I have been reading these things a lot so I figured I should start one.

Yesterday I oiled my hair for the first time since I got back and I washed it out this morning.  I rinsed the conditioner out in the sink and kept rinsing and rinsing and more and more kept coming out!  I did that for about 15 minutes before I decided I ought to comb it out before continuing- more always comes out of my hair after I comb.
So, I combed it and then kept rinsing and rinsing.  It took FOREVER for it to stop coming out... must have been building up there for a while.  Next time I take a bath I am doing a vinegar rinse first.

In the rest of my life, I am moving up in math classes in school so I have to learn a semesters worth of math over the summer.  I started today but luckily it is not that difficult.
I am happy though because I didn't dust at all while I was away, so I thought I would have a lot of split ends now--I don't!  The regular oiling seems to really be helping.
I'm going through one of my phases where I wish my hair was straight.  I try not to, since it's counterproductive and just makes me miserable, but it's hard when I think about the fact that if I had straight hair, it would be tailbone length by now.  Still, there's nothing I can do about my curly hair.  Besides, most of the time I like it.  I wish it was growing a bit faster though-- it seems not to be at the moment, which isn't helping.

I found this balm my mom and I bought at the craft market in Santa Fe a while back.  I've used it on my lips before, and I thought I might try it on my hair as an alternative to shea butter.
Here are the ingredients, I think all of them are fine for use on hair, but I thought I'd check with you guys:
Herbal infused olive oil, almond, apricot and rosehip seed oils, shea butter, beeswax, meadowfoam and jojoba oils, tocopherol and blended essential oils.
Unfortunately I don't have very much of it...

I went swimming again yesterday, but I brought conditioner with me this time and put it in right after I was done.  I also oiled it with my usual shea butter, but also tried the balm.  It seems to have worked well, and it also smells nice.
I want to see if I can get to Whole Foods today to see if I can find a different type of oil to use on my hair.  I like this balm, but I don't have enough of it to use it for a while.  Shea butter is nice but is difficult to apply. 

Well, the new oil has turned out well.  My hair is as calm as is possible for my hair in the summertime.  Luckily it doesn't get very humid where I live.

I'm taking a programming class in the evenings for my robotics team.  It's very interesting but a little tedious as it is similar to what I've done before.  I'm glad just to be doing something, though.  I've been sitting around since I got back to from my trip.  Later this summer I'm going on a backpacking trip and then heading to Oregon to look at colleges.  I'm also happy that I'll have a chance to see some of my friends from my old school.  I haven't seen most of them for almost a year now, so it'll be nice to catch up.

Culrgirl64: I'm very happy with it!  I'm glad a bought it instead of trying to mix something up by myself.  Though that might have been fun...  I always have liked chemistry...
I tried something different when I washed my hair yesterday-- I used my Jason shampoo and my Pantene conditioner.  I don't like the Pantene shampoo because it has ammonium laureth sulfate and I think it was drying out my scalp.  My Jason conditioner also seems too light for my hair- I've found thicker and richer conditioners work best for me.  So I tried it, and it seems to have worked pretty well!  My second day hair is as nice as the first, which is rare for my hair- it always seems to mess itself up overnight.  Today it didn't, which I'm pleased about.

My heart goes out to you love.  I use to bite my nails to the quick.  One thing I can suggest if you want to try it is Sally Hansen Diamond Strenght Instant Nail Hardener.  It helped me grow my nails back.  I still use it! Good luck!

Quote:

Lisabelle: I will see if I can find that...
Jerry:  What I'm doing has worked so far!  I normally don't bite my nails so much in the summer but I have been lately (blame it on the self-inflicted math homework) so I thought I'd try it!
Trisha: It is nice to know you're not putting nasty stuff on/in your body!  A lot of people are vegetarian/vegan where I live (I am almost vegan-- don't eat meat or cheese, and eggs only in certain things) so there is more of a market.  Which means more awesome stores like Elephant Pharm.

French braided my hair today-- I am happy with the results.  Each time I do it it gets smoother.  I haven't tried doing a multi-strand or a crown braid on myself yet, though.  I think if I had straight hair I would have tried it already but my hair is difficult enough to work with and if I mess up I can't just comb it out flat and it will be fine.  I hope I get up the courage to try sometime.  Meanwhile, I am happy with this.