To wash... or not to wash?

It's the age old question. Shakespeare himself probably asked it a time or two. Should I wash my hair or shouldn't I? I used to be a serial washer, I mean every day! Some times, if I went even 28 hours without washing my hair it seemed like I swam laps in a vat of butter. I had what I like to refer to as butter head (not as cute as it sounds). I also had trouble growing my hair out. It just quit growing when it reached my shoulders for some reason. Probably because my hair was dry, and tired from all the scrubbing. So a  few years ago I set out on a mission to grow my hair PAST my shoulders. I was so determined you probably could have sold me a cup of dirt if you told me smearing it on my head would grow my tresses long and strong. The first step on my quest was not washing my hair every day. Yes, I felt like I was dripping with grease but the longer I went without washing my hair everyday (not consecutively, come on guys, gross) the less greasy my hair felt and looked. What was this miracle? Well, it started with my sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands secrete an oily substance called sebum A.K.A. the grease on your scalp which weirdly enough is a good thing. Sebum acts as our bodies natural conditioner by keeping our hair and scalp moisturized and healthy. When you start to feel like you're sporting the butter head look it just means your sebaceous glands have produced an excess amount sebum. This is due to washing your hair everyday. How? When you wash your hair everyday you are actually stripping away that sebum leaving your scalp and hair dry. When this happens your body's natural reaction is to create more sebum to replace what has been lost hence butter head. So the goal is to not let your sebaceous glands go into over drive and you can prevent this by NOT washing your hair every day. I myself like to wash my hair every other day and I don't even wear a hat on my non-washing days! I know right? This is thanks my bff, the holy grail, DRY SHAMPOO! It sounds like an oxymoron but its the best thing you'll ever use. Dry shampoo is a powder that comes in an aerosol or can be applied with a brush to your roots. Once its applied to your roots the powder soaks up the existing sebum without making the glands think they need to make more. Not only will dry shampoo give your existing 'do' a second life, but it adds body and bounce that might be lacking after a day of being awesome. By incorporating dry shampoo into my beauty routine I was able to grow my hair F O U R inches past my shoulder! Mission accomplished!!  My insanely creative friend Larissa, of Just Another Day in Paradise , came up with a HOME MADE recipe for dry shampoo you can make with things you already have laying around your kitchen! Bonus! It smells like chocolate! You know what they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... Take a short cut by smelling like chocolate all day!

Visit Larissa's blog for more recipes and crafty things!