So, here is my dilemma. My hair. Do I keep it long? Or cut it short? I'll explain, in great detail as usual... ;)
I have my long curly hair almost totally back to it's original length (mid back length fully stretched out) since the big chop for chemo in April of 2008. Everyone loves my long hair, they love that it's not frizzy which helps me sell more Deva Curl products and the Curly Girl (aka CG) method that we teach in the boutique and salon. What a lot of people don't know is I have a very serious scalp condition. I have something called Seborrhiasis, which is a yucky combination of Seboriac Dermatitis and Psoriasis. One comes from one side of my family and one comes from the other.
In the late 1990's when I thought I only had bad dandruff I was so fed up with washing my hair every single day (my hair was pillow messy every morning, no matter what so I washed it all the time) with medicated, sulfate riddled, icky smelling shampoo, then treating it with curly hair conditioner and styling products. One day I decided to stop all products except for baby shampoo and made my dermatoligist look at my scalp in its raw, cracked, bleeding, itchy as hell state. That's when the Seborrhiasis was diagnosed. I was prescribed a topical corticosteroid (it was the 90's, I didn't know any better) which was a miracle for the scalp issues and not in a shampoo base.... SOOO I happily dashed over to a (sulfate filled) curly hair shampoo (I was very excited that for the first time in memory I could use a nice smelling shampoo that wasn't full of medicine) my scalp got better in some ways, but got worse in others.... after weeks of experimentation I worked out that the shampoo was making certain parts of my head bleed! So, I lived like that for many years until I discovered the holy grail that is the CG method and the DevaCurl line of products.
The magic of DevaCurl is what we teach in our salon that sulfate free and in fact bubble free cleansing products are the best way to "wash" your dry and curly hair on those days you choose to wash your hair. For me the CG method and specifically the NoPoo conditioning cleanser is what not only saved my curls from frizz, it saved my scalp! From the first use NoPoo cleanser and One Condition conditioner calmed my scalp condition drastically and over the years of experimenting I can get away with using my corticosteroid meds about once a month to keep my scalp condition under control and I cleanse with NoPoo every two or three days to keep my scalp calm.
You see, the CG method and all it's amazing tips and tricks for curly hair has taught me to have my hair perfect for days on end without washing or even wetting it. I put my hair up with rings made from pantyhose to avoid the mark left from tight elastics. I sleep on a silk pillowcase to avoid the puffy hair created from cotton pillowcases. I know what to do if my hair is not quite perfect when I wake up, take a hat off, come home from a workout, get caught in the rain etc to keep my hair perfectly lovely and free of the dreaded frizz that haunts the nightmares of curly girls everywhere.
So, I bet you are wondering if I will ever get to my dilemma. This is how it goes. I do my hair on "Day 1" I cleanse with NoPoo and condition with One Condition and set it perfectly with Ultra Defining Gel (a 15 minute process and a 5 hour natural drying process including the CG method of clipping) I go through my day with lovely hair and a non itchy scalp and wake up on "Day 2" with perfect hair and a slightly itchy scalp..... and then wake up on "Day 3" with perfectly acceptable hair and a VERY itchy scalp. I could use my cortisone more often which I don't want to do and so I start all over again with another "Day 1" and on some days I just put it in a simple but boring ponytail and try not to itch my head in public.
If I cut my hair off to a very short style I could do my hair in 2 minutes and I could do it every 2 days without the itchiness and drying drama.
What do you think oh bloggy readers? Keep the long curls or chop it off?
