Nomadic hair

[Tinose]

And yes, I did picture hair roaming free and wild on the plains with that thread title. Possibly riding horse-shaped buns. :cheese:

But more importantly! If you were hypothetically going to be traveling for a year or two, and living out of a single suitcase the whole time, what hair things would you bring? And how would you deal with finding shampoo when the ingredients list is in a different language? I'm curious.

[young&reckless]

Poo bars last forever so I would take a few of those and a big bag of elastics.

I would need at least on hair fork to start but I would be shopping for more in ever town I came too. Hello local wood workers, I come in peace!

[KajiKodomo]

If the ingredient lists were in a different language, you could still possibly find the ingredients you want to avoid. They should be similar if not the same (since most of the names are latin). However, this changes if you're in a country with a language that isn't written in the same alphabet (Japanese, Chinese, etc.).

I would make sure to bring hair sticks and maybe some hairpins or barrettes.

You could also try going NW (no water; sebum only) or WO (water only) for this time period.

[serious]

I would take a few olive oil soap bars with me and wouldn't worry about finding a shampoo :) And I think vinegar and oils are available ( and pretty much the same) all over the world.

[Thinthondiel]

You could also try going NW (no water; sebum only) or WO (water only) for this time period.

WO and travelling don't necessarily go well together... I went to Las Vegas in August, where the water was very hard compared to what I'm used to, and my hair looked and felt incredibly greasy and limp. :rolleyes:

[Amara]

I would probably try NW if I was going to do that!

[Yozhik]

Having lived overseas for part of my life, I can testify that shampoo ingredients come in Roman/latin characters. So no worries identifying ingredients there! For that matter, nowadays, you can find whatever commercial shampoo is available in the US pretty much anywhere else, just at elevated prices.

I'd bring: a comb and a moisturizing shampoo bar :)

[Fencai]

A nice comb, poo bars and a brand new bag of elastics!

[sherigayle]

I would probably try out the local beauty secrets. And local artisan hairtoys would be a must.

[little_acorn]

When I've been travelling I take lots of elastics, wood comb, one strong hair stick - I'd add in now some jojoba oil :D

[myrrhmaiden]

I would bring a generous supply of my favorite oil for sure, headbands/scarves, hats, and plenty of bobbies and elastics.

[RancheroTheBee]

My scrunchie (I know, I know; fashion suicide. But so gentle!), my Denman brush, a 'poo bar and a little pot of coconut oil. :)

[verene]

When I went abroad for several months, I brought my comb, a few hair-ties/scrunchies, a clip and some bobby-pins with me. I bought shampoo/condish abroad. It helped I had enough understanding of the language to avoid anything really wrong for my hair even if I wasn't 100% certain that what I was buying was "right." Also, many western brands are available abroad and packaging is similar so if you truly can't read the language it does give you a bit of a guideline.

[florenonite]

I'd bring a couple 'poo bars, some coconut oil, my TT, a stick and some hair ties.

Of course my idea of being nomadic for a year tends to be more along the lines of canoe tripping, in which case I'd just bring a couple elastics and possibly some CO.

[cocolover]

When I lived abroad I brought a shampoo bar and conditioner because I use more natural products and knew the shampoos available would have a lot things I like to avoid. A comb, two hairsticks and some pantyhose-like hair bands round out the list.

[twolunarspring]

I did this (for a little less than a year) and took just a few elastics, a wooden comb and my shampoo/conditioner. I only washed my hair every two weeks, so two large bottles lasted the whole time. I am WO now, so if I did it over again, I would take a few elastics, two hair sticks, a BBB and a horn comb. If I weren't WO, I'd take shampoo and conditioner in bar form.

[melikai]

For that matter, nowadays, you can find whatever commercial shampoo is available in the US pretty much anywhere else, just at elevated prices.

I wish!
There are few North American products available here - and many European products are very difficult to get elsewhere.

Myself, I'd buy some local eggs and honey, if available, for my shampoo. Conditioner would be more tricky, as I haven't found anything good beyond commercial products (yet!). And my wide-toothed wooden comb, a couple of thick fabric elastics, and a hairstick or fork.

