My Hair's new Best Buddy!

My hair has a new best friend!! Enter the box fan. I've had my windows opened and box fans running the past few weeks here in Ohio as it's been in the 80's. I HATE to apply heat to my hair to dry it....it always poofs up funny...the wirey grays sprawl all up AND any broken bits fly right up to create a not so pretty fuzzy halo. So usually I let my hair air dry. It's not too bad with just a few draw backs. First it takes forever. My hair is about 3 inches below bra strap length. This is about as long as I usually go before I chop it. But for years now I have wanted to try to let it get to my lower back. The second draw back is that my air dried hair can look rather flat....ok if I've planned on an up do....not as attractive if I wanna rock it down. Well for two weeks now I have dried it in front of the box fan! I just stand there and use my fingers to separate it a bit while the cool air runs through it. WOW.....what a difference. I am able to gently get a lift at the roots by holding the hair up and away from my scalp. It is taking about 7-10 mins for the whole thing to be totally dry....really only a few mins more than my heat dryer. It looks really really straight too.....almost like I flat ironed it.....no fly aways or fuzz. All this with no heat! I'm guessing the fan's gentle flush of air as opposed to my driers tornado gusts keeps things smooth. Heat is so hard on your hair and going into summer I try to avoid it. I will be using my box fan from now on, on days I need to dry it!

I have a new favorite shampoo and conditioner scent right now.....it's Suave's Everlasting Sunshine. It smells so yummy.....you can also find that scent in body wash, lotion and deodorant. I don't use shampoo in the typical way. I do a modified conditioner only wash routine. I played around with it for about a year before I found what works for me and my oily hair. Here's how I do it....my hair is so much more cooperative this way. I start by buying 1 shampoo and 3 conditioners. I use an empty shampoo bottle to mix 1/2 shampoo and 1/2 conditioner together. This is what I use to wash my hair on shampoo days. It lathers nicely still but doesn't strip the hair near as much as shampoo alone does. I shampoo 1 time per week. The rest of the days if I feel my hair needs a fresher ie...it's getting oily....I'll do the conditioner only method. That's just glopping on a mound of conditioner to the wet roots....letting it sit while you shower....then adding water and scrubbing like with shampoo (it's funny but conditioner DOES foam up a bit) then rinsing the lot out. Kinda like Wen....have you seen the infomercials?? In the summer I wash the first day and wear my hair down since that's when it looks the best....then I wear it up day 2 and 3....then usually CO wash. You tube is the perfect place to find beautiful up dos for summer I like Lilith Moon's Channel....but there are many many more.










Have a great rest of the week friends!!!

My First Crochet Project!!

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!! Crochet is something I've always wanted to try. My Mom is a master crocheter .....but never really taught me the skill. I tried once or twice on my own when younger...but never followed through. So enter the internet, a great blog...the library and some DVD's! The Blog Learn to Crochet has really good information...plus she's got some great starter video's on youtube. I'm doing pretty good with it but it will need MUCH practice. I wear these little hair scrunchies so that was my first project. Plus I just knew I needed something fast to get done with quickly....a big blanket takes a long time and I wanted something done quickly to keep me motivated...LOL! Here it is:

Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,looked in the mirror,and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today.'So she did and she had a wonderful day!
The next day she woke up,looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.'H-M-M,' she said,'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today.' So she did and she had a grand day!
The next day she woke up,looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. 'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.' So she did, and she had a fun, fun day!
The next day she woke up,looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.'YAY!' she exclaimed.'I don't have to fix my hair today!'

Crochet Scrunchie

Crochet scrunchies are one of my favorite hair accessories! I don't crochet.....but my Mom does and keeps me in a wonderful supply of these little gems. Mom says they're really easy so if YOU crochet, check out some of the patterns here. I love these little things because they are very user friendly AND very soft and therefore gentle on your hair :) Plus the best part is....you can make them in any color you wish to match almost anything....you can use yarns of all different textures and weights and even cross stitch thread. I've even seen them done with thin strips of material. They wash right up too when they need it. There are two basic styles I use them for. A pony tail and a bun.











