Saturday, December 17, 2011

Experiment 01: No Poo

Two weeks ago, I woke up and decided to start an experiment. I took the "no poo" plunge. "What is 'no poo'?", you ask. It's a movement to not use shampoo (or conditioner). A Re-Nest article on the subject stuck with me for months, so I decided to take the plunge. 

Why? 1. Shampoo is expensive. 2. (Traditional) Shampoo is not good for the planet. 3. Organic & natural shampoo is even more expensive. 4. My hair is insane & really fickle about hair products. 

For the record, the thought is to start the switch by "shampooing" with baking soda and "conditioning" with apple cider vinegar. Eventually, this is supposed to be needed less frequently (or not at all). I used 1 TBSP baking soda + 1 cup water for washing and 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar + 1 cup water for conditioning.

The first day, my hair looked (and felt) swell!


Third day was maybe a tad grimy, but all was well.


By this Thursday (almost two weeks in), my face had decided it was absolutely pro-poo, and had the oil slick and breakouts to prove it. Headband to the rescue!


And soon after that, I decided to give it up. There was not enough of a light at the end of the tunnel to justify permanent gross-face. And so, this morning, I washed my hair.


Overall, I'm glad I tried it. I think I could still alternate the baking soda/acv routine with normal shampoo. And I got Brian started on that routine already, which means less shampoo between us.

And it's gotten me into the experimental spirit. I've already got plans for experiments for the next two months. Stay tuned!




Friday, December 16, 2011