coraa | (no subject) (Reply)

On the recommendation of a few of y'all, I ordered some Aveda shampoo and conditioner. (Rosemary Mint, for fine hair, if you're really curious.) It's been working wonders for me -- first thing is that I adore the scent. It's very strongly herbal, like smelling a cup of rosemary-mint tea rather than like smelling like shampoo. (It really doesn't have the shampoo odor at all, nor does it have the fake-floral undertones of a lot of herbal and "herbal" shampoos and conditioners.) But I'm startled by how nice it is on my hair. At first I was concerned about the cost, and it is pricey, but what I'm noticing is that after a couple of days I don't need to use nearly as much conditioner as I did before, which means I'll go through it a lot less quickly. It makes my hair feel clean without stripping it as much, which means I need less conditioner. Nice. Also, generally very smooth and manageable. I'm often skeptical of 'you get what you pay for' arguments, but in this case it appears to be true.

Also, I've chopped off about four inches of my hair in the past three or so days. It's still past my shoulders, but only by maybe 2-3 inches now. It's funny: there was a time not long ago when any haircutting meant a good deal of angst. I wanted long hair so badly that I resisted trimming. Now, I notice that my hair's getting gross, split and tangly at the ends, so I pull out the scissors and chop off an inch and a half or so, and then repeat the next day if I notice I haven't got them all.

It's not that I've realized that trimming is necessary to keep hair growing nicely, although that's true. It's that I've realized that I'm never going to have butt-length hair. Hair length is determine genetically: your hair grows at a certain rate, and falls out at a certain period of time, so your hair length is really going to top out at (length per month) x (maximum strand age in months). And for me, that's bra-strap length at longest. Trying to coax it out longer means a lot of effort and babying in order to get maybe three more ratty inches, and you know what? It's not that big of a deal. My hair still looks good at just past shoulder length (actually, it looks fine all the way up to chin length, but I prefer it long enough to braid or tie back), and it doesn't look good when it's overlong and ratty, and that's all there is to it. So now I wield the scissors with impunity.

It's about time for another round of henna, too. Need to remember to mix up the glop so I can apply it on Monday...