This is just a short note, since 'life' has been pretty much inconsequential (aka, still 'lost', still needing a job, etc.).  Anyway:

Happy Solstice!

It's summer solstice, here, and I might be odd but I am looking forward to shorter days. *blush* Less sun will be a good thing, although it's also just now starting to really warm up, and it'll be quite hot for the next two and a half months!

Life is pretty much a big hole right now!

For one, job search has not gone the greatest.

Now, looks like I might have to drive cross-country (literally, just a couple hours drive from either coast) and back within the next month.  Nothing certain yet, just enough that I CAN'T APPLY TO ANY JOBS. Grr.  Sorry for yelling, but this is getting so annoying.  I get yelled at for not being able to find a job (online, b/c of my light sensitivity) and just as I was about to send out more stuff, I get hit with having to put it all on hold.  Completely.  And guess what?  Still getting yelled at for not finding a job.  Sick of this.

And no, still no further in finding any kind of 'path' or anything.  I haven't even done the daily tarot card draws this last month. :(

Add to the above that I think my sun sensitivity is bumping itself up another notch (in that I need to find something else to use on my face for when I have to drive somewhere...or break down and do some research into UV tinting for my car...or better, both!).

But, getting some type of job is still the #1 thing, and since the sun thing isn't really 'that' important as it's not like I do stuff with friends (don't have any!), so, yeah, it's pretty far down on the 'list'.

More daily Tarot things:

20 March - Knight of Coins -- Not sure...although the 'state' of me that day was pretty close to the card meaning, sorta.

21 March - The Hanging Dragon -- Well, didn't get something I ordered that should have been there today...I'd hoped to, as I knew I'd have time to fiddle with it (for working). Really didn't get a whole lot done that day.

22 March - Ace of Swords -- Well, I did write a *ton* that day. But other than that...

23 March - Nine of Coins -- Hmm. Yesterday didn't get much done, and certainly nothing on job. Did go to a craft show and saw lots of pretty things (including a lavender sapphire and other exotic stones). :P

24 March - Four of Wands -- Well, today hasn't really started, but I do plan to mess with the thing I bought a few days ago and hook it up to my computer, which means I'll pretty much just be waiting for broadband internet so I can apply for work. Guess that fits.

BTW, if I'm really off on something, please do let me know!

Plus side, getting high-speed internet next week.  Mum asked again about job, made it clear I was just waiting, and so much for her wanting to be 'here', as she won't be when the guy comes.  Gah.

Re 'hair' (since I just posted that last bit!): I am apparently no longer able to nicely curl my hair.  I might see about trying again, but my hair is both fine AND thin, so getting too small of a section means tangling.  Six sections gave me, er, tailbone length weird...things.  Last time I got it curled good I used 13 sections...but my hair was about 13 inches shorter, too.  I think part of the problem is that even though my hair weighs near-nothing (~27 gms from neck down) it's long enough that curls just won't even form, let alone stay (whole other problem!).  Right now, the very ends of my hair are about 4" (give or take an inch or so) short of my fingertips in it's 'natural' state.

I REALLY hate titles.  Really and truly.  Trying to think up another one, for a long (~400kb as text) fanfic.  All that's left is the title!  As usual. :P  I MIGHT have a title, though, as of just a moment ago!  Only took three hours, and is actualy something A) I dismissed, but B) beta-reader brought up (in relation to another title I had).  Not 'giving up' and going with that one yet, but it is at the top of the story (but not with the individual parts yet).  But, wow, that was quick for me titling something (given this story has been finished since October...).

Another bad bit: Looks like weight really doesn't want to stay down.  I guess for right now, my option is pretty much to go back to eating...well, less.  Got to go back to the 1000 calorie a day, I guess.  Grr.  Annoying, as it's hard to get enough protein then.  But, it's either that or gain and have to do it AGAIN, later for a longer amount of time.  So, need job with health insurance, priority one with seeing if a doctor thinks it's a good idea to check my thyroid (something I've wanted checked for many many years).  Assuming I can manage to make an appointment and talk to a doctor (anxiety, or whatever it is...which has to wait until AFTER my cruddy metabolism).

Thought I might post some things I've learned (many through experience, even) that are good 'natural' things to use on one's hair, most of which are pretty easy.

I did include one unnatural product that is very gentle for what it does.


Need to clarify? (or add softness/shine) These can also make your scalp 'happier', although I notice more effects on my hair.

- Vinegar rinse (apple cider if you have darker hair (can give slight red highlights), white if you have lighter hair). Anywhere from a teaspoon to a quart up to about 1/4 of a cup. Start with less! Rinse or don't rinse. (If you use a high concentration of vinegar, I'd suggest rinsing.)

- Citric acid rinse! Especially if your hair is like mine and dislikes vinegar. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons citric acid in at least a quart of water, use as a rinse. Even if you have dry hair, this words well. If your hair feels hairsprayed (btw, a bit of citric acid in water makes a pretty good hairspray!) you either need to rinse afterwards or use less citric acid in the rinse.

- Lemon juice rinse. Similar to the citric acid rinse, but can be drying and I wouldn't recommend doing this one on a regular basis. Citric acid works much better/safer for the hair.

How about getting your scalp clean?

- If you want to get your scalp nice 'n clean: Mix brown sugar (MUST be brown, not white!) with conditioner, apply to scalp, gently rub, rinse out--the more conditioner the better, as it makes it easier to rinse).

