tuesday

As I was showering a few minutes ago, I was trying to come up with a topic for today's post. Nothing really came to me except for my hair. So I'm going to write about my hair. In this space, in this time, this is my hair, these are my thoughts about my hair, these are my feelings about my hair.

I made the transition from "mainstream" shampoo and conditioner to a "natural" method a while ago. I tried Burt's Bees, but it made my hair really really dry. Then I tried something that I think is called Sebastian's Organic (maybe?) and it made my hair feel really thick and unmanageable. So then I tried the "no-poo" system, where you're not really washing your hair at all. You just use a mixture of baking soda and apple cider vinegar (if I remember correctly). At the time, I was happy with the results, but too lazy to make the mixture every so often. I know, LAZY.

So then I tried the "Say Yes" brand, and I totally bought in. Natural (mostly), no parabens, no sulfates, it's affordable, not owned by a major corporation that I didn't want to support. For over two years, I've been using the Say Yes to Carrots shampoo & conditioner, the Say Yes to Cucumbers body wash, and the Say Yes to Tomatoes face wash. I'm telling you, I BOUGHT IN.

Recently, I've been making a lot of transitions to homemade products. I've made my own moisturizer, deodorant, I use (diluted) Dr. Bronner's for body wash and hand soap...all of these with great success and it's been nice for my budget too. So as our bottle of shampoo started running low, I began scouring Pinterest for shampoo "recipes".

The first couple washes were...rough. On the first day after a wash, my hair was this weird, dry, coarse, unmanageable mess that wouldn't do anything. The second day after a wash, it was softer and I could wear it down without it being a disaster. And then the third day, it was luxurious. And then I'd wash again, and the cycle would repeat. But I knew this was good, and Drew's hair was looking amazing, so I stuck with it.

And boy, am I happy. A friend took a picture of us at the baseball game Saturday night and I don't remember the last time I've been that happy with how my hair looked. And that's in the face of heat and humidity, two hours after it was washed and styled.

I've been growing my hair out for a while because I want long hair at our wedding. And while that date is not yet set, I am happy that I have found a good method for taking care of my hair. I'm in this routine for the long haul. Now to phase out mousse...