My Natural Hair: The First Cut

I swear, you must, by now, think this is nothing but a 'hair blog'. All I talk about is my hair... and hot actor dudes who remind me of my husband. I'll try to talk more about other stuff. I promise. Except today.


Today, we'll talk more about my hair. Stop laughing.

The last time I saw Jane, my awesome stylist, was September 2007, just before my 20 year high school reunion. What she gave me that time was a little shorter than my regular cut, so instead of waiting the usual 9 months before the next chop, I was able to wait 13 months.

Doing the no-shampoo thing since June has certainly helped. See? I owe this awesome hair to washing with a baking soda solution (2 tablespoons in 2 cups of water) and rinsing with an apple cider vinegar solution (also 2 tablespoons in 2 cups of water) once a week.

No evil vinegar smell remains. The hubby thinks my head just smells like me.

I really could've waited a little longer for a cut. It didn't look bad. It wasn't unruly. It was just heavy, thick -- just too much hair.

Even at the peak of my new wave band days, I didn't have that much hair. Even for a hot bassist.

See? Okay, now stop laughing. Ahem, okay, back to the present. So, I went in to see Jane on Tuesday for my first cut since no-shampoo. That was the first time shampoo had touched my head in 4 months! Oh, cripes, it felt so wrong! And the smell was so fake and un-me.

 If the scalp massage hadn't felt so good, I think I would've screamed for her to stop and rinse out that Concoction of Evil.

Now, you might be asking "Why did you go for the shampoo, Nenette? You could've said 'no'!" Well, one reason was that I wanted to go in looking like I normally did everyday to give Jane an idea of what I do with my hair now.

I mean, it's been over a year, right? And secondly, I was more than a little curious to know what effect shampoo would have.

Now I know. The cut was fine. Here it is. Still long. Thinned out. It's the usual.

Then she styled it... with styling product. Oh, lordy. Since going no-shampoo, I haven't needed product. Now, my hair felt heavy and coated. It didn't have that clean bounce.

And suddenly, on my way home, my scalp started to itch. Jeepers. I started driving a little faster.

Imagine if I got stopped for speeding? "Yes, officer, I know I was going 10 klicks over the speed limit, but my scalp itches so I have to hurry home and pour baking soda and vinegar on my head."

Um, okay, crazy lady, get off the road now.

So, yeah, I'm okay today. I don't think the shampoo really caused any significant damage. Roomie isn't convinced I've even had a haircut -- he'll know when the credit card bill comes in. The kids haven't said anything -- which is a good sign. My head feels lighter, but it'll take another month to get it to the ideal state where it'll stay until the next cut. I can't wait. I miss my hair already.