Pinterest will be the death of me. (Doll Quilt #2, with Pouch)

Sometimes it works in everyone's favor, like the time I came across One Pot Mexican Quinoa, but usually it's pretty self serving, knitting patterns, quilt patterns that end up costing real, actual money, and time.  Time that Mr Snork has to volunteer to occupy the anklebiters so they don't unwind my bobbins while simultaneously trying to puncture everything in site with a stolen seam ripper.  (They stole it from me, it didn't start out as stolen).

The other day, right after dropping off a baby quilt to my longarm lady, I came across this:

Literally, just after I sent the other quilt on its way, and it was a good time to wash some dishes and address that shady lower drawer in my fridge.  But, alas.  Pinterest never leads to dish washing.  And rarely to the lower fridge drawers, since it is not where I keep quinoa and enchilada sauce.  It leads to this:  

And this:

And ultimately, the best part, this:

And it would be awesome if I was pulled together enough to make this in a couple hours, like Pinterest said I would.  But Pinterest didn't know that instead of using any cute fabric, I'd HAVE to piece a mini quilt out of scraps from the recent baby quilt.  (It's kind of adorable to have a doll blanket matching baby cousin's blanket?)  Then I'd HAVE to try some sort of a new pattern (disappearing four patch, which, FYI, doesn't work if you use all the colors ever created.  If you can't commit to a solid color to pull it all together, you may as well just four patch and skip the disappearing act).  Then practice mitered border corners.  (that was actually cute).   

And the fact that my Singer 301 wouldn't have anything to do with minky fabric until I read all the forums and went to JoAnn's to get some ballpoint needles.  Picky, picky.  I don't know how a 60 year old machine knows what needle is jabbing fabric down there, but apparently it does, and if it's not the right one, it gets super offended.  

It was kind of worth it though, because historically the doll quilt and baby quilt I have made for the girls don't get used, ever.  Mouse says it's not a "real blanket".  Apparently, the REAL, made in China, preferred blankets of this household all have some sort of a fleece side.  And now that I know this, and  incorporated that in, it is Eva the Monkey's new favorite. It's been a long time since something I've made got picked over it's Chinese counterpart, I'm pretty excited.  

McCalls 5081 aka Men's Shirt Refashion. (Fail)

I mean. I guess it’s not terrible. The concept is nice. It occurred to me I don’t like halter tops, especially ones that weave in front of your neck, when I tried on the semi finished version.

The second  I slithered into it, and pinned the back together together, I looked in the mirror and understood the importance of making a muslin. Those chicks on Pattern Review aren't kidding.

I also object to the optical illusion the stripes give, narrowing at the top like that. I do not have the shape to be narrowed at the top. Pattern cutting out fail.

I used an old mens’ shirt, and I ended up with just enough fabric after I had ripped open French cuffs, the collar, and the back facing, and took out the label. Just. Enough. But I could have probably flipped these upside down or something, to get the lines to diverge at my chest.   I guess that's what happens when you cut out your patterns in the garage, keeping company to an oil changing Mr Snork.

But, most offensive of all is the Pancake Boob phenomenon (look at the profile).

Yeah.  It looks JUST like that when I put in.  I have yet to find a fix for it on Pattern Review. There’s something called the Full Bust Adjustment, but the name leads me to believe I’m not a candidate. I’m not really sure where I went wrong:

Having no boobs? (likely)

Cutting too big a size? (12) (unlikely?)

Cutting too big a size in boob area? (likely).

The weight and texture of the fabric? (likely)

The gathering needs to be placed elsewhere?  (I followed the pattern to the dot..)

The top is interfaced, and has facings, so it’s three layers of pretty stiff fabric. I think may be, in a nice fluid-y knit or one of those Spring “Silks” at JoAnns, it might have a chance.  Which is too bad, I really like the concept of a refashioned men's shirt.  But.  Not like this. 

It doesn’t look to bad on Nora, (save the profile view) but when I put it on I look like I’ve decided to creatively choke myself with Mr Snork’s apparel while making my boobs look weird.  AND, I know I’m not being paranoid, because Mr Snork, who always treats my experiments with nothing but praise, to avoid any sort of a breakdown on my part, looked at my fitting, and asked, “What’s wrong with it?”.

 Just like that.

I think I’ll rip it apart, and try a smaller size in muslin, see what that does for me.  But first, I'll get the biggest bra I own, and stuff it with my fluffiest dirtbike socks, and try it on.  Just to see if it makes a difference.  I doubt I’ll ever wear it, cause of the weird halter phobia, but I do want to see if I can make it fit. 
The lady in pattern picture doesn't look like she's having issues.  (This was one of my 10c garage sale acquisitions, circa 1970). 

It’s going in the "later" pile though, I have another pattern (Vogue’s 8552), that I had cut out months ago, also without a trial muslin, so I can’t wait to see how that goes. I guess I could quickly whip up a trial dress, since I haven’t sewn anything. Hmm.  Now that I've typed that out, I'm pretty sure I ought. 

Stampin Up! and Picking up Hobbies in Driveways.

I woke up late Saturday, and just rolled out of bed early enough (10:30) to meet Giraffy at the Irvine Farmers Market - which deserves a post of its own.  But, there went my plans to frolic garage sales and look for old sewing patterns, which is a tragedy that must be fixed.  After all, last weekend was camping in Utah, and nobody holds garage sales in the desert sand dunes, so, I'm having withdrawals.

We got up at 6:30 (a new record) because somebody advertised an antique sewing machine - and, logically - where there's a sewing machine, there's a larg(er) chance of sewing pattterns.   Jesse doctored me up a thermos of tea (with lemon and fresh mint leaves from the Awesome Farmer's Market), stopped for a Starbucks for himself, because he claims their mochas can not be replicated in a home environment, and I can't argue because he makes me thermoses of tea at 6 am..  and off we went.

The antique sewing machine didn't come with patterns, but there was a black top and jjill skirt I fancied (and dragged home for a $1) as well as some pin striped Gap wool slacks.  They're beautiful, and I can't limit my wardrobe just because the weather in SoCal does not cooperate with my wool/suede/leather obsession.  Not when it's hung in front of me for a $1, anyway.  Plus, we visit my mom in Chicago fairly often.

We were off to the next place, where 'antique' stuff looked promising - I like old sewing patterns, and old things tend to hang out together, and antique and old are often interchangeable, especially where CL garage sales ads are concerned, so, again, promising.  I never found out, though, and will have to live another week with my current stash of patterns (and since currently I make one dress every 27 years, this shouldn't be a problem).  What I DID find, though, was a lady selling parts of her giant and awesome stamp collection.

