I Ditched Shampoo

Maybe you by now have seen the infomercials for Wen haircare. It is celebrity endorsed. A hair dresser to the stars came up with new products to use for hair care. I can relate it to the Bare Minerals craze.

I went there but although I am still with mineral make-up, the previous price point was painful for me. 

Avon and Melaleuca are cheaper.

Now back to hair care. I had what I thought sounded like a crazy idea pop into my head years ago in perhaps 2005. I was having some hair issues and wondering what in the world to do. 

Vinegar…

Vinegar what, how much, how often, how? It was just that one random sounding word.

Feeling brave (since I did not have to drink it) I decided to add it to my hair care regime. From there I tried it as a pre treatment and a deep conditioner. I substituted it for shampoo sometimes and conditioner on others.

Of course we all have different hair types and needs. So the key to any more natural based product changes might be trial and error. I also chemically process my hair so that adds an element of stress to it if you will.

Fast forward to more recent years and suddenly I heard there was an at home method for hair cleansing called No Poo. 

It means no shampoo. 

Why? 

Because shampoos include chemicals that are not healthy and can be damaging. Shampooing the hair strips off it's natural oils leaving it more vulnerable.

The "no poo" ingredients are simple:

Water 

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Wow. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is suggested. It has a slightly different ph than plain white vinegar.

A mixture of baking soda and water is applied to the hair in place of shampoo and rinsed out. ACV is then used as a conditioner. Rinse dry and style as usual. That is the basic instruction. I have never used the baking soda.

For one reason these days I do not use hair spray and hair gel like I have in the past. Less crap in means less reason for hair to be dirty. My hair type is not oily and I was not raised washing my head daily. 

I like a schedule of about every 3^rd day no more and sometimes less. Then I blow dry and straighten. 

Wetting, washing/rinsing, conditioning that is the easy part. It is the after that bogs me down.

So much so that I have worn head coverings all week ahead of the rain that is finally here. I missed my window of time to get my hair done over the weekend. It has just felt like a hasel since then so cover- cover-cover.

Except for with my perm treatments I have not used a shampoo now in at least a half a dozen years. My hair is not yet where I want it; strong and at least as long as my chin to shoulder all over. 

Still until then with the help of the No Poo method it can be clean, healthy and manageable.