- Coconut oil applied to scalp (20 minutes or so), then washed out. Oil dissolves oil.

Shampoo/Conditioner additives:

- Aloe Vera! You can mix this 1:1 with both your shampoo and conditioner to make them more moisturising (also makes your hair shinier!)

- Oil (but be very very careful with this one, we're talking a couple of *small* drops).

- Honey. Mix with conditioner, or mix with aloe vera and conditioner. If you want to do this, read the 'caution' at the end.

- Tea Tree Oil, helps with itching, acne, and most scalp troubles. Couple drops in your shampoo.

Colour enhancing:

- Chamomile: As a rinse (have to keep doing it, both several rinses to get it started, then often after) can give blonde highlights to light brown/dark blonde hair. If your hair is closer to a true blonde/light blonde, this may actually *darken* your hair, so be careful. I know this as chamomile does nothing to the bulk of my hair (dark blonde) and darkens the lighter bits (whitish-light ash blonde. This did not do anything permanent to my hair. I don't know if adding sunlight would actually lighten, as I can't test it.

- For darkening, I believe a sage rinse is good, although haven't actually tried it.

- If for some reason you want lemon yellow hair, try Turmeric. Not natural looking, and if you have dark hair it'll only show up under sunlight! I did a test of this on dyed black hair.

- Lemon juice: Don't do it unless you have short hair and plan to keep short hair. Even then, it is very very drying. Seriously, just dye it or do a slight bleaching--much gentler.

- Honey. This can lighten hair. It is not 'instant', and any lightening can cause damage. If you want to try it and have med-dark blonde hair or brown hair: 1 part honey to 2-3 parts conditioner. Do NOT microwave this mix. Apply to damp hair if possible. Leave on 1-4 hours (cover with plastic bag/cap). Rinse really really well. Remember: Not instantaneous...you'll need to do this several times. I do not know what this will do on lighter blonde hair. From my experience, I'd say it might give a slightly more golden tone--but nothing compared to the chamomile.

Lightening/fading DYE (only darker dye):

- If the dye is very very fresh, slap a ton of extra virgin olive oil on your head and let it sit for 4+ hours (6+ or overnight even better), wash out, repeat. The fresher the dye, the more this will 'do'. And it's a treatment, too!

- Try the honey/conditioner from the previous section if EVOO doesn't do anything, remembering to NOT microwave the mix. This may also work a little on henna...or it may not. It is gradual and you may have to do this multiple times to notice a difference. This is actually fading my 2.5 year old dye on the ends of my hair. It's gradual and takes a while, but probably gentler than bleach (although, again, not instantaneous in that you'll have to repeat).

- NOT at all natural, but Colorfix will take out a lot of dye with very little damage (do not use the third bottle). If the dye you used was a direct dye (henna or, for example, Feria black...) it won't take it all out, but will 'help' with a few applications (I got to red with 3 applications of colorfix on old dyed black--I got about a level and a half lighter with 3 one-hour applications of bleach (stops lightening after 3)). Colorfix does stink though, and I mean really stinks (and I've only used it on *small* samples).

Dry/colour-treated ends/hair (mostly apply to longer hair):

- Oil the ends (EVOO (but it's heavy), jojoba, coconut, grapeseed (or rapeseed, depending on country), emu, sweet almond. If you have trouble with this (crunchy hair), try putting on damp hair if you tried dry (or dry if you tried damp), or maybe using a mister with a few drops of oil. If your hair still doesn't like it, don't worry, some people's hair dislikes all oils. And, even if your hair dislikes it as a leave it, you can soak your hair with it, let it sit for about 20 minutes pre-washing, then wash/condition!

- Mister solutions! Add a bit of aloe vera or conditioner to water, mist. Can also add various EOs.

- Mixing honey, aloe vera and conditioner (no-cone conditioner, Suave and VO5 are good to use for this) and leaving it on for 20 min to an hour. Microwave if you are concerned about lightening/fading, or use molasses instead of honey (only if you have darker hair, though!).

- This one is JUST for below shoulder length hair: Put conditioner on your ends FIRST, then wash just your scalp with your shampoo, rinse both out, reapply conditioner to the ends as usual. The first round of conditioner is there to prevent the ends from being overly cleaned/dried out/striped by the shampoo.

Cautions!!

- Be careful of allergies. Some people are allergic to coconut oil, aloe vera, etc. If you are allergic to something or react, don't use it! If you're prone to allergies, you might try a kind of patch test (particularly with herbs) to see how you react.

- Oils can fade dye! So, if you don't want your dye to fade a bit, you might want to avoid using oils....

- Tea Tree Oil is an essential oil. You don't need much of these! You can also use it on facial acne, but AVOID your eye area and lips. If you get a little too close to your lips, you can see how powerful EOs are (you'll taste it on the INSIDE of your mouth).

- Honey can be very very moisturising. It can also lighten hair/fade dye. Good news: Microwaving kills the lightening effects, so if you want the moisture but not the lightening, just zap it a few seconds. Not too long, though, as honey gets VERY hot. :)

And, I guess:

- Best 'natural' (as in detergent free) shampoo/conditioners I've used: Burt's Bees. They work in our very hard water without leaving a residue like many 'natural' shampoos.

Wow, that ended up a lot longer than intended.  Sorry about that!