This Is For The Bus Driver, Who Will Never Read It

[kerravonsen]

The other day, when I was catching a bus somewhere, the bus driver asked me, admiringly, "How do you keep your hair looking so good?"

I gave my usual answer: "I don't cut it."

The bus driver said "If my hair was that long, it would be out like this!" gesturing as if frizzy hair was sticking out like it was an Afro.

I smiled and got off the bus.

It wasn't until later that I realised that the bus driver hadn't been asking the usual question "How do you grow your hair so long?" (answer: I don't cut it. Plus genetics.) He had been asking about how I looked after my hair, not how I grew it. And it's been niggling at me ever since, that I didn't give him the right answer. So I've got to tell someone or it will drive me mad. So guess what? It is you folks. (grin) You may wonder why the bus driver remarked on my hair in the first place. My hair is my one good (physical) feature. It is the kind of hair you would give a Mary-Sue. When the bus driver saw it, I was wearing it loose with a wire headband to keep it out of my eyes. It cascaded in waves from the crown of my head to past my waist. It is the colour of deep dark chocolate, with tiny threads of grey catching the light. Seriously, I have fabulous hair. It just happens to be attached to a dumpy middle-aged lady who is almost as wide as she is short. But I do like my hair.

So how do I look after it? It is a system of benign neglect, in that I do things for my convenience which happen to be beneficial to my hair as well. Plus some other things that are not benign neglect.

• I don't dye it. (Not usually. I did get it streaked once at the behest of Eldest Nephew. That was kinda fun.)
• I don't blow-dry it (takes far too long, much more convenient to go about my day and let it air-dry)
• I prevent tangles by wearing it in two plaits most of the time. I have not mastered the art of the single plait behind my own head. Besides which, two plaits are more comfortable to sleep on. If I didn't sleep in plaits, my CPAP mask would render the entire lot into a bird's nest.
• When washing it, I put shampoo on my skull only, not on the hair further down. After all, the oiliest bits are near my skull. It doesn't mean that the rest of my hair doesn't get washed, just not at full strength. First a general shampoo, rinse it out, then an anti-dandruff shampoo.
• Then the conditioner. This I do the opposite way: I don't put in on the hair near my skull, but on the other hair further down. I slather it on generously. Then I lift it up and squeeze the excess out over the top of my head, so the hair near there gets a diluted portion of the conditioner. The top of the hair needs less conditioner because it gets the natural hair oil more easily than the ends, while the ends need the most conditioner.
• I brush it with a lovely anti-tangle brush which I purchased from a pharmacy last year. Or was it the year before? Relatively recently, anyway. I wouldn't have expected a brush made entirely of plastic to be good, but the bristles are a perfect blend of stiff and flexible, and because it is one piece of plastic, they don't fall out like metal bristles tend to do. So that's what I do.

Comments

[thewayne]

That is interesting, the difference on how you shampoo/condition skull vs the rest. How long did it take you to figure that out, or was it something you read about or otherwise learned and adopted?

[kerravonsen]

I can't remember, but I think it was something a hairdresser said that gave me the idea.

[fred_mouse]

It is almost exactly the advice I was given by a hairdresser in the late '80s for similar length hair. So maybe it is one of those bits advice that float around?

[kerravonsen]

Seems likely.

[watervole]

I always let mine air dry as well.

I don't use shampoo at all, but I do have a quick wash after I've had it cut so I can comb it back into shape.

I'd love to see a photo of your hair. Actually, I'd love to see a photo of you.

[kerravonsen]

Aw. Skype?

[watervole]

My computer doesn't like Skype, it's an old computer...

I'll be looking at discord when I have the time. I'm told it needs far less memory/bandwidth.

[kerravonsen]

Mobile phone?

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

"I was wearing it loose with a wire headband to keep it out of my eyes. It cascaded in waves from the crown of my head to past my waist. It is the colour of deep dark chocolate, with tiny threads of grey catching the light."

Wow! It sounds fantastic.

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[delphipsmith]

Who's to say you won't see the bus driver again? Sometimes we get second chances ;)

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

That definitely sounds like a crowning glory to be proud of.

Interesting way to wash your hair. I use the ordinary shampoo and anti-dandruff shampoo the other way round. For some reason when I do that. it comes out lighter.

[kerravonsen]

Huh. How puzzling.