• The products to save your hair in 2022

    Written by Yasmine M

    Say hi to the best friends in hair care. That keep our curls hydrated, frizz smooth, and split-ends whole. But most important, that gives us a little joy everyday. 

    HairLust – Pure Bamboo Pillowcase
    If there is one thing to treat yourself with in 2022, is a soft pillowcase. And HairLust, a Scandinavian brand focused on haircare and accessories, has just that. The Pure Bamboo pillowcase is not only gentle on your hair, but kind to your skin. The case comes in four different colors to fit your room the best. The Bamboo fibers are soft as silk (and cruelty-free) that protects your hair during the night. As an assessment, I have the classic HairLust pink case, which perhaps don't fit into the rest of my décor, but I use it anyway since it’s absolutely marvelous. 

    Gisou Honey Infused Hair Oil
    My dry and curly hair can’t live without this oil. While we are supposed to highlight the new products. This one is a go-to, I am on my second bottle and while it’s on the more expensive side, my hair thanks me every time. I have noticed that using an oil, my hair is much softer than using a spray leave-in. On the plus side, it smells enormously amazing. But most importantly the Honey Infused Oil gets rid of the frizz and makes the hair shiny and soft.

    Redken Extreme Heat Protection
    When you are using heat tools, we all know it’s so important to apply heat protection. Redken Extreme, one of Redkens bestseller series for damaged hair is a worthy option.This heat protection cream provides protection from not only the heat but helps strengthening your hair. It’s a multi-benefit treatment and leave-in conditioner. It’s very powerful as it is infused with plant proteins and tourmaline – helping prevent split ends and reduces the appearance of split ends by 70%. Another go-to is the Redken Extreme Shampoo and Conditioner, which I use 1-2 times a month depending on my hair status - just to strengthen my hair and give it a protection layer.

    Tangle Teezer - Styling Brush
    If you haven't yet come across the Tangle Teezer brush, here is your chance. The perfect styling and finishing tool for hair comes in a spring fresh mint color. It's availble both in compact more travel friendly designs as well as larger brushes. The tangle teezer have multply different version that is customized to work for your specific hair type. 

    Sachajuan Scalp Scrub The deep cleansing and sugar scrub, have become a favorite of mine this winter. Formulated with Ocean Silk Technology, climbazole, soybean, and shea butter oil, it’s a lovely scalp scrub that easily transforms from a scrub to a foam. It contains natural Sucrose which helps to exfoliate and unclog the scalp’s surface from dandruff, oil build-up, and dead skin. A great advice is too use the Sachajuan Scalp Brush, designed to be used with the Scalp Scrub to exfoliate dead skin cells and stimulate blood circulation and cell renewal in the scalp.

    Olaplex No.8 Bond Intense Moisture Mask The moisture mask is infused with the patented Olaplex Bond Building technology, which we can find in almost every Olaplex product. These bonds are said to give the hair its structure, strength, and stability. Bond Intense Moisture Mask is a highly concentrated reparative mask that is said to add shine and smooth your hair while providing intense moisture. And quickly said - it does, my very dry and frizzy hair became very shiny and felt less frizzy without using my ordinary leave-in conditioner. I am getting another bottle! 

    Silk Coat – Rebecca Stella Beauty For the humidity we need protection, especially to tame the frizz. This spray creates an invisible shield against heat, and as a result blocks the humidity. Which results in a silk finish for even the most curly hair. It's a simply yet powerful product. Use it by dividing your towel-dried hair into sections and spray from half an arm's length lightly to then flatten or curl the hair. However, wait 5 min until the product have dried a bit so you don't expose your hair right away. While the best way is to use in towel-dry hair, I have also tried it in dry hair, when I needed that extra shield, and it worked.

