Thursday, January 01, 2009

Conditioner for limp, pathetic hair

No news to regular readers that my hair is a source of some angst to me. Progesterone cream helps to keep it on my head, but nothing was giving it that shine and manageability I sought. Conditioners, mousse, volumizer, sprays, gels...all gave me the dog-caught-in-a-rainstorm look. My neighbor/friend/hair consultant just sadly shakes her glowing bouncy locks as she trims my hair in about five minutes, says no product exists to improve this mane.

So, far be it for me to be a beauty consultant, but this tip is too good not to share. I was flipping through Health Magazine, checking "The best anti-aging secrets: Looking younger isn't all about serums, needles, and lasers. Here's 17 all natural moves." This is the same article that gave us the all natural move of chugging our coffee ASAP so as not to stain our aging yellowing teeth.

This was the #1 tip from Lisa Hedley, the founder and creative director of the Mayflower Inn & Spa:

Open Sesame (Oil): First thing every morning I massage organic sesame oil from the health food store all over my body. Working it in wakes me up and really gets my blood circulating. Plus the oil hydrates my skin, giving it a healthy glow. Then I jump in the shower--the oil naturally cleans away dead skin cells.

I thought that would be the sort of thing my daughter would enjoy--all that blood circulating and glowing in the morning. She said let's get real here, I'm not going to do that before I go to work. So I'm left with this bottle of sesame oil, and I'm sure as heck not going to smear it all over me pre-shower and risk falling in the tub and cracking my skull open. But...wait, I think, what if I massage it into my scalp, toss some coffee quickly past my pearly whites, then wash my hair? Couldn't hurt, maybe could leave a healthy hair glow?

Who'd'a thunk it? My hair is fabulous (in a relative sense)--soft, shiny, no frizz, no flyaway, no static. I'm sure it will be hard to keep my husband from running his fingers through it when and if he finally notices. Six bucks for 13 oz. of the organic stuff from King Soopers. I highly recommend it.

6 comments:

Beverly said...

Thanks for the tip!

Haralee said...

Another tip is not to wear corrective lenses. Squinting into the mirror, all looks pretty darn good.

Unknown said...

I was told to try sesame oil many years ago but they didn't say WHEN to put it on--I thought it was supposed to be after washing, so for the next three days every time I turned my head I got a whiff of chinese food. Haven't braved it again, but I'll keep it in mind.

agree with haralee. I try to spend my time with older people who can't see either.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, the sesame oil cure. My sister -- who inherited the gorgeous genes, to the exclusion of the rest of us -- has always been on the lookout for ways to make her supple skin even more supple. She bought a sesame oil based shower "treatment." I went to visit her once and noticed that her bath towels never felt dry. Well, she lives in Seattle, I thought, so maybe everything here is damp. As the visit wore on, I noticed that my skin was feeling a little greasy after drying off post-shower. Then I noticed how HEAVY all of her bath towels were. Being an inquisitive guest, I analyzed the relative weights of the hand towels vs. the bath towels. It was astounding. We finally deduced that the bath towels were laden with sesame oil -- a lot of it. It wouldn't wash out. I bought her some new towels as a parting gift. So, my advice to anyone with the sesame oil jones is use your crummy towels after partaking of the oil, or you will end up with non-absorbent, useless bath towels!

JeanMac said...

Ah, "when he finally notices" - brought a smile to me. Good advice for hair. I'll search for it up in Canuck land. My hair has unruly waves which control me - maybe sesame will control them!

denverdoc said...

I apparently missed the sesame oil memo in years past. Haralee--my husband who mostly notes not my appearance actually gave me a magnifying mirror as a present. Heavens! Far better to skip the magnifiers as you suggest and assume all is well. Dorsey--my upscale organic oil doesn't smell. Anon--your description of heavy, oil-laden towels made me laugh. And alas I found out it really doesn't wash out of hair completely, so can't use it too often. And Jean--somehow I don't picture froufrou items like sesame oil out in the wilds there.