u/SuspiciousSink9465

About a year and a half ago I purchased the above strings (see my old post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Viola/s/eibznOk0uQ )

When I first put them on I found the lower strings to be less responsive than I was used to (needing a minimum amount of pressure to get a decent sound, that was more than I was used to), but after that I also got my bridge lowered (a luthier noted it was very high). So I don’t LOVE the Pirazzi but now that they’re broken in more I guess I’ve gotten used to them. I may want to look into strings that are more responsive at lower volumes? But what I’m back here for is the fact that the A string is quite strident and sounds just like an A on a violin. I know it’s probably just my viola itself as it’s nothing high-end, but I feel like maybe I could find an A that is richer sounding?

I know this must be genetic to some degree, as my mom has the same thing, but what can I do about my pores on my nose, chin, cheeks?? I already have quite the routine that includes hyaluronic, salicylic, glycolic, and azelaic acids, and adapalene OTC strength. How do I make them less noticeable/dark (get the gunk out..?) and shrink them??

I’m having an issue with refreshing my waves on non-wash days. I like the waves that I can get, but it’s noticeably frizzier, while on my wash days my waves looks smooth and healthy. Not sure if it’s the products or the routine.

On my wash days, I do a scrunching routine with a sea salt jelly (cult and king), and a curl gel. On refresh days, I spray with water and then scrunch with I tiny bit of product on my hands. And I end up with frizz. Could it be the sea salt reactivating? My routine is still quite new to me, so I’ve been making adjustments as I go along. And the frizz doesn’t bother me TOO much, as it does give me some body, but sometimes I want it to look sleeker.

I finally don’t hate my hair! It has been a journey since I decided to get the chop in February. 2nd pic is from before. I initially got a blunt lob, but I wasn’t in love with it and had a hard time styling it and making it work for my head shape. Then I went to a new stylist who had a more alternative aesthetic and knows how to do razor cuts* and air dry styling on wavy/curly hair, and she shortened it a bit more and added in some layers. And oh yeah! I found out I didn’t have pin-straight hair! It has a bit of a wave to it (which I probably amplify a bit with scrunching). I am still learning how to style it…lots of trial and error…but this pic is my second day hair. Big thanks to the many people in this sub for inspiration and help with products and routine!!!

*she didn’t use a razor because of my hair being fine and thin, but used her super sharp scissors in that style.

I found out I have swavy hair after always thinking it was pin-straight, and this became more clear when I cut it shorter. I have been attempting a wavy routine for a last 2 months or so and I’ve had mixed results. I feel like my wash day, I am forcing in smaller thinner waves that aren’t there, while my hair settles into the wave pattern it wants to be in on the second and third day. My hair is quite flat on top, with the waves starting a few inches down. I now use root clips to help with this.

Wash day (pic 1 taken after scrunching out crunch): shampoo x2, condition. On very wet hair, a little bit of spray leave in conditioner on ends, then Cult and King jelly. Brush with my wet brush. Coat with a bit of NYM curl talk gel. Scrunch scrunch scrunch. Add in root clips. Pixie diffuse or air dry. Pixie diffusing is something I have only recently tried. It seems to break up the waves more? So maybe it’s not for me. It does seem to keep the waves in better than air drying though.

On days 2 and 3 (2nd and 3rd pics*), I mist with water to activate the waves (which have straitened out overnight) and scrunch with a tiny bit of product on my hands, either the jelly or gel.

In this routine, on wash day I can’t get my hair to clump into the larger waves that I get on my day 2. Also, my hair is very thin and dries VERY fast, especially at the roots, when I step out of the shower. I am constantly misting it with more water, but it’s just in these thin strings instead of thicker strands.

*these pics were taken day after the salon where it was cut and styled with different products. I did not purchase all of the products, as they are $$$$. I did purchase the jelly but the stylist used cult and king set spray as a base (with jelly on top of waves), so maybe I need to splurge… My hair has probably never looked better than that second day. 😂 when styling, they did this thing where they sprayed it with a bunch of the set spray while wet, and then took strands of my hair and rolled them into ringlets with a comb/fingers, scrunched it all, and then put me under one of those diffuse dryer hoods. I haven’t been able to recreate the ringlets at home. They don’t seem to hold to themselves, if that makes sense…they just unravel. So I’ve nixed this technique. (Also, she ended up needing to undo it all when we found a few a few stray hairs needed cutting. So I never got to see the result. I just know that whatever she did made the next days look great too)