Thoughts from a boho, kooky, unserious, curly-haired woman.

If I’ve learned anything from the News of the World hacking scandal, it’s that if I’m ever called to testify in front of Congress, I really should stop and get a blowout first.

Because like former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, I have very, very curly hair. The kind of hair where each strand twists and contorts itself until they all join up to form a labyrinthine web of kinky corkscrews. The kind of hair that is, by nature, untamed and wild.

The kind of hair that Robin Givhan, writing about Ms. Brooks in The Daily Beast, characterized as “boho,” “distracting,” “look-at-me hair.” “It was a ballsy rebuke of our expectations…There was no suggestion of humility, timidity, or caution…no attempt to disappear into doleful anonymity.”

Basically, Givhan argues that by virtue of its natural existence, Ms. Brooks’ hair sticks a finger in the eye of all things proper, righteous, and upstanding, and that if she cared about looking like a real CEO, she might have put it in a bun. I can’t speak for Ms. Brooks, but when you have the kind of hair that prompts entire columns about its perceived implications, trust me – doleful anonymity sounds pretty good.

I don’t mean for my curly hair to be a declaration of my identity. I didn’t ask for it to be this way. But whether I like it or not, my hair walks into the room before I do. It is and always has been the singular defining feature of my physical being, and it’s all people want to talk about. I have been forced to discuss it in job interviews and at funerals. When you have curls, no one cares about your big heart or your big thoughts; you are reduced to a person with big hair. My curls signify to the world that I am kooky, scatterbrained, free-spirited, unconventional, unruly, unkempt, unprofessional, un-corporate, rebellious, eccentric, quirky, and nonconformist. Or at least that’s how people like Givhan interpret them.

The idea of a curly-headed woman as distracting and unpolished is well-woven into our pop culture fabric. On any makeover show, the hair transformation will always involve a straightening iron. As they say, Messy Hair = Messy Life. In The Princess Diaries, Anne Hathaway isn’t princess material until she tames her frizz into a sleek blowout. On Friends, it’s no accident that ditzy Phoebe is the only female character with long waves. Even in the Harry Potter series, whip-smart Hermione is considered downright fugly until she emerges for the big dance with her usually wild hair fashioned into a demure straight style. I’ll stop here, but believe me – I could go on.

But curly hair isn’t just a semiotic concept; an idea to be parsed and analyzed in a what-does-it-all-mean kind of way. It’s personal. It’s personal every time I see a news segment showing how employers are less likely to hire curly-haired women, and men are less likely to want to date them. It’s personal when my husband asks, “If we have kids, what’s the chance they’d have hair like yours?” as if it were a disease. It’s personal when I assure him that genetically, it’s unlikely, and realize that I’m relieved, too. And it’s personal when fashion editors write columns decrying women who look like me as messy, defiant, and brazen.

Mostly, it gets personal every time some random stranger comments, “Oh, I’d love to have hair like yours!” Trust me – if people really wanted curly hair, fashion magazines wouldn’t be so full of blowout tips. Curls may be okay in theory, as long as they belong to adorable orphans or cartoon characters, but not on an adult woman. That is, assuming she wants to be taken seriously.

I was walking with my best friend once when a little old lady stopped me on the street to regale me with stories about how much she paid for perms, and how I was just the luckiest gosh-darned girl in the world. As we walked away, my friend said, “I have to tell you – your hair is great, but I would never want it in a million years.” I really loved her for that.

Image: lupzdut

QuoteDaily quotes at EcoSalon.

“I think they should have a Barbie with a buzz cut.”

- Ellen DeGeneres

Image: Tracheotomy Bob

Short hair, long hair, thin hair, strong hair. What is it about hair that gets us rhyming like Dr. Seuss? For one, it’s a body part that has us spending billions of dollars on its maintenance. But there’s a world beyond the products we buy to wash, condition, strength, soften, and shine our hair. Beauty is more than skin deep when it comes to hair – it reflects what’s going on in our bodies. Our hair has a lot to say about our health.

There are as many as 150,000 follicles of hair on our heads and that number is largely determined by heredity. Hair is mostly comprised of the protein keratin and is exclusive to mammals. It grows everywhere on the body except on glabrous skin, which is the skin covering places like your lips or the bottoms of your feet.

