I'm not sure what to conclude about this hair experiment--no commercial shampoo, just baking soda and vinegar once a week. The picture above was taken yesterday in the same location and at the same approximate time of day as the picture I posted in mid-Oct -- although it's with a different camera. Here's my hair in late July (yet a third camera) before I stopped using shampoo completely; my hair looks almost red in that photo and it's decidedly not red--maybe it's a reflection from my shirt and life preserver.
About a week ago, my hair felt very dry so I impulsively put some Neem oil on it one night, just a tiny bit. I combed it through my hair, and then thoroughly rinsed my hair the next morning in the shower. The hair above is about 3 days after that rinsing. It's also gotten very cold so dry hair would be expected.
After 3 months, I'm beginning to think that my hair looks basically the same whether or not I use shampoo. I'll probably continue to avoid it just because I'd like to get in a full year using just baking soda and vinegar.
I stubbornly want this no-shampoo experiment to work, meaning I want to learn for sure that shampoos are worthless. I'll confess why: I like to be right about things, and I'd love to find out that something we've been trained to do for decades is pointless. I should be ashamed to feel that way. Maybe I am. It's some sort of power thing maybe, or maybe it's about wanting to feel superior or smarter than...who? Anyone? Everyone? Will have to think about that.
I'm vain enough that if I begin to think my hair would look better using shampoo, I'll go back to it. My need to be right isn't as strong as my vanity. That might change though, as time marches on. I hope I don't lose my sense of vanity completely but I know I've lost a lot of it. You should see how I dress when I go grocery shopping. One step up from going in my nightgown and bathrobe.
Fascinating stuff, huh? Only 14 more days of daily blogging. I wonder if I'll continue in December?
5 comments:
I get my hair cut/trimmed every month, so it never really gets out of shape. Thus, I have my excuse for resorting to shampoo!!
Hey Margaret: This is such an unnecessary comment (and you'll probably never see it) but I can't stop myself. I'm not avoiding shampoo because my hair "gets out of shape." I'm avoiding it because some people hypothesize that stripping your hair every day or two or three with harsh detergents (which is what most commercial shampoos are) strips your hair of its natural oils. The theory goes that if you clean your scalp and hair with something that just removes the dirt/dust buildup but doesn't strip the hair you'll end up, over time, with healthier hair.
I've been planning on updating my hair experiment too. I still haven't tried the baking soda/vinegar method. As far as I can tell it isn't recommended for dry hair and scalp. I'm really wanting to try the Wen system.
Do you use styling products by the way? If you do, do you feel that this method cleans the build up from those off your hair?
For what it's worth, I also stopped using poo (cause I follow you...literally and figuratively). After a month or so, I went back to regular shampoo to see if there was a difference, and there was. With poo, my hair felt like it was coated with something. I've now gone back to my olive oil hair cleaner. I like it much more.
Please keep blogging!
I thought baking soda and vinegar mixed with an excitingly fizzy reaction! Anyway, I'm getting sick of standard toothpaste. The extreme mintyness right before bedtime revives rather than soothes. So I might make my own from baking soda.
Good luck with what's left of NaBloPoMo!
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