Weekly Reading | February 28, 2016

I fell into a long hiatus when life grew hectic for me, but I want to return to blogging. My posts have been few and far between, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, but I want to reconnect with the blogosphere and my fellow bloggers. What better way to do that than to read more blogs and to share great posts with others.

These aren't posts from the past week; they're just posts that I read the past week. After all, older posts don't seem to get the love that they deserve.

New Year's Resolutions

As we welcome the third month, we may see our New Year's resolutions wavering. Let's look back at some motivational New Year's resolution posts to psych ourselves back up.

"Word of the Year: Focus" via The Small Things Blog
"2016 - Be Brave" via Livin' and Lovin'
"Persevere: 2016 Word of the Year" via Be a Warrior Queen

Food

Along the same lines, change is good, and these food posts are great potential experiments.

"Tips for Making a Meal Plan that Doesn't Suck" via Poverty Luxe

"Cheese and Wine Ideas" via Kitsch Snitch

"Marvelously (Easy) Marshmallows" via The Nobby Life

College

I remember how difficult my undergraduate years were for me, and it would've been great to have had posts like this to read.

"10 Steps to Adjust to College as an International Student" via Society 19

"Fiction Friday: Non-Fiction Books Every College Student Should Read" via Playground of Randomness

"How to Save on Textbooks" via Playground of Randomness

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5 Hair Myths You Shouldn't Believe

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a professional hairstylist. These are just myths that hairstylists and hair bloggers debunked.

Using the same shampoo causes it to stop working eventually
If you just need to keep your hair clean, any shampoo works regardless of how often you use it. The only reason for you to have to change your shampoo is if you start coloring your hair, increase your use of hot tools, or expose your hair to the sun more often. You can also consider changing your shampoo with the seasons.

Rinsing your hair with cold water makes it shinier
Dull hair comes from rough hair cuticles, and the myth is that cold water helps seal your cuticles to make them flat and reflective. Hair, however, is technically dead cells and doesn't react to temperature. To make your hair shinier, just use hair products containing silicones and oils to smooth rough hair cuticles.

Brushing is good for your hair
Believe it or not, brushing is actually bad for your hair. The friction between your brush and your hair damages your hair and leads to cuticle breakage. When you do need to brush to detangle or style your hair, use wide-toothed combs or brushes with plastic bristles. With that being said, though, brushing does stimulate blood flow in the scalp and aids hair growth. This blog post by Em of Em Talks discusses how to strike that perfect balance.

Plucking one gray hair causes three to grow in its place
The only truth behind this myth is that one gray hair usually means more are coming. Try to resist plucking them anyway, though, because constant plucking will cause that hair root to eventually die and stop growing hair. Sydney of The Science of Beauty even conducted a "study" to challenge this myth.

Coloring your hair while pregnant is bad
There is a belief that the ammonia in hair color can be absorbed into your scalp and end up in your bloodstream, which is terrible for the baby. However, the risk with coloring your hair during pregnancy actually lies in inhaling the ammonia. Even though the ammonia levels in hair dye are low and the ventilation in hair salons good, it's still best to play it safe and avoid hair dye when you're pregnant. The good news, though, is that you can use henna, a natural, plant-derived dye, to color your hair. Han of Hantastic Beauty actually has a tutorial for dyeing your hair with henna.

What are your thoughts on these hair myths?

What other hair myths have you heard of?

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