No Shampoo Troubleshooting

Okay! My hair!

So all year I've been on this no-shampoo kick. I've told many people about this and have had reactions range from "What?!" to "Oh... ugh." to "Really? Hmm..." to "Yeah, me too."

I have run into a couple of issues. And I combed through the blog sphere looking for answers, ideas for solutions, explanations, etc. I was seeing many benefits, such as healthier hair, fewer split ends, and it's gotten thicker. My hair has always been really thick, but now it's even fuller. I loose less hair in the shower now that I'm shampoo free, so I'm wondering if it's all adding up.

My issues however have been as follows:

Waxy feeling at the roots.
Problem: Unevenly distributed sebum collecting at the scalp. It makes the hair harder to manage, and doesn't really look all that great. Often what accompanies this problem is drier hair.
Solution: Boar brush! Long strokes from root to tip spreads the sebum down the strands of hair, coating them in the protective oil and lessening the appearance of grease and making your hair softer and ultimately shinier.

White film coming off the boar brush/stickiness
Problem: More sebum issues. The scalp sheds dead skin, like any other body part, and if you have a glut of sebum at your roots, it'll collect there. It's unpleasant to find in your brush, and you're going to have to clean your brush far more frequently, as it can make your hair sticky.
Solution: Use the boar brush in the shower. First comb the hair out with a shower comb. I find this useful in loosening everything up. Then brush your hair out with the boar brush in the shower. The water and bristles will carry the sebum down the hair shafts. I noticed a significan't reduction in white film with each passing shower using this method.

Someone I told this about said that because I had thick hair it had to be easier. I'm thinking that's not terribly accurate. Scrubbing through this mane-like mass tires my fingers. As I scrub the Priya cleanser or baking soda in, I find I'm often unsure if I'm using a good amount because of all the hair I have to wade through. And I'm still working on how much apple cider vinegar I need to use and how much to dilute it.

Most people would probably ask me why I'm not just going back to shampoo. Well, I'm not going to. It gives me a skin reaction and now that I know what's in it, I want to limit my exposure as much as I can. I colour my hair and that's enough chemicals for me.

The journey continues!

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 47

And then there was shampoo.

I coloured my hair at the salon (It was so very necessary) and now my hair is red, glorious and holy crap is it soft. It's never this soft. Ever.

I'd gotten to a point with my hair where I was washing it using the non-detergent methods of baking soda or Priya Means Love and apple cider vinegar, and it was still oily. A little less oily as time dragged by, sure. But really, my hair was coated in its sebum and stayed that way. It wasn't gross, but it wasn't the best feeling.

It looked clean enough, smelled like nothing and I'd noticed it had grown thicker. It was soooo thick. Thicker-than-tension-in-sex-ed thick. Also, by now, almost three months after a haircut, I'd usually have split ends, crunchy and breaking and looking like ass. But not so this time. In fact, I have no split ends and my hair has a tad more growth than normal.

I made my appointment at the salon when I could no longer tolerate my roots, I got the colour and inevitable shampooing and I'm thinking my month-plus of allowing oils to do their thing, mostly undisturbed, has paid off. My hair has never felt this amazing in my life. It's got this silky softness I'm loving on. I'm also curious to see if my scalp has adjusted its oil output after all this time. That should be very interesting. I averaged about 5 days before oily hair would begin and 7 days before a wash prior to starting this whole thing. If I get a boost of even a few days extra before the oil starts to pile on, it'll be very encouraging.

Also, should I reset my day counter? I mean, I've shampooed. But I suppose it's all part in parsel of the same experiment and I like the chronology of counting the days.

Huzzah!

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 26

Over three weeks! And just look at this hair. I've got a nice natural wave going on, no grease and everything's coming up Milhouse. Priya Means Love is good stuff. Using the famous apple cider vinegar as a diluted rinse really upped the outcome. It's still not to where I think it's going to be, but slowly, slowly my scalp is becoming increasingly cleaner, less oily, more neutral. My actual hair is a little softer and shinier and the ends aren't breaking off, which they usually would by now this stage of my hair colouring/trim cycle.

Tonight the Dude and I are planning on meeting our new niece. Matt's brother is a new dad and he and his wife live a five-minute walk from here. I've seen a picture of the kid, and she looks a lot like her pa, with her ma's nose. You can already see she's got some good features on her. Really lovely baby, and you can't honestly say that about all them, precious as they all may be.

