Monday, May 18, 2015

Monthly Review #11

One more month until it's been a full year!

I mean - wow. So much time has passed. There's not a week that goes by without me considering re-shaving several times but I have resisted. I really must get back to my long hair.

So this month I finally caved and washed my hair with shampoo. Right at the end of the month. Leading up to that the water rinses were bringing the oil level down but not nearly enough for the once a week schedule I'd adopted. It was working SO well until I got sick and obscenely drunk in one night....I'm blaming alcohol. You can see in the first 4 photos a before and after for showering with just water.

Why have I been so crazed about the washing when I used to wash my hair daily with super harsh shampoo and it loved it? Because the ends are always most delicate - subject to the first damage. My ends are higher up and so there is not as much buffer as there would be for the same point of hair strand on somebody with the hair length I aim for. Thus,  I need to protect them a little more on their journey. Long story short: water isn't the best for the follicle. So I've been trying to wet it as infrequently as possible. Also when you have short hair it needs weight to hold it in place - think of all the volume your roots would have if they didn't have so much weight holding them down. Now consider my hair sticking straight up....or just take a peak at the last few pictures. So even if I kept it squeaky clean I'm have to put product in it to hold it down...why not my own oil?

I'll be posting soon about my new cleaning regimen but for this month I took a tiny drop of hotel shampoo and worked it into a lather - then applied to the most greasy parts of my scalp. It didn't get rid of all the grease - but stood it up (took the photos after sleeping on it wet - last pics, polka dot dress)

Other than that - if I pin bottom layers behind my head I consistently get the "I like your hair" compliment. People really do like that look - we had a party at the apartment and I was still overseeing the kitchen when people started arriving. I was in a baggy shirt and my hair was just doing whatever it wanted to. The minute I was done in the kitchen I went into my room pulled out a fitted sweater, some earrings, and pinned my hair up, pulling the bangs forward in a swept look instead of parted in the center. When I came back out friends who had seen me just a minute earlier exclaimed at how I could completely alter my appearance for the better so quickly.

I pinned my hair completely flat as if it were pulled into a tight bun behind my head for drinks with colleagues and my director told me my hair looked great pulled back (see picture in white and fuchsia dress).

I'm going to try to get some straightening in this coming month to see if I can find a down style that will be as popular. Fingers crossed.

Oh and remember how I wore that brass and black wig on NYE? I saw strangers I met that night at a party this past month (black and gold lace dress below). They had no recollection of me. Wigs work.