My Poor Hair

I have put my hair through hell in the last month. I actually feel bad for it.

My hair is difficult. It's long right now, which is good. The cons are that it is still, as always, weirdly wavy, frizzy, and super soft/fine. Bobby pins even slip right out. Also, my scalp is really oily, so I have to wash it every morning or, ewwww. Plus, I have to alternate products/brands every other day or my hair gets weighed down.

I've always heard that the less you wash hair, the better it is for you and the more it will behave, but could not fathom going any amount of time without shampooing. So, I did some research ('cause that's how I do), and got the idea to go "no-shampoo," and use a baking-powder paste to wash and diluted apple cider vinegar to condition. This was supposed to give my hair time to get into its natural rhythm of oil production and give me easy-to-manage, voluminous waves, as well as prtecting me from evil chemicals (sulfates and silicones). This worked really well the first week, but by the end of the second week, I was jonesing for suds. My waves were great, but I couldn't do anything else with my hair, not even a ponytail. I was caught by my best friend's mother in the shampoo aisle of ShopRite (they day after telling her about my baking soda experiment), with a crazed look in my eye. My husband also did not appreciate the fish-n-chips/salad dressing in the bathroom (the vinegar smell dissipates after you rinse, though). So, I caved and bought shampoo, although a sulfate-free one.

After about a week of the SLS-free shampoo, I was noticing my hair was being weighed down, and still missing the suds in good ol' chemicals (which don't make shampoo work any better, by the way). I checked the label of my new products, and sure enough, it contained evil silicones. Eeeeek! I ran to Target and bought Suave.

That was only Part 1.

This past Tuesday, my mom and I decided it would be fun to go to the local beauty school to get our hair done at a good price. Her hair turned out supercute, but I guess the girl who did mine was in remedial classes. I specifically said, "highlights with color only, no bleach." She bleached. I almost passed out. Then, I picked a deep red-brown (RB5) toner. I don't know WTF she did, but it turned out traffic-cone orange. When she took the towel off, she actually said, "I think it looks great!" I said, "I think it looks like the episode of the Brady Bunch when Greg Brady uses the hair tonic that Cousin Oliver is selling and ends up with flourescent orange hair for graduation. Please fix it!" I pick out another, even darker toner. It turns out okay. No, I do NOT have pictures. It looked damaged and Jersey-shore-esque.

Two washes later, it was back to the stripey orange, now with an ashy twinge. Lovely. I emailed my regular hairstylist, who is allergic to hair color, so she cuts my hair out of her home, but didn't hear back from her in time for my sanity (she has a lovely newborn!). I couldn't even look at myself, so I went to the salon she used to work at for help. I told Al, the owner, to put me down for a 911-SOS treatment.

Luckily, Al and stylist Amy were able to save me with a chocolate brown color with subtle auburn tones.

Thank you, Revelations Salon in Turnersville, NJ.