No Poo!

 

Let me preface this blog entry by saying, like many folks, I "allow" pictures to be taken of me when I think that I look good:  I've got on make-up and fixed my hair.  Any really bad photos would have been deleted and obviously not included in my catalog.  Also, I am like a typical girly girl in that I like to "fix" my hair and obsess about making it behave the way I want.

Here's my hair-story and a bit about why I've gone "no poo"...aka: "no shampoo".

My mom and me...early January.  (Yes, it is supposed to be "and me".)  You can see the sparkly grey at the root.  I think that I was on a chocolate brown coloring kick.  In this picture, my hair was NOT freshly washed.

My husband and me...late January/early February.  I spent a zillion hours curling my hair.  This was a very cold day with zero humidity.  A strategic wash with low/no conditioner, silicone frizz tamer, mouse, and tons of hair spray to try to keep my hair looking good all day.  I think my hair looks pretty, but this is not a realistic view of my normal hair.



I hope my co-worker doesn't mind that I've used her picture!!! But, I use it to show my dream hair!  Her hair is always soft, sleek, straight, and I don't think she did anything to it....as in...she came to work with wet hair and TA DA.  Me, on the other hand, I used a straightener and worked for a long time to get a sleek look!  *sigh*  This was photo was taken on a cold day with no humidity and that helped keep my hair smooth, plus this was at least day old hair.

Like a bleeping 12 year old I SCALDED MY NECK!!!  I was using a curling iron, the darn thing got tangled in my stupid frizzy hair and then burned my neck while I was wrestling with the flippin' thing.  Grrrr! 

At this point, I had started weaning myself off of shampoo and was about a month into the process.  I bought a smallish bottle of sulfate free shampoo, washed my hair with the shampoo, and then filled the empty space in the bottle with water.  That way the shampoo got very gradually phased out.  I also tried to go much longer between washes...three to four days at least. 

OMG!  I think this picture is sooo funny!  I was doing my coconut oil pulling while I was fixing my hair.  This picture was taken around Memorial Day.  I was still using my watered down shampoo.  At this point it was probably more than 75% water.  The giant brushed out curls were a result of using my "Curl Secret". Curl Secret Link (I looooove that thing!!!!)

Another "Curl Secret" (Curl Secret Link) pic...This was taken the morning AFTER I curled my hair.  I slept on it and woke up with shiny ringlets still intact.  (Early June, BS and ACV only.)

My natural hair without ANY fixing.  I used up all of my watered down shampoo and had switched to baking soda (2 T with 2 cups water) and apple cider vinegar (2-3 T with 2 cups water) and had just had my hair cut into many layers.  My hair always was and still is naturally "fuzzy", not curly, not straight, just puffy and frizzy.  This is what my hair always looks like when I don't fix it.  Blech.

Around the end of May I noticed that my hair was really thinning!  I had even developed a BALD SPOT!  This happened to me about 13 years ago too...after the birth of my daughter.  My hormones were out of whack and I suspected that was the same culprit again.  I have Hashimoto's (hypo-thyroid) and was also suffering some other vague but typically thyroid related symptoms.

Early June, BS and ACV once a week but stretching it out to include a water-only wash mid week.  (P.S. I made the hair bow...see a future blog on how to make these.)

And that leaves us here:  July 7th.  Water only washing every few days.  I used my "Curl Secret" (Curl Secret Link) on the lowest setting and my hair looks much more healthy and feels much smoother.  The bald spot has disappeared and is being filled in by new growth.  I haven't colored my hair since December/January and I'm embracing my greys.  (I just don't want to look like a skunk!)

 

And so why am I doing this?  For 44 years my hair and I have been at war...  As my hair turns more grey, the texture is changing.  Many things in my life have also changed.  I'm more comfortable with who I am and I'm just ready for a change.  Rather than spend so much time and energy fussing over trying to get my hair to do what I want, only to be greeted by a fuzzy mane as soon as I hit the humidity, why not just see what happens?

About three years ago I stopped washing my face and my skin has never looked better.  I don't use any soap, toner, wrinkle cream, acne medicine, store bought lotion...etc...just water.  So, if water only worked on my skin, it just might work on my hair too.  I don't see how it could be a bad thing after all.