NoPoo
I just spent $15 on a bottle of shampoo -- plus another $15 each for the corresponding conditioner and hair gel -- and I'm feeling a little guilty about it. How much is too much to spend on a toiletry that can be purchased for a few singles (and that for a much larger bottle) at Duane Reade? But, then, this isn't just any old shampoo. It's NoPoo -- shampoo without, um, poo. "Poo" in this case being sodium lauryl sulfate, which my new curly-hair-specialist hairstylist Casey informed me is an industrial-strength cleanser invented in the 1950s to make household cleaning products last longer. It produces lots of suds, you see, making all those Eisenhower-era advertisement housewives exclaim "ooh! it's really working!" when in fact it's just sort of zapping the life out of unsuspecting hair. "Are there any drugstore-variety shampoos you'd recommed?" I asked Casey. "No," she said firmly. Oh.
Yeah, yeah. I guess I'd read that somewhere before. But I was getting along fine with my cheap Dove shampoo. I mean, my hair wasn't falling out or anything. Somehow, though, as I sat under the old-fashioned dryer in the salon, I knew I was going to plunk down the dough for the entire NoPoo line. It did make my hair look bouncy and shiny, the waves less frizzy and more perfectly formed. And it smells awesome (scented with Lemongrass and Starfruit Mango!). So I made an investment in my follicular future and left the salon with a bagful of goodies and a sweet-smelling curly 'do such as I'd never had before.
It's not that I don't have $45 to spare. But do I really want to be that girl who indulges in pricey shampoo? Do I need extremely healthy and shiny hair? Do I need jeans that cost over $100, even if they do conjure up a bangin' posterior in a way that the Gap just can't muster? Or takeout spicy crunchy salmon, when there's a perfectly good can of soup sitting in the pantry? It's a finer line with the beauty products, though. Jeans are jeans, but hair and skincare products -- not to mention fresh, organic food -- are put on and in your body. If given an inch, "Is it really worth the money?" quickly turns into "Can I really justify coating myself with unpronounceable chemicals to save a few dollars?"
Feh. I don't know. For this week, I've chosen NoPoo.
and... Scotland! (three days...)
Yeah, yeah. I guess I'd read that somewhere before. But I was getting along fine with my cheap Dove shampoo. I mean, my hair wasn't falling out or anything. Somehow, though, as I sat under the old-fashioned dryer in the salon, I knew I was going to plunk down the dough for the entire NoPoo line. It did make my hair look bouncy and shiny, the waves less frizzy and more perfectly formed. And it smells awesome (scented with Lemongrass and Starfruit Mango!). So I made an investment in my follicular future and left the salon with a bagful of goodies and a sweet-smelling curly 'do such as I'd never had before.
It's not that I don't have $45 to spare. But do I really want to be that girl who indulges in pricey shampoo? Do I need extremely healthy and shiny hair? Do I need jeans that cost over $100, even if they do conjure up a bangin' posterior in a way that the Gap just can't muster? Or takeout spicy crunchy salmon, when there's a perfectly good can of soup sitting in the pantry? It's a finer line with the beauty products, though. Jeans are jeans, but hair and skincare products -- not to mention fresh, organic food -- are put on and in your body. If given an inch, "Is it really worth the money?" quickly turns into "Can I really justify coating myself with unpronounceable chemicals to save a few dollars?"
Feh. I don't know. For this week, I've chosen NoPoo.
and... Scotland! (three days...)
posted by MTL at 7:37 PM
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