Do I stamp?  Nope.  I own some stamps, because I've always wanted to, in the same way I own a guitar and two surfboards.  It's a pretty small collection of 5-6 items that Michael's Dollar Bin had to offer.  But this chick had, like, cases of stuff.  Two boxes, and a table, and a tower thingy.  Jesse went to look through the electronics box, and I didn't look up for 15 minutes.  

I n t r o d u c i n g..  my new hobby :

I started out with half that, but ended up going back.  So many colors.  Flowers.  Bubbles.  Must.  Look.  Again.  When we came back, I mentioned that I was going to make my own wedding invitations, and I was nosing around for flowery things that would go with the theme.  C, the owner of all the awesomeness offered to look through her 'upstairs stash' of wedding specific stuff.  And we did.  And she let me pick some out.

I love the 'going to the chapel' stamp!  Yeep! 

"C" makes cards and they were pretty amazing.  The kind of cards you see in little boutiques, I wish I had gotten a couple or at least have taken a picture.  They were adorable and so well made and pretty..   I did, take her phone number though.  She mentioned getting together to may be watch her make cards, so I was pretty stoked.  But, it could have been, like a, "OMG, get out of my driveway already, what ELSE do you want" kinda of thing.  Hard saying.  Still, stoked.

My first handmade stamp card!

After a little while, I moved on from paper.

I've had a collection of sand dollars from NorCal's sand dollar beach sunning on my porch for a while now.

May be I could just send sand dollars as invites?  Might require bubble wrap..

I kinda wanna go back and see what other stuff she has I may have missed.  Is that bad?

Jesse walked away with a little Ipod speaker thing that he's been looking for camping (falling asleep to tent music?  Yes!!)  

It appears that it's in good working order, he was dancing along to some obnoxious 50 cent songs in the garage today, moving stuff around.  Camping AND garage speakers.  Score.  And some headphones.  $2.  I love that he can hang out with a box of electronics and driveway scenery the time it takes me to space out at shiny things, tour somebody's home, and find more things (that weren't even for sale) to drag home and play with.  I think I got lucky with him.  I mentioned the thermos of tea, right?

Sewing pattern fail.  But then I remembered how I scored this for 10c in a driveway couple weeks ago, and it all became OK.

I might sacrifice a few of Jesse old shirts for this one.  Blue?  Pin Stripe?  That is, if tomorrow's Walkaway Dress Debut goes well at work.  If not, I'll call "C", get some stamping tips and forget this sewing thing ever happened.  Hee.  

Camping Hair a Success, Must Collect Bacon Grease (unrelated to hair)

Just like I thought, it was being sneaky and I woke up Thursday morning feeling faintly waxy.  I mentally resolved to chop it all off at camp after the first bike ride.  Then I proceeded to sleep 2-3 hours while Jesse drove, since the 5am roads hold nothing for me but a bad mood. 

However, by the time we drove a couple hundred miles into Utah, and past a Starbucks, I softened up, and as Jesse was ordering out lunch from Wendy's, I grabbed a handful of those lemons they have (for water, presumably) and squeezed them liberally all over my hair.  Then I packed some more lemons into a plastic baggy (for camp tea) along with plastic utensils (Thanks, Wendy's!) and spent some time in the bathroom splashing water on my hair, in a rinsing-combing through combo under some pretty unimpressed glares.  They don't know what it's like.  Desperate times. 

I figured, if it continued to melt down, I had time and a couple more towns with fast food restaurants before the official Middle of Nowhere to barricade myself in the bathroom and squirt hand soap liberally all over my hair (the offical No Poo Fail) before reaching camp and no running water.

It must have been intimidated into submission, or it likes lemon.  Either way, it behaved beautifully Thu, Fri, Sat, and Sunday, and if it wasn't for dust/bugs/ashes, I could have rolled with it Monday. 

Key points:
1.  No Poo Win.
2.  Hair might like rinses. 

I keep the Hair bound up in Buffs when we camp and ride. 

It goes under my helmet and stretches over my neck for riding (I have a bug phobia, and a perpetual fear one will drop down my shirt when riding), and the rest of the time, and since the helmet wrecks my bangs into a sideways mohawk, it's a headband.  Or an eyepatch, when I'm not sure if I have a scrap of contact lens stuck in my eyelid, or if I've finally rubbed a scab into the inside of my eyelid (piece of contact lens, it turned out).  It prevent windblown hair mess, and more importantly, horrible things like getting hair caught in the bike chain??!  The things you read on the internet...

The Buff and I enjoying a day old pork chop:

The Buff and I resting:

I must not have a picture of where it's pulled over my head, tube like, with a face opening.  Not very attractive, anyway.  Effective for bug control.  I also have a wool one.  So.  Rad. 

Oh.  I also used Dr Bronner Magic soap on the camp dishes, during camp "showers", and Jesse used it to semi-effectively rid his hands of the gasoline smell.  That happens, when you spend all night stuffing gas into beer bottles and making makeshift bombs. 

In a semi related story - some girls came over from a campsite over, and dropped some knowledge on me.  APPARENTLY - if you collect bacon grease into a tin can, and then heat that can over fire till it burns purple, and then spear a water bottle onto the end of a LONG (key) stick, and dump water into grease, you can achieve a 20 foot high grease fire.  I am ALL OVER bacon grease for the next 6 months. 

Week 9-10 No Poo Hair Horrors

It's week 10 currently, I think.  I forgot to post this last week.  Or may be I was waiting to attach some pictures, but they're pretty inconsistent.  Hm.  I forget where I'm at in this saga.  Anyway, the short of it is, for SOME reason, if I comb the soap through my hair, it is awesome.  If I do not, or do not do it diligently enough, it's nice on top, but proceeds to separate into strands, and generally behaves very candle like. 

I re-dyed it, for the first time in forever, and used a bit of my fancy conditioner.  It behaved beautifully for the photo shoot last weekend.  I washed it again Sunday, no comb, and it came up clumpy and waxy.  Bah.  I rewashed Monday water only, with a little soap on the lengths, where the waxy lives, combed through, and it became beautiful again.  I can't quite understand why me washing the lengths thoroughly is not the same as combing.  But, this last time I noticed some pink wax (red hair dye) on the comb.  So, my theory is that the soap loosens and the combing washes wax away in the shower, and it's not magic like I previously thought.  It stays nice and clean up on top all the time, so I really don't have to wash it more than twice a week.  This is redeeming.  Someday, I can probably move to once every 5 days. 

