2018/01/22

The Plague

Da Goddess @ 19:15

Current Mood: Dejected
Current Status: Infected with The Plague
Prognosis: Deathbed adjacent, chance of 11th hour rally

Whoever invents an instantaneous cure for the cough would make billions.

Really wish this would happen.

That is all.

2018/01/18

(t)HAIRsday – Money Money Money

Da Goddess @ 16:47

Note: I get nothing from the companies that make the products I mention below. I only mention them because I have used them for years and trust the results.

To keep your hair looking and feeling great you don’t need to spend a lot of money.

For the most part, everything you need in a shampoo and conditioner can be purchased for under $10. In 99% of shampoos and conditioners on the market, you get all you need in the same basic ingredients. High priced products may add all sorts of fancy ingredients, but there is absolutely nothing to back their claims that they’re better than less expensive options. In many cases, they’re selling you a solution to a problem you likely never knew you had (and probably never will have).

Stick with the basics when it comes to the products you purchase. Something as simple as Tresemmé or even Suave can keep your hair clean and conditioned.

If you want to up your hair game a bit, try Queen Helene’s Cholesterol or Alberto VO5’s conditioning oil treatment. Use those once every few months and your hair will be just as lovely as you’d like.

That is, if you remember to follow the instructions I gave you last week: clean, dry towel to dry (which you press gently on your hair — NEVER RUBBING!). A clean brush free of hair. Oh! I forgot an important step last week. When attempting to get through tangled hair, never try to strong-arm your way through! Instead, start at the bottom/ends of the hair and gently brush a little at a time. By using this method you’re freeing the ends, preventing excessive breakage, and saving yourself from absolute devastation. It takes a while to get used to brushing this way, but it absolutely works!

If you try any of these tips, let me know how they worked for you.

2018/01/11

(t)HAIRsday – Basics

Da Goddess @ 11:11

I may be a beauty school dropout, but I learned a lot during my time there. So, here are a few basic tips for my friends:

  1. When you’re shampooing your hair, try using about half the amount you think you need. This serves two purposes: you use less shampoo, obviously. And you are being kinder to your hair. You see, when you’re shampooing, you’re actually cleaning the dead skin and dirt from your scalp (unless your hair is full of awful debris, you don’t need to scrub your hair into a dry, lifeless mess).
  2. When conditioning your hair, use about 3/4 of what you think you need. Again, you’ll save some money, but, more importantly, you only need to condition your hair, not your scalp. Plus, too much conditioner can be hard to rinse out and weigh down your hair.
  3. Never leave conditioner on for longer than two minutes. Some conditioners have ingredients that can cause more damage than they’re supposed to repair.
  4. Rinsing your hair with cool water does two good things: it actually helps remove more of the conditioner than warmer water. And it helps to close the cuticle, thereby reducing the frizz and protecting the hair itself from other damage.
  5. When it’s time to get dried off, use a separate DRY towel for your hair. A damp or wet towel can catch hair in its loops, causing breakage.
  6. Once your hair is in that towel, DO NOT rub it vigorously! This can cause more breakage. Instead, blot your hair or press it gently between towel folds.
  7. Finally, before you brush your hair, make sure your brush is clean. Get rid of the hair from the bristles. Wash it if it looks a even a little grungy. I tend to clean my brush after every use. This way, I know it’s done and don’t have to think about it as I’m (generally) rushing around trying to get ready. Anyway, when your brush is dirty you end up negating all the effort you just put into getting your hair clean. Also, if your brush is full of hair it’ll pull at the hair on your head causing (repeat after me!) breakage.

If you’re interested in more tips, I have lots more! tHAIRsday may end up being a semi-regular thing.

2018/01/06

Drunken Choir

Da Goddess @ 19:09

I’m sitting out on the front porch, soaking in the cool evening air. In the distance I can hear the cars zipping down roads both near and not so near. I hear crickets and tree frogs. The occasional bat or owl. The neighbors’ TVs, hard to miss since they are elderly and hard if hearing. And then there’s the drunken chorus of a song I don’t know, in a language I don’t much understand unless it’s spoken slowly and contains most of the words I DO understand.

Behind the house, across the street, someone’s celebrating. I don’t know what occasion is. It doesn’t really matter. What I hear are voices raised in song, communally rejoicing. There are plenty of voices off-key. Some are a bit behind the others. But then there are moments of absolute beauty, in which everyone has hit the right notes. It’s in those moments that I feel my heart swell a bit and smile.

I’ve been thinking about us. The collective us. As a neighborhood, a community, a city, state, country, and a planet. We don’t always know the same songs or speak the same language. We don’t always hit notes perfectly. But we’re all part of the choir. We often sound drunk and uncoordinated. But sometimes we all hit the perfect note at the same time. When we do, it’s not always easy to hear because we’re too busy worrying about what we’re doing and singing to truly appreciate the moment.

I’m doing my best to listen for those moments these days because they’re so rare and precious. I need to get in there and appreciate more often how beautiful it is when we are in harmony and work toward making sure I develop a voice that hits those perfect notes more frequently. If I don’t, I’m part of the reason we sound like a drunken choir.