Right now I should be going to bed, but I’m dragged in and completely hooked on figuring out this whole blogging thing…So as I write out of  my little WordPress dashboard I have to admit that I am becoming increasingly jealous of Tumblr users…I hope the staff at WordPress doesn’t read this post, they might shut me down. I have used Tumblr before for a project I started and of course never finished, but today a friend called and asked for help getting started in the blogging world and chose tumblr as his platform…So now as I should be sleeping I am helplessly addicted to changing themes, settings, and pretending I can write HTML and CSS better than I actually can. At this point I really want to go to school for web design. That was actually on my list of possible majors pre-internship. Whatever, I have a lot of possible majors. Can I go to college too? NMU happens to have a great graphic design department…

Last bit of news…Tomorrow is Day One of becoming shampoo free. If that isn’t dramatic enough for you, I’ll throw in conditioner-free…AND hair-gel free. Yeah scary, I know…Shampoo-free isn’t so terrifying for me as I rarely use it anyway…but conditioner?! I go through a bottle every two weeks! Conditioner is my hair drug…and gel? Welllll…I have crazy strands that like to be frizzy and huge. I don’t like frizzy and huge, that causes a natural problem….How am I going to do this??? Great question…find out tomorrow when I blog about what day one is really like.

Can’t really explain much about it, but here are a few links(though it seems like they mooched the info off each other) that I saw about the whole thing incase anyone still thinks I’m bonkers:

Letters to the Editor- Info: Shampoo Free

A Non-Toxic, Frugal Way To Wash Your Hair Without Buying Shampoo

How To Clean Your Hair Without Shampoo

LiveJournal ‘No-’Poo’ Community

I have very fine, naturally curly, chronically dry hair, and the few times I tried baking soda, my hair felt like a bale of straw and didn’t look too hot, either.  Solution?  Throw the baking soda out the window and just use the vinegar rinse.  Except, while I didn’t appreciate the overly harsh and excessive washing the stylist employed back in March, I couldn’t argue that the vinegar rinse alone just wasn’t getting things clean up there.

Two recent posts on no poo, first from The Almighty Beckster and then at The Green Phone Booth, led me back to baking soda.  Based on tips from those two posts, I did a couple of things differently: 1) I used a much more dilute solution of baking soda (~ 1 T. baking soda to 2 c. water); 2) I boiled the baking soda and water before using (one of the suggested tips if you have hard water); and 3) I followed the baking soda wash with lots and lots of vinegar rinse.

The results?  Well, I noticed the baking soda working, because I actually had a lather going on the top of my head.  Immediately after rinsing out the baking soda with water, my hair still felt like straw, but perhaps a bit less straw-like than after previous attempts.  A thorough vinegar rinse improved things somewhat, but for better or worse, I had definitely removed some natural oils.

Final verdict?  I think it makes my hair look frizzy for a couple of days, but the hubs assures me it looks good.  I guess I’ll stick with it (i.e., use the baking soda wash once every one or two weeks, with plain water rinses, or vinegar rinses on other days) for now.

But something prompted me to give it another try. I’ve been feeling more and more leery of conventional cosmetic products lately, so it could have been that. Or it could have been the shrinking supply of shampoo and the knowledge that I’m going to have to drop $13 or so pretty soon on another bottle. Probably the latter–I’m very motivated by cheapness!

So I dished up my baking soda and ACV in yogurt tubs and brought them to the bathroom, but this time I did something different. I added a couple of drops of lavender essential oil to the vinegar rinse. That was exactly what it needed. It cut the stink and replaced it with lovely floral fragrance. I love the smell of lavender, and knowing that I’m using a natural scent is so reassuring.

And how is my hair? It feels lovely and clean, shiny and soft, and it smells like English countryside. I’m back on the wagon, people!

One question I have though is how people package/transport their baking soda and vinegar in/to the shower. My yogurt tubs are a bit cumbersome (though the kids will probably play with them during their baths). Any cute dispenser ideas out there? Any suggestions welcome!