It's always totally wild to me, you know, going from child-free to parents. And it happens irrevocably in a moment. Pregnancy is, for a woman, a transition stage, but you still have your freedom, if not your body. But whamo! Suddenly you are chained to your baby, exclusively for the next few months at least. And I don't mean chained in a negative way, I mean it in an accurate description sense. Like, that baby needs you and there's no bones about it, no leaving wee one behind unattended. It is in a near constant state of need and you must attend to those needs.

What a massive adjustment. And you would feel all this focused type of love, amidst hormone levels dropping, and your body making all new sorts of changes like lactation and hair loss, all while recovering from your pregnancy and delivery. Dude.

Yeah, I still want to do it.

But really, it's something, eh? To know people for years and suddenly they're almost like new people, because they've undergone a massive life change and no doubt their perspectives have altered as a result. Such a massive thing to have happen. Being a parent is a huge part of a person's identity.

Also kind of wild to think a person could be as young as a few days old, isn't it? A wee little person who couldn't be more brand new. It's the oldest trick in the biological organism handbook, reproduction, and yet it never stops looking like a damn miracle.

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 19

Day after using Priya Means Love

So, my hair looks pretty clean, eh? Not too bad indeed. However, I've encountered a similar issue I had with the baking soda. It's kind of greasy in the back. Reason? I don't think I'm reaching it very well when I wash. Like I've said, I have a hella ton of hair. Like, tons. So I think I need to put more effort into scrubbing the back, not to mention brushing it out to redistribute the oils.

So basically, I need to use more elbow grease.

The Dude's away on a work trip for a few days. I haven't given much thought as to how I'll spend my time. Drawing and writing, probably. I went for a nice long walk yesterday and managed to fall asleep at a decent hour, despite waking up multiple times. Makes me realize how sedentary I've become. I think it's my natural state, though obviously not the best for my health.

I always sat around. It's a wonder I never became fat. Though I never really ate that much as a kid, so never mind. I'm not fat now either, though I'm... soft. If this were the Renaissance, man, I'd be set. But this being the 21st century, it'd probably behove me to get some more exercise.

If only I cared enough to ever really make a concerted effort. I mean, I do care. My appearance matters to me. I just have always concentrated my efforts on my skin, hair, clothes, basically dressing the body I have, caring for what I've got.

It's not like I have my ideal body, but a long time ago I gave up worrying about it. I have the shortest, highest waist I've ever seen, so that elegant longer, tinier-waisted torso is not mine to have. My breasts are small and that's the way it is. I'm also 5'2". Five pounds makes a big difference on my figure. Going up or down in either direction moves me a full dress size. Five pounds isn't all that hard to lose either, not when I try.

I just don't like trying. How ridiculous does that sound? I really should, though. I'm entering my 30s and it would probably be wise to have a good base of health and fitness to start out with, lest I become one of those frumpy women who look like they've thrown in the towel.

Know what's got me actually bummed, though? My first real wrinkle. It's on my forehead. Between that and my slowly greying hair, it's becoming apparent that I won't in fact stay young forever after all. When I was younger, despite all my anti-aging measures, I still sort of considered in my fantasy brain that perhaps I would somehow be exempt from aging. Heh. Well, it begins. Awesome.

Though if all goes well with this experiment, I should at least enter my 30s with exemplary hair (Grey hairs obscured by a tasteful red, of course).

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 18 - Pryia Means Love Review

Today I went out to Grassroots in the Danforth and picked up Lavender Mud Hair and Scalp Cleanser. I normally would have bought right off the Etsy store, but I kinda wanted the cleanser now.

Using it was a lot more pleasant than baking soda. More expensive, by far, but the goal is infrequent washings, so I'm down with that, and in any case my goal is to get off of shampoo, stop the allergic reactions on my fingers, cease rubbing the chemicals into my scalp and improve the quality of my hair.

You have to shake it till it's mixed and thickened up. You pour a small amount into your hair and scrub it into your scalp. I needed a little extra. I have super thick hair and it always takes more of everything to reach everywhere. It felt a little gritty, but not in a bad way. It has an earthy, herbal aroma.

It washed out easily enough and my hair, which had begun to smell funky yesterday now smells like normal hair again. I can run my fingers through my hair and it doesn't feel dirty or oily. It's air drying now and I can already feel the volume. Ah, success.

