No 'Poo Update

I thought it might be time to write a full update on the no 'poo experiment.

Just to recap, I washed my hair for the last time with Pantene Pro-V for fine hair last Thursday (July 28th), and conditioned with the matching conditioner. That afternoon, I had gotten so sweaty from being out of the house that I took a second shower, but I only rinsed my hair with lukewarm water. (It was too hot to use anything warmer, and I actually really like cool showers in the warmer months.) On Friday, I also showered, once again only rinsing my hair with water.

So, S, being the research maven she is, did some more research on it after we started talking about it, picking up a few more tips than what I had gleaned. Of course, I actually stumbled upon the no 'poo movement completely accidentally - I was searching Google for various food items I could try rinsing my hair with in an effort to get some control over it, and found Crunchy Betty's blog.

Anyway, thanks to our combined efforts, it was determined that the baking soda mixture should ideally be made fresh each time, but you can make a lot of the apple cider vinegar mixture all at once and just store it in whatever container you use when you put it on your hair. We use a spray bottle. The recipes we've been using are:

1 TBSP baking soda
1 cup warm water
Mix well until the baking soda is dissolved. Pour into the bottle you use to put it on your head.

And:

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1-2 cups water (I think S used 2 cups when she made it on Friday)
Mix well, pour into whatever you use to get it on your hair.

Anyway, I tried this for the first time on Saturday (July 30th). I only used about three ounces on my hair and I didn't rub it in the way you're supposed to, as you're supposed to vigorously massage with your fingers in a circular motion - this stuff also is only supposed to be rubbed into your scalp, not the rest of your hair. I'm pretty sure I didn't get it all rinsed out, and I definitely didn't use enough either, because my hair was still kind of greasy when it was dry. And I really didn't use enough apple cider vinegar, because it was still pretty dry and greasy, at the same time. It was great for the first few hours, though; it looked really nice, and it kind of gets this flippy thing at the ends that it doesn't do when I use regular shampoo. I will say, it felt absolutely awful while I was in the shower, it was horrible and felt like sticky snakes were attached to my head when I first put the baking soda stuff in it. Yuck! But it was really easy to brush - normally my hair is in knots constantly, but I had no problems getting a brush through it, even though it still constantly tangled. I think that's just the curse of fine hair, though. I actually had some changes immediately after the first wash, even though what I've been reading says you may not see anything real until a few weeks in, after you're past the greaseball stage (which I frankly may not go through at all on the level other people do - I already wasn't washing my hair daily), so that was really, really exciting. It had a lot less frizz and more body than it usually does - most of the body that my hair has when using shampoo is it trying to be a frizzy afro, or what I call the "Hermione Phenomenon" - which is when my hair starts to need its own zip code from being so bushy and frizzy. It hasn't done that to me at all since I started this, which is very exciting, because it has always done that to me once it reaches shoulder length, which it finally has done.

On Sunday, I ended up rinsing with warm water again because it felt like poop and I felt like poop, too.

Last night, I used six ounces of the baking soda (that's all that fits into the bottles, not the full eight that you make with a cup of water), and scrubbed my head much more thoroughly than before, and I noticed it didn't do the "sticky snakes" thing this time. I also used more apple cider vinegar after I very thoroughly rinsed out the baking soda. The whole bathroom made my eyes water when I was done, the smell was STRONG. After rinsing, my hair didn't smell like anything at all, though, which was nice. After this time, my hair was noticeably shinier - in fact, I've never had hair this shiny in my life. It also appears longer because it's no longer trying to be like Hermione, and at the same time, it had a lot of body and was just generally absolutely beautiful. I have never been more happy with my hair. I'm still having small problems with frizz in the curly parts by my temples, but I no longer have Einstein-like tufts sticking straight off my head (my hair is truly ridiculous with shampoo), and what frizz I have completely disappears after brushing it a lot.

Right now, my hair is soft, shiny, and I'm completely in love with it. It's starting to get a little bit greasy, so I'm not going to rinse it tomorrow and rinse it on Wednesday instead, and then wash it again on Friday, unless it's just completely unbearable. I am so thrilled with this and don't plan on ever using shampoo again, and it hasn't even been a week yet! I cannot wait to see what my hair will look like in a month!