DAY 40: Holiday Recovery

The Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. We spent time with family, ate lots of food, and fought off a head cold. I didn't realize that I had a head cold until Saturday so until then life was fairly miserable and my curls suffered along with me. Once I learned it was a head cold and began taking the appropriate medicine life got more enjoyable and my curls were taken care of.

Since I did a lemonade wash yesterday I did nothing more than a cold water spritz. I keep meaning to make more lavender but I keep forgetting. I blot dried and gel plopped and went to work. Although I have complained that I'm not sure this is really doing anything for my hair, it seems the longer you go the better it really does get. Now that the smell of the Chakra treatment is completely gone I can see how it helped in the long run. I don't foresee myself putting my nose through that again; however, I've learned the importance of a deep treatment every few weeks. Since the weather is getting colder and the air is getting drier I hope to do another one soon.

My curls are thriving, happy, bouncy, and have a touch of holiday spirit to them today. Tomorrow is December 1, I just can't believe how fast the year has gone...

Curl: 8
Frizz: 3
Weather: 49F, cloudy
Stress: moderate

DAY 35: Looking Professional

In a world where women are in the work place there is always someone with an opinion of what looks professional and what does not. Most men can wear a suit and tie and as long as they are not in sneakers are considered to look appropriate for the business work place. Women, on the other hand, do not have it that easy. Should we wear pants or a skirt? Blouse or sweater? Pantyhose or none? Jacket or not? Should our hair be up or down, should we wear makeup or not? With so many decisions to make and so many trends to choose from it's no wonder so many of us are confused as to what to wear to work and what is considered business appropriate in the workplace for women.

Today I happened to wear my hair in a pony tail and I took time on my pony tail this morning to make sure it didn't look sporty. In a discussion I had later with a co-worker I was told that a pony tail has no place in the professional and business workplace. Please keep in mind that I was in slacks, a blouse, and dress shoes; however, according to her my hair was not appropriate. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I thought my pony tail looked quite nice. I made sure to brush back an stray frizzy hairs that stuck out and kept my pony tail some what low on my head. The curling mass that fell down my back was nice and helped show off how the green in my shirt reflected off my eyes. It was not a messy pony tail, it was a well constructed and neat pony tail that I was proud of. In my opinion I looked professional; I guess others would disagree. :-P

Curls: 5
Frizz: 4
Weather: 62F, cloudy
Stress: Low

[*With tomorrow being Thanksgiving I have no plans of writing, my hope is to pick up again on Friday but with it being the holidays I make no promises. :)]

DAY 34: Not Sure What Else to Do

It has been 4 days since using the smelly concoction on my hair and even after doing a thorough co-wash I can STILL smell it. Although faint, the smell is still there and every now and again I get a wiff of my self and can't help but gag. After 4 days of this I have come to the conclusion that I will NOT be using that deep moisturizing treatment again. It's just not worth it; others may not notice it but I can smell myself.

I did a spot clean on my scalp and a co-wash on my ends. I rinsed with cold water, blot dried, and gel plopped. I pulled the front back with bobby pins and let it hang loose in the back. The curls were more of a wave when they were all hanging lose; however, when I pulled the front back the under curls took over and now are going curl crazy around my neck.

Curl: 7
Frizz: 2
Weather: 59F, Cloudy, 71% humidity
Stress: Moderate

Day 33: Getting Past the Smell

This morning I did a lavender mist to hide the last bit of faint baby puke smell. The lavender was strong enough to hide it as well as add moisture and shine. I wonder why I didn't think of that yesterday!

The curls are nice however the frizz is a little on the heavy side. I can tell it's getting time to wash and I'm all ready to get my hair back to its normal scent! I can tell that by the time I get home the frizz on my neck and ears will have gotten to me and it will be in a pony tail but the end of the night.

It's weeks like this that change my mind about curly girl. When I first started my hair made a huge change; however, now that I'm in a routine I don't really see a difference in what I do now and shampooing. If anything my hair is frizzier most days and the curl really isn't better. In fact most of the time the curl is the same or much less.