I didn't need conditioner or anything. It was enough just the way it was. We'll see how long the clean lasts, what it's like dry and how much headway I've made into this shampoo-free life.

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 17

I bought a boar bristle brush today. I have really thick hair and it takes a long time to brush it through, but it does make my hair shinier and evenly distributes the oil.

I spent three days in a row washing my hair with water, and I haven't wet it since for two days. Some interesting results. It's not nearly as oily as you might expect. I mean, it is oily, but all things considered, it's okay. I've gone eight days without any cleaning agents, and while my scalp isn't producing as much oil, it's still too much and the excess needs to go. I'm going to be looking into a non-detergent non-foaming cleanser tomorrow. It's red clay, herbs, aloe and essential oils. I'll give it a go and write about my results.

With the addition of my boar bristle brush, it should prevent the oils from sitting on the top of my head and that should improve the quality of my hair and make it look more presentable.

I'm kind of excited about the cleanser, but at the same time, I'm wondering if I should plough ahead and go without anything. I suppose managing the grease while I'm going through transition is helpful, and so long as it doesn't strip the hair of sebum, I should be okay. My scalp hasn't been irritated in two and a half weeks, and so long as that continues to be the case with this new product, I'm still going shampoo free.

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 13

I washed my hair with only water this evening. Funnily enough, though it's still damp, it feels the best it has so far. Slightly oily, no more dryness and softer than usual.

Ha, as I type this, Bea is crawling into my lap and giving me head butts and cuddles. I can't deny her charms. Good kitty <3

Anyhoo, my experiment is going exceedingly well. I feel like I'm over a major hump here. Not quite where I need to be, but I think there's improvement beginning to occur. And that pleases me.

I'm not sure yet how a couple things are going to go. For instance, I colour my hair. I'm not a natural redhead, quel dommage, and so I purchase a lovely shade of auburn from ye olde hairdresser. I can't bear the thought of going back to my natural colour. I mean, for one, it's nothing special and two, I've begun to gray. It's not everywhere, but it's happening. Genes. What can you do.

So, perhaps I can ask them not to shampoo my colour out, only rinse. I don't want to undo my patient, hard work, but I also don't want to go without hair colouring because I do so love my red 'do.

Just ran my fingers through my hair and it does feel really nice. Conditioner coats your hair and it does have a really smooth feeling. It's silky feeling, right? Slick. My natural hair feels soft. It's not smooth, not dry, not anything. I don't know, it feels like hair kinda should. That slick feeling always made me feel like there was still gunk in my hair, which, really, there was. Now it's bare and air drying and it's an interesting sensation.

I'm totally into this. Only two weeks in and I think I might be hooked.

No Shampoo Experiment: Day 11

You know what? I'm kind of granola. It's come on me so slowly and gradually as I learned things and became comfortable with my body and who I am, but there's no denying it anymore. I'm granola.

Did you know that if you stop washing your face and wearing makeup for a week, your skin starts to glow, your pores unclog and dead skin wipes away on a washcloth? I've been applying the same philosophy to my skin as I have with my hair, only not intentionally. It sort of happened quietly.

I've been hyper about my skin since I was 13. This has been mostly positive, I think, because I'm reaping the benefits now of having avoided the sun all these years. I have few lines and wrinkles, as I've had little sun damage, though general aging can't be avoided. My mom was super into sunscreen and was always on me about protecting my skin. The daycare I went to had a policy about each child having their own bottle of sunscreen and it had to be applied three times a day, prior to each of the three scheduled playtimes outdoors.

I'd shield my face from the sun at school. I'd walk in the shade. I wore moisturizing creams that had SPF in it. I started getting facials when I was in college, and wearing anti-wrinkle cream. I never sleep in makeup, I exfoliate and wear mud masks.

But this week I did nothing except splash with water.

Oh my God. Okay, my skin is so soft. My pores are so small and they're not clogged as much as usual. Dead skin? What dead skin? My skin's own oil seems to have conditioned it and now has reached a sort of equilibrium.

I washed my face last night because I had makeup on. But this morning, my face was still good. Not oily, not shiny, not a problem. I am turning into such a damn hippy. And I love it. It's so freeing. I mean, I'm doing less and seeing improvements.

