Wanted: SHINE

I've been so good at not buying hair products the past couple of weeks. I did buy a travel size of Infusium leave-in, but it was only 65 cents, so it really doesn't count, does it?

I started working my new job last week. I've been trying to get settled into a routine and since I've been exhausted by the time I get home, I have only washed my hair once since I started working. I have to do better, especially since I started playing in a tennis league this week. I played Tuesday and I haven't washed since (shame on me). At least I didn't do something stupid like try to flat iron it- I'm just looking crazy instead. My hair is flat and dull, so I have to wash tonight. I'm not sure if it's the sweat in my hair or the fact that I have not put a color in for about a month, but my hair is lacking the shine it used to. I've put oil and cream moisturizer in it, but I think it just made it worse. I haven't put a color in it because I wanted to get all of the black semi-permanent color out. I want to use a lighter color for the summer, but nothing shines like black. I could even get away with dark brown, so I was thinking of mixing a dark brown with a reddish-tone color. I've heard of mixing colors, I've just never done it personally. I'm going to buy 2 colors today and try it out. I'll post an update soon...and a picture of my haircut since it isn't as long as the picture on the right anymore.

My latest hair observations:

• I think I've been conditioning my hair too much because it's a little soft and mushy. I don't think I need to deep condition with the ORS replenishing every time I wash. I'll just dc every week or every week and a half
• Ms. S reminded me that the Elasta DPR-11 may be better if I mix it with oil. When I first started my hair journey, I would dc with Elasta DPR-11 mixed with olive oil and honey, which I loved. I stopped using the oil because I thought my hair hated oil, but I may use it again
• I still haven't found a great moisturizer. My Keala oil is good and my friend is getting me some Natural Oasis oil, but I probably need a better moisturizer. I'm thinking about making a glycerine-aloe mix using some of the gel from my aloe plant