Dog Days of Summer......

I ain't gonna lie, I've been being lazy. I've come here, eye'd the blog, sighed, and went on to do something else - I think I might be coming to the end of a hair-mad cycle, possibly.

Personally, I like that 'rest' point between cycles, because - well, it's dull, true, but it's when I settle into a nice, tried and true regimen, when I just KNOW that my hair is happy, and in general, I'm happy with it. Of course, that also means I let the blog slip (because same old same old ain't all that interesting), but I'll try to be better, this time.

Okay, let's do a catch-up (be warned, I'm gonna ramble and subject skip).

Last thing I posted about was the salt treatment - which I'm officially doing once a week. I usually do it during my Saturday DC, because that one is done on loose hair, and I can be sure that I'm rinsing everything out. I skipped one week, and I could tell - my head needed that mid-week DC, and it just felt generally dry all week. *headshake* My hair just loves being treated right. Thus far, I'm in LOVE with the salt treatment - I think that my hair prefers the Sodium Citrate over Sodium Chloride, and I've considered seeing if I can buy the stuff straight, to skip the drippies from the water co-product.

What else? I started to notice some breakage - not a lot, but more than I have been used to seeing, for a while. There was a thread asking 'What is your hair telling you?' and I swear, it was like my hair leaped into my brain and answered - "I need to be henna'd, damn you, you hair-deaf woman!!!"

Being the obedient hair-owner that I am, I gave my hair a GOOOD henna over the weekend - I actually used up the last of my FNWL pre-mixed packets that I had frozen, because I thought that they might be kinda weak. I also decided (since, ya know, they were weak) to not wear gloves. Well. Thankfully, the palms of my hands are no longer orange, but I suspect I'm just going to have to let the fingernails grow out. I'm so glad that I don't mind henna-tinged nails. *lol* Looking like I have jaundice. *lol*

The breakage stopped, almost instantly. I got so used to my hair being so strong, and breakage free, that I totallllly forgot about how influential henna has been in maintaining that. So, now I know the 'signal' for when my hair needs henna - if it starts breaking, and a good DC doesn't stop it - which, considering how I DC, it should, anyhow, then it's time for a henna. I need to look back through the blog and see when the last time I henna'd was - I wanna say it was in April - so that would be about 4 months? Most reasonable.

While I was in Philly, I swung by Trader Joes and got some NourishSpa Conditioner, as well as the Replenish conditioner, too. I've tried the NourishSpa, and meh. Thankfully enough, I'm not over the moon about it (at least not as a Con - I haven't tried it as a leave-in, yet), so I won't have to bribe my mother with BBQ sauce for her to keep me in stock.
Honestly, it reminds me of my cheapie V05 I have in the cabinet - not as strong smelling, true, but otherwise - definitely nothing to write home about.
I'll have to see what I think of the Replenish - and watch, just because I only got two bottles, I'm going to LOVE that one. Tis the way things usually go. *lol*

I've also finally broke down and gotten some hair sticks!! There was a sale at CrystalMood.com - 50% off a lot of their stuff - and I got quite the selection of hair sticks - mostly wood, but a couple of metal ones too. I also got some cloisonne hair combs and matching barrettes - hopefully they should be in the mailbox tonight. It's a long weekend, so I might have some photographic fun, and show them off. My hair is still too short for the hair sticks, so those will go into hiding until next year, most likely.... assuming I don't gift them away over the holiday season.

Still using MT, though, as usual, I got all thrown off of things while I was on vacation, so the hair took a little break. I've also made the decision to go back to twists til the end of the year, redone weekly. One benefit of having longer hair is that I can make fatter twists that still look good (esp. since all I'm doing with them is putting them up), which cuts my twisting time in half.
The twists make it SO much easier to apply the MT (since my hair is pre-parted), and it's soothed my on-going 'over-manipulation' paranoia. Faster growth or not, my hair is not ready to be handled loose on a daily basis.

I haven't noticed any super significant changes/increased growth from the MT/MoeGro mix. I haven't been using it as diligently as I should have been though, so I'll keep keeping an eye on it. I'm so - I don't know - sad and ancipatory about my poor hairline, that despite me thinking that just MAYBE it's filling in, I'm relying strictly on pictures, for this one. The biggest thing is, I guess, is that it's never been out and out bald - it's just always been (or for as long as I've been really paying attention to it) thin. And since the rest of my hair is so danngone thick, it's looked bald, in comparison.