My hair is much more of a journey. But seeing how easily my face adjusted to nothing, I'm very excited to see results with my hair. After doing some research, I think I'm going to eschew baking soda altogether. It was helpful initially, but I think just some apple cider vinegar is my next step, that and getting a natural bristle brush, something that will evenly distribute the sebum through the stands and prevent build-up on my scalp.

My hair still smells like nothing. Like hair, I guess. It's a little softer than it was when I first started this whole thing. Not great, but better. Now the Dude is thinking about doing the same thing. Mostly he's just a typical lazy dude when when it comes to personal grooming. The less he can get away with, the better. At first he thought I was a little nutty for doing this, though he didn't attempt to talk me out of it. Now he's considering it for himself, though I haven't been on a campaign for him to begin.

Actually, since I was a once-a-week hair washer and he's a daily hair washer, I think he'd be in a far greater battle.

It's a two-week adjustment period-- minimum. Maybe it'll take six weeks. Some people take months. Blech, I hope I'm not among them. I'm thinking of adding some rosemary essential oils to the mix to stimulate hair growth. I've never been able to get past my current length because of split ends and such. Everyone I've seen who's gone no-shampoo for a long time has beautiful long shiny hair. I want that to be me.

No Shampoo Experiment: Third Baking Soda Wash

I've done my third wash with baking soda instead of shampoo this evening. I usually only wash my hair once a week with shampoo, but I'm going almost twice a week with the baking soda and vinegar. That doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Though it technically is double duty on the hair washing.

My hair and scalp is still adjusting. It's been over a week now. My hair looks good. It's the feel that I'm still banking on changing. The first time it was bizarre feeling, oily and dry, if that's even possible (It is). Not too terrible, really, not enough to quit, but definitely not pleasant. The second time I had more enjoyable results, probably due to the vinegar. My hair was softer and less dry feeling.

This time it's the same thing, a little softer mostly. Not the silky results you'd get from conditioner, but it's moving in the right direction. So I'm still sticking to it. This time I used a little more baking soda and I got it only damp before scrubbing it into my scalp. I think that was helpful.

Two things I've noticed that definitely has baking soda in my good books over shampoo is 1. No allergic skin reaction, no dry skin blotches all over, and 2. Less frizz.

Ploughing on ahead!

No Shampoo For Me

I'm going to stop shampooing my hair. I've already set this in motion and I plan on documenting the experience. What else is a blog for?

For the past couple years I've trained my scalp to not need shampooing so often. Your hair gets super greasy because the detergents in the shampoo strip your scalp of its natural oils, it goes into hyperdrive to replace them and then ta-da, you need another shampoo the next day.

If you're willing to stick it out, you can get to two days. Then three. Then four. I can get to five comfortably, and seven if I'm stubborn.

But still, shampooing is a pain in the ass. And I have some exema on my finger that flares up when I wash my hair. So the Dude's been washing it for me, once a week. It's sweet, but I really feel like my body is rejecting this substance and considering all the toxicity in shampoo, methinks it's time to move on.

So tonight I used baking soda. I read that I should expect it to take 2-6 weeks for my scalp to adjust and for my hair to look good. Until then, it's going to be a rough road. Well, I believe that. It certainly doesn't look or feel good now. It's sort of dry and greasy at the same time.

Kind of overexposed, but I managed to take a good picture

in the first go, so hurrah!

So here is attempt number one. Looks fine, yes? Well, it's not too bad. Let's see how it fares throughout the week. Also, next time I'm going to do the vinegar rinse. I didn't bother this time and it may account for the blechy feeling in my hair.

Hearts and Rainbows

And the hair, she is le done!

Loving the books behind me.
Makes a vain photo look all intellectual-like.

Bit of a dark photo, eh? I'm going to wrangle the Dude into taking a better shot with a real camera when he gets home. But I loves the hair, hearts and rainbows! Plus I got two compliments on my dress:


Yes, I specifically dressed up to get my hair done. Why? Because I'm not going anywhere tonight and it was my one crack to look as awesome as possible in front of a few people. Oh, I'm aware it's silly. I did it anyway.

