No Poo and a new hair style

Wed morning I mentioned how greasy my hair got due to applying the vinegar rinse. When I got in the shower that morning I did the baking soda & water cleanse, then did the vinegar rinse (staying away from my scalp this time).

I also read how you shouldn't use hot water, so I cooled it down. Brr..., not fun. I need the heat to warm up my joints and ease some of my pain. But for the sake of having nice hair, I decided I would try & tough it out.

Here is how my hair was looking that evening:


Not to bad, just a little oily. I managed to go with out washing it yesterday & this moring when I woke up, it was needed to be washed, but it wasn't super icky, greasy.

Now for the wrench in my plans. I went to get my hair done today. Of course shampoo was used to wash out the chemicals of the color. Since it has red in it, I do want to go a few days with out "washing" it. So no more updates on this experiment until I let my hair sit a few days.

But, I must say, my hair looks awesome right now:


There is a story to go with my new hair....

Yesterday I was supposed to get it done. I had gone in a salon (J Ferrer in the Valencia Westfield Mall) on Sat afternoon to get a quote on how much it would cost for what I wanted.

I was very specific; lighten it up & get rid of the growth (roots), add some red chunks, trim the ends about an inch/inch & half and add some bangs.

The manager/owner (Jackie) had me talk to a stylist. We looked at color samples and picked what I liked, ect. She did kinda of scare me when she mentioned a weave. But almost all stylists end up trying to do that to me. But she was young & seemed to understand my vision. She then consulted with Jackie about what would be done & Jackie quoted me a price which included a discount special they were running. It was an awesome price & I said lets book it. Well the stylist I talked to couldn't do early hours, which I need. I was booked with some one else, but was told that they would relay our discussion with her.

I show up yesterday morning for my appt. The place is closed, but I understand not everyone is as concerned about being on time like I am. I wait about 10 min & somebody shows up; my stylist. She is clueless to what I wanted. So I had to go over the whole thing again. She starts to seem like she understands, but what she is saying seems to be differing from what I was originally told. Finally I think we are the same page & she goes to mix the color. Guess what, they don't even have the color on hand that was supposed to be used on me. She keeps trying to use some other color, that is no where close to what I want. Finally she calls someone & asks them to buy some & bring it in. So we get started on my weave. As she starts to foil me, I mentioned that I wanted to have some red in my bangs, so I am not sure how that will effect her coloring my hair. She is clueless that I was getting my hair trimmed as well. She then calls her boss to verify that the price they quoted me will cover it all. HELLO!!! I have the appt card w/the quote written on it by Jackie. I am not paying a cent more than I was quoted. And I have already wasted an hour of my time & only have two foils in my hair.

So she washes out the little she did & I was out of there, very upset & disappointed. I call hubby, who then calls the salon. The owner was called by the stylist for him, and all she could say is could she call him back later that day around 3? (It is 11am ish) We never did hear back from them.

I was driving around,feeling very sad & decided to drop by a salon I used to go to years ago, Mirage Hair & Nails . There happened to be a stylist (Nikki) at the front desk when I came in. I told her I was wanting to get a price quote for my hair. As we were talking, she really listened to me. No weave, just lighten my roots. She totally got how I don't like any growth showing. She brought out magazines and had me go through and look for colors I liked. Not only was she listening to me, but she voiced concerns because of the shape my hair was in,and things she could do to help. It cost more than the other salon quoted me, but would have cost me the same as what they tried to charge me with a discount! I booked it then & came in this morning.

Once again, we talked about my hair and its issues. As well as the the problems that could come up with this color. She made sure to use extra conditioner, rinsed the red hair out and did her best to keep it away from my blonde so it wouldn't bleed. She was awesome!!! And my hair turned out better than I have ever had it turn out before. No roots/growth showing. An extreme red. Just what I wanted!!

THANK YOU NIKKI!!! :)

No "Poo" hair, morning 4

I woke up Monday morning and my hair was still looking relatively good. But the urge to clean it was more powerful than to let it be. After all, I have been washing my hair everyday (minus a few sick & lazy days here & there) for years. So I tried the baking soda & water scrub again w/the conditioner scrub.

Slight problem, I have acrylic nails & they are in desperate need of a fill & are starting to lift. As I was massaging my scalp, I didn't quite do as well a job as Sunday. There were some slight patches here & there that felt a little greasy as my hair dried. I also used a bit less water in my mixture & other areas felt a bit dry. Worry & unease started to set it.

Tuesday morning, when I woke up, I decided it was time to try the vinegar rinse & that was all. After all, my hair might be a bit greasy in spots, but it was still looking fairly good:


The vinegar rinse I used was based off a recipe I found here, One Green Generation.

Can I just say UGH!! My hair is super greasy now. Here are some pics from last night


& this morning


After doing some reading though, I found my mistake. I put the vinegar rinse on my scalp. The trick is to just put it on your hair.

One of my biggest concerns would be combing my hair with out using a conditioner. I have super fine, straight hair that tangles easily, as does my daughter. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to comb my hair with ease yesterday morning. In fact it was just as easy, if not easier than if I had used one of my super expensive conditioner.

I might have had a little set back, but I am going to keep staying the course. Though the urge to go hop in the shower & and scrub my hair with shampoo is very strong this morning. But tomorrow I am getting my hair cut & colored, and I hope this new process will help keep the red in longer. As well as the hope that my hair will be much healthier so it will withstand all the other torture I do to it; the constant coloring & infrequent trims.

New Year

So, a New Year has started. I can't believe we are already 16 days into it. I had this plan at the end of last year of what I wanted to accomplish this month. And so far, I have gotten almost nowhere on this list.

Thanks to my friend Dave & the wonderful technology at my fingertips (FB chat & Google chat), I have gotten some motivation, and am working on starting this "to do list".

First step, get my blog back up, and to actually use it. So, here is my first post in over two years. I can't promise what I write will be interesting. But I feel like I need a place to just say a small portion of the scrambled thoughts in my head. Hopefully it will help me make sense of things and retain some sanity.

As I am typing this, I am noticing my outdated punctuation. I can't seem to stop putting two spaces after a sentence. When did this change happen? How many of us "oldies" follow the new rule? It sure makes typing hard when you are so used to doing it a certain way. Please forgive my posts, until I have trained myself all over again (if it is possible).

Well, goodnight all. Here is to a New Year full of hope & change.