Look What Came In The Mail

Soooo... my healthy, do-it-yourself hair journey came to a bit of a screeching halt with my press-n-curl.  I have not washed my hair in three weeks.  I know it's bad, but I just haven't had the time to tackle the issue. It takes me eight hours to wash, condition, deep condition, detangle and set my hair.  And no, that time does not include the actual hair drying time... but I digress.


A sample of Carol's Daughter's new Monoi conditioner came in the mail for me the other day. I was so excited.  I filled out something for it a couple of weeks ago and totally forgot about it.  I didn't think there was a chance I'd actually get a sample.

Well, this litter sucker is just under an ounce of glory.  It got me pumped up for this weekend's wash, but the more I look at it, the more it looks like a tease.  I really don't think there's enough product in this sucker for my entire head of hair.  However, beggars can't be choosers, right?

So!  I am armed with this sample that I may or may not use and my new dryer (hooray!).  I resisted the urge to buy a new styling product to set my beloved curlformers, but that didn't stop me from obsessing over ways to make the curlformer curls last longer.  I've looked over several girls' routines.  They all brush their setting product through each section of hair. I don't. I kind of just rub it on, so it's probably not distributed evenly.  I plan to change that this weekend.  Also, I plan to get an early start on the wash routine (before noon), but I may not be able to reach that goal because I have to take my car in for some work on Saturday.

Tool Change

Just a month ago, I purchased the Gold N Hot 1400 to help with my deep conditioning and speed up the styling process.

Well.... I just took the dryer back today and ordered a new one.  This dryer is approximately $40 and it basically gets an "F."

1. It was great for deep conditioning because you don't need your hair to dry.  You just need some hot air on the product

2. It's not very sturdy.  On more than one occasion, it came crashing down on my head.  Not only was it annoying, but it scared the crap out of my little dog, Roxie.

3.  My hair does not dry easily.  Since the age of five, I have spent A LOT of time under the dryer.  So I didn't think the dryer would dry my hair in 20 minutes, but I did expect SOMETHING. This thing did nothing for me.  I would probably have to sit under the thing for 24 hours for my hair to dry in curlformers.  I don't expect salon power out of these things, but I expect A LITTLE drying help.

I hate taking stuff back.  I know it's dumb because you shouldn't pay for something that doesn't get the job done.  I wanted to love this dryer, but IT DID NOT WORK for me.  I took it back to Sallys and ordered a Conair Babyliss dryer. 

 Hopefully it gives me a little more help.  Again, I'm not expecting a miracle, but I want something that I can sit under without fear of it crashing on my head and I want it to actually work towards drying a large portion of my hair.

Earthquakes!!

I took this picture at night and the cam could only focus on my bright shirt!

What an AMAZING day!  I experienced my first and second earthquakes today.  The first was a 3.9 and the second was a 3.8.

I am a Midwestern girl, so this is so wild to me.  I can honestly say, it's just like the movies.  You feel this sudden movement and it takes your mind a second to register that THIS IS AN EARTHQUAKE.  

I was sitting at my desk when the first one hit and I immediately called my husband and my momma.  When I couldn't get my mother on the line, I texted her and my father.  I was waaaay too excited.  In fact, my boss was slightly disturbed by how UNdistrubed and excited I was.

Everyone says I should have been preparing to get under a desk, instead of basking in the power of mother nature.  And you know what? They are right.  If one of those quakes had been the BIG one, I would have wasted critical moments.  I would have been too busy trying to absorb it all and determine if it was anything like I imagined it would be when I read accounts of earthquakes as a student.

Anyways... I am thanking God for showing the beauty of his power and his mercy.  This was indeed a great and amazing day to me.

Side note:  My hair is still straight.  I used a goodie ouchless barrette to pull half of it up and I bobbie pinned my bangs behind my ears.  It's boring, but a bit of a change up from the sleek straight look.

Houston, We Have A Problem!

It has only been four short months since I took over my haircare... and look at this!

Look at the amount of products under my sink.  I'll break it down for you:

4 different shampoos
12 different types of conditioners
2 bottles of hairspray (I'm trying to get a light hold, without the sting of heavy alcohol)
7 miscellaneous products including coconut oil, gels, smoothies, milk....

So I am going to take a firm stand right now with myself...ABSOLUTELY NO MORE PRODUCTS. NO MORE!

