The hair story update

So behind on blog posts, ah! Need to blog about our anniversary date, Power of Moms’ retreat, the fair, whew! Here’s a post long over due for my friend:)

So, it’s been almost a year since the hair revolution I encountered last year. I’ve been meaning to blog about how it’s been going since then. So here we go:)

Last year was the year I fell in love with my hair again. It all started with reading a pin on Pinterest about the ‘no poo’ method of washing your hair. It greatly intrigued me, and I feel into the rabbit hole of learning. I learned about the ‘Curly Girl’ hair topic, the damage that Sodium Laurel Sulfate does to your hair, and how to take better care of my hair. So, I’m not strictly ‘no poo’, but I use different shampoos and conditioners that don’t contain silicones, parabens, and sulfate.

Lorraine Massey is the founder of the Curly Girl method. Basically, if you have wavy or curly hair, embrace it! Try not to blow dry, be gentle in handling your hair, and give it plenty of moisture.

I found a girl on youtube who is devoted to creating great videos on the curly girl method. She’s done a ton of homework on what brands are safe to use, hair care routines, and more. She films them in her college dorm room. I think she’s darling:) Go HERE to see her youtube channel of videos.

Naturallycurly.com is a forum all about hair care. My goodness, there’s a forum for everything out there, isn’t there? Learned a lot about the basic washing routines here.

I learned that the sulfate is in nearly every shampoo. It is a foaming agent, toxic, and cleans the snot out of your hair. Yet, it strips my hair of its natural oils, thus making  it incredibly dry. I used to wash my hair every night with Pantene. I was totally killing my hair, but I just didn’t know.

I learned that I didn’t  have to wash my hair everyday. My hair washing schedule now goes something like this:

I wash my hair with shampoo about twice a week. On other days, I just conditioner wash my hair. Basically, I rub my scalp really well all over with some conditioner that doesn’t have any sulfates or silicones in it. Those are the drying ingredients. Moisture is what I needed to make my curls come back to life. Lots of moisture, and Pantene stripped all moisture away.

I rub some conditioner into my hair, and comb it through with my fingers so it’s completely coated. I scrunch my hair a ton, to encourage the natural curl pattern. At the end of the shower, I try to rinse in cold water, as cold as I can handle it. That closes the cuticles up, and increases shine. Fun.

Sometimes, if I don’t have product in my hair to clean out, I just wash my hair with water, and then use a little conditioner at the end. Scalp rubbing/massaging is key to a good wash.

To dry my hair, I use an old cotton T shirt and gently push it all over my hair to dry. The little fibers in towels increase frizz in your hair. I love using a shirt gently on my hair to dry. I just love taking care of my hair now:)

For the first two weeks I got off regular shampoo, my hair seemed extra oily. I read that’s totally normal for your hair to do. It was getting used to not having the natural oils stripped away, and balancing back to normal.

I learned that you can over condition you hair, and that’s not good. When my hair was too soft and limp, I needed to take a day off from conditioning it after washing my hair.

So, every one has a different head of hair. You must experiment and see what works for you. I did have one of my friend with straight hair try out this method. She said her hair felt softer.

It’s been great fun, and I love my hair again. I always shower at night, and usually have to re wet my hair in the morning to style it. Going to bed with semi wet hair and waking up makes my hair look like Simba. No joke. I usually stick my head under the bath facet, re wet it, and style.

Oh yes! I stopped using a baking soda wash for a shampoo alternative. I read that it is pretty harsh for your hair, but I use a apple cider vinegar rinse 1-2 a week. It basically clarifies. Every time I do that, I seem to have the best hair days. It’s awesome.

I tried to find a random picture of me and my hair. Here’s one.

So, it’s super great to learn how to take better care of your hair! That’s today’s post for ya:)