L'egoïste Romantique

Hey y’all. Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I’m not dead but I don’t blog here anymore and just keep it as an archive.

I can now be found at sadiqim. 

It is, however, a side account to a roleplay account so I cannot directly follow back. So if a weird Jewish girl RP thing follows you? THAT WOULD BE ME.

As a woman who struggles really, really hard with hormonal imbalances caused by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, this shit with Hobby Lobby makes me so fucking furious I can’t stand it.

And you know what? Fuck it, it ain’t goin’ under a ‘read more’ just so people can feel comfortable.

I struggle with getting my period twice a fucking month. My cycle is sooner than the average, for whatever reason. And it is very heavy and I become so fucking anemic I can barely get out of bed during the first day or two of my menses. Sometimes more. But that is an assured two days — if not many more — that I am literally useless to the world.

You know what helps my condition?

CONTRACEPTIVES, BECAUSE THEY ARE FEMININE HORMONES.

And IUD or implant basically stops my periods entirely, or very close to entirely. They keep my productivity as an employee higher and they reduce my misery. At a $500 cost to whatever employer I have at the time, generally. It lasts five years, if it’s hormonal, which it has to be in my case. What I would pay out of pocket generally varies. Which if you listen to a place like Hobby Lobby, is oh so expensive. However, when the cost of pill-form contraceptive ranges from $500 a year to upwards of $2,000. Multiply that cost over five years and it is a huge health savings for a company, and for a better working product. They work better than pill-form products, at least in my case.

What bothers me the most about this, is not even so much that they wouldn’t want to cover it. Which as you can read above, does bother me quite a bit. The fact is that these places don’t want to cover these services, but also work so fucking hard to close down any sort of place that can provide these services and medications at a cost that people can afford. Places that keep people safe by giving them access to not only that but other tools to keep themselves healthy. And, if I do manage to get a prescription for any of these things? I really hope my pharmacist isn’t a tool and refuses to fill it because of some sort of holier-than-though attitude that allows them to think they know me and what’s best for me based on their religious beliefs. Because if they actually knew me and what I went through, maybe they would actually realize how badly I need this medication. And god forbid this is a small town, because then I might have to drive an hour or greater to be able to find a pharmacist who understands that. God forbid if I’m trapped in a small town hospital or have to use their clinics, because the overwhelming majority of them are own by religious institutions who feel the same way as that pharmacist.

Furthermore, providing me an IUD or access to contraceptive medications or god forbid, a morning after pill is not a case for or against abortion. The M-A pill doesn’t abort anything insomuch as stop your ovaries from releasing an egg. If doesn’t work if it’s already happened and it’s ineffective after a couple of days. Me having birth control for my periods doesn’t prevent any sort of pregnancy, either. If anything, if my periods were lighter and management (or even better, maybe didn’t exist but that defeats the point of the soon-coming point), I might actually be more willing to have some babies.

And this isn’t even touching upon any of the sexist shit that involves paying for a man’s right to Viagra or whatever else they want or need for their hormonal or reproductive health. A man with a hormonal imbalance can walk into a clinic and be prescribed methods to regulate his hormones without anyone saying a thing. If he needs more testosterone, there isn’t any question at all. We don’t even talk about it. Yet if I want the same care, I am labeled a slut, a “feminazi” (which as a Jewish woman is horrifically offensive), and I have to expose my entire medical background and politics so we can have a national debate about what healthcare choices are marginally acceptable for me to have or be covered by my employer (and thusly, insurance.) And whether or not a place that will provide me that care if you won’t, is okay.

That is fucking bullshit.

I very rarely write reviews of things. I consider it a general waste of time and effort because very few people read them and take the seriously. That and I have better things to do with my life than dedicate five paragraph essays to the pros and cons of a perfume or whether or not this eyeshadow was pigmented enough for my liking. Instead I generally just refer people by word of mouth. Which trust me, for this stuff? I’m always talking to people about it. I’m slowly becoming an expert. Hell, if I lived in Ohio I’d probably ask for a job from these people because I know far too much.

