The actual reason why I decided to jump on board with this little project is because the other day, I noticed that in Sarah’s post about her new hair routine that CinnKitty asked about whether there were other options and if she could take baby steps towards “alternative” hair care. And the resounding answer is “YES!!!”

See, Sarah got lucky and it seems that the first method she tried is going to work out really well for her, but there are plenty of other options out there. In an effort to find the perfect method for me and my hair (henceforth referred to as the holy grail… Christ I’m even going to use the crazy bus speak as well, aren’t I??) I’ve tried just about all of them and still haven’t found which one is the absolutely perfect one for me, my hair, my lifestyle, and my environment (ok well maybe I have, but I’m only a week in so things could still feasibly go down hill from here.) So today for those of you interested I’ll list some of the various options and throw in some hair education (all of which you will be tested on before you are assigned a seat on the batshitcrazy bus) as well. Ready?

Things you are trying avoid –

First, harsh detergents and chemicals in shampoo. Mainly? Sulfates. The 2 most common are SLS (sodium laurel sulfate) and SLES (sodium laureth sulfate), SLS had an original intended purpose as a grease solvent, but nowadays makes its living cleaning various parts of our bodies. Honestly our bodies aren’t that dirty, and if they are we are actually doing it to ourselves. Sulfates are harsh detergents. They will get out anything you manage to put in your hair – dirt, grime, styling products, and sweat. They will also strip your hair of all its natural oils leaving your hair feeling not so wonderful and not so manageable. So you condition, right? And you condition with a product packed with silicone.

Remember those Pantene commercials with the little gold bubbles that would swim around the hair strands and bind to hair and then magically repair the hair strand? Yeah. Silicone. And the hair isn’t repaired. It’s been magically caulked, and that caulking will build up, and will need to be removed, and the best way to remove a silicone is with a harsh sulfate detergent. So you begin to feed a fairly vicious cycle so the second item on the list of things to avoid? Silicone in conditioner and styling products.

You have learned to read the labels of what you eat now learn to read the labels on your beauty products

So now you know what to avoid…
Your most common options for alternative hair care are –

Pseudo Natural –
These are incredibly similar to the same drug store hair products you will find anywhere except they lack the items you are trying to avoid. Pseudo Natural allows you to break that cycle but still gives you that normal feeling of having your shampoo and conditioner. They still have some sort of cleaning agent in the shampoos but typically are considered to be much healthier for you hair and instead of silicone they use plant derived butters and oils in the conditioners.

As with all of these options there is an adjustment period, but this is by far the easiest transition.

While not the method I’m currently using, this method works great with my hair. I use the Giovanni hair line. They make excellent products and my hair really responds well to them. Best of all most major health food stores and organic grocers that offer “bulk bin” shopping will offer Pseudo Natural shampoo and conditioners on the bulk bin aisle to you can bring your own bottles from home and just refill them. Not only do you get the discount of not having to pay new for packaging but you save the earth the stress of having even more plastic out in circulation.

All Natural –
All Natural is where you start to really truly venture into “alternative” – these are the products that are 100% percent derived from natural resources. You can still have your traditional shampoo/conditioner method, but once you open the product you are going to notice a huge difference in what you are working with. Mainly the shampoo, being void of all detergent and cleaning agents, won’t lather – which means that you have to rely on the essential oils in the product and your own physical scrubbing of your scalp to clean your scalp. Also your conditioner won’t resemble normal conditioner in its texture – You won’t see your typical cream based conditioner inside the bottle. Instead the texture will be a bit milky or even possibly oil based.

The adjustment period here may even take longer because not only are you working with the differences in the products but also these products are where you have to start really paying attention to what your hair wants/needs and developing a technique. How long do you need to scrub your scalp? How long do you need to rinse? Does all you hair need washing/conditioning or just your scalp/length? Everybody’s hair is different so everyone’s technique is different.

If you live in a major city you should be able to find All Natural hair products, but it may take some searching almost all your popular Natural brands are mostly Pseudo Naturals and they may only offer one option for All Natural. Read your labels and the internet is your friend.

Water only –
Now this was a fun one to try. This is your “extreme measure” – water only. It actually does work and I know a woman in Ansteorra/Texas with the most beautiful hair that I have ever seen in my life. I covet her hair. Her secret? For the last 15 or so years, she washes her hair once a week with lukewarm water only, and I promise you, her hair is absolutely gorgeous.

As you can imagine the transition can take up to a few months since not only are you weaning yourself off all products, but you actually have to train your scalp to produce less oil. And there is a lot of scrubbing involved. That is ultimately why this process doesn’t work for me. My hair is just too delicate to stand up the vigorous scrubbing needed to accomplish cleaning your hair with nothing but water.

If you can do this and make it work for you I envy you, and want your hair.

This is probably as good of a place as any to mention that half the fun of alternative hair care is the trial and error part. There will be hair disasters. Your friends will laugh at you. But one morning you will also realize the joys of making an all natural hair mask in your blender that makes your hair shine like it did back when you where in a kid, and it will all be worth it. Onwards…

Water with baking soda –
This is Sarah’s method. The only method on this list I haven’t tried. Again my hair is far too delicate for it. The one time I tried to clarify my hair with baking soda it took weeks before my hair forgave me, and I’m fairly certain that if brought it into the shower again all my hair would jump off my head and hide under the sink, but I know tons of people who swear by this method and you have Sarah as even more proof.

Shampoo Bars –
Yeah.Soap.In.Your.Hair. I love it. My hair loves it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. As I said earlier there is still a chance that after some of the newness of the product wears off the results won’t be so fantabulous, but right now shampoo bars are the reason why the sun came up this morning. I love them so much I’m actually comfortable enough to actually say “LOOK at my HAIR!!”

That? Is my hair one week into nothing but soap (Herb Garden) and water - no styling products - no conditioner - nothing. And? That is 2nd day hair. Yeah, I’ve slept on that… twice.

100% all natural! – They last forever! – Minimal packaging! – Cheap! – Easy! - Travel Friendly!

Some people need a vinegar rinse like Sarah has been doing with the baking soda, some people need to use conditioner, but not me – I haven’t needed either. Really, I can’t say enough good things about them. They rock. I love them, and I hope I still love them when I come back from vacation.

If you are interested (that might even be a dare), this is where I buy mine from - http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/

Read the info on the site thoroughly because she provides a lot of great info regarding hair types and troubleshooting any problems you may have with them. But the samples are cheap and if they don’t work out for you; you still have some great soap!

….Second Round….

She really tested me right out of the gate, huh? But it actually proves the point fairly well. While her irrigation system rocks there is no feasible way that I can model anything like that to water my container garden on my balcony of my Condo here in Hell… but I wasn’t going to give up on my first challenge that easily. I sat here and I thought to myself that there has to be something I have done that mirrors her efforts…

So I thought.

And I thought.

Water.

Flowing.

Bill Saver.

Watering.

Water.

Oh.

Wait that’s easy.

(Read on …)

Awhile back I conducted a poll regarding the typical cost of my readers’ shampoo and conditioner. I did this for a reason, of course. Mainly I’ve finally reached my wits end. Years ago now, when I was still living in Texas and my hair magically turned curly on me I panicked because I had no idea how to handle and maintain the new hair. I was an incredibly low maintenance chick when my hair was straight. Pantene shampoo and conditioner - every day – brush – air dry. That was it; that was my hair routine. I had never had any use with gel, mousse, hairspray… I didn’t own a curling iron, a hair dryer, or curlers, because no matter what I did to my hair it was going to look exactly the same. It was going to be long and straight.

Then it went curly and all hell broke lose. Pantene started destroying my hair, and I had to learn to maneuver between the approximately 785 various products specifically designed to make my curls looked marvelous. And you know what? Nothing worked. I end up moving to a “salon” shampoo and conditioner (Biolage) and I discovered the trick to taming my curls. A spray bottle… filled with water. Tap water… from my sink. And all the sudden I was back to a low maintenance routine. Shampoo – condition – brush – scrunch – and just as my hair finished air drying a light mist of water to tame out the frizzies.

But honestly? I didn’t know what frizzies really were… until I moved here. To place that keeps 100% humidity year round. To a place where you need to learn how to drink your air.

Then the real problems began and I wound up back in that hair care aisle. Oddly enough I’ve looked thru all the comments left regarding the poll, and you know what? I’ve tried each and every one of the products noted. It was horrible. Something would work fine for a few weeks then I would start waking up with this afro halo thing working. Almost a year ago, I found a guy that I really enjoyed how he worked with my hair he sympathized with all my problems and really went above and beyond the call to help me find a solution that didn’t involve me enlisting in Moose’s outlook on hair care. We had just found my perfect solution when the new meds kicked in and the synthetic hormones started to course and all of the sudden we were back at square one.

And all this time he had been after me to try Bumble and Bumble products… but at 30-something dollars per 8 oz. bottle, I just couldn’t justify it until all other options had been exhausted.

I reached that point about a month ago.

And caved and purchased B&B Curls line for fine hair (shampoo, conditioner, curl crème at $24 per bottle on sale.) I knew it was stupid money to spend on hair products but I helped in justifying that I had a bit saved in the bank because unlike all my other female friends I have never dyed my hair. And since my Mother spends $60 a month getting her hair dyed … this kinda just evens the karma out.

Life was great… for a week. Then my hair started falling out. Not like a little shedding (cause I always shed) no I’m talking handfuls. Then? Anywhere the conditioner touched my body? I broke out. Bad.

Now I was incredibly lucky in high school. I remember when I got my first pimple. I was a freshman in college… the day before homecoming. By the night of the dance? Gone. To say I was blessed with great skin (sans the stupid freckles) would be an understatement. So yeah I freaked the holy hell out. I called everyone I knew that I thought could answer my questions. Then I posted every question I could think of to every forum and list I’m active in that I felt was applicable.

The support I got was overwhelming. But it filtered into 2 distinct categories of thought -

1 – Throw away all hair products immediately and move to a natural and organic line sans harsh chemicals.

2 – Get thee to Cynthia immediately.

Natural hair products were easy. A trip to my organic market offered me a wealth of goodies, and now 2 weeks in my hair is showing drastic improvement. The best discovery was working with a holistic esthetician on learning the right essentials oils to apply to my hair and scalp. She helped me create a customized oil for nightly scalp massages that will help reduce my shedding and encourage my new growth to come in thicker and stronger than before. Then showed me the proper oil for my hair type so I could do a hot oil treatment a few times a week to the full length to help condition and thicken. 2 weeks in and the results are nothing short of amazing. Everyone stops and asks what in the hell I did to my hair, for the first time in a very long time I’m happy with my hair. It takes a lot more work than I would like, but you find a routine that is producing results and you make it work.

Now getting in to see Cynthia? Was a little more difficult. You see Cynthia is considered to be one of the top 10 stylists in the country for curly hair. Women fly in from all over for her to work her magic. Her reviews online are flawless and have been so for years (seriously I scanned all the back to 2004 and didn’t find anyone that thought she was not worth the time/effort/money). And as luck would have it her shop is 90 minutes from my house. So I caved. I called for an appointment and only slightly winced when informed of the cost. Taking the first available appointment she had available – I ended up with a Thursday at 3:00 p.m. appt… 3 weeks out. Which now means that today, I get to go see Cynthia the supposed miracle worker. And for the first time in my life I’m ready to sit down in a chair and let a stylist do whatever the hell she wants to do with my hair.

And I hope that isn’t a mistake.

So if you have any spare karma saved up in the bank that you would like to donate to a good cause send it out around 3, please? And if not? Maybe a wig will do.

So as I mentioned my health has been sucking ass lately… It is a large combination of occurrences at work and the fact that I’ve gone off meds, started new meds, had other meds fucked with, and am generally feeling like a lab rat these past few weeks. I have no energy. I’m sleeping way too much to be practical. I have no appetite. The primary aspect of my diet is currently applesauce. Yeah I’ve reverted to being a kindergartner.

Every summer, I seem to go thru this. Work starts to kick my ass as everyone and their dog decide that this is the perfect time to uproot their life and move into a new house they can’t really afford. And we all know what happens when I get stressed – the first thing to go is sleep very quickly followed by eating… unless of course you include when Sarah realizes I haven’t had anything to eat in days awhile and insists that I drop what I’m doing and eat something… and due to time constraints I usually end up getting that something from a drive thru. Which makes me feel bad and normally also succeeds in pissing me off.

And so continues the vicious circle.

In talking with my doctor over dinner last week, (Am I the only person who has a good enough relationship with their doctor that they can go to dinner together? Please tell me I’m not that awkward.) I decided (with his full support) to take my normally really healthy diet a few steps past normal. Typically come summer I pull out my juicer and blender and do a basic diet consisting of:

20 oz. of fresh Juice with a granola bar for breakfast.
Yogurt, Fruit, and Granola for lunch.
Salad with protein (normally shrimp, fish, tofu) for dinner.

There are variations of course but you get the gist. It is simple foods, but healthy. But most importantly it makes me feel better. I have more energy. My sleep schedule returns to normal. My allergies lessen to a more manageable point. And for some reason it really helps me in adjusting to our summer climate. That is until I get stressed again and it all goes down the tubes.

Now? As in starting today? I’m going totally raw foods… for the next 3 weeks. In a part system cleanse/part energy boost. The weird thing is that I don’t actually think it is going to be that hard. It is only 3 weeks and I figure the novelty of all the new stuff I’m adding to my diet won’t wear off until well into the 2nd week… then I’m over halfway thru the 3 weeks and I can do anything for 10 days or so… I have that much willpower. Besides I’ve already decided that sashimi counts in my raw food diet and so when I feel the need for something more than fruit and veggies at least I have that… in other words I’m using it as my cheat and probably my Saturday night treat.

