Things that this post does NOT include:
1. Zombies*
2. Sewing
3. Affiliate links
*I just really like this towel, circa our 2013 LA jaunt, and wish I would have absconded with it. So I haz made it the focal point.
This post was prompted by two recent events, one, an email from a new curly girl reader, asking what I use on my curls, the other, an at-home dye job that progressively turned my curls the shade of Little Black Dress.
I realize that this is a strange diversion from the regular talk in these parts, but a quick google of blog reviews is what helped me fix the err of my ways. So I'm paying it forward and adding a few favorites of my own. And speaking of pay, nope, none of these links are paid, it's just what I currently love!
Guys, I hate salons. I FRICKIN FRACKIN HATE SALONS. I've been their unwilling victim for years due to the cut/color/yaddayadda requirements of various jobs. Every time, I drag my heels like I'm going to the dentist. (Actually, my dentist's office is a way more pleasant experience.) I hate the aloof vibe, I hate the gossip, I hate the HOURS UPON HOURS of sitting under a dryer and being sold a mass of expensive product, meant to suddenly transform my mass of hair. All those years of getting color for job requirements means I have to keep on truckin' with it during auditions. However, the last time I went to a salon on my own, they charged me $250 for a terrible haircut and a dye job that left me with a swath of color across my forehead. The swath was only revealed when I headed into an audition looking like an outpatient.
HEY THANKS GUYS KIND OF DEFEATS THE PURPOSE.
So, new rule: when it's up to me, I handle my hair. But a when a box meant to produce Brilliant Highlights and Warm Tones All In One! gave me Addams Family Morticia!, I found myself surfing the web in the aisles of the drugstore.
Before I get to the fix, here's my regular regime: shampoo my hair 1-2x a month, with Dr Bronner's Rose Castille Soap. Condition every other day with Alaffia Lavender Conditoner (this is also called co-washing). I leave it in for 2 minutes, towel blot the excess water with a jersey t shirt (the soft fibers protect the curl pattern), and rake Dr Bronner's Lavender hair cream through from root to tip. You can toss your head upside down for a few of those rakes, it helps the curls to form. Then I stick a couple clips around the crown of my head and let it air dry. Blow it dry, if I'm in a rush, otherwise, shake it out once fully dry to get maximum volume. And that's it. Sometimes I add a little gel or hairspray if my hair is in a bad mood, but I haven't found favorites in that area yet. (Got any? Do tell!!!)
It might sound like a lot, but you're talking to a gal who used to buy product by the bag full, finger curling each strand and chanting to the hair gods whilst hopping on one foot, forking over cash like an offering. (GUESS WHAT I SPEND THAT MONEY ON NOW.)
As for the Liz Taylor snafu, Color Oops! is a freaking miracle in a box. You have to follow the instructions to the letter, and you'll be rinsing your hair out for a full 25 minutes (I felt like a mermaid by the end of it) but it works. My last uber-accessorized garment post shows my hair pre-fix. You'll notice I'm smiling... 'cause it's just hair. It grows back.
Weird search traffic for this post be damned, I had to share!!! We're all DIY'ers here, so I'm pretty sure y'all have some hair horror stories. What's your worst hair story? Did it have a happy ending?
About 10 years ago, I went to get my hair cut at a new salon (college was about 3 hours from home, so I couldn't go my normal place) about 4 days before we were planning to take our engagement pictures. I like to think I'm fairly laid back about my hair, but I wanted her to trim the layers so that they framed my face with the shortest layers being about level with my mouth. She kept getting them uneven and I ended up with bangs--BANGS!! I rocked them as best I could, but needless to say I was pissed (because I was also stuck with bangs for my wedding--GRRR). And yes, I totally hate going to the hair place...which is probably why I go to one of the chain places now. My preferences are in the computer and it minimizes me being unhappy.
ReplyDeleteUGH. seriously, they're RIGHT THERE IN YOUR FACE and they HAVE EYES... how does mouth level turn into bangs? did she get stagefright, knowing the occasion?
