Friday, April 19, 2013

bring on the chemicals

Yall. What a crazy night in Boston...to wake up and hear all that went on while I was blissfully sleeping...unbelievable. Relatedly: nothing makes you feel dumber than hearing that the suspects are from Chechnya and immediately yelling at the NPR guy on the radio "WHERE THE EFF IS CHECHNYA??"...like, seriously, Erika? I need to put down the novels and pick up a map, apparently. I try to make myself feel better by remembering that the countries in and around Russia and Eastern Europe and the Middle East change names/borders/etc like once a week, and the map of that region has probably changed 200 times since the last time I was in school, but...still. It should go without saying, but my thoughts and prayers continue to be with Boston (and now Texas, sheesh) this week. What a terrible week...hopefully they will catch this other suspect today and let Boston start towards healing. Jesus, please.

And I will preface the rest of this about-to-get-really-shallow blog with the acknowledgment that I know this is like, lower than a zero on the Scale of Actual Problems. I recognize that complaining about my hair at a time like this is like...reprehensible. But it's been on my mind, and you people give good advice, and ya know...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

But seriously, yall. My hair.

As part of the Great Chemical Purge of 2012/2013, in an effort to lower the amount of weird endo-enhancing, estrogen-disrupting hormones I expose myself to, we embarked on the notorious Bird Food Diet. That has been well-documented, I would say, and somewhat well-adhered to. You know, except for when I'm at work and there is always delicious non-BFD food in the break room...then I fail to adhere. But that's beside the point. But I also tried to up our game in terms of decreasing the amount of weird chemicals we expose ourselves to in other contexts, like cleaning products and health and beauty products. For the most part I am pretty satisfied with the less-chemically products we've switched to, but when it comes to shampoo and conditioner, I am about to throw in the towel.

Those things are TERRIBLE.

BRING ON THE CHEMICALS.

I've tried maybe 3 different brands of shampoo and only one kind of conditioner (it's a HUGE bottle...ugh...and I hate to waste it, even as I hate to use it), and these things don't do jack. I may as well be rinsing my hair in saltwater every night and call it a day. It's not the in-shower 'performance' of the products that bugs me so much (a lot of people complain because  the more 'natural' products don't get sudsy/foamy like conventional shampoo does, which is weird, but not a deal-breaker for me)...it's the fact that MY HAIR IS AWFUL.

This is how I feel about the situation. NOT HAPPY.

I have long hair. But it's not like...unreasonably long. It's very straight. And here's what I do all day: sit in an office. Sometimes I get up and walk around. That's about it. So please tell me why, if I leave my hair down, I inevitably have GIANT RATS' NESTS of matted tangles all over the back of my head at like...3pm? SERIOUSLY? Like, if I'd been running...20 miles...with my hair down...with 50mph winds...and then I rubbed my hair around in some chewing gum...I could understand the matted-ness. This should not happen when all you do is sit around an office. It's disgusting. My hair is tangly, NOT soft, and even borderline frizzy sometimes, which it has never, ever been in my whole life. It's too STRAIGHT to be frizzy. Until now. And let's not even talk about how ridiculous it is when I wake up in the mornings. It's like if you got your prom up-do with 5,000 bobby pins and a bottle of hairspray, and then never took it down and slept on it for a week, and THEN took it down...imagine what would greet you? That's what I get to tame every morning. And you wonder why I wear a braid every day.

Obviously the question is...maybe my hair IS like this naturally, and it's been the chemicals I've been using (via shampoo and conditioner...I've never regularly used any other sort of 'product') for the last 29 years that leads me to believe I have non-frizzy, relatively silky, manageable hair. In that case, God bless you, chemicals. I can't wait to welcome you back into my life, as soon as I dump down the drain use up the rest of this 'natural' crap.

If anyone has any arguments as to why I SHOULDN'T re-embrace the chemical-filled goodness, this is your opportunity to convince me. I'm happy to continue using the green-er products that DON'T SUCK (ie: body wash, shaving cream, cleaning products, SOME makeup, laundry detergent)...but this shampoo/conditioner thing is just not going to be one of them (unless someone has a proven product recommendation that WORKS). I hate giving up on what should be a fairly painless lifestyle change (WAY easier than, say, going GF)...but hopefully I have adequately demonstrated that it is NOT painless. It is ridiculous. And that is why I have to say once more: bring on the chemicals.

21 comments:

  1. What products are you using? I've had great success with Pureology. I'm not sure if it's 100% natural, but it is very low in chemicals and leaves my hair feeling AWESOME. Not a frizz in sight! I usually pick mine up at Ulta when there's a sale.

    The one downside is the price. Ouch! But the sale price is decent and you only have to use a tiny bit since it's a more concentrated formula.

    (Ingredients: AntiFadeComplex, ZeroSulfate, Natural Plant Extracts: Rose, Sandalwood and Green Tea, Signature Aromatherapy Blend: Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Anise, and Patchouli)

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  2. I'm definitely not much help. Not only do I highlight my hair with pure chemical every six weeks, I also wash and condition with chemical-filled product. Maybe I should make a change?? At any rate, what I really want to say is that in all of your pictures, your hair looks great, so I'd never had known you end up with rats nests by the end of the day!! :)

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  3. You know, I'm with you on the shampoo and conditioner. I've thought about switching to greener products as well, but the shampoo and conditioner are two that I'm not sure I could switch. My hair just gets so oily with most products. At the very least, if you switch everything else, having only shampoo/conditioner as non-green wouldn't be so bad.

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  4. Have you ever heard of Arbonne?? I've been using it for about 7 years and it is truly amazing. I'll never use anything ever, ever again. It's not sold in stores, you have to order online through a consultant, but it's super amazing and plant based and safe. You could pretty much eat it, but it still works really well, which I think is a combo that's hard to find among the 'natural' personal care product makers.

