taking care of your hairs - a retrospective

Hello my name is Caroline and I am recovering hair abuser. I have dyed, lightened, straightened and chopped my hair within an inch of it's life. It has been every color, texture and length and many a stylist has coiffed my tresses (from the mall to Manhattan).

Did my chameleon like hair make me happy? No. Did my hair look good? Sometimes. Was all the effort, chemical exposure and money worth it? Absolutely not.

Here is what I have learned: Let go. Let go of what the media tells you is beauty. Let go of the hair type and color you always dreamed of. Let go of investing your self worth in what is essentially a useless byproduct of evolution in our modern times.

After chopping my own hair to a pixie cut after a hair coloring binge gone bad I made a promise to myself that I would be kind to my hair (and by extension to myself). I vowed not to touch a strand for a full year. I am happy to say I have persevered. Now I have shoulder length curls in my natural brownish gold and I couldn't be happier.

If I can give you any advice it would be work with what you've got. If it takes you more than 15 minutes to do your hair in the morning (exluding a special occasion) you are spending too much of your precious life taming tresses.

Not to get all existential on you but we all die. This is a fact. If you spend 35 minutes (which is a conservative estimate for some) every morning torturing your hair that is almost 2 years of your short life devoted to hair. (Based on the assumption that you started doing your hair at 16 and live to your early 80's. "God willing", "mazel tov" or whatever else your grammy would say)

So, what is my point you ask? Be kind to your hair, treat it nicely and it will reward you with shorter prep time and 2 more years doing something much more worthwhile than hair. Take it from a recovering addict, it is worth the initial pain.

In my quest to better my hair and ultimately my life I have switched to paraben and sulfate free hair products. Do you know what this has done? Can I share with you how amazing this is? My hair is soft, strong and shiny. The nicest it has been since I was an itty bitty and I have found a new respect for the way my hair comes out of my head, just as it is.

Sulfates are the devil, and to learn about the evils of parabens read some earlier posts. Sulfates are the salt of sulfuric acid and incredibly drying. They also are what make your shampoo bubbly and foamy and generally fun, but believe me when I tell you, soft hair is better than foaming shampoo. If you have withdrawal buy a bottle of bubbles at the toy store and go wild. Alcohol is also a no no. Super drying and completely uneccsary. Check for that on bottles too.

Here are some of my faves:

Overall:

Giovanni Organic Hair Care
Organic, no animal testing and lovely styling products. From my experience this is the most user friendly organic hair care line. (It behaves like it's non-organic counterparts)

Burt's Bees
Great scents, the best smelling by far...the raspberry is so yummy!

Looking for a bargain?

Organix
Found at most drugstores. They are not USDA certified organic but are certified through a European organic certification company. As my grandpa Norty always says, you get what you pay for. Let's just say it is probably cheap for a reason but it is miles better than conventional shampoo and it is just as accessible. A great option for people like me who don't make a ton of money but don't want nasties in their hair products.


Pricey but Nicey (if you can splurge or are a trustafarian)
Pureology
This one is out of my price range, so I don't use it on a regular basis, but from my limited exposure I have been very pleased with their products. They smell lovely and you can find them at Marshall's or TJMaxx once in a while.

Textured Hair
Hair Rules
A personal fave, especially if you are a curl/kinky/wavy girl like me! The web site is a great resource for product selection and they are a small-ish salon based out of NYC. I really like their philosophy and approach. The best way to try their stuff is to buy a travel kit ($40) and play around.

And that my friends is my Hair Manifesto. I hope someday you too can make friends with your hair. It loves you, really it does... but like all friendships, if you abuse it, it will defriend you, ignore your calls and be generally unpleasant.

A hair retrospective. From curly to straight and back again.