Deletechain places-- yep, it's not nearly as irritating when you're not forking over chichi salon prices.
My thoughts exactly. I can't remember if I told her the occasion or not, but maybe that's what it was.
DeleteWith the chain place I can handle a not fantastic cut (though they've actually been pretty decent) for $12-14 plus tip.
Your hair is super happy. I also despise salons. Craptastic haircuts and fine tooth combs.
ReplyDeletei had a lady tell my mom "she's just afraid of the comb." hells yeah i'm afraid of your teeny toothed torture device!
DeleteI converted to co-washing about 3months ago. I seriously don't know how I went 30 years without knowing it was a thing. My hair is SO MUCH HAPPIER.
ReplyDeleteAs far as horror stories. When I was 11, I had surgery that required shaving a segment of hair. As an adolescent girl I was more concerned about losing my hair than I was about having brain surgery, and prior to surgery I asked my doctor to PLEASE save as much of my hair as possible, meaning on my head. There was a little bit of a miscommunication, however. When I woke up after surgery, he checked to make sure I was alright and handed me a little bag with the hair they had shaved off during the procedure. It's the single most scarring memory of my youth, and I've made every hairstylist whose chair I've sat in pay for it. I've got a good stylist now, but I "dated" her for 18months before I would let her cut my hair. :-D
holy cow BRAIN SURGERY?! that story is horrible and weirdly funny all at once! he probably thought he was really paying attention to your needs (and like, what doctor does that?!).
Deletei didn't know straighter haired gals were into co-washing, although not that you mention it, i did get ruggy to abandon the daily shampoo. his hair is much happier now!
I am SOOO lucky I have the hairdresser of my dreams. But sadly, requirements of performing hair means I rarely get to see him. Last time I went he cut it to a darling length that just happened to be too short for Constance's "up do" and so I've had to grow it out even longer. Ah well. Anyway, I have straight hair and I love Argan Oil. I also use argan/moroccan oil hairspray for daily use, and Keune for stage as that stuff be strong! The moroccan oil one is soft but enough hold to keep my bumpit beehive look in place. Yes, I really do that. I also have a pile of hair extensions that I hot water curled, that I roll into balls and pin all over my head according to the need, and smooth my own hair over them. That can be fun!
ReplyDeleteindeed you are. never let him go. i've wondered about playing with extensions...it seems a lot like dressing up your hair the same way we do our bods ;).
DeleteI dyed my hair blue in grade 11. Buying Manic Panic meant a 3 hour drive to Toronto at that time, so I was super excited when I found a cheaper blue dye in town about the time touch ups were required. Yea, excitement faded as my hair went a lovely grey-green-blue mess. I decided that pixie cut was going to be my new style pretty quickly after that.
ReplyDeleteI also once had dreadlocks, and after cutting them off my hair was super uneven. So I went to have it sorted out and the stylist seemed to have heard "leave an inch" instead of "cut an inch". Not pleased.
man i'd love to color my hair some rainbow shade. the most daring i've gone was red for a musical, and holy cow it was terrible. i was not meant to be a redhead. but blue! even grey green blue! did your parents scream or support?
DeleteMum did it for me, actually. Dad held his tongue.
DeleteA week later, mum and I went into town to go to the mall and these two older girls with straightened, bleached hair kept looking at me and giggling. I was oblivious, but Mum suddenly shouted "Oh! Like your hair's natural!" at them. I was so proud of her.
YES MUM. on so many counts.
DeleteI hate going to salons too! I lived in Long Beach (CA) for several years and there were so many salons within walking distance of where I lived and they all charge at least $80 for a wash/cut/blow and I tried three different places and hated every single haircut I got. Now I go to Rudy's Barbershop getting a new stylist every time. I mainly go because I don't have to make an appointment and also because it's $35 for a cut (no blowdry; I'm never going to look that good again anyway) and I go twice a year.
ReplyDeleteWhat's this co-washing thing? Is it mainly for curly hair or is it also good for thick, unruly wavy hair? I love that you posted about this! I love reading about other people's beauty routines.
