(no subject)
Here's a repost from the no_poo comm. No_poo'ing (and yes, I know it's a silly name) is basically giving up on commercial shampoos. You start by washing your hair with baking soda and vinegar mixes, with the eventual aim of reaching the point where your hair can do without either. I kept seeing people mentioning it, so I decided to try it. Anyway;
I'm now on Day 10. I'm mixed race, Indian/English, with hair a cross between the two - that is, dark and prone to oiliness, but also a bit flyaway and staticy sometimes. I usually shampoo and condition every one to four days or so, depending on how presentable I need to look. I'm a bit of a lazy slattern, sometimes. My hair's about an inch past my shoulders, and was dyed about a year ago. Although I dyed it back, the bits that have had dye on them have been lightened by the sun, so it's quite clear which bits of hair have had chemicals on them, and which bits haven't. I live in an area with soft water. My hair is 2aCiii, according to this. I've suffered with dandruff for the past fifteen years, which varies a lot. At the moment, I get flakes, particularly after washing, but it's nowhere near as bad as it has been. I also have excema behind my ears, although I don't think it notices how I clean my hair.
Here's an update of the last ten days. I wrote this up after they'd occurred, from notes in the hair-diary I've been keeping, so tenses are all over the place.
Day 1 (8/8/10)
I washed my hair with tresemme shampoo and conditioner. My hair felt dry and tangly.
Day 3
Decided to go no-poo. Spent several hours reading various articles and personal experiences. I aim to keep it up for at least 42 days (six weeks), in order to give it a fair chance. I figure out where to get baking soda and cider vinegar from (I don't do the grocery shopping).
Day 4
My hair feels a little waxy and greasy. I wash it with water only, massaging my scalp quite brusquely. It helped a little.
Day 5
My 22nd birthday. My hair looked fine, but felt waxy and oily, especially at the roots.
I bought the baking soda and vinegar yesterday. They had no cider vinegar, so I went with malt vinegar. I picked the kind that had only 4.6% acidity.
My set of measuring cups and spoons take 235ml as a cup and 5ml as a teaspoon. I went with a BS mix of one cup of water to one teaspoon of BS, and a vinegar mix of one cup of water to one spoon of vinegar and a spoon of lemon juice (since it smelt a bit strong). The BS mix just looked like water, so I added another half a teaspoon. It still looked clear, but I'd heard it could be a bit strong, so I decided not to use any more than that. I put both mixes into old water bottles with squeezy tops.
I rinsed my hair with warm water, then used the BS mix. I ended up using about half of what I'd made, and I was quite surprised to feel a noticable slippery feeling when it coated my hair (I'd read that I would, I just didn't believe it). I massaged it into the scalp and aimed to cover all of my hair.
I rinsed it off, and thought about leaving it there, just to see what my hair was like on baking soda alone. But, I was eager to see what the vinegar mix was like, and tried that, too. Putting the vinegar mix on my hair made it go all nice and detangled. As I rinsed, it started to feel coarse and knotty again. After rinsing it, and finishing with a blast of cold water, I wrapped it in a towel and left it for twenty minutes. I was surprised that I could easily get a comb through it after that - I'd expected it to still feel tangled and knotted.
My hair feels clean, and even a little bit dry. I decide not to add the half teaspoon of extra baking soda, and just use one cup, one spoon, for my next mix. I intend to wait until my hair feels more greasy/waxy before using the mixes again, to try to extend the time between using them.
The following is a bit tmi, but, in the past three months, I've noticed that having sex makes my hair very tangled and knotted at the back, due to the friction against the pillow. I haven't noticed that in the last five days (or over the ten days - sorry for that spoiler.;p).
Day 7
My hair felt a bit oily at the crown. I'd heard of people getting horribly, waxy, immovable build-up in that area, so I got a bit paranoid. I used a tiny little bit of the BS mix in the area, followed by the vinegar mix (only about 5-10mls of each). It seemed to help a bit.
I also made some more mix today - I did go with the one cup, one spoon method for both, and didn't add any lemon juice to the vinegar. I added these mixes to what was left in the bottles I use, and each one was filled nearly to the top, so about 400mls of each. I also stuck permanent-marker labels on, so I didn't accidentally drink them. I boiled the water this time, instead of using hot water from the tap.
