So, I decided to go ahead and start a hair journal, mostly because I seem to be trying so much new stuff on my hair that I'm starting to lose track of what works and what doesn't!     I've been looking at a lot of long hair websites for advice.  A lot of them say the same basic things, but there are a LOT of different methods and recipes and stuff to try.  So...I'm recording all of my experiments here.  ::bwah-hah-haa!::  I wonder, though...how much time should I give a product (or recipe or whatever) to work?  Will I be able to tell within a day to use it or lose it?  Or should I give it a week? Two weeks? 

An aside before I start recording:  My computer's 'r' key doesn't work, so I have to Copy & Paste all my 'r's.  If I skip one or two, I apologize.   

Alright.  Where to start?  right now my hair is 20" from my hairline to the ends.  I just had the layering cut out at the start of this month, so it's all one length.  It's naturally blond, slightly wavy, fine, and about normal density. 

As for my routine, I wash & condition every other day (trying to stretch to two days between washings, but it gets very very oily) with Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo & conditioner--it's one of the few I could find without sulfates.  I would do CO washes, but the last one of those I did left my hair heavy, greasy, and all-around yucky.  When I run out of conditioner I'll have to get one that's better at cleansing.  I oil my ends at night with sweet almond oil, and I try to put on a good amount of oil the night before I wash.  I sleep with my hair French braided, as it's not quite long enough to braid just the length.  I rinse about once a week with DWV, but not really to remove buildup; the vinegar seems to help a little bit with my seborrheic dermatitis (I'll use 'SD' from now on).  I deep condition every week, but I've run out of my deep conditioner, and since my car's in the shop, I will be experimenting with other methods of deep conditioning this week.    

A lot of my 'experimenting' here will be ways to improve the condition of my scalp as much as my hair.  I was diagnosed with SD as a teenager, and it hasn't improved much since then (I'm 25).  At that time, Head & Shoulders seemed to be the only thing that helped it at all.  I think I've developed a resistance to it, though, so I'm trying to find something that will help the SD but that's good for my hair (preferably something natural--and cheap!     ).  The SD really doesn't bother me much during the day--an itchy here or there, but at night it gets really bad.  So far the only thing that seems to help it is a DWV rinse, but I'm kind of concerned that doing a vinegar rinse every time I wash won't be good for my hair.  I've also read that ACV is good for SD, but I don't know that it's better than DWV.  Also, doing these rinses only seems to help a little; I'm trying to improve the SD a lot.  I'd like to try rosemary and peppermint rinses to see if that helps at all.  Tea tree is supposed to help too, but the oil is kind of expensive.  Aloe is also supposed to be helpful.  Organix makes a shampoo that has all four plant extracts in it, and I might try that if the rinses work.  Or I may just make my own shampoo.  Just how much buildup does castile soap cause?   

As you can see, I've got a lot to try out here.  Wish me luck.  I just hope I don't mix the wrong herbs and make all my hair fall out or something!

Cute puppy avatar!

Enjoy your journaling!!!

I washed and conditioned my hair yesterday morning (meaning I went three days without washing--hope I can stand to keep that up ).  I wanted to see if fewer washes per week would help my scalp, and...

VOILA!  No more itchies!  I never in my wildest dreams thought that washing my hair less would make my scalp better.  Why would I?  One day without washing tended to make it worse.  Hopefully this is a permanent thing.  ::crosses fingers::  I can't believe that my scalp doesn't itch, even after washing.  This is like a miracle.  lol.

So...now I guess it's on to figuring out what works for my hair.  Yay!  The fun part!    

I saw something on the TV yesterday that a few months ago I would have agreed with, but after joining this forum, I got really upset about & ended up changing the channel. 

