First time no 'poo
I'd been thinking about doing this for a while, but to be honest I'd seen some comments that scared me. "Detox period" didn't bode well, and whenever I see that on any kind of alternative hygiene, I sideeye it and wonder if it was bad but the person just got used to it, or put so much into it they couldn't admit it wasn't working well. I also saw some blogger say that her hair was limp and dull but that hair is not supposed to be all shiny like in the shampoo ads, and it reminded me a bit of the people who don't use deodorant and say "people are supposed to smell." I'm all for more eco-friendly, but I don't want to martyr myself for the cause. Part of the reason I love natural alternatives is because they often work better for me than what they sell in stores. I don't want a period where it sucks and supposedly it gets better (but might actually be getting worse, I am looking at you, oil cleansing method) I want it to be better right away.
But usually I reach my breaking point when whatever it is I'm already doing isn't working well either. That happened with OTC deodorants, and I found natural ones that simply worked better for me, no "detox period" of stink, just straight to the effectiveness. Well, I'd switched to "natural" shampoos and conditioners a year or two ago, after reading about the dangers of parabens, and just generally wanting less toxic crap on my body. I also really wanted to grow my hair longer, and heard they were gentler and could help with that. But they just weren't cutting it for me. I always felt like they didn't remove enough oil from the scalp, and over time, this built up and my scalp just always felt a bit gross. My ends were still dry and damaged, despite brushing with a BBB to try to get some of that oil down there, and also applying some Renpure oil thing with argan oil in it to the ends. So it was time to take the plunge.
My hair is curly (it varies anywhere from 2b to 3b, depending on what I'm doing/the weather/its mood), too oily at the top and way too dry and damaged at the bottom. My scalp was getting narsty, and I had some scabs in the back.
I used a bit (like a tablespoon or two) of baking soda mixed with water in an old empty shampoo bottle so I could squeeze it out over my head, but I didn't feel like this was doing much of anything, so I ended up making a paste with a considerable amount of baking soda, and scrubbing this into my scalp. I worried that I was using too much, but it felt right. It made my scalp feel really nice and fresh, though it stung on the scabby bits. I considered this to be a good thing, though, because BS is antimicrobal so it would help the broken skin heal. I did get the "slippery feeling," and my hair felt wonderfully silky and smooth.
I washed this out, and rinsed with undiluted ACV. Since I was doing this in the bath, not the shower, I did worry about the two mixing in the bathwater (we've all done the "volcano experiment" in elementary school) but it seemed to be diluted enough that nothing happened. I felt like I needed a lot of ACV for it to be getting to everything and doing what it was supposed to, and used about a quarter of the bottle. I'm hoping that both this and the baking soda just needed a lot because of all the built-up oil they had to cut through. This also stung like mad over the scabby bits, but it also ran down my face when I tried to get it on the back of my head, stung on my acne (it probably did some good there, though) and really hurt when it got in my eyes. It got in my mouth a little too, but I didn't find the taste too bad, so that was all right. I wouldn't use anything this strong on a child, because once they got this in their eyes, they'd never want their hair washed again, but I'm not easily deterred by pain, I care more about results. The ACV made my hair noticeably softer right away.
After the bath, I brushed my hair with the BBB (which I had also cleaned with BS to get any product residue off it) and though my scalp still felt oily, it felt a bit less so. I guess since I'm cutting through ages of buildup, it might take more than one washing. My BBB got a lot of white waxy stuff on it, which I hope is all the built-up sebum finally being broken up and brushed out. I applied a small amount of pure argan oil to my middles and ends, and now I know why every argan oil product is so excessively perfumed--it has a strong scent, and not an entirely agreeable one. Still, I found the scent of the natural argan oil to be a lot nicer than all those perfumes meant to cover it up. Next I used a 75/25 mix of cocoa butter and jojoba oil on my middles and ends, and was a bit more generous with this. This made my hair feel thick and heavy, which is better than frizzy and broken.