    Kevin Murphy TOUCHABLE My go-to styling product is this wax spray from Kevin Murphy. I heard about it from a renowned Hairstylist and never looked back. The spray wax finishing hairspray maintains texture and hold to reinforce the appearance of separation for that perfectly messy look. A healthy dose of Antioxidants from Hibiscus Flower Extract, Milk Thistle, Sea Lavender and Carrot Seed Oil help protect and condition the hair, giving it a beautiful satin sheen. It works both when you wish to have that slick wax look with a tight bun, or curled your hair to make sure your hair hold the entire day (and night). The only downside is a bit about the smell, which is quite heavy - but it's definitly a personal preference. 

    Maria Nila, True Soft Argan Oil This nourishing Argan Oil softens and moisturises your hair. A perfect oil if you have fine and thin hair, since it quickly absorbs and don't make the hair greasy. But one of the big points is the scent, that makes your hair smell of vanilla, rose and jasmine - perfect if you need that extra pick-me-up. You apply a small amount of the oil to damp or dry hair when you feel its needed. It's a perfect in-between washes product and now when the spring and summer is just around the corner. 

    Oribe Fortifying Treatment Serum
    This treatment elixir from the new collection Hair Alchemy, combines a blend of chia seed, bio-fermented bamboo leaf and plant-based protein plus phytoceramides and cotton seed extract to shield and fortify fragile strands. The sheer, fast-absorbing serum creates a protective veil around each hair fiber to improve tensile strength and elasticity while preventing breakage by strengthening from within to encourage length. It also work as a heat protection. 

    Björn Axen’s Signature The Hair Mask Last year I was at a Hair Rehab and found the Signature The Hair Mask, An intensive moisturizing and repairing hair treatment enriched with vegan keratin and provitamin B5 which together strengthens and deeply moisturizes the hair. You leave the mask for minimum of 5 min, and let the macadamia and cottonseed oil work its magic. Leaving the hair shiny and soft. 

    GOOPGLOW Restore + Shine Hair Treatment I am still waiting for all GOOP products to be avaible in the entire EU. But until then, this is a great start. This Restore + Shine Hair Treatment is a preshampoo glow serum. In Gwyneth Paltrow own words: “It’s kind of a miracle on my hair,”  It's Made with cuticle-sealing vitamin C, omega-rich sea buckthorn oil, and shine-boosting plumeria monoi oil - that its said to work for all hair types. 

    R+Co Atlantis Shampoo and Conditioner For that everyday hair wash, you don’t want to dry out your hair. The R+Co Atlantis Shampoo and Conditioner, is formulated with Vitamin B5 to moisturize dry and damaged hair from root to tip. With naturally occurring glycerin to balance the hydration level. The Conditioner includes Acai Fruit Oil, Rice Bran Oil and Maracuja Seed Ooil – all ingredients for your hair to strengthen and add shine. A good advice is to leave the conditioner on for at least 5-10 minutes to get that true deep-hydrating effect.

    HairLust – Curl Recovery & Protection Mask While curly hair needs that extra nourishment, this mask is packed with protein and moisture to leave your hair stronger. The Curl Recovery & Protection Mask helps restore your curls. I use it 1 time a week to have my hair recover from any external aggressions. For those of you who don’t have curly hair, don’t be alarmed – the brand also has a Protein Reconstructor that fits all hair types.

    Owow Kit Last but not least, This home treatment kit, is a great beginners tool to compete with expensive salon keratin treatment. The kit gives an incredibly silky hair with just a simple application. Compared to only ordering the smoother, the kit also includes sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner to rise of the product with. 

  • vest Sthlm Misc
    dress House of Dagmar
    gloves Pretty Little Thing
    shoes Ganni
    socks Minna Palmqvist
    necklace Thomas Sabo
    rings Bjoern's Own
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    photography Sandra Myhrberg 
    stylist Ulrika Lindqvist 

    A Small Town Musician - An Interview With Bjoern

    Written by Fashion Tales

    Linnéa Bjoern the artist and the name behind Bjoern and how to grow up in the two small villages Hedemora and Norberg in the Swedish county of Dalarna to be a musician.

