Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Monthly Review #10

I feel like I got my months mixed up. This can't possibly be Month.....10? So my hair is now around 5" long.

So this month started off with some trouble with keeping my hair clean without washing all the time mixed with actually using my super gentle body wash as shampoo and coming away with the driest frizziest hair ever. ARGH!

Then I went to Hawaii where I HAD to shower. Oh it was gross. I tried out a BUNCH of adorable hairstyles while I was there but any day I had my "bangs" on my forehead by the next day my hair was a grease ball. Oi. But one of those hairstyles marked a big step forward: PIGTAILS! And they stayed all day. I have this weird headband that is basically a circle of stretchy black fabric two inches thick that somebody cut as if they were trying to make it into 4 headbands each half an inch thick - then stopped just in time so they are all attached in one quarter of the circle. Anyway I wrapped it around my head hippie style then pulled my side bang over it and pushed the 2 front bands up to my hairline while I took two bands to the back to wrap around each of the ponytails. The sides flyaways that didn't fit in the pigtails were wrapped around and secured by the front bands. It kept it off my neck without the constant replacement of bobby pins. Yay! But seriously between the sweat, the humidity (even the pillows felt gross), and the salt water my hair was having none of it. It was so icky. But I found out I have very similar part lines and cow licks to my paternal grandmother.

Then I got back from Hawaii and after having not slept on a red eye I met up with friends in the city and looked awful. I threw in a regular headband - which just makes it look worse and pretended I didn't care.

I took a shower that night with just a little soap in my hair. The next morning it stood straight up. This is admittedly kinda cool. However - not when you're going to work. It also doesn't stay up. Within 20 minutes it was standing to the sides with a horrible part line. BOOO. But I figured it was 4 hours of Acela riding before I got to work - Why fix it now? I tried desperately to sleep on that train. This awful guy saw across from me and first he threw his luggage onto the seat next to him - where my feet were. Then I perfectly perched my stilletoed foot on the pole under the table between us so my body was in a decent sleeping position. then he decides to move into the seat across from me, kicks my Rebecca Minkoff and my foot out of position. I'd like to also mention that he didn't apologize or even look up at me. My self control (and extreme exhaustion) are to blame for his balls not being skewered on that stiletto.

Ha....that was a long non-hair related tangent, huh? Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

So I got to work and they decide to take my badge photo RIGHT AWAY. So I literally had the time it took this receptionist to type my answers into the system to pin my hair for a photo. I mean it's a badge for a client I'll be on for a few months. NBD. But Still. I had no mirror for the back - and some reflection in the glass for the front. I pulled a side bang in quick and then just stuck bobby pins into the back. You'll see the style pictured below but I totally pulled it off! Then the next day I managed a cute bob-ish style without any pins! The last night in Boston (for my new client) I decided to shower because Mass has better water than NYC. Shower style: wash body as if not washing hair in normal water, turn nozzle to "far too hot to put body in" and dunk hair into stream, scrub like a wild woman with head in all kind of positions to allow for more water infiltration, take a step back and turn nozzle to "What is this, the arctic?!" dunk head for just long enough that the heat is removed from hair. Towel off body, squeeze hair and shake out head - go to bed.
Next day: hair straight up and out to the side (pictured) and feels not quite all the way clean but not too oily. Another 7 hours of travel to get to the seder ahead of me when I was not trying to sleep. I got home and my mother immediately was like "WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOUR HAIR?" Then I pinned it and she relented to "your hair is falling out of its pins". Jeeeeez ma!

I can pin it or make it look kind of big-hair meets bob. But then I went a full week without wetting it again and it looked fine. Nightly I went to bed thinking maybe I ought to wash it and every morning I woke up and it looked just fine. I have this trick where I shake my head vigorously to help the oil get away from the scalp. Be skeptical all you want, I swear this works. It might only allow the less oily pieces to migrate to the top and LOOK less oily but I don't care. I'm pulling it off.

I've continued taking it one day at a time - since I'm traveling to a city with better water I've been taking my weekly shower on the night before I leave. I even bought a narrow-toothed comb that I now use in the shower as I noticed the crown of my head looked more oily than the rest of my head and realized it wasn't getting enough hot water penetration. the comb works wonders in that department. Though sometimes I get some social anxiety waiting for somebody to see me and say "Shower, much?". But so far all seems on the up and up. I took a picture of the hair right before a shower and you can see it's not squeaky clean but I'm okay with that for now.

I was taking biotin daily for the first couple months and then started takjing it sporadically. Then I read online that it only works if you take it TWICE a day. So I did that. Did you know one in about 10 people gets cystic acne on the jawline when they consume too much biotin? You guessed it: I'm one of them. Womp Womp. So no cheating to get longer hair for me.....though I did just buy castor oil for my brows and lashes.

It is getting quite long, either way. The back just hits my collar bone if I pull it straight. If I had more time I'd think about straightening the annoying curl at the base of my neck but instead I just keep on keeping on.