shampoo free!

Hello!!  It's been a very long time since I have written anything, and I could say I've been busy but I feel like that's just an excuse.  

So, to begin I want to say that over the past few years I have been slowly falling down the rabbit hole into a world where, as it should be, I want to know everything that goes into my body.  That doesn't just include food, but beauty products, detergents, and household cleaners.  Eugene is an easy place to learn about all these things, especially now that my brother and his boyfriend work at an organic market.  I have also been taking to the internet, that ever-popular vaguely-reliable information source, and reading about all sorts of things from raw and natural foods to health and beauty blogs by people like Crunchy Betty, who I adore.  

I found that there are a lot of shampoo free/poo-free blogs out there (and I have read many many many of them) discussing their journeys with natural hair care.  The beginning of that journey, for me, began when I started using natural shampoos and while I liked it I still was not a fan of putting so many things I couldn't pronounce into my system.  If I had taken more science maybe those ingredients wouldn't seem so off putting to me, but after researching it quite a bit I decided to go "poo-free."  Another big step was not washing my hair too often.  For most people that's every day, but I've never been a wash-my-hair-every-morning kind of girl.  Now, to be clear yesterday was the first day I showered without shampoo and conditioner.  This journey has literally just begun.  My hair feels recently washed and clean and smells very faintly of tea, bergmot, and lavender.  
Since about 14 inches of my hair is super processed (last fall I bleached it, dyed it lavender which turned green, dyed it dark blond to cover the green and then waited for my roots to grow) my journey may be a little different than some of the people out there writing these blogs.  


Here is my "recipe" created using tips from many people, including crunchy girl, thorough advice from simple mom, and simple cleaning, and my own ideas on what my hair needs :
In a half gallon Ball jar I made about 4 cups worth of sleepy time tea with about 4/5 Tbs of honey disolved in it.  Honey is good for moisturizing and the chamomile in my sleepy time tea is good for bringing out natural blonde highlights.  I waited for this to cool, squeezed the tea bags and stirred it up.  I washed out two empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner (the Yes to Carrots brand) and dried them out in dish strainer.  
For the hair wash - 
about 1 1/2 Tbs baking soda mixed with a quarter cup of the tea.  (next time I may use less baking soda.)
For the rinse - 
I mixed half a cup of cider vinegar with half a cup of tea with honey.  To that I added a drop of lavender oil and a drop of bergmot oil.  
I also brought the honey bottle into the shower for the crispy dry ends of my hair.  

In the shower I put the wash onto my dry scalp, before I got my hair wet and massaged it in for a minute or so.  I rinsed it out (which rinsed in like a second!) and then poured the rinse over my scalp and then concentrated on the ends.  I am not a fan of the vinegar smell, but it's better this way than full strength.  

Most of the blogs out there talked about an adjustment period, where their hair may be greasy or waxy or dry, and it may put a lot of people off the idea of even trying it.  I have to say that it all depends on a lot of factors.  I, for example, feel like my hair may have already gone through a transition period when I went to paraben and sulfate free shampoo and conditioner.  Also, having never washed my hair every day probably helps too.  I would say that day one is a total success, though here are some pictures for you to judge for yourself!  

Issues so far:  ants in the shower!  I woke up this morning to find ants crawling all over my little bottle of raw honey, where did they come from??  Also, I feel like my hair might still smell a tiny bit like vinegar, but that could be my imagination.  Alex, my husband, says it smells like nothing.  

Positives:  it's cheap!  So very very cheap!  I love the tea scent and it's so natural if it gets into your eyes or mouth (like I did) it doesn't burn.  I think it just makes me feel good about myself, healthy body healthy mind.  

If you would like to read more about why going shampoo free may be a good idea (economically and/or ecologically) then I suggest checking out this section of simple mom's blog on the subject.  Also, talk to anyone you know who's done it.  It may take the scary out of it!  When you really think about it, it's not that you aren't cleaning your hair, you are just taking the detergent-free route!  And it's oh so good for your hair!  

Love

I can not fully describe in words the warmth and love I was received into when I went with my husband back to visit our friends and family in Spain.  A woman in Cadiques, Spain once told me that Catalans can seem a little standoff-ish at first meeting, but once you become a part of each other's lives it is a bond of friendship that is never broken.
As we prepared for our trip out to Spain I began to feel the ever familiar pangs and tingling of anxiety and fear.  Not of anything in particular, but more of a fear of being afraid, especially in a slightly unfamiliar place.  I lived in Sant Andreu de la Barca for 2 years, and Barcelona for a year before that, but I always had a home base - a familiar place that I knew I would feel safe and comfortable.  Unfortunately I have had this anxiety and fear building up inside and it has been at times debilitating.  Even flying out to visit my parents at our family home in Michigan for the Christmas holiday inspired anxiety.  So I was prepared for a difficult time for our 3 weeks away from home in another country.
When we arrived at the airport Pepe, my suegro/father-in-law, was waiting impatiently to greet us with a wide smile and strong hugs (and the pinching of my chubby cheeks).  I started to feel a gentle wave a calm come over me.  Then two of our friends, Sandra and Francis, came to help carry luggage and have a coffee.  We were all so excited and talking about a mile a minute.  They drove us to the place we were staying.  My cuñados/brother and sister-in-laws' home is in the process of renting or selling, hopefully, and is empty at the moment so they invited us to stay there.  There was no detail that they hadn't thought of.  There was plenty of food and drink in the fridge and cupboards, shower gel and sponges in the shower, flannel sheets for chilly nights, not to mention a CAR lent to Alex by his brother!  And it isn't the detail that really matter, so much as the thought process behind it all.  It is not as a chore or necessity but more like a second nature to make those that you love feel as happy and comfortable as you can.  
There were so many moments, like being invited into everyones' homes for meals and games, meeting out for dinner or coffee, calçotada and antikaraoke, or just watching tv on the sofa with friends; where I really felt so warm and fuzzy that the anxiety and fear felt like a distant memory.  I could be on here all week describing every little detail, but all that needs to be said is that the bond of friendship is one of the most powerful drugs in the world.  Love really does conquer all.  If it were not for the amazing people I am privileged to know I might still be cowering in my living room in Eugene wondering what it would be like to go back to Spain.

HAPPY 2013!!

Happy 2013!!  It turns out we were right about that Mayan calendar being cyclical, eh?  So, we're still here and it's that time of year when we make promises to ourselves that we hope to keep throughout the year.  There are the blaringly obvious ones, like get in shape, that I hope to work on and am always happy to have a companion!  But this year there are things I'd really like to change in my life.
Alex and I would like to buy a home this year and that will require a great credit score from both of us so we can get a first home that we love.  What I need to do is work on being that responsible adult I see in many of my friends.  Yes, we are all young at heart and should stay that way, but I would like the security of knowing that I am doing everything I can to prepare us for a bright future.  That includes going back to school, getting on top of any debt (however small) without hesitation, and making healthy choices.  School will take a lot of work and that responsible adult I hope to be, but it will also be enjoyable even at its most difficult times.  According to our credit score we are doing pretty well so far, Alex just needs to create more of a credit history (my handsome foreigner!).  It's the healthy choices that will be a lot of work.  It's not only nutrition and exercise that I need to work into my daily routine, but also not letting outside factors effect me internally.  More than anything I need to get out of my head.  I use the word routine loosely as it's been difficult for me to find daily routine in the struggle of unemployment.
In the quest for being a grown up I hope to keep my blog updated.  I hope.  :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful not-too-hungover first day of 2013!  (The first year since 1987 to have 4 different numerals in the year!)