Click here to see all posts in the hair washing serial

And once again I have been lazy with my updating! This time I’ve been traveling back and forth between Copenhagen and Helsinki, with not much time for blogging.

Still, I have washed my hair, and that I have done with soap nuts. Some of you might already use them for washing your clothes or even your dishes, but soap nuts can also be used for washing hair or body. Soap nuts come from India, and they contain saponins, which works just as soap. Get your soap nuts from an organic shop or from the internet.

HOW TO DO IT
There are various ways to wash your hair with soap nuts, but I have used this version that is described here. You’re supposed to make a foam out of the soap nut liquid and add some lemon juice. Read the rest on LHC

The lemon is added to give a bit of structure to the hair, which can become too slippery from the soap nuts. You can also try adding salt instead.

RESULTS
Cost: Cheap, but still not dirt cheap. At least not for me, since I felt like I needed to use a lot of liquid in each wash. Maybe it depends on the quality of the nuts or something. Still the nuts can be reused for laundry or dishes up to three times. (When the nuts aren’t shiny inside any longer, it means the saponins are all gone).

Difficulty: Takes a bit of preparation, since you have to soak the nuts overnight or possibly boil them. Then shaking the bottle  every now and then and being careful when applying. Too difficult in my opinion!

Cleanness: Looks clean and nice at first but goes dirty quite quickly. 

Manageability: I tried washing my hair without the lemon once or twice but then my hair was really slippery and unmanageable. With the lemon it helped a bit but it still was a bit uncontrollable.

Overall: Washing my hair with soap nuts has been the least effective method for me. I found  the preparations too time consuming and the results not too great. And don’t get soap nut liquid in your eyes or mouth! It’s going to sting like hell if you get it in your eyes (I had a read eye for hours afterward) and the taste is foul! I also found that I needed to use a lot more liquid than mellie uses in her article.  

Yesterday I tried this for the second time.  My hair looked good after I dried and styled it. Today, however, the scalp feels a little oilier than normal the day after a shampoo.  I did drastically cut the amount of baking soda I used (last time my hair felt dry).  I will keep experimenting with the mixture and see how it goes.  I can’t guarantee poo-free is for me.

One thing I did notice is that my hair feels fuller and thicker.  That’s nice.

The basic idea is that you “wash” the hair with a mixture of baking soda and water and then “rinse” it with an apple cider vinegar/water mixture.

While skeptical, I thought I’d give it a try.  After all, it makes sense that shampoo might strip the hair and is loaded with chemicals.  I did point out to my friend that I dyed my hair and wasn’t likely to give that up, so the chemical argument, while valid, didn’t quite work for me.  The idea of the environmental cost of frequent shampooing did work for me. I will note that I currently only shampoo my hair every third day or so.

I googled “shampoo free” and found these instructions.  Immediately in the shower, I knew that it wasn’t going to be the disaster of the banana hair mask.  It felt pretty good, and after I did the apple cider vinegar rinse, it combed out nicely with no tangles!

After it dried, it felt a tad dry.  I did some more research and found these instructions, which call for far less baking soda than water in the mixture.   I think I’ll try that as my hair tends to be on the fine side.

Do I recommend this?  The jury is still out.  It certainly didn’t hurt anything.  My head feels clean.  It is very frugal.  I didn’t use any chemicals.  I will keep experimenting and let y’all know how it goes!

Click here to see all posts in the hair washing serial

Rhassoul is a clay that is dug in the Atlas mountains in Morocco. It has many other names, including Ghassoul clay, red Moroccan clay or African clay. Rhassoul is, like other cosmetic clays, rich in minerals like silica, potassium and magnesium. But Rhassoul differs from other cosmetic clays in the sense that it has an amazing power of absorption and can thus also be used as for cleansing and detoxing. As part of my hair washing test, I have tried rhassoul as shampoo.

WHERE TO BUY

You can find the clay from a organic shop or from the Internet. I use Urtekram’s rhassoul, because when I was staying in Denmark I could get it quite cheap from there (Urtekram is a Danish brand.). You can buy it either in powder or in small pieces. I have actually never tried the powder, but I don’t think the difference is huge.

HOW TO DO IT

Simple. Let the clay soak in some water, apply to hair, rinse.

I mix the clay and water in an old shampoo bottle, and squirt it out over my head. But if the mixture isn’t runny enough, the hole might clog up so beware. Don’t leave the clay in, if it dries up it’s going to be impossible to get out of your hair. Also in general it’s good to wash thoroughly other wise there’s a risk that you will find clay pieces in your hair.

RESULTS

Cost: Depends on where you live and where you buy from, but it’s a bit more expensive. You will use quite a lot each time. Approx 5€/month. 

Difficulty: Takes a little bit of preparation. Can be a bit messy as well.

Cleanness: Looks really clean and nice and stays clean for quite a while. Only needed to wash my hair about two times in a week.

Manageability: Fantastic! Really soft, but still has a texture.

Overall: I love this! The rhassoul clay makes my hair soft, shiny and great. And it stays clean for a good while. The downside is that it can be a bit messy. Also I read somewhere that because some of the clay pieces can have sharp edges, it might damage the hair. I still haven’t noticed anything, and with results like this I have a hard time believing it could be bad. 4+!

Click here to see all posts in the hair washing serial

As our second hair washing method, we have been trying out the conditioner only (CO) method. CO is exactly what it sounds like – cut out the shampoo and use only conditioner. This is quite a common shampoo-free method and is said to work especially well on curly hair, as it fights frizz.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Conditioners, as well as shampoos, contain detergents, and will thus wash your hair. But conditioners use different kinds of detergents than shampoos (that often use Sodium laureth sulfate), which are milder and thus not as drying and damaging. Since the conditioners are so mild, you can use this method as much as you like, every day or just a couple of times a week.

WHAT DO YOU NEED You will need a conditioner, preferably one free from proteins, silicones and mineral oil. Surprisingly, the cheapest ones are usually free from these things (also since you’re going to use a lot of conditioner you really don’t want to spend much money).
If you’re interested in knowing if your conditioner is ok to use, contact me (I’ll need the ingredient list, of course)! But let me point out that it’s not a horrible sin if you use silicone or other things in your CO wash. Many people use it and love it. You will need to clarify a bit more often though (we’ll get to that later).
Some brands that are available in Finland are: X-tra conditioner, Rainbow normal conditioner, Erittäin hieno conditioner (just the white bottle), most of Herbinas conditioners. In the US, many use Suave or VO5 – the European VO5 has different ingredients though, it’s not cone free, which I realized after having bought one.
A medium thick conditioner is the best, I find. The Erittäin hieno is way too runny, but works great if you mix a bit of for instance Erittäin hieno and X-tra (or if you have an expensive conditioner and you want to dilute it with something cheaper). Herbina had the best thickness, in my opinion.

HOW TO DO IT

• Massage the conditioner into wet hair. You’re going to use a lot of conditioner, so that your hair feels really slimy and so that you’re sure to have every strand of hair covered in conditioner. If you like, you can massage your scalp for a bit. I sometimes use this kind of hair massager to distribute the conditioner evenly, and massage the scalp at the same time.
• Then leave it to work for at least 15 minutes. The longer, the better, really. I sometimes wet my hair and apply the conditioner a while before taking a shower, to let it do it’s magic.
• Rinse out thoroughly. If you can take it, finish of with a cold or at least lukewarm shower, to allow the hair sacks to close up.

At least every 6 months, you will need to do a clarifying wash. This is especially important if you use a conditioner with silicones or proteins, because they cause a build-up around the strands, which the clarifying will prevent. Just do a normal shampoo wash with a silicone, protein free shampoo. Or you can do a baking soda rinse, which has the same effect.

