New Blog...Hair and Pain

well, life in general i guess. But I suffer from chronic pain issues and of course I am proud to be a "Curly Girl." Two blogs was silly. No reason I can't combine and use tags. :) Who knows what else I might decide to blog about.

Curly Girl Method INFO

You can buy the book HERE I recommend anyone with curly hair get this book. And if you have hair you always thought was straight but is frizzy, has some wave after showering and is sometimes hard to style and manage...you probably have wavy hair. GET THIS BOOK. Seriously. It will change your life. Well, at least you will have no more bad hair days. :)

CO Wash...CURLY GIRL METHOD

AUG 26th...I have thoroughly enjoyed my no-poo journey thus far. My hair is much better. I have had a couple of bumps along the road but overall a very good experience and I don't foresee ever going back to shampoo. But there are two issues I am having. One, I miss the smell of "pretty" shampoo. I do. My husband insists my hair doesn't stink. But I can occasionally catch that stale muggy odor- though even then he insists it doesn't stink. It's possible I just don't like the 'natural' smell of hair. Vanity? Maybe, but it is an issue for ME so I have to find something to fix it. Second, i think my hair is conditioned well, it's soft and not fly away...but it looked dry and I figured out it was frizzy. Mostly on the ends but all over I have a frizz "halo" especially after using the bbb. I posted about my frizzy hair a while back- thought maybe it was too much baking soda...the bbb...so I tried a few things to help fix it with no success. Still had the thought that it might be too dry in the back of my head even though I knew it well oiled, and things I mentioned above contradicted that idea. So, I started looking into cowashing. I figured that would help with the frizzies maybe and also add my "pretty" smell back. I started plopping to dry my hair. At some point in looking into the cowashing thing, it suddenly totally hit me, and I have no idea HOW I missed this before, but my hair is not straight as I have always thought...! My hair is naturally wavy! I started looking in to Curly Girl then, of course, obviously not a far cry from cowashing haha. I downloaded her book and read it through. I am now even more convinced that yes my hair is wavy...and possibly even...can it be true??!?....CURLY...?!? I have only recently begun the plopping and also not using any comb or brush on my hair...and I already have a few tendrils that actually corkscrew in to beautiful botticelli style curls and I cannot wait to do the full CG method and see what happens. (Have to buy conditioner and gel next time I go shopping now that I know how to decipher labels.) I am not sure when this curly hair thing happened...and to look back in photos wouldn't help because I wouldn't know if my mom had curled my hair, or I'd had a perm, etc. And as a teen in the 80's and it's BIG HAIR well...who knows what it really was under that can of Aqua Net? ;) I won't bore anyone with details of why but I suspect my hair possibly changed after my twins were born 10 years ago. I don't know...all I know is that now my hair is naturally curly and I am so excited to travel this leg of the journey and see where it takes me. :)

 SEPT 7th....I AM IN LOVE with my hair. When using shampoo I NEVER would have thought I could use conditioner on my scalp. But it's the best thing for my hair. AMAZING. I wash with conditioner...condition the lengths...leave in a teensy bit of watered-down conditioner...gel and let dry. I can let my hair go for a couple days. (and day two hair is even better than wash day hair!!) Day three or four I do a wo wash...condition ends...apply some leave in...gel and dry. I couldn't do wo when I was doing the bs/acv routine. It looked awful. Now, it buys me another couple days. I was even able to apply a little coconut oil to the ends and it didn't get greasy looking from it like it would before. I am so happy with my hair!! I no longer brush my hair- that is one of the worst things you can do to curly hair and why my hair would frizz after using the bbb. I do use a wide tooth comb while washing- after it is wet and full of conditioner. I am hoping that after it is fully conditioned and the ends are trimmed off I will not need to do that even. (I want a curly hair stylist and there is a salon in the town we travel to to visit family that has several DEVA trained stylists...so I will wait to get my hair cut next time we go.) This has been quite an adventure!! I started no poo July 1st...I had a nasty transition phase that lasted about a week...I tried several regimens...I had a horrible misadventure with a garlic treatment...and discovered I have naturally CURLY hair...lol. But I will NEVER go back to using shampoo...and my conditioners will forever be "nasty-stuff" free. I can't imagine having nasty, greasy, frizzy, unmanageable, hard to style hair ever again...which is what I had when hooked on shampoo.

update

I am very happy with the fact that my hair doesn't look nasty, greasy or dirty even after a few days of not washing (washing as in using the baking soda/bronner's mix). With shampoo I was greasy by the following day and it was a yucky dirty type greasy. I am happy with the waves/curls that are appearing (who knew??!?) Before, I thought my hair was straight and the last time I got a perm you couldn't even tell. I could get it to curl sometimes but it never lasted more than half a day. Now it is quite wavy and if I put it up in a scrunchie, for example, it is curly when I remove it and the curl lasts for a day or two.

That all said...I am struggling with occasional odor. It is a sweaty stale type odor. (I used to get it much worse with shampoo...I couldn't smell it in the air but I could get the smell on my fingers by rubbing my scalp. GROSS. Now, I just notice the odor every once in a while- I wonder if the shampoo scented my hair enough that I just didn't notice the scalp odor. Since going no 'poo...the odor has been really bad on two occasions but only on one of those occasions (today) has it been strong enough to transfer to my fingers like it used to. One of my sons gets it too, he is not no 'poo.) It is driving me insane. Last time it was bad I thought it might be something I ate. I can't relate it to anything like that this time though- nothing I can think of anyway. Hormones could be a culprit, though...this time and last. I have a really hard time getting the odor to go away especially when it's really strong like these two occasions. The length of my hair doesn't *stink* but it doesn't really smell like anything at all...and I miss the pretty smell on my hair from shampoo. Anyway, as I said I had a huge scalp odor issue today. I discovered that sulfur can help with the scalp odor- eggs are high in sulfur and I had read before many people do egg washes. So, I did an egg wash (recipe below). My hair is INCREDIBLY SOFT. The smell is gone from my scalp and the accompanying itchiness has decreased also. My hair smells decent- still not *pretty* but it does smell better than the "nothing" I have become used to. I really hope I can keep that scalp odor at bay. I realize that we each have our own natural scents and I am ok with that but this is just not pleasant. As for my hair...I think I will be trying a spritzer of an EO (essential oil) and water and just spritzing it on my hair. I just have to figure out what scent I would like. I would LOVE vanilla but that is one pricey EO...