However, I am in need of more styling tools and accessories:-)  I need a brush of the Denman persuasion and just more headbands, clips and such.  I've never really collected hair accessories except for ponytail holders.  My mother was pretty strict when I was young. I was to return home with my hair in the same state it was in when I left the house.  Therefore, I did not play in my hair and my styles consisted of either wearing my hair down or in a ponytail.  I didn't put much imagination into it. I went to the shop to get it done and NEVER put additional heat on it.

I'm not hating on my Mom.  My hair was always nice and I always had a decent length because I kept fever fingers (yes, that's how my mother described hair-touchers) out of my head.

Of course, I'm two decades behind in do-it-yourself haircare because I just never had to do it before.  I've ripped out lots of hair and it's definitely been rough, but I'm proud of myself.  I'll get it together soon enough... and hopefully use all these dang products on which I spent my hard earned money.

I've Been A BAD Girl

I got my hair straightened today and I love it!!!  The stylist trimmed off two inches and gave me a press.  My scalp felt the heat of that comb a bit more than I'd like, so I'm glad that I won't need another trim for two months.

My trip to the shop was bad and good.  As I told my mother, the shampoo boy gets a thumbs DOWN.  I was so excited to see a man would be washing my hair because big hands mean a great scrubbing.  But he was so timid. I was definitely underwhelmed.  I like a little aggression in the scalp---  makes it feel good.

Anyways, after he shampooed, he attempted to untangle at the sink and I was about ready to sit up, when he finally gave up (let's just say it wasn't going so well).  I was moved to the blow dry girl, who quickly detangled, blow dried and moved me on to the stylist.

I loved the stylist.  I mean.. she's not better than my two favorite of all time (Dorothy and Frenchie), but she was better than the last chick I had.  We talked about the products I use, how I use them and how I style my hair.  It was a very interesting conversation.

And that's when I was bad and purchased MORE shampoo and conditioner.  I just couldn't help it. I haven't found my staples yet.  But I got some Design products and I am really hopeful that these will do the trick. I want to have two sets of good products so I can trade them out each week.  I also picked up a pack of larger curflormers and a new clip.  Yikes!  I'm putting myself on punishment.

I'm hoping to keep this straight look going for two weeks.  After that, my goal is to get more out of my curlformer sets.  When the curls start to fall, I want to do more than pull it back in a severe bun.  So I've been looking at some YouTube videos in hopes of finding a style that I can fashion my hair into, after the thrill is gone from the curls.

Musings

My hair is in limbo at the moment.  Wash day is Saturday.  I THOUGHT I was going to a shop to get it straightened and trimmed, but they sent me a rather impersonal email cancelling the appointment. Ugh! I am so annoyed.  So, I have another date with the curlformers and jacked up ends.  I may have to figure out how to trim it myself.

Here's something random:

A woman at my job told me she tried to twist her hair back like mine (not pictured above), but it didn't work because her Asian hair is too thin.  I was stunned.  She thinks my hair looks good like that.  Here I was lusting after her jet black, stick straight hair.  Interesting.

Oh and update: I just called the salon.  It turns out they had a software malfunction that sent out cancellation emails.  Hooray, my appointment is still on!  I'm getting my trim:-)

Strange Happenings

These are my curls!  It's day 3 of the curlformer set and I spent the day in drizzle.  I think it held up pretty well.  Of course my standards of cute may be changing because I've been so whack for so long.

Happenings.

1.  I found out that my Vitamin Shop carries Aubrey Organics facial cleansers, but it doesn't carry anything for hair.  Workers can order it for you, but they do not have it in stock.  I thought it was cool that they were willing to order it.  I didn't need any. I am on hiatus from purchasing products because things seem to be working okay at the moment.  I need to dedicate those funds to accessories:-)

2.  I went to Victoria's Secret to pick up some undergarments and discovered a little secret.  Chocolate brown bras are seasonal.  I consider the color my nude because I'm chocolate, but when I asked the lady about it, she told me this should be the season for it, but they don't have them in stock.  I gently placed my bag filled with items down and left.  There's no need to purchase something from a store that considers me seasonal.  It's funny they have the nude that I consider tan in stock for all styles all of the time. There was not a single chocolate brown bra in that store.

3.  My husband made we walk away from a new bag that I didn't have cash for.  I tell you I was ready to whip out the plastic, but he reminded me that the credit card was not a responsible option.  I'm still a bit mad at him, but I'm happy that he loved me enough to say it:-)