I am trying to figure out if this has to do with hard water at all.  I read somewhere that dissolving baking soda in boiled water worked for the hard water no poo experimenting.  I'm not using baking soda, because in small quantity it didn't do much for me, and in larger quantities, it dried my hair out.  It also stripped my red dye out pretty fast.  So, I'm on natural soap (I call it a shampoo bar).  I wonder if somehow lathering up the soap in boiled water and then transferring to my head would help. 

Last week, I had run out of soap (tragedy), so Jesse ran to CVS and got us a Dr Bronner's Lavender bar.  I heard it mentioned on my favorite message board, so I was excited.  Subsequently, I saw them at Mother's, at a lower price, and a bigger variety (rose!!).  They also have liquid stuff, if I was interested in paying $9.  They had a whole aisle of things that appealed to me, actualy.  SIGH. 

Anyway, it's a little relief that at least I know how to get it to behave if I need to.  I'm hoping it goes away.  I might, just MIGHT, take all types of time boiling mad amounts of water, and using only IT to wash the hair.  I mean, it's not a method I could sustain long term.  Grasping at straws, really.  But now that I know if I diligently comb it, it's fine, I'm not as pissy.  It does not need conditioner, oddly. It's actually really nice, and I'm feeling good about using paper wrapped soap, and no plastic bottles.  I have transferred the remaining shampoos and conditioners into the guest bathroom, and since Jesse is doing this with me, we only need the one bar between us.

UPDATE:  (This is the week 10 part of the post) Apparenty, wet combing doesn't always work.  It's out to get me.  I had wash/combed it last week, before the NorCal trip, went ot bed thinking it'll be magical, and it was waxy and gross for my liking all the next day.  UGH.  This is AFTER the combing.  Not super waxy, like I've seen it, but about a 4 on the gross chart.  Anyway, so after my stepmom and my sisters all got to touch it and go, "OMG, how WEIRD"..   I washed it again Saturday, Bronner's Bar, nothing else, as usual, and loosely finger combed the soap through, cause I wasn't in the mood for its shenanigans, and wasn't in the mood to comb and cuddle it.  Anyway, no combing at all, and I woke up Sunday to nice and clean unwaxy hair.  I don't know what's happening.  But it is now Wednesday, I last washed it the Saturday, and it's just fine.  I mean, it's due for a wash, but it's not waxy, it's not greasy, it's just like normal hair.  So, I guess, 'sort of Yay'?

No Poo Hair Madness, Week 8. B+

Last week was full of puppies, rainbows, kisses and stickers, as far as the hair went. I washed it the one time Sunday, combed the Lavender Bar through it, and combed it when it was damp. Apparently, the combing was a revolutionary event in this saga. The grey crap disappeared somewhere, and my hair was soft, wonderful, and ready for a Lifetime channel special.


It kept it up pretty well, and the top got faintly greasy by Wednesday night, when I took this picture, all delirious with non waxy joy:

I even had a nice little ponytail going, it wasn't all stiff, clumpy, and tragic looking:

All this reminds me of a Russian saying -  How do you make someone feel good?  You make them feel really bad for a while, and then stop. 

I washed it Thursday, again, with the Camomile Lavender Bar, and it was magical, and I washed it Sunday. This time I didn’t comb the suds through the hair length, because I heard it’s not good to comb wet hair, it’s brittle at its soggy stage, and, infinitely more important, I’m lazy, and I will not have myself in a situation where I must comb stuff through my hair diligently. If I had that kind of patience and determination, I would be curling iron-ing myself into a Beyonce look alike every morning.  If the No Poo thing meant I'd have to wet comb my hair, I might have to jump ship. 

It’s OK. There’s not a whole lot of grey crap in it, but it’s not quite as shiny and lively as it was last week. It just sort of hangs there. But, wax free, so I ain’t complaining.  It's just nothing to write songs or make glittery stickers about.  I’m thinking I can now introduce the vinegar rinse back into the equation.

I wonder, though, if the combing suds through is what got rid of the waxy crap, and now it is slowly accumulating back? I will have a fit.

Meanwhile, I think I should run and get a haircut while it’s behaving. I have delayed the cutting and the hair coloring until I came up with some sort of consistent routine, and a consistent, ‘non homeless’ look.

I also have my reservations about showing up to my hair guy, with a bar of soap, and telling him what’s up. It’s a fancy Newport Beach place, where they wade knee deep in Kerasta.. that expensive, nice smelling fancy crap I can’t quite spell. Among others.

It was completely out of question the 5-7 weeks my hair was covered in Hair Wax Play Doh, but now, I almost feel like I can confidently thrust the Lavender bar at him, and say, “No, no,.. no Aveda for me, and nothing too sudsy. I really want you to rub this here bar all over my head, and skip the conditioner. If you *really* want to, I got some vinegar water in this here decoy Sprite bottle. Don’t worry, the smell will go away. ”

I am guessing he’ll schedule all my subsequent appointments in very low traffic hours.

Meanwhile, I got a comment from Queen of 50c, an awesome thrifting blog I found while link surfing,  And, not only do we share the same garage sale jurisdiction, we are both doing it shampoo-less, and her hair has yet to fall out.  Every little encourgement matters. 

Week 7 Hair Breakthrough (No Poo Follow Up)

This week was just atrocious. I thought I had seen it all, and had patiently been waiting it out, but this week, “IT” has outdone itself.

I washed it Sat, and on Sunday it was stiff, gross and waxy. So I broke my ‘No- hair- washing- consecutive- days” rule and washed it with water only. Scrubbing well and everything. No dice. "IT" is essentially operating on its own, independent of me.  I like it that way, because I kinda hate to be associated with it, and be known is its owner/grower. 

On Monday at work I looked like drowned rat. Stringy, waxy, downright horrifying. Somehow (there may have been beer involved) I went to bed without washing it Monday. I mean, it doesn't smell or anything, but it feels like if your pantry dropped a jar of honey and mayo on your head, and both of them broke, and you accidentally forgot to wash it, so it stuffenned up nice and tight. 

