So, no one in real life has noticed (or at least said anything about it yet) that I have stopped combing my hair. It will be very interesting to me to find out when someone is going to make the first comment. (Hopefully it won't be brutal, and perhaps even maybe will be positive. One can hope.)

I did a lot of gardening tonight to try and clean the yard up a bit, and I feel better about it now. Got eaten up a bit more by mosquitoes. Summer is over here now but they are still hangin' on.

Don't think I am going to wash the hair tonight, but I may just soak it in the tub. With perhaps a bit of BS (baking soda, that is) and ACV. Good for the skin as well as the hair! :P So maybe that does count as washing? Anyhoo.

Any ideas on how I could decoratively cover up my bathroom mirrors? I was thinking maybe some nice fabric or something. Or maybe some large posters. That would be cool.

So, I feel kind of depressed right now. I really hope that I am not on a false trail here with the idea of going for these neglect dreads. I mean, many times with many other things I have not been able to follow through. Especially when it comes to patience. But I REALLY want this. So I am going to stick it out for now, even through the rough times. I am going to give everything over to mother nature and just let things run their course.

I am going to drink my hot tea, enjoy not being at work, feel the feeling of my toes in socks without shoes, and enjoy the cooler night temperatures that fall has brought. I am going to cede control of my hair and try to just forget about it for a while. Maybe I will even tape over the mirrors and just let vanity completely go. Isn't that part of the point, after all?

Sigh. There is always so much room for progress. But at the same time, while I realize that, I just want to be in the moment now and enjoy it while it lasts.

Peace.

Best parts: Not combing hair is great, scalp itchiness and grubbiness issues seem to be working themselves out, enjoying washing every 3-4 days versus every day, enjoying using way less hair products, enjoying more volume. Feels great.

Worst parts: Hair doesn't look like it is necessarily doing anything, but I guess it has its own schedule.

Other observations: I think that my hair sections out better with the bs and acv washes, but the bs really makes my scalp flare up. So far, the best combo was the recipe that I found from nescalocs youtube where the baking soda, acv, sea salt, lemon juice etc. was all mixed together in the sink and used as a soak. That did not bother my scalp at all, in fact, it calmed it down quite a bit. I had a lot of build up from the bs though after only using it for a week and thus had to wash with shampoo 1 time (I bought a special clarifying organic shampoo with no cones or moisturizing ingredients, so hopefully I wasn't undermining my progress). Anyhoo, at least the scalp is at a tolerable level.

I know it's stupid, but the one thing that gives me hope is that even fine, soft dog's hair will dread when it is long. So if their hair can dread, so can mine. I just gotta keep pluggin' along. The combs and brushes are in the drawers for now, but maybe when I get further along in this journey I will just gift them to someone else or otherwise altogether get rid of them. After all, I don't think I will ever be needing them again!

Minimalism strikes again! :P

I think my biggest battle is going to be the transition from shampoo dependency and the fight against the gunky scalp. Found this recipe from chescalocs on Youtube. Did it tonight and I am already feeling some relief. Ahhhhh. Don't know if it is bad for my young and developing locs but I needed some scalp relief. Phew!

Baking Soda Deep Clean ingredients:
(note: these ingredients have been tweaked to balance the ph levels when combining ACV and Baking Soda)
Large bowl of warm water
1/4 cup of baking soda
2tsp of lemon juice
1tsp of sea salt
3/4 cup of acv
Stir until all is well dissolved

I just did this in the sink and dunked my head in in for 5 mins or so, as long as I could stand with my head in the sink, and then rinsed well. Shook dry.