I've had two friends donate hair care products to my no shampooing cause. My older sister called worriedly this week to ask if my head smelled. I feel the time has come to deal with the hair issue in complete candor:
I shower everyday. I didn't use to before this no-shampooing thing, but I feel like I need to now keep things copesetic. This doesn't mean I use more water. Before, I showered every other day for 10 minutes. Now it's every day for less than 5. For 6 Days of the week, I wet my hair, massage my scalp, clean my body, and get the hell out. If things are looking too greasy, I use this crazy Mexican method of oil re-distribution where I brush my hair from roots to tips with a washcloth while it's still wet. The excess oil is distributed throughout, making it so I don't really need conditioner and so that the roots aren't a yuck-fest.
On the 7th day (it used to be every 3 or so, but the more I use this method, the longer I can go) I lather up with this awesome Squeaky Green solid shampoo bar a friend gifted me from Lush. It's Sodium Laurel Sulfate free and smells AMAZINGLY herbal. I want to bite in, but I refrain. I shampoo, rinse, and have done with it. It doesn't over-dry my hair so no conditioner is necessary. This has NEVER been the case before: my hair is a wavy, tangly mess! I used to use the baking soda/apple cidar vinegar method on hair washing day, and still do sometimes (apple cidar vinegar makes your hair SOOOOO soft) but I'm currently obsessed with the yummy smell of the shampoo bar, so baking soda's taken a back burner.
Sure, some days I feel like a grossen. But mostly it rocks. And I think it'll only get better.
In other showering news: a friend gave me Pangea Organic Body Wash. It's amazing! And it's produced here in Boulder. I want to guzzle it, but settle for rubbing it all over. Even after I'm out of the shower, I can still smell the yumminess on my skin. I catch myself sniffing myself kind of often....
Showing posts with label Shampoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shampoo. Show all posts
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
No Shampoo Update
Well, the deed is done. It looks normal. Smells normal. Will I soon be liberated from frizzy, chemical-filled hair? I hope so!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Not Shampooing?
I have crap hair. It's long, coarse, tangly, not straight or curly but a big wavy mess. When I go to the hair salon however, everyone just goes on and on about how great it is. They make it look perfect by gunking it with 16 pounds of chemical crud (all available for purchase) and blasting it with hot air until it cowers in submission. When I do my own hair, this is not the case. I don't have any of the tools or any of the gunk. Inevitably it looks amazing when I'm planning on sitting at home munching on cheetos, and when I need it to be stellar it insists on looking like doo doo.
The reason I'm telling you this is to get the point across that I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY HAIR. Sure, it's better than being bald, but in the grand scheme of things I'm willing to let my (lack of) hair care go pretty early in this whole green-my-life experiment.
Shampoo has a chemical (Soduim Lauryl Sulfate) that's designed to look foamy. That's all it's supposed to do, because people like foam. Well, it's linked to cancer and it's way too harsh for hair anyway, so the natural oils that protect our hair are washed down the drain and our body goes into overdrive to produce more. Enter oily hair after 1.5 days without shampoo. Unacceptable.
Shampoo is out! I've returned my very expensive Paul MItchel Shampoo and Conditioner to the store because I'm convinced it actually makes my hair dirtier and at present am using up the last of my travel-sized Mario Badescu natural shampoo and conditioner. There are those who insist that I should stop cleaning my hair all together and, after a few weeks of yuck, it'll look the best it's ever looked and start to clean itself. While I don't think these people are lying in an attempt to make everyone smell/look horrible, I'm not brave enough for this yet. I need to gradually work up to something like never cleaning my scalp again. Instead, my new baking soda and vinegar obsession is being tested on the bod itself, and tomorrow AM I'm trying the following shampoo method, courtesy of Nature Moms (not that I am one)...
Dissolve 1 Tbsp of baking soda in enough water to make a paste. Apply to roots only and let it chill for a minute or two. Then massage your scalp with your fingers to loosen the gunk. Rinse the bakind soda out and pour a mixture of 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and water over the ends of your hair. Let it sit a minute and then rinse.
Hopefully it works! I think I'll miss the yummy smelling stuff, though. I'll just have to get really really good smelling, natural body soap bars and inhale those instead.
If this experiment works, I won't have to buy 29$ worth of Shampoo and Conditioner each month, which rocks. I may have to start carting in 4-ton boxes of baking soda, though.
The reason I'm telling you this is to get the point across that I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY HAIR. Sure, it's better than being bald, but in the grand scheme of things I'm willing to let my (lack of) hair care go pretty early in this whole green-my-life experiment.
Shampoo has a chemical (Soduim Lauryl Sulfate) that's designed to look foamy. That's all it's supposed to do, because people like foam. Well, it's linked to cancer and it's way too harsh for hair anyway, so the natural oils that protect our hair are washed down the drain and our body goes into overdrive to produce more. Enter oily hair after 1.5 days without shampoo. Unacceptable.
Shampoo is out! I've returned my very expensive Paul MItchel Shampoo and Conditioner to the store because I'm convinced it actually makes my hair dirtier and at present am using up the last of my travel-sized Mario Badescu natural shampoo and conditioner. There are those who insist that I should stop cleaning my hair all together and, after a few weeks of yuck, it'll look the best it's ever looked and start to clean itself. While I don't think these people are lying in an attempt to make everyone smell/look horrible, I'm not brave enough for this yet. I need to gradually work up to something like never cleaning my scalp again. Instead, my new baking soda and vinegar obsession is being tested on the bod itself, and tomorrow AM I'm trying the following shampoo method, courtesy of Nature Moms (not that I am one)...
Dissolve 1 Tbsp of baking soda in enough water to make a paste. Apply to roots only and let it chill for a minute or two. Then massage your scalp with your fingers to loosen the gunk. Rinse the bakind soda out and pour a mixture of 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and water over the ends of your hair. Let it sit a minute and then rinse.
Hopefully it works! I think I'll miss the yummy smelling stuff, though. I'll just have to get really really good smelling, natural body soap bars and inhale those instead.
If this experiment works, I won't have to buy 29$ worth of Shampoo and Conditioner each month, which rocks. I may have to start carting in 4-ton boxes of baking soda, though.
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