It was rough, and on Tuesday I dared not take it out of braids. On the bright side, I no longer need rubber bands to keep braids in, even.  Around the same time I took a day off work because the flu had me knee deep in snot and headaches, so I was feeling pretty green and slimy anyway.
I broke down and thought may be going back to a baking soda wash would help. Tuesday night, I mixed up some soda, into an old shampoo bottle (Ahhhh.. shampoo…) and did my thing. Wednesday (as in, the morning immediately after Tuesday night) it was like I’d done nothing.  Waxy. Stringy. Stiff. Perfect for fashioning perpendicular Pipi Longstocking braids, or any other gravity defying hairdo sans product.

Thursday night, I did it again, but with more soda. Scrubbing, and washing the length, even. Friday came and no change, expect the dry hair that was super hard to comb. Dry AND super waxy. There’s a combination not for the faint of heart.

It seems that there’s less gray crap on the brush (odd), but, somehow, the hair is worse off overall. May be more greasy? I did the Boar Bristle Brush few days. The grey stuff adapted, and the wax is now in stealth mode. Either way, Russian Orthodox church requires women to cover their hair with a scarf, and the scarf never came off for the rest of the weekend. It may have been stuck to the scarf, too, who knows.

Sunday, I went back to the Lavender Camomille Bar. I rubbed and washed. But, as it was drying in the evening, I could feel it dry up in tell tale stiff strings. SO Annoying. I figured I’d give it a full 10 weeks before calling it quits and going back to shampoo. I just don't keep enough beer in the house for this sort of madness.  I can’t even go and have it cut somewhere, the way it’s behaving, people would report me for being negligent or willfully disgusting or something. I took my comb, and went to comb it out of sheer annoyance. The stringy thing is *really* getting old. So I combed it out, and put in into braids, so it doesn’t surprise me in some sort of a knotty clump coup in the morning.

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. This morning, for the first time in weeks, the waxy shit is gone. I don’t know what happened, cause there wasn’t much on my comb either. I’ll have to inspect the comb when I get home. But, “IT” is soft, unwaxy, unclumpy, and generally behaving like it’s normal shampooed and conditionered self. I’m a little afraid to jinx it. It’s almost too good to be true.   I feel like wearing a pink tutu and twirling about.   I have many questions - will the gray stuff come back?  Do I have to comb it wet for the rest of my life?  How long will it stay this way?  I am a little paranoid, I worry it's a trick, and when I let my hair down (literally, cause it's on a ponytail) it will turn on me with vengeance. 

However, I try to not let that bother me.  Today, the beginning of week 8 will be all about enjoying a wax free head. 

In summary: Week 7 – wash wash wash FAIL wash wash comb while damp WIN. 
5 washes in 7 days. 
A+

I'll Show You Pictures If You Promise You Won't Run. a.k.a Hair Update Week 6

Well, it looks OK to the casual onlooker. It even looks OK upon closer inspection, as I often do, since I am paranoid that people will mistake me for a homeless, showerless woman. But the waxy shit was really getting to me, and I couldn't tell if it was working its way down or not. Either way, it wasn't doing it fast enough.

I sent Jesse for a Boar Bristle Brush (BBB hereafter), since I read it helps, and I can't realistically keep up the waxy stuff very much longer, or if I expect to be well received socially. Even though it doesn't LOOK like there's crap in it, it looks liek something went wrong. And, I'm afraid of developing a nervous tick every time someone looks at my hair. So. BBB.

I washed it Sunday, with the cammomile lavender bar, dried it, and some time on monday I took the brush to it. If you are a gentle creature, fast forward through pictures.

BBB in the beginning:

BBB after 3 stroke. (3):

BBB after a hair brushing:

Are you still here?  I know, the world was probably not ready for the pictures, but I keep reading about no poo experimenteres babbling about grey waxy stuff in their hair, but nobody has posted a picture to really drive the point home.   I know, it looks like dust.  It isn't.  It also isn't dandruff.  It's this crap, that coats my hair really finely, and when I brush it, it comes off in tiny, dust particle looking flakes. 

Then I spend an hour washing the brush.  It's not really fair to the boars, so I'll try to keep this one going instead of throwing it in the trash on impluse. 

Anyway.  Having washed my hair again Wednesday night (bar again, no rinses), it appears there is less of grey shit on the brush.  Which isn't the same as it being gone, but it's better.  Much better, one would say, if they saw the first brushing.  I'll give this approach a couple more tries over this week (7th week), and see if it almost disappears.  If I find it regenerates itself, I'm going to think up an entirely new experiment, during my drive to Tarje for some Suave. 

Week Five Hair Update (D-)

It is still disgusting.  Possibly, in a repel-people-on-the-subway kinda way.  Good thing I drive everywhere, if I still lived in Chicago, there'd be trouble.

So, there's this waxy crap in it.  ON it.  It coats the hair shaft.  I've mentioned it before.  It's invisible, but when I comb my hair, it imparts a residue on the comb, that would probably keep a flame going.  I'm steering clear of lighters and ovens, just in case.  Now, I *think*, the crap is working its way down the shaft.  I think I have also said this before, and it must be moving very slowly.  Or I'm just wishfully kidding myself.

So, I washed it Sunday, and by Wednesday night it was gross.  Uncharacteristically gross, even.  It seems it is outdoing itself.  More greasy that usual.  I read about these people who wash their hair once a week..  Well, mine would have up and *walked* away had I let it go another day.  But, it wasn't oily and stringy, as you would expect dirty hair to be.  It was waxy and clumped.  Like, if I wanted to make Pipi Longstocking braids, I could have, and I could fashion them to stick out perpendicular to my head.  No hair product needed.  It is most disturbing. 

I don't know if the picture conveys the horror.  It's very stiff to the touch.  You know, like things covered in wax.. 

I've taken to washing the hair itself, and not just the scalp.  It's not a recommended tactic, but I'm afraid the wax will make my pillowcases flammable.  So far, I can't tell the difference.  I *am* enjoying the Cammomille Lavender Soap.  I am trying it and a Shea/Cocoa butter one.  I love what the butter soap has done for winter skin -  I haven't used lotion, and my legs aren't all scaly.  But it doesn't smell like anything.  Or, may be it smells like butter?   It gets an A+ for function, but it doesn't make me a cup of tea and cuddle me to sleep.

The cammomille/lavender has an incredible soothing smell, that's not obnoxious and over pronounced, but not faint either, it fills the air and lingers, but gently, and has this nice, dense lather.   Really, everything about it, down to the little bits of dried camomille flowers is magical and awesome.  

