A little over a week ago, I began running low on shampoo. Being lazy, I never took the opportunity to buy more until after I was completely out. The one morning I washed my hair with hand soap (Green-colored, institutional Kimberly-Clark product) was an interesting experience, but it did the job, more or less, and nobody was the wiser to it.
Anyway, I finally bought new shampoo (Walgreen’s brand, vitamin shampoo for normal hair) last Sunday. It felt great to have clean, properly conditioned hair again, even if it didn’t foam as well as my old bottle. My hair didn’t feel dry or stripped… it was very manageable.
So, a half hour ago, I sat down at my desk, and idly pushed my fingers through my hair… and it felt a bit damp. Strange, I thought, I took a shower over two hours ago, and it should be dry by now. I glanced over at my shower kit, still sitting on an old computer case being used as an end table, and noticed that my bottle of shampoo did not say “shampoo” anywhere on the label.
Unbeknownst to myself and the rest of the world, for the last seven days, I’ve been washing my hair with conditioner.
Only a guy would tell this story. Washing with conditioner is actually recommended for people who wash their hair every day. You only need the detergents in shampoo if it is getting oily. Your hair thanks you. By the way it looks especially nice today.
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I believed shampoo was shampoo was shampoo. Then I moved here, to a place where you can actually taste things like iron and copper in the water. My first couple of weeks I had to take thirty minute showers - 2 minutes to wash my hair, and 28 to rinse out all the lather. For the first time in my LIFE, I had to buy a shampoo that not only cost money, but also had fancy words on the label.
I have this awful, curly/frizzy head of hair that is impossible to tame. But if I spend enough money on shampoo and conditioner, it behaves much better and I can smooth it out every morning before work and not look like a freak. As a consequence, I’ve developed a little fetish for expensive, salon only shampoos that smell great. I tend to keep a collection around and spend more money on them than I do on shoes.
Last week, I started a job at a big university, that I will not name. But it starts with an H and is in Cambridge, MA. My co-workers forbid me to “do my hair” in the morning. The women I work with shower, comb their hair, and come in to work. For some reason, they decided all the time I was spending with the round brush and the hair dryer was a bit ridiculous.
Not wanting to get fired, I let my hair go curly after washing it this morning. Thank god for Nexxus or I’d have a head full of frizz!!
Washing with conditioner is actually recommended for people who wash their hair every day. You only need the detergents in shampoo if it is getting oily. Your hair thanks you. By the way it looks especially nice today.