Oh the silly things I do because I'm cheap

I'm cheap.  I have trouble spending money and I horde it until then I go on a crazy spree for a day, then follow that spree up with months of guilt-ridden hording again.  I'm just silly like that.

Recently I've been growing my hair out.  I whacked it off in a moment of - "I'm changing my life darn it!!!" and have spent every day since growing it back out.  I'm just silly like this too.

Well being the cheapymccheappants that I am - I got a giant bottle of conditioner at TJMaxx for $10.  Go me, I thought, it was Rosemary Mint, made by a reputable brand not the original maker of said flavor? scent? whatever. I thought I'd done a good thing.

My long lost soul sister

You see, I don't buy or use hair products, so a splurge of $10 on a giant bottle would be a-okay.  I don't use hair products because I'm traumatized by them.  You see...when I was 15 I dated a boy who I desperately wanted to impress.  So, he was taking me to a party one night and I was so excited -- he was older and so were his friends.  I had to look amazing!  Amazing to the 15 year old me meant hair spray, lots of hair spray.  Short story my hair was crazy crunchy and he made fun of me.  No products since for this broad.

Day 1 &2 of conditioner - my hair is kinda weird, but smells awesome, I blame the weirdness on the weather.

Day 3 & 4 of conditioner - my hair is still weird and beginning to have less amazing odor.  I figure, I'm getting used to scent, and my hair is boycotting going to work, no bigs.

Day 5 of conditioner - my hair is still weird and I notice a slightly less that lovely odor coming from my hand as I raise it to apply said conditioner.  Needless to say, that was the end of conditioner.

A good friend suggested a specific brand of conditioner to me and I said "Sure! I'll pick it up after the gym tonight!"  Alas, after the gym came and I couldn't bring myself to spend money on conditioner again, plus the whole Sodium Lauryl Sulfate making your hair fall out debate terrifies me and most brands carried at the local CVS are chock full of the stuff.  I decided I'd wait until my hair fell out or I got paid again instead.  I didn't want to dip into my hording pile for something that has more natural ingredients just yet you see.

But that left me in a quandary.  I can't not use conditioner, I have curly hair!! How can I salvage this situation!?

Then I started to think old school -- we're talking Roman Times old school.  I got inventive and historic all in one fell swoop. I considered, what did they use for moisturizer in historic times?  (remember I was just reading a book set in the 2nd century and they talked all about beauty products!)  The answer?  Olive Oil.  That's right folks, I decided to use Olive Oil.

So, before my shower, I google my historic idea and find others in support of my hair-brained solution to my self inflicted problem.  I generally try not to use too much non-natural stuff on my body and hair, just another quirk of mine.  I didn't want to just pour my olive oil over my head, that seemed too uneven an application and messy too.  What to do?  Then I remember that in my cheap style I have this most amazing kitchen tool - The Misto - it saves me from buying Pam and other gross stuff filled cans to keep my food from becoming one with the pan.

So, I troted into the kitchen, grab The Misto (best thing ever, can't say it enough) and proceed to apply it much like I did the hairspray back in my youth, I went crazy with the stuff -- people don't change folks, it's proven. 

Soft, but flat hair.

Anyway, end result is my hair is crazy soft today, I mean awesome, but sort of flat.  Which isn't ideal either, but at least it's shiny and soft!  I'll definitely keep up the olive oil routine for softness, but I'm not sure how to also get my curls to well, curl while using this technique.  More research is needed and probably I should explore some more modern techniques as a long term solution.

Anyway,  for a quick and easy hair masque I think I'm going to do this at least once a week going forward - my hair was that soft!

Oh, I know you think this is sad and sort of twisted.  But wait. Just  wait until I break the story on how I used vinegar to make my hair shine. Pure Awesomeness.

Until next time...