THAT IS AWESOME. i read your comment last night and dreamt about going to a barber shop and watching sports!
Deletei always thought co-washing was just for superthick curly hair, but michelle (above) does it as well! it's basically cutting shampoo down to 1-3x a month, and every other wash is just with conditioner (hence, co-washing). google will definitely explain it better than i. but my hair is much happier this way!
I love your curl regime. Most people over wash and under condition their curls turning them to burnt out frizz. My favorite gel is https://hugonaturals.com/products/single-product/1847
ReplyDeleteoooo, i see that daily in my product aisle but never tried it, that's going on the list!
DeleteOona....you are Frick in HI...LA...R...IOUS!! I am going to try Dr. Bonner. I am a product junkie! I have all kinds or hair extensions, shampoos, hair rollers, etc. A few years ago, I used a boxed black hair dye. My head was so....itchy. . I washed my hair twice trying to get it under control. I woke up in the morning. ..looked in the mirror...saw a Cabbage Patch black baby. LMAO! My facial features has shrunk in to my face. I looked over my shoulder to see if someone else was in my bathroom mirror. I had swollen eyes but I had to go to work. I got the physician assistant to order me prednisone asap. What I had was angioedema? I searched Google and saw others who looked like I did. That was my worst experience.
ReplyDeleteHA! right back atcha! "cabbage patch black baby", laughing my ass off. i mean, it sounds QUITE serious and not fun, but you describe it so perfectly!
DeleteI color my own hair and everytime I go to the Salon they ask who colors my hair. Look...I am not going to be one of those people who is super loyal to a salon when I have never once had a great haircut or a great color!!!no one does what I want. You want my loyalty??? Give me a great cut.
ReplyDeleteOh..btw. love the idea of color oops since I color my own hair!
ReplyDeleteit works great! tho, it looks like beckie below had a problem, so proceed with caution. i followed the box to the letter (seriously, so. much, rinsing.) and i think it doesn't work on rainbow shades.
Deleteisn't it funny how we're never supposed to go to multiple salons? i mean, would peeps who shop RTW only go to one store?
Great post! In fact, I think I have that same towel ;). And as a newbie to natural hair, it's good to have some tips that can help. And I agree with you about salons...
ReplyDeleteI AM SO JEALOUS OF YOUR TOWEL!!!
DeleteI also would rather go to the dentist than a salon. Every. Time.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have short hair and I can go to a men's barber, which I prefer by far. I just let the sports talk wash over me, it's very soothing.
second shout out for a barber! man, i think i'm going to find a willing dude next time i have to sit in a chair.
Deletei detest the salon for a few reasons. uno: i hate sitting there, wasting hours of my life, while someone i do not know tries to make small talk with me when i just want to read my freaking book. deux: too often! i will happily wait 18 months between colorings if i can get away with it before my sister starts yelling at me. three: it's my childhood trauma. i had very long hair as a kid and my mom, in true 80s fashion, wanted me (an 11 year old!) to fully blow out my own hair every night when i washed it. when i balked against this regime she punished me by taking me to a butcher and having it all cut off. i looked like a 10-year-old boy until i was 16. worse still, my passport photo was taken right after that, so that was my official ID for ten years. and bat mitzvah photos! i still cringe at the memory and get my hair done/colored/cut as infrequently as possible to this day!!
ReplyDeleteblow outs at 11??? my mom could barely get me to comb my hair! this is why we need more fascinators in our lives. who needs a haircut when there are GIANT FLOWERS ON YOUR HEAD.
DeleteI love your hair! It's great to get a glimpse at how the magic happens. :) I'm fascinated by this new-to-me co-washing thing. A topic for further research.
ReplyDeleteOnce in the 90s I had a guy who had apparently just fallen in love with the joys of razor cutting try to give me one of those Jennifer Aniston flicky hairdos. I ended up looking like I was wearing a fez all the time. It was unfortunate but it grew out - and that's my worst hair story because I've never had the patience to dye my hair.
haha! we're binge watching friends so i know exactly what you mean!
