Let's Talk Hair

Ah, the Burns girls and their lifelong struggle with their hair.  I'm not struggling anymore; I'm embracing my curls.  I've found  the magic bullet.  Here's hoping it can still look good (I'd take reasonable) when that nasty southern humidity kicks in mid May.  This is our story...

Remember the episode of "Friends in the Bahamas".  Here are the highlights. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjdEWJY6KyI

My 3 sisters and I have hair that turns into "Monica's hair in the Bahamas" when humidity is present.  It's not pretty.  We are all brunettes (varying shades depending on the stylists).  We all have natural curl of varying degrees.  You know the saying, "grass is always greener on the other side of the fence".  We have 3 girl cousins our same age that we've grown up with who have perfectly straight blond hair.  Humidity makes their hair straighter.  It seemed like a cruel joke for so long.  I'm sure they still long for a little body; you just can't win.

My mom, a dark Irish gal, (Foley decent) had beautiful black hair that turned a beautiful white (early 40's) and has never been colored.  Liz (my mom) has always had strong opinions regarding hair (among other things).   She has never understood us coloring our hair "A" and "B" thinks long hair is a look only for the young.  I'm wearing my hair long now.  It's probably driving her crazy.
When we were little, we had a barber and his wife come to our farm to cut our hair.  7 people; same haircut.  One size fits all.  So many tears.  Now, I don't blame my mom for arranging this.  Seems reasonable and probably cost effective to have someone come to your house and cut every one's hair at the same time.  Really, she was ahead of her time.  People love this kind of service now.   The barber and his wife were characters.  My mom says he came on to her once.  We (my sisters and I) think they were swingers and my parents just didn't know.  They were definitely hippies and were probably stoned and my parents didn't know that either.  I had the straightest hair.  I wanted a "Dorothy Hamill".  I thought "Frank" came close to that look.  Someone actually gave me a perm in High School.  I wish I could find a picture of that look; I'm sure it was a beauty.

We've done Keratin the past few years.  It does work.  If you haven't tried it and want your hair relaxed you need to do it.  It's a little pricey, but it lasts a few months.  Just google "Keratin" and you'll find someone who does it in your area.  Side note: it may be cancer causing but that's just the price of beauty right?!!  I stumbled onto a late night QVC show for "Wen".  I love that product and have used it for the past few months which led me to my new curly hair find.  I was in the beauty supply store (on the down low) and asked them if they were selling a product similar to "Wen" a no sulfate, no suds shampoo.  The beauty supply personal introduced me to a new line "Deva Concepts", ttp://www.devaconcepts.com/products/curl/DevaCurl_NoPoo

Awesome!  Now, I'm waiting for the humidity; but I think I'm going to be good.  I swear my hair looks like Minnie Driver on a good day; I'll take it!!  I want to be able to swim for exercise and for so long that was impossible because you can't let chlorine water touch the "Keratin".  I still have to do some extra hoops to get the chlorine out of my hair, but it resumes it's healthy hair status pretty quickly.  I've also had a stylist tell me to add Baking Soda to my shampoo to naturally get out the chlorine.  That's good news because the clarifying shampoo I had bought made my hair feel like straw.

Well, there's always some new product out there to save the day.  Some work better than others.  There's probably not a magic bullet that's going to make you ready for bathing suit season though.  It's going to take some good ole fashioned sweat!  I'm hearing good reports from people that have added exercise to their daily routines and are starting to see results.  Memorial Day weekend is only 56 days away; I want to look good in my bathing suit; join me!