I made myself a promise for Valentines Day (which was forgotten due to certain, more important events). I promised that I’d stop looking at myself and just shrugging my shoulders, believing I’m incapable of changing anything about myself.

Well, my promise was to take care of me without spending a fortune doing it. To get up in the morning and make myself look good for myself, not worrying or concerned with what others would think. I let myself get in the dumps after my birthday and just realized I spent nearly 6 months stuck in them.

Time to dust off the skin products, the better clothes, and my walking maps. Time to take the steps needed to look and feel better.

One of the things that would help most is my hair. I can’t help the cutting expense, but I can help the coloring expense–and have to. Years ago I found an article about using tea as a hair conditioner that could help darken my hair (especially gray hairs).

I didn’t know how long that should go on for or how long the results would last, but I recently decided to give it another shot.

Back then, my hair was mostly brown with just a little bit of red in there. And thanks to my little vain indulgences in the past year, I made my hair more red-brown.

However, stress and diet have led me to have more gray hair than I’d ever seen before the past few months, right down the centerline of my scalp (it used to just be at the temples). And since my hair salon closed down, I’ve gotta find a replacement one of these days.

However–I’d rather find alternatives to hair coloring with harsh chemicals. Hence, the tea rinse.

But I didn’t want to get rid of my red, so I looked it up–can a red tea help red hair cover up grays?

Rooibos tea is just awful to me. I can’t stand the taste (or at least the last time I tried it I couldn’t). I had some coupons and bought several boxes of it. Red tea for red hair? Worth a shot.

And if it doesn’t work, then I’ll only be about about $10 instead of $100.

I’m cutting costs as best I possibly can, and I can’t deal with it anymore (and I stink at doing my own hair with any chemicals more complex than the ones in shampoo and conditioner, so that’s not an option).

Supposedly, there are a few methods, but the important thing is to clean my hair with shampoo, and then pour the tea (or mix it with conditioner) to go in my hair. Then, after I’ve left it on as long as possible, to rinse it out.

I’m going to try it 2-3 days a week for a month at least, and we’ll see how it goes and how long the results last. Some recipes call for adding and straining herbs, but I’ll give it a try with just the tea, and then maybe add things later on.

I’ll also let you know how things go in a month (or more), and what I’ve discovered. That way if it’s a major flop and you were considering it, you won’t make my mistake!

I’m not super vain–I just told myself that it’s time I take better care of myself: my diet, my sleep, and my skin and hair.

And I get tired of people being to look down on my scalp and see a sea of gray!

Anyway, what a Monday to get things going. Have fun and be healthy, peoples.