THE TEST

We tried out a few different types of conditioners. A few of them had silicones in them, but I didn’t feel any much difference straight away (one wash won’t cause any build-up any way). I found that this method suited me really well, my hair looked shiny and was easy to manage. L’s hair didn’t like it as much, it was a bit all over the place.
The best conditioner, for me, was the Herbina MarjaSpa conditioner. It made my hair super-shiny and soft and lovely. It smelled strongly of strawberries, a bit too sweet for me even, but at least it’s a real strawberry smell, the conditioner contains strawberry seed extract as it’s fourth ingredient. Also the only conditioner made in Finland out of the ones I tried.

RATING

Cost: Depends on the conditioner. But you can get good results even (or especially) with the cheapest conditioner. Minimum (in Finland probably the X-tra Conditioner) would be around 2€/month

Difficulty: No preparation, but needs to work for at least 15-20 minutes. If one takes the time to massage the conditioner into the hair the effects will be greater. Needs to be rinsed very thoroughly.

Cleanness: Clean, shiny, soft hair, stays nice for a couple of days. 

Manageability: Depends a lot on the conditioner, but overall feeling was soft and manageable hair for me. L’s hair was a bit more unruly though.   

Overall: This is a method that seems to suit my hair very well. Since I am a quick showerer, I sometimes found it tedious to have to wait for the conditioner to have it’s effect. But I really liked how it made my hair look.    

Click here to see all posts in the hair washing serial

The first two weeks of The big hair washing test has passed, and it’s time for me to pass judgment on the first method tested: The shampoo free, or No ‘poo method. It’s a bit confusing, since many of these methods are shampoo free, but this one is officially called “the shampoo free method”, and the other methods have different names.

When doing a no ‘poo wash you need two ingredients – baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Here is a great article about the shampoo free method, and there’s not really much for me to add. This is what she has to say about how the baking soda and apple cider vinegar work:

Apple cider vinegar is a mild acidic made from fermenting apples [...] When used on your scalp, it helps promote circulation, acts as a natural antiseptic, and dissolves excessive fatty deposits and reduces scaling or peeling of the skin. As for use on hair, it helps to clarify, detangle, balances hair’s pH level and seals the cuticles.

Baking soda is the weakest alkali of sodium compounds, it would take using a lot to do damage to your skin or hair. It has a lot of useful properties like deodorizing, leavening (for baking), whitening, polishing and clarifying. [...] Plain water can remove almost all the dirt you can get in your hair, but a little baking soda can not only remove the rest, but take care of the build-up from hair products, shampoos and anything else you might pick up.

You will need about one tablespoon of baking soda and one cup (about 2.3 dl) of warm water. Make sure you get baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and not baking powder, they are two different things.
Pour it into an old shampoo bottle or any kind of bottle, and squirt the mixture over your head and massage it into your scalp. Apparently, you don’t need to get the mixture over your lengths, but since I have such short hair all of my hair got sodaed anyway so I can’t tell the difference.

Then rinse with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water, about the same measurements, or slightly more vinegar (2 tablespoons per 3 dl). You will not need to do the vinegar rinse every time, about every other or third time is enough. For the most effect, rinse with cold water after.

DAY BY DAY.

We started off by washing our hairs on Monday morning. It was a bit hard to tell if the mixture went all over my hair, but the areas that had baking soda in them got a bit “rougher” so after a while I got the hang of it. I had prepared two 300 ml bottles with, one with 1tbs baking soda + warm water, and one with 1tbs ACV + lukewarm/almost cold water. This was quite enough for both L and me – we both have quite short hair.

I was a bit worried that the hair would get as rough as it felt when washing, but after having rinsed out the baking soda and doing the ACV rinse it felt quite nice. My hair looked really nice and clean.

On Tuesday my hair looked all right, but not as nice as the first day. By Wednesday morning, L:s and my hair were looking quite dirty and it was time to wash again.

Over Easter, we went to my parents house. I decided that I needed to dye my hair, and was a bit worried that the henna would be difficult to wash out when using only the baking soda and ACV. It’s hard enough to do with shampoo or conditioner. But actually it worked surprisingly well, with no much trouble at all.

(Yes, I did cut my hair)

During the second week, I encountered another problem – static hair. I don’t know why this was, but I guess that the shampoo free method must have had something to do with it. you can even see it on the first picture above.

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I had heard that when doing a no ‘poo, washing your hair once or twice a week would be sufficient. I did not have this impression, I felt that I needed to wash my hair every other day. Normally I don’t need to wash my hair more than about twice a week.It might be something that takes a while for the hair to get used to, as well. But I did feel that my hair was clean after washing, also easily manageable and looked good.

Cost: Very cheap, depending on hair length and frequency of washing around 2€ per month

Difficulty: Takes a slight bit of preparation, washing the hair is really easy.

Cleanness: Looks really clean and nice after washing, but gets dirty quite quickly.

Manageability: Quite soft and manageable, but too fluffy for my taste (which many would probably like). Problems with static hair.

Overall: The average of the above would be 3.75, but I was thinking of giving it a slightly lower rating, since the high ratings are for cost and difficulty. However, I have a feeling that it’s mainly my own hair type that has a problem with this method. It suited L:s hair a lot better, for instance. So I think 3.75 is quite accurate. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but still definitely worth a try.

Next up is the Conditioner only method. Check back in two weeks time to see how we liked it!

I can admit that I do a lot of things that others might cause others to roll their eyes. We use cloth diapers, try to use only natural cleaners, try not to use paper towels or napkins, compost and recycle as much as possible…nothing too crazy to me(and I LOVE most of it), but still things that cause eye rolls. But, no shampoo? Really?

It’s been one of those things that I have heard about and half-read about, but never really researched because I just didn’t think it would work or that I’d like it. I can’t believe I’m admitting this to the general public, but I’ve already cut back and only wash my hair at most every other day. I know lot of people do this, but my hair used to be the kind of hair that needed to be washed daily or it was a greasy mess. I got my hair cut once and the stylist suggested testing it out. It took a few weeks, but my scalp really did just adjust. It’s been fantastic for me because it makes my not feel like such a scumbag when I can’t wash my hair every day.

Today, simplemom.net posted about skipping shampoo entirely and for some reason it just caught my attention and it’s completely intriguing me. I haven’t tried it yet(though if I can get both of my kids to nap at the same time today and manage to squeeze in a quick shower, I plan to try it immediately!).  I definitely think I’ll try to ease myself into it a bit, but I’m loving the idea. Especially because I’m allergic to a ton of stuff in shampoos and body products in general – I get icky breakouts all over my scalp or hairline regularly when I try new shampoos and hair products, so if I could eliminate that option I’d be so happy!

Here’s a ton more info in case you’re also interested in experimenting:

• Here’s the main link to the post at Simple Mom with tons of info and links.

• Keep of the Home’s original and follow up posts on going “no ‘poo.”
• Sort Crunchy’s original and follow up posts on why and how it works to skip shampoo.
• An essay at natural-forces.com that has great info on potentially trouble-shooting issues with not using shampoo.
• Posts from The Herbwife’s Kitchen with easy how-to instructions and a follow up with a link to the NY Times discussing no shampoo.

Before that, I don’t think I’d had an enjoyable birthday since I turned 11.

I’m only 19 but I feel really old. I think being 19 is supposed to be a lot better than this. We’re in the prime of our lives. Got a lot to work on before my 20th.

There was a total solar eclipse today. You couldn’t have seen it unless you were on the other side of the world. Because of this and superstition, thousands of Indian babies weren’t born on my birthday. Yay (?)

The no shampoo thing is going really well. My hair looks a lot better even after not washing for a day. Another plus is that baking soda lightens your hair.