After the 3 weeks I’m going to revaluate, but I think that this summer is going to be a vegetarian summer. I’ve given serious thought to it over the weekend. And my life wouldn’t actually change that much… all my favorite restaurants are vegetarian friendly… and some of my favorite dishes are already vegetarian. Not to mention the whole slew vegetarian restaurants around I haven’t tried. And since I won’t be doing it for ethical reasons or because I need to be doing without meat; then I won’t feel at all off when I allow myself to cheat.

When it comes down to it I’m really just curious to see if it offers me any long term benefits. I’ve seen the short term benefits for years now, but I’m curious to see if those benefits taper off after a period time. That and for the first time in more months than I (or Sarah) can remember I’m actually excited about food… actually looking forward to my next meal instead of having to have someone else remind me to eat.

Here? Is where I move on to the more personal items of the entry.
Here? Is where I provide fair and blatant warning to all guys that they probably should stop reading here. This provides James with all the warning he needs to run and hide.
(Read on …)

So what do you talk about when the thing that is first and foremost in your mind is something you can’t talk about? And the second thing is an uber secret evil plan with an emphasis on the secret part?

…

The Blackberry Green Tea Frappuccino doesn’t suck near as much as I expected it to. I may even dig it a bit… well as much as I can dig a Starbuck’s beverage that has no coffee in it.

…

Yeah, I got nuthin’.

…

Oh! Sarah asked for songs! Songs I can do. In fact a while back I ran across a song that really spoke to me and it reminds me of Sarah a bit, as well. Cause while the changes we are going thru aren’t the same we are both going thru a changing stage whether we like it or not…
So here you go, Sarah. Love you.

“In Your Own Way” by Caleb Kane

And take a minute to reflect in your own way
Take your time and connect in your own way
I know it’s good to be alone some days
But you got a long face in your own way, baby
I know you got a big heart in your own way
Independent and smart in your own way
And even though you get along somehow
You’re missing out now in your own way, baby

And since you asked so nicely I’ll even let you borrow my 2 personal anthems.

“One Hit Wonder” by Everclear

and

“Walk the Walk” by Poe

These?

SUCK.ASS.

’nuff said.

It was brought to my attention by one of the many Keepers that I am obviously going to need more than one DrunkDress if I plan to make it thru an entire War dressed properly. See the idea was that after my first War my Keepers began to complain because as I drank more it became harder and harder to keep track of me… I apparently have a tendency to wander when I’m tipsy. And a drunk girl wearing a black dress in a crowd of people is hard to find especially when you vowed to protect her with your life.

So there was some insisting and finally the DrunkDress was born - a hot pink monstrosity of a cotehardie that my seamstress disavows all knowledge of. It’s wonderful. Anyone over 6 foot only has to look out over the crowd of a party to spot me. Why? Cause I glow in that dress. Shortly after that the DrunkChupa came along for those cold winter DrunkNights. And today? Today, I bought 8 yards of fabric for DrunkDress ver.2

Behold the most beautiful butt ass ugly fabric known to man… or at least to me in my 2 hours of searching today -

and it is 100% linen!!! It’s going to make a kickass cote.

Coming soon to a Gothic Wars and Gulf Wars Girls’ Night Out near you.

So quickly -
Where have I been? Playing host to my Mother all week. If that wasn’t enough, work has been semi crazy especially since with the raise I actually feel the need to work harder than I have been (or something equally insane as that). Desk arrived so there has been much setting up of the office (finally). Mother worked her magic and totally rearranged my home so I have had to search for my toothbrush and coffee cup every morning.

How’s life, Sabine? Doing good… even close to settling on great, and if I can say that on the tail end of a week long visit from my Mother then life must be fucking fantastic.

Did you learn something new this week? Yep. I learned that you can’t be boy crazy on your own schedule apparently it sets it’s schedule to someone else’s appointment book… and it doesn’t always happen at the most convenient time for you.

Any new and exciting plans for the weekend? Yes. For a bit now I have been wanting to head over to Orlando, grab a hotel room, and spend a few days shopping. Cause the shopping is much better over there. So I decided that after spending the weekend with my Mother I deserved it. And then there is the matter of that bonus check burning a hole in my bank account. So I’m going. And I am taking a friend… a friend that used to be something more than a friend, but as always I’m the idiot who believes that exes can be friends after the fact. We are renting a Tahoe… He plans on golfing… I plan on spending money (cause I have a Tahoe to fill)… then we plan on drinking ourselves stupid, because after this week we both need that. We do not plan on eloping despite how happy that would make Sarah. If I’m not terribly hung over and hating life on Sunday, I’ll let everyone know how the whole “trying to be friends” thing worked out.

Or we can just all start making assumptions now…

and when did I start wanting to put salt on my food????