I ran out of mousse this week.
This inspired me to add an additional challenge for this week of No Plain Pony November: try a new styling product.
I've got this half-full jar of coconut oil sitting on my bathroom counter. The coconut oil lovers out there tout its many benefits, including as a hair gel. But after my homemade deodorant debacle, I wasn't sure whether I could trust coconut oil. Should I really risk putting it on my scalp? I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.
And it was a success! Well, if you consider the fact that my scalp did not break out to be a success.
"Why is your hair wet?" was my husband's first question.
"It's not wet. I'm trying coconut oil instead of mousse. What do you think?"
He touched it. "It looks crunchy. But it's not."
"I know. Weird, huh?"
"And it looks really dark. You look ethnic. Like a peasant who just returned from getting water."
Here my hair is wet.
Here my hair is not wet. You can hardly tell, huh?
My husband was unimpressed, though not appalled. Overall I was unimpressed as well. The coconut oil was a really heavy hold, not a light one like I was used to. Because of that, the curl in my hair was pulled down into more of a wave.
I tried it for a few days, thinking that perhaps since it was so heavy it would allow me to go longer without showering. But it looked a bit greasy the next day, although it didn't feel greasy. If anything, I do have to say my hair was really soft to the touch. But when it came to washing my hair - yikes. If you're not familiar with coconut oil (as I wasn't until I first bought some about a month ago), picture Crisco shortening. Okay, now picture rubbing that between your hands until it liquifies and then running that through your hair.
Yeah. So it felt kind of gross when I tried to rinse it out in the shower.
If for some reason I wanted to go for a crunchy look, a wet look, or a darker look, I would use it again. But since those aren't really my style, I predict the jar of coconut oil will remain unused on the vanity for the next several months.
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What's that? The only reason you're still reading this is to see another updo failure?
Most of the week I wore my hair down, since I was experimenting with varying amounts of coconut oil. But lucky for you, I did attempt two more updos. They weren't the outlandish failures of last time, but they were failures nonetheless.
First I tried the Gibson tuck. It looked pretty and simple enough. I saw a video for it here and a tutorial here. This is how it's supposed to look:
Somehow I couldn't get it to twist without one side of my hair getting poufy. I would've taken a picture, but in addition to bobby pins I was also juggling this:
Since that wasn't working out, I tried to do a French twist. That's a classically beautiful hairstyle, you know? And this tutorial even said it was easy. Well, it was sort of easy to put up.
But it stayed in for less than five minutes. I think I've discovered the problem with me and updos. I am incompetent when it comes to bobby pins.
We were both having a bad hair day.
Finally I threw in the towel and went for the old standby that my girlfriend (hi Maria!) reintroduced to me a few months back. Do you remember doing this in middle school? (Or high school or elementary school, depending on your age.) Pull into low ponytail, make a hole, shove ponytail through. Done. Yes, it was a ponytail, but at least it wasn't plain!
So there's this week's update. How's your month going so far? Have you been able to go without that plain pony? And are you up for the challenge of using a new styling product? I'd suggest trying out your girlfriend's before you pay money for a product you aren't sure will work!
Related:
I just discovered that Peanut Butter in my Hair also doing a no ponytail challenge this month!