yes it does seem to be darker each year. i was a dark blonde as a child, and it was brown in highschool and college although now the color seems to be darker with more red in it.
i've discovered that my hair seems to get oily faster with my all natural jason shampoo. i used some with cones last week and was able to wait an extra day to wash without it sticking flat to my head (which doesn't look good with my length of hair). i'm still planning to go cone free, as this seems to have made my hair generally healthier this past year, but i wonder if the cones just make it look more manageable. hmm.

it's rainy and cold here, so it doesn't seem spring-like yet. this was a long week at work, so i'm glad its drawing to a close. 

Congratulations!  My little escape artist figured out how to open the door to the garage the other day.  Normally this would not be an issue, except the garage was open.  Fortunately she came trotting by, clearly on her way to somewhere else.  She did NOT want me to catch her.  Ever since then she has been BEGGING to be let outside.  She swears she will come back.  I believe her.  I trust she will.   I just don't trust the kids, and the cars, and the owls, and the...

I am glad your baby was safe.

thanks everyone! i'm glad i found her too!

well-it must be a hippy moon rising, because i feel some earthy rants coming on. and not because it is earth day, it's just some topics i've been thinking of....ok, you are warned.

well, what do you ladies think about all natural body products-i mean i'm assuming most of us here use natural hair products, but do you think it's necessary to avoid all chemicals-in dish soap, tooth paste, moisturizer, deodorant, etc? i made a switch a few years back to more natural products, using jason hair products and tom's deodorant and burt's bees face products but still have quite a few chemical products in the house as well. a friend of mine has switched to all natural, chemical free products as much as she can afford to and has been praising it for health benefits and better skin. what do you think? i definitely believe that everything absorbs into our blood stream through skin, but at the same time, our world is soaked in chemicals, so can it really be avoided? these products are also far more expensive than the average product with chemicals...but it may be worth it in health and environmental benefits. and if our world is in an environmental crisis, why do we continue to make cheap products that are harmful to us and the earth, when for a little bit more short term effort with long term benefits, we could all have natural products and foods!  arrghhh!  hmm. just something i'm mulling over.

on another note, i've become anti-makeup lately, not that i was much of a wearer before, just mineral powders and mascara. now i'm not even wanting to do that...it seems my skin-for better and worse-is my skin and is it's own unique tone with blotches, freckles, lines, etc.

this has a bit to do with how i started wearing makeup several years back in high school. it wasn't to "experiment" with or "play up" my look. i was embarrassed by my imperfect complexion and after starting to wear makeup, i quickly realized that many people responded differently to me, and were complementing my new look. it wasn't really me though. my skin, however, is  me and i'm annoyed that i got sucked into the obligation many women feel to be "made up" in order to feel ready and confident for the day. obviously not all women feel this...i mean, many can just wear makeup for fun and have no feeling that is adds to their beauty or confidence. many though, myself at times included  -eep, have felt that we owe it to those around us to look a certain way or present ourselves as brighter and less flawed than we really are most mornings. this is then preyed upon frequently by cosmetic and clothes companies, in the guise of helping women feel their best, when it is actually insecurity-induced consumerism, or so it seems to me. i've also read in a report that women absorb up to four pounds of chemicals through their skin from cosmetics annually! that's a bit disturbing, if it's true. if not, well never mind on that point, but the rest above still holds.

so no, i'm not throwing away my mineral makeup (it was 40 bucks after all and that's a lot for me. ahhh!) i'm keeping it on the shelf with the mascara in case i want to wear it one of these days, but i'm also not going to let myself feel obligated to cover my face in colors to perfect the skin that so faithfully covers my body, keeping my organs in and germs out of my body. it's my skin and i want to be comfortable in it.

yeah, it's warm today!

ooh i just found the link hennaforhair!

my hair is in need of a wash, but i don't want to wash it today as it's more wavy than it's been in a long time (due to the heat and humidity we had yesterday, probably.) so i'm enjoying its natural waves, which although subtle will probably show more as my hair grows out. i did a french braid the other day but still needed to pin the little side pieces above my ears, as they were falling out of the tops strands of the braid. i could leave them kind of wispy as well i suppose. i also have been experimenting with small buns, but i have to use many pins for this as its still not long enough for a continuous flow of hair to be wrapped around itself with hair sticks or something. how long does hair have to be to do that?
i still haven't bought any hair sticks as i was waiting to have enough length to try different styles with them.