Senioritis

Dear four followers:

Thanks for checking this project out and please excuse my senioritis. I have less than a year to go (Summer 2011!) and I can't wait to graduate (read: get on with my life). Yet, fall semester has resembled one long finals week. I pretty much had a paper & a test or a paper & presentation due or all three due every week. So, I've been slacking on the posting because I just could not justify taking the time.

Anyway, here's what I've been up to hair-wise:

1. Baking soda/vinegar washes- I have normal shampoo but I'm kind of a non-hippie/not quite anarcho/tree admiring vegan, so I like to avoid buying products (read: commercial shampoo). Baking soda is man made (nahcolite is mined and then sodium bicarbonate comes from a chemical reaction) but I understand what's in it a lot better than the label on my shampoo (despite it being vegan/organic/not tested on animals, etc). Anyway the real reason I started using b.soda is for its clarifying ability.

2. Using coconut oil- It's basically amazing for my hair. Some people on boards are all "do we really need oils or do we just want to put things in our hair because we always have?" For me the answer is yes...my hair definitely needs oils. My somewhat fine strands do not hold moisture all that well. If I actually wet my hair, water stays around for a while in some areas but my ends and scalp air dry pretty fast (ends: 20-30 mins, scalp: an hour/hour and a half). Oils invite the moisture to hang around a little bit longer and coconut oil is a pretty enticing host. (It also smells great!)

While I love coconut oil, it does mess with the aesthetic of my hair a little bit. Although, I've read several people's experiences with coconut oil defrizzing their hair, it seems to do just the opposite on mine. I mean it keeps my hair soft, long after it dries but as soon as I add it to wet/damp hair I notice it starts to frizz. Not sure what's up with that hair reaction but I like coconut oil, so I am sticking with it.

One more warning if you are interested in using coconut oil: be mindful of how much your hair needs. When I go overboard with the oil, I think it contributes to my buildup because it leaves my hair a bit greasy.

3. Gross aloe vera experiment- Google "aloe vera for hair" and you will find lots of people who love to use it. The gel is a tragic mess for my hair and I didn't bother trying the juice (in my hair). The stuff would be awesome if I wanted to style my hair as a mostly dull mohawk, otherwise it just makes things hard and dry. I washed it out within 24 hours of putting the stuff in. Eternal hair mantra: Just because it works for other people's hair does not mean it will wok for mine.