diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 06fc5e52a9d240117f9fc352550aff81d8384126..49ae4cee88fad61b4557cc32c4dfab6d7743b5db 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
 
   inflection_method :grammatical_gender => :gender
 
-  helper_method :all_aspects, :all_contacts_count, :my_contacts_count, :only_sharing_count
+  helper_method :all_aspects, :all_contacts_count, :my_contacts_count, :only_sharing_count, :notification_count, :unread_message_count
   helper_method :tags, :tag_followings
 
   def ensure_http_referer_is_set
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     if user_signed_in?
       if request.format.html? && !params[:only_posts]
         @aspect = nil
-        @notification_count = Notification.for(current_user, :unread =>true).count
-        @unread_message_count = ConversationVisibility.sum(:unread, :conditions => "person_id = #{current_user.person.id}")
       end
     end
   end
@@ -44,6 +42,14 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   end
 
   ##helpers
+  def notification_count 
+    @ontification_count ||= Notification.for(current_user, :unread =>true).count
+  end
+
+  def unread_message_count
+    @unread_message_count ||= ConversationVisibility.sum(:unread, :conditions => "person_id = #{current_user.person.id}")
+  end
+
   def all_aspects
     @all_aspects ||= current_user.aspects
   end
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml b/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
index d60f95066e6fba2205ed3e9b894aeeac94157a43..89f426560d2f0f6e746a4181c5b72dfa056f65bc 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/layouts/_header.html.haml
@@ -21,27 +21,26 @@
       = form_tag(people_path, :method => 'get', :class => "search_form") do
         = text_field_tag 'q', nil, :placeholder => t('find_people'), :type => 'search', :results => 5
 
-    - if @notification_count
-      #nav_badges
-        #home_badge.badge
-          = link_to aspects_path, :title => t('_home') do
-            = image_tag 'icons/home_grey.svg', :height => 16
+    #nav_badges
+      #home_badge.badge
+        = link_to aspects_path, :title => t('_home') do
+          = image_tag 'icons/home_grey.svg', :height => 16
 
-        #contacts_badge.badge
-          = link_to contacts_link, :title => t('_contacts') do
-            = image_tag 'icons/contacts_grey.svg', :height => 16
+      #contacts_badge.badge
+        = link_to contacts_link, :title => t('_contacts') do
+          = image_tag 'icons/contacts_grey.svg', :height => 16
 
-        #notification_badge.badge
-          = link_to notifications_path, :title => new_notification_text(@notification_count) do
-            = image_tag 'icons/notifications_grey.svg', :height => 16, :id => "notification-flag"
-            .badge_count{:class => ("hidden" if @notification_count == 0)}
-              = @notification_count
+      #notification_badge.badge
+        = link_to notifications_path, :title => new_notification_text(@notification_count) do
+          = image_tag 'icons/notifications_grey.svg', :height => 16, :id => "notification-flag"
+          .badge_count{:class => ("hidden" if notification_count == 0)}
+            = notification_count
 
-        #message_inbox_badge.badge
-          = link_to conversations_path , :title => new_message_text(@unread_message_count) do
-            = image_tag 'icons/mail_grey.svg', :width => 18
-            .badge_count{:class => ("hidden" if @unread_message_count == 0)}
-              = @unread_message_count
+      #message_inbox_badge.badge
+        = link_to conversations_path , :title => new_message_text(@unread_message_count) do
+          = image_tag 'icons/mail_grey.svg', :width => 18
+          .badge_count{:class => ("hidden" if unread_message_count == 0)}
+            = unread_message_count
 
       #notification_dropdown
         .header