I saw Harry Potter 6 and was disappointed. There were so many preventable super awkward and corny moments. One example, Harry: “Before, you said that Prof. Slughorn would try to collect me . . .” Dumbledore: “Yes . . .” Harry: “. . . Do you want me to let him ? . .”. Oh god, the cringing. And the wands-towards-the-sky thing at the end could have been really moving, but the characters’ lackluster reactions plus the dramatic soundtrack ruined it. Also Inferi=lame, although I guess some of that was because the films are still geared towards a young audience. But honestly, HP fans are growing up too, and it would be nice if we had a not-so-shitty movie to watch to remind us of those happy childhood years . . . (Where the Wild Things Are and Alice in Wonderland are coming up! Though the latter is a Tim Burton movie so not so nostalgic there . . .)

On the plus side, there were some good shots in the film. Katie Bell’s scene was quite creepy, and Harry reaching for water at the lake actually got screams. Still miss Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men, Pan’s Labyrinth). That is a real director.

I also saw Raging Bull, which is a classic, and of course it’s very well-made and deserves all the “Best Movies” lists, but I think it might be too sad and its characters too real for anyone to love. My favorite movies are ones that I can watch over and over again without ever getting bored of. Raging Bull is, I think, too honest a film to watch more than a few times, unless, I suppose you spread out the viewings over loooong periods of time. It just says so much about people that viewers, especially younger viewers, just won’t want to hear.

I’m also reading Watchmen, which is excellent. I fully appreciate what a great adaptation the film is, although I’m only little more than halfway through the book. (Rorschach’s voice is chilling, perfect and I LOVE it.)

I feel like this blog might turn into a bit of a movie site, which I’m not sure about. I don’t know that my opinion’s actually unique enough for anyone, even myself, to take seriously. But blerg, there won’t be much time anyway once classes start again. I think  people like to see their own opinions reflected in movie reviews. It gives a very easy thrill of acceptance.

I don’t like it when people become defensive at hearing the truth. The truth doesn’t change because you don’t want to hear it or because you argue against it so well. Whether it’s the truth of what I believe (my opinion) or a fact, it shouldn’t be too uncomfortable for me to tell someone, especially a friend. Some of this discomfort translates into a slight, ill-defined competitiveness, which is hard to get rid of. Know what I mean? I just think that real friends are people you should never feel uncomfortable around. Otherwise, what’s the point?

I need to start writing again, now that I’ve had my first downturn in a while. This is what the end narration would sound like in a movie–

I wish I had more to say, but today has been so long I won’t remember. I was mad earlier. Crazy, maybe. Thought about what it would be like to die.

The candle at the restaurant went out. Kept going out.

Tomorrow’s another day, right?

right?

Anyway, next week I will be starting the Master Cleanse for 10-14 days depending on how I feel by then. I know everyone blogs about their Master Cleanses but I’m not going to go into that much detail because I hate potty language, and most times I even hate more polite “restroom” language or the even more polite “washroom” language. But there will be posts from me about that. I just hate buying groceries for a specific purpose because I always forget something.

And now, I think the biggest news is that I’ve decided to stop using shampoo to wash my hair. OKAY, before you make that face, let me tell you that I’ve been doing it for a week now and my hair looks better than it usually does after I shampoo. I just wash my hair with water and baking soda every other day. There’s also a conditioner I can make with apple cider vinegar and water, which I will make once I remember to buy apple cider vinegar. Though using baking soda feels kind of weird at first, my hair’s much less oily when I skip a day and more voluminous after I do wash it. (Also, of course, it feels clean). I think you’re supposed to wash with water when you don’t use baking soda, though I don’t do that because I did it once and I hated the way it felt.

I got the idea from this blog, and the info from this blog. I should probably figure out the other features on this blog thing. Hmm . .

