macgyver hair

I've mentioned my hair a few posts back, but hadn't posted a recent pic of it in a while. So here's how we're hanging:



Forgive the face...I had just come from the dentist, who pratically had her foot in my chest. Just kidding...somewhat. This is 5 or 6 day hair that had just endured 2 hours of smooshing and squirming from the dental chair.

I wore a flower in my hair to work that day (yesterday) and got stopped by 4 different people, who were happy to see my flowers re-emerge for the spring. I guess that I get "some kind of way" during the winter and lose interest in dresses, heels, flowers, and almost all things girly. I have been wearing jeans and my "comfortably ugly" shoes (despite my close coworker's opposition) consistently for the past few weeks.

While working on a project in the training room with my team, a young man walked in. I have seen him before at 2 other meetings, but all I knew of him was that he was a new hire and quite an expensive one since he's leading a project that is providing my company's bread and butter for the next 2 years. He sat down behind me for a few and briefly chatted with a team member of mine. I overheard him offering too much information when asked about food or cooking or something close to that. His response included rambling on about losing his appetite after his ex called him the night before. I'm positive that he and my team member are not THAT close. I left to get a cup of water and to chuckle to myself away from him. When I came back and sat down, he leaned in and said, "I really like your flower." I thanked him for the compliment. Then he said, "You know, you have such beautiful hair" and proceeded to gaze at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. I thanked him again and wondered to myself...is he flirting with me? Can't be possible since I was wearing my "comfortably ugly" shoes, right?

But maybe my hair was still thriving off of my deep conditioning macgyver mission from the weekend before. It had been 2 weeks since my last wash and my hair was in NEED. Unfortunately, I did not have my fave conditioner on deck nor did I have my Shea Moisture Deep Condtioner. I winged it with some Herbal Essence Hello Hydration. My hair didn't seem to care for it, which is weird. But I didn't shed a lot of hair during my detangling session, which was weird as well.

At any rate, I needed to come up with a deep treatment, so I got a bowl and started searching my kitchen for some ingredients. I grabbed some leftover yogurt, a container of banana baby food that I previously used for a homemade deep conditoner, and some coconut mik. I then went upstairs while stirring and figured that I should throw in everything including the bathroom sink. In went the coconut oil...and then the castor oil...and finally, some Trader Joe's Nourish Spa conditioner.

I washed my hair and then slathered on this mixture while in the shower. I covered with a plastic cap and went to sleep. Yep, you guessed it. I was sexy and sure that any man would approve of this being the way that EVERY woman should come to bed.

The next morning, I rinsed with cool water and prepared to style into a twist out. My hair was shiny and soft and it appeared that the frizz that I usually suffer from at the canopy of my hair had been tamed. Problem is, I don't know which ingredient did it. My hair was almost TOO defined on Monday. Which is ok, but I like my hair to be slightly poofy. By Wednesday, I had finally hit the sweet spot.

So right now, I'm letting the same mixture marinate under my plastic cap, replacing the Trader Joe's with some amla powder that I had in my stash. At the beginning of my hair challenge I used amla and brahmi every week, but it seemed to be very drying after a while. I figured that this may be the safe way to use amla and see if it makes a difference. I trimmed my hair today and am pampering my strands with this treatment, as a way of apologizing for those nights that I slept without my bonnet, for every day that I have refused to wear a protective style, and for those lunch hours that I spent out in the sun while power-walking and sweating to the oldies. We'll see if my hair will accept this mission or if the message will self-destruct.

I was browsing through my hair pics on my comp and found this one from this time last year. What a difference a year makes. I remember thinking that my hair is taking it's sweet time to grow back.