Day 18: An oil to grow/regrow hair

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 18: An oil to grow/regrow hair

In my previous post, I recommended onion juice for beautiful hair. I had read several articles on the subject and couldn’t wait to try this out.

I had a problem though … I didn’t have a juicer. I tried getting juice from an onion with a hand citrus press, but that didn’t work at all. So, I visited an online store and ordered a juicer.

Before the juicer was even delivered, I met a girl at work with the most gorgeous hair that skimmed her thighs. Long, soft waves, and silky to the touch. What did she use?

“Mustard seed oil,” she said. “Ever since I was little my mother rubbed mustard seed oil in my hair.”

When I mentioned onion juice to her, she nodded. She was familiar with onion juice, but it irritated her scalp. Mustard seed oil was better. When I asked her where I could find this mustard seed oil she replied that it is available everywhere.

I wasted no time. Like a bow from an arrow, I made my way to Longo’s. Longo’s is a sort of delicatessen store and has all sorts of herbs, spices, and oils. When I couldn’t find the oil on any of the racks I asked one of the sales ladies, but she wasn’t familiar with this type of oil. She, in turn, consulted the store manager but he didn’t know either. “Try Drug Market,” I was told.

So off I went to Drug Market. Instead of wasting time prowling the aisles, I talked to one of the sales clerks and he said that they didn’t stock that type of oil. “Try a health store,” he said, “they might carry this oil.”

However, the health store couldn’t help me either. They had at least 30 oils, but mustard seed oil wasn’t one of them.

So, there was only one thing left to do … go back to the office, go on the computer and order the oil online. Within minutes I found what I was looking for.

According to reviews, the oil has a rather pungent smell, but it works like a charm on hair. Well, that was fine with me. I can put up with a strong smell as long as it gives results.

Using the oil is dead simple. Gently massage a few drops of the oil onto the scalp. For dry hair, bleached hair or hair that regularly gets exposed to a blow dryer or straightener, the oil can also be used from root to tip. Leave the oil in for at least two hours and then wash hair with shampoo and condition.

To learn more about the oil, click the links and learn about its goodness: 

https://www.betrendsetter.com/proven-benefits-of-mustard-oil-for-hair-and-skin/ 

https://stylesatlife.com/articles/mustard-oil-for-hair-growth/

According to one article, mustard seed oil has been used for 4000 years. Safe to say, mustard seed oil has stood the test of time. Don't expect any miracles though, growing hair or regrowing hair takes time.

https://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/mustard-oil-for-hair-growth

Day 17: The secret to beautiful healthy hair will surprise you

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 17: The secret to beautiful healthy hair will surprise you

Whenever inspiration is in short supply, I do what I always do … I take a walk. Today that walk took me to the Bloor Mall and more specifically to Drug Market.

Wandering along the aisles, I’m always surprised at the number of hair care products: shampoos, conditioners, mousses, oils, etc. Over the years I have used a great number of them, and I can tell you with absolute certainty … none of them delivered on their promises.

Next, I looked at the magazines. One of them also focused on hair. How to get longer hair, stronger hair, straighter hair, curlier hair. Out of curiosity I paged through the magazine, found the hair advise section and looked at the recommended products for hair problems.

One thing immediately became clear, whoever wanted his or her hair longer, stronger, straighter or curlier better be prepared to pay a hefty price for it.

I couldn’t help but smile. I doubted that these products were any different than those on the shelves of Drug Market, promising a lot but delivering very little.

Now it so happens that I have a hair problem myself. After a lengthy illness, I have a lot less hair than I used to have. It’s not surprising really, during my illness I suffered pain, stress, lack of appetite and weight loss 10 kilos (20 lbs), all factors that impact hair, especially lack of appetite.

When someone is not eating right, or not eating enough, hair is one of the things that get affected. The hair no longer receives the vitamins and minerals it needs and more importantly, it no longer gets proteins. The result, hair breaks and/or falls out.