I was watching the Tyra Banks Show where they were doing makeovers.  There was a woman there with hair literally to the floor, and part of her makeover was to cut her hair off to APL!  She was crying the whole time while they tied a ponytail holder on and cut the hair off right above it.  Now, granted, the last four feet of her hair were really damaged, and maybe they should have been cut off , but certainly not ALL of it!  All I could think of was how much work and time and care was being held in that stylist's hand afterward--all to make this girl fit into a mold.  I mean, I like watching makeover shows and stuff like that, but I'm starting to realize that people are all supposed to be different & to assume that we need to all fit into some predetermined box is not respectful to humanity or the One who created it.

Well, enough of my soapbox rant.     Today I'm doing S&D while listening to the rain and Meerkat Manor.  In a few minutes I'm going to put some warm almond oil on my hair for 30 minutes and shampoo.  Maybe I'll boil some rosemary and put that in there, too.  I love days off!

If you personally favor short hair then that's fine with me but I hate how women are "bullied" into having their hair cut for x number of reasons that are based on myths and misconceptions and strange fashion notions.

So, maybe I was too quick to assume my problems with my scalp were over with.   
Today, even after a few days of not washing it still itches around the hairline in the back.  I suppose that I'm going to have to do a vinegar rinse every time I wash, which kind of makes me sad, because my shampoo smells really good. 

On the plus side, my hair looks great when I wash it less, and it feels really good after being washed, as opposed to feeling dried out, which is what it felt like before.  I'm hoping, though, that my hair doesn't smell funny after a few days without washing.  I need an opinion on this, but I don't really want to ask my boyfriend--he doesn't need to know that I go three, sometimes four days without washing my hair, does he?     I read somewhere recently that you can put perfume in your hair by spraying it on your brush first (to avoid putting alcohol directly on your hair), so maybe I'll try that.  I'd just hate for it to smell like perfume and dirty hair. 

Speaking of my brush...
I walked into my bedroom the other day to find my beagle Gadget chewing on my boar bristle brush!!     I don't even know how she got it!  I took it away from her to assess the damage, and luckily (for her) it wasn't hurt too badly.  But now it has little teeth marks all over the handle and head, and it did have tricolor dog hairs and spit in it until I washed it out.    

right now I'm pretty sure she's attacking my clothes hamper.  I'd better go save it...

I don't know about rag curling but some women can actually absentmindedly pin curl their hair while watching the news and then wrap it all up for the night.  I admirer retro/vintage ladies who are into this for their devotion to style and they say it gets easier the more often you do it but I have ten thumbs and an easily irritable scalp so an easy routine that requires the least messing with my hair is best for me.  Some control the frizz with pomade.   Okay, if it works for them...Some say setting lotion prevents the frizz.  I haven't been able to find any locally, have recently thrown away all my styling products and I just don't want to mess up my hair now that it's so well behaved.

So today I was getting ready for work, and I realized that I only had 5 minutes left before I had to leave, and my hair was all oily, since it's my third day after washing.  I had to throw it up in a pair of low French braids into buns, which ended up looking terrible and loopy because I only had 5 minutes to do it.  Plus it keeps trying to fall out.  My usual style when I have oily hair is a classic, because it binds up my bangs (which are the oiliest part of my hair) and hides the grease.  It's also MUCH easier to do on oily hair.

So here's a question for all of you reading my journal here--What's your cutest 'go-to' style the day before you wash?  You get bonus points if you have bangs.   

CHEER!

Please.  Hijack away!   

Angel,

No offense meant, but I disagree.  Dove launched its campaign for real beauty a few years ago, in which they used models of every age, shape, and size, and they promoted loving one's body for the way it really is.  Their campaign emphasizes self-esteem and the fact that every woman is beautiful the way she is.  As far as I can tell, it was a huge success.

Here's the site for their mission statement:

http://www.dove.us/#/CFRB/arti_CFRB.aspx[cp-documentid=7049726]/

I do agree that a certain amount of advertisement is required to sell a product, but I think that the degree to which the advertisers push it is terrible.  I mean, not only does the public feel as though it can't 'measure up' to the standards presented in these ads, but the models themselves must never feel like they're good enough either--they're not only made up and coiffed and primped for hours, but after they're photographed, their pictures are airbrushed, photoshopped, and augmented.  How must that make them feel?