I think that I've settled into a pretty good weekend regimen - it's so funny how it flucuates to suit whatever I'm doing. I think I have a very flexible, yet regimented regimen, all at once. It's actually hard to describe, because I might not do the same thing at the same time, every weekend. The one consistent thing is that when I go to bed Sat. night, my hair is in it's fat braids, drying, so that I can put in twists on Sunday.

I've totally and officially fallen in love with using a tiny bit of castor oil on my hair. I smooth it through my freshly DC'd twists right before I give them the last brushing of the week and put them into my drying braids, and I smooth a little onto my twists right after I finish them. The combo of the castor oil and the salt is leaving my hair - light, yet soft, and moist - so, so, very moist. It's almost making me nervous, because it almost feels like it's overmoisturized - I'm talking one good DC away from mushy, but it's not there. *happy sigh*

I've also (and this might become a later blog) perked up and checked out the whole ceramide thing - the science behind how, and why it works is pretty darn interesting, and there are a couple of oils that are supposed to have ceramides in them, and ya'll KNOW I'm going to break that down at some point - I might do that over the weekend to, as a quick skim just won't do. *wiggles nose* It was most intriguing though, the little bit of research I did off-hand.

Anyhow, since the castor oil seems to be working so fabulously, I'm thinking about maybe making a nice, thick oil mix - castor oil, wheat germ oil (for the ceramides) and a lil Surivivor (because that stuff is REALLY thick) to be used on my hair as a 'sealer'.

Ooh, that reminds me - I'm almost out of my leave-in conditioner - I REALLY hope I noted down the recipe - if I didn't, I guess I'll be experimenting with something new, this go around. *lol* The basics for me seem to be butters + conditioners + honeyquat & SAA - it's just the details that vary.

Oh! Something else - since I've started using the salt, I've TOTALLY abandoned my daily misting of my hair. *shrug* Hair just plain has NOT needed it. That, to me, is the biggest indicator that there are good things going on with my hair.

I think that's about it (and that was plenty!) for now. Stay tuned for hair toy pics, and a detailed breakdown of my thoughts about the Ceramide Craze. ;)

Salt of the..... Hair?

Okay - in the last two days, so much information and excitement has sprung up around this, I just HAD to post about it, to spread the love (and the science, as we figure it out).

I started a thread yesterday, with this post:

A while ago, I was being lazy, and in a rush, so I figured I would clarify (with baking soda) and seal my cuticles (with citric acid) all at the same time. I mixed them both with conditioner, noticed the odd fact that there was some sort of reaction going on (because the conditioner foamed up and turned almost 'mousse' like), but my hair felt like butter afterwards. Ends were sleek and smooth, hair was strong and shiny and moist.

I ran it past some of the ladies on tLHC, and they pointed out that the combination of a base (baking soda) and an acid (citric acid) causes a chemical reaction that has salt, carbon dioxide, and water as the results.

I stopped doing it, because - well, salt is BAD for your hair, right? But, I always kept it in the back of my mind, because how my hair felt afterwards was nothing short of amazing.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, and there was a thread on tLHC that got kinda heated, about another lady using a salt & bentonite clay mix on her hair, that left her hair SUPER soft and SUPER moist - and once again, the debate about the wisdom/safety of using salt on your hair came up - it was working, and working well - but - it just didn't seem to have any explanation as to why.

At the same point in time, my ends were ROUGH. Tore up from the floor up, hard, crunchy, frizzy, just generally being pissed off. I clarified - nothing. I used acidic washes - nothing. I triple DC'd just the ends - nothing. I was seriously almost to the point where I was going to have to pull out the scissors and trim, because my ends just felt NASTY.

So - I tried it again - the baking soda and citric acid mix - plus just a TINY bit of salt. It foamed. I put it in my hair. It tingled. I rinsed it out - and AS I was rinsing it out, I could feel the difference. My ends, before, as I pulled my fingers down, I could feel how the ends got 'rough' about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch from the end - now, nothing. My ends were just as smooth and as sleek as the rest of my hair - and it was SO moist. SUPER moist. I'm talking, I almost considered skipping my normal mid-week DC, because my hair felt luscious.

