with 20 minutes in the hair-care aisle at Albertsons, trying to find a conditioner with no -cones!  All of my old standbys were now off-limits.  :'(

"Aussie 3 Minute Miracle"?  Nope.  Simethicone.

"Dove Advanced Care"?  No.  Dimethicone and Amodimethicone.

"Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curls & Waves", "Garnier Fructis Fortifying Cream Conditioner", "Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture Renewal", GAAAH!  Nothing but -cones!  I could've torn my hair out, but then I'd have an even longer journey to long hair, wouldn't I?  ;)

Finally, (and surprisingly), which conditioner do I find with no -cones whatsoever?  Why, the humble $.99 "Suave Naturals Coconut" conditioner, down there on the bottom shelf.  ;D

So, with my new bottle of conditioner in hand, I come home this morning to deep-condition my hair like I've never done.

I shampoo (with Pantene - I'm going to use it up before I search for a new brand) and rinse well with cold water from the flexible shower head.  Bent-over the edge of the tub, of course.  (Hypothermia isn't cool.)  Added conditioner, combed through with my wide-toothed shower comb.  I then tucked on my shower cap, and proceeded to warm myself up with a nice hot shower.

I left the shower cap on for a good hour.  Then I rinsed the conditioner out with more cold water.  After letting my hair dry (ooh!  ringlets!)  I added a few drops of Jojoba oil, smoothed between my palms.

My hair is now dried, soft, shiny, curly, and better looking than I've seen it in months!  I think that cold water really helped it.  (I just need to deal with the brain-freeze that accompanies it.)

After cutting my hair to just at my shoulders when dry, I've left it alone for a little over a year now.  It is now down to my shoulder blades when dry.

Next orders of business:
1) A much overdue trim.  I'm too scared to do it myself, but it seems ridiculous to pay a salon for a shampoo & a trim.  It needs done, though.
2) Stalking the drug stores & natural foods stores for "nice" hair products.

I've already got a 100% boar bristle brush.  (Didn't like it much, though.  Not enough penetration for me.)  My can't-live-without-it brush is now the "Goody Ouchless brush for Curly Hair" I found at Rite-Aid.  I've never had a tangle with it.  That, and my shower comb, seem to be serving me pretty well.  We'll see if my needs change over time, though.

Pictures may come soon.

Congrats on starting your hair journal, brainfrey!

Sounds like you've got this hair thing down. hehe I enjoy your writing and look forward to reading more!  :)

Quote:

(Hypothermia isn't cool.)

 ;D Actually it IS!!  But I totally understand.

I look forward to reading your journal.  :)

Congrats on your hair success and starting a journal. :)  

My hair was rather frizzy & pfoofy at work tonight.  It was probably the rain & mid-30s temps we've been having lately.  (Brrr!)  But after sitting here at the computer & adding some coconut oil, it is very soft & shiny.  The ringlets are all gone (they tend to get squished), but I now have huge waves.

I'm going shopping this weekend.  Hopefully I'll find a silk/satin pillowcase, a silk scarf to wrap my hair in during work, some more scrunchies, and a good pair of hair scissors.  (And if my dear husband uses them to put model cars together like he did with my good tweezers, he's gonna find those scissors in a very uncomfortable place!)  >:(
I'm also going to pre-shop for a good, light shampoo, and get my hair trimmed.

All this before Xmas!  'Tis the season!

Well, due to a paycheck snafu, I wasn't able to go shopping until today.  I could not, for the life of me, find a silk sleeping cap or a silk scarf.  And I had to hunt down the satin pillowcase.  After spending a good half-hour walking around in circles in the domestics department at Fred Meyer, and an unsuccessful search by a sales clerk, I finally found a single, lonesome satin pillowcase.  Hanging by itself in a place I would never have thought to look, it was the last one.  (Whew!)

I also found some microfiber towels in the automotive department.  It's a good place to find cheap microfiber towels (package of three for $3.99), made for the gear heads (like our roommate) that can't stand to leave so much as a drop of water on their baby's chrome bumper.  ::) "Oh noes!  Water spots!!!"

A few hair pins, a new package of soft hair bands, three packages of hask placenta (just because I've never tried it before, and it'll be fun to gross my husband out.  "It's got what in it?!"), and a bottle of Pantene clarifying shampoo.

At New Seasons Market (a local natural food chain), I found some promising products:
Nature's Gate Jojoba Revitalizing Shampoo and Conditioner
Giovanni Nutrafix Hair Reconstructor

I also bought a tube of clear Aloe gel.

So now, I guess I'm all set.  I also got some pics taken.  They can be seen in my pic thread here:
http://www.longlocks.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1167176828

I'm well off on my journey!  More frizz today, because of the rain.  Gotta love Oregon: the land of the everlasting winter drizzle.