As usual, I have another hair-brained idea. None of these ideas are my own, mind you, it's just I'm weird enough to try them out. The latest idea: stop using shampoo.
I am tired of the dry scalp and lifeless hair. Plus, I'm becoming more and more concerned about all the chemicals we come in contact with and what effect they may be having on our health. So naturally I decided to stop washing my hair. ;)
The last time I used shampoo was a week ago. Two days later my hair was oily and dirty. Instead of washing it I followed a "no 'poo" regimen of baking soda and vinegar. In the shower, I wet my hair, parted it in sections and sprinkled baking soda on my scalp. I scrubbed with the baking soda really well, then added a little water and scrubbed some more. At this point my hair was heavy and it was impossible to run my fingers through it. Time for the "conditioner". In a regular sized tupperware tumbler I mixed one part apple cider vinegar to two parts water and drenched my ends. I poured the rest over my scalp and rinsed throughly! The results were few to no flakes and soft fluffy hair!
Two days later I washed again because I was going in for surgery and they said I should shower and wash my hair before coming in, not because it needed it. Again I used the baking soda and vinegar with good results. This time, no flakes at all. However, it did get oily and dirty after two days and need to be washed again just like it would have with shampoo. Of course I spent a lot of time laying on my hair the day of my surgery and that may have something to do with it.
I plan to try lemon juice or chamomile tea in place of the vinegar rinse and I may add some essentials oils to make it smell pretty. Right now, my hair doesn't smell like anything, just clean. I'll keep you all updated on my findings.
By the way, if you try this, make sure to rinse thoroughly. You really can rinse all the vinegar smell out of your hair. And make sure to rinse your shower down before you get out or your bathroom will smell like vinegar. Also, if you have razor nicks the vinegar will burn - ouch! Keep it out of your eyes. On the plus side, it is an antiseptic and a wonder natural cleaning agent.
3 comments:
I'll be interested to hear more about this. I've read that people are concerned about shampoos, but I haven't looked too much into that yet. I'm still working on what we're putting INTO our bodies and eliminating the chemicals, additives, unintentional antibiotics, hormones, etc. Recently made the switch to all organic milk (price tag- ouch!, but we are just making sure we don't waste any). Joe refuses to have dairy animals, so it's the best I can do. We are also trying to only buy whole grain crackers instead of chips, have cut out anything that has "creme" filling, try to stay away from any "restaurant" with a a drive-thru, and so on. Since the kids are young, they are pretty accepting, and since we limit TV, the advertisements for junk food are mostly lost on them.
You know- I was just thinking. I'll bet you don't get lice while you use vinegar on your scalp either!
Congrats on the new flooring. We SO badly need all our floors redone too. It makes me a bit queasy to have a baby crawling around on them, but what can I do but try to keep them as clean as possible.
I often wonder what folks used before shampoo. I've found that as I've gotten older my hair is less oilier, so I've cut back to washing it every week and a 1/2 to 2 weeks, though I'm still using shampoo.
Talking of natural rememdies, when I was newly pregnant with my first child, I caught headlice off friends with children who had just got them. Of course pregnancy means no chemicals and I had very long hair... After heaps of combing, my hubby mixed up some vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. It took a while but we finally broke the cycle. The vinegar and lemon juice kill the lice and olive oil restores the moisture.
It'll be interesting to see how your experiment goes.Pictures show us that women in the old days had beautiful hair.
Claire
Chickenmama,
I need to eat healthier too. I tried milk from a local dairy that does not use any growth hormones, antibiotics, etc but I'm the only one that would drink it. It did taste different. I'm guessing because the milk all came from the same breed of cow. A lot of our meat comes from a friend who raises cows and any deer Daddy gets in season. But we could do better in this department. I should really find a local source for farm raised or produced chicken, butter, eggs, etc. We try to incorporate whole grains where ever we can, such as in bread, homemade soups, oatmeal and breakfast cereals but we still eat our share of chips and buttery crackers.
I'll try to get a picture of our new floor posted soon.
Claire,
Two weeks - that's incredible. I wish I could go that long. My hair is still so oily. Hopefully cutting out the shampoo and harsh chemicals will change that. I think it's going to be a long hard road. I'll keep you all posted.
Dreamer
Post a Comment