Carol Tuttle recently did a video on the effects of daily washing your hair. And how it's a big no-no.

I realized that in the amount of time it would take for me to write why and for you to read why, you could've watched this video three times over.

So--here ya go.



Now, I've known this for a while. For at least 20 years. Did I follow it? No. Did I believe it? Only for the past 12 years. Even then did I follow it? Ehhh, ish.

Do I follow it today? I try. Honestly, there are days when you just can't do without washing your hair. Especially with my Monday-Friday workouts. I get gross and my hair becomes just as bad.

In this video there is talk about dry shampoos. So what are dry shampoos, really?

As this website states, dry shampoo is "a water-free way to freshen and restyle your hair when you don't have time for a leisurely scrub. Just sprinkle or spray the preparation on your hair, wait a few moments for it to absorb the oil and other gunk that sticks to it, and then brush or blot it out."

Well put.

For the longest time I believed that you could only buy dry shampoos at a salon = too costly for me to justify paying.

Until I saw a commercial about TRESemme's Fresh Start.

And that night I went to the store and bought me some.

It comes with simple, 4 part instructions that sums up to say: Place into oily part of hair with fingertips and scrub dry with a towel.

The scrubbing with the towel is to remove the dirt and oils from your hair.

Well, maybe I just don't know how to "scrub" with a towel. Because my hair looked worse after using it. I've tried this several times, using differing amounts of the product (less is "best", I guess, but none is better) and my hair looked as though I had denied myself any hair care for a solid couple of weeks.

Enter hat. Insist on wearing it even though you and your husband are going on a hot date to a nice restaurant. Nothing says sexiness like a silk shirt, strands of pearls, pearl earrings, gold bracelets and a dingy PHX Suns hat. All because you were gullible enough to believe a $5+ product would actually work and even dumber to give it a try during a time that if it failed you would look like a fool.

TRESemme, TRESemme, ooh, la, laaaaame.

And then my beautiful beautician cousin told me, "Just use cornstarch."

Say what?

This stuff?

Like, fo' realz?

Now I use it every time my hair gets oily. And when they say a little goes a long way, baby, a little. goes. a. long. way.

What I do:

First off, I put the cornstarch in a gallon-sized, plastic, zipper bag for convenience as those little boxes with the wax paper inside is recipe for a disaster when all you need is about a 1/4 tsp at a time. I ignore the fact that it looks like I'm hoarding a million dollars' worth of street drugs in my house.

Cornstarch. Or is it? You tell me.

How to use:

1. Dab the fingertips of your first three fingers into cornstarch. Really peeps, you don't need a lot. And if you have dark hair, especially be cautious.

(Note: COCOA ALSO WORKS. Yep. I've done it and I like it better than the cornstarch as my hair is dark. But I could no longer handle the paranoia of smelling like I bathed in Willy Wonka's chocolate river.)

2. Rub cornstarch into the fingers of both hands. It'll look like there's hardly anything on your fingers but promise me, it's there and it's enough.

3. Finger through the oily parts of your hair. 

4. Repeat first three steps until you have the oily strands covered. 

If by chance you do add too much into your hair and now you have a white patch, scrub out with a towel. This doesn't always work though, hence the reason I say to use a little as you can always add more; not always can you take away.

Now let's compare pricing:

Dry Shampoo: $5 for a 5.7oz bottle---used a handful of times and now sits under your sink with the other products you pathetically wasted your money on.

Cornstarch: $1 for 16oz box that, if used only for your hair, will last you for-ev-uh-ish.

Being cheap wins. 

Oh, P.S. Baby powder works good, from what I hear. It smells nice too if you want to, well, smell like a baby's tush. I've never used it though.

I have long hair. Long, thin-stranded, hair. My hair is confused and has been for years. It doesn't know whether to be straight or curly (regardless of the years of appointments it has made with the straightener), and the result of my hair becomes a funky, wavy-frizz. 

How does a hair type like mine fit in with being a Type 3, especially when Carol Tuttle wants us to be exactly who we should be and that we should embrace all aspects of ourselves.

I understood that as including your hair. So I did some searching on the perfect, T3 hair.

