looking like a chopped-up Coconut Head again, and the back was cut two months’ worth of growth off. So my question is, am I asking for something impossible given that my hair is more wavy than hers? Is it a styling products problem? Should I moderate my expectations? The salon has great reviews and I’m really confused.

Edit: pronouns