I have also begun "plopping" and I am really enjoying how that is helping to bring out the natural waves as well.

EGG WASH
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
warm water- maybe 1/8 cup

Whisk the egg and honey well. After it whisked well, add the lemon juice and mix. Wet your hair, apply the wash. You can let it sit while you wash up. Rinse well. Rinse and Rinse and when you think you have it all out...rinse for another minute.

Notes: I wasn't paying attention and as an avid home chef and baker I am used to separating eggs to use the whites not the yolks...so in the end I ended up using two eggs instead of the one egg and one yolk the recipe called for because I put the second egg white right in my bowl lol. I also didn't measure the other ingredients- I rarely do...I just eyeball it. Whisking is important. It's key in the egg not 'clumping' when you mix in the lemon leaving bits in your hair. A wisk will likely remove that thick viscous white part that may also create bits in your hair.

You can find more egg wash info and suggestions here:
http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21760
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14703&page=2

6 weeks...

I have been adjusting the amount of Bronner's and bs. I think the frizziness was from too much bs...and too much Bronner's, I feel, strips the oils too much and that is the whole point for my avoiding shampoo. So I have diluted the Bronner's even more (maybe a 1:4 ratio with water) and the bs I tried as low as about 1/2 tbsp but went back up to more like 3/4.

Before washing now I oil up my scalp and hair really well with coconut oil. That has helped a lot. (has also cleared up a patch of eczema I have had no relief from for FIVE YEARS ...I am not kidding you. I recently discovered it is related to my lactose intolerance. Limiting dairy/using lactaid when needed helped but it still was a noticeable patch of irritated skin. Until I started applying the oil. It was cleared up. Gone. Incredible.) ok back to the hair...I apply it and wrap with a warm washcloth and towel (can also use tinfoil or plastic wrap to help hold heat in) and let it sit for however long. It washes out fine with the bs/soap mix. My hair is so soft even at the ends (always a problem.)

I have a couple photos I took just today- it has been about a month I think since I cut my hair last and I think the ends need some trimming again but over all I am very happy with the current condition of my hair.

Last night I oiled then washed with my bs/Bronner's mix and skipped the ACV rinse.






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Loving this

I am still no 'poo. I am still tweaking things but I'm so happy with where my hair is right now.

I have decreased the amount of bs to help with the frizz. I was using 1tbsp and now I am using about half that. I am still using dr bronner's...I mixed the soap and water in a bottle (1:1) and use a squirt of it with the baking soda.

I have begun using ACV over my entire head without greasiness as a result- I use a tbsp or so of ACV mixed with a cup of water. I soak my ends for a minute, give or take. Then I pour over my head and rinse the front/top of my scalp almost right away trying to not rinse my length too much. I finish up in the shower and then rinse the length.

I have made one major change...I have added coconut oil to my regime. I rub oil into my dry scalp and length, cover with a hot damp washcloth and turban wrap all of it up. I keep it wrapped for a while- I don't time it- I just go about doing stuff and when I get around to it I wash it out. I do this on wash days only- it's way too much oil to do on any other day. My hair is loving this addition.

I still use the boars brush every night to distribute the oil from my scalp. I don't care for it- I feel it increases the frizz and the brush stinks and I am concerned it will transfer to my hair. (I don't think the brush is dirty...I think it's just the brush itself.) I plan to get a wood brush and comb but it just isn't a priority so I haven't looked for any locally or priced them at all online.

I am washing about every third day. (so i washed sunday then not again until wednesday.) My hair doesn't get greasy like it used to with shampoo. It is slightly oily by the end of day two but it's a healthy shine oil...it doesn't look dirty oily. I don't know if that makes sense. It looks good. With shampoo, i was dirty oily by the end of day one. It doesn't stink like it did on shampoo. And since adding the coconut oil the itchiness has decreased even more.

I am very pleased. I don't foresee ever using shampoo again. My hair us so much better than it was before.


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26 days in...going strong

Yesterday I had a dr's appt...you know the one *rolling eyes* and of course just needed my hair to look, feel and smell clean. If nothing else than for my own comfort. So, even though it was not a wash day and didn't really need to be washed, I mixed up some bs and dr bronner's. I forgot that I was going to use a tbsp AFTER diluting it. So I used a little much. *oops* So, in the end my hair was WAY too clean. I was SO worried that I had totally screwed up the headway I had made. I noticed the ends were dry as well. Today, I did a wo wash with an acv rinse. My hair, thankfully, looks and feels fine now. I didn't have time to let it dry before I had to leave so I dried it as well as I could and dusted with cornstarch...because it does look oily after a wo wash until it is completely and totally dry. I will definitely continue with the bs/bronner mix but used correctly- haha. I have to decide on the frequency though. My husband said my hair looks so much better. It has lightened a little so it isn't really the dull drab mousy brown anymore. It is still dark especially indoors but it has more texture and depth to it because of the "highlighting" now.