Today, my hair is straight. It's smooth. I can run my fingers thru it. It swings. It's what I always wanted.
But it's not naturally straight. It's not the naturally bored straight hair like I dreamed of at age 12.
Prior to the age of 12 (hmmm) it was thick & straight. But I didn't care then. My mom always fixed my hair nice and tight with French braids and ribbon barrettes. My hair was never messy and it was never my problem to make sure it looked perfect, it was her problem.
When the magic number 12 showed up it went wild.
Wavy, kinky (my mothers favorite description), curly..... Just plain wild.
Over the years I've used heat to straighten my hair such as hot rollers, wrong hair brush and hair dryer, a really bad straightener from the 80s.
Nothing worked. Every day was a bad hair day.
Insert hair products and cosmetology school. After gaining knowledge and the correct products and tools, my hair was tamed enough for the 90's.
My senior picture was loooooong spiral curls (with the very Big Bang). The wildness had been tamed.
Over the past 21 years my hair has only gone shorter. Marriage & babies made me do it. When it's shorter it is curly but it is not tamed or public viewing acceptable.
A few nights ago I was with girlfriends and one mentioned that she had not used shampoo in 3 weeks.
First thought, she's sitting next to me and second thought was her hair probably stinks but it looks really good.
So she told us all about her new regimen. Baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
A palmful of pasty baking soda. Ummmm check. I have a 5# bag on my washer for laundry. Massage into parts, hairline and rinse, a couple days a week. Conditioner is apple cider vinegar, soak ends of hair in apple cider vinegar massage thru hair shaft. Do this once or so a week.
Her hair was healthier and shinier.
Since I haven't had curls in a lot of years, I'm going to do an experiment and try this. I am hoping it will define my curls and tame them. I am also anxious to see if I have shine added too.
Stay tuned.