Welcome to the latter half of the year.

My routine has changed a bit. This morning, I washed all of my hair with Pantene Ice Shine shampoo and conditioned the length with Ice Shine conditioner. I left the conditioner on under a shower cap while finishing everything else...then removed the cap and rinsed. Lastly, I conditioned with Suave Daily Clarifying conditioner.
   Today was the first day in this half of the year where I decided to forego wet detangling altogether. No spraying, no combing, no oiling the ends, nothin'. I ran Pantene Silkening crème through the length, focusing on the ends and the underside strands. And I separated some of the damp strands as they were drying, but that was it. Otherwise, I just let it all dry in the cool air of the house. Going outdoors is freaking suicide. It's hot.

So I'm sick of oil now. The cream oil bodywash left my skin coated and slightly waxy and may be responsible for a few of the breakouts that I'm suffering. So I stopped using it and dragged out my Suave again. Problem is I'll have to send my mesh poofs through the dishwasher or something to get all of the leftover grease off of them.
   My Pantene Detangling spray contains oil, so I've retired it to storage in my bedroom. And I dumped out my oil solution, rinsed out the bottle and will throw it in the dishwasher along with my mesh poofs. Even my vitamins have changed. Yesterday, I finished 6 months of taking vitamin E every day. This morning, I took my first generic multivitamin, which I will also be taking for 6 months to see if there's any difference in my hair.

On the health front, I will be resuming my power walks tonight. Only I'll be doing them nightly for the next 2 weeks. I've also taken on another junk food strike, avoiding anything unhealthy until at least next Sunday. I'm on a mission to lose weight before the 14th, when I start housesitting again. I need to slim down quick just in case my long-distance whatever you'd call him comes out for a visit. And even if he doesn't, I'll still look and feel better from doing more of what I should and less of what I shouldn't.

As a final note, the new tops that I ordered arrived Friday afternoon. I've already tried them on, washed them and added them to my closet. And I now need more hangers.    I'm already working on collecting the other things that I need to wear with them.
   My makeup box is also seeing something of a revision. Yesterday, I tossed out all of my Sally Hansen nail polishes and gave myself a new, midnight blue manicure using colours by Revlon and Maybelline. Eventually, I'm going to toss out most of my Cover Girl products and replace them with something on the higher end. Maybe even splurge on designer brands now and then.  
   Yes, Angel's undergoing a makeover of sorts, and it's about bloody time! She is growing up, phasing out and moving on.

Lisabelle: Indeed, it is Dove Cream Oil bodywash. I actually had to check. hehe It's the creamy formula in the pink bottle and I probably won't use it again. My skin has a terrible aversion to oil. Haven't heard of Neem...but most any bodywash will work if it doesn't contain oil. Dial and Softsoap are my favourites. As for the cream oil crap, I'll leave it for whomever wants it.
Quote:

lol Nah. He reminds me of Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day, only taller and thinner and much younger. Probably about 10 years younger than myself...strikes me as a mall punk kid. It just kinda creeps me out when I see him because it happens so often. He must think I live there or something. lol    Besides, I don't look elsewhere when I'm in love.

Hair: CWC today with Suave Daily Clarifying conditioner and Pantene Ice Shine S&C. After that, all I had to do was squeeze out the water with my microfiber towel and run the Silkening crème through the length. Leaves my hair a little bit gummy, but I kinda like this new simplistic approach.
    After air drying today, I combed it out, twisted it up and pinned it with the ends splaying and dangling as they wished. Just to get it up and off of my neck - curse this summer heat! 
    Today, I also carried my black umbrella every time I had to walk out in the sun. So now it looks as if my hair and my skin will stay protected.

Health: Back on track.    Last night, I power walked for the first time in months...and it actually seemed easy! Like my body was already accustomed to it. I even jogged across every street and large driveway in my path. It didn't exhaust me, but I can tell that I'm getting a good workout because my heart rate was up. Those little bursts of jogging really help...like a turbo boost. 
    The eeevil redheaded sister of Nature is on her way and will no doubt try to keep me from walking, but I'm not about to let her succeed. I'll tie her up in the closet if I have to. hehe My apologies to whatever men may be reading this. 

Life: So I went out last night and bought a few new makeup items. Was able to toss out quite a few things that just weren't working out and replace them with higher-end, oil-free counterparts. I'm going out for a few more things this evening. 
    If I have time, I'll probably finish the rest of the work at my uncle's office tonight. I need the money something desperate now.
    Also, as a result of the accident I had a few months ago, my father's insurance company is trying to drop him.    I'm going to get my own policy...somehow. 

Hair: Clarifying day, 2 days behind schedule. But it's alright - at least it got done. The usual routine with a Pantene Purity wash, vinegar rinse, another Purity wash, then condition and air dry. Cool water only, as usual. Right now, hair is dry and waiting to be combed and braided during my break.