Maybe it's time for trim....
Or maybe I'm in need of cutting off some of the length...

Curl: 5
Frizz: 6
Weather: 55F, cloudy, 71% humidity
Stress: low

Day 32: Faint Smell

My hair, I feel, still has a soured milk smell when I got up and I knew getting it wet would only make it worse. I sprayed on a little extra body spray this morning to help cover it; making sure to spritz my hair as well as my body. Even with the spritz I still could smell it so I pulled it up and put on a hat.

I know, you're probably wondering why I didn't do a co-wash or shampoo it; I fear build up in my hair or doing a lemonade wash would dry it out. To avoid over treating or drying it out I'm toughing it out and making do. I figure the treatment still worked, it just smelled. The hat kept it out of the wind today and no one was able to smell it, not even me.

Curl: 5
Frizz: 5
Weather: 54F, cloudy
Stress: low

DAY 31: Smelly Treatment

Last night I put together the Deep Charka Moisturizing treatment for my hair. The effect was AWESOME and my hair was super soft and curly. I was very content with the results; however, it made my hair REEK!

The recipe calls for:
1 Tablespoon powered egges
1 Tablespoon powered milk
1 teaspoon honey
1-2 cups of boiled pasta water or boiled water
3 Tablespoons heavy cream

The first three ingredients are mixed to form a paste, then add the boiling water and slowly stir in the cream. Pour over hair, wrap in plastic wrap turban, and let it sit for at least an hour. Rinse thoroughly and condition as normal.

After having my hubby pour it over my hair, and making sure it was all well coated we wrapped it in plastic and covered it with a towel. Take note that even though your hair may be wrapped in plastic it will still leak, so covering the plastic with a towel prevented the liquid from dripping all over me. We both got comfortable and sat down to watch a movie. In all my hair sat for about a hour and a half and made sure to rinsed REALLY REALLY well and conditioned REALLY REALLY well. I dry blotted and plopped with out gel and let it dry before going to bed. My hair was only slightly damp when I finally climbed into bed.

As I laid down I noticed that something smelled. I smelled the sheets, my pillow, my shirt, the carpet, and the comforter. I couldn't find the root of the smell anywhere and it was strong no matter where I was. Finally, as I laid my head on my pillow i realized it was ME, my hair! It smelled like baby formula or baby puke and it was nasty! Hoping it would die off as my hair dried completely I made sure my hair was out of my face as much as possible before attempting to drift off to sleep. When I woke up the smell had lessened but I could smell the fact that the baby puke ora was still there. Spraying my hair with cold water intensified the smell and I to alleviate the problem I seriously considered shampooing. My husband didn't think the smell was as bad as I did and made sure to tell me it was not noticeable; so I just pulled the front away from my face and nose and let hang down my back. The whole incident cause me to I walked around all day a little self conscious and although it did wonders to my curl and shine I'm a little hesitant to try this one again... It is my belief that is was the powered milk that caused the stench.

Curl: 7
Frizz: 1
Weather: Sunny, windy, 65% humidity
Stress: low

Day 30: ONE MONTH

It's been a whole month since I have used shampoo and I am quite proud of myself for sticking to it. Once I got a method and routine down it's been very easy.

I attempted a moisturizing treatment last night only to scald my scalp. The recipe called for boiling water and I thought it had cooled enough; it had not and I ended up pouring HOT water on my scalp. I screamed in pain which caused me to drop the container and everything to be poured down the drain... there went that idea. I might have remixed the recipe and tried again but I was tired and my scalp hurt. Instead, I climbed in a hot bubble bath with a good book to make myself feel better.

This morning was not a rushed morning but it IS Friday and I have hard time motivating myself to put extra effort into anything. My hair got pulled back in a high ponytail and the front pinned. The curl is still nice and it looks more sporty than professional but I can't really say that I mind. I've spent the last 9 days sitting in a room with 15 men who could be my father or grandfather and there is a high probability I will do it again today; is it Saturday yet?

