Blogging from A to Z challenge: C is for Conditioner-based washing methods

Yesterday I mentioned blogging as one of the best tips I ever encountered when it came to growing out my hair. I think there were three really important tips I learned and valued very quickly:

1. Blogging
2. Conditioner-based washing methods
3. And the last one I will reveal on the 14th

Having sensitive skin, using conditioner to wash with always made a lot of sense to me. It's so much more gentle on your hair and scalp and with the right emulsifiers (And some practice and trial and error), it's just as good as cleaning as shampoo. Just without that dry and stripped feeling. 

I started off with CWC. Conditioning the ends to protect them from shampoo, shampooing the scalp and finally conditioning everything. Then I started working towards CO, conditioner only. I knew it would be a process and it probably took me more than a year to transition from having to shampoo 2-3 times a week to shampooing maybe 1-2 a year. It wasn't easy. Often I wanted to give up. My scalp took forever to realize I had stopped trying to strip it from it's natural oils and it was often greasy and unhappy. But eventually it stopped overproducing oils. It was worth the process. 

If I could CO all the other skin on my body, I would. 

(Yes, I actually tried. Yes, it was every bit as nasty and regrettable as it sounds)

Here's a bit of math:

Say I used to shampoo twice a week just to take the low end number. Say I used to keep the shampoo on my hair and scalp for five minutes at the time.

5 x 2 x 52 = 520 minutes of marinating my hair and scalp in shampoo in a year. 

520 / 60 = 8,6666... Hours in a year. 

We can multiply it with the age of my hair... Uhm, probably 15 years or so at the ends?

That would mean my ends should have been exposed to 130 hours of shampoo, or almost five and a half days straight of being dipped in shampoo.

These things add up. I doubt I could have grown my hair to the state it's in if I hadn't gone shampoo free. Long, healthy hair is all about building solid, healthy habits.

Blogging from A to Z challenge: B is for Blogging

When I first started finding my way into the longhair circuit, it was on the Yahoo groups. This is practically ancient in internet terms!

One of the first, and greatest tips I picked up on was blogging.

The thing is, you can't remember half of what you think you can. No matter how fun it seemed or how inspired you were. So blogging is the way to go to keep track of how products works for you, what updos or things you want to try in the future, updos you can do now and you risk slipping out of rotation, and thoughts and inspiration for the future.

It doesn't matter if you blog on paper in private, on a private, locked blog or have a public one on a longhair site or a standalone platform, or even vlogging for that matter. What's important is that you have somewhere to store your thoughts, pictures and videos (Granted, blogging on paper isn't so good at that)

My own thoughts on blogging
Write what you want to write. It's your own blog, don't try to please your audience. The right people who like your angle on things will come, the people who want you to change and give them the content they want, will be unhappy no matter what.
If you want to go green and natural and inspire other people: Go for it.
If you want to create perfect, elaborate amazing updos: Go for it.
If you want to just write your own mishmash of documenting your growth and daily care and practical updos and inspiration... Well, that's what I do. Find your own thing. 

Seriously though. Blogging is a good tool for this. It helped me figure out some allergies, it helped me figure out my hair doesn't actually grow as fast as everyone thinks, it helped me figure out what products have weird reactions in my hair and it helps me having fun with all the creative things I can do with my hair. And why even have long hair if you can't do something different with it?

Blogging from A to Z challenge: A is for April fools

When you are known for having long hair, it can be hilarious to prank people into thinking you cut your hair. It can also be a lot of fun to play pretend for just one day, even though packing your hair up under a wig cap can be a lot of trouble.

If I were to actually cut my hair short, I would do something like this with it: 

It can show some unfortunate truths about the people around you though. For instance when the person who kept bugging you about your "uncool hair" responds in horror because "You cut your pretty, long hair! Oh noes!" Well, then you know you're dealing with someone who just wants something, anything to nag you about and your "uncool hair" wasn't a genuine criticism but just the first, best thing they could find to pick on.

For the less drastic April fool's, just some fake, colourful hair or fake bangs can be fun too!

On a more serious serious note, I really recommend anyone with long hair to have a wig piece or some fake bangs for those times where you want to try something new with your hair but aren't sure if you want to commit.
Occasionally I consider cutting bangs, but after just a few hours with the fake bangs, I'm over it.

It's funny: When getting fake bangs, you don't only need to consider the colour, but also the texture of the hair. For a lot of the fake bang pieces I've tried, the texture is simply too fine to blend in with the rest of my hair. 

Today's hair

Today's hair is a mega royal bun. Funny, I don't think I've ever done it with three braids before? Four yes, not three.

Today's hair

Today's hair is two braided Nautili buns with the middle braid looped around them in a figure 8 pattern.

I liked the effect, and keeping the third braid out of the Nautili buns kept them at a more manageable size where I could use two small Flexies. 

Well, small and small, I guess? The soaring butterflies are a size large.