I Wouldn't Believe It If It Didn't Happen To Me

I have tried all kinds of homemade treatments and different methods on my hair since joining LHC. I've never been one to spend a lot of money on expensive salon products or anything, but I will try just about anything if it's cheap and homemade.

Although many treatments and elements of my regimen have been good for my hair's overall health, I have never once done anything that was so successful that someone actually noticed the difference.

Until now.

My husband, knowing my interest in hairstyles and hair care, has been wonderful with supporting me in my long hair journey. He does notice a new braid or hairstyle, and he does notice when it's starting to look long, but this time, he noticed that my hair looked different after using the oil soap!

He remarked to me yesterday that he could see the difference after the first time I tried it. I asked him to describe what he meant. He said that my hair looked much shinier, and he noticed that it's just falling differently. I asked him to try to articulate what he meant by that, and it seems that he sees that my hair looks somehow fuller and that it falls like a sheet rather than going "piece-y" as it usually does.

Now, I don't know if you realize how HUGE this is. Using the oil soap, I did notice myself that my hair is more shiny and lustrous, and I did notice that it's softer and that my halo hairs are lying down a bit more rather than sticking upwards.

However, I never imagined that the difference would be so noticeable that it would be visible to someone else!

I can tell you that I will definitely be continuing to experiment with the coconut oil soap until further notice. I can't tell you how excited I am with the results!


Well, I had a very strange night last night again. It's still this dang migraine. I woke up at 2:15 a.m. and I was wide awake. I had not gone to bed early last night.

Needless to say, I was not feeling too hot. I was waiting to feel drowsy enough to go back to bed, but it just wasn't happening. Finally at about 11:30a.m., I was able to head upstairs and at last I had a very long nap. After so little sleep this week in general, I confess that I still feel exhausted despite the long nap, but I am sure that if I can sleep well tonight, I may well feel rested tomorrow. Which would be nice. This has been a bit of a rough week, and sadly those things that I wanted to get done that were hanging over my head are still hanging there.

Well, if I feel better tomorrow, I can go a long way to get these tasks out of the way. Okay, I'm going to sip some tea and relax away this migraine.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Hairstyle How-To: Twisted Crossed Half-Up

This style is just about the easiest half-updo that I know. However, I think it's elegant in its simplicity. (Photos clickable for larger image.)

I parted each side of my hair from the crown to the ears. I took the right side and twisted it inwardly three times, then took the left side and twisted it inwardly three times.

Then I crossed the left twist over the right twist and secured it with a Ficcare beak clip.

It really couldn't be easier.

For anyone who's wondering, I still have the migraine that started on Monday. I did however, get a better sleep last night. And once again, I'm happy to say that my spirits are good.

'Til tomorrow my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Just Coasting Along

The title says it all. I'm just coasting on this long hair journey at the moment. I'm pretty happy with my length, and looking forward to the next milestone, but I'm not thinking about it too much. I am happy with my trim, and, well, just over-all pleased with my hair in general. I don't know that I'll feel that way tomorrow or next week, but today I do, and that's good.

I tried the oil shampoo again today. This time I thought I'd try a higher ratio of coconut oil to shampoo. I used 3 parts coconut oil, 1 part shampoo, and 3 parts water in my squeeze bottle. I love the way it comes out frothy almost like mousse. It makes it really easy to make sure that it spreads everywhere on my scalp readily.

Right now, I like the results of the oil soap with the higher oil ratio. The first thing I noticed was a huge increase in shine after my hair dried. Also, my hair doesn't feel too oily in any way. Of course, the true test will be how my hair is tomorrow. If I find that it's too oily or limp, then I will try at 2:1:2 coconut oil/shampoo/water ratio the next time. Really I should have done that today instead of 3:1:3, but I'm nothing if not zealous in my experiments.

I am back into a bit of a style rut. I just keep putting a bun on the top of my head when I'm at home. I do that because it's comfortable, really.

Unfortunately, my migraine did not go away, and it's still blasting away today. I set a new record of waking up early due to migraine, which was 2:30 a.m. I managed a short nap, but as you might imagine, that didn't do much.

I guess given how lousy I'm feeling physically, it's not surprising that I have not been busy practicing new hairstyles, or trying out some of the more intricate ones that I already know.