Day 8
I had to go to work today.:(
My hair felt fine along the length, but the top was waxy and clumping together. I put it in a ponytail and used a giant hairband to cover it. I toild my manager it was more hygienic than walking through a kitchen with uncovered hair, and he left me alone (I work as a lobby hostess in a McDonalds, so although I'm not in the kitchen, and don't require a hairnet, I do walk through it a lot). I sweated a bit today, since it was much hotter than any other days in this period, and, weirdly, that made my hair feel much cleaner and less waxy, by the end of the day.
I washed my hair with water only at the end of the day. I used quite warm water, and took the shower head close to my scalp. I massaged my scalp again, and finished it with a blast of cold water. I went to bed with it wet.
Day 9
My hair still felt oily/waxy at the top, but nowhere near as bad as it usually looks four days after being washed. I put my hair in eight plaits and wore a bandana, which looked fine. I had a mystery shopping assignment today, and walked around in the sun in West Bromwich a lot. Again, I noticed that sweating made my hair feel cleaner and dryer, although it went back to being waxy and clumpy when I combed it.
I'd read that some people get a scummy soap residue from the BS mix, and, on combing my hair, I did find grey bits, plus some little flakes of dandruff. I also made a little 7-by-6 chart in my notebook, with days of Bs/V mixes coloured in.
Day 10 (17/8)
I took a long bath, and noticed that the bubble bath irritated my skin a little. It was probably psychosomatic, but I started to wonder about shower gels, and facial cleansers, and body lotions...
I wet my hair in the bath water (ignoring the worry about bubble bath on my scalp), and then rubbed the baking soda mix in. I used it generously and thoroughly, so I was quite surprised to find that it only worked out to about 50mls gone from the bottle. I also combed my hair while it was in. I don't know if that made it work better or not. It may have been worse. Again, it felt smooth and slippery.
I used the shower head to rinse it out thoroughly, and then put on the vinegar mix. I used this in the same way, but spent more time combing it through with my fingers and slightly less time on my scalp. Again, not sure if that was good or not - it's what I'm used to doing with commercial shampoos and conditioners, although I normally spent much less time and care over it. I could feel my hair detangling as the vinegar mix coated it. I combed it, having rinsed the comb, and then rinsed my hair with the shower head again, ending with colder water. I used quite a bit more of this - about 150mls, I'd estimate.
Rinsing it, my hair felt coarser and more tangled, as the vinegar mix was replaced with water. I didn't try to comb it, with my fingers or the comb, I just squeezed the water out, wrapped it in a towel, and left it. I did comb it when it was dry, and found it to be clean and tangle-free. It did smell a bit vinegary for about ten minutes, but that went away. Before it did, I added a teaspoon of lemon juice to my vinegar mix.
I actually find that my hair is a little dry. It feels glossy, and smoother than it did, but not really soft. I may make the next mix with only half a teaspoon of baking powder, or up the vinegar slightly. Maybe both. I put my hair in bunches, to try to curl it a little bit, and I'm tempted to make my own hairspray. I've never used hairspray before, but it seems like a good idea. I also think a natural bristle brush might help, since, just at the moment, my hair feels a bit glossier and softer at the scalp, and dryer needs the ends. We'll see.
I posted "Name's quest to detox her hair from sodium lauryl sulphate is going well!" as my facebook status. Bottled out of admitting to giving up shampoo, didn't feel like explaining it.
I told my grandmother what I was doing a few days ago. Today, I asked her (in person) and a member of my feminist group (via email) if they knew of any women's refuges in the area, who'd appreciate twenty half-empty bottles of shampoo (and a few boxes of tampons - menstrual cups are so handy). There'll still be shampoo in the house, since my grandmother uses it. Speaking of my grandmother, she also suffers with a dry, flaky, itchy scalp, only more so, since she's got forty years on me. Her skin, particularly on the back of her neck, is very red, dry, and peeling. It looks like a chemical burn. She also has a scar on her forehead, which reacts very badly to hairspray and other chemicals, although it's low enough to avoid with mousse, gel, and shampoo.
I also read up on OCM today, and I think I'll try that as well. I hate how dry and tight my face feels after washing, and it can't be good for it. Does anyone have any ideas for natural bubble baths or body washes, too?
I noticed on my last post I was tagged as an "Indian User". I'm not sure that's accurate - my hair is half-Indian, but I'm not in India. Perhaps Asian hair? I know Americans use Asian colloquially to mean people only from certain parts of Asia, but I'm not convinced that the hair is that different in type.
Edit; a few pictures of my hair.
That's about two years old, but it's the only clear picture of my dry hair that I can find.
And, these three, from about ten minutes ago;
It's actually quite tricky to take pictures of your own hair. Especially when you're using a webcam that's built into your netbook.