But, a good chunk of the photos I see online of those who get makeovers to look like their true, Type 3 hot self, are this:

(source)

(source)

(Aren't these ladies beautiful?!)

The problem between my hair and these 'dos: I can't pull off short hair. Seriously. Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. Sadly, even the great Carol Tuttle doesn't have a wand magic enough for me.

This is exactly how I would have my hair, erryday if I could. Red, sleek, piece-y, pointed at the ends. 

(source)

I can do the color, and have considered it. But straightening it takes a while. Ok, not terribly long but too long for this Type 3er. On top of that, I live in a humid location. Is there any reason to straighten my wavy hair while residing here? And on top of thaaaat, wearing my hair straight pulls my face down. 

One would assume then that that would make perfect sense for me to chop these locks off and go short. Because it would take minutes to straighten and be easier to keep tame.

Sorry. No can do. My crystal ball tells me I'll be an 80 year old great grandmother and will still have my long hair.

Have you ever heard beauticians labeling some 'dos as "low maintenance"? Especially as they chop 14 inches of hair off their victim who now can no longer wear ponytails? Anything that requires 20mins of blow-drying, 30mins of straightening/curling, and forcing your hair to act different from it's natural movement is not low maintenance.

IMHO.

Or maybe I suffer from chronic laziness. I dunno. I'm one of those girls who wants to have her cake and eat it too. Chocolate please. With chocolate frosting. 

I want to do the least I can do and still get amazing results.

And I found that by letting my wild mane be, well, wild. 

What I do:

1. Wash my hair. Duh.

2. If washed at night, sleep on it wet. If washed in the morning, allow to air dry (doesn't take long with my hair). A nap works great during this time. Will blow dry hair only in dire need.

3. Put product on in my roots. My hair is flat on top. Several years ago I nearly cried buying this $18 can of Big Sexy Hair because that's what the lady who cut my hair told me to get and I'm gullible and will believe anyone and anything. I youtubed how to use it, tried it and considered this product trash. But I couldn't throw it away. It was $18! I pulled this out last month, since I believe in second chances, and dare I say, a love has kindled. Once empty I'll probably look for a Suave/Aussie comparable. 

I will spray the roots and massage in to spread evenly with the exception of the hair at the top of the crown. I have about a three inch wide section at the top of my hair that doesn't get this product as it does have a tendency to make hair look greasy.

4. I then use my diffuser to dry the product and give my roots a lift. 

We'll pretend mine looks this good. And that it's not offf-white and dirty, cracked, and held together with rubber hair ties.

(Below: Remember to attach diffuser to blow dryer before use.) 

(Below: And do a little this.)

4 1/2. After this, depending on how cooperative this 'do is, I am done and may spritz lightly with the Aussie Freeze Spray you see a little down the page.

5. Will add a small amount of this to my ends to give my layers definition. Since the layers of my hair have been razored to blend in, they tend to look even more frizzy than when I've had the layers cut. Word of advice with this hair type and what kind of mousse to get: Never use the maximum hold unless you want super defined curls and crispy ends. The lower the amount of "hold", the better.

This stuff (below) works pretty dang good too. The only unfortunate thing is the issue I have with getting the product out while it's running low. You have to give it a rigorous shake and hold the dumb thing completely upside down to get the product out or it will make loud, airy, popping sounds, says my irritated husband at five in the morning. 

5 1/2. Now I'm done. Rarely I'll diffuse over the product again. Doing that creates more curls and it's not the curls I necessarily want. I want the waviness and funky look.

6. I will spray this (below) in my roots and flip my hair back and forth like a show girl to give a little pump if I'm going out later. Or if I throw my hair up in a pony (seriously, all hair needs to be pony length...or own a few hats) then I'll spray on the ends of my hair and poof it to look spunky.

Once you get in the swing of it, this 'do takes maybe ten minutes. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

A beautiful, long, Type 3 hairstyle. Drool....

(source)

It rained today. It's still raining. And I was outside for a couple minutes while the fat drops from the sky thudded my scalp. And it didn't bother me a lick. 

Had I straightened my hair and this happened? ...another story.

I know it seems like I'm hatin' on my secondary more often than embracing it. And while I do tend to do that about 75% of the time, I understand that running from her is running from myself. When the secondary calls, it's best to answer.