When I went looking for a remedy to whip my hair back into shape, I didn’t look at any pills or creams, or any beauty product that promised me miracles, I consulted Mother Nature. Or rather, I turned to Google and researched what Mother Nature had to offer.

As it turns out, the best thing for hair was right in my fridge and costs only a few cents … an onion. According to experts, red onion juice is the best thing for hair.

First-time users are advised to peel and chop one or two onions into pieces and boil them in water for twenty minutes. Remove the onion pieces and let the water cool. Put the water in a bottle and sprints all over the scalp, apply the water with a soft brush, or pour the water all over the scalp.

If the smell doesn’t bother you, you can also use pure onion juice. For this method put on or two onions in a blender. Pour the mixture through a cheesecloth or other fine material and sprits the juice over the scalp or apply with a brush.

Whichever method you prefer, you can leave the onion juice (pure or diluted) on your hair for twenty minutes (if you’re in a hurry) or two hours if you have the time. Afterward shampoo and condition as usual.

There you have it. According to the experts, you don’t need expensive concoctions to prevent hair breakage, to regrow hair, or to just keep your hair in top condition. An onion will do better than anything you buy in the store.

Personally, I’m going to try it tomorrow and I’ll keep you updated on my hair’s progress. Don’t expect miracles though. All the articles I’ve read state if you use onion juice twice or three times a week, it may take four to six weeks to give results.

Day 117: My new best friend

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 117: My new best friend

I have a new best friend and now that we’ve met, I can’t believe it took me this long to make his acquaintance. I’ve been reading for decades, the bookstore being my home away from home, and yet I never paid him the slightest of attention. His name, James Patterson.

Those who are familiar with his work will probably gasp “You never read a James Patterson novel!” and to my shame, I must admit that I never did. I thought his books were not my cup of tea. I saw the movie “Along Came a Spider” of course, with Morgan Freeman portraying Alex Cross, but I had no interest in his other stories.

That all changed last Friday. I found myself in downtown Toronto with nothing to read. The nearest bookstore would have taken me a good 20-minute walk and I just didn’t have the time or the energy to go that far. So I popped into the nearest Drug Market and browsed book section.

There wasn’t much choice: the usual romance novels, fantasy and science-fiction, children’s books and some murder mystery stories. One of them was ‘The Store’ by James Patterson. I picked it up, flipped it over to read the synopsis and … hm, this sounded interesting. So I paid for it and walked out with it.

And OMG the story was so gripping that I couldn’t put the book down. If it had been possible I would have read the story cover to cover in one sitting. The further I got the more enthralled I became and near the end the building could have collapsed around me, the steak could have burned on the pan, I had to know how this ended.

The second story in the book was called ‘The End’ with Owen Taylor as the main character. At first, I didn’t like this story. It was a war story and not only do I have zero interest in war stories, it’s set in the middle east, which interests me even less. But I had paid for the book so I might as well read it.

It didn’t take long for me to get absorbed in the story and once again I found myself reaching for the book every chance I got. Near the end, I literally couldn’t put the book aside and so I stayed up until 2:45 a.m. to know how Owen Taylor fixed his problem. And I was not disappointed. The ending was superb, and so much so that I found myself cheering for this man.

All too often I buy a book and like the story, but near the end, it seems the author got fed up with writing and rushes the conclusion or the ending is completely unsatisfactory. That was not the case with ‘The Store’ or ‘The End’. Patterson wrapped both of them up nicely leaving the reader hungry for more.

And hungry for more I was. As soon as the book was finished I wanted to read another one of James Patterson's works. Having arrived at the bookstore (a proper bookstore this time) I was in for a surprise though … there were no less than five shelves of James Patterson books. Oh dear oh dear oh dear, now what was I gonna do? How would I make a choice? So I did the only thing I could do … eeny meeny miny moe and I picked the book where my finger came to a rest. The book turned out to be ‘Guilty Wives’. I’m only a few chapters in the book but I can already tell, this is another excellent story.

I guess it’s safe to say that James Patterson and I will have a long and happy relationship. 

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