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  5. loreal's something something natural line is pretty good. you ought to be able to find it pretty easily, based on my description.

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  6. I'm in agreement on Loreal. I don't know how "natural" it is, but the sulfate free products seem to work well for me (without totally stripping my hair). Also, a very natural product you could mix into your routine is coconut oil. I buy the organic stuff from whole foods, and use as a weekly deep conditioner. Feels GREAT and is really a natural (plus cheap) as you can get!!

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  7. I agree with Jennie..the sulfate free products seems to work really well. I also use a coconut oil spray when my hair is still wet. I have crazy thick hair and it really helps with the frizz. If only it also got rid of the grey!

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  8. I have no suggestions for shampoo/conditioner since I am a chemicals girl all the way. But if you find something that works awesomely and doesn't cost more than one plane ticket, let me know and I'll think about switching.

    And the only reason I know where Chechnya is, is because of the school hostage taking there in September 2004. That kind of put it on the map for me.

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  9. If you gave me a world geography test...heck a US map...I would totally fail. I'm not expert on this and I need some advice too so I'm gunna see what everyone else tells you! I'm really hoping that everything in boston ends okay, I've been glued to the tv all morning. My uncle lives there too :(

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  10. Sadly I'm awful with geography which drives my Social Studies teacher husband CrAzY!!!
    Wish I could take a more natural approach, but gosh I love me some chemically treated red hair every 6 weeks! Haha!

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  11. Ok, so I don't know if you remember my ranting against the ridiculously expensive "color-friendly" (aka: almost no chemicals) shampoo & conditioner? I hated it! Since then I've been using Ojon and looooooooove it. No more tangles, no more frizz, no more breakage. I specifically got the damage repair kind because my hair needed some major help. Within probably 4 washes, I had manageable PRETTY hair again. 5 stars Ojon!

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  12. I kept pronouncing it "check knee ya" like it was a suburb of the Czech Republic. Oops. Needless to say, it's not on my list of top places to visit. As far as shampoo-conditioner goes, let me know if you find anything good and chemical free. I've had no luck there. If it's any consolation, your hair always looks fab!

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  13. I've looked into going shampoo free. I think the technical term floating around the internet is poo-free... but that just sounds weird. Anywho, most of what I seen starts you off scrubbing your scalp gently with baking soda and then doing a water and vinegar rinse. I do use the vinegar part, and love it, but I'm just not sure about the total loss of shampoo. Apparently your body needs some time to get used to it and then readjusts and produces less oil altogether. But when job hunting, a crazy, possibly oily, white girl afro just seems like a bad idea. Maybe someday I will give it a real try!

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  14. I have read people dong no-poo in there hair, and I just can't wrap my head around that. Especially on days that I work out. Ugh. Good luck with your shampoo search! I totally know what you mean about not wanting to waste something, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!

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  15. Your hair with bad shampoo sounds like my hair every day… remind me never to go natural. : )

    I'm impressed with all of your other chemical sacrifice though. You should blog about your favorites. I've thought about eliminating some toxins for a while, but just don't know where to start.

    The good news… you look awesome in a braid!

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  16. I agree - loving the braid so there is always that style to fall back on. But really. . . I am no help in the hair department. My stylist recommends (and ONLY recommends) the brand Nioxin. We use Nioxin shampoo and conditioner. We buy the huge bottles (you might faint when you see the price) and they last FOREVER. We are still working through a shampoo that we got over 1.5 years ago. So I guess it's worth the price tag. So there is my (non helpful) hair advice! :)

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  17. I happened upon your blog and I have one idea for you....trust a stranger or not but I wash my hair with baking soda....just baking soda. You get like a couple tablespoons in your hand then mix with some water and rub in. I'll sometimes use conditioner on the tips and sometimes not. When I comb it out after the shower its not super soft but it stays nice and oil free longer, and looks healthy. Disclaimer: I have wavey fine-ish hair. Good luck!

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  18. @Anon--yeah, sorry but that is a horrible idea. I'm a a hairstylist and can tell you the natural ph balance of hair is 4-5, fairly acidic. The ph balance of baking soda is NINE. Highly alkaline. The result is your hair will be weakened and very unprotected because having a proper ph balance on your hair helps seal the cuticles and prevents damage and dirt and polution from getting literally IN your hair.

    Erika, don't use baking soda. Just trust me. The think about good, quality hair products (and this goes for skin products as well) is that you need to use them for several weeks to see real results. Often, a good shampoo can make your hair feel cruddy at first, but after many washes it will be better. You've probably heard something similar about facials, when you first get one it brings up all the toxins and dirt and your skin will be icky for a week or so. Same is true for hair products.

    When you try something new, use it for a good 10 washes. THEN decide how your hair feels.

    And I'm also a huge fan of Pureology, definitely check that brand out.

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  19. I just love the way you write, Erika! I have curly hair, so I use DevaCurl. I have recently been told that it may have some parabens in it (even though they advertise as paraben and sulfate free). I'll be doing my research before buying anymore. I am really happy with it even when I wear my hair straight, so I am hoping the parabens are just a nasty rumor. We are trying to use less and less bad chemicals here, too! Have you used the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database? We read all labels and check stuff on the database, too!

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  20. I just have to say that I think your hair always looks fabulous...well, at least in the pics you post on your blog. It seems so smooth and is such a great color! You should honestly see mine right now. You would die. (-:

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  21. Pureology is nice I use that and Aveda hair products.

    On the downside they are way more pricy than just picking something up at target but I like the results.

    Let us know how your shampoo/hair product quest ends.

    What did your sis recommend?

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