Essential oils ...

So I've been really careful with my hair. I've gone off most shampoos because of the ingredients lists and switched to a baby shampoo so it doesn't harm my hair.

Remember, folks, -cones are (almost always) bad. Silicone, dimethicone, amodimethicone, simethicone, cyclomethicone ... there are many, many more, and they really do a number on your hair. They're harder to get out, so they end up needing harsher cleansers if you want your hair rid of them. There's also the problem of -cones going by different names to sneak under the radar--some try to sneak by as -conol, or -xane.

These are added to hair care products under the guise of helping. They detangle, they make your hair shine, and they're supposed to help stop breakage. You know why they do that? They're not water soluble, so they sit there. It's like how you were told a billion times not to stick mineral oil in your ears for earaches--if it's not immediately natural, it really shouldn't go into your body. I know, tell that to McDonald's. Those -cones will build up on your hair if you're not using the right rinses for the specific types of -cones on your hair, and it's just a mess. Just like eating too many Big Macs.

However, essential oils can do the same things, but without that lovely added non-water-solubility.

I tried a mix yesterday of rosemary, sweet grass, and olive oil for the first time, straight out of the shower.

You guys, I'm not making this up. My waist-length hair took less than a minute to brush through because rosemary detangles. Both it and sweet grass promote healthy hair growth and can possibly increase your growth--rosemary is commonly used for aches and pains because it increases blood flow, and on your head, that means hair growth. The olive oil is a carrier, but it also helps moisturise the scalp and keep hair healthy and shiny--without -cones.

I'm kind of in love with this stuff now. My head smells amazing, like rosemary and vanilla and hay, and I'm already looking into natural shampoo recipes (I've heard good things about baking soda).

But for those of you already interested in this essential oil thing ... be careful you're buying an essential oil, not a fragrance oil. Those just smell pretty but don't do anything for you. It should ideally be applied to wet hair (dry hair can just seize up and dry out further, depending on your own hair's chemistry, so why tempt fate?).

What I did was dip my finger tips in the oils and rub them along my hairline all around, working it back with my fingers up to the crown of my head and in from my nape. Once I'd done that all the way around my head, I brushed through it (I'm saving up for a wooden comb, but all the stores seem to carry is bamboo, which ... why the heck would I want a wood that splinters in my hair?), and it was awesome.

I'll keep you updated on any new developments!

How to sell your hair

So today I cut a foot of hair off--mostly scraggly ends, but it still feels weird. I mean, yeah, still hair to my waist, but it feels so short!

Anyway, I've been lazy and failing at life with meeting with Keith over how to sell his hair, so I'm gonna write it up here so that I can just point people at it from now on. :D

Reply Hazy ... Ask Again Later

In the tradition of creepy people who want my hair, I bring you the guy whose handle is basically "Bald Lover" who has thankfully only tried twice to get me.

Creepy webcam guy

Now for the story of creepy webcam guy. I'll refer to him as that, since he's probably a very nice man, just ... creepy. And I don't want to sully his character without good reason. I think I have good reason, but I'll be nice.

See, my ad had been up for just over a week at this point, with no real offers. Sure, a few people in Nigeria said they'd pay me the full amount and have a shipper get my hair, but I'm not a fool. A couple of people wanted more pictures, but nothing came of those, either.Oh, and one guy wanted me to grow my hair out for a full year, and he'd pay me $100 a month to do that before cutting it for him after that year was over. Yeah, no thanks.

Then this guy emails, interested in my hair. He wants to hop on Yahoo messenger and webcam.

Well, I like the idea of having someone interested in my hair whose IP traces to the United States, but ... not the webcam part. So I lie and tell him I don't have a webcam, but I'd gladly get on messenger. I sent this just before I went out to run errands, because I do have a life outside of the internet.

How it began ...

So this really is just Krista's fault that I'm posting all this, but hey--maybe it'll help someone else, and if not, it'll give you a laugh.

See, about 6 months ago, I decided that I ought to sell my hair. I have long hair, down past my butt, and it's thick and healthy and also kind of gorgeous. And red hair goes for up to $100 an inch. So 20 inches would get me $2000.

That's not a small amount of money for hair. So I decided I was going to do it.

It took me from November until May 9th to finally get around to getting everything ready to sell and such.

You need pictures--LOTS of pictures. You need pictures of your hair down, pictures of your hair up, pictures of your hair braided, of how thick around it is, how heavy it is, in natural light, indoors, how long you're cutting it to ... and also? No faces in the pictures. There's a lot of creepy people out there, as will be mentioned later (again, thanks ever so, Krista. :p ). And I made a new email address--that's where the name of this blog comes from, since I didn't want creepers getting my main email.

I went through buyandsellhair.com because they seem to be the highest traffic site, with the highest selling prices. They also have guides for selling and buying hair, and scams to watch out for, so it seems pretty legit. Plus, they've been mentioned in legitimate news sources, which definitely adds to their credibility. And anyway, hair selling isn't a new idea, anyway--it's just weird to hear about it in the United States.

It does cost to list there, so this isn't something you can throw up and change your mind (well, I suppose you could, but then you're out the money), but the added cost of upgrading to a featured ad gives you a better chance of someone seeing your hair. All told, it cost less than $30 to list for 3 months.

Now I'm playing the waiting game, hoping someone will like my 26" of hair enough to drop cash on it. Preferably someone who isn't a creeper.