By Lindsey Rothering —

[“Lindsey tries” documents the misadventures of a 22-year-old transfer student.]

One thing you should know about me: I’m high-maintenance. I will vehemently deny it, but ask me to grab dinner and I’ll say, “Okay! Just let me brush my teeth, fix my hair, check my makeup…” and ten to fifteen minutes later, I’ll be ready. Probably.

Part of being high-maintenance means keeping a strict beauty routine, which has been completely annihilated with the hard water in Red Cedar Hall. After asking Dr. Google how hard water affects skin and hair (in between even more hours of Netflix and Twitter), I felt pretty knowledgeable. Hard water contains a bunch of minerals that leave skin dry, hair dull and frizzy and the mind full of insecurities about how you look. Soft water doesn’t.

The night before classes began, I decided to try a coconut oil hair mask, which would supposedly leave it moisturized and with a natural shine. I shampooed, applied some coconut oil, waited three minutes and spent the next ten minutes rinsing it out. I went to bed and woke up with hair so shiny, it looked like I hadn’t washed it in months. Apparently coconut oil doesn’t care if you rinsed for ten minutes. It’s harder to get rid of than your grandma’s perfume smell.

Already pressed for time, I couldn’t bear going to class with that hair, so I hopped in the shower. After shampooing six times (yes, six), I felt somewhat confident that people might actually come within ten feet of me.  I decided to try an apple cider vinegar rinse—another internet-recommended solution. I grabbed my bottle of vinegar and lightly doused my head with it. Suddenly, my eyes stung more than the time I unintentionally sprayed Windex in them (another long story). So here I am, a half hour before class, hurling water at my eyes with more fury than my cat when I try to hug her—key word: try.

After another ten minutes of rinsing, I cursed the coconut-cure-all trend and my own personal rationale for thinking this would work. And then, I decided Idea #3 would surely end better. Probably.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *