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I like to think of myself as the 'crazy mom of four'. I'm 31 years old and I love my life, my kids, my husband and my God. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Eliot

Saturday, May 8, 2010

My Dirty Hair Days - Update #2

To catch up with this strange experiment, you may want to start here:

To Wash or Not To Wash? - this one talks about WHAT I am doing and WHY

or

It has now been 11 days and so far, I am not ready to give up. Not even close! Though, as you will soon see, I am tempted to start coloring my hair again...

Thursday, having gone 9 days without shampooing my hair in a "normal", conventional way I decided it was time to take a few more pictures, so that you could see the progress. I believe I have used the baking soda/water method five times. I try to do this every other day, because by that time, my hair feels like it needs something. It's not incredibly oily, but it isn't as light and soft as it could be. I have only used the vinegar/water solution 3 times, as everything I have read recommends only doing this 2 times/per week so as not to dry out the hair.

I haven't noticed any changes at all really. My hair is still bristly and frizzy at the top. The curl that appeared after baby #4 shows no signs of going away, not that I expected it to. My hair doesn't seem softer, except on the days when I used the vinegar/water solution in place of conditioner. If I let my hair dry on it's own, it has less fly-aways at the top but stays wavy. If I blow dry it, like always, short little pieces try to stick up all over the place on the top of my head, but at least it's straight. I thought I would go without using any product in my hair at all, but when I blow dry it, I really need some sort of anti-frizz product to keep the strays under control. I am hoping that eventually this will change but it may just be part of the changes in my hair due to age and hormones and diet. I read recently that women diagnosed with Candida experiencechanges (negative) in their hair, and this may explain some of the changes I've seen in the last 4 years.

As I am thinking about this more, I'm questioning why God created us in such a way that our hair changes color. Why is that??? Why do you think he allowed this change in some people? And why do some people experience it at an earlier age than others? But then again, who am I to question God? It's just hair right?

I have a really amusing picture for you today, but before I get to that, here are some shots of how "not gross" my hair looked at 9 days.



We're getting close to the good part. But before I get there...in the next picture...um...see the white hairs sprouting? I thought I had about 10--I noticed two or three of them about 3-4 years ago and have since been coloring my hair. A few months ago I decided, quite by force completely of my own accord, to stop coloring my hair because I just wanted to keep from getting in trouble for putting more money on the credit card that we didn't have get my hair healthy.
Oh and heaven forbid the strands in question lay nice and flat and soft. NO...they have to be wiry and unmanageable!



Now we're to the part that I am giving you permission to laugh at my poor fortune. I showed this to my husband and said "See this is WHY women color their hair!" I decided I would draw arrows to the ten or so grayish/silver/white hairs that I knew were covering my head, but this got to be too much. There are a LOT of arrows (MANY MORE THAN 10) and I'm trying to be positive about it but really, I am struggling. This picture was my attempt to make light of a situation that I am none too thrilled about.

Ready?

Feast your eyes...


This begs the question...WHY DID I DECIDE TO GROW MY HAIR OUT TO ITS NATURAL COLOR? And how am I going to come up with the money each 4-6 weeks to hide this?? Or, better yet, how do I embrace this??? Any suggestions?

4 comments:

  1. Embrace it! It is right of passage..you are a mommy full of grace! Ack...I don't know...I never colored my hair...my grays come and go...

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  2. My hair is now mostly grey. I don't mind too much, but I tend to get a lot of comments from people. (Yeah, people are not shy...) The biggest issue I have is that my hair is black so the grey shows up really well. I dye my hair, but mostly because I want to. I like being able to change it subtly & see how many people notice! :)

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  3. I occasionally dye my own hair. It's $8 for a box. You may need 2 boxes. It sure beats the price of having it done professionally and it comes with great conditioner!

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  4. J~
    I'm right with you up until the point of no longer coloring your hair. We use baking soda and vinegar around here too (baking soda is a GREAT deodorant too) but I still color my hair. I can't stand my gray! Maybe I'll get brave like Elizabeth W and Beth but for now... I still buy the $2.99 box at Walgreens!

    Blessings!
    ~H

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