No More 'Poo!

Well, yesterday was my last day of using regular shampoo and conditioner - at least for a while.  After thinking about it, I decided that my guilt about potentially making aquatic animals sick and over-fertilizing harmful algae was stronger than my desire to have pretty hair.  I don't mean to proselytize, but why is this collection of dead skin cells so important to us anyway?

Not going to lie, though, I am a bit nervous about giving up the 'poo.  A few years ago, one of my camp friends told me "You know, all women are vain about something.  I'm pretty sure for you it's you're hair."  Yup.  I know I have nice hair and I don't want it to be ugly!  I would be sad.

But I have been hearing lately about people using alternative methods of washing their hair.  I have looked at organic, phosphate free products online, but they are super expensive and some of them still use fragrances and other chemicals.  So, today I tried the baking soda and vinegar method!

Wait, you say.  Aren't those the ingredients you use in a volcano science experiment?  Yes!  And what better way to wash your hair?

Here's what you do:
Shampoo: Mix 1 tbsp. baking soda to 1 cup water
Conditioner: Mix 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp honey to 1 cup water (NOT white vinegar)
Shake well to mix thoroughly.

So, in the shower, I shampooed my hair first.  The baking soda feels awesome!  It tingles when you pour it on, and then you rub it all over your hair and I guess it must soak up the oil.  It left my hair feeling clean.  No problems yet.

I waited until the end of my shower to condition my hair.  Normally I leave it on for a bit, but since it was vinegar I didn't want it on my hair very long.  Warning: the vinegar-water does still smell something like vinegar, but it's diluted enough that it isn't too bad.

So I stirred up the conditioner, poured some on my head and then soaked the ends of my hair in what was left.  After about 1 minute, I rinsed it out and called it good.  Note: your hair and your bathroom will NOT smell like vinegar after rinsing (phew!).

So far, it seems to have worked!  My hair feels clean and it was easy to comb out.  The conditioner seems to untangle hair just as well as conventional stuff, although your hair doesn't get that super-sleek silicone feel.  I'm going to try this for 6 weeks and see how my hair holds up.  If it gets really terrible, I might adjust my method, but I have a good feeling about it.