the end of an era

for those of you who have visited our house over the years, depending on where we were living at the time, you might've caught a glimpse of this in our bathroom. many years ago (7 years perhaps?) my mother started buying this gel for herself, me, and my sister. it was quite a find at the time- gel that was inexpensive (under $5 probably), didn't cause dandruff, and tamed our wild, curly hair. so mom started buying us the gel regularly. whenever i came home for a visit or in our christmas stockings, for example, i was sure to be given a jar. so it was without fail that i always had an almost-full bottle of this gel in my bathroom (and sometimes extras in my cupboard too!).

i've been trying for over a year now to finish up this gel and get a more "grown up" kind. i don't know what the means really, but just something that doesn't come in an industrial-sized container and maybe something that's a little more earth-friendly. but seriously, it's taken me like a full year to finish it all up. i can't remember when the last time was that someone gave me a bottle of this stuff. but, as you may have guessed from the picture, the gel is officially finished.* it truly is an end of an era.**

*i say finished, but i still have a little bit left in my travel-sized bottle so i'll be using it on my vacation.

**and no mom, i do not want another bottle. thank you. i have appreciated it for all these years. but i'm ready to move on.