    How did you know that music was what you wanted to work with?
    Music is something that has always been with me and I’ve been drawn to music as a way to get my emotions out. It has helped me to calm down as a hyperactive kid. It was never obvious to me that it was something that I could work with until I was about 23 years old. In that time I had struggled for a while with my mental health and my identity and needed to find something that made my life feel meaningful again. I made the decision to give my all into music and since then I’ve kept that promise.

    How did your family and friends react when you said that you wanted to do music?
    I think it was very obvious that my life became more and more about music and it was very natural to everyone that it was something I should pursue. After a few years of seeing me almost giving up on finding anything meaningful in my life, I think it was something that saved both me and my family from a lot of heavy energy. Music lifted my spirit and that energy shift made it easy for my family to support my decision. But of course I think my parents have been worried at times, wondering how I would be able to make money.

    How was it to grow up in a small town?
    I loved to grow up in a small town even if  I’ve always felt restless and longing to see more. As a kid it was sometimes a bit frustrating to be living in the woods 10km from my closest friend. In a way I think the smaller communities I grew up in have helped me to become more social and outgoing. There was a feeling of safety in knowing almost every person I met and it was easy to feel seen and heard. It definitely gave me the chance to develop a lot of creativity and sense of self. Living in nature made me develop a fantasy world and the ability to play by myself.

    Your song ”Why” what’s it about?
    My song ”Why” is a song about someone that was very special to me growing up. My grandfather often babysat me and was a very artistic soul that always made me smile. He struggled a lot with his mental health after he fell down a tree and hit his head. He eventually decided to take his own life. This was a trauma I carried with me for many years without knowing how much it had affected me, until I started to really get into songwriting. One day in a session all the memories of grandpa came to me and I felt a need to understand Why he decided to leave like that. I think my grandpa was present at that moment and told me that it was ok to write this song about him.

    Your artist name is Bjoern, How did you come up with that?
    It’s simply a take on my last name “Björn”.

    Growing up in Dalarna where skiing is a big sport we need to know, Do you ski, and have you ever done the ”vasaloppet”?
    I’ve actually been a competitive skier my whole youth until I finished high school as a 20 year old. My first 20 years was dedicated to cross-country skiing among other sports. I went to Mora Skidgymnasium which is a high school for elite skiers, so it’s been a big part of my life for sure. I’ve actually never done the “Vasaloppet” but I’ve worked for them as a time controller. I’ve done the “Kort Vasan” as a kid and ran the summer version “Vasastafetten” many times.

    Where do you get the inspiration to write your music?
    Most of my inspiration comes from looking into my own experiences of being a human and reacting to the world. I’m fascinated by how different thoughts make us feel certain things as well as how some feelings tend to make us think in certain ways. That connection and how it sometimes makes us take decisions that aren't the best for us, is what inspires me. But inspiration comes from everything really. I also take a lot of inspiration from what I see, smell, feel and hear wherever I go. It’s definitely a hard question to answer.

    If you got the chance to meet your biggest role model who would that be?
    I feel like I change role models so often because I have a tendency to get fascinated by almost every person who’s passionate about something. The ones I look up to the most are often people I’ve already met. My parents and friends are some of them. When I think about it every single person I surround myself with are people I look up to in some way. I want to surround myself with people that challenge me, inspire me and help me to grow. If I should say someone that I don’t know personally it would be Jonna Jinton or Grimes atm. Two cool women who seem to be very true to their expression and who’s incredibly creative and talented in different ways.

    If you wouldn't do music what do you think you would do then?
    Maybe I would be some kind of coach, massage therapist or have some kind of place for mental and physical growth where people can come to challenge themselves. I love the feeling of making other people grow and heal. I could also see myself being some kind of craftswoman because I love working with my hands to create. It would also be cool to try acting one day. I have so many dreams haha…

    What’s a place/country you would like to travel to?
    It would be amazing to travel to Japan, north of Norway, New Zealand and Iceland or just drive around in Europe to see all the beautiful and small villages and their history. I really want to travel everywhere so the locations I want to go to change all the time.