So, sometimes, I do find a thing or two worth mentioning on a grand scale. Sometimes worth blogging over. And one of those things is henna. Which, okay, yeah, it’s a plant. What plant is worth a review? And it’s not that the plant is worth a review, but rather I have become utterly hooked on henna coloring and treatments for my hair. And I feel like it’s actual worth the time to mention. So have a bit of a story while I tell you about an important thing.

Back when I was eighteen, I dyed my hair for the very first time. It was a warm, candy apple red and I loved it. For a generally unambitious kid I didn’t really feel a need to do much to my hair. However, after I cut off nearly two feet worth of hair the year prior I figured it would be fun to live a little. And that began my love affair with hair dye for the next two years. Varying from jet black to cool auburns, I did anything but blonde. Eventually I just gave up because it was a hassle and my body was getting ever more sensitive to various chemicals in things.

Eventually I literally would have to change shampoos every month because my allergies would make it nearly impossible to use the current one of choice. Just like the dye eventually gave way to highlights and then to nothing at all. All while my scalp became worse and worse because I couldn’t find anything to work.

Eventually, in 2009, I found Organix and for whatever reason my hair and scalp improved. Not totally, but it was a start to simply have a product I could steadily use without problems. Even if I still struggled with dandruff like a horrid beast, to the point I completely avoided wearing certain colors. For years.

Now, it’s going to seem weird, but I decided I wanted a change. I didn’t know what I wanted, not right away, until I was watching the most recent season of Game of Thrones last spring. Melisandre’s hair. Melisandre’s hair. That beautiful mixture of coppery and wine reds that somehow looks so natural but utterly surreal and gorgeous at the same time. How could I get something like that? And though I knew of henna before then, it didn’t cross my mind again until September of last year. Haven’t had cut my hair since January of 2013, and with a lot of fresh growth, I took the plunge and bought some henna from Mehandi.com. I figured if I hated it, I could just cut off my hair and start fresh like I generally always do.

This is what my hair looks like after the third application of henna, as of yesterday. With my go-to Rajasthani Monsoon from Mehandi.com. That is some healthy hair, right? My friends are always jealous when my hair photos get posted on Facebook.

But here’s the thing: why would I bother to write something about my hair dye on my blog? Because Mehandi.com is owned by Empire, a small business in Kent, Ohio. By one woman. Who goes well out of her way to make sure that her products are genuine and free of chemicals and pesticides that can hurt your hair and your health. To the point that she literally sends every single type of henna and nearly every shipment she thinks about selling to a laboratory to make sure that it’s what the producer says it is before we even get to see it. That’s a lot of work and dedication for one person, and I admire the hell out of her for it.

Especially because “commercialized” henna products have the potential to be a very dangerous product. Filled with harsh chemicals and dyes that aren’t indigo or henna powder at all. And that can literally burn your skin and cause you to have horrible reactions that send you to emergency rooms and have you dealing with the results for weeks to months. Which is utterly horrifying, and means that doing your research is absolutely vital. Particularly if you’re sensitive to these chemicals.

The second reason? Since I started treating my hair with Mehandi’s henna? The thickness and texture of my hair has improved by leaps and bounds. My hair has its plump curls back, something I haven’t seen since I was a little girl. I don’t even have dandruff during the worst of Minnesota winters, where dry skin and me are practically like best friends. And combined with Organix’s biotin shampoo? I don’t think my hair as ever been this healthy or this soft in my entire life. It’s really quite remarkable.

And all it took was powdered henna mixed with a bit of chamomile tea. Literally all it took to relieve what was previously years upon years of frustrations and issues with my skin and hair. Also apparently to make everyone and their mother jealous, to boot. So it’s worth it to me to write up a glowing review for them, and to direct anyone who is interested in henna to them. There is no better place to buy you henna imho, because this lady knows her stuff. 

Not to mention there’s so much cute stuff on her shop page to buy too, that isn’t henna. From shampoo to perfumes that are natural to hair accessories.

For example: I want to get my hand on this sucker. I keep meaning to order them whenever I buy my henna and let me tell you how forgetful I am about it. 

The short of my review: henna good, buy all of the henna.