Mostly, we’re concerned about the hair that grows on top of our heads. So we wash it and brush it and style it until our hair is ready to cooperate. Some experts note that good hair hygiene involves backing off with the brush on occasion. As Oprah guru Dr. Oz notes, treat your hair like a silk blouse. Wash it every two to three day and rinse it in between. Blot your hair dry with a towel and use low heat on it.

So what exactly is the mop on top of our heads telling?

Is your hair falling out? Experts say that it is perfectly normal to lose as many as 100 strands of hair a day. One way to test if you’re losing more hair than usual is to take about as much that would fit into a straw between your fingers. From the root upwards, draw your fingers through your hair. If there are more than 10 strands in your finger, you may be losing more hair than usual.

So what does hair loss mean? First, it could just be that you are simply stressed out. Dr. Arielle Kauvar is a New York dermatologist. As she told Msn.com, “a physical or emotional trauma can cause a change in the hair. The illness or stress sends actively growing hair into a resting phase, and a couple of months later, all those strands in the resting phase may fall out.”

But there are medical reasons for some hair loss. Male-pattern or female-pattern baldness causes loss of thinning of the hair. Alopecia, the medical term for hair loss, can be caused by disease, styling stress, or aging chemotherapy. As WebMD reports, “Hair is susceptible to hormonal changes, irritation, chemicals, and other damage.” As always, consult a doctor if you have serious concerns.

Hair is also sensitive to hormone changes. If you are pregnant, you may notice a lustrous sheen to your thickening hair. But once you give birth, your hair is likely to return to its normal state and fall out. Sure, shedding all over your newborn might not seem appealing, but it’s a natural occurrence for your hair.

Finally, nutrition plays an important part in hair health. If your hair is too thin, you may have an iron or protein deficiency. Makes sense, right, when you realize hair itself is protein-based? Eat well-balanced meals and consider adding fish oils, walnuts, eggs, and/or green tea to your diet to help thicken hair. As one expert points out, “good nutrition helps form healthier hair follicles and makes stronger, thicker, healthier hair when it’s being formed.”

Image: opalandtheidiot

Recently, the New York Times examined one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century – climate change. And then – wait for it – they looked at long hair on middle aged women. Writer Dominique Browning, aged 55, possesses a long, graying veil of hair that she likes to wear loose around her shoulders. She defends her choice of hairstyle to a world of cynics who claim she’s “acting out” and “stuck in the 1970s.” Her response? She’s letting all her gray hair hang out and screw the naysayers.

To which we say to Ms. Browning: you go ahead and rock your bad long-haired self. To each her own – you want long, gray hair, you flaunt it. But society seems to dictate that women chop off their long locks at the first sight of crow’s feet. Long hair is relegated to glossy youths who shake their locks with abandon and turn their dewy faces to the sun without concern. And why is this?

(And sure, many might sigh “Who cares?” We support you. For the rest who want jump through this veil of controversy, gather around. Because veils are like hair? Right? Sorta?)

We get the appeal of long hair. I chopped my hair in the 1990s in an attempt to mimic Winona Ryder’s “Reality Bites” hairstyle. A few years later I was caught up in Tolkien frenzy (long live Eowyn!) and decided to grow my hair as long as possible. It traveled to my elbows. I was able to play with as many Middle Earth hairstyles as I wanted, as I am a nerd. I had braids, bangs, and bangs with braids. Now, as I’m staring down 40, it resides somewhere in between. Am I supposed to keep it short now?

If you look at the more synthetic representations of modern womanhood, as evidence of reality shows and troubled starlets, you don’t see a lot of pixie cuts among them. The “Real Housewives” franchise all showcase largely middle-aged women with long hair, usually wigs or extensions. A walk around Beverly Hills confirms that women of all ages are sporting long hair – along with Botox and enough lip filler that could raise the Titanic from the ocean floor. Long hair is a societal marker of youth, and many women want it.

And yet, we cut it as we get older. Some women cut their hair when they have kids. I have more than one friend, (well, almost all of my friends) who chopped their hair after giving birth because they couldn’t be bothered with it. But others seem to cut it from societal pressure that they are “too old” for long hair. And while it might be unfair and wrong to think so, would anyone expect Hillary Clinton to carry curls past her shoulders while engaged in diplomacy? Someone besides Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

And by judging from the comments on Ms. Browning’s New York Times piece, there’s a lot of emotion on the matter. Some pointed out that your hair loses thickness as you age, and that long hair simply isn’t an option for some women afflicted with patterned baldness.

Others worried over the stagnant state of femininity in the world. Kellie from Shanghai wrote: “Reading this article and the comments, all I am left with is the saddening realization that no matter how old or ‘mature’ we get, we women seemingly will never be able to get over judging each other for how we look. I can’t believe that anyone feels the need to justify the length of their hair to anyone else, and worse, to insult (be it blatantly or covertly) those who would make a different choice.”

Suzanne from Denver took a different approach. As she commented, “Good for you if you can pull it off (no pun intended), but many older women who wear gray hair long look a bit witchy or worse, a bit pathetic, as if they’re trying to regain their lost youth. There’s a great expression for this: mutton in lamb’s clothing”.

But Blondtitude, 58, from San Francisco, perhaps summed it up the best. As she wrote in response to Ms. Browning’s article, “Oh yes, middle-aged should wear their hair short, bobbed and tamed? Dear God, you may as well put us into Eileen Fisher outfits where all the pieces were created to be worn together, homogenized like milk.” We raise a fist of support to you, Blonditude!

Tell us, do you think middle-aged women should forgo long locks? (And if you have a decent exit strategy for Afghanistan, we’re all ears on that too.)

Images: evil erin, nrbelex

Was it really that bad? You be the judge. As one commenter wrote, “And these same filth mongers wonder why disease’s are so abundant, you that dang important or special you can’t take three to five minutes to scrub your…” Others used the forum to discuss their own bathing habits, ranging from showering twice a day, to every other day, to lathering up with baby wipes after a strong run. Opinions and tempers ran high. It seems that people take their bathing habits with a defense that might have rivaled what the Japanese threw down at Iwo Jima.

Why? Well, because bathing is personal. People take it as a sign of class, culture, and identity. But as the NY Times pointed out, letting go of a daily shower is no longer for just people who like to chain themselves to trees. So as a shout out for the people who live among, who drive a Prius or a Hummer – here are five practical reasons not to wash daily.

1. You will strip your skin of natural oils.

Dry skin is sometimes caused when your skin’s natural oils are stripped off it like a bad wallpaper. Your skin naturally lubricates itself with natural oil. Yes, you still want to wash your body. But washing it too much could cause problems. Dr. Richard Gallo is chief of the dermatology division at the University of California, San Diego. As he told the NY Times, over-washing can cause eczema flare ups. According to Dr. Gallo, “It’s not just removing the lipids and oils on your skin that’s drying it out,” he said. It could also be “removing some of the good bacteria that help maintain a healthy balance of skin.”

2. Dry shampoo is awesome.

So maybe you’re too busy for a daily shower. Or you want a quick rinse but not the time investment of washing your hair. Dry shampoo has been used for centuries – essentially, it’s a fine powder or corn meal that can grab dirt and excess oil from your hair. Comb it through and you’re clean. Read our review of a great dry shampoo here.

3. Most of us can live a productive, fulfilling life without antiperspirants.

Antiperspirants are tricky because they contain aluminum chloride and aluminum chlorohydrate to stop you from sweating. Some worry that this is unnatural and worse, could cause cancer. While the NY Times points out that the National Cancer Institute and the Alzheimer’s Association don’t share those concerns, some are just reluctant to stop their bodies from doing what it’s designed to do – sweat.

4. Some natural deodorants really do work.

If you use a natural deodorant, odds are that you’re going to sweat a little. But consider taking a day or two without it. See how much you really sweat. You might be surprised. Recently, a friend gave anti-perspirant the heave-ho. As she wrote to me, “maybe I’m just more mellow lately, but I’m really not sweating all that much.” We’ve already covered natural and/or organic deodorants – if you’re interested in giving natural deodorant a go, try the sprays first.

5. You can conserve water.

Okay, so yes, this is a green reason to step away from the daily shower. But is that so terrible? As the EPA reports, a full bath tub requires about 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.” So if you’re able to sponge bath just once a week, you’re saving quite a bit of water.

Image: eelke dekker

Want a centuries-old beauty trick? Tie on your sunbonnets and lean in. (Yes, now I am whispering.) Honey is the secret to everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but it comes pretty darn close. It’s the multi-tasker of natural beauty. Cleopatra made milk and honey baths infamous. Poppea, wife of Rome’s Emperor Nero, used milk and honey to maintain a youthful appearance. And best of all? It is everywhere and it is relatively cheap.

From your farmer’s market to local grocer, almost everyone carries a stock of honey. Naturally, you want to try to use organic honey. But beware of green washing – while many claim their honey is organic, it is nearly impossible to discern where the bees which created it foraged. They could have easily been exposed to pesticides, fertilizers and more. Some recommend buying farmer’s market honey, where you can talk to the grower about how his or her bees were cultivated and how the honey was bottled.

So just why is honey so awesome?

It’s a fantastic moisturizer.
Honey is a natural humectant. This means it draws in and maintains moisture, making it an excellent albeit sticky solution for dry skin. Want a great homemade moisturizer? Mix two tablespoons of warm honey with two tablespoons of organic yogurt. Whisk the mixture together and apply to your face for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water. And try not to annoy any neighboring bees in the process.

It can work as an anti-ager and acne treatment.
Honey helps slough away dead skin cells, renewing skin. It is also packed with antioxidants, which can help combat the signs of skin damage. It also has antimicrobial properties, which makes it an excellent treatment for acne. This means honey can help clear blockage in pores as well as fight bacteria causing pimples. It is much easier on the skin than many of the harsh chemical acne treatments on the market.

It can help heal scars.
As we have already reported, honey is a superstar for scar treatment. Because of its antimicrobial properties, it has been used for centuries to treat wounds. And because it is also a fantastic moisturizer, it can help skin along on the road to recovery. You can place honey on your recovering scar and cover it with a layer of gauze to help along treatment.

It’s good for your hair.
For the same reason it’s a good moisturizer for your skin, honey works great on your hair. Some use it as a deep conditioner. Mix half a cup of honey with one tablespoon of olive oil. Work into your hair and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse like you’ve never rinsed before! Your hair will be soft, silky, and hopefully not too sticky.

It gives you fresh breath.
Worried about your breath? Consider gargling with antimicrobial honey. Mix one tablespoon with a half cup of water. Some suggest throwing in a dash of cinnamon or a squeeze of lemon. Gargle away. And don’t forget to throw a little honey in your tea for sweet, fresh breath.

Image: vickyb

Some of us like to shower. And some of us have long hair. This often leaves us with a dire dilemma. How long is too long to get all the shampoo out? How much water does it take to get clean hair? It’s enough to make you hang up your brush, take to the woods, and live a life of transcendental solitude with fulfilled souls and really stringy hair.

I just threw a Google on how much water we waste washing our hair. (You failed me this time, Google. This time.) But it doesn’t take a Google to know we use up more moisture lathering and rinsing. And we do advocate a good hair washing if a green girl wants it. But are there ways to make it a little less wasteful?

Cue fireworks and the Rockette’s kick line – there is! Dry shampoo is an age-old product that can grab onto dirt and oils from your hair, all H20 free. It’s not a substitute for an actual hair washing, but it can help extend the times between lathering up. And consequently, it can save a little water along the way and let those natural oils build up.

Dry shampoo is easy to make at home. One of the best homemade recipes calls for one tablespoon of fine corn meal combined with one tablespoon of corn starch. This combination apparently works best for absorbing oils and grabbing dirt. You pour the mixture on top of your scalp and work it in with your fingers. Then use a comb or brush to run it through your locks. You can use less for short hair and more for long hair. Just be sure to use it in an area that is easy to sweep up, as powder under any circumstances can fly about.

Recently, I had the pleasure of checking out skinnyskinny’s Black Pepper and Rose Organic Dry Shampoo ($32.00). (And yes, this is their grammatical preference, not a typo!) This product contains certified organic ingredients and is 100 percent vegan. The packaging also gets high marks for eco-friendly biodegradable labels. Its ingredients read almost like a baked good – it is made with cornstarch, brown rice powder, white clay, horsetail powder, baking soda, orris root powder, and essential oils.

