THINGS I LOVE V2 - ALMOND OIL

So I know everyone and that girl you barely remember from high school is shilling oils for some Multi-Level Marketing company, this ain't that. This is a story about moisture and lack there of.

Story time!

So I have fairly long hair, I've been growing my hair out since I was eighteen. Around that time I had it cut to my shoulders but I would dye it mercilessly, flat iron it, curl it, everything. That is when I heard about the Rinse-Only-Method (ROM) where you only use water to wash your hair and a boar bristle brush to comb the natural oils your scalp produces through your hair. My hair grew long for years. Fast forward, I'm 20, my hair is to my breasts, I swear of any type of heat to my hair and my hair is gorgeous, but I decide to bleach the underside of it and then dye it bright red. My hair is fried. I cut about four inches off of the fried hair.

But soon after I enlist in the military, throw a bottle of box black over my hair to cover it and start shampooing my hair again. You get really sweaty in the military and I needed to wash my hair with more than water. I still don't use any heat even though that means going to formation with wet hair some days. I don't care. My hair begins to get healthy again. I met a man who said I should never cut my hair.

Several years later, in an act of rebellion from a toxic relationship, I cut 6-8 inches off of my hair. It was so freeing. I had to let this literal weight go, and I did. My hair was looking great, and it felt the best that it ever had. I began to grieve my hair. I remembered from my crunchy days that almond oil promotes hair growth. I started deep conditioning once a month with almond oil.

HOW TO DEEP CONDITION: I wet my hair, root to tip, and warm the almond oil in a bowl, a couple tablespoons depending on the length of your hair. I pour the warm oil onto my paddle brush and brush it through, especially massaging it into my scalp and ends. I wrap my hair in a towel for about an hour and then shampoo as normal.

Fast forward six months from the drastic cut, my hair is still pretty long, I'm being pretty dramatic, it it still lower than my shoulders, just above my breasts at this point. I ease off on the deep conditioning and my hair is beautiful. About two months later, we move to Utah, the land of hair moisture dreams differed (again, joking!). I notice that my skin is beginning to be dry in places and oily in others.

Confusion hits, so hate me if you want, but my skin has always been perfect. I never need extra moisturizer. Ever! Not anymore. I remembered that I can use almond oil on my face. My skin begins to calm down, but if I miss a day or two my skin gets flaky around my mouth and chin and greasy around my T-zone.

MOISTURIZING WITH ALMOND OIL: Using a reusable bamboo pad, or a disposable cotton pad (no judgement!) apply a coat of almond oil to your face, allow to set for about thirty to forty-five seconds and wipe off the excess.

My breakouts went back to zero and my skin returned to normal. Happy days! Back to my hair, my hair was frizzy, the ends seemed fried ALL THE TIME! Even though I don't use heat, I hadn't dyed my hair, I was at a loss, so I started deep conditioning once a month again, and after the deep condition, for about a week, my hair felt great. Then, it was back to being a dry ass hot mess.

So I started deep conditioning once a week and glory be, my hair is back to being soft and beautiful. It is prayers answered. In the summer time, when the beauty of Utah is sucking the life out of my skin, I even ditch my lotion for almond oil. I didn't realize that growing up in the deep south, the land of humidity with make me so used to moisture, but ya girl needs it, and almond oil provides it.

Now my hair is about an inch away from my waist, the longest it has been in my whole life. I still trim the ends about every 8-10 weeks and I hope to continue to grow my hair long and strong.

I usually buy my almond oil from GNC but I'm sure if you buy it from anywhere that it is 100% pure you will have the same glorious effects, now go forth and moisturize!


*side note, while I do my beauty routine, my little sidekick is always close by :)