Other stuff I did today; deep-cleansed my face with a mix of castor and olive oil, and epilated my calves and underarms for the first time.
I'm now on Day 10. I'm mixed race, Indian/English, with hair a cross between the two - that is, dark and prone to oiliness, but also a bit flyaway and staticy sometimes. I usually shampoo and condition every one to four days or so, depending on how presentable I need to look. I'm a bit of a lazy slattern, sometimes. My hair's about an inch past my shoulders, and was dyed about a year ago. Although I dyed it back, the bits that have had dye on them have been lightened by the sun, so it's quite clear which bits of hair have had chemicals on them, and which bits haven't. I live in an area with soft water. My hair is 2aCiii, according to this. I've suffered with dandruff for the past fifteen years, which varies a lot. At the moment, I get flakes, particularly after washing, but it's nowhere near as bad as it has been. I also have excema behind my ears, although I don't think it notices how I clean my hair.
Here's an update of the last ten days. I wrote this up after they'd occurred, from notes in the hair-diary I've been keeping, so tenses are all over the place.
Day 1 (8/8/10)
I washed my hair with tresemme shampoo and conditioner. My hair felt dry and tangly.
Day 3
Decided to go no-poo. Spent several hours reading various articles and personal experiences. I aim to keep it up for at least 42 days (six weeks), in order to give it a fair chance. I figure out where to get baking soda and cider vinegar from (I don't do the grocery shopping).
Day 4
My hair feels a little waxy and greasy. I wash it with water only, massaging my scalp quite brusquely. It helped a little.
Day 5
My 22nd birthday. My hair looked fine, but felt waxy and oily, especially at the roots.
I bought the baking soda and vinegar yesterday. They had no cider vinegar, so I went with malt vinegar. I picked the kind that had only 4.6% acidity.
My set of measuring cups and spoons take 235ml as a cup and 5ml as a teaspoon. I went with a BS mix of one cup of water to one teaspoon of BS, and a vinegar mix of one cup of water to one spoon of vinegar and a spoon of lemon juice (since it smelt a bit strong). The BS mix just looked like water, so I added another half a teaspoon. It still looked clear, but I'd heard it could be a bit strong, so I decided not to use any more than that. I put both mixes into old water bottles with squeezy tops.
I rinsed my hair with warm water, then used the BS mix. I ended up using about half of what I'd made, and I was quite surprised to feel a noticable slippery feeling when it coated my hair (I'd read that I would, I just didn't believe it). I massaged it into the scalp and aimed to cover all of my hair.
I rinsed it off, and thought about leaving it there, just to see what my hair was like on baking soda alone. But, I was eager to see what the vinegar mix was like, and tried that, too. Putting the vinegar mix on my hair made it go all nice and detangled. As I rinsed, it started to feel coarse and knotty again. After rinsing it, and finishing with a blast of cold water, I wrapped it in a towel and left it for twenty minutes. I was surprised that I could easily get a comb through it after that - I'd expected it to still feel tangled and knotted.
My hair feels clean, and even a little bit dry. I decide not to add the half teaspoon of extra baking soda, and just use one cup, one spoon, for my next mix. I intend to wait until my hair feels more greasy/waxy before using the mixes again, to try to extend the time between using them.
The following is a bit tmi, but, in the past three months, I've noticed that having sex makes my hair very tangled and knotted at the back, due to the friction against the pillow. I haven't noticed that in the last five days (or over the ten days - sorry for that spoiler.;p).
Day 7
My hair felt a bit oily at the crown. I'd heard of people getting horribly, waxy, immovable build-up in that area, so I got a bit paranoid. I used a tiny little bit of the BS mix in the area, followed by the vinegar mix (only about 5-10mls of each). It seemed to help a bit.
I also made some more mix today - I did go with the one cup, one spoon method for both, and didn't add any lemon juice to the vinegar. I added these mixes to what was left in the bottles I use, and each one was filled nearly to the top, so about 400mls of each. I also stuck permanent-marker labels on, so I didn't accidentally drink them. I boiled the water this time, instead of using hot water from the tap.
Day 8
I had to go to work today.:(
My hair felt fine along the length, but the top was waxy and clumping together. I put it in a ponytail and used a giant hairband to cover it. I toild my manager it was more hygienic than walking through a kitchen with uncovered hair, and he left me alone (I work as a lobby hostess in a McDonalds, so although I'm not in the kitchen, and don't require a hairnet, I do walk through it a lot). I sweated a bit today, since it was much hotter than any other days in this period, and, weirdly, that made my hair feel much cleaner and less waxy, by the end of the day.