Health: Still on the junk food strike, but temptation is everywhere. I might binge on Sunday and go back into "health nut mode" on Monday until I have to housesit on the 14th.
   Still power walking every night. Only 9 more nights of this insanity left. Somehow, I've managed to gain a pound in 3 days. But those little fluctuations are always there. If I keep at it, the numbers will steadily decline. The walks are wiping me out each night and it takes me longer to recover, especially with this heat. But like any other setbacks in life, I just plow through them. Nothing else you can do if you want to win.

Skin: The new foundation I bought is pretty dreadful.    Which sux because I spent good money on it. I had an inkling that long wearing foundation would be more difficult to wash off, but I hadn't counted on lingering residue the morning after.    So onto something else when I can afford it. Sometimes if you don't try, you never know.
   Emptied out my last bottle of Suave bodywash this morning, thank goodness. I really shouldn't buy it to begin with. But I picked up a bottle of Softsoap Pure Cashmere (my favourite) over the weekend, so now my poor skin may finally begin to heal.
   Tomorrow, I plan to do a salt scrub on my left arm. Then perhaps sometime next week, I can do one more sugar scrub on both arms to soften them up before I have to housesit. I would also like to find a really light, oil-free lotion as my beloved Curél is a bit much for my arms.
   Need to do another peel-off masque tonight and over the weekend to remove any traces of the heavy new foundation.  

Life: 9 days 'til housesitting. Though my beloved said that he would visit during that time, I cannot help but doubt it. As I said a few months ago, his trip has been indefinitely postponed, and getting my hopes up is pretty useless. The pseudo-relationship is still good, but it can't go anywhere if we never get together.
   Bought a new L'Oreal eyeliner over the weekend that I can't wait to try. But now that will have to wait until I can score another foundation, darnitall.    Also tossed out my oil-slicked neon green mesh shower poofs over the weekend and bought new black ones. It appears as though the autumn merchandise is beginning to pop up here and there. hehehe    Black poofs are IT, though. I wish I had a million of them.  
   What else...? Haven't been able to work in my uncle's office lately because every time I go, someone else is always in there and there's only 1 working computer. Argh!
   
ID4: My father had a gig in the mountains yesterday. I wanted to go, but it would have been a long day (with no fireworks!) and I didn't want my mother to be left home by herself to just sit and watch TV. So she & I watched a few old movies, then went to the mall to see if there were any good 4th Of July sales (there weren't, but I got a free smoothie out of the deal).
   After stopping home for a bit, we went to the trolley square (over by where my father's band played a few weeks ago) to watch fireworks set off from one of the local schools. Ahhh, do I love fireworks! And people just keep getting more and more creative with them.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Peace.

RTG: Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, tinted moisturizers don't work for my skin, especially if they contain oil.    I have been a bit curious about Burt's Bees lipglosses, though. Have you tried any of them?
   The Purity wash is just an all-over wash with Pantene Purity clarifying shampoo. On a clarifying day, I'll wash once with the Purity shampoo, rinse with cool water, then do a distilled white vinegar (DWV) rinse, then rinse again with cool water, then wash again with Pantene Purity (it makes my hair feel smoother and gets rid of the vinegar smell), rinse again and condition.

Hair: Oh man, I could make a career of finding and isolating the pokey, broken ends and trimming them off...I believe that still counts as seek and destroy, yes? With the mass amounts of damage that my hair has sustained in recent years, it would take no less than a week to trim it all out. Oy! I wish that I had a team of skilled hair servants to do it all for me. The likes of whom would know exactly what to look for and how much to cut off.  
   After looking over so many of the ends, I'm now certain that they were caused by damage and are not new growth. Still not exactly sure what type of damage, but it may be a combination of things that I'd been doing in the past.

Also, after much debate, I've pretty much decided on sticking with my current scissor lady. True, she may like to hack on me, but that might not be such a bad thing if I intend to grow this damage out. Last year, I gained 3" of new growth, and if I can continue that pattern, it won't take me very long to reach waist length again. And I certainly want my hair to be healthy when it does.
   So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't much matter to me if I have a slow gain over the years. I'm ok with reaching waist length in the next year or 2. It doesn't need to happen tomorrow and you can't rush art.

It's rather funny. I used to have visions of having long, flowing hair to complement my long, flowing wedding dress and long, flowing veil (if I wore one). I really have no idea why I thought that. Not that I don't want it someday, but it's not like I'm getting married tomorrow, for pity's sake!    It might never even happen. That's just the reality of it.
   In any case, I think I've realized that I don't have to rush. I don't have anything planned, so it's alright if I don't reach my ultimate goal length for a few years. I wasn't planning to anyway.
   Oh, I'll save the long, flowing wedding fantasy and think about it from time to time. But for now, there's just my hair...and my journey. No, I'm not on any drugs.    lol

Today, I did another WTC, as is customary for Fridays. Finished off my old jar of Pantene Intensive Moisturizing Mask and even used about 1 tsp. of the old Deep Fortifying Treatment that I still have hanging around.
   After that, it was business as usual. Silkening crème, air dry, done. Didn't even braid today.

