Secret 30 Days Challenge: no ‘poo

About a year ago I met this woman who hadn’t washed her hair with shampoo in over 5 years and had amzing looking hair. Really fresh and full of volume. Her reason to go “no ‘poo” was to avoid chemicals in her household. Weired idea I thought, but interesting and challenging, the right stuff for my 30 days challenges.

I was hooked, and really wanted to try going shampoo free. I liked the idea that I could remove another source of chemicals from my home and save money at the same time. But somewhere deep down inside me there was a voice that wispered “but what if you fail? what if you walk through life with greasy hair and dull looking hairdos?” I wanted to avoid funny comments like “your hair looks amazing…ly oily today” or “need a fresh up”? So I decided to have a secret 30 days challenge.

And here I am, well over the 30 days, I am in week 7 of not using commercial shampoo and I still can’t believe how well it works. My hair looks just the same and I have the feeling it even has more volume. If this “no ‘poo” idea works, I have to start questioning the beauty industry. What else do they sell us, for often horrendous money, we can get much cheaper and natural? I am so surprised about the outcome of this challenge that I will definitley continue and start spreading the word.

This is how I started my shampoo free journey.

I did a lot of research on the net. There are many many websites and blogs about how to abunden the shampoo. I found babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html extreamly helpful, it summarises it all perfectly and gives advice on a few obstacles along the way. It became my little shampoo free guide.

My natural shampoo products are
- good old bicarb and
- apple vinegar.
I wish I could see your faces right now. My first thoughts when I read about the ‘vinegar’ were “that sounds like anorectic models smell” and that is pretty much how I smelled after my first few washes. My partner wouldn’t go into the bathroom after I washed my hair just to avoid feeling sick. And the passionate cuddles dramatically decreased during that time too. Luckily I sorted the smell out and the rest too.

The mixture I am using is:
- 1 tablespoon of bicarb in 1 cup of water for the washing part
- less than a teaspoon of apple vinegar in 1 cup of water for rinsing

I can imagine that your questions now start coming.They did for me when I first started. Go straight to babyslime.livejournal.com to find answers. She really covers it well.

My main challenges on the way:
- the correct amount of vinegar. I used far too much at the beginning and couldn’t get rid of that terrible smell until I figured out that my hair doesn’t need a lot for rinsing
- finding a nice smell for my hair. If you use the correct amount of vinegar to rinse your hair it doesn’t smell. At all. Not of vinegar, and not of anything else. But I like my hair smelling of something, so I started adding essential oils. Currently I am playing with lime (good for the smell) and rosemary (good for the hair colour). Both are fantastic
- storing my new shampoo. At the beginning I took bicarb and vinegar into the shower and mixed it right there. Not very practical. The bicarb bottled got wet so did the bicarb and my vinegar bottle is made out of glass which can quickly turn slippery in wet hands. So I started using two old liquid soap bottles (both exactly 1cup to make life easier) to mix my bicarb and vinegar solution before I go into the shower. No more mixing in the shower, just squeeze the bottles and go.
- convincing others that this is a good idea: well, I haven’t solved this one. Actually I haven’t even started telling people about it. I guess because I still can’t believe how well it works and expect failure behind the next corner. Should propably enjoy my success and talk about it. This blog entry is a good start.

If you want to know more about natural ways to wash your hair (not just no ‘poo but also natural shampoos), read this short article http://www.gmagazine.com.au/features/2791/lather-rinse-repeat.

If you are interested in going “no ‘poo” too, I can’t recommend babyslime.livejournal.com/ highly enough. Short and sharp on how to use bicarb and apple vinegar to clean your hair naturally.

And for a bit of fun with this whole “no ‘poo” movement (it really is. Once you start researching, you will be surprised how many are going without shampoo): http://noshampoo.org/

Is anyone of you going shampoo free? What are your experiences? Any tipps you can give a newbie?

~ Sustainable Mum ~