Curl: 6
Frizz: 2
Weather: 40F, Sunny, 90% humidity
Stress: High

DAY 29: Letting It All Hang Down

I did a spot clean this morning and loved the way my hair curled. It looked so nice this morning I left it down and had plans to keep it down. However, yet again, it became a hindrance to me in yet another meeting that I sat in ALL day. I didn't pull it back in a tight pony tail; instead, I gently pulled it off my face and wrapped my hair band around it loosely. As the day went on stray curls fell out around my face and gave a cute and messy look. May not have looked the most professional but I was happy with it and enjoyed the look. I'm praying tomorrow will be a meeting free day and I'm seriously looking forward to my 3 day week next week.

My curls and I are ready for a break!

Curl: 6
Frizz: 3
Weather: 58F, Cloudy
Stress: High

DAY 28: Getting Tired

Day 8 of nothing but straight meetings. I didn't sleep much last night and woke up so late that I was frantically running around the house getting ready this morning. I did nothing more than pull my hair back in my "up do" (see Day 20) and ran out the door. I'm tired and don't have much time, our meeting break is only for about 15 minutes.

Curl: 4
Frizz: 5
Weather: 61F, rainy
Stress: high

Day 27: Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

Yet another day of meetings is ahead of me and I'm beginning to feel drained... I have no motivation to do much of anything but sleep. As it turns out my boss is out today and I have to cover for her. I can't say for certain but I'm sure my hair will end up pulled up by the end of the day; simply because I'm already running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I did a lavender mist this morning and felt that the smell rejuvenated me a little. Considering how hard it was to get out of bed this morning, I needed the pick me up!

Curl: 6
Frizz: 4
Weather: 62F, Rainy
Stress: high

DAY 26: After Weekend Blues

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I spent at a scrapbooking retreat, where 40 women crammed into a conference room to scrapbook ALL weekend. It was awesome and the fellowship was great. We all get to spread out, scrapbook, laugh, and eat for an entire weekend. Needless to say, primping and hair care were not at the top of my list the past couple days.

Saturday morning I did a spot clean and left it down for about 1/2 the day. I found that long curly hair is not conducive to bending over a table to scrapbook so it eventually was pulled back into a ponytail. Sunday, after a rough night, I didn't do anything but pull it back and walk out the door. I was too tired and too sore to really care. I wasn't going out in public anyway, I was heading to go spend the day with 39 other women to scrapbook. :-P

This morning I could feel the buildup in my hair so I did a lemonade wash. I blot dried and did a gel plop. It turned out very nice but I still pulled the front out of my face and used a barrette to hold it back. I have meetings all day today, again, so I wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

Curl: 7
Frizz: 3
Weather: 63F, Sunny, 63% humidity
Stress: high

DAY 23: Lavender Mist

Yet again I have tried something new and even though it's Friday the 13th I feel it was a great success and something I can't wait to try again. I made a lavender mist last night and used it this morning.

The recipe calls for a 1/2 gallon of water, 5 drops of pure lavender oil and 3 spray bottles. I only have a one cup spray bottle so I tweaked the recipe a smidgen. I boiled a cup of water and added one drop of lavender then pulled it off the stove to steep until it was cool.

This morning I sprayed my hair down with the mist, blot dried, gel plopped and was done. The curls are still feeling dry; however, I think the lavender mist helped with that a little. The curl is nice and I didn't even have to spritz any body spray this morning. The smell was light enough that it didn't over power the room or me and it added a softness to my curls. Next week I have plans to do a deep moisture treatment, I promise!

Curls: 7
Frizz:5
Weather: 69F, Sunny
Stress: High

*I will be out of internet range this weekend so a Sat. and Sun. post will not happen, have a good curly haired weekend! :)

DAY 22: Fixing My Mistakes

After the fun I had with baking soda yesterday I could not wait to get home and rinse my hair last night. Almost as soon as I walked in the door I hopped in the shower to rinse the damage down the drain. I blot dried it and then left it alone for the rest of the night. I didn't want to gel, plop, and style again for fear of causing breakage. It was only slightly damp when I crawled into bed at 9:30 and when I woke up it was a bit kinky. It laid this way and that way and it was frizzed to the max. Instead of possibly hurting it more I opted to do nothing more than a cold water rinse to give it some time to recover from my fiasco yesterday. I blot dried with a t-shirt, gel plopped, and then let it sit on my t-shirt while I got ready for work. The only time I've touched it since plopping was to get it off my neck or brush a still damp curl out of my ear.