I noticed that my hair was a lot straighter than usual for some reason. It looks about on the border of 2a and 2b now. I'm perfectly all right with this--it makes it look longer, and it's more manageable. The cocoa butter may be a bit too heavy for long-term use, but for now I probably need the intensive moisturizing.
Final verdict: I like this and wonder what took me so long. I'm going to keep playing with it. I'm probably going to use less of everything in the future, but I felt like I really needed that much of everything this first time.
But usually I reach my breaking point when whatever it is I'm already doing isn't working well either. That happened with OTC deodorants, and I found natural ones that simply worked better for me, no "detox period" of stink, just straight to the effectiveness. Well, I'd switched to "natural" shampoos and conditioners a year or two ago, after reading about the dangers of parabens, and just generally wanting less toxic crap on my body. I also really wanted to grow my hair longer, and heard they were gentler and could help with that. But they just weren't cutting it for me. I always felt like they didn't remove enough oil from the scalp, and over time, this built up and my scalp just always felt a bit gross. My ends were still dry and damaged, despite brushing with a BBB to try to get some of that oil down there, and also applying some Renpure oil thing with argan oil in it to the ends. So it was time to take the plunge.
My hair is curly (it varies anywhere from 2b to 3b, depending on what I'm doing/the weather/its mood), too oily at the top and way too dry and damaged at the bottom. My scalp was getting narsty, and I had some scabs in the back.
I used a bit (like a tablespoon or two) of baking soda mixed with water in an old empty shampoo bottle so I could squeeze it out over my head, but I didn't feel like this was doing much of anything, so I ended up making a paste with a considerable amount of baking soda, and scrubbing this into my scalp. I worried that I was using too much, but it felt right. It made my scalp feel really nice and fresh, though it stung on the scabby bits. I considered this to be a good thing, though, because BS is antimicrobal so it would help the broken skin heal. I did get the "slippery feeling," and my hair felt wonderfully silky and smooth.
I washed this out, and rinsed with undiluted ACV. Since I was doing this in the bath, not the shower, I did worry about the two mixing in the bathwater (we've all done the "volcano experiment" in elementary school) but it seemed to be diluted enough that nothing happened. I felt like I needed a lot of ACV for it to be getting to everything and doing what it was supposed to, and used about a quarter of the bottle. I'm hoping that both this and the baking soda just needed a lot because of all the built-up oil they had to cut through. This also stung like mad over the scabby bits, but it also ran down my face when I tried to get it on the back of my head, stung on my acne (it probably did some good there, though) and really hurt when it got in my eyes. It got in my mouth a little too, but I didn't find the taste too bad, so that was all right. I wouldn't use anything this strong on a child, because once they got this in their eyes, they'd never want their hair washed again, but I'm not easily deterred by pain, I care more about results. The ACV made my hair noticeably softer right away.
After the bath, I brushed my hair with the BBB (which I had also cleaned with BS to get any product residue off it) and though my scalp still felt oily, it felt a bit less so. I guess since I'm cutting through ages of buildup, it might take more than one washing. My BBB got a lot of white waxy stuff on it, which I hope is all the built-up sebum finally being broken up and brushed out. I applied a small amount of pure argan oil to my middles and ends, and now I know why every argan oil product is so excessively perfumed--it has a strong scent, and not an entirely agreeable one. Still, I found the scent of the natural argan oil to be a lot nicer than all those perfumes meant to cover it up. Next I used a 75/25 mix of cocoa butter and jojoba oil on my middles and ends, and was a bit more generous with this. This made my hair feel thick and heavy, which is better than frizzy and broken.
I noticed that my hair was a lot straighter than usual for some reason. It looks about on the border of 2a and 2b now. I'm perfectly all right with this--it makes it look longer, and it's more manageable. The cocoa butter may be a bit too heavy for long-term use, but for now I probably need the intensive moisturizing.
Final verdict: I like this and wonder what took me so long. I'm going to keep playing with it. I'm probably going to use less of everything in the future, but I felt like I really needed that much of everything this first time.