I love, absolutely love, being a Type 3 woman. I feel most comfortable in my skin this way. Never did I know that this way of living would feel so good.

Quite frequently I tell The Crazy (Miss Type 2) to just hush or to disappear, generally when it's regarding something that I want done instantly and she's getting in the way. The mental stretch becomes agonizing at times. With some tasks I will want to be determined, the go-getter and she will force me back and have me questioning my motives and whether I am fit for the job.

But I do honor her and should honor her more when she beckons me to take time off and to decompress. As I tell my friends, "I'm doing a 'defragment and delete'"; meaning: "It's time for me to take time off from the constant going and the constant socialization while I turn inward, let some things go and recharge".

Now, I don't know if this is a regular Type 3 thing: to get a little burned out with present life that you need a day off (perhaps four) before resuming. I figure it's my Type 2 who's wanting me to baby myself and give it the care it deserves.

I am a Bible study teacher. And I love it. Like, love, love it. I love my students and I love hearing myself talk teaching them. Being this teacher has made my life rich in blessings and I'm a better person for knowing these kick-butt teens. They inspire me which leads me to do all I can to empower them and uplift them and tell them that the world is theirs for the taking!

And while I love this job, it takes quite a bit of energy out of me come Friday. And this is the time where I will actually listen when my secondary steps in and says, "Miss T3, it's time to take a back seat."

Sometimes it only takes an afternoon to "defragment and delete" and sometimes it takes a few days. My secondary knows how long I'll need (not saying she doesn't press her luck to stay longer). She understands how easily I get burned out with situations and helps me decide where I need to "trim the fat" in certain areas of my life. Others may call this "picking your battles". One of the few times when my dominate and secondary energies become the perfect marriage is when I'm trimming the fat from my life. My secondary looks at the big picture, all the details and ponders on what's best in my life and once decision is made, my dominate will embrace that idea, and follow through with it.

And it's those times that motivate me to continue to find the perfect balance of energies.

Carol Tuttle has mentioned time and again that if you are not a bold, striking Type 4 then you need to throw out all your black clothes yesterday. And why?

Type 1s look silly and childish in black. Bright, spring colors are for you!
Type 2s look washed out and not taken seriously in black. Muted, soft colors are for you!
Type 3s look old and fat in black (gee, thanks). Rich, shaded colors are for you!

Hearing this for the first time was quite a bummer as I believed black to be the universal color. But looking in photos I can see where my black clothes tend to have dominance and the eyes go there instead to my face. I also look older and more tired in black, the color pulls my face down, even when I'm smiling.

Problem: I'm too cheap to throw out all my black.

And I know I'm not the only one.

One day I was surfing Carol Tuttle's blog and read the comments in one of her videos.

Kathryn said (source):

I'm a Type3 and I have another Type3 friend who took her black clothes and soaked them in a light bath of bleach water, just enough to remove part of the dye and not destroy the fabric. She came out with some burnt oranges, and other rich hues!


Kathryn, your friend is a genius and you were inspired to write this! We, the people of the cheap, thank you.

Now it was time to try this out.

I took two black tops that I felt no emotion to (because I got these). If I lost them during this experiment, oh well. If they turned out as planned, coolio. I could go either way.

I filled the bottom of the washer with hot water and added, oh, 3/4 c bleach. I don't measure when I use bleach and therefore I probably go overboard with it. But I wanted results fast.

I let it soak in still water for 30 minutes (moving it around every ten-ish minutes, making sure it remained fully submersed) before allowing the washer to continue its cleaning cycle.

Before:

After:

The shirt, my first attempt, didn't turn out as I would have liked as I had it agitating in the bleach water instead of having it sit in still water. Some parts of the shirt didn't lighten as well as the rest. It doesn't look bad, it just looks like it's a little damp in some areas.

Biggest bummer? I hated this sweater when it was black. Now I love it (hellooooo chevron!) and it doesn't fit me! AUGH! I don't know how to modify clothing (now could be a good time?) and therefore will figure something out with it.

Maybe there's a giveaway in the future? That is, if there's more readers out there than the ones I have made up in my head....