Sunday, September 11, 2011

Coffee syrup, crochet, and hair care

Not really an auspicious beginning, but I'm not feeling that clever and it's what I'm up to.
I've been crocheting a lot lately and thankfully most of it's paid. I love crocheting for money and I hope I never have to stop, who knew yarn could be so addicting? Had someone told me before.... No, no, I'd still have gotten into it. Scarf and hat and mitten season is coming and guess who's excited? This girl. Yes, I'm a super duper dork but I'm happy and that's what counts.
Since I cut my hair I've worn kerchiefs and headbands and barrettes, but not hats. I tried on a hat for funzies, one of my old faces and wow, having short hair REALLY changes how that looks! March to now, it grew from 1/4 long on the back of my neck to brushing my shoulders. New hats for a new style. This got me thinking about my hair care routine.
I developed an ... What's the right word, intolerance? Allergy? Anyway, I had awful reactions to my beloved brand of hair care and began a search for the solution, which turned out to be sulfate/wax/silicone free products. It works so well that I have to be an idiot to go back to my off-the-shelf habits but I do. Every so often I try it and then get all disappointed that it's still a failure. Sigh. I'm even having reactions to some of my tried and true stuff now, so back to baking soda scrubs, co washing, and flax seed gel. It's just so boring and I miss the yummy fragrances. A nice recipe of salt scrub or sugar scrub makes up for that, I'm in love with brown sugar scrub with a vanilla orange scent or a salt scrub with lemon and ginger. I'm never going to have skin like a Hollywood starlet but a scrub with olive oil gives me a nice healthy, soft, glow.
I admit it, I'm one of those people, the irritating ones who make their own .... Everything. I make lipgloss, hair gel, hats, bread, and today, coffee syrup. It's stupidly simple to make all of those things if you practice so it's not as though this makes me feel accomplished or special. The syrup turned out well,

SIMPLE SYRUP

1 cup water 1 cup sugar and whatever flavors your might want. Medium heat til it boils then turn it down and simmer for 5 minutes.

yeah, that easy. I added a teaspoon of vanilla, a shake of cinnamon and a pinch of grains of paradise. Smells heavenly, like homed apple pie. So very good.