I've been up since 5:30, so you're getting a random post. As many of you know, I have very fine, limp hair. It's one redeeming quality is that it is thick. I have spent much of my life looking for that perfect hair product(aside from a perm, of which I have had many) that would allow my hair to hold a curl. So here lately I have been experimenting. I have done a modified pin-curl, which requires sleeping with a head full of bobby pins/clips. It worked pretty well. So I looked up home made setting lotions on the internet, wondering what people used a long time ago. I had heard of using sugar water, but with our ant problem, I didn't think that was a good idea. And I came across a site that suggested boiling some flaxseeds in water, then straining the liquid out and saving it and using it as a gel/setting lotion. I happened to have an unopened bag of flaxseeds, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. At first it wasn't very exciting, but then I noticed the water getting a frothy look that was different from a normal boil/simmer. So I scooped out some of the liquid, and sure enough, it was sticky. When it was done, it was almost gelatinous. Someone had likened it to mucilage glue, and yeah, I've seen similarly textured stuff running out of my kids nose. It was odorless and clear. It took some work to strain it through a mesh colander to separate the seeds out. I put half that was somewhat diluted into an old shampoo bottle I found. I diluted the other half by quite a bit and put it in a spray bottle. So after I showered I put some in my hair and began doing my pin curls. As my hair dried, I would use the spray bottle to wet it down. Well, When I unwrapped my hair and finger combed my curls out, I practically had an afro. I don't know that I've ever had such good curls. But I kinda looked like I stepped out of the 80's. So I used hot rollers to tame it a little. I went to a party that night and my hair was still curly. Everyone seemed to like it. I have never had curls last that long without a perm.
So yesterday, as I was getting ready to go to the Nutcracker at the Atlanta Ballet, I thought I'd put my homemade concotion to the ultimate test. It was raining, and I had freshly washed and conditioned hair. Usually if the humidity is over 10% I can forget curls. They are gone by the time I get from my front door to my car. So I put in the gel and blew my hair dry and put in hot rollers. I still have some curl left this morning. Even after a pony-tail, walking through the wind-tunnel that was yesterday in Atlanta, and high humidity. My mom said when she was little her mother would use beer in my mom's hair as a setting lotion. I just can't do it though. I have such a strong aversion to beer I think I would be embarrassed to buy any. So I'll stick to my flaxseed gel. I also like that it doesn't leave my hands at all sticky, but kind of soaks in and makes my fingers really soft. It also seems to leave my hair soft and shiny. Just don't eat it. Flaxseeds do not hold up in an edible form under high heat.
Another good hair trick I have learned recently is oiling your hair. I know, it seems a little counter-intuitive. But in my setting gel search I came across a forum for people with super long hair-or who are trying to grow their hair long, and they had all sorts of good advice. So I've been using a very mild shampoo and conditioner then using coconut oil(from the organic cooking section of the grocery store--there is also a type in the African American hair care section) on my length(but not near my scalp). I'm rather stunned at the difference in my hair in the 2 weeks I've been trying this. Even splitcat noticed and told me that my hair looked really shiny. It's also gotten really soft. I've also decided to stop coloring my hair. It's going to be a pain to get rid of the color I have, I'll be a little two-toned for a while. But I think that I will probably be almost completely grey by the time I am forty and I am tired of the bother and expense of hair coloring. And I decided that I should just accept that I will go grey at a young age, my mother did also. So I want to enjoy what's left of my natural mousy brown while I still have it.
Also, I had a very good time at the Nutcracker. It is always fun to go to the Fox Theatre. It is a beautiful building, but a little creepy, too. Since it was once used as a Shriner Mosque, there are lots and lots of masonic images all over--the carpet, the carvings, the furniture. For my out of state readers, it is built to have kind an Islamic and Egyptian feel. The coolest thing though, is the theatre ceiling is painted to look like a night sky, and the clouds move across the sky. All the girls from splitcats family and my family attended. So thanks Grandma--we had a great time.
And since I probably won't post for a few days--Merry Christmas.
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