I am surprised at how nice the curls look. The baking soda spritz really did a nice job cleaning my hair and it's nice and shiny now that the baking soda has all been rinsed out. The curls are pretty and soft and springy.

I don't know if its the products of conditioner and gel that I'm using or my hair type but I'm finding that I need to do a cleanse treatment every 3-4 days. My curls seem to get weighed down easily and like to be cleaned more often than what the book talks about; which is every 5- 7 days. I realize all curls are different and I need to listen to what mine are telling me, I just found it interesting and was wondering if it was the same for other Curly Girls?

My trip to the health food store was a hit! I was able to find pure lavender essential oil, pure aloe vera, almond oil, and powered eggs. I was thinking I would spend around $50-$75; I've never been to a health food store before. Although the total was still $30 I was ecstatic that is $20 cheaper than I thought. When I ran numbers for the amount it cost to purchase shampoo for a year and the amount of what I spent for what I'm hoping is a 6 month stock, I'll save over $100 a year!!!

I'm sure you're wondering what all of this natural stuff is for; I plan to use them in recipes to moisturize my hair in the coming days and months. Now that I've stopped using shampoo and I'm making trips to a health food store for things like powered eggs, I'm really starting to feel like some sort of hippie. The thought of it all makes me want to go hug a tree. :)

Curls: 7
Frizz: 3
Weather: 39 F, Sunny, 77% humidity
Stress: surprisingly low, I think it was the extra sleep I got last night.

DAY 21: Baking

Today I tried something new.... and failed miserably. I made plans last night to try the baking soda recipe this morning. I set my alarm 20 minutes early, measured out a tablespoon of baking soda into a 1 cup measuring cup and set it in the bathroom for in the morning.

The directions say to condition hair as you normally would and blot dry. Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1 cup of warm water and spray on hair. Let it sit for a couple minutes then rinse with cold water, blot dry, and style as usual.

I followed the directions exactly and for a while thought it might turn out great because it says it should make your hair feel clean and look shiny. However in my case I don't think I rinsed all the baking soda out of my hair; causing it to feel super greasy and somewhat sticky and the curls are seriously weighed down. Over all, my hair is NASTY today. I left it down as long as I could but as the day goes on its gets worse; currently it is pulled up in a messy bun and the bangs are pinned back. If I scratch my head/ scalp at all it flakes small powder like flakes that vaguely remind me of baking soda. Can we say GROSS?!!? I can not wait to get home so I can hop back in the shower and rinse my hair.

I am determined to not let this deter me from trying other recipes or even the baking soda one again; I just need to make sure that I do a better job rinsing next time. :) I'm even making a stop at a health food store on my way home from work to pick up a few essentials for future recipes. I'm just dying to the Fruit Smoothie Wrap!

Curls: 2
Frizz: 0
Weather: 59 F, Sunny and windy, 27% humidity
Stress: High

DAY 20: An Up Do

I woke up this morning and tried to "listen" to what my hair needed. It didn't feel dry so I had no plans of doing a co-wash only to have my curls weighed down. It didn't feel dirty so I wasn't going to clean it. I sprayed it down with tepid water and it just looked horrible. It wouldn't curl, it now felt dry and product filled. I was frustrated and didn't have time to get back in the shower, so I drew upon the skills I learned from a college friend.


I've done this up do to my hair numerous time; however, I feel it is time to pay homage to the one who taught me such a marvelous tip, Erin. She once did my hair up like this for a girls night out that we were having and I've been doing it ever since. I even recently taught a co-worker how to achieve the look. It pulls my hair off my face and neck and still allows the curls to maintain shape with out breaking. It is a look I wear with a t-shirt for that punk look, to work for a professional look, or with a fancy dress for a night on the town. It's so simple and takes about 10 bobby pins.