DeleteOur hair regimes are as different as our boobs! :-) I have to wash every day and condition. Then put in the lightest leave-in hair silicone stuff for a bit of shine. Now, in my 40s, I can push it to 2 days. But on that second day my hair is a grease slick. On the topic of dentist vs hair: I love my hairdresser so it makes the time go fast - not to mention that the studio is 3 doors from my house. But I have to go every 2 months and it's pricey!
ReplyDeleteLOL yeah they are! ruggy's hair gets pretty slick too, but now he only shampoos once a week and conditions the rest. i have imposed my will.
Deleteif i had a hairdresser i loved, especially 3 doors away, i'd probably grin and bear the sticker shock.
I can't even begin to choose the worst hair story, because there are so many. The one that makes my kids laugh the hardest is that when I was 15, my brother and I thought it would be funny to dye my hair with red food coloring on a Saturday afternoon while my mom was out and my dad was in charge (napping and/or watching golf). It was the 70's and no one in our rural community did anything like that. My super uptight mom just about had a stroke. She shoved my head in the sink and scrubbed me with Tide. It was stuck in my chlorine bleached hair...we went through hours of scrubbing, and she finally used Born Blonde to bleach it out. All but a small tail of pink came out. Kids at school thought I was really out there (I wasn't). My mom now thinks it's a funny story and wonders why it was such a big deal then.
ReplyDeleteoh myGOD! scrubbed it with tide?!!! i love it that your mom is totally cool with it in hindsight (and by the way, i've yearned for a small tail of pink curl in my hair for years now).
DeleteI am so jealous of girls with curls. My mom had lovely curls. My brother got those. Since he is an army man, he keeps his hair super short. What a waste.
ReplyDeleteI hate hairdresser s in my home town. They only know how to cut Finnish grndma doos. True story. Luckily my bestie is a hairdresser, sadly she lives in another city. But getting my hair cut the way I want few times a year is better than having a granny-doo.
Co - washing? ! Must google that, because I am sure I am doing shit wrong.
As for the hairspray, L'Oréal Ellnet. Best of the best.
ah, my bro had curls too, till he shaved them off. MEN.
Deleteyour bestie deserves a sewn gift, perhaps!
I have the classic Jewish curls- lots of volume, tight curl pattern (5/8 diameter), does not straighten, and fairly fragile. I wash my hair once or twice a week with herbal essences naked volume shampoo and conditioner because most moisture or curl specific products contain something (wax? silicone?) that makes my hair weird. I recently discovered Sexy Curly Hair Cream at Ulta and I'm a bit obsessed. I haven't been to get a hair cut in over a year and it made my hair look good. I've had mostly good experiences with salons over the years. Have you tried Fiddle Heads or Ouidad? My friend swears by them for her kids who have hair my texture (her hair has the loose curls that limp out in humidity).
ReplyDeleteyeah, i try to find products with a short ingredient list! i'm going to check out that hair cream.
Deleteouidad was one of the salons i went to during several shows-- i had to BEG them to cut my hair for volume, and restrain themselves from sending m out looking like shirley temple. they were also one of the major $$$, 7-products-per-styling stints i went through. the product always ended up flaking off into tiny white dots, super sexy. my hair just needed too much of the stuff for it to work!
I had very curly hair - a razor cut :( Used to iron it straight on the ironing board! And humid weather - a whole other story. I looked up "no poo', a while ago - no shampoo. Quite interesting to read as some friends who have had breast cancer cannot use/shouldn't use chemicals, etc. I did try it - went for 4 weeks and actually my hair did last longer between washes. Rinsing with diluted vinegar worked well after water washing too. The 'Checkout' TV program (in Australia) showed how the mega companies encourage - washing, oh do that twice, conditioner, oh we have a specialty one to suit your - color, straight, curly, dry, greasy, and so on - all in the name of profitability of course!
ReplyDeleteACK, on the ironing board! i always wondered about that!
Deleteyeah, it's a bit of a racket, that wash twice stuff, and the chemicals/ foaming agents aren't the best for our bods in my opinion. i like rinsing with apple cider vinegar, but uggggh i hate the smell!
