Stepping Aside

I'm removing myself from the quest for long beautiful silky soft hair. It seems I can have long but silky soft is not within my grasp.

I've tried so many different conditioners. Occasionally I'll have soft hair for a day but the next time I use the same conditioner the results are totally different.

I've also tried ordinary household ingredients. For a while a mix of egg and honey and oil left my hair soft but removing bits of cooked egg white from my hair was not worth the price of soft hair. And it seemed that whatever water temperature I used apart from freezing! cooked the egg.

Mixing honey or aloe vera gel with my conditioner gave mixed results. Sometimes I'd end up with soft hair, some times not. Sigh.

I have to be careful with oiling too. I've found that if I oil more than 3 or 4 times a week I end up with crunchy ends. And with the change of seasons, my hair's needs seem to change too and by the time I figure out what my hair needs we're heading into the next change of season. Another sigh.

Henna doesn't deliver consistent results either. Occasionally after using henna I'll have super soft hair but I can never decide whether that is due to the henna, or the heat I've applied to make the henna take, or to the tons of conditioner I use to get the henna out.

I've tried giving my hair protein. I've tried moisture. I've tried egg. Honey. Aloe vera gel. Coconut oil. Jojoba oil. Almond oil. Olive oil. Shea butter. Just about every natural conditioner available. And nothing seems to work. I think my hair just doesn't want to be soft.

But at least I've got incredible shine!

Comments

April said…
Well now that's just not right. Because you hair looks so soft in all the pictures I've seen of it. Soft and luxurious. And yes, silky too.

I wonder how many people love all the aspects of their hair. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. I know I wish mine was thicker and had more wave. Some want few tangles and less wave. Or a different color or speed of growth...

Seems most aren't totally happy with their hair, huh? Ah well, 'tis human nature, I think. Regardless, you have beautiful, long hair Jules - whether you use eggs or oils or honey or whatever else on it.
BellaMama said…
I've found with my hair that I may approach the outside & it doesn't always work, but I need to get the nutrients inside for the best results. When it turned dry (winter) here, my hair took a nose-dive. It was dry, brittle, tangled and the conditioning didn't help except, like you said, for one day. I realized that I need to EAT my olive oil-over and above any I would have on a salad and to also DRINK more WATER!! Now my conditioner is too much. Another intake would be more B vitamins as in Yogurt and things like Kefir or Kombucha. Zinc also plays an important role in skin health (or scalp). Here's a great site about the amount of water everyone should drink.

http://www.grandtimes.com/Water_Cure.html

Hope this is helpful. The more you nourish your body, the more it shows!

Blessing,
BellaMama
SchnauzerMom said…
Don't scare me like that. At first I thought you were planning on cutting your hair off. It is very beautiful!
Jules said…
April, I deliberately didn't post the photos of hair looking decidedly unsilky and un-soft! (Didn't want to be too honest!). When I wear it down I expect to feel soft silky strands brushing my skin - and am always disappointed.

BellaMama, I might need to re-evaluate my diet. I feel that I eat a nourishing diet and drink lots of water, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to examine it closer.

SchnauzerMom, that's so funny, especially considering how sad I feel every time I learn you've got your beautiful hair! Actually, I have been thinking of cutting because I'm having such a time of the hair blahs, but I know I won't feel any better with it short, so I figure I might as well ride out this feeling.
Daisy said…
Do you want to hear something really, really scary Jules? The thought of getting a perm crosses my mind every so often! If only perms didn't harm hair so much!!! I'd LOVE a spiral perm!

Your hair is lovely Jules. Whether it's soft or not .. who cares .. it's gorgeous! I think with wavy or curl hair ... it's hard to get that silkiness ... it's easier when the hair is straight. When I use to straighten my hair .. it was so smooth, so soft and silky .. but in it's natural state it's not!
Unknown said…
When I first started reading your blog post, I thought you had decided to cut your hair!! Thankfully I kept reading :). Whew! Jules, I think your hair is so beautiful. It looks really soft and silky from the pictures. You are a wavy, like me, and some days wavies have silky hair and sometimes we don't. Some days my hair is so soft, and I just want it to stay that way all the time. Then I wash it and it somehow ends up not being as soft. We wavies just have finicky hair! I have been going through huge hair cutting urges, so I can relate to your hair blahs. I think your hair is lovely Jules. You may not think so, but we all do!!
bunches of yarn said…
Hi Jules, I'm hoping that you are not planning to cut your hair. Like April says it always looks so healthy and shiny.
I know a lady whose hair is very coarse and wiry--she keeps it short. She thinks that long hair is for perfect hair...yeah, sure. The texture of hair is only softened by condish for a short time.
As long as your hair is healthy, it does not matter what its texture is. (just my opinion)
^__^