Clean hair

I’ve been meaning to write this post for over two years now. . .that’s how long it’s been since I first read Curly Girl and started experimenting with alternate hair care routines. The trouble is that every time I thought I was almost ready to write a definitive post, I found it was actually time to make a major (or minor) change in my own routine. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that perhaps, even for my own hair, there is no definitive routine–that occasional changes as the days and months go by are normal. Which changes the type of blog post I can write, but that’s okay too.

As you probably know, I don’t actually have curly hair. My hair is wavy, though for most of my life I thought it was just very disobedient straight hair. Wavy is more fun. It’s also more work. . .

The official Curly Girl recommendation for curly involves no shampoo, only “cleaning” with conditioner. For wavy hair, the book adds a once-a-week careful cleaning with shampoo. I did this for awhile but then had to add a second weekly shampoo. Eventually that wasn’t keeping my hair clean either. Hmm. I remembered reading about using baking soda, so I googled that, asked friends about their experiences, and decided to give it a try. Aha!

At this point I use baking soda about twice a week. Some websites recommend following this with a vinegar rinse but I haven’t been inclined to try that yet. The day after I use baking soda I usually don’t even get my hair wet in the shower, but simply spritz it with lavender water. The rest of the week I wet my hair and apply conditioner to the ends. I should note here that I don’t use very many styling products–I only scrunch in a bit of gel or mousse to help set the waves.

So far, this is keeping both my head and my hair happy and clean. I did develop a greasy patch during our recent trip; I’m not sure if that was due to different water or the fact that it had been awhile since I last cleaned the comb in my travel kit. I used a tiny bit of shampoo to spot clean the area and that solved the problem. . .I also cleaned my comb, so we’ll see how my next trip goes.

Charmed

I don’t wear my charm bracelet as often as I’d like–it’s a bit awkward–but it always makes me smile when I do wear it.

It started when Mimi took me to Colonial Williamsburg my senior year of high school. She wanted to buy me a gift while we were there, and since I had always admired Mom’s charm bracelets I chose a silver bracelet and a bonnet charm. Over the years she added to my charm collection when she traveled or for special occasions; Dad and Mom and later Larry have also added to my bracelet until I now have:

1. Comedy & tragedy masks
2. Ballerina
3. the Mayflower
4. Alaskan salmon
5. Kirsten (an American Girl)
6. Engraved graduation disc
7. Well
8. Swiss cowbell
9. Colonial bonnet
10. Little mermaid statue
11. #1 Mom
12. Rose
13. Yellowstone bear
14. Teddy bear
15. Graduation cap
16. Dinner bell

Hair

Recently Gina and I were discussing bangs, as I’m letting mine grow and she decided to get hers cut again. That got me to thinking about how much I’ve gone back and forth on bangs and so I decided to look through photos. It turns out that my life has been pretty evenly split between bangs and no bangs. . .

1975

The first picture I found with bangs was in 1976, when I was three. Before that, I didn’t have a lot of hair but I also didn’t have bangs. But then I turned around and started growing them out again the very next year! I had bangs again in 1980–but not in 1981. No wonder many of my early childhood memories involve growing out bangs.

1980

In 6th grade (1985), I got my first big girl hair cut which included bangs. I will plead the fifth regarding my junior high hair, but I kept the bangs until shortly before high school graduation in 1991. I let my hair grow through most of high school and then had it cut to shoulder length my junior year–that pattern has been repeated occasionally through my adult life.

1989

1991

I went through college, was married, and had my first baby without bangs. In 1997, I got my third (and last) perm–and bangs, but then grew them out again the following year. I had bangs cut in 2003, and I started growing them out at the end of last year. I am also letting the rest of my hair grow, as it’s been shoulder length for about five years and I am getting bored with that.

So. . .since the bangs seem to be a toss up, the burning question is: will I eventually end up with the modern old lady cut, or will my granddaughters be able to comb and braid my hair for me?

New things

Some of life’s best adventures come from a willingness to try new things. Although I am not the bravest person in the world, I like to save myself from ennui by trying new things. Many become old habits with time; other new things are discarded fairly quickly. Some of the new things I’ve tried recently, or am still giving a fair trial:

• Doing school downstairs. This is our 2nd week, and it’s going fairly well.
• Kombucha. Charity gave me a mushroom in November, but after a couple of batches my gag reflex kicked in and that was that.
• Hand drafting skirt patterns. My sloper turned out well after a couple minor adjustments, and I’m almost done with my first real skirt.
• Exercising every weekday morning. I’m trying. . .but I like my sleep too.
• Knitting. I’ve been really at it for a little over a year now, and I’m improving although I’m still really slow.
• Leading. The knitting is going well enough that I volunteered to lead that project for our county 4-H. I haven’t officially done anything yet, and am glad that I only have two little girls this year (one is Twirly Girl).
• Grass fed beef. Easily added to our diet, thanks to Wendi!
• Curly Girl hair routine. I finally figured out the reason my straight hair never behaved: it’s actually wavy. I’m still learning, but I’m much happier with my hair already.

Life is so much more interesting when I’m not always doing the same old things!