The lather is a huge point with Jesse, who even tried it on his hair, twice now.  So, far he's even pleased with the results, even though he's spent the larger part of last month laughing at me.  He uses his 'manly' Axe/OldSpice shampoo or whatever for his face as well, and now he's replaced it with the Cammomille Bar.  I am secretly hoping that it sticks and he will be chemical free.  

It doesn't seem to leave any sort of film on Jesse's hair.  May be the wax needs a week or two to come out of the woodwork.  Scalps are sneaky.  Meanwhile, I think a boar's bristle brush would possibly get rid of my problem.  But I already ruined a bristle brush, and I feel for the number of boars this hair experiment will have wasted in vain. 

So, I'm *hoping*  that the nasty crud will have retreated another inch toward the bottom by this weekend.  I will say that the top of my head appears to be clean at all times, and when it gets waxy up on top, it's around the crown area.  But, even though it's all clean and fluffy up on top, it makes for a tragic, downright Shakesperean pony tail, all scraggly looking like a mangy wet dog.  *So* not hot. 

I guess right now I am waiting to see if it lets go.  I may go search for another bristle brush to defile.  I am curious to see if it would come back once it's gone - it appears NOT, since it's not getting waxy by the roots.  But it might.  The cruddy ponytail really speaks to me, all about giving up and indulging in a nice Pantene fest.  But I've read about so many people who succeeded.  They can't all be walking about with Candle Heads.  I work past the urge to cut off all but 4" of my hair.

The soap helps.  If I was still rubbing baking soda into my head, I've have called it quits.  It is not dry, it smells subtly like lavender, and there is no dandruff.  I still have not redyed my hair.  I am not sure that hair dye would penetrate the waxy crap.  And I don't want red tinted hair wax on my pillows.

Next time, I'll experiment with something funner, like kite surfing.  Sigh.

Gym Win (4x Week) and Hair Madness

We were at gym like losers on Friday night, so why not end it same way. I was really froggy in the afternoon, but after dinner and nap, only the thought that Heather will strangle me with her yoga mat Monday if I stand her up, got me off the couch. Thanks to J's 4th attempt at wake up call.

Elliptistupidness and twice around circuit training. That'll teach me to drink margaritas and eat Trader Joe Joe's by the pound.

In other news, it is time for my weekly hair washing.  Well, twice-a-weekly washing.  I'm thinking of skipping the vinegar rinse this time and the next.  I washed it last two times with some homemade soap from Bluebonnet Trails, and rinsed with vinegar.   First time I wasn't sure about the soap, so I only used a bit.  I didn't want to to spoil the grossnessfest by introducing something that might, *gasp* clean.  No, but really, I wanted to make sure I'm not regressing back to shampoo-like stuff.  But it didn't strip the hair, it didn't even dry out the hair as bad as baking soda.  Last Wednesday  I used plenty of soap (I missed suds) so I'm officially off baking soda and onto this soap thing.  Which will also allow me to finally colour my hair again.  The roots are ghastly. 

I still have the Super Fancy Whole Foods conditioner, but I haven't really used it much.  It's no Pantene, and as such, it seems useless.  I want to see what soap alone does.  The hair, as it is now is doing OK.  They grey crap that was in it seems to have fallen off, travelled down the hair shaft, or however else it disappears.  There's no longer mass amounts of it on my head, making me feel like a hobo.  I noticed the hair doesn't get greasy on the front as it normally would by day 3 post wash,  but it does in the back.  Kind of opposite of what it used to be.  Hopefully this back of the head business levels itself out.  Any day now, I can picture just washing my hair with water.  With water lillies and candles in the back ground.  It's a well developed dream.

Meanwhile, the soap thing is kind of neat, since I can use it for hair and body and de-clutter my shower.  It also is less likely to spill in my luggage, what with being a solid bar and all, or run amok all over my week's worth of clothing in my vehicle when camping.  I wonder what the cost difference is, but I don't have any of the necessary data to run comparisons.  I'm guessing it's probably cheaper.  If it ever gets too expensive, I guess I can cut down the bathing to once a week and ration the soap. 

Now I'm motivated to go raid the scary under the sink cabinet in the bathroom and toss some things out.  Like the foundation that I haven't used since high school, but can't quite part with, you know..

Oatmeal "Dry Shampoo"

I am not proud of it, but my “no shampoo” experiment has actually turned into a ‘throw anything you find at your hair, as long as it’s not shampoo”. Seriously, I’m a week away from grinding up egg yolks and mayo.

Breakfast Gone Wrong:


So, I washed IT (IT=hair)Friday night. A day ahead of wash schedule, cause I like to live on the edge and it was really hurting for a washing. I wanted to try on wedding dresses Saturday, and you can't feel like a princess with what I got going on upstairs. Jill at Bluebonnet Trails sent me a test chunk of mild soap she’s got, to hold me over till she makes a batch of shampoo bars. It's made with cammomille, coconut oils, lemon and lime oil, and sodium hydroxide (neutralized lye). I wasn’t sure about this sodium hydroxide business – so I only used a little bit, lest it strip my hair like a shampoo. It didn’t. It foamed nicely, just a little, and felt clean. I scrubbed. It felt clean. But there was still that ‘waxy’ feeling, like when I didn't use enough baking soda that one time. So gross. I'm considering burning my towels.

I like the way the soap cleaned in that it didn’t dry IT out at all. So, I figured, I’d ignore it for another 3 days straight, and then do the soap route again, but use a nice amount this time, since it didn’t’ seem to be drying or stripping.

By the way, it must be said, that I have, like 2 inches of roots at this point. Because baking soda strips hair colour, and I didn’t wanna recolour while I’m actively dumping soda on my hair, and I had this grand plan that in two-three weeks, I’d be washing with nothing but water, and enjoying beautiful, full, shiny, bouncy, cavewoman hair. Yeah well.

I'm going to post some pictures here, but I am not proud of any of them. Please don't copy and use them in your children's science projects as "disgustig exhibit A".

So, I went about my business Saturday, slightly greasy looking. On Sunday it looked pretty clumpy. It doesn’t smell, and otherwise behaves like clean hair, so I could slum it with a scarf today, but I do have a job in the ‘outside, people world’. And the outside people world frowns upon greasy looking chicks. But I didn’t want to wash it just yet. Oh, what to do.

I remembered somebody SOMEWHERE talking about blending up oatmeal for a “dry shampoo” of sorts. Apparently, at this point, I am the sort of desperate that will follow any type of hair advice that I may have seen on internet, or that came to me in a vinegar fume induced vision.

