Prell

I’m not sure if I’m consistent, loyal or boring. When I find a product I like, I stick with it. But why?

For example, I’ve been using Prell shampoo for almost 40 years. Usually, when I mention that to someone, they look at me and ask why. Almost as often, they comment on how harsh Prell is on your hair–how it strips all the oil from your hair (is that a bad thing?).

The honest answer is I like the smell. Beyond washing it, my hair isn’t long enough to smell at any other time. To the best of my recollection, no one has walked up to me and smelled my hair or commented on how nice it smells. Now and then, I’ll scratch the side of my mouth and catch the scent of the shampoo on my wedding band. But when I lather (there is no rinse and repeat) my hair, I enjoy the scent.

I find a person’s scents interesting. A nice cologne or perfume in an appropriate amount is a genuine attraction to me. I remember working with a young lady in the accounting department and asking her what perfume she had on. At the time, I was scared to death that I was crossing some vague line between casual conversation with a coworker and sexual harassment. Fortunately, her eyes lit up and she shared the brand of perfume. My wife got a bottle of that perfume at Christmas that year.

I’m firmly convinced that if you approach a person with the right attitude, you can ask such personal questions and they will gladly share the answer. In fact, most of the time, they will be happy someone took the initiative to let them know what they did was appreciated.

“I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.” - 2 Corinthians 8:8-14 ESV

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” - 1 Timothy 4:13-16

 Exhortation is something we all need and desire from time to time. It helps us connect in a way that nothing else can. So, if you catch a whiff of my hair and like it, please tell me.