Before we go into my history, let’s go over what I want to accomplish.

1) A simple / semi-simple hair routine that I can keep doing in Japan. This is paramount.

1a) I don’t need 1,001 products. I don’t WANT 1,001 products. I can’t take all of that with me anyway! I just need a Shampoo, Leave-In Conditioner/Detangler, Deep Conditioner, and a Styling Cream. That’s four products. (And probably identifying four back-up products, in case those get discontinued or the ingredients change, and they don’t work on my hair the way they used to.)

1b) Once those products are identified- I need to figure out how to get them to Japan. I hope I can order them and have them shipped, but if not- I need a reliable local source where I can buy a ton and put it in my checked luggage. And by a ton- I mean a year’s worth. Which means I also have to identify what I mean by a year’s worth. That’s probably 3 or 4 Shampoo bottles, but that’s easily 6 leave-in conditioner, and 6 styling cream bottles. EACH. Probably more. That’s a lot of luggage real estate.

2) I would like to grow my HEALTHY, CURLED hair to shoulder-length all the way around. This is not vitally important, but it is a want. And I absolutely don’t need or want waist-length hair. But I think shoulder length is doable. But if I don’t get to this step- that is fine, too. I am good with my hair at it’s current length. I just want it to be healthy.

What I am looking for in hair products:

Shampoo
No idea. I haven’t had a shampoo that I love. Every shampoo I’ve EVER had (and I’ve picked up pretty much all of the cheap brands, and a fair amount of the mid-priced brands) has just been okay. A few of them have stripped my hair, but I have learned to stay away from those. I’ve never had a shampoo WOW me, so I don’t know what that would be like. And yes- I’ve tried several Aveda products (my best friend is an Aveda junkie), but none really seemed to work for me.

To be honest- I think this happens to a LOT of people- they just never say anything. You find a product that works reasonably well – not GREAT mind you, just reasonably well, and you stick with it. Well I want to find something that works GREAT. This way I can brag about it.

Conditioner
Something fantastic. When I had relaxed hair- I used to use Infusium 23 and another scientific-type conditioner (don’t remember the brand, but I can’t find it now, so it may have gone out of business), which worked very well on relaxed hair. However, when I stopped getting relaxers- Infusium 23 didn’t work the same. My hair chemistry changed, and I was at a loss as to what to do about it. So I am on the hunt for a fantastic conditioner.

Everything else needs to be about hydration and stability. And what I mean by stability, is that I need leave ins, moisturizers, and styling creams to be able to hold the moisture in, but to also not mind my piling on of the product. I’ve had a few styling creams that you could not reapply. They made your hair feel greasy and limp, and a few even flaked if you reapplied over an older application. I’m mostly going to be washing my hair weekly, but there are a few times where you miss that weekend wash day, and you really don’t have time to go through the WHOLE routine during the workweek. So I need products that will take reapplication well.

I’m not sure what my hair type is. I’m fairly certain that I am a combination of most of the type 4s. But my curl pattern is not the issue. I have mutt hair. I call it mutant hair. Mostly not in an affectionate way. So as I figure out what works for my hair – I will be trying out several brands, changing one thing at a time, until I find things I like. As I go, I will be posting honest reviews of each product.

First – the backstory.

When we got married, my husband and I were brainstorming on places we wanted to live. There is no reason that we have to live in the same state where we were married (or the same country); so we were throwing out possibilities and how easy or difficult it would be to live there. The stipulations were that we had to live in a semi-major city, with relatively easy access to a good hospital. The reason is that my husband has Crohn’s disease, so easy access to medical care is a must. (which rules out his dream of living high in the mountains.)

Well early in 2015, my husband asked about the possibility of us living in Japan. He had taken Japanese in college, and he loved the language and culture, so he wanted to put Japan on the table. There are other reasons that Japan is on the table, but it seemed the most versatile of anywhere we were thinking, so I thought why not?

So. We’re moving to Japan.

Not RIGHT THIS MINUTE, mind you. There are things that need to get done first.

1) We both need to learn the language. So- we both need to go back to school. For Japanese. Which means it’s going to take about 4 years, before we are ready to move.

2) I need to learn how to care for my hair. I’ve never really learned to take care of my hair- I’ve just been muddling through… for YEARS. But since the availability will be scarce of black hair care products- I’m going to need to lock down a routine, and then find a source for my products (which will probably be Amazon).

3) We currently have a cat. So, if we have a cat in three years- we need to figure out how to get him through the quarantine procedures as quickly as possible. (Which means starting a year before we leave for Japan and getting him the vaccinations he needs to breeze through quarantine.) Now- please note that I don’t plan on getting rid of the cat- it’s just that he is about 13 years old, so he realistically may not be alive in three years. But, since they can live 15-20 years. It’s likely that he’ll still be around.

4) I’m a plus size girl. I do plan to lose some weight (see point number 5), but I’m not going to get down to being absolutely thin. Just healthy. And healthy… is still around a size 10/12. And an American size 12 is still too big for 90% of the clothes in Japan. Plus- we Westerners have a bigger build than Japanese women, so even if we could fit- most clothes would still fit weird. Our shoulders are broader, so sleeved clothes would have a weird shoulder seam, and the sleeves would probably not be long enough. Also- the pants definitely wouldn’t be long enough. So bringing my own core wardrobe, PLUS having reliable sources of clothing is a must.

5) Getting an exercise routine. And mostly it’s going to have to be a routine that doesn’t use weights. Now hand weights are fine, but even the gyms in Japan don’t have a lot of weight machines. Not to mention the gyms are expensive. So it’s going to have to be workouts that can easily be done at home or at a public park.

So if you have read this far- this part may affect you. I will be tagging my posts. Posts about my hair will be tagged [Hair Journey] in the title. Posts about clothing will be tagged [Clothes Journey], posts about language will be tagged [Japanese] (or whatever language I’m using), and posts about exercise will be tagged [Fitness]. This way you can just skip the post if you’d rather not read about that subject.