Again though, I can honestly say that my spirits are good, and as we all know, that's the most important thing.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

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Off-Topic Tuesday: Writer's Block

I am staring at this computer screen and I realize that I really don't have much to say today.

Just as my tummy was starting to feel better, I felt a migraine coming on late yesterday, and by 4:30 this morning, it was such a blaster that it woke me up.

So I'm not feeling too comfortable at the moment, and the computer screen is not my friend right now.

I am a bit frustrated because there are still a couple of things on my to-do list that I wanted to get done and over with today, but I've been unable to, due to this migraine.

I'm hoping that this one will go away swiftly and not linger for days.


The house seems so quiet this week with my daughter gone back home and my son working full time hours. Even though he's considered a part-time employee, he's getting a lot of work. I know he's going to be really happy with the next few paycheques that he gets.


I  am just wishing that I too could get out and work. It's migraine days like today though, that makes me wonder just when I'll be able to feel confident enough regarding my reliability in to take on work. I have way too many days when I can't function and if I had to work in this condition--well, I just couldn't. I don't think I'd make a good impression at any job if I had to leave work half-way through a day because I couldn't see straight.

Surprisingly though, my spirits are quite good, and I'm happy to have shed, for now at least, the gloom that permeated my existence a couple of weeks ago.


This is a total non-sequitur, but I've had an urge to buy some new makeup lately. Unfortunately, especially with the big plumbing expense, this is not a good time. Once things right themselves money-wise I'm going to treat myself to some new eyeshadow, I think. Or a new brand of mascara. Or both.


Well, that's about all the writing I can do for today. My eyes are telling me to stop. Plus, I think I've just been whining.


'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Oil Shampoo

I have been following a thread on LHC that Ktani started and references in this blog entry of hers.

In researching hair care for movie stars from the past, she found that Carole Lombard's hair stylist used an oil shampoo that contained coconut oil and castile soap. Ktani did an amazing amount of research on the benefits of using an oil shampoo containing coconut oil. Since that time, many LHC members have been working to create a mix of coconut oil and shampoo that will work for them.

Today I was going to do that protein treatment that I've been talking about for a couple of days, but I still wasn't up to having a deep treatment on my head for an hour, so I thought I'd experiment with creating an oil shampoo.

Because my hair is colour treated, I know how important it is to make sure that I have enough protein in my hair. Coconut oil helps to protect the protein level in the hair, and after weeks of just observing the results of the the oil shampoo recipes that various LHC members have tried, I decided that even though I am a Conditioner Only girl, it couldn't hurt to give this a try, since I had all of the necessary ingredients handy.

For this experiment I mixed one part Down Under Naturals Fruit Kicks shampoo for colour-treated hair, and one part shampoo in a squeeze bottle. I then added one part warm water and I shook up the concoction (I ran the bottle under hot water for long enough to melt the coconut oil first).

When I got into the shower, I rinsed my hair thoroughly with water and then squeezed small amounts of the shampoo mixture on my scalp. It lathered up beautifully, and it had a lovely silky feeling as I washed it. I allowed the lather to reach the ends of my hair so that it could take up some of the oil, and I massaged my scalp for a minute or so.

I rinsed my hair thoroughly and I then added conditioner to the length of the hair from the nape down. I performed the rest of my showerly duties, rinsed my hair well, and then followed with my usual diluted ACV rinse.

I had been concerned that it would leave my hair feeling oily, but that was not the case. My hair feels clean but soft and it dried quite quickly and without any tangles.

It's far too soon to tell if this shampoo method will be beneficial, but I'm willing to experiment with it for a while. When I feel that I've experimented enough, I'll post the results here and also give my results to Ktani.



Oh my goodness, what a beautiful day it was here! Although the weather forecasts showed cloudy skies for this week, it turned out to be a lovely, mild and sunny day. I am feeling much better than I did, although my tummy is not quite back to normal. At least I slept better last night, and I was able to complete some tasks that I was not looking forward to doing, but that I knew needed to be done.

While I didn't set any records for accomplishments today, I did get to finish off a couple of errands that were weighing heavily on me, so I call that good.

I want to say hello to Viiryen, and thank you for posting a comment yesterday!

I guess that's it for today.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo