Posts (page 2)
So, it's one thing to sprinkle a little baking soda under your arms to see how it kills odor. It's another thing all together to put Secret antiperspirant on after - fizzes like those vinegar and baking soda "volcanoes" people made for 4th grade science fair.
I want to do this. Someday, I will.
After a month of procrastination, the forms for the insurance loan and a partial distribution on the annuity went in the mailbox this morning. The proceeds will be immediately applied to the $%!$^&! card with the $20k+ balance and 30.24% interest rate (my god, over $500/month interest). Things are tight until mid-June, but Mr. Jaq is back to paying work once more after 2 months without and that helps tremendously.
Last night, Mr. Jaq sniffed my head and commented it was getting a bit "earthy". I had bought a small bottle of Dr. Bronner's liquid peppermint soap over the weekend, thinking it would be a good thing to try in the hair experiments. It was nice and tingly, and certainly nice smelling. It didn't make my head itch. It also didn't lather a bit (I only used a tiny amount) and left my hair pretty stiff and easily tangled and dull. Not a happy hair day.
I received two samples of mild shampoos from DHC today, and have been doing a little research on SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) vs. SLES (sodium laureth sulfate). SLES is much milder, causes less skin irritation, etc. All in all, I'm happy with this new hair care routine - shampooing once a week or so, rinsing every day, using baking soda every 2 or 3 days, so I'm calling the experiments a success overall. Saves money, easier on the planet, easier on my scalp - all good things.
Tomorrow's my birthday. Those of you who know me, and even those who don't, this is what I want: donate to Heifer International. Through your generosity, people can better feed and support their families and, because Heifer requires recipients to pass on the gift by providing some of the offspring of their breeding animals to others in their community, their neighbors, their towns, their countries.
Started over on Flickr:
A daily photo or two, along with notes on what I did to it that day prior to the photo.
The boar bristle hairbrush showed up late yesterday afternoon. It looked well-made for less than $12, ecologically harvested wood, ethically sheared bristles ("like wool is sheared from sheep..."). It smelled odd, perfume-y, not completely unpleasant, so I brushed my hair 100 strokes. This stuck my hair completely down to my head, but it was obedient and fluffed up via some finger-combing.
Mr. Jaq stuck his nose in when I came back downstairs and inhaled deeply. "Does it smell like oatmeal? Does it stink?" I cringed. "No....... It's sorta musty though." I had only rinsed with water on Thursday morning, probably should have considered the baking soda rinse instead. Either way, I washed with a tiny amount of shampoo this morning, so little it barely lathered my whole head. My hair is a slightly unmanageable puff now. It probably needed a few drops of jojoba while wet and I forgot. That was Saturday morning to Friday morning of no shampoo.
A casualty though - the new hairbrush stunk up the bathroom, left in there overnight. I decided to wash it, as the care instructions said this was okay as long as it wasn't submerged. I dried it fairly well, but not well enough. I also think leaving it bristle-side up contributed. The wood swelled and split, from one of the bristle clusters down the side of the handle. Oh well.
Two other things my hair needs: cut and color. I haven't sussed out an alternative to Hydrience and will be sticking with that for the near future.
Okay, I am officially amazed at how well this "not shampooing" is working for me. My head doesn't itch, my hair isn't stuck flat to my head, it actually looks pretty great. Here's the continuation of the experiments:
Monday night: Had a tiny bit of itchiness, so decided to try some sweet almond oil. I massaged approx. 3 tbsp into my scalp for 5-7 minutes, then showered to rinse most of it out.
Tuesday morning: Dilute baking soda rinse
Tuesday night: Hair looking a little oily at the roots. Decided to try using oats as a dry shampoo. My original plan was to grind up some rolled oats coarsely, but it was late so I just used some coarse cut scotch oatmeal from Bob's Red Mill instead. I wanted something not too floury/powdery, as I don't own a hairbrush yet. And I picked oats over cornmeal because oatmeal is soothing to the skin and has less oil than corn. Worked about 2 tsp into root, mostly at the crown, down part, and front. Worked pretty well, but next time need to shake head out over a towel instead of all over the place!
Wednesday morning: Warm rinse in shower, spritz damp hair with moisture spray.
I bought a natural bristle brush with a reclaimed wood handle from Amazon, it should be here tomorrow. Be warned, when searching for boar bristle hairbrush, I got a lot of spanking erotica links :D
Due to having to pay a goodly sum in taxes, needing to rent a car while at the jobsite in CA, and having a blowout on the way to scatter the ashes of my father-in-law this past weekend and not having enough tread left on the remaining tires to keep them, credit card debt is up this month by approximately $2k.
I have been toting up the assets and assessing liquidity:
- Can borrow approx. $9k from 401k at approx. 12% interest (including fees).
- Can borrow approx. $9k from whole-life policy set up by my paternal grandmother that I now have ownership of, at approx. 9% interest.
- Can cash out a single pay annuity for approx. $9k, also from paternal grandmother.
- Pro: All interest paid goes back to my account. Payments are a direct withdrawal from my paycheck. I can specify the length of the loan. Con: Have to submit all paperwork to my company's HR person who can reject my application and decides on interest rate. Fees are excessive (>3%). Amount of paperwork is onerous.
- Pro: Policy stays in force as long as the interest and normal yearly payments are up to date. I can specify the length of the loan. Interest goes back to my account. Con: Paperwork requires my husband to sign at a notary.
- Pro: Minimal paperwork. Con: Once it's gone, it's gone.
In the interest of limiting my daily exposure to hydrocarbons and synthetics, and because the oil cleansing method is working so well on my face, I'm starting to do some "no shampoo" experiments on my hair. The only styling product I use is a spray that is basically salt water with some castor oil and natural fragrances. So far:
Saturday: Washed hair in the morning with coal tar shampoo and rubbed 2 drops of jojoba in after towel drying. Hair spritz after towel dry.
Sunday: Worked 8 oz of warm water mixed with 1 tbsp of baking soda into hair and scalp and rinsed well. Everything felt squeaky clean and so shiny, all day.
Monday: Rinsed really well in the warm shower spray. Noticed a tiny bit of itchiness around 3 pm, but hair still looks pretty great, not flat at all.
The other ingredients to be tried out: cider vinegar as a dilute rinse, jojoba and/or sweet almond oil and/or olive oil as a scalp cleanser, ground rolled oats mixed with baking soda as a dry shampoo.