How does it work? I have long hair and work from home, which means that I try to extend my hair washings for as long as nature and politeness allows. So I was good and ready for a dry shampoo-ing when I picked up this product. It smells lovely and works like a perfume for your hair. Be careful how much you use – I went a little overboard and had a George Washington powdered wig moment. (Not to be confused with a Mary Todd Lincoln penchant for hats and temporary insanity.) But want to take a break between shampoos? This is a great product to check out.

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Image: mike baird

You awake one day and witness the encroachment. It’s not as invasive as bed bugs or a foreclosure, but not as pleasant as eating pumpkin pie or selling a novel. And you are left to ponder your roots and ask the tough questions: Do I head the gray way of George Clooney and Jamie Lee Curtis?

Should I stay perpetually in the black like Cher and Dick Clark?

Since I’m only 30, can I rock the gray like Lady Gaga or will commuters my age give up their seats for me on the bus, believing I’m Grandmama Addams? It’s crazy and it’s kooky! The signs of age usually are.

It happens much sooner for those in families where premature gray is mapped in the DNA, and you either embrace your destiny (no chemicals or costly and bothersome salon appointments) or reverse it with highlights, dyes and tints.

Experts argue going gray ages you 5-10 years no matter what. Still, women who get off the bottle and let the salt and pepper season their style can appear chic gray goddesses at any age; and fellas can emerge distinguished silver foxes depending on how they sport the silver.

“A good haircut and keeping healthy makes the difference in the gray looking like you’re letting it go versus showcasing it,” observes Michelle Sandoval, educator and colorist at Di Pietro Todd Salon in San Francisco. “It also needs to be a pristine tone (no yellowing) and you should change make up and clothes from earth tones to cooler tones to make the gray work.”

Sandoval, who says women comprise 95 percent of her sizable clientele, believes gray should go with the anatomy, including skin tone. She finds that the color looks best on olive skinned people.

“I don’t think it looks the greatest on warm skinned people, peachy skinned, red heads, or people who have really warm brown hair, because the warmth in their skin and hair tends to make the gray look yellow and the gray makes their skin looked washed out.”

For those who decide to succumb, Sandoval offers a few tips to tress for success:

• Big swatches of gray or white work better than just a sprinkle
• To brighten dingy strands, use a violet-based shampoo about every third washing (i.e. Okara by Renee Furterer)
• Add lowlights to brighten the gray that is left and to create a bolder, more playful look

“Jay Leno is a good example of someone who went gray but maintained a bold look,” suggests Sandoval. “He used to be dark with a white stream and now he’s white with a dark streak. And it works. He looks good and his hair makes the same statement. He almost looks like a photo negative.”

Images: BLMurch; Vanity Fair; Addams Family; Jay Leno;

Recently, a vortex opened up in the space-time continuum as it was announced that Jennifer Aniston was voted by “60 Minutes” and Vanity Fair to be the most eligible single woman in the world. Nothing against Ms. Jen – my theory is that the vortex happened because she was in a news item that didn’t instantly compare her to Angelina Jolie. (Hopes are this post might restore the tabloids to their proper order.)

The secret to Ms. Aniston’s popularity? Anyone familiar with the “Rachel” of 1990s hair fame knows Jen leads by her locks. And her recent hair style of choice has been a Brazilian Blowout. This is an uber-expensive method of hair straightening that gives clients super shiny, sheeny, and straight hair. The price of this beauty treatment? A few hundred clams. The physical price? Nose bleeds, eye irritation, and trouble breathing – all courtesy of a large dose of formaldehyde.

As ABC News reports, a public health alert was recently issued about Brazilian Blowouts by the Oregon Health and Science University. Researchers found that two formulations of the product contained 4.85 percent to 10.6 percent formaldehyde. The Center for Disease Control reports that even small amounts of formaldehyde can cause physical irritations. Larger amounts can cause cancer.

This is not news to organic hair experts. I called Melissa Tornay at Primrose Organics Salon in Los Feliz, California, to get her reaction to the scandal o’ Brazilian Blowouts. According to Melissa, “We have been trying to warn clients that there is something wrong [with treatments like the Brazilian Blowout] when they are being asked to wear goggles, when the stylists are wearing masks, and when salons are doing the treatment in separate rooms and installing new ventilation systems. It is odd to us that no one seems concerned when we warn them about the ingredients in these types of treatments.”

