This Year's Hair Solution

I was about to start this entry with a rant-y little screed about how I'm resolving to make changes for my own good and how my decisions are my own responsibility, blah blah society expectations can bite me and whatnot... but that would be way too depressing, and not exactly what I need to explore here in this very blog during the first few weeks of 2011.

Then I thought: Well, this is the year for me to start dealing with the hair situation once again. And this time, I have a visual of the kind of change I really want to see for my hair this year.

Et voila... 

Yes, you read that right: I have resolved to grow my hair out in 2011. 

Now, granted, I had a lot of problems with my hair during the last time that I tried to grow it out, but that was due to a combination of not knowing what to do with it and not having my brain in the right place during the whole entire time. (Let's not even forget this bit of drama from 2006, which only makes me wonder how much weight I've lost from my face alone.) Right now, however, the main focus for me is to start owning up to the fact that my hair has suffered a lot of damage this year - and especially now, with all the annoying flyaways and the return of my annoying bald spot right over my forehead. I'm tired of looking like Condoleeza Rice every single time that I have to leave the house, so this hair situation really needs to be controlled right now. 

And since I have also realized that my hair dries out after repeated exposure to Philippine tap water, I've also decided to change up the hair routine. 

• Shampoo: I finally got back together with Sunsilk when I came back from my hospital stay for The Dengue, after seeing lots of strands on my pillow every morning. (HATE. Also, not the best time to find out that one's shampoo has stopped working for one's hair.) Currently I'm using the Hair Fall Solution shampoo (aka the one in the gold bottle) but I tried a few samples of the Straight and Sway formula (purple bottle) during my New Year's getaway with the MeiRents over the weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked for me. We're talking about major flow here - my hair was soft and tangle-free, but not once it did not look or feel flat at all. Awesome.
• Conditioner: And if that wasn't awesome enough, I paired the Sunsilk with Cream Silk conditioner in Standout Straight (pink tube), which I also got as a sample. Now, I'm not exactly a big fan of Cream Silk - especially since I've found a lot of questionable ingredients in their formulations - but having the straightening conditioner with the straightening shampoo brought the hubba-hubba back to my hair. Even my parents were pleasantly surprised to see the changes in my hair, after several months of running around with bed head. And while I haven't bought a full bottle of the Cream Silk, I do have a full-size tube of Sunsilk's Smooth and Manageable conditioner (also in the pink tube), which contains proteins to keep my hair strong and bouncy while it stays in control.  
• The kicker: Can we talk about virgin coconut oil for a minute here? No, I don't eat it as a supplement (though it's definitely mighty-tasty when it's used for Filipino sticky-rice treats) but I've started massaging the stuff into my hair and scalp again, every other night. I have a deep-conditioning treatment at home that's basically VCO whipped with all sorts of essential oils, which smells pretty nice and keeps my hair well-conditioned. Since then I've noticed how my hair and scalp have been absorbing the oil at a crazy rate, to the point where I still have to use conditioner for added softness. Seriously, folks, it's the most underrated beauty product EVER, and I highly recommend it. 

Who knows how it's all going to turn out - for what it's worth, I might even end up cutting it AGAIN once the wispies around the bald spot have grown out long enough to turn back into bangs. Right now, this is what works for me, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make it all stick.