2. Today I would like to say Happy Birthday to the late Nikola Tesla who is credited as being the true inventor of the radio!  Where would we be without the radio?  It’s the main way I get my music fix so thank you Mr Tesla.  He is a very interesting historical figure, a scientist and inventor, he first came to my attention in the movie The Prestige [a brilliant movie, one of my faves] where he was portrayed by David Bowie. 

3. The other day when I was convalecsing (hurt my back – don’t worry it’s on the mend now) I watched Flicka.  Yeah I know it’s kind of a kids movie but it was really quite good, I even cried twice, I’m such a sucker.  Anyway I thought Tim McGraw did a bang up job as the dad.  So if you find yourself looking for something to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon give it a go.  I found the scene where they catch the mustang along the cliff edge reminding me of the movie Australia (which came after Flicka) I wonder if that’s where they got the idea from?

4.  I bought one of these recently:: ecosilk bag.  It’s a reusable bag made from recyclable nylon parachute silk and can carry up to 13kg in weight!  It rolls up really small and is so light weight that you can toss it in your handbag and never be caught short at the shops again, plus it comes in purdy colours and looks much better than those bulky “green” bags.  I usually remember to take my green bags when I do the big grocery shop but all those other times I head to the shops I always forget so this is perfect.  I got mine from our local health food store but you can buy them from the internet too.  They are in the shape of a traditional plastic “singlet” bag so the check out peeps will love ‘em!  oh and did I mention they are 100% Aussie made and owned?  Yay!  Next on my buy list is reusable produce bags; stay tuned.

5.  Here’s a link to a very interesting post about going shampoo free.  I found it via angry chicken who has been “poo free” for quite some time now and is very happy about it.  I am tempted to try it out in my effort to go green and eliminate some toxins from my life!  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Happy firday everybody!

Kris

Pros:

super, super cheap; much more environmentally friendly; non-toxic for me and Tiny Baby; I always have baking soda and vinegar on-hand and am unlikely to run out; hair looks shiny and is easy to manage; I seem to be able to go longer and longer between baking soda “washes”, using a vinegar rinse in between; did I mention it’s incredibly cheap?

Cons:

the vinegar does smell a little bit, though the smell evaporates completely once my hair dries; connected to that, my hair does not get that nice perfumey shampoo smell; also, it’s a weird thing to tell people . . .  Can’t think of too many other cons.

So, the final analysis is that it works pretty good!  I’m going to continue with my regime, which is to use the full baking soda and vinegar treatment about every 4-5 days or so, with a vinegar rinse in between.

As I mentioned previously, my hair might be a little different right now because I’m pregnant, so I’ll probably do a post-partum shampoo report if things change.  But for now, consider this the final word on the subject!

The routine is: 1 tsp of baking soda, diluted in about a cup and a half of water from the shower. Pour over head and then massage in as you would do with shampoo.  The neat thing is, it feels kindof “soapy”, giving the impression that it’s doing something.  It might be psychological, but I like to feel it working.  Don’t leave it in too long, and then rinse well.

Next, dilute the acv in another cup and a half of water from the shower and pour all over head.  Massage in.  I like this feeling too.  The baking soda leaves the hair feeling somewhat stiff, but once the vinegar rinse is in, it feels soft and supple.  Massage through hair, and then rinse well.  The website recommends rinsing with cold water, but I just use the shower like normal.

I’ve kept it up for the week and this is what I can report:

- My hair is soft, clean, and supernaturally shiny.  I’m getting much better performance than my old shampoo/conditioner routine.

- It’s very easy to do.  I just bring 2 containers into the shower with me, 1 with some baking soda and one with some apple cider vinegar.  I add some water from the shower, mix, and dump over my head, massage in, rinse, and then follow with the acv rinse.  Easy peasy.

- I don’t smell like a pickle.  The first day I did a little, but that was because I used about a 1/2 cup of acv instead of the 2 tbsp called for.  Now, if my hair gets wet (like when my toddler splooshes my hair in the bath, every day) I can get a faint whiff of vinegar, and maybe I wouldn’t encourage tall dark handsome strangers to come and sniff my hair, but normally it just smells like hair.  Which I like.