I DC'd last night - my usual mix (about 8-10oz, yeah, I use a LOT of conditioner), plus 1.5 teaspoons of salt. My hair didn't feel bad again - I was just curious to see how it would work on 'good' feeling hair (esp. since there was a thread yesterday where several ladies said they were going to try it) The conditioner - thickened - a little bit, but no foaming. I left it in my hair for about two hours, and it tingled a little, but nothing else. I rinsed it out last night - and.... okay ya'll. My hair, it's generally healthy. It feels good, but it rarely feels SILKY - that's just not how my hair rolls. Soft, yes. Silky, no.

My hair was silky. *strokes head* My hair is STILL silky, and the only thing I did after I rinsed the DC out was use a TINY bit of castor oil on my head, tie it up, and went to sleep.

I don't know HOW it works. I don't know WHY it works. I honestly don't know if it's a good idea to continue using it over the long term - but, it might be an experimental option for those of us with ends that seem to be crying out to be cut off for feeling rough, tangly, and generally difficult.

So far, there have been several 'variations' on the recipe.

Sea salt + conditioner, Iodized salt + conditioner, Baking soda + lemon juice + conditioner, and Baking soda + lemon juice + salt + conditioner - and all of them have worked, almost the same, to leave ladies with silky soft, root to end, easy to detangle, deeply moisturized hair.

Basically, using straight salt is a short cut, since according to my friend, wiki:

Reaction of sodium bicarbonate and an acid to give a salt and carbonic acid, which readily decomposes to carbon dioxide and water:

NaHCO₃ + HCl → NaCl + H₂CO₃

H₂CO₃ → H₂O + CO₂ (gas)

and I doubt that the carbon dioxide is doing anything special to the hair, and well - water is water. *lol*

I don't think that anyone has tried baking soda + vinegar + conditioner just yet - but I'm sure that one is coming, too.

I also think that the kind of conditioner you mix it with has to make some sort of difference, as well....

Now, for the little bit of science we've been able to dig up.

1) This patent, which seems to imply that the salt of a weak acid (ie, acid + base and using the resulting salt) when followed by an alkaline treatment, can straighten your hair!

2) This product, which seems to be using a similar process as the patent - also, all about straightening the hair.

Now, I think we all know how I feel about, and love my naps - I'm really not interested in anything that will STRAIGHTEN them. *faint*

But, I love, love, love how this stuff makes my hair feel, and I'm really hoping that using a weak solution will not 'straighten' the kinks I have. I can tell you though, I've been giving my head the semi-paranoid sideeye since I read that patent, esp since my flyaways have been REALLY flighty all week.

I know it would make a LOT of sisters happy, though, if it did work to 'loosen' your curls. *headshake* I would never be able to show my face on NP again. *lol*

The only other comments/science that has been bandied around worth noting is that:

1) In order to rehydrate cells in a lab, you have to used saline water, as regular water won't work.

2) Soaking meat in a salt water before cooking makes it softer and moister.

3) Salt can break down protein bonds, and is used in sprays to add 'wave' and 'brightness' to hair - but I get the impression that you spray that on, and leave it on, but there is evidence of that being a really bad idea. But, there are also commercial salt water sprays, so - I don't know.....

4) Salt is used as a volumizer in the manufacturing of commerical shampoos, and it's an ingredient in a LOT of intensely moisturizing conditioners. Of course, proportions are crucial here!

So far, the only even remotely negative reaction (out of about 8/10 women who have tried it) was from one lady who followed up the salt + conditioner with a white vinegar rinse - her hair still FELT fabulous, but it was a wee bit more tangled than usual. She also used a little more salt than just a teaspoon, but I'm not sure if that, or the vinegar, was what contributed to the tangles.

So. That's something new. I think I'll do it - I don't know. I did it twice this week, once on the weekend with BS & CA, and again on Wednesday, with just plain salt to see how it worked. I think I might only do it once a month now, though - just to keep my hair happier - and because I want to see what, if any, long term results there might be..........