So I briefly consult with Google, get a thumbs up, and spend some time in the kitchen blending up Jesse’s oatmeal.




Let me tell you, when you read online that you can brush it out, it is a dirty, dirty lie. You will have a head full of oatmeal.



(I spared you the r e a l l y clumpy, stringy, pre-oatmeal picture)

Pros:
IT got ungreasy, soft, and full.

Cons:

I was really nervous taking a shower afterwards, picturing all this remaining oatmeal getting caked in my hair as soon as it got a whiff of H2O.

And, in case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t dump in oatmeal, shake my head out, and expected it all to fall out. I put it in. Rubbed it around. I’m thinking about posting a picture, but I kinda think this kind of dirty needs to be kept off the internet. And then I brushed. And combed. And brushed. And cleaned brushes, and cleaned combs, and brushed again. Over the shower. But then I had to clean the shower, cause there was all this dirty hairy oatmeal in it. So, then I just went outside. Completely freaking it out that it didn’t completely stop raining, so I’d have oatmeal in it’s breakfast -dish state in my hair.

Jesse came outside under the pretense of feeling bad for me and keeping me company, but, really, he wanted to pretend he was me and ask me a hundred questions, all of which were different at first sound, but really every one of them boiled down to: “What on earth would make you think it’s OK to put oatmeal in your hair”. I told him that Aveeno makes oatmeal shampoos, which is why I chose oatmeal over corn starch. Plus, I got to play with a blender. Plus, I figured, since I couldn’t grind up oatmeal super fine – the slightly largish flakes would make their way down via gravity. Well. I was wrong. There was oatmeal in my hair. Correction; there IS oatmeal in my hair.



Jesse’s giggling fits aside, and my ruined combs (3 of them) aside, my hair is degreased. And doesn’t feel waxy. And presentable enough to come into work. So there. Trudging on till Tuesday, when I’ll be giving the soap bar thing another try. Of course, it's a rainy week in SoCal, so I'm completely paranoid that I'll be walking outside and all of a sudden have strings of oatmeal runnign down my neck and face. Sigh. Shudder.

My Hair, You Ask?

Oh, it looks like crap. All status quo here.

No poo program FAIL, yet again. Monday was nice. I washed it Sunday, with some baking soda, then vinegar rinse. And it was beautiful Monday. Not too dry, full but not fluffy, not waxy, or oily. You know, all things you picture when you pretend you've a movie star. I was beginning to think it was working.

On Tuesday it was alright. Like, a B. It got heavy and waxy/oily on Wednesday. Not tragic, but greasy looking. I could have gone another day with a scarf, if I was feeling masochistic. There was more Gray Crap on my brush. So I washed it yesterday, with soda, and a pinch of salt (don't ask.. I don't know why.. someone online said it might be good). But skipped vinegar, and did the Super Duper Whole Foods Conditioner.

Ugh.

I mean, it's not as tragic as Head Full O'Crud, but it's dry. And not even fluffy. It's all stringy and sad looking. And would blend right into a hay bale.

I think I want fluffy back. At least, it was entertaining.

I'm using guerilla tactics, so I plan on not washing it till Sunday. It's going to be a weekend of ugly, I can tell. Should I not have skipped vinegar? Why is the most expensive conditioner I ever bought doing very very very little? How bad would it have been without the conditioner? So many questions. I think I know how to paritally fix it - next time, I'll use the olive oil I already have and buy 13.99 worth of beer to take into the shower. At the rate this experiment is going, I should just stalk my cabinet with margarita mix and find a bathroom plug for the blender. And sandwhiches.

I am guessing it's the baking soda that dries it out? I emailed Jill over at BlueBonnet Trails, she has some homemade soaps that I heard good things about (and which all cost less then my Whole Foods conditioner, not that I'm bitter or anything); I wanted to know if she will be making any natural, non chemical-ly shampoo bars. Apparently, she is working on some right now that will be action packed with awesome hair stuff. Some sort of clay, some sort of oil, no silicones, no sulfates, all ground up in her kitchen blender. (At least that's what I picture when you say homemade soap) They aren't out yet, though, so, meanwhile, she is sending me a bit of a citrusy soap she makes. She says it would be good for hair as well as body, though I can't remember what all she said was in it. (She might be lying, cause I was a little needy sounding, and I would send me anything just to shut me up, so, fingers crossed!)

I would like to break away from baking soda and vinegar, I think. Well, at least the baking soda part, before my hair just falls straight out. It's red and my carpets and upholstery are brown, it would be most inconvenient if I shed constantly. So, I want to try the shampoo bar route and see if it will clean as well as baking soda, but not dry it out as much. Consider this "breaking of resolve, part 1, a little onto week2". I'll give the baking soda one more try this weekend. But, how long can a chick run around with scabby hair?!

I have pretty low expectations, at this point, anything that cleans a little and doesn't make me bald will probably do. Here's to hoping the citrusy soap chunk will be as good to my hair as it is to other people's butts! (And legs, and hands and stuff). And, to me making it this week without getting a dramatically short haircut.

Hair Madness, Week Recap.

It is a week today since I decided to go shampoo free. It's going really poorly, but I am so lazy that having read testimonials of just-water-once-a-week-washers, I am pressing on, hoping to one day become one of them. Also, I camp a lot, and how awesome would it be to NOT have icky, oily hair at the end of day 2.

Recap:

Day 1 - I did a soda wash, and vinegar rinse, and it was dry and fluffy
Day 2 - Nothing. It was dry. And fluffy.
Day 3 - It was getting to be oily on top, but bearable, dry everywhere else.
Day 4 - a diluted soda wash (may be half table spoon) and conditioner rinse, and it was waxy and fluffy
Day 5 - nothing, even though it was absolutely atrocious, and I wore a scarf
Day 6 - I did a vinegar rinse, and rosemary tea rinse, and it was still really waxy, and not so much fluffy.
Day 7 - Nothing, though, again, it was atrociously obnoxious
Day 8 - is today.

I have washed it about every other day, which, ironically, is more often than I normally would.

I can, however, report that it appears the waxy-ness (I'm going to develop a serious nervous tick if I keep typing that) actually diminishes. Like, day one, it seems like I can rub my hair and light my fingers on fire. Day two, it's not really waxy anymore. It's soft and smooth, but some residue waxy-ness makes it look greasy, and therefore, in my head, dirty. I never use any product in my hair, so, 'clean hair' to me, is squeaky, fluffy, 80's type fluffy, hair. Anything flat, shiny, and chunky looking, no go. It does not smell, and it appears to be "clean" in an unorthodox way, but it looks horrendous.