I'm still surprised at how often hairdressers have messed up my curly/wavy hair... One guy just cut it in layers like you would do with straight hair and suggested I straightened it until it grew out again. I've now found a really good one through a friend! It's still sooo expensive but she has curls herself and knows what to do with them. Which reminds me I need to go back for a trim and to redo that blue dip dye thing I did before going on vacation...
ReplyDeleteyeah, curly hair is a niche. ruggy's guy refuses to touch my hair, though i desperately want him to give it a go. he says curly hair is a whole different learning curve. i guess it's good to know your limits, but his price tag is so much more appealing!
DeleteMy horror story involves Color Oops, actually. It stripped my hair down to a brassy orange (natural color is a light brown/very dark blondette, depends on who you ask, and it was dyed red, then brunette on top...yes, I committed a lot of hair sins) Of all things, Kool Aid (the unsweetened kind) in "blue" counteracted the brassy orange. You put a teaspoon or so in your shampoo or conditioner and let it stand for a few minutes and rinse. It works with other colors as well, whatever your hair color issue is, pick the Kool Aid color on the opposite side of the color wheel.
ReplyDeleteone caveat: be careful with the reds, unless you actually want Very Red hair.
As for what I do with my curls, I use baby oil to tame frizz (a drop or two rubbed between my hands, then worked through my hair, avoiding the roots) and Garnier Fructis makes a nice "curl enhancing" gel I use when I need control or at a time when you would normally use hairspray.
oh no! did you do the whole never ending rinsing part? i can't believe you fixed it with kool aid. just IMAGINE what that stuff must have colored our kiddo insides!
DeleteOh dear! I so do not belong in this conversation. My hair is as boring as everything else about me but I can totally relate to the salon hate. I haven't had a good haircut in 20 years. There was one person in the entire universe who could cut my hair right and I lost her when we moved from Virginia to Oklahoma.
ReplyDeletei've spied your ensembles and would not ever label you as boring!
Deletewe had a wonderful hairdresser that worked freelance on shoots, and he'd come to our home and cut away. that was just the best. when he moved to florida, i seriously considered the possibility of miami living.
well, I realize you live in Oklahoma ...but if you are ever in the Virginia Beach area, we have a salon, shearblissvb. com and would LOVE to show you what it means to TRULY love your hair color job! We hate to hear people have been disappointed with their haircut, and know that one of our hair stylists will care above and beyond for you. Check us out if you are EVER back in the area!
DeleteFirst...for hair color, you must check out esalon dot com. They custom mix hair color for you. Though I don't dye, I helped a friend with hers about a month ago, and it looked better than salon results. IDK what kind of magic they put in that color, but it was really awesome.
ReplyDeleteI have moved state to state 8 times in the past 12 years. I have a bazillion salon horror stories! The best though was when the male stylist in Jackson Mississippi laid me back in the sink to wash my waist length hair, and proceeded to cut my hair to chin length while in the bowl, and told me, "You heavy women all think you have to have long hair, I am doing you a favor!" I did not pay for that cut, and walked out with a slew of free Aveda product.
Salons are definitely the worst. That's why I wait until I'm on a show with a really awesome hair/makeup gal to take care of my hair woes. All other cuts are done by moi, and I never color anymore.
ReplyDeleteI know we have totally different hair, but I am intrigued by your washing schedule. I had trained my hair to go about 3-4 days without needing a washing, but my scalp still ends up caked with oil and (I know this is gross) I guess dander? even if I am still rinsing with water it every day. It gets SO itchy. How does that not happen to you?!
And Dr. Bronner's was not for me :( It was so harsh on my hair. I've been experimenting with "clean" shampoos for about two years now and the only good one I've found is Desert Essence. So far baking soda is still the best bet though.
DeleteCo-washing definitely goes way back. I read that Empress Elisabeth of Austria had insane amounts of hair and washed it once a month or so with essential oils.