Other Stuff: Yesterday, I got an e-mail from my immediate supervisor, asking if he could see me for about 5 minutes before my shift started the next day (today). Naturally, I was curious and nervous as heck, worrying that it might not be very good news.
   Today, I arrived late (gotta keep up appearances!  ) and rushed into his office, fully expecting him to say something along the lines of, "You've been doing a terrible job - you're fired!" But instead, it was quite the opposite. Not only will my position at work now have more involvement with his department and a better understanding of the other departments, but I'm also getting a tiny little raise.    
   He also said that every comment that he'd received about my mother or I was positive. Apparently our customers think very highly of us, even if we don't think so highly of them. lol In any case, I'm grateful for whatever bit of good comes my way. I'm certainly no stranger to the bad.

Everything else is pretty much same as usual. Have a good weekend, folks.  

Today was the usual CWC. 3rd day in a row. Still using Suave Daily Clarifying conditioner and Pantene Ice Shine S&C. Following with Pantene Silkening crème and just letting it be. That's the general routine now, as it will be for the next 6 months.
   Still clarifying once a week and doing deep conditioning treatments as often as possible (at least once a week). Haven't done a heavy EVOO treatment overnight in awhile. Mostly because I forget which days I'll be washing all of my hair, and I would have to do an EVOO treatment the night before. My hair doesn't seem to have suffered for it, though.
   Tomorrow, I have the morning shift at work, so that will be my 4th day in a row CWC-ing. I guess clarifying will have to wait until Wednesday this week. I don't know what's worse, the monotony of a weekly hair schedule or said schedule being messed up by the unpredictability of life. Ah well.

In other hair news, I've been taking half hour periods out of most days to isolate a small section of hair (one different section per day) and trim out the pokey, broken ends. Right now the left side of my head is looking less fuzzy than the right...but only by a marginal degree. *sigh* Perhaps if I keep at it, my hair will soon look better all over. Or perhaps it's just a wasted effort. We'll see.
   Right now, I am washing all of my combs (lol for some reason, I almost typed "bombs"). All 4 of them...and I only use 2 now.  

So I went to Target after work this evening and stopped by their Burt's Bees display, which I found had not only been moved but now only carries a fraction of what it used to. The lipglosses that I'd been wondering about were nowhere in sight.  

Each day, I've been trying to figure out one little thing to do to help prepare for housesitting this weekend. I want myself and my car to look our best just in case my long-distance amigo does decide to come out for a visit after all. I'm not saying whether he will or won't, but I'm making all of the necessary arrangements "just in case."

Also, I was able to get a new L'Oreal foundation a few days ago to replace the long wearing Infallible stuff I bought earlier. In the process, I've discovered that I like compact foundations better than bottled liquids, and the new stuff actually washes off and doesn't turn 20 shades darker on my skin within 5 minutes of wear.    So my new goth face is ready.

Anyway, I need to get ready for my nightly power walk now. Only 5 more to do before I leave. I've also stuck to my junk food strike. This is the longest that I have ever gone without eating crap, and you know something? Between all of this exercising and healthy eating, I feel much better than I used to. My skin is clearer than it's been in a long time because I'm actually taking care of it regularly. I tell ya...if "The Distant One" can't make it out, it will be his loss.   lol No, I'm not actually that self-assured, but I can pretend to be.

Confidence? I take mine in a shot glass.    Just kidding. 

Oy, I haaaate mornings!!    Well, the early mornings are ok if I'm on my way to bed and not to work. Again, I'm running on 3 hours' sleep, basically a walking zombie.

4th day CWC hair. Not too bad. Length is a bit gummy from the Silkening crème, but I'm leaving it down until after I've had a chance to work on a strand.

Today, I've cut all my nails off and will shape them in a few hours. I'll finish them when I work on trimming up my brow line.
    Skin is doing much better. The Pure Cashmere bodywash has worked wonders. And between all of the sweating and washing, my face is still quite clear.

Good news from the scale this morning. I'm down to 117!    That's 3 lbs. gone in 5 days. My legs are beginning to recover their strength and I think my thighs may be getting thinner. Maybe my little rock & roll figure is still hiding under there after all.
    Naturally, I expect to gain back a few lbs. while housesitting, as I won't be power walking and my junk food strike will be over. My goal right now is to get down to a number that I'm comfortable with for now, and deal with the aftermath when I return home. With any luck, it won't take long to get back to wherever I was at before I left. But I haven't been this light or healthy in a long time.

As for my far-away friend, I suppose I must accept (again) that he won't be visiting anytime soon. 10 months now we've been romantically involved and not once has he made any physical effort. I'm losing both faith and patience, and he knows that I won't wait forever.

Of course, the other little out-of-state "friend" of his is planning to visit him again in August. She seriously needs help. I keep praying that she finds another guy to obsess over because my guy isn't the right one. 
    We'll see what happens then, I suppose. If he's honest and behaves in a committed and trustworthy manner, then I'll try to hang in there. If not, I'll probably just cut bait and move on. No guy is worth this much stress. And there again, it will be his loss.
    But for right now, we're ok. Well...ok as we can be under the circumstances.

That's pretty much it. I'm tired. I've said that already. I'm also waiting for Blaqk Audio's album to drop, as it reminds me a great deal of the music that I grew up with. 

Peace and harmony, all.