I washed my hair with water only at the end of the day. I used quite warm water, and took the shower head close to my scalp. I massaged my scalp again, and finished it with a blast of cold water. I went to bed with it wet.
Day 9
My hair still felt oily/waxy at the top, but nowhere near as bad as it usually looks four days after being washed. I put my hair in eight plaits and wore a bandana, which looked fine. I had a mystery shopping assignment today, and walked around in the sun in West Bromwich a lot. Again, I noticed that sweating made my hair feel cleaner and dryer, although it went back to being waxy and clumpy when I combed it.
I'd read that some people get a scummy soap residue from the BS mix, and, on combing my hair, I did find grey bits, plus some little flakes of dandruff. I also made a little 7-by-6 chart in my notebook, with days of Bs/V mixes coloured in.
Day 10 (17/8)
I took a long bath, and noticed that the bubble bath irritated my skin a little. It was probably psychosomatic, but I started to wonder about shower gels, and facial cleansers, and body lotions...
I wet my hair in the bath water (ignoring the worry about bubble bath on my scalp), and then rubbed the baking soda mix in. I used it generously and thoroughly, so I was quite surprised to find that it only worked out to about 50mls gone from the bottle. I also combed my hair while it was in. I don't know if that made it work better or not. It may have been worse. Again, it felt smooth and slippery.
I used the shower head to rinse it out thoroughly, and then put on the vinegar mix. I used this in the same way, but spent more time combing it through with my fingers and slightly less time on my scalp. Again, not sure if that was good or not - it's what I'm used to doing with commercial shampoos and conditioners, although I normally spent much less time and care over it. I could feel my hair detangling as the vinegar mix coated it. I combed it, having rinsed the comb, and then rinsed my hair with the shower head again, ending with colder water. I used quite a bit more of this - about 150mls, I'd estimate.
Rinsing it, my hair felt coarser and more tangled, as the vinegar mix was replaced with water. I didn't try to comb it, with my fingers or the comb, I just squeezed the water out, wrapped it in a towel, and left it. I did comb it when it was dry, and found it to be clean and tangle-free. It did smell a bit vinegary for about ten minutes, but that went away. Before it did, I added a teaspoon of lemon juice to my vinegar mix.
I actually find that my hair is a little dry. It feels glossy, and smoother than it did, but not really soft. I may make the next mix with only half a teaspoon of baking powder, or up the vinegar slightly. Maybe both. I put my hair in bunches, to try to curl it a little bit, and I'm tempted to make my own hairspray. I've never used hairspray before, but it seems like a good idea. I also think a natural bristle brush might help, since, just at the moment, my hair feels a bit glossier and softer at the scalp, and dryer needs the ends. We'll see.
I posted "Name's quest to detox her hair from sodium lauryl sulphate is going well!" as my facebook status. Bottled out of admitting to giving up shampoo, didn't feel like explaining it.
I told my grandmother what I was doing a few days ago. Today, I asked her (in person) and a member of my feminist group (via email) if they knew of any women's refuges in the area, who'd appreciate twenty half-empty bottles of shampoo (and a few boxes of tampons - menstrual cups are so handy). There'll still be shampoo in the house, since my grandmother uses it. Speaking of my grandmother, she also suffers with a dry, flaky, itchy scalp, only more so, since she's got forty years on me. Her skin, particularly on the back of her neck, is very red, dry, and peeling. It looks like a chemical burn. She also has a scar on her forehead, which reacts very badly to hairspray and other chemicals, although it's low enough to avoid with mousse, gel, and shampoo.
I also read up on OCM today, and I think I'll try that as well. I hate how dry and tight my face feels after washing, and it can't be good for it. Does anyone have any ideas for natural bubble baths or body washes, too?
I noticed on my last post I was tagged as an "Indian User". I'm not sure that's accurate - my hair is half-Indian, but I'm not in India. Perhaps Asian hair? I know Americans use Asian colloquially to mean people only from certain parts of Asia, but I'm not convinced that the hair is that different in type.
Edit; a few pictures of my hair.
That's about two years old, but it's the only clear picture of my dry hair that I can find.
And, these three, from about ten minutes ago;
It's actually quite tricky to take pictures of your own hair. Especially when you're using a webcam that's built into your netbook.
Other stuff I did today; deep-cleansed my face with a mix of castor and olive oil, and epilated my calves and underarms for the first time.