- You wanna talk cheap?  This is basically cheap as free, and totally benign environmentally.

So, I’m sold!  I’ll do another update later on, but for now, I highly recommend baking soda and vinegar as a hair wash/rinse.  Let me know if you try it too!

One of the reasons I wanted to try Curly Girl was because I was unhappy with the state of my scalp with my normal wash every-other day routine. I have this one spot on the left side of my scalp that gets, well, scaly. I know, its gross and I can’t believe I just admitted that. But I’ve always had it come and go. Except it just kept coming and coming and coming.

Thankfully, I noticed improvement to that area with Curly Girl, particuarly if I gave that spot some extra conditioner, but I still wasn’t sastisfied. Then I read somewhere that using a bit of vingar as a rinse or in the conditioner rubbed on the scalp helped with the dandruff-scales. I mixed a little white vinger with my conditioner (in a ramikin) and mixed until I had a thiner conditioner. The result? Wonderful! I think it works better, so far, than any dandruff shampoo. Who knew all you needed was a little vinegar? Lately, I have been using this every three or four days, as needed. And, thanks to mixing the conditioner and vinegar, my hair doesn’t smell funky.

I decided to stop using shampoo out of vanity.  But others do it for safety.  Or, for frugality. 

Here is how it works for me:

I mix up some baking soda and water and keep it in an old apple juice bottle in the shower.  Before each use, I shake the mix.  I pour some on my head (yes, it is cold) and then scrub it into my scalp.  Then rinse. 

About once a week, before rinsing, I pour on some apple cider vinegar (ACV).  It bubbles in reaction to the soda and then I rinse.  The ACV takes care of any build-up and adds shine. 

I still use conditioner–I’m a curly.  But if you have straight hair, using ACV after the soda or even ACV alone may be all that is needed to soften, clean, and shine.

I finish with a quick rinse with cold water to seal the follicles.

Maybe once a month, I scrub a little brown sugar and honey into my scalp before the baking soda step.

My favorite hair help is a spray bottle I filled with water and lavender oil.  If my hair ever fills blah or if I don’t have time to wash it, I squirt on some lavendar love and it perks up.

And I never, ever brush or blow-dry.  No way.  Oh, and about that recovery process–depending on your hair, it can look crunchy for a period of time while it gets over the shampoos withdrawal.  Lavender water will be your best friend and must go with you everywhere.   

Want to know more?  Find full instructions, recipes, and reasons in this book.        

Of course, my husband, with his perfect curls, laughs at the lengths to which I go…

One less chemically riddled product in my life, is always welcome…but will I declare myself “poo-free”..we’ll see.

Garden update: I picked up some hay today, for mulching. Half the garden is done, and the half will be done tomorrow. The idea came from my friend, Kim, who I believe credited Ruth Stout, for her amazing book on Mulching. I found out the rest of my chickens are arriving at the local feed store on the 16th of June! The countdown begins. We stopped at a local farm for eggs today, and she let us go with her to collect the eggs! I was so excited to be that involved, with a little glimpse of what I have to look forward to. She has some very pretty birds, including Araucanas, Silver Laced Wyandottes and Plymouth Barred Rock, all breeds I’m getting in 18 days! The Araucanas lay blueish green eggs. Very fun! I quite love my chickens, and have to stop looking at the chicken websites, because I keep wanting to get more, different breeds. I really need to stick with my first 9…oh, did I say 9, it was 8, now it’s 9. I decided I need a “Babs”. She was the knitting chicken from Chicken Run…so the girls will be Eleanor, Maryann, Margaret (the Dashwood’s) Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia and Kitty (the Bennet’s) and now Babs. Yes, I totally realize how silly I am. I have decided the chicken coop needs to be large enough for 12 chickens to give me a bit of wiggle room, in case I decide I need another 1… or 3!