The no 'poo update

Some of you may remember that I took the plunge a few months ago and decided to ditch my shampoo. Yup, that's right, I haven't shampooed my hair in THREE months. To find out why I could possibly think this is a good idea, check out this article.

I stuck to my baking soda and apple cider vinegar routine for a few weeks before I hit rock bottom. My scalp was itching like it was dry, but my hair was greasy! I found a recipe online for a leave in conditioner with olive oil, banana and eggs that left specks of banana in my hair for days and left my hair smelling like a trash can. I was this close to quitting.

In a last ditch effort, I decided to substitute the ACV with lemon juice to see if that would help. It didn't help the itchy scalp, but I DID like not smelling like french fries.

About a week later, I started noticing a difference in my hair. I've settled into a routine now that has my hair looking great and feeling healthy. Here's what works for me:

Before I shower, I squeeze half a lemon into a plastic cup. I keep a big box of baking soda under my bathroom sink and dump about a 1/4 cup (I have long hair!) into another plastic cup.

1. Wet hair

2. Dump a teaspoon of baking soda into your hand and make a paste with water.

3. Scrub scalp and hair systematically; repeat until baking soda is gone.

4. Rinse thoroughly.

5. Add water to lemon juice.

6. Carefully pour lemon juice and water mixture into your hair.

7. Let it sit for a minute or two. Rinse.

Done! I'm telling you, my hair feels so silky smooth afterwards. As for the smell, there is none. When your hair smells all fruity and flowery when you get done shampooing your hair, that's because it's leaving something in your hair, causing nasty build-up. This routine truly cleans your hair, leaving absolutely no smell behind at all.

At a maximum, I only wash twice a week. I know for some of you that's going to send shivers down your spine, but it seriously doesn't need it. Today is a wash day and it doesn't even feel, look or smell greasy. If I really feel the need to wash it on an off day, I'll just do a lemon juice rinse.

Do I have any no 'poo readers? I'd love to hear what routine you use!

Ditching Shampoo

Hi, my name is Molly and I've been shampoo free for 15 days.

I'm hanging in there, but it's been rough.

The baking soda part is easy, make a paste in your hand and scrub into your scalp. Then I start having trouble. The first couple times I washed my hair, I just doused my hair in apple cider vinegar straight from the bottle. Ummm, just for the record, ACV really stings your eyes.

My husband did a sniff test when I got out of the shower and declared that I smelled like french fries. The kind with vinegar, apparently.

Since I don't particuarly want to remind people of boardwalk fries, I put the vinegar in a spray bottle in an attempt to use less. Well, a fine mist of ACV really, really burns your eyes. In a second sniff test, husband announced that my hair reminded him of toilet bowl cleaner.

WHAT? Toilet bowl cleaner? (Seriously, he really said that.)

Apparently my horror was apparent and he quickly followed up with "That's a good thing honey, toilet bowl cleaner smells clean!". In his defense, I have been cleaning our toilets with baking soda and vinegar , so his observation was pretty accurate.

For the last couple showers, I've tried pouring just an ounce or two of ACV into a cup, diluting it with water and dipping the ends of my hair into it. Much. Better. Less smell, less burning of the eyes.

I'm having some trouble with an itchy, dry scalp (so if you see me tearing at my scalp, I do NOT have critters) which is very strange because my hair is greasier than ever. I just picked up some lavendar oil to see if that can help with both the toilet bowl/french fry smell and the itchness.

So the verdict isn't in yet. I've come this far and I'm determined to make it through this detox period...but if anyone feels inclined to give me a pep talk, I'm all ears.

My No 'Poo Experiment

I just ran across a post on this site that really intrigues me. (Which doesn't take much by the way, my husband says I'm way to easily entertained.)

I'll admit that I've spent a small fortune on shampoo, conditioner and styling products over the last decade, so a solution that's cheap AND good for my hair and skin sounds like a genius idea.

Since I happen to have everything I need on hand and I'm just about out of my last bottle of shampoo, I see no reason to put off the experiment. I'm super excited to see (and share!) the results.

Check out this and this for more information.