    Bjoern's new debut single “Why” (2020) had a great national impact with steady radio rotation on P3, participation in TV4 Nyhetsmorgon and a place among the “best of the week” at Dagens Nyheter. The song also attracted international attention when the world star Tones And I hand-picked the song for her competition “That one song”, as the only contribution from Europe.  

    top Stand Studio
    necklace made by belt Samsoe Samsoe
    rings Bjoern's Own 
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    vest and trousers Baum und Pferdgarten
    top Minna Palmqvist
    rings Bjoern's Own
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    dress Rodebjer
    stockings Swedish Stockings
    rings Bjoern's Own
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    boots Bjoern's Own Dr Martens
    top Ida Klamborn
    rings Bjoern's Own
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    top Pretty Little Thing
    shirt COS
    trousers Sthlm Misc
    boots Bjoern's Own Dr Martens
    rings Bjoern's Own 
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    robe Lisa Helena Jacobson X Rave Review
    dress Baum und Pferdgarten
    shoes Samsoe Samsoe
    anklet made by necklace Thomas Sabo
    rings Bjoern's Own
    earrings La Maison Bagatelle
    photography Sandra Myhrberg
    stylist Ulrika Lindqvist
    hair & makeup Filippa Smedhagen
    stylist’s assistant Nellie Sjögren
  • photography Sandra Myhrberg
    fashion Jahwanna Berglund
    coat Baum und Pferdgarten
    top WEEKEND / Max Mara
    trousers Lacoste
    loafers COS

    An Interview With Lou Elliotte

    Written by Valeria Bartocci by Valeria Bartocci

    On How to Become a Solo Artist, the Ep “Best You’ve Ever Had”

    We know her as Louise Lennartsson from the Swedish pop group, Estraden.
    Now she is taking her own magical way in her solo career as a pop artist with the name, Lou Elliotte. She comes with colourful and brutally honest music that takes you by storm. You can hear her characteristic and energetic voice so clear and loud that it makes your heart want to dance. It took her some time to become Lou Elliotte but now she is finally grabbing the music industry by the horns.

    Was it difficult for you to go solo after being in a band, how did you get to the point you are today as Lou Elliotte?
    It has always been my dream and original plan to be a solo artist making music in English even though I released Lou Elliotte after Estraden.  Estraden was from the beginning just a fun project, not anyone’s plan to start a Swedish band. We wrote one song that we recorded and liked, so we started our band because of that song. Then it just took off and it went so well so I decided to wait with Lou Elliotte. Also, I didn't exactly know what kind of music I wanted to release, I think I needed to grow as a person and find out what I wanted to do.

    How does the band feel about you starting a solo career?
    They are super supportive and happy for me. Felix and Carl are also a producer team, producing and writing music for other artists, so they have a lot of work to do as well besides Estraden.

    Tell me more about your new single Touch Yourself?
    I wrote the song with Fatmax Gsus. The song itself is a love song but it sheds a light on an important subject that we should talk about more. Women who masturbate. I think it's crazy, cus through history, it has always been referred to as something shameful and it feels like it still is. I think that is such bullshit!  Because it's natural and it's also 2022 so it's like, Hello? Women do masturbate!

    In your single ”I Lost” you're talking about how your dreams started to come true but also that you lost something very important, what’s the song about?
    I've been singing about my life for the last couple of years, dreaming about being an artist, releasing music, playing live, and writing songs for other artists. I listened to Veronica Maggio for all my teenage years and she was such a big inspiration to me and now I'm working with her. That’s such a big dream come true. When I started to work with her a year ago, that was when I wrote: “I Lost”. Finally being where I had been dreaming of, happy, but not as happy as I thought I would be because I also went through a rough time in my life. At the same time as all my dreams were coming true, my boyfriend at the time and I took a break and I have never felt sadder.

