As I mentioned last week in my long winded history of my hair; I credit two things to the recent improvements to my hair, my new fav brush and my eschewing of shampoo and conditioner.
A few months back I was browsing The SMH during my lunch break and I came across an article of a woman who decided not to wash her hair with shampoo anymore. She was using bicarb soda and apple cider vinegar instead. My first instinct was why the hell would you bother, shampoo isn't THAT much. It actually reminded me of my ex bf's crazily thrift mother who was all about cutting costs often to the detriment of any pleasure in life.
However what caught my eye was that she didn't have to wash her hair for a week, and only washed it as it felt strange not to.
| Hmm interesting... |
My hair is insanely oily, I have to wash it each morning and I can't even get away with washing it at night as the next day it'll be back to needing to be washed again. This process is not only annoying but also really bad for my hair, particularly as I'm a large fan of stylish my hair with the hairdryer and straightener..
I had truthfully tried everything, double washing, triple washing, using baby shampoo, using volumising shampoo, not using conditioner, avoiding unnecessary brushing and even dying my hair for no reason just to cut the oil. Nothing worked. Having inherited my Dad's fine, soft hair, he insisted in order to avoid a shiny scalp he recommended washing my hair with soap, I did this too. Still no such luck.
By the time I came across this article and the 'no poo' method (yes, I cringe at the name each time too) I had nothing to lose. So that day saw me stocking up on a giant box of bicarb soda and apple cider vinegar and taking them into the shower.
Basically, 'No 'Poo' means no shampoo and is a movement of mainly women who generally describe themselves as "crunchy" which apparently means being into a natural lifestyle. I personally do not care about such things, and will happily apply hairspray to my freshly washed with no chemicals hair, but whatever works for you.
Each person does it differently depending on their hair, however I keep a plastic bottle in the shower which I fill with a tablespoon or so of bicarb soda and add warm water once I'm in there. I then tip this all over my head and try to massage it in. Unlike Shampoo you can't feel where it is so it's easy to miss spots.
I usually let it soak and then rinse it out with water before 'conditioning' by tipping some vinegar on the ends of my hair and then rinsing out. I'f you've got regular vinegar that's fine too, however I'm finding that it dries my hair out a lot more than ACV.
The first time felt weird, I missed the lovely scent of shampoo and the rich lather I got from my expensive shampoo, plus the smell of vinegar in the bathroom afterwards was weird. James always comments the bathroom makes him want Fish and Chips after I've washed my hair. However, my hair felt almost exactly the same as it did after shampoo and conditioner, soft and clean. Hmmm.
Unfortunately, I was not so lucky to experience the not needing to wash my hair for a week. Instead, my hair remained as oily as ever and even went through the dreaded detox phase I had read about. This meant itchy scalp, sometimes dandruff, extra oil, the works. It sucked. Yet I persevered as I was clutching on to the idea of not having to wash my hair each morning.
Slowly, I was not needing to wash so frequently and I could wash my hair at night and maybe go a few days with the help of dry shampoo or cornflour. WIN!
The true turning point however was when I went for a hair cut and colour. I was chatting with my lovely new hairdresser and jokingly referred to my hair as brown smoke. What she said surprised me.
"You know, your hair isn't all that thin"
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| I'm sponsored by Root-Boost you jerk off! |
No more brown smoke hair for me!!!
She was right, my hair was kind of clumpy and annoying sometimes, the kind of annoying that people with thick hair whine about. Plus it looked richer and glossier. Multiple people have commented on my hair growing so much and looking so healthy, which hasn't happened since I was a teenager!
What was even more interesting, was as I had my hair coloured, my hair was washed with shampoo. Boy, did my hair freak out. It was instant dandruff and itchiness, I ended up washing it with a bit of vinegar to calm it down again. This was a sign if any that my body was quite a fan of the natural ingredients.
Despite liking the new method, the oiliness thing hasn't improved too much, however I don't let it bother me as much. Apparently this is due to the hardness of the water here, but I'm not at the stage where I'm willing to boil the kettle and let it cool just to wash my hair. In the mean time I'm happy with cornflour. Plus my hair is actually happier and it's growing! Not to mention washing my hair is now crazily cheap, which we all know means more money for fun things!
Even though it hasn't solved my initial problem, I know that I will probably continue this indefinitely, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Is not washing with shampoo or conditioner something you'd ever try? Ever tried an alternative beauty regime?
B x
Hmm, I think I'll give it a try :)
ReplyDeleteIt's rough at first but totally worth it!
DeleteThe only think i'd be worried about is that it might pull the pink out of your hair quicker, but after a while, you won't need to wash as frequently as your colour should hold up :-)