[teela1978]

I'm not too picky. I think I'd just pick up whatever interesting brand caught my fancy as I traveled. I'd definitely bring my horn comb, some hair ties (the ones with no seam), and my 2 most used/sturdiest hair sticks. I'd rather leave room for extra shoes than extra hair care products :)

[clairenewcastle]

Having recently discovered catnip tea I won't be travelling too far without it! It serves as a conditioner and would also double-up as a leave-in conditioner too.
Also I'd take a selections of hats and some soft scrunchies.

[Aer]

I would bring shampoo bars and metal free elastics. And oil. But I would also check out natural local methods. I pictured passages from The Clan of The Cave Bear book series when I saw this title.

[Arriens]

and living out of a single suitcase the whole time, what hair things would you bring? A credit card.

[Wind]

I'd take:

elastics
pkg of bobby pins
wide toothed comb
ACV

Need to leave room for all of my fabulous clothing and art finds. Are we allowed to ship stuff home? :p

[herbgurl82]

I pictured passages from The Clan of The Cave Bear book series when I saw this title.
Thats what I did too! Either that or I was expecting a hair style like the Elling Womans'.

I'd bring with me what I brought on my last vacation:
A Shampoo Bar to wash
A wooden and a horn comb for wet and dry detangling
A bunch of Elastics to keep it out of the way
My Quattro Fork for a quick yet somewhat dressy updo
A small mister with rose water and jojoba oil in it to condition/detangle

[Dars]

I'd bring my wide toothed comb, elastics, bobby pins and hair straightener for my fringe. If there was not a single product with a translation of ingredients printed on the packaging (which I have not yet experienced in foreign countries), I would go along with what they've got. There's no way I'd be stressing about my hair on a two year travel. I CO but I've been doing the commercial S/C routine all of my life with no real problems so it's not an issue for me to go back to it.

[Anje]

Hmmm... I'd probably have elastics for braids, a hairstick or three, a comb, some sesame oil, and perhaps a bottle of conditioner. Depending on where I was going, I might take the opportunity to go back to WO, but my ends like a little condish to keep properly moist.

[inertia]

Not sure I could live out of a single suitcase, but if I'm planning to be away for more than about 2 weeks I'll generally start using whatever's available locally. I enjoy poking around supermarkets and drugstores in other countries -- to me, it's often more fun than the tourist attractions.

Chemical names are frequently the same or similar so they're often easy to recognize, assuming you can read the writing system. Natural ingredients tend to be written in the local language and can be quite difficult.

I still have trouble reading the ingredients on Japanese products but don't fuss about it much. Mostly I go by trial and error, testing sample/travel sizes if they're available. The worst that happened was just that my hair was a little greasy or dry.

[windinherhair]

Well, so far my shampoo and conditioner has lasted me half the year and I am only halfway through the bottles. So I would just bring an extra bottle of each. :)

[Bene]

I guess I kinda luck out on this one. My hair isn't all that picky, so I can use whatever products the locals use :D I imagine I'd bring maybe 2 bottles of conditioner to start me off and try to wash my hair a little bit less and then pick up on whatever is available as I go along.

I'd bring a comb, a brush, and as many hair toys as possible, considering the size of my suitcase. And an 8 oz bottle of grapeseed oil for damp bunning. A bottle that size would last me about a year.

[Morrighan]

I've been doing WO for about a month and it's going pretty well. So if it keeps up this way all I would need is a comb, a scrunchie to make a braid when I go to bed, a few good day hair pins for a bun, and my bottle of jojoba oil.

[frodolaughs]

If shampoo bars work for you I'd suggest a couple of those--I have a fear of (and bad history with) leaking liquids in my luggage. Also on my travel list--half a dozen hair elastics, a hair fork, 2 hairsticks, a package of bobby pins, and a wide-tooth comb.

[halo_tightens]

I pictured passages from The Clan of The Cave Bear book series when I saw this title.

Ayla seemed to get by pretty well with lots of braids, didn't she? :D

[sweetestday]

My three newsboy hats and some scarves!

[TokyoPink]

Its odd, I was thinking about exactly this (what I would bring with me if I went travelling for a year or more) just yesterday, and today I come on here and find this thread. Spooky :P
For cleansing and conditioning I'd probably bring some kind of herbal tea with me (I'm experimenting with Chamomile at the moment) and coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner and to tame flyaways. Other than that I would just bring a comb and some decent hair ties. I decided I'd much rather use up luggage space on skincare, I can't go anywhere without my favourite cleansing soaps and several pots of moisturiser :)