(after further thought)...

And, I think that the public 'knows' that this stuff is augmented, but I'm not sure they always realize to what degree on both sides of the camera.  I know I didn't.  Plus, if you see this stuff all the time--ad after ad and commercial after commercial, you really do genuinely start to believe that it's normal to look that way.  I can't tell you how many girls at my workplace (I work at a vet school) have either said that they want to look 'that way,' while pointing at an ad.  And these are intelligent, independent women.  I just feel like they take a woman who was already beautiful and tell her she's not good enough the way she is, whether she's a model or a consumer.

I know that I can't really change the whole advertising system.  It's been the same for a very long time.  But I would like to change the way people, especially women and girls, view it.  I wish that the advertisers would use minimally retouched photos and people who looked more normal, especially clothing advertisers, but I realize that that's unlikely to happen.  I just wish I could change the destructiveness of it.  And I want people to understand that what we're presented with in magazines and on TV every day is not the only way to be beautiful.  I think real beauty shows up in people's little imperfections.  Those are what make us us.

After a brief rebellion from hair growing (I had that itch to cut it off again), I have decided to resume my hair care regimen.  Frankly, my hair looked better when I was taking care of it (duh).  However, I've made a couple of changes, since my hair was getting a little rough, and with the humidity it's getting bigger and bigger.

I'm using a shampoo with sodium laureth sulfate.  I tried the sulfate-free thing, and maybe it was that particular shampoo, but my hair had more frizzies and flyaways than ever.  So...I'm using a L'Oreal Natural shampoo.  It's got a lot of plant extracts, and the cleansers are pretty mild, so I'm using that right now.  It's also got dimethicone in it (I'm pretty sure that my hair loves cones). I think I'm going to try Nature's Gate shampoo next, but I have to order it, and I don't have a lot of money at the moment, even money to spend on my hair.   

I got the layers put back in my hair.  I know, I know...probably not the greatest idea ever, as it makes braiding and such difficult, but it looks a LOT better around my face, and it looks neater when it's down.  When it gets to about mid-back it might look better all one length, but for now I like the layering.  I also asked my stylist about my little fuzzies all over my head--she told me that they weren't broken hairs, that's just how my hair is.  I think it must be new growth or something.  My hair has a natural wave, so it makes sense that the baby hairs would be curly, right?  And they only really stick up when my hair is freshly cleaned and dry (which is when the rest of it is at its puffiest), so I'm not terribly worried about it.

Anniversary celebration with my boyfriend tomorrow.  I'm still wondering what I should do with my hair.  I'm wearing a red cotton halter maxi dress...any suggestions would be helpful.   

Thanks so much for the suggestions!  I ended up wearing a low messy bun, large gold hoop earrings, and a set of gold bangles.  Looked great!  The bf almost ran off the road staring at me!   

I'm getting tired of the waiting again.  Maybe I should set a mini-goal and reward myself for reaching it, kind of like my weight-loss program.  Waiting around for waist-length hair can be exhausting!    

I've come back down to two days between washings, instead of three.  My hair wasn't getting any less oily after about 3-4 months of stretching days between, and really, on the third day it starts to look like I haven't had access to a shower in a week.  I get tired of doing Dutch braids to keep my oily bangs out of my face, and cornstarch has never worked tremendously well.  I wonder if my hair is long enough to do scalp-only washes?

I'm still using my sulfate-ridden shampoo, but it doesn't seem to do better with my hair (or my scalp) than any other.  In fact, the only shampoo (and really, the only treatment) in the last few months that genuinely seemed to improve the condition of my hair was that Aveeno sample I got in the mail.  But that stuff has ALL KINDS of sulfates and salts and dyes and perfumes.  Ick.  Maybe I'll try Nature's Gate shampoos next.  I wish I could just get a sample, instead of buying a whole bottle though. 

I'm getting kind of impatient with hair care in general lately.  It seems so much easier to just blow-dry it.  And my bangs would look much better.  They have this sort of weird wave when I let them dry by themselves.  Plus, all of my hair just POOFs when I air-dry it.  Wish I could harness its power for good instead of evil.     And the tangles!!  If I leave my hair down for a couple of hours I can forget about combing it comfortably, especially when it's clean.  I know I shouldn't rip at knots, but it seems sometimes like there are so many that I can't prevent it.  Maybe I need to just do some major S&D.  My hair tends to knot more when it has split ends. 

Wow...sorry about my rant.  I guess I'm just having a 'bad hair month.'  I won't do anything drastic.  I'm just frustrated at the moment.  Does everybody get to that point?  Do you just get over it?
!

I don't see a problem with blow drying just your bangs; like Sakina said, you have to trim them often anyway to keep the length where you want it, and plus, it's such a small portion of your hair.  My bangs do the same thing if I don't blow dry them.  It doesn't take much from the hair dryer to dry them, so I think any damage is minimal.  It's not like you're blow drying for 10-15 minutes like you would if you were doing your whole head.

When I first joined LL, I also tried to do everything all at once.  When you do that, you can't tell what works!  I want perfect hair, too, but honestly-what does that mean??  I've spent a lot of frustration on the idea w/o knowing what it really means.  4 (5?) years later I still don't know!

I'm glad doing your bangs makes you happy-which is really what counts.  My guess is the shedding you experienced from trying the sulfate free stuff was just part of your scalp adjusting.  Could also be time of year or time of month shedding.

I'm afraid I don't know of any way to straighten hair that is not damaging.

Wow...I just read my last post.  Sorry for all the jumping around.  It's four in the morning and I'm at work; I get a bit random.   

Aww, that's so sweet!  Thanks!   

I am having a little trouble with finding a good outfit.  Suggestions would be helpful if you have any.

Lol...No, my eyeballs did not fall out.  Thanks so much for the help!

I've been going through this sort of awkward curly/wavy/fuzzy/flat phase for a few months, and I'm kind of getting tired of it.  My hair looks depressed.  Today out of hair-boredom I started looking at articles on flat ironing safely.  Is there such a thing??

The problem is that I really like my hair layered when it's down, but when I put it up it gets these little pokey-outey parts that are kind of unattractive.  Plus, I have a lot of new growth that makes my scalp fuzzy.  Blowfrying gets rid of that, but we all know about blowfrying...

Maybe I'm just in one of those awkward stages.  I need to get a trim soon; my ends are feeling a little rough.  I should try asking my stylist for suggestions.  She's been pretty sympathetic to my long-hair aspirations so far.  Of course, I think she still thinks I'm going to be donating it.  Hm.  Maybe we should clear that up, too. 

On the plus side, I found a really fun website!  It's called makeupgeek.com.  I found it while I was looking at Torrin Paige's (I really like her) tutorials on YouTube.  MakeupGeek has a ton of really cool makeup tutorials put together by a makeup artist.  She uses more expensive brands, like MAC and Urban Decay, but most of her looks can be adapted to drug-store brands (which is all I buy).  I've tried one or two of her looks and managed to duplicate them pretty closely.  I mean, it helps if you have all the right brushes and stuff, which I don't, but I've had fun playing around.  Anyone who's into makeup should check it out!

In other news, I've started using witch hazel on my skin as an astringent, and it seems to be working very well.  I read that it can be used to help minor skin irritations, bug bites, cuts, etc., so I applied it to some of the patches of dermatitis on my scalp (since the weather turned cooler, my scalp's been acting up).  I think it might actually be helping the spots.  But I was wondering--could it be damaging to my hair?  The formula has something like 19% alcohol.  Is it possible to get witch hazel without alcohol? 

I've decided I'm going to dress my dog up for Halloween, too.  She's a beagle, so I was thinking maybe Underdog?  But maybe I should try to match her to my costume...hmm.  So many possibilities... 