Ha! Yeah, ruggy was shocked when I told him how little I shampoo my hair. Maybe my scalp is so engulfed by hair it's like a desert...yessss....I'm cleopatra washing her hair with jasmine oil...
DeleteDid you try the rose bronners? That's the only one I can use, the others are crazy harsh!
When I was 10, my aunt mentioned that putting vaseline on the ends of your hair overnight can keep it from splitting and make it grow faster. I was trying to grow my hair out at the time and figured that if a little is good, a lot must be better, so I slathered it on. My mom was just speechless the next morning - you can imagine the mess. I must have washed my hair 20 times to get all of the vaseline out.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAAAA! MORE IS MORE! oh man, i can't imagine...
DeleteWe have the same happy hair regime! I met my curls for the first time 15 years ago when I stopped using chemical relaxers and haven't really done anything to my hair since…Well, there was that time I got my hair braided with extensions. Because my hair is so thick, it took 22 hours and the poor lady couldn't work the next day cause her fingers were raw. NEVER AGAIN, yo...never. Not even if they remake Poetic Justice and cast you in it and ask me to be an extra. Just ain't worth sitting in a chair for that long. Then, there was my wedding. WTF possessed me to get a blow out on the most important day of my life. In October. On the East Coast. While raining. With a DJ playing Motown. Needless to say, my hair was all Cher when the ceremony began and by the time the second soul train line on the dance floor started up, my hair went Diana Ross. And not the sexy wet hair album cover Diana. The Las Vegas stage singing "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand" Diana. Cause that's exactly what my hair does when it's straightened against its will. It slowly, but surely reaches out to touch everyone. In. The. World.
ReplyDeletei swear, if i ever meet you, i will be prepared for nonstop facehurting belly laughter. am now imagining your hair singing while you do the backup claps. seriously, what DID possess you to do that? (*she said, having had her own hair "slightly relaxed" to "loosen the curls" a week before her own wedding, when what it really did was "ADD ALL THE FRIZZ"*)
DeleteI love the little diversion! I too am a curly girl and am still in product junkie stage although I haven't tried Dr Bronner yet! Putting it on my list now!
ReplyDeleteit's the bomb! in fact, i'm out, which is a terrible situation!
DeleteI'm a natural curly girl and ditched the salons some 20 years ago. I had a perm in high school (NEVER AGAIN) and used to go to a salon for a simple wash and curl. I don't use any man-made products except Pink Oil Moisturizer. My arsenal includes virgin coconut oil, olive oil, and water. That's it. I am looking for more natural shampoo/conditioner alternatives, though. I wash my hair twice per month and occasionally use mayonnaise as a deep conditioner.
ReplyDeleteRock on curly girls!
the alaffia brand is great stuff natural-wise...and they don't use soy, which is a huge bonus for me!
DeleteCo-washers of the world unite! I'm also...um...familiar with Color oops after a Mortician Addams incident of my own.
ReplyDeletei reeeeeealllllly want you to dye your hair orchid.
DeleteWhen I was a kid, I had a friend who wore her hair in perfect waistlength plaits every day. I desperately wanted her hair, so decided to grow mine out, but being a kid didn't look after it well. The hairdresser when I was 9 told me my hair was in horrible condition and had to be cut, which I tried to resist but relented when she promised to keep it no shorter than underarm length. She cut it so short that I couldn't even pull it back into a ponytail for months. Now I cut my own hair and haven't even been to a salon in over a decade.
ReplyDeleteHaven't heard of co-washing before, but might try it. Each individual hair of mine is very fine, but there's a hell of a lot of it, so it has a tendency to go a bit fluffy lion's mane.
i looooooooove fluffy lion's mane....
DeleteAbout ten years ago for halloween I dressed as Fiona from the movie Shrek. The OGRE Fiona, which meant lots of green paint. My hair is normally a very fine, dirty blond, which I occasionally add some lighter tones to, but nothing drastic at that point in my life. Since Fiona is a red head, I got some red dye that was supposed to wash out after a few washings, and some green body paint. To make the little horn things on her head, (ears?) I twisted two locks of hair over itself, until it formed a little nob, which looked alot like her horn thingies, and then painted them green with the body paint. My mistake was not drying my freshly dyed hair before adding the green paint. After I washed all the paint/makeup/party residue from my body the next day, my hair was a really strange mix of red, orange, purple, and green, which continued to vary every time I washed it for the next few weeks. By Thanksgiving I had hair in all the colors of a sunset, only not as pretty. GAH! One hell of a costume though.
