On Shampoo, Hair, Atbp.

If there’s one thing I’m so OC about—it’s my hair.

When I was little, my mom never bought shampoo for us. There were other priorities to buy, and shampoo was not in her grocery list. We couldn’t afford it. So if the sisters wanted to use shampoo, we had to scrimp our already meagre baon to get hold of a bottle of Palmolive (it had only one variant, the green one—looked and smelled like Joy dishwashing liquid). On very rare chances when we were able to splurge on a ‘Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific’ shampoo (yes, there was such a thing!), we, four sisters, would feel we had the most fragrant and terrific mane in all of Las Pinas. Imported kasi!

So the moment I was able to afford to buy personal stuff, I acquired that itch to buy every newly launched shampoo in the market (and conditioner, and hair mask, and leave-on serum, and hair vitamin). If the long-tressed TV ad celebrity says the shampoo formula is better and improved, I’m in the grocery first thing in the morning to test it. Of course, more often than not, I end up feeling disappointed in the hyped product. I have long known that celebrity models go through expensive hair make-overs—rebonding, cellophane, coloring, and even hair extensions, not to mention the computer-generated fake hair sway--just to capture the soft, bouncy, shiny crowning glory that they flaunt on screen. But I’m a gullible sucker for that, and I am always hoping that this new thing might finally be the holy grail I’ve been searching for all my life.

Flashback: Days before I got married, as I was talking to the hubby-to-be about our plans, suddenly, I became emotional and burst out crying (every bride has the right to have jitters!). I told him that if there's one thing I’m afraid of in getting married, it’s that we might run out of shampoo and conditioner in our bathroom. Natulala siya sa drama ko syempre. For a moment there, I thought he would back out. Hehehe. But I think he understood that this shampoo thingy is a representation of everything that was lacking during my childhood days. Maybe he got my point that I wouldn’t want our future family to be deprived of the simple joys of having enough food on the table, having warm beds to snuggle in, and having healthy body plus, yes, clean hair. In the end, sumipot naman siya sa altar.



Eenie meenie minie moe
today I would use what shampoo?



Now he just shakes his head when he sees the bottles and jars of Pro-V and Intensive Total Repair and Hydrating Hair Mask and Anti-dandruff all stocked in our cramped shower room. Whenever we see a new hair ad, he teases me and bets that I would sprint at once to the store to buy. Well, he vowed to stick it up with me for better or for worse, till the shampoo runs out, didn’t he? What else does he expect me to do?

Payong Kapatid#1: This Ellips Hair Vitamin
makes my chemically-abused hair
feels buttery and smooth.
Available sa inyong suking grocery.
Teka, hindi yan iniinom ha?
You apply a capsule's content on your hair.
(Note: I wasn't paid to put it up here,
although I wish I were!)