It has been one month since I started using the No ‘Poo hair cleaning method and I have to be honest, it wasn’t easy but I made it and it is working great! It was pretty rough at first and I’m really glad I gave it the full month because most people say two weeks is all it takes and that is great if you have normal hair, but some people have naturally dry hair or oily hair that is being masked by shampoo. It turns out I have naturally oily hair and needed to tweak my recipe a little to get my optimal results. Kathleen of Becoming Peculiar posted Why I Ditched Shampoo (And How You Can Too) that really helped me out.
I was at two weeks and it was Christmas Eve and I had just had it with having greasy hair and was feeling stressed by the fact that it was only getting worse, not better. I didn’t want all my family photos on Christmas to be with nasty hair. My mom, who is so supportive in all of this, found some samples of a organic chem free shampoo called Aubrey and I was at least able to cut the grease out of my hair for one wash, which is something that Kathleen suggested too. Aubrey is a great shampoo and if the No Poo thing hadn’t started working I was going to start buying it. I would recommend it to anyone not wanting to give up shampoo all together. I also began to play with my mixes a little. I started with the base 1tblsp to 1 cup water mix that is recommended but with little success, I bumped it up to two for both. That seemed to help a bit but then I was hit with a waxy issue so as recommended by Kathleen again on another post, No-Poo Update, I started doing a second Apple Cider Vinegar rinse, which is working pretty well.
Now it should be mentioned that it takes a bit to get used to what your hair is like healthy. It should not and will not feel the same, but that is okay. It is going to feel like a thin layer of oil is on your hair but I also have noticed that my hair is NEVER tangled or frizzy. I used to have a halo of tiny hairs that stuck straight up especially when my hair was in a pony tail and brushing was torture. I hated that! Since switching my halo is gone and the tangles have been banished! Before I was dealing with my hair, now I’m enjoying my hair!
So far it seems my success is from using an all natural shampoo to help cut out some excess grease without the harsh things that trigger so much extra oil to be produced, allowing the baking soda to do it’s job and then making sure I rinse thoroughly. To recap my new recipe is:
2 Tablespoons Baking Soda mixed in 1 Cup of water
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar mixed in 1 Cup of water
1 Rinse with Baking Soda Mix and 2 rinses with Apple Cider Vinegar Mix. I pat my hair dry, and comb it. After that I usually either blow and straighten or put it in a pony tail.
My In-Laws are in town this week so I don’t have time to do my normal styling for pictures but I will post some next week when their visit is over. I did it, And you can too!
Wow, that was brave of you to start experimenting with this in December! Two years ago, I would have been too scared to mess with my hair during holiday season.
I’m glad to hear it’s finally working for you. I still had ups and downs for months after I started going poo-free. Only in the last year (I’ve been doing it for two) have I found my groove, so that I wouldn’t dream of going back to shampoo, because it’s so perfect like this. Hope it continues to improve!
My hair has always been so curly and so frizzy that people are used to seeing me with a pony tail. So it wasn’t all too different but this is the first time I have ever really liked my hair without straightening it so I really am glad I took the risk. Part of my other reason for starting when I did is my job takes me out of civilization for months on end. I need everything with me that I will need for a few months since I work at a camp and we can’t exactly go to stores. We are on a break until the end of Feb, so it was a great chance to try it! I am a little concerned because I’m in a medium water area now, but when I go back to camp we will be in a hard water area and I’ll be in the ocean 3-5 times a week. I’m just praying it doesn’t start going funny on me then!
oh yay!! I am No Poo also! Please consider sharing your post with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday Link-Up! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/01/eco-kids-tuesday-link-up-and-green-pops.html