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!