the hair diaries

it's now been 19 weeks since the hair project began.  it's not going so well...

here's what's been going on...

first a little extensive background info:
i started getting occasional grey hairs about 3-4 years ago (so sad)...  it wasn't anything i couldn't just yank out... and then i got pregnant, and they started going crazy.  midway through my pregnancy (september 2009) it had gotten so bad that i colored my hair for the 3rd time ever- and i've been having to do it regularly since then.  except that since i've had ian, it's gotten worse.  i can color my hair, and new grey hairs (or my preexisting hair) grows so fast that i'm already showing new greys in just 3 weeks (extremely sad).  so i try to go at least 4 weeks between coloring...

so i colored my hair right before thanksgiving- and my hair always seems to look a little better around that time (i think the chemicals zap any oil).  we went to husband's gma's house and while i was there, i felt like i had finally gotten to a turning point while washing (rinsing) my hair it actually felt clean!  it was all downhill from there.  the very next week my hair was already feeling heavy & greasy again- not a good look.  in a fit of desperation, i dragged ian and myself to ulta where i picked up devacare no-poo cleanser (i chose this instead of devacare since my hair is colored). the reason i went with this is because it was mentioned in the article that i had read about ditching shampoo- so i thought it would work.... i am not impressed.  at.  all.  1.  it smells funny (devacurl smells way better), 2.  the "no-poo" part is weird- it's like rubbing conditioner into your hair (which i was doing during my washing w\ baking soda).  it doesn't lather, but i can't figure out how to clean my hair with it.  3.  i spent $20 on it, and i'm supposed to be eliminating an "unnecessary cost" from my life.  4.  my hair as never been greasier.  i don't know what i'm doing wrong, but i washed and dried my hair with devacurl wednesday night and the back and under layer of my hair just hung in greasy strings.  5.  did i mention it was $20?!?!

so while i was in ga for christmas, my mom let me use her "shampoo."  she has been occasionally washing with loreal's everpure, which is sulfate free (anyone know why eva longoria has her hair around her neck like a noose?), so i gave it a try and my hair looked and felt amazing!!  i felt like i was cheating though, so i went back to the devacare, and things have been pretty much the same (see #4 above)...  after that happened, i bit the bullet and bought the everpure, even though i just found this article...  i haven't used it again yet, and i wore my hair up today....  ugh.  what to do?!

what should i do now?  just go back to rinsing w\ plain water or doing the baking soda?  keep trying with the devacare (3/4 a bottle left)?  or just give in and go with the everpure (although it's pretty much a no-poo).  A- i know that you've been using devacurl and really like it- what's the secret to your success?  how much are you using, how are you using it?  what might i be doing wrong?

thoughts?!

nappy roots pt. 2

so remember here where i talked about doing this (again)?  it has now been 11 weeks (nearly 3 months!!) since i have last shampooed my hair.  how's it going?  it.  still.  sucks.

the oily stage is over.  my hair is now no longer completely greasy, and that is a relief... but...  it just still seems so.. dirty.  my hair has the consistency of straw- it feels like i could twist it into dreadlocks at any second and that they'd stick.  it seems like it's full of build up (of what, i don't know).  when i straighten it, it straightens well, but needs to constantly be brushed.  when i wear it curly, i have more springy curls, but it hangs so limp and the crown gets frizzy!  i don't know what's going wrong.

i started doing the baking soda wash once it got too oily, and it seemed to help, but now doesn't seem like it's working as well.  the simple mom article recommends washing daily with baking soda, while the mother nature network article says not to use it more than once every few WEEKS.   i've also started doing a once weekly "wash" with my conditioner.  since i color my hair, i'm supposed to use the conditioner once weekly anyway, so this has been a big help as far as making my hair a little more manageable.  and on the hair coloring front- i know these two aren't related, but it seems like my grays have multiplied!  aaaaah. 

i hate that i feel relegated to wearing a pony tail almost EVERY day.  especially with the holidays around the corner, but i don't know what else to do.  i don't want to give up.  i've come this far- i can't give in! 

 Seven months later, my hair has never looked better. It’s shinier and has more body, and my ordinarily flake-prone scalp is noticeably healthier. Plus, I get the self-righteous buzz of having beaten the system: I washed The Man right out of my hair and it stayed clean anyway.

mnn.com

so it's possible that i have 4 more months of crazy hair to put up with, but in the end i have the satisfaction of knowing that i did it. ::sigh::

here is my hair a few weeks ago.  ian seems disgusted, but it's not that bad!

nappy roots

so, remember back here when i talked about doing this?  well, i ran out of my delicious rosemary & mint shampoo about a week ago, and haven't looked back.  now, of course, i've become the shredder, i'm a little scared about what a daily (very sweaty) workout is going to do.  so i'm at least a week in, if not longer into this experiment, and let's just say it's going to be interesting.  today, i had to re-read the article plus this article because my hair is looking a little... well, limp.  i've also been rocking the ponytail for the last week. 

i'm not sure if i'm supposed to be still using conditioner or styling products.  i have been doing conditioner just on my ends, and i've used styling products a couple times.  i think i may just go to conditioner once a week and try to wean myself completely from my styling products.  sorry bumble & bumble.  

it looks like it can take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months before your scalp stops overproducing oil to make up for it's non-shampoo shock.  i'm hoping for me that it's closer to the former, and not the latter.  lulu asked me to post/take a daily photo of my hair.  i don't think i'll do daily, but how about weekly.  so, here is my rat's nest after week one of being "poo-free"

note:  these photos were taken after a workout, before my shower.  it's also been in a ponytail for around 24 hours.

 so you can definitely tell my hair is very oily

here's all of my hair.  at least it's so shiny it's got serious camera flash on it!