Further, Melissa informed me that they refuse to carry the chemicals required in a Brazilian. As per Melissa, “We would never put our stylists in the position of using something that may be detrimental to their health.” And yet, Brazilian Blowout stands by their product, even claiming it to be formaldehyde-free. Further, they claim that the test finding 4.85 percent formaldehyde content was invalid because they did not supply the products directly to researchers.

Ultimately, has the news stopped customers? ABC News interviewed Krystal Mansour of Long Island, who was eager to test the product for her frizzled hair. Even though the process “made her eyes water,” she was thrilled with her results and called her hair treatment life changing. According to Mansour, “Now I can show it to the world. I’m just so excited. This product is really awesome.”

Image: pimkie_fotos

Vinegar is traditionally known as a tart liquid produced from the oxidation of the alcohol in wine or cider. Most of us known it as a condiment or food preservative. But really, vinegar is an all-star. Seriously, is there anything the sour liquid can’t do? Some know it as the superhero of natural household cleaners. But did you know that vinegar is also a long-standing celebrity of natural beauty?

Ask any old wife of old wives tales, and they will tell you that vinegar will make your hair look lustrous. Seriously, when you see those women in the hair product commercials swinging their insanely glossy locks around, I bet they’re secretly rinsing apple cider vinegar through their hair between takes. Vinegar works on our hair to remove product buildup and restore its natural pH levels. It also leaves a shine to your hair and makes it easier to brush by removing tangles.

That all sounds amazing, and we should rush to the supermarket to invest in gallon jugs of vinegar, right? Well, sorta. Make sure it is unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar. This means that the vinegar will not be over processed or contain any weird residuals chemicals. And as experts report, unfiltered apple cider vinegar contains the mother enzyme – which is somehow not an enzyme that nags you to brush your hair or criticize your boyfriend. And I quote, the mother enzyme “occurs naturally as strand-like enzymes of connected protein molecules and is a rich source of probiotics. Vinegars containing the mother contain enzymes and minerals that other vinegars probably do not contain due to over processing, filtration and overheating.”

So are you ready to rinse? Take one cup of vinegar and mix with two cups of warm water. It is really important to dilute the vinegar with water. Rinse your hair with the solution, leaving it one for one to three minutes. Then, rinse out and comb it through your locks. Vinegar can be minimally drying, so we don’t recommend using this home remedy more than once a week. If you do, use a conditioner before you rinse. You can also work the vinegar into your scalp and leave it on for up to 30 minutes, as it is known to help with dandruff.

I know what you’re thinking – do I really want to smell like a bottle of old wine? In my experience, rinsing with vinegar is yes, a bit much. And afor the love of Pete, avoid getting any of it in your eyes. But once vinegar is rinsed out of your hair, you are generally left with a faint smell that goes away surprisingly quickly. Unlike your screams if it’s in your eyes. (Okay, point driven home.)

Or you can shell out $17 for a new product from John Masters Organic, the Herbal Cider Hair Clarifier and Color Sealer. This product, made with certified organic ingredients, is a once a week hair treatment to clean away buildup and seal in color on your hair. It contains apple cider vinegar, lemon oil, nettle and rosemary.

How does it work? I tried it out in the shower, mistaking it for a shampoo. It’s really light, so this resulted in me dumping half the bottle down the shower. (Heed my warning. Also, do not get it in your eyes. It’s vinegar. I did, thus the traumatic warnings above.) As instructed, I mixed three capfuls with a small cup of warm water. Working the solution through my hair, I left it sit for a minute. It rinsed out fairly easily. And I will say this – I could literally hear my hair squeaking as I worked it out. And my hair felt really soft and airy after using it, plus any residual vinegar smell was gone in an hour.

The John Masters Organics products works as well as a homemade vinegar solution, but I will say that the added essential oils took the edge off it. It’s a good investment – if you don’t accidentally spill it in the shower and use just a capful with each weekly application. But if you’re looking to save a few dollars, apple cider vinegar with a few drops of essential oils added will also do the trick.

Just don’t get it in your eyes.

FTC Compliance

Image: hygienematters