I'm done with Shampoo!

I have decided to join the "no poo" movement.  No poo, meaning no shampoo.  I have always hated my hair.  It is very thin, board straight, no volume, won't hold curl and I have to wash it every other day due to the greasiness.

Then I stumbled across a no poo post on pinterest and very intrigued.  All of these women had stopped shampooing their hair and it looked glorious.  If you haven't heard of no poo, google it.  Here is the gist - stop using regular shampoo and conditioner and start using baking soda and apple cider vinegar.  The shampoo has so many chemicals, mainly sulfates, that strip your hair of all the natural oils then you have to use conditioner to try and add back to your hair but what you end up adding back is silicone and wax.  The more I read about poo, the less appealing it sounded.  It made so much sense as to why my hair is so crappy.

I have just started this journey and plan on documenting it as I go.  It's only been five days and I'm feeling optimistic!

Here is the plan:

On Thanksgiving, Nov 2015, I shampooed and conditioned as normal, hopefully for the last time.  I really tried to make it count, I scrubbed my scalp really good.  If I'm going to strip my hair why not make sure to get everything out.  Clean slate.

Next step, see how many days I can go without washing.  Friday was ok, Saturday was grease central, I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and when I pulled out the elastic at the end of the day my hair stayed - gross!

Sunday, wash day.  I took my old shampoo and conditioner bottles and rinsed them really good. Then I mixed up my new "no poo" cleanser and "no poo" conditioner.  The ratio is 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of water.  I was able to fit 4 cups in each bottle.  This is the starting ratio.  Everybody's hair is different and every blog that I read started with this then had to adjust as they went.

I poured the baking soda solution on my roots and starting scrubbing.  One blogger said that you should scrub until your hair feels slippery.  I don't think I got to that point but my hair felt clean. Then you rinse, rinse, rinse.  You don't want any little white bits left in your hair.

Then follow with the apple cider vinegar.  This I poured on just the length.  Worked it through with my fingers and then used a large tooth comb to detangle.  I was actually surprised by the detangling power of the vinegar.  You leave it on while you finish showering, then a good rinse.

Then I let my hair air dry.  I hardly ever do this because I shower in the mornings and don't have time.  But another goal is lower the amount of heat I apply to my hair.  The most amazing thing happened - I went to get ready for bed and looked in the mirror and my hair had volume and the most amazing beach/loose curls!  Are you @*$#&! kidding me!  I have been trying to do beach waves on my hair for months, curling irons, sock curls, foam rollers, straight irons etc... nothing worked.  I don't wash my hair with shampoo for five days and voila - beach waves.  I am shocked!  Point for no poo!

Here is a picture - the left one is on Thanksgiving after I blow dried my hair.  Doesn't look bad, but doesn't look good either.  The right one is today, Monday at work.  I slept on my awesome beach waves, got up, shook out my hair and used a large tooth comb.  Pretty awesome so far.

Going forward, I plan to add a day with no washing after two cycles.  So I will wash my hair again on Wednesday and then try to go three days without washing and wash again on Sunday.  I am a bit of a nerd and made a calendar to track on my phone.

I know that I still have awhile for my hair to adjust and before my scalp begins to normalize the oil production.  The end goal is to wash my hair less often, hopefully no more than once a week and still have it look good and be healthy.  My predecessors say that it takes about 2-4 weeks to normalize, so hopefully by Christmas my hair will be fabulous.