    Tell me about your E:P why did you choose to mix new and old songs in it?
    I had a concert in 2019 with my band Estraden, at that time we hadn't released enough songs to have a whole concert so we added some covers for the show. “Teenage Dirtbag” was one of the songs we played. I love that song, it has been with me since I was a child and it's really close to my heart so I felt that I wanted to release a cover of it. I had a version that I made with my friend Madelene Eliasson who is a songwriter and producer, she also played with me at the concert in 2019. So we went into the studio and we made a newer version. I had an idea with using vocoder chorus so this 2021 version of the song is with more pop, cuter but still with the guitar, and almost with this, we will rock you-beat.
    It's hard to make a cover and keep that same magic that the original version has but still make it your own. You don’t want to make exactly the same but something new. We had the first version that I and Madelene Eliasson made and then we got stuck at one point and didn’t know exactly how to finish it. We brought another producer to help us with the song, Rasmus Budny so we finished it with him and I'm very happy with how the song turned out. Since everybody loves the original version of “Teenage Dirtbag” it makes me so happy when people tell me they love my
    cover. I've actually had that song as a reference for Lou Elliotte, especially the verse, the verse is the best verse I have ever heard! As a songwriter, I’m so jealous that he wrote that, it’s so so fucking genius.

    What is your best memory about doing your EP?
    I have one thing that I'm very happy about and that’s when I made the song “I Lost”. I was super depressed because my boyfriend and I had taken a break so I went into the studio with two of my friends, Amanda Cygnaeus and Madelene Eliasson. I was low and sad and I wanted to write about it because I always write about my personal experiences. That's why nearly all of my songs are about my exes. It was my favorite session and it felt so special. I wrote exactly how I felt, it was right from the heart. I'm attached to that song. I also love that song because it was only us women who wrote it. I have never done that before, of course, I have been writing with women before but I have been making songs for six years and I have never released a song written by only women. That's a very special moment for me. It also reflects how the music industry is, fucked up,  just by hearing that information, like yes I have been releasing music for six years but I have never done a song that is made by only women. That's obviously not the goal that you should only work with women. I just want the industry to be equal. Of course, I wish that this was not a thing. It just shows that the music industry is struggling with equality.

    Next song with the band Estraden?
    Our next song going to be released on the 4th of February called “Säg Till Din Mamma”. We have another artist collaborating with us on the song but he will be anonymous. That's super exciting!

    Is it hard to separate yourself from you as Lou Elliotte and you as Louise Lennartsson from the band Estraden?
    No, I feel like with Estraden since we are a band we write about experiences from what we all have been through in the songs but with Lou it’s only me and my experiences so I get to decide by myself. But I definitely feel like it's me in both Estraden and Lou Elliotte.

    Where do you find yourself in the most inspirational state?
    It's definitely when I'm going through something, when my ex and I broke up I wrote many songs about it. I was crying and being sad in the studio all the time. Tears falling and I'm just saying let's write about this. I love the feeling of making music and being right in the moment even if the moments I find myself in are sometimes really sad or hard.

    jacket SVC
    shirt COS
    trousers Ida Klamborn
    boots Steve Madden

    top Christopher Kane / Zalando

    jewellery WOS

    body & trousers Jade Cropper
    gloves Handsome
    top Hanna Linnéa Ryd
    dress Baum und Pferdgarten
    boots Anny Nordh
    earring Jane and Sophie
    body & trousers Jade Cropper
    gloves Handsome
    shoes Balenciaga
    photography Sandra Myhrberg
    fashion Jahwanna Berglund
    makeup Elva Ahlbin
    hair Adam Nilsson
    assistants Alicia Hurst & Thea Undemo

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