Revamp

So Smokey is okay. Still a diabetic, but he needs less insulin, or so the vet is thinking. So that's all well and good. However, like predicted, he's going to need special care in about two weeks. I'm going to do at at-home glucose curve. Oh yes. See, I have to test his blood sugar once an hour for a day. Yeah, so drawing blood from my cat hourly should be a good time. Good way to spend a Sunday. But it's Smokey and I loves him, so I'm obviously going to do it. I never knew being diabetic was so expensive. Those test strips are about a buck each. I'm glad I don't have it. Jebus.

In more superficial and girly news, I finally get my hair done today. I haven't had it cut and coloured since... Late October. It's February. I just kept putting it off and now it looks like ass: roots, split ends, no shape, blah-blah-blah.

So here be the before picture:

Note the grease, as the roots are less obvious in this light.

I'm still trying to grow it out. I'm several inches away from a goal length that is vague and mysterious. I'll just know when I have enough hair. I started growing it out around the same time I quit wearing pants a couple years ago. Yeah, I avoid pants at all costs, unless a dress or skirt is just far too impractical.

My late 20s seem to be calling to me to be more feminine. I was actually never really that girly in my teens. I had short punky hair. I never wore the kilt for my uniform after grade 10, opting for pants, and I wore skater sneakers instead of dress shoes. I had a bob in college, dressed like a hobo, and wore makeup about twice a year.

After college I settled into moderation and looked more like a normal woman. I acquired a couple girly things to wear, grew my hair to my shoulders and started wearing makeup half the time I went out.

But this, this is something else entirely. I feel sad when I have to wear pants. I really enjoy putting together a nice look and making my face look more attractive. I love the process of making myself pretty.

I remember before my mom died, I went to see her in the hospital. I was 16 and she saw me in an outfit she liked (rare) and she said that it looked like I finally found "my style." And of course it was just wishful thinking on her part because she would never see how I'd turn out and she knew it. But I was wearing a skirt that day. And so that little memory makes me smile.

Cutesy Hair

Today I fix my head. I looked in the mirror last week and really took a good gander at myself. In the heat of moving and all that jazz, I neglected to notice it had been three months since my last hair appointment. My roots are several inches long, my ends are snagging and I look like Raggedy Ann ass.

So today I get to look pretty. I do nothing with my hair other than occasional hair appointments and washing and brushing it. So the contrast between the me who walks out of a salon with a shiny vibrant style, and the me on any other day where I've done jack is quite striking. Night and day, actually. So whether I can afford it or not, I'm going out tonight to show off my hair.

I've been growing it long. Long hair has been a long-standing dream of mine. I achieved it once in childhood. Grade four I quit getting haircuts and by the end of grade five, my hair was long, long, long. The ends were awful, but being 10, I wasn't concerned. Then I cut it to my shoulders on a whim in grade six. Some kind of fashion at the time to have shoulder-length hair. Le sigh. Le conformity. Such is grades six through twelve.

I had this punky little 'do in grade eleven with large blonde streaks in the front framing my face to my chin, with it cut very short in the back. My best friend was with me when I got that done. I know now she never cared for that look, but was diplomatic about it at the time. My mom came to pick me up afterwards and nearly drove into a pole. She was diplomatic too. Focused on how much she loved the cut, avoided any comment on the large blonde highlights surrounding my face.

And it's been various lengths of short since. And one thing has been consistent. I get called cute. Being called cute is a side effect of being incredibly short. When you have little boobage and a baby face (I think it's my cheeks) you have no hope of escape. Short hair, while flattering technically, seals the cute in and locks it down.

Cute is nice and all. In fact, I think that since I've been labelled as cute all my life, I've learned to grow into the part. But I'm nearly 27 now. I'd really like to attract more adult compliments. I can't help but feel like a kitten or puppy equivalent when I'm called cute. It's fine on occasion, but not on a regular basis. And being mistaken for 15 when I was 21, and a grade eight grad instead of a high school grad, and being taken for 13 of all things recently, which is half my damn age, well... it's gotten old.

I want to be called pretty or beautiful. I'd settle for pretty (Except from the Dude. I want top-tier compliments from him). And when I look back in my life, the first and only time I was ever called beautiful in my whole childhood was in grade five when I had long hair.

So today is a trim and a colour update. I'm not sure how long I need my hair, but I think I'll know it when I get there. A lot of women cut their hair shorter as they get older to look more mature. I find I need to do the exact opposite.

On a related note, I love that I'll be in my Halloween costume with a fresh hairdo. Something about that gives me a tickle in my heart.