Tuesday, May 8, 2012

No-Poo! What The...


Now onto my biggest experiment yet!  I have decided to join the no-poo movement!  While this may sound like I have committed to being very constipated, I assure you it has nothing to do with bowel movements!  Sorry for my junior high boy moment there...Anyway, going no-poo means to stop using shampoo.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Ok, now that I've given you ample time to freak out and lament about how gross I am, let me give you some more information.

A few weeks ago, my mother in law asked me if I saw the news story on how sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laurethe sulfate may be dangerous.  Just so you know, these two things are harsh detergents the strip oil.  They are used in basically anything that suds (shampoo, soaps, dish detergent, laundry detergent, face wash, etc.)  Beyond being dangerous, they apparently mess up the natural balance of your hair which causes you to use all of those other products just to get a mildly, desirable effect.  So, this tid bit of information along with my obsession for making things led me to look for shampoo alternatives (I'm not crazy, I'm still going to wash my hair somehow!)

Week One- Why the heck am I doing this again?

So, I made a two week commitment to not using shampoo.  Everything I've read told me that there would be an adjustment period of 2-8 weeks where I would just have to wait out the greasiness and to invest in some headbands and hats.  This almost had me running back to my beloved shampoo and conditioner, but I am stubborn and since I committed, I had to go through with it so my husband wouldn't be right about me giving up!

I have very fine, thin hair that is about down to my shoulders, along with this, I also have oily skin which means I was washing my hair everyday because it was oily everyday.  So, I decided that I would suffer through washing my hair only every other day with shampoo alternatives that would not completely rid my hair of oil.  The most common recipe I found for shampoo was

1 tbs of baking soda
1 cup of water

That was it and for conditioner

1 tbs of apple cider vinegar ( I love vinegar!)
1 cup of water

Yup, that simple.  This should last about a week or two I found out, but not until I used all of it the first time...

Since I wasn't loving the results, I decided to use more baking soda.  I just put about a tbs in my hand and mixed a little water to make some paste.  Then, I apply it to my roots and massage it in and let it sit for a few minutes.  You want to be careful about using it on more than your roots though.  It can make your hair feel dry and cottony if you use too much.  You have to play around with what's right for you.

Then use the conditioner.  The apple cider vinegar evens out the pH balance of your hair from the baking soda.  If you have oily hair like I do, I suggest not using on your roots because it makes it look more oily.  Again, you have to play around with what is right for your hair.

I wore a lot of head bands that first week, but even with this, I couldn't take the grease!  So on day 5 I did an egg wash.  This consisted of 1 egg and 1/4 cup of lemon juice put through the blender.  I left it on for about 5 min. while I washed up and shaved and this made my hair look soooooo much better!  Not as good as shampoo, but I was able to ditch the head band for a day!

Thank goodness I was at a retreat this first weekend and didn't have to endure church with a greasy head.  My next post will cover week two.

Me, after one week of no shampoo.

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