Baking Soda Aids Soft-Water Rinsing

Q: Is there a home remedy that counteracts how soft water makes my hair too soft? No one has been able to give me an answer as to why this happens and what to do about it. Bonnie with the soft, soft hair

A: Soft water has a lot of chemicals in it to soften the water which coats the hair in a very big way. It also makes it very hard to rinse the shampoo out. It feels like it takes forever to rinse out.

So the first step is to have a very good clarifying shampoo. When you have it lathered, add some baking soda. Yeah, baking soda. Take about a handful of it and work it in really good to the lather of your shampoo. Leave on for five minutes, then rinse. Baking soda will help take off any build-up. So, with the clarifying shampoo it should help a lot.

Then you can use an apple cider vinegar rinse. Mix it half and half with water, rinse it through your hair after you shampoo. Leave that on for five minutes, then rinse it out. That also gets build-up off the hair.

Some people, after they get most of the build-up off, only use bottled water when they shampoo.

Well water is also very hard on the hair.

There are some good clarifying shampoos on the market. Check around and make sure they have the ability to cut through well water and chlorine. They may be a little costly, but well worth it.

Q: I had a really bad day at work. so I thought, I’ll go get my hair done. You know, like maybe get a trim and a conditioner. So I do that. I end up getting a hairstyle that I hate. It is way too short. I only wanted it trimmed.

Then, to top it off, I get home, get online with my computer to check for e-mail and my computer tells me it has a virus. I just can’t believe all that has happened to me.

First, I go in for a little trim and walk out with very short hair, which I did not want. Then I receive an e-mail that’s infected with a virus. To be honest with you, I don’t trust people now. - Kicked in the gut in Washington

A: Ouch! That is awful. The worst. Two critical things in your life, both in one day. I would also have a very hard time dealing with it.

When you say a trim, you do not mean four inches. You mean one quarter of an inch, right?

Listen up stylists who do not listen: People are tired of you not hearing what they say. When a person asks for a trim, they mean only a trim. You will lose customers by not listening. Remember how devastated you were when someone over-cut your hair? Hair does not grow out over night. And when this happens, it effects the whole person.

So take time and listen to what a person says.

As for the creep who wrote that virus software that affected your computer: You should be ashamed of yourself. You should personally go and fix her computer!

Q: I would love to have the apricot color for my hair, but do they make a color like that and is it hard to achieve? - Lois in Moses Lake

A: That color is so pretty. Yes, pretty much all color lines have that shade. It is Level 8, with a base of orange. It is hard to achieve if your hair color is darker than Level 6, but that is why there are color specialists. Seek them out and discuss this with them to see if you can get that look for you. I am sure you will love the outcome.

Q: Recently my mother passed away. I am writing to ask if it would be proper for me to ask the woman who has been doing my mother’s hair for years to do it for the funeral. My mother loved her and loved the way she did her hair, and I know she would love to rest in peace with her hair being done by the stylist who did it for so long.

Should I ask her stylist to do this for her, or would that be out of line? - Betty in Texas

A: First off, let me say I am sorry about your mother.

Second, no I do not think it would be out of line to ask her. If she has been doing your mother’s hair for that many years, they must have been very close. But, keep in mind if she says no, tell her that’s OK, you just thought maybe she might like to, but you understand why she can’t.