Tip description / details:
I have tried to grow my hair long for years. It never seemed to get past my shoulders, and I could never grow out the layers I acquired from a sneak attack by a well-intentioned stylist who made the executive decision to add layers while I was absorbed in a magazine. After that debacle, I went to a very expensive salon and was taken for a ride by a stylist who convinced me that it would be okay to strip my hair, add filler, color, and lowlights all in one sitting to the tune of $400. Mind you, my hair is baby fine and it was already over processed with highlights at the time I dropped all that money and was sent home with a flat iron (an additional $125 for a ceramic model) to help de-frizz it. The salon was a recommendation from a friend, and she has great hair, and the salon is well-known, so it did not occur to me that I should question the stylist's plan of action. Three years later, I finally have a healthy head of hair, but it has only come from surrendering all my ideas about spending a lot of money on a lot of product for damage control. Instead, I no longer color my hair or have any processing done at all. I don't blow dry my hair and I don't shampoo it either. I follow the protocol for wavy hair outlined in "Curly Girls" and my hair looks like it did in sixth grade, healthy and shiny and voluminous(even though it really isn't thick).

Ingredients:
baking soda; filtered, bottled, or distilled water; high-end conidtioner; pure lavendar oil.

How to prepare:
The only real preparation concerns the lavendar oil spray: you boil 1/2 gallon of water and then let it simmer with a cover for 1 hour before adding 5-6 drops of lavendar oil. Let it steep until cool and then transfer it to a spray bottle.

How to use:
Once a week I use baking soda and filtered or distilled water to clean my scalp and any conditioner build-up. Two or three times a week I use a high-quality conditioner in lieu of shampoo and then rinse it out, again with filtered or distilled water. If it has been cold or dry out, I will add some conditioner back in after the first rinse and leave it. On the mornings I do not rinse my hair or use conditioner, I simply spritz my head with the lavendar oil.

Results (observed by submitter):
My hear no longer breaks (the layers used to break off constantly, probably why it never grew!), my childhood waves have returned because I quit trying to straighten them with brushing and blowdrying or adding products, and my hair is soft, shiny, and overall naturally healthy.

Costs involved:
minimal

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