Starting at my ear I gently pull the hair to the back crown of my head, giving a small twist I pin it in place. I do this on both sides and it takes the top, front 1/2 of my hair to the back. Working on the back, I part the hair down the middle and take the bottom portion and twist it up and under the hair I just pulled back and pin it; on both sides. Since my crown is cut shorter for a bang like effect I just pin it back on the top of my head. All the curls now hang freely in the back so you can just place them where you want them and pin them in place. For those with long curly hair I would recommend 2 pins per placement and crossing them to hold the bulk of hair in place. You can also use small clips in place of pins; depending on the type of clips you can add a little sparkle or edge. Normally, I allow the curls to cover the pins so it just looks like a halo of curls.

When my hair is not curling it has an edgy birds nest look and when it curls it gives it a softer look. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes to do, I've had lots of practice, and I almost always receive compliments on it. It is the perfect solution to curls that can't decide what they need or what they want to do and it hides most of the frizz!

Thanks Erin. :)

Curl: 3
Frizz: 5
Weather: 57F, cloudy, 74% humidity, high chance of rain tonight
Stress: moderate, meetings all day today. :-P

DAY 19: Somewhat Normal Again

It's Monday and I wish I felt bad enough to take another day off work; however, I have no fever, no congestion, no headache, and TONS of catch up work to do. I am still tired and feeling a little wore out but I was able to get up and shower, ect.

I did nothing more to my hair than a cold water rinse this morning; I'm not sure I could have handled more than that. I did a blot dry and gel plop and was out the door. My hair feels dry and once my energy full returns I have plans to do a moisturizing treatment. Although the weather has warmed quite a bit, especially for November, I can tell I need to do something.

Curls: 6
Frizz: 4
Weather: 58F, Cloudy, 63% humidity
Stress: moderate

DAY 18: Ponytail

Today I had no time to do much of anything, so my hair was pulled up into a ponytail on my way out the door and stayed that way till it gave me a headache. Then I let it run free, in the comfort of my own home of course. It was a little wild so no one saw the mange of locks except me and the hubby!

Curl: 5
Frizz: 7
Weather: 72F, Sunny
Stress: moderate but dropping... I'm FINALLY starting to feel normal again

DAY 17: Still Not All Here

It's Saturday and despite all the sleep I got yesterday from being home sick, I ended up going home after only 1.5 hours of work, I still slept in till 9. I attempted to sleep as much as possible yesterday and just finally gave into my body's need for rest. Feeling a little more energetic this morning I did a lemonade co-wash; I used the same concoction I made last time making sure to give it a good shake.

It always amazes me how much a shower can really help to make you feel better when you're sick. Washing my hair did wonders for my spirit and the hot water really helped with my congestion.

I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair and then did a cold water rinse. I blot dried with a t-shirt, gel plopped, and gently pinned back the very front, bang portion. I didn't create my 80's bump today but the effect was still nice. Pulling back the front that really wasn't curling too well showed off the middle and bottom layers of curls that were springy and light. The rest I let be run free for the rest of the day and even though it eventually began to annoy the bejebers out of me I refrained from pulling it all back. :)

Curls: 7
Frizz: 2
Weather: 71F, Sunny
Stress: moderate

DAY 16: Feeling Icky

For the last week or so I have struggled with fall allergies. We have gotten a lot of rain in the past couple months and it has caused the mold count to increase by almost 200%. On top of that, 2 people in the office have Swine Flu and 2 more have family that have it. My poor immune system is slowly taking a beating and slowly being worn down.

As each day passes I can feel my body getting weaker and weaker. My head throbs a little more, my throat slowly starts to ache, and my nose fills more frequently. So today I made NO effort to care for my hair. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and walked out the door.

Curl: no idea
Frizz: I'm sure
Weather: 45F, Sunny, 78% humidity
Stress: high

It's just not fair to feel so icky on such a pretty day!

DAY 15: Still Dry

This morning I did a co-wash, blot dried with a t-shirt, gel ploppped and then tried something new.

I took chunks of hair and gently wrapped them around my finger to create a spiral. Since my curls have been lacking these days I hoped to remind them what they were supposed to be doing. I let me hair sit on the shirt until I left for work and anxiously waited for my hair to dry.

