Purple Hair?!?

I'm getting to where I finally can say that I have a definite favourite colour. It's purple. Below is a portrait of me by one of my Sunday School kindergartners. I was wearing purple that day. :)

"Gimme five... er... nine!"

I was inspired by a fellow member on my long hair forum who has hair about my length, but purple. It's mouthwateringly gorgeous! Unfortunately, I could never pull that off & I have a distinct fear of bleach, so that'll never be, excluding wigs. :sits up suddenly - "Hmmm...": So I splurged on some Manic Panic vegetable-based semi-permanent hair dye. Semi-perm meaning it should stay 4-6 weeks. I had a friend help me put in some streaks & SIL Shelly rinsed it out for me. No bleach, just the colour over virgin hair.

The evening it was done, rinsed only with cool water.

I loved it while it lasted, all of about 2 days. Tops. I do have more but it's a lot of trouble for one day of colour. I'm toying with the idea of bleaching (!!!) two streaks - one at my left temple & one above & behind my right ear - so that I can have funky colour there. But, there's the whole bleach damage/maintenance thing. Not sure I'd like the long term effects. I've tried to find clip-in extensions, but the longest reasonably priced ones I can find are only 18 inches long. That's half the length of my hair. I guess I just need to start saving all my shed hairs & make a clip-in extension of my own that I can bleach & colour.

My ends.

My naturally lighter ends took & held the purple better. I can still find some slightly purple-hued strands here & there when I'm searching for split ends. If I use my imagination...

Hair, Hair, Wherefore Art Thou Hair...

(Okay, that title's strange, but whatever... )

My hair was at 34 inches, or just barely hip length (when the curl is pulled out - just hanging loose, it looks about waist) the last time I measured, which was around a month ago. I did have a growth spurt followed by a stall (grrr... ) back in December and January. From December 10th through January 27th (-ish), my hair grew 3 inches. Not bad when the average growth is supposed to be half an inch per month. I think the biggest difference was from adding Acidophilis to my daily vitamins. I also take fish oil, vitamin E oil, biotin, and a vitamin B complex for my hair. I also take a calcium, magnesium and zinc pill for my muscle spasms / cramps, but I've heard they help with hair growth, too.

After the spurt, my length only grew about a quarter inch in the next month. I'm trying not to obsess over it and so I'm not measuring very often.

A bun with a scarf twisted through it, held with a rose stick

I have changed some of my care routine a bit. I am trying Chagrin Valley's shampoo bars on my roots. The one I have right now is Honey, Beer & Egg, but I think it's a little too moisturizing for me. It's a sample size, so I don't have that much left. I do have the Carrot Milk & Honey, Chamomile & Citrus, Coconut Milk, Lavender & Spice (I think), Rosemary Mint, and Summer Sunshine to try out as well. I got the sample sizes so they were pretty cheap and they last a surprisingly long time.

I'm also trying to remember to use catnip tea to help prevent split ends. I soaked my hair in it last night, bunned and bagged it and slept on it all night. Be warned, though, if you try this, it will colour grays a pale blonde.

Speaking of grays, I think I found my first one a few weeks ago! It's smack on the top of my head and only about 2 inches long so I couldn't see it very well. It keeps hiding in with the others. I was hoping for a streak of gray around the scar at my hairline over my right eye, but I doubt I'll have such luck. Oh well. That one gray was such a shiny, pretty silver that I think I'll be quite happy when they do start coming in en masse.

My Hair Obsession

So, I got my pretty little hair sword last week. The more I see & use it, the more I love it! Ain't it purdy? The other one is a rose hair stick from longhairgirl.com. I love these things - they hold so well with less hair damage than elastics or metal barrettes. Plus, when your hair is up, the ends are protected & therefore get fewer splits.

I'm loving the condition my hair is in since I've changed the way I care for it now that I've discovered the Long Hair Community. See that shine! (I am so freakin' thrilled!) Even if you're not looking to grow long hair, your hair can benefit from the care tips you can glean there.
I thought I just had Chronic Big Hair Syndrome(CBHS). Waves that would poof out & flyaways that persistently, well... flew all over. Now that I've learned that CBHS comes when wavies & curlies use brushes & have started using oils, my hair is so different. It still has it's rebellious moments but the shine is phenomenal & it doesn't even tangle as much.

My new routine? I condition-wash-condition (CWC) every morning, although lately I've been experimenting with conditioner only (CO) follwoed by an Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse every other day. CWC is putting conditioner on from about the ears down, leaving that & shampooing the scalp only. Rinse everything & condition again. My deep conditioner is about four parts conditioner mixed with one part pure aloe vera gel & one part honey. I bun it, cover it with a plastic shower cap & then sleep on it all night before shampooing it out. After the shower, I carefully comb it out with a wide-tooth comb & then slide a little (seriously, a little goes a long way) coconut oil on. I let it dry a little & then whirl it up in a bun of some sort. When I take it down later in the day, I have the most awesome bun curls! Before I go to bed, I put some shea butter on the length, braid it & then either put my very (not) chic silky headcovering-doohickey on or just use my satin pillowcase. Like I said, the condition has improved so much. I still have lots of split ends that I'm slowly weeding out with Search & Destroy missions (S&D). I plan to eventually get rid of the layers I have. Not a lot of them, but it still makes it hard to braid all the way down. I want to get closer to my goal length first.

Most of the pictures on the hair forum are of the backs of folks' heads. It's kinda funny, but I had to get some while we were on vacation in the Black Hills. Mom got the above shot while we were on the walk up to Mount Rushmore. I've been doing my hair like that for around a year & never knew what it looked like until about a month ago.I asked Dad to get a shot of my hair. I didn't think I needed to tell him that the hair needed to be able to seen by the naked eye, but apparently... ;-)