Hair, hair, hair!

I've had long hair the majority of my life and never learned how to french braid.  Can we say, "sad"?  I'm trying to learn (Sadie's my cute and perfect guinea pig.) and so I'm slowly getting a little better now.  I cannot do my own hair.  Maybe if it weren't so stinkin' long I could work with it but it just ends up a tangled mess and I lose my pieces and my patience.

Anyway, I've joined the pinterest world (LOVE it!) and have found several websites with tutorials that are really helpful.  I really wish I could do this one on myself.

Isn't that just super cute?!  And it would totally make dirty hair look good for one more day.  Confession time:  I don't wash my hair everyday.  Before you judge me too harshly, you should know...I have long hair, ladies!...and thick!  (Thank you, Indian blood.)  I also have 3 kids, 6 years and under.  Even if I didn't have long, thick hair, there are just other things that take priority over washing my hair every 24 hours.  Honestly, there are other things I'd rather do than wash my hair every time the sun rises or sets.

The good news?  It turns out that your hair is healthier when you don't wash it every day!  Are you surprised?  If you think about it, it makes sense.  Shampoo washes away the dirt but takes the oils with it too.  The more often you wash, the more frequently you strip away your hair's natural oils and the more likely they haven't had a chance to recover between washings.  Also, if you're like me, you prefer hot showers as opposed to cold ones (how on earth did women ever bathe in rivers???  Brr!).  Then, what do most of us do to wet hair?  Blow dry it, of course!  More heat.  Nearly everyone knows that heat damages your hair.  No big surprise there.  But there's even more good news for the "I don't wash my hair every day" crowd...dirty hair is easier to braid and (in my opinion) holds better.  Think of all the hairspray and shampoo you're saving!   You're helping the environment and your pocketbook! lol

In closing, I'll leave you with a couple of tricks I've learned to help keep your hair (and skin) looking good.  I already mentioned that I like hot showers so naturally, my hair gets washed with hot water.  Duh!  But, I rinse it with cold water.  And by cold, I mean as cold as I can stand it.  (It's o.k. to squeal, sing really high, or do a crazy dance in the shower at this point.  I usually do! ;) )  This is also a fantastic treatment for your skin.  The cold water seals in your body's moisture and gives your skin more of a natural glow by closing your pores and your hair a nice sheen by closing the cuticles.  With hot water, your skin's pores are wide open and taking in whatever they come in contact with (dirt, germs, other icky stuff).  Funny thing, though.  Your pores don't like to be cold either so they seal themselves as tight as possible when hit with cold water, making it pretty hard for dirt and air to get in there and form blemishes and leave you dry.  So, suck it up and rinse with cold water!  Come on, we're as tough as those pioneer women who bathed in rivers in the dead of winter and then hiked back to their homes with frozen hair, right?  We're not gonna let them show us up!  We're not wimps!  We can handle 15 seconds of cold water. :)  Then, whenever possible, let your hair air-dry.  I usually leave mine wrapped in a towel for a little while before blowing it dry just a little, leaving it a tad damp to finish drying on its own.  When your hair is as long and as thick as mine, blow drying could become an all-day task.  And to that I say, "No, thank you!"  Lastly, in between washings, if your hair is looking a little too greasy for you and you don't have time to wash it right away, add a little baby powder to your hair.  Not a lot.  Just a little.  It'll help "suck up" the oils and buy you another day. :-)

So, your turn to confess or share beauty tips.  I want to know.  How often do you wash your hair?  Are you brave enough to rinse with cold water?  *sigh*  The price of beauty. lol