I store all these plus my other store bought scrunchies on a hanger wreath. You just untwist a wire hanger....shape into a circle, then put your scrunchies on it then re loop it on the top once to hold it together. This I hang in my closet for safe keeping. So if you crochet....go try one! I will learn sometime soon as I have secret fantasies of sitting in my rocking chair crocheting blankets for each of my grand babies as they come!!! ;)

CO:Hair Wash Check in

Well it's been about a week since I've tried the CO method. I am surprised but......it WORKS! I think though I may need a less moisturising conditioner. I usually DON'T wash my hair every day. Here's my usual routine. First day wash and usually wear hair down- it looks nice after a fresh wash. Second day I may re wet it and wear down OR put in a pony tail or braid....third day I wear it up in a clip or bun. I DO shower every day.....I just choose not to wash my hair every day......I don't do hard dirty work so my hair just doesn't need it. If I wash it too much it just gets all dry and straw looking anyway. So the CO wash DID clean my hair......but I did notice by day 3 it did look more greasy.....I'm thinking with a lighter weight conditioner, it may look fresher longer......plus I also read that there may be a transition period for your scalp. I don't know if I'll totally switch over to this method BUT it might be nice for in between times or to give my hair a rest. I do plan to keep it up for a few more weeks to see how it goes! I DID on the other hand finally use my very first pair of hair sticks! My DH was kind enough to cut 3 inches off my hair last night. Although I hated to see it go......it was needed. With the addition of a pool this year and a lack of trims recently.....it had really gotten out of shape- splits- dry and fuzzy! Thanks DH for saving us the $$$ So any way I looked all around and found some really nice hair stick styles. Yesterday was an up do day so I tried one out....a Chinese hair bun.....it's a little sloppy but not too bad for my first ever! I think I'll like these hair sticks- these were just cheap plastic ones (about $1.99). My hair is one length to top of bra strap, fine and thin...this style looks really sharp on thick haired gals because it turns out really FULL. To make it.....pull hair up into pony tail with an elastic, put one stick horizontal through hair behind the elastic. Split pony tail into 2 chunks....wrap around stick in a criss cross pattern then wrap ends around, secure with bobby pins. Push second stick through at an angle if wanted. Here's the do:

Quick Blurb.....CO Washing

I saw an infomercial today for WEN hair care products! Looked & sounded GREAT but way too much $$$$$ So I did just a short look see around Google and found that this product is basically a conditioner only wash! I have heard about this method before but after reading a few threads on it .......have decided to try it! You basically wash with just conditioner!! If you're interested just Google conditioner only wash or CO wash. I shall be checking in here and there to give my thoughts and feelings on this method. I have mid back length, straight, fine, thin, hair. I am growing it out and repairing it's health from years of heavily highlights ( I haven't gotten any highlights for over 2 years now and am due to get the last of them cut out with the next few trims-YAY) I have scalp issues- mainly most shampoos leave me dry, itchy and sometimes I even get a dermatitis slight rash-I guess some chemicals and I don't get along....SLS- they strip and damage hair anyway! I can not afford natural brands as they are 3x as much as regular. I have washed before with baking soda dissolved in warm water then followed by a rinse of vinegar.....that method does work but I have read it can lighten your hair over time.....I don't want that either....but it did NOT cause me any scalp troubles. So I am going to give CO a try! If it works then that's one less product I have to worry about buying.....plus I ALREADY use conditioner to shave my legs......it would be so cool to just have 1 bottle in there!! I like multi purpose products! The internet recommends the cheaper conditioners anyway for a better clean- like Sauve and VO5.....those are only around $1 per bottle! One natural thing I already do is on dry hair I will add a few drops of jojoba oil or coconut oil to moisturise....that keeps things soft and tames the fly aways! I will report along the way how this goes! And if I go to it full time....try to calculate how much I'll save.