No poo!

I know the title may have you a little nervous, at the moment, but I promised to never write about poop, and I won't. I'm writing about using shampoo, or not using shampoo, actually.

This has been a fad for all the DIYer's and "green" families in Internetland for quite a while now, so I decided to give it a try. I know what you're thinking, "Ew, she doesn't wash her hair?" My hair is very clean, I promise. It is a little unconventional, but it didn't take long for me to feel like a dummy for spending so much money on hair products in the past.

The first time I used the "No Poo" method, I did it totally wrong, technically. The recipe I that I meant to use is from care2.com, which I found using my standard search engine. The link is on the bottom of the page if you'd like to check it out. This recipe suggests using one moistened tablespoon of baking soda thoroughly massaged into the only onto the scalp, rinse after a minute or two. Follow with a rinse of diluted vinegar all over your hair, one tablespoon to one cup of warm water, allow to sit for a minute and then rinse.

The article I looked at explained there would be a breaking-in period which your hair would need to adjust to the lack of chemicals and while the pH balance of your scalp returned to normal, so you need to give it at least a week or two before giving up. Well, this didn't happen for me. Maybe it was because I used to wash my hair every other day, or the fact that I dumped probably about two handfuls of baking soda on my head, followed with a straight vinegar bath the first time I tried the "No Poo" method, or maybe I just have super hair, I certainly can't tell you why. I can tell you that my hair is strong, soft, shiny, and it smells great.

I usually wash my hair every other day. I have a small travel bottle with maybe two or three tablespoons of baking soda mixed with water and a couple drops of essential oil that I leave in my shower. I don't know how long it takes to go bad, but it only takes 4 or 5 uses before I have to make a new batch anyway. I keep the vinegar in a small spray bottle and I'd say it's about half vinegar and half water. The point is, I don't bother measuring anything; if I did, it'd probably be different for you anyway. Everyone's makeup is a little different when you get right to it and it's not rocket science anyway, it's hair!

I want to warn you that washing your hair this way feels totally different than using shampoo. The wash doesn't foam, it feels gritty and dirty while you're washing it, basically like you took a handful of sand and rubbed it around on your head like a dirty monkey... Also, after using the vinegar, my hair tends to feel a little greasy, but it dries perfect, so I'm not sure why this is.

I was really impressed that this method works so well. I was a little skeptical at first, but it gets even greasy hair clean. Plus, it's so nice knowing exactly what I'm putting on my skin and hair, some of the chemicals and random ingredients companies use should be illegal, and so should the prices!! I hope you give it a try, please let me know how it works for you.

03/03/13 ~ Before first baking soda wash.

03/09/13 ~ No shampoo for 6 days.

03/12/13 ~ Taken after brushing my hair.

 These last two were taken about 10 minutes ago, 03/18/13. Honestly, I haven't even brushed my hair today, I threw it up in a bun after my shower.  It still looks so clean and shiny, if I don't say so myself. Here's the article I looked at when I first started.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/no-poo-get-beautiful-hair-with-just-baking-soda-vinegar.html?page=2