Also, I think between the soda and the vinegar, my hair is stripped pretty well of its colour. (Dyed red) I intend on re-dying it, and I was really hoping by that time I would already be washing it infrequently and, with very little soda/vinegar deal. (HA!) A conditioner only wash might be best. I still have my Super Duper $10 small bottle of conditioner from Whole Foods, which might be an option.

So I used my left over rosemary from Rosemary Baked Potatoes to brew some Rosemary Tea. (Twig of rosemary stewed in cup of water) Rosemary is supposed to be the best thing for your hair. I am one of *those* people now. I am also one more bad hair day away from blending up an egg yolk and mayonnaise into my morning shower routine. The nice thing about rosemary is that it smell nothing like an egg yolk. It's true, that vinegar smell disappears completely after wash, and hair smells like nothing, so, in that regard rosemary was definately a plus.

It occured to me, as I was skulking around self consiously in CVS hair isle the other day - why not just switch to Burt's Bees shampoo or equivalent? I'm not going to do it out of principle and because it's expensive. But I highly recommend it, for people who are just trying to go chemical free. I bet it even foams.

I am looking forward to a day I can just wash with water. By looks of it, that day is taking its time. Tonight, I will wash it with some baking soda (a nice amount, because I am truly tired of slicky hair, and I have a job to attend tomorrow morning), then rinse it with the remainder of my rosemary "tea".

Quite frankly, my mental health will suffer if I don't wake up tomorrow morning with psychotically beautiful hair.

PS. Jesse and I played the dumpstered Score Four game, and he beat me at least 4 times. Could have been 5, I lost count. HMPH.

UPDATE: Day 9 hair is a lot better. It must have heard me make threats. Post Baking Soda wash, V + rosemary rinse, it is clean (not waxy or greasy), shiny but not in a greasy way, and really full, but not fluffy. It's also not as dry as it was after the first baking soda wash last week.

Ugh. Of All The Nastyness.

The following is so disgusting I wish I had a different blog under a pen name. I feel so dirty confessing this, that I’m considering wiping out the whole blog after I type this.

There. Is. Gray Waxy Crud. In. My. Hair.

But, let’s start from the beginning.

Yesterday, I did what Jesse affectionately refers to as, “my yeast hair bath”. Something smelly and bacteria infested to name my hair experiment after. He's thoughtful like that. I did baking soda wash, with a bit less baking soda than last time, because last time my hair felt like sandpaper.

Now, I’m a bit torn here. I read that baking soda strips color from hair, and is generally harsh. I have seen what it does to stovetop crud and I’m not really interested in deep cleaning my brain cells. But. The shampoos that are –everything bad- free are also expensive. I don’t understand why methylkillyou suckysulfate Herbal Essences is $2.99 and Nothin-but-cammomile-and-some-shady-oils Essence is $8.99.

Which, I can make my own, and many a woman has. However, the whole premise here was low-ER maintenance. And it takes less time to wash-n-go every couple days than constantly be brewing a cauldron of herbs, and shopping for honey, lavender, jojoba oil, and mice feet to toss in the ‘poo brew. And, again, the expense. If I were to spend $30 at Whole Foods, it would most certainly go to cheese, grains, and those Miso Soup bowls.

Super Duper Conditioner


Anyway, so I decided to just use less baking soda. Like, enough to clean to hair, not quite enough for an interskull deepclean. Followed by Whole Foods SuperDuper Conditioner. Massage, rinse, massage, rinse, cross fingers that your hair doesn’t fall out, rinse. I skipped vinegar, cause I’m trying to figure out what makes it crunchy – soda or vinegar.

This morning I commented that, once again (shocking) it ain’t clean. But Jesse assured me it didn’t smell and didn’t look too bad. Normally, he’s far too nice to actually tell me I’m a wreck, so I have preemptively threatened to punch him square in the throat if I had to hear form somebody else that I smelled like a wet donkey. I think he can be trusted now.

He did ask me if I was sure I used baking soda and not baking powder, which momentarily had me in a panic. I’d hate to the chick who accidentally put some Bisquick in her hair and then wondered why sh!t was getting real.

Anyway, after making sure I don’t smell enough to attract attention in a well ventilated place, like an office, I went to brush it and was pleased, that at least it is soft. It still is ‘fluffy’, or, ‘full of body’ to use a marketing term. But soft, and not tangly. This was pleasing, cause it was about time something good was happening with this experiment. I can deal with soft hair. It still looks freakishly fluffy. But may be that is the natural, wild state of my hair. Or may be I need my ends trimmed. I can live with it. I was a little excited, and feeling pretty awesome about my Natural Wild Woman-ness. Until I looked at the brush, and there. Was. Gray. Shit. ALL over it. Enter feeling like a Natural Wild Woman, but in a very, very bad way. Not 'run naked on the beach' way. more like, 'hide deeper in the cave' way.

Fluffy. I'm not holding my head at and angle, and no wind is blowing. It is ..just fluffy and pointy like I just got off my broom.


No wonder I have ‘body’. There’s apparently nasty wax crap wrapped around each hair, quadrupling it’s volume. Stellar.

And I’m halfway out the door for work, so I don’t have time to throw the experiment out, and lather up with Jesse’s finest “Cooling Sensation” Old Spice smelling body wash. FML.

So, now I’m at work, and feeling dirty. Downright gross. Like a dirty cavewoman with a nasty secret. All bad.

Oddly, it doesn’t ‘feel’ dirty. It’s not squeaky clean, and it’s only faintly ‘waxy’ feeling at the roots. I guess the idea here is that all the crap, I’m sorry, ‘sebum’ (which is what this crap is) is supposed to work it’s way down your hair. And then, I GUESS, it’s supposed to equalize itself out. I really wished I had down the SPECIFICS before I started these mangy ‘experiments’. What I did know, was that the dirty crud part of this nasty, experiment usually came in around weeks 7-9, and I was sure my resolve would be broken long before I got to a stage that ugly. It's not possible that it keeps up for any length of time, right?

My Nasty Waxy Dirty Fluffy Hair


Not to worry, it's not flying about all willy nilly like. I have safely pinned it up into a bun, and I'm trying to blend into office furniture till I can get home and get real.

