Crochet / Snow Day / Tea Tree Oil & Scalp Issues

I spent all of yesterday morning and afternoon doing the things I figured I wouldn't have time to do once I started Nursing school. I did two loads of laundry, dishes, picked up the apartment, shaved my legs and armpits (which is always the first task to get neglected), and finished crocheting a scarf. 

Crocodile Stitch Video Here.

As it turns out, I had one more day to do all the those thing because my first day of Nursing school was canceled due to snow. Living in New England, I am sure that this happens almost every Spring semester. (It has happened to me more than once.) On the bright side, this gives me an extra day to keep reading the absurd amount of material for my first lecture, which was rescheduled for Friday morning. On-campus clinicals start tomorrow.

My town only ended up with about 5" instead of the anticipated 10-14".

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A few days ago, after coloring my hair again, my scalp completely rebelled. I've had scalp issues regularly for years, but this was so much worse. Not only was my scalp dry and flaking, it was itchy as sin and I had actually acquired a fair amount of scabs on my scalp from the combination of chemical processing and scratching. Since she's well versed in such things, I had my sister check it out. She parted and sectioned my hair to see more areas of my scalp and told me that I was right, I did have some scabs, it was, in fact, dry and flaking, and in addition, the areas that were less problematic appeared to be red, almost rashy. Great.  

I had suspected for a while that my on-going scalp issues probably weren't dandruff. After having my sister inspect my scalp, I realized that it was most likely eczema, which I had issues with most of my childhood, but never on my scalp.

So, after some brainstorming and research, we decided that tea tree oil was my best option. Regardless of the scalp condition, be it eczema, psoriasis, or dandruff, tea tree oil is used to treat it. So, I  bought a bottle of Jason Dandruff Relief Treatment Shampoo and a bottle of tea tree oil.

Here's what I did:

• Mixed 10-12 drops of tea tree oil with 30-40 drops of argan oil.
• Using a clean eye-dropper, I applied the mixed oil to my entire scalp and massaged it in.
• I threw my hair in a pony tail and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. 
• Shampooed with Jason Dandruff Relief Treatment Shampoo. 
• Skipped conditioner and used SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Extra Moisture Detangler.
• Applied a quarter-sized amount of DevaCurl Light Defining Gel to wet hair, avoiding the scalp.
• Air dried until 80% dry.
• Applied a dime-sized amount of Ganier Fructis Pure Clean Gel to the lower third of my hair.
• Diffused for 2-3 minutes until dry.

My scalp felt better as soon as I applied the tea tree oil. Luckily, it took almost two days before the itching returned, so I followed the same routine (minus the first three steps for pre-treating my scalp) this morning. The results are pretty awesome.

Quick Update

 My first semester of Nursing school starts this Wednesday. I'm both excited and scared out of my mind. My backpack now weighs 50lb, and that's only going to increase with the absurd amount of papers I have been printing for class. The good news: carrying around 50lb on my back is going to give me some sweet glutes.

Half of my books.

The stack so far...and I haven't even started printing the PowerPoints yet.

Just when I started to think that maybe I want to go lighter with my hair color, my sister masters the perfect shade of red. So, red it is. For now.

Don't brush curly hair, ever. Unless you are about to apply color to it.

Blow-dried straight, a rare occurrence. I don't think I'm a fan.

Same hair cut, curly. Much better, even if I lost some length.

The same day I dyed my hair, my sister let me try her Wen. Since, I've only tried the product that one time (because I am not about to spend $30-$40 on any hair product), I can only tell you that: 1.) It smells amazing. My sister had bought the Summer Mango Coconut scent and it smells delicious.2.) It made my hair feel amazingly soft and silky, so it was perfect for after the chemical assault my hair had just been through. 3.) However, I am pretty confident that I could not use the product regularly because it is so moisturizing. I've been having issues with SheaMoisture's Moisture Retention shampoo being too moisturizing for my fine hair lately, so I've had to stop using conditioner with that product. There's no way my hair could handle Wen on a regular basis, nor could I afford it.

In my free time, which hasn't been very often, I've been spending some time birding with my camera. Come May, at the end of the semester, I am going to miss that entirely too much.

Bald Eagle, New Years Eve on the pond at my dad's house.

Northern Cardinal, Trustom Pond, 1/07/14

Cedar waxwing at a cemetery in Exeter, RI 1/09/14

Whitetail Deer, Trustom Pond, 1/07/14

Red shouldered hawk, Johnson's Pond, 1/07/14

Whitebreasted Nuthatch, Trustom Pond, 1/07/14

Red shouldered hawk in my back yard, 1/17/14

Other than that, I've been knitting hats, crocheting scarfs, and generally acting like an old lady.