Quote:


I tried to fake those parts when I had no layers.  I haven't tried putting my hair up since my cut beause I'm just loving my layers this time.  My hair isn't wavy though so I've no idea how it looks.  I can't advice you one way or another because I've been happy and unhappy with layers and happy and unhappy layerless.  But I think layers can make updos appear softer and casual in an attractive way.  Can be romantic or perky.

It's good he had the shots though because though he doesn't go out,you do.  You might,God forbid bring in a flea or some other little annoyance on your shoes.

Thanks.  Dunno how to play a guitar yet.  I do, however, play piano.  Maybe I'll play keyboard for you someday.   

I got my trim today.  The ends were pretty damaged, due to the length of time between my last trim and now, so I think she took off about 3/4".  That's ok, though, because it really needed it, and my hair has been growing almost an inch per month.  I'm going to try to 'start over' with my new ends and be gentler with them.  I mean, I was trying to be gentle with them, but I wasn't always very conscientious about keeping my hair from tangling.  Boy, I will now!  I asked the stylist what the longest I should go (with my hair type) without a trim is, if I'm actively growing.  She told me about 12 weeks.  So...my goal is for her to have to cut off less hair at my next trim.  I guess that's kind of everybody's goal, though, right?   

*waves*  Hello, fellow belly dancer here!  Lisa, Melusine and La Diosa also belly dance if I remember correctly.

I have taken lessons at my local YMCA and at Parks and Rec, so check yours out for affordable classes!!!

I recommend www.moondancebellydance.com for inexpensive costume pieces.

Belly dancing is really cool! I've always thought about picking it up; a bunch of friends of mine love their belly dancing classes. Alas, I just don't seem to have the time.

Are the ends splitting, or just rough? Maybe a session of S&D would be better than going to get a trim. If they're just rough, maybe a nice deep conditioning can help with your ends. I like to really layer on oil the night before I'm going to wash my hair and just let it sit overnight. It's really keep my ends from getting all velcro-y feeling. 

Nope, it wasn't too much at all!  Thanks for the help!

I am trying to be really vigilant about my stance--especially with my lower back.  The reason I started dancing is because I'm on my feet a lot of the day and my lower back hurts anyway.  I'm trying to strengthen the muscles there.  The good thing, though, is that I 'tuck' my pelvis when I stand naturally (this phenomenon has been extremely useful in horseback riding competitions).  I barely have to make any adjustment when I belly dance, because my pelvis naturally falls where it's supposed to.  I just have a little trouble keeping my rear under control!     I'll try what you said about squeezing and keeping my leg straight.  I've been trying to twist evenly on both sides.  Maybe it's just supposed to look like you're even on both sides?  Also, a couple of websites have mentioned using your glutes, but when I try doing that, it just messes me up.  Any suggestions?

I'll try the cement thing and the doorjamb thing, too.  I think the visualization will help especially.  It's helped me with dance steps and things before.  A lot of the videos show you what the movement looks like and how to move your body, but they don't necessarily tell you what it's supposed to feel like.  That's where I think I need an instructor.

Thanks so much for the help!!

Reading your comment about Viparita Karani made me think of a student I had that had Sciatica so bad that it took me weeks to get her on the floor in this pose,but once there I almost had to bribe her to get her on her feet.  She so needed this pose to get her functioning again.  I swear by this pose as one of the main poses for maintaining back health!

I can see where continual squeezing would limit your range of motion and ability to keep time.  It is super common to squeeze your thighs at the same time you squeeze your glutes.  I have a dvd I'd recommend that has good glute isolations:
http://www.amazon.com/Drills-complete-workout-cymbals-dancers/dp/B00144Y8XG/ref=...


Regarding Viparita Karani: As long as your spine stays in a straight line I think you could put a folded blanket under your head.  I wouldn't put a big fat pillow under your head that would lift your head higher than your heart.  However, you might first try it w/o for 3-5 minutes.  The posture itself might not trigger a headache or vertigo.