No 'poo, Day 56

Day 56, Sunday, January 3--Still a little crunchy, and a whole lot shorter
Image: © L. Kathryn Grace

Two months ago, when I used the last of my shampoo and conditioner, I chose not to replace them and experimented instead with the baking soda/apple cider vinegar (BSACV) hair care method. I've been happily surprised with the ease of care as well as with the results. You can see earlier pix of my progress on Day 28, Day 15, and Day 1.

My hair has always been on the crunchy side, as I resist any products that make it feel gloppy, goopy or heavy, and I'm happy to report that the quality of texture and shine have not changed significantly. I'm also very much a wash-and-go girl. No elaborate dos or lengthy curling, straightening or taming processes, and I'm absolutely loving that I need wash my hair only every third day--something I haven't dreamed of doing in decades, yet it remains healthy, vibrant and bouncy.

What I'm also loving about BSACV is the way my scalp feels during and after washing and the fact I'm contributing far fewer pollutants and wildlife-threatening chemicals to the streams and oceans.

Here's my process in a nutshell.

Every third day, wash my hair with one tablespoon baking soda (BS) dissolved in one cup warm water, careful to keep the solution close to my scalp and away from the ends, but not so much that I stop enjoying the super-clean, tingly feeling. Rinse the BS thoroughly from my hair and apply one tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ACV), diluted in one cup warm water, to the ends of my hair, avoiding the scalp. Rinse again. The ACV does not linger, and my sweetheart, who is sensitive about such things, still loves to sniff and touch my hair.

The next two days, because there isn't a shower cap in the world that ensnares my mane, I let it get wet when I shower, but I apply no solution or product of any kind.

Each morning and evening, I brush my hair vigorously with a natural bristle brush, which helps my hair shine and distributes the natural oils my body produces. Don't you think it rather bizarre that we've been trained in the last three or four decades to strip our scalp and hair of the perfectly balanced oils our bodies make, then slather on expensive conditioners filled with dubious-sounding ingredients, some of which may be downright harmful?

All those plastic bottles end up in land fills, and the "...cones," "...fates" and "diethyl"-whatevers end up in our streams and oceans where they wreak havoc on the wildlife. We'll talk more about that in a later post, but I have to say, no-'poo hair care is proving to be absolutely liberating.

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

No 'poo, Day 28

Day 28
Image: © L. Kathryn Grace

The first day I ditched my empty shampoo and conditioner bottles without replacing them, my hair was a little crunchy after the baking soda wash/vinegar rinse (BS/V).

It's not unusual for my hair to look like unraveled shredded wheat, so that first day was not the disaster I had grown to expect after reading other people's experiences. My scalp felt wonderfully tingly, and my hair was soft, despite its appearance.

I'm happy to report that as I finish week four without shampoo, I don't miss it a bit. My hair looks healthier today, don't you think?

Better still, my scalp feels alive again, and I'm not sneezing in the shower or worse, nauseous due to the load of chemicals and perfumes in hair care products, which have always given me problems.

The best part about this whole no 'poo thing is that I'm not washing my hair every day. Hard to believe, but true. I was convinced when I began this experiment that I would continue to do a full wash every day. Not wash my hair? Yuk. But just as Babyslime and others predicted, once I removed the gunk and goo, I didn't need a daily wash to have vibrant hair.

Now I do the BS/V wash two or three times a week depending on need. Not only do I wash my hair less frequently, but it stays shiny, soft and lovely even if I don't wet it every day.

I give gratitude to the individuals who revived this beauty secret our grandmothers knew so well. I can take a fast shower for the first time in years. I'm saving buckets of water! Plus, I no longer pour gallons of sudsy ooze down the drain and almost directly into the Pacific Ocean.

What I thought would be a difficult experiment is quickly turning into feel-good simplicity I wish I'd discovered years ago.

I'm curious about you. Have you tried the no-shampoo method? If so, how did it work for you? Did you keep at it? Or did you miss your creamy products? If you haven't tried it, what do you think of the idea?

What other ways can you suggest that we as individuals can take personal responsibility for the material we contribute to the waste stream and most particularly to the quality of our air and water in our daily habits?

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

No 'poo, Day 15

Day 15
Image: © L. Kathryn Grace

Looking pretty good, considering that I've had the flu for two weeks and chose not to get my hair wet Saturday and Sunday due to chills. Last water-only wash was Friday, and last baking soda wash/vinegar rinse was either Wednesday or Thursday.

This is a vast improvement over what I would have seen had I been shampooing and conditioning with my expensive store-bought potions. One day without treatment, and my hair would have been dull and lifeless. Three to four days, including no wash on two of them, and my hair would have been irredeemably greasy and stringy. Plus, my scalp would have itched so badly, I'd have found myself scratching almost uncontrollably.

Yes, it's showing the friz, but my hair has always done this, no matter what I put on it. The same is true after a pricey trip to the hair dresser. Twenty minutes from the salon, and the frizzles poke out no matter what goop they've used to tame them, so no complaints.

Have to say, I'm liking this baking soda, apple cider vinegar thing a lot.


Update 11/28/09: In case you missed it in 'Pooless! Day One, I'm using Babyslime's recipes and procedure.

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

'Pooless! Day One

No 'poo Results Day 1: Bit frizzy, not shiny, feels a little crunchy

If we all lived in the world of Ordinary this minute, would our shower stalls be bristling with bottles filled with fruity gels and creamy shampoos? How do Rose and her friends clean their hair? One tiny step toward building Ordinary may be to go 'pooless.

How would you feel if you could forgo shampoo and conditioner bottles from your shopping list altogether? What if there is a way to reduce personal consumption, save a lot of money, and reduce our contributions to landfills and recycling centers. (If you're new to the three Rs, Reduce is the first--and best practice, followed by Reuse and Recycle.)

Turns out, there are several ways to go 'pooless. I've researched a bunch and decided to start with Live Journalist Babyslime's baking soda wash, vinegar rinse method. By returning to basic cleaning elements, I hope to encourage my scalp to achieve its natural pH and my hair to shine with its own oils, produced by my body. Added bonus: The only animal testing done here is on me.

Using such simple substances likely will reduce the amount of oxygen-choking toxins that bubble down the drain and into our streams and oceans every time I shower. In addition to saving fossil fuels used in manufacturing and shipping hair care products, I'll be helping to clean up our rivers and oceans. I'll pollute less.

Note: I'm looking for studies that show whether using bulk-packaged BS and vinegar is less costly, environmentally, than the commercial hair-care products with their long lists of dimethy-this and ethyl-hexal-that. If you know of such research, please point me to it in the comments section below.

To track this experiment, I'll post updates periodically, with images of my hair. I'll let you know how it's working for me. The pic above shows my mane today, after the first wash and air dry. It's about the same as always, a little on the frizzy side, and I understand that's to be expected in the first few weeks while my scalp and hair follicles adjust to the new regimen. The promise is that eventually my hair, free of all those expensive chemicals, will be naturally healthy, shiny and gorgeous.

Have you tried the 'pooless method? If so, how did it work for you? If not, what do you think of the concept?

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.