ReplyDeleteCurrently I'm still a dirty blond, but with blue streaks. :)
oh my god, this story, it's like watching the chick go down a dark deserted corridor in a horror movie and you're yelling NOOOOOOO but she keeps going...
Deleteactually though, all of those colors sound kind of magical! sunset hair for thanksgiving, who wouldn't want that?
Cheers to you Oona for co-washing your lovely curls! Me, I have hair that's SO Caucasian *lol* I use baking soda as my shampoo and apple cider vinegar as my rinse (a la "The How-To Hair Girl"), and coconut oil as my deep conditioner before washing. "Sham-phree", in other words, and get nothing but compliments. I do use shampoo when in a hurry sometimes, but always mixing it with conditioner 50/50 so I don't end up with a static ball instead of hair *lol* - I try and use the most natural stuff I can afford.
ReplyDeleteVidal Sassoon purple turned my dark blonde into a really dark purple (hard to tell if it was just dark brown with mahogany or actually purple). One year later, I'm growing it out - and using baking soda as much as I dare to get out the unnatural colour. So far so good, but it takes FOREVER :)
Try coconut oil or olive oil as a treat for your hair and scalp before washing. At the very least, the scalp massage is nice (unless your hair is trying to fall out like mine is - eeek!). Dang menopause!
dude, try that color oops! i read a review of a gal who had year old color, and it got a lot of it out. i cringe at the unpronounceable ingredients, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. and my hair actually felt healthy after, which was shocking.
Deletei've tried coconut oil but can't get down with the aroma! jamaican black castor oil rocks too.
I'll have to try that! :) Thanks my dear!
DeleteI was to a salon exactly once in my life. I realised I wasn't going to ask for anything fancier than a very slight cut, because I like my hair the way it is and there are no job requirements, which now my sister covers.
ReplyDeleteAs to what to wash my hair with, that's a more troubled water. I've finally settled back on basic nettle or birch shampoo, with the addition of a vinegar rinse as conditioner. It seems to be working okay so far. Mind you, my hair is almost as far removed from yours in terms of texture as it can get.
Hey, while we're on the subject of hair, have you seen Janet Stephens' historical hairstyles videos? She's awesome and has done more for my basic understanding of hairstyling than fancy modern tutorials have ever done. And there's some cute hairstyles for curly hair I can't use properly. ;-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteUm. I realised I had more to say, and it would get long and confusing if it were to be several posts.
DeleteMy disasters tend to be of a long-term kind: like wearing apparently bad-quality clips in my hair for so long as a child that I ended up with the hair at my forehead cut really short by their sharp edges. I had to keep moving them up, until one summer I realised I should not.
It was mother, with her short hair, who was the one going to hairdressers, and always complaining that they never got her preferred length right. She aimed for this lovely cca 70s style with fullness at the ears, since her hair actually gets those waves naturally and it suits her face beautifully, and they always clipped her hair too short which made her look too serious. Like, you know, thinking they knew better than her which meant making her look like any number of other women. That was another reason I decided to skip on salons altogether.
The biggest disaster I remember was my sister's, not mine: chewing gum in her hair when she was a child. It couldn't be got out and she ended up with very awkward bangs for a while.
After years of using it I realised that baking soda wasn't actually doing my hair much more favours than shampoo. I wonder if that also has something to do with the fact we have fairly hard water? The vinegar rinse carried over from that period, though, because that does seem to have some merits to it.
isn't that the main problem, stylists thinking they know better?! people, it's OUR HEADS.