I don’t know what my plan is going to be. I can’t very well be walking around with nasty wax crap all over my hair. I don’t feel like scrapping the whole plan. There must be purpose to this madness. May be a water rinse and a vinegar rinse tonight after gym. Brushing it till it "works" itself down the hair shaft and (hopefully) disappears? I'll come up with something by tonight.

Stay tuned for more wreckage,

-Cruddy in Newport Beach

No Poo!

Shampoo, that is. I read somewhere that a chick's husband cringed every time she started sentences with "I read online.." because it signaled a sacrifice of some sort coming, or relinquishing something he likes. Haaa. That must be how Jesse feels, to a degree, cause I start sentences like that a lot, and usually (but not always)* some sort of madness follows.

*"But not always" refers to that time I read about reusable toilet paper - Aka - you cut your old tshirts into rags, or upgrade to flannel when you get really good and fancy at it (or want to wipe poop, which I didn't), and then wipe your bits with fabric instead of paper, washing the fabric, and reusing. Not just no, hell no, said Jesse. Landfills and all, he was going to keep buying the softest Charmin available, and very little was going to stand in his way. Hmph. I guess, I also couldn't really get my mind wrapped around the whole process, so I'm saving it as a mental bookmark, for later in life, may be.

There was also the time I read about resuable sandwhich bags, and got cought up in the cuteness of it all - ziplock bags do NOT have monkeys and frogs on them! Veto, said Jesse, who said he doesn't want his bread stale.

I grew up in Russia, I don't even know what "stale" means. Bread is bread. Then it gets hard, and you make croutons out of it. "Stale" appears to be some sort of soft capitalist notion, where the bread is still soft, but one won't eat it, because it's not fresh enough. But, we don't eat enough sandwiches to make it a battle worth fighting, so, there it went.

The last thing that got shut down hard was my reading about 'menstrual sponges'. I was a little intrigued, and wanted to try it. Despite three girlfriends who suggested "it'll get lost inside", and Jesse, who said simply, that putting sponges places they don't belong might turn those places green and swollen shut. Seriously, he's so dramatic you'd think it was his peehole at stake with this sponge business. But, EW, and there went the sponge idea.

But, my failures as an eco-geek and Jesse's appalling softness aside, back to this shampoo thing. The premise is - modern chemical shampoos (particularly the sulfates things, which are present in engine dereasers and stuff) are too harsh, and using them 'trains' your scalp more oily. It's also not good for your skin - which, as the largest organ of your body absorbs all the chemicals. Not good, says the internet.

So, with the eventual goal being to just wash your hair with water, people do a variety of goofy things. Such as a baking soda wash, followed by an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse. (this is the most basic). There are additions of oils (jojoba), and things like yogurt, and egg yolks.

I read about the conditioner trap - where silicones smooth your hair but dry out - and went found myself a ridiculous bottle of conditioner at Whole Foods. At 10.99 a bottle it has no silicones, and things like oil (jojoba). Score. Some people do a 'conditioner only' rinse.

Anyway, even though Jesse has decided to stick to his 'pesky shampoo addiction' (Thanks, Heather!). I am pressing on, for a chemical free scalp. I have visions of shiny, soft hair that doesn't need to be washed for weeks at a time, and going back to Whole Foods to buy that fancy homemade soap, rolled in oats, and lavender twigs.

Day 1. I dissolved a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water, and scrubbed it into the hair (mid back length, and dyed a brilliant red). I rinsed with two tablespoons of ACV, dissolved in cup of water. I put a bit of the fancy conditioner on the tips.

Result: Dry hair the night of. It's clean, but dry. It's hard to comb. It feels almost straw like. I'm guessing it's the baking soda? Although, it does NOT smell like vinegar, so that's a plus. I had Jesse sniff test it, cause I'd hate for him to spend 8 hours a night sharing a bed with Head O'Vinegar.

This morning, it looks alright cleen wise, and feels normal. (Could the fancy conditioner be creeping up the hair shaft?) But I think it might be itchy? It could be a fantom itch, cause I have vivid flashack of rubbing baking soda into my scalp.. but still.

I guess the idea here is to not wash your hair for 3-4 days, then repeat. Apparently, before it gets great, it is to get worse. I don't know if I can handle worse. I do have to go to work, after all, and I don't know how to wear scarves in ways that make you look cute, and not like you've just finished cleaning your chicken coop.

Stand by..

Someone let me cut their hair!!

I hope it was as good for you as it was for me, Heather!!

May be she did have some second thoughts.



I have no hair cutting experience at all, ever. When I was little, I got one of those spiky grabby weed balls stuck in my hair, and trying to get it out, made a big knotty mess with the ball in the middle. So, I cut the ball out, with some scissors I found, and saw all this long hair on the floor, and threw it away. Then, for a few years I could only wear a ballet bun (Yuck!) because I had all this butt long hair my mother refused to cut, and this little rooster mohawk right on top. So, think an off center, high top bun to hide the nonsense. Traumatic, to say the least. Ever since then, I sometimes think about trimming my own bangs, but then I put the scissors down.

Anyway, I read all these hair cutting tutorials, most of which oddly revolve around one cutting one's OWN hair. Umm, scary.

There was the whole deal about dividing one's hair into 7 sections.. But the diagrams I found seemed to disagree on where those section are exactly, and I don't think I have 7 clips, anyway.

So, the best one I found talked about a stationary guide - where you cut the top section of hair, as short as it needs to be, and then bring up each subsequent strand vertically to it, and cut at level, the idea being that once it falls down, all hair will be at different length, according to their origin point on the head, and form layers.

I think it was pretty successfull.

Before:



After:



During: (Beer for courage)



I cut the first few slips bluntly across top, but they looked weird and choppy when fallen to bottom and combed out, so I tried to cut it the way I'd seen Vincent (dude who does both our hair, coincidentally) do: by holding the tip of the combed strand, and cutting at a slight angle, letting hairs fall out, sort of starting over and making several small cuts in one strand as opposed to one cut across. I don't know if Vincent would have been proud, but I am pretty pleased. I also charge a lot less. Like, nothing, and I provide a beer to take the 'edge' off possible results. Vincent is a magical creature (Tryko Salon in Newport Beach) but his rates are steeper.

I guess the same concept can practiced on one's own head, but one would have to be pretty brave. It seemed that I cut forever, and there was ALL this hair on the floor.. but she also doesn't look like she's lost any. Sigh. I hope Heather makes with pictures after she dyes it dark!