Hair Wars and Car Woes

Sorry for the delay so early on folks. A frugal chick was all out of sorts.

I recently discovered the best combination for my hair and hairstyle of choice - wild, curly, kinky and free.

Step 1) Wash with Carol's Daughter Rosemary Mint Shampoo w/Sea Moss
Step 2) Deep condition with Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie (every time I wash my hair)
Step 3) Comb through, then rinse
Step 4) Add Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in conditioner
Step 5) Add Kinky Curly Curling Custard
Step 6) Pin hair up and air dry for a day (no towels as that causes frizz. Trust me.)

It works wonders. So why, you ask, have I been in a foul mood and therefore M.I.A.? One of my recently discovered must-haves for hair (though by no means cheap at all, it is an essential part of my hair regimen!) – Carol’s Daughter’s Hair Smoothies, have been put on hold for an outlandishly long time. I called every Sephora and one of my favorite boutiques in the area, and found out that Carol’s Daughter is reformulating their hair smoothie line (which makes me nervous in itself – I mean, why mess with perfection???) and none of them will be available until the Fall - whatever that means. So what am I to do in the mean time? I had just discovered the secret to maintaining my wild curly mane, and it’s all snatched away from me with an indefinite return date. I was not a happy camper.

This major inconvenience led me to a painful misadventure in hair care. I figured this would be the perfect time to try one of the homemade hair recipes. So I tried an olive oil and honey conditioning treatment. Not my first choice since my hair does not take well to oil of any kind; but that was the only recipe with ingredients that were all at my disposal at the time (I didn’t feel like making the trip to the grocery store, okay). The combo actually worked well on my hair. The problem was ultimately my own silly mistake. I was almost finished coating my hair (no easy feat) when I decided to reheat the concoction (it cools and congeals pretty quickly). My friend popped it into the microwave for a few seconds and handed it back to me. But, silly me, I forgot that though it was only a few seconds, there was only a small amount left in the container. Without checking the temperature or giving it time to cool, I poured the mixture onto my head. For one thing, I didn’t think that it would seep straight through to my scalp like it did, but I guess that’s what happens when you pour a boiling liquid onto your head! Long story short: I screamed. It burned like crazy. I splashed cold water on my head and cried, but by God my hair turned out shiny and soft. Amazingly, my scalp was not burned from what I could tell. (yay!) And I have been able to wear my hair the way I prefer, so it will work….for now. Despite the high price, my hair just craves the creamy stuff.

btw - Here are more homemade hair recipes


Anyway, after I tackled the hair issue, I faced a much more costly predicament. My old faithful car put me down. Not only did I break down, but I was far from home and in a dangerous spot so I had to climb out of the car on the passenger side and wait for assistance near a field of thistle. Too bad I didn’t know how allergic I could be to seeding thistle. So, I got sick and had to deal with the car issue. When it was all said and done, the repairs amounted to over $2,000 – a major blow to my checkbook.

I wound up making a partial repair – basically what I needed to get the car back home (a used transmission). I decided to go ahead with it only after I spent a week in deep thought about whether or not I should just let Old Faithful go or make all of the necessary repairs and ride it out, literally. I even went to a local dealership and test drove a new car. It’s really tempting to buy, especially when you A) no longer trust your car and B) it’s August – the best time to go car shopping. But at the end of the day, frugality and new car do not go hand-in-hand. Besides the fact that I just can’t wrap my mind around the phrase “car note” after not having one for years, new cars are always a rip-off. They depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot. Otherwise, I just can’t afford it. My debt-to-income ratio is already too high (about 50%; more on that later) – by little fault of my own (thanks to those utility rapists over at Pepco and my condo management company) so until I find a higher paying job, it can’t happen. So, I guess I’ll go ahead and put the $2,000 into my car and hope it lasts for at least another year (6 months at least?) and set some money aside for a NUsed vehicle (even if my dream car is a Prius and used Priuses are hard to find around here.)