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!