One side looked awesome and totally had the effect I was going for, the other side fell completely flat and looked like I had just rolled out of bed. In the end I pinned all my hair back into a mass of curls on my crown. This hid the flat side and brought out the curly side all while getting the hair off my neck and out of my face.

I was bummed it didn't work but I will try again another day. Tomorrow is Friday, YAY!

Curls: 7 and 2
Frizz: 2 and 5
Weather: 55F, sunny
Stress: low

DAY 14: Lifestyle

So over the last two weeks I have changed the way I clean my hair. I have stopped using shampoo and mirrored the techniques recommended by Lorraine Massey. What Lorraine does not explain is that curly girl is more than not using shampoo and changing your technique; it's a change in lifestyle AND mindset.

I do NOT spend a lot of time or effort in morning getting ready to go anywhere. It usually takes me 20 minutes to get ready for work and I prefer to sleep more than I prefer to primp. I'm comfortable with who I am and looks have never been at the top of my priority list. Do I have moments or days, yes. However, on average I don't spend more than 5 minutes on makeup just a quick brush of blush, powder, and mascara; and I don't spend more than 5 minutes on my hair just a quick dry, gel plop, and go.

It's not enough. Although my hair is softer, I can tell I need to do more. I need to spend more time on my hair. Doing a deep moisturizing treatment, which I need, is 30-45 minutes minimum. Even if I do the treatment at night that's almost an hour that I have to spend "primping". So the major question is: how committed do I want to be to the health of my hair, I mean it is just hair after all, right? I have long hair and there is a lot of it to care for. Is it just hair, right now, I don't know...

I sprayed my hair with tepid water, t-shirt blot dried, and gel plopped this morning. My hair is dry and the cold rain is not helping. The frizz is pretty tame due to a light coat of gel on my crown before plopping.

Curls: 6
Frizz: 3
Weather: 42F, rainy, 76% humidity
Stress: Moderate

Who knew hair care would cause me to do some soul searching, lol.

Day 13: Getting the hang of it

I apologize for my lack of posting yesterday. I was down and out with fall allergies. I woke up late and did nothing more than pull my hair back into a curly frizzy ponytail. I spent a 1/2 day at work miserable with watery eyes, stuffy nose, and itchy hands. I finally went home took some good knock you out drugs and slept the rest of the day. I didn't pay any attention to what my hair looked like and I felt so miserable that I didn't care either. This morning I made sure to take some allergy medicine before leaving the house. :)

Today, I did a spot clean in the shower. The only placed that truly needed a good conditioner rub down was the base of my skull. I lightly added some conditioner to the crown of my hair to tame the frizz and did a cold water rinse. I blot dried with a t-shirt and lightly pulled the front of my hair back into 2 barrettes; one on each side of my head. My curls are dry and I probably should have done a full co-wash; however, hind sight is 20/20. The curl is still nice and out of my face, which I like.

If I have time this week I hope to do one of Lorraine's deep moisturizing treatments. The weather is getting colder and drier and it seems that a co-wash does nothing more than weigh down my hair. I hope to try something a little different this week and see if it helps lighten and moisturize.

Curl: 5
Frizz: 3
Weather: 55F, sunny with light breeze, 28% humidity
Stress: moderate

Day 11: Co-Wash

Every time I wash my hair with conditioner ("co-wash") my curls are relaxed and stretched out. Even though I barely touch my hair while in the shower the curls are stretched. I am finding it quite frustrating that when I actually clean my hair it makes it more wavy than curly. Only when I do a cold water rinse, spritz or even the lemonade wash do the curls look curly. I understand that washing the natural oils strips your hair and shampoo is bad for you; however, I'm only seeing a major difference when I don't co-wash. Other than my hair being softer there doesn't seem to be a difference in the shape or texture of the curl.

I'm not feeling well today so I think I'm more easily frustrated with my hair.

Curl: 4
Frizz: 3
Weather: 53F, sunny, 48% humidity
Stress: high, I think I'm getting sick.