Shampoo-less Hair Care Update

Wow, I didn't realize what a difference not using shampoo to wash my hair was making until I stopped for two weeks. My hair was dry and frizzy, and my scalp was SO ANGRY. So angry. 

So I've gone back to my beautiful baking soda (with a drop or two of lavender oil to add some pretty smell) and my apple cider vinegar. I doubt I'll go back, but now I have to figure out how to travel for more than two days with this set up.

That's it.

I will NOT call it "No 'Poo"

But I've ditched my shampoo in favor of a more "crunchy" (and cheap) method of washing my hair. Seriously, I don't understand how people can say "no 'poo" with a straight face. And also, people not initiated into the crunchy lifestyle are going to get very wild ideas in their heads before you explain yourself. Perhaps people just like to be a little shocking? I don't know.

Basically, I'm trying this new method because I have very dry hair (or a very dry scalp), and I've kind of given up on finding a shampoo that I love and my scalp loves too. My scalp is always itchy and flaking, regardless of what shampoo and conditioner I use, how often I wash my hair, what time of year it is, etc. And I'm not quite ready to go to a dermatologist about it. I'm an American; I only get help when I absolutely cannot fix it myself.

So I'm washing my hair every few days with a watered down baking soda mixture (1 tablespoon soda per cup of water), and conditioning it with watered down apple cider vinegar (3 tablespoons per 2 cups water). You can easily google many pro no 'poo sites that will tell you how and why and blahblah. I mainly referenced this blog.

I've only washed it twice, and so far no problems. My roots are definitely more oily-feeling than I'm used to right out of the shower, but not to where I can see any difference. My ends haven't (yet) been dry or frizzled, so who knows? My hair pretty much looks like my hair (with some frizz control product in it). Maybe I'll keep doing this. It sure is cheaper than the really nice stuff I've been using (my curl control stuff is $40! But it's lasted 3 years. I probably shouldn't still be using it, right?). I'll give you another report in a couple of weeks. Most people who seem to try this have oily hair, so I felt it incumbent upon me to put my experiment out there, having very dry and sensitive skin in general.

Who knows, if this works out, maybe I'll try making my own deodorant, or washing my face with honey, or some other crazy, pseudo-embarrassing-but-possibly-wonderful nonsense.