Deleteoh yes, the quality of the water will change up my whole regime in a hot second. i've resigned myself to wearing my hair in a fro'd up do when visiting my in-laws' neck of the woods. (with a soft elastic headband-- yikes, cutting clips?! who knew!)
and those historical hairdos are HARD! i tried one once and my arms felt like i'd just done a massive workout!
I believe it was some residue of communist central planned industry, those awful clips. I mean, the technology for making them or something. They had sharp-ish edges. Back then, I couldn't get bobby pins to stay in my hair, so I had to use those. Late reply; I'm rather shocked how late.
DeleteMannnnnn what?! I stopped getting relaxers 4 years ago and was on that anti-salon business. HARD.
ReplyDeleteI finally cut off my relaxed ends and decided I wanted to get a Deva Cut from a well-know professional stylist in CA. I was visiting CA in a few months so it was perfect. I called up there to make the down payment (DOWN PAYMENT ON A HAIR CUT -_-) and when I got there, he cut my hair and then attempted to "style" it in a wash&go... I kept telling him that the products they were using were NOT going to work on my hair but he INSISTED that my hair just needed to dry. Needless to say, 3 hours later and eyes full of tears, I didn't pay for that styling and I had to find a pharmacy to grab some products to salvage my hair.
I have a couple of more stories but I don't want to keep saying I cry when I go to salons lol I might look like a wuss lol.
I'm back to me,myself&I
OH DON'T START ME ON DEVA. deva and ouidad are so insanely overpriced, then you have to take a third mortgage to walk out with a week's supply of product. i have a feeling all of us curly girls get roped in by that experience at least once. i hope they returned the BULK of your dollars and you walked straight to a fabric store after the pharmacy ;)
DeleteFirst, I just have to say that you ALWAYS look gorgeous. Whatever you are doing...it works.
ReplyDeleteI hate hair salons too!!!!!!! I'm not very good at sitting still. But guess what? My daughter is now a stylist.... so it means I HAVE to go. Be the supportive mom...yada yada.... but I have realized that I can mulit task in the chair... Yup. Here's what I did on my last visit: whitened my teeth with those strip things, hemmed a skirt, painted my nails, worked on blog business cause they have wifi :) and drank lots of their fancy coffee. More please. Yup. With my daughter as the stylist I can 1. complain..cause I paid her tuition 2. not pay for services...cause I paid her tuition hahahahaha! Poor girl is paying for all my past hair salon tragedies.
BEST. STORY. EVER.
DeleteWorst hair stories: Hair painting in high school (mid '70's...) The first time I tried it I had barely noticeable results, so I tried it again a month or so later and left the product on, oh, twice as long? It looked liked I'd walked under a ladder and someone had spilled yellow paint on my hair. Then there was the trip to the mall hair cut shop ('salon' just doesn't work) where I carefully explained to the stylist that my hair could not be cut too short on my neck as my hair grows really low and I don't want to have to shave my neck. You know she ended up using the razor on my neck before I got out of the chair... My current stylist is also a friend, so we do a lot of chit-chat while she cuts my hair. She's a curly girl herself, and she totally gets the whole curly hair thing. The first time I went to her I lamented about my wild, unruly, frizzy, mind-of-its-own hair and she stopped me mid whine, saying, 'You've got it wrong. You don't have messy, frizzy hair..you have romantic hair.' Romantic hair. I'm making the paradigm shift and now let my hair do its own thing. Something I never thought I'd do. Shampoo...condition... towel dry and mousse and then...don't touch it. At least it's easy. :-D
ReplyDeleteI just got my hair cut by my stylist of many years. And it's way too short for my BIG round face! I had 4 pics of inspiration and it's still wrong! I am a former hair stylist and I thought I explained to her to the T with pics of people with my similar features and face shape! My hair is kinky/ curly- more coils than yours (3c/4a if you do hair typing). So I am super BAFFLED on what products to use in this shorter state. Do you use any curl defining creams to control frizz? Thanks for all your suggestions. I use Dr. Bronner
ReplyDeleteGreatest post ever! As a newbie to natural hair, it's good to have some tips that can help. And I agree with you about salons...
ReplyDeleteRuby