No Shampoo Update

Well, it was about three weeks ago that I decided to go off shampoo and use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean my hair, mainly motivated by the desire to save money. Over a year ago, Mike and I decided to switch to natural, non-toxic products when it comes to anything that would touch our skin or that we would breathe in: household cleaning products, air freshener, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, soap, etc. Switching to natural products like baking soda, vinegar, salt, lemons, and borax has revolutionized the way we clean our apartment and it's so much cheaper! However, for the last year, we have been spending $6 a bottle for Nature's Gate shampoo and conditioner. It smells wonderful, but can be hard to fit into a weekly budget sometimes. Hence my excitement at finding out that you can also clean your hair with cheaper, natural products.

When you think about it, it makes so much sense. For thousands of years, no one ever used shampoo - it didn't exist. Why? Because our hair doesn't normally get that dirty and water is usually more than enough to get dirt or dust out. Why do most of us use shampoo? Because our hair gets greasy. And why does it get greasy? Because we use shampoo, which strips our hair of its natural oils. It's only when you regularly strip your hair of its natural oils that your head goes nuts trying to replenish that oil by producing more than it normally would. Which makes your head greasy. Which makes you reach for the shampoo bottle. What I didn't realize is that the hair's natural oil (sebum) is essentially naturally produced hair product. This is why old-fashioned women always brushed their hair a lot: because it distributes the hair's natural oils to the rest of the hair, making it sleek and shiny (I remember reading in the Betsy-Tacy books how Betsy would brush her hair with 100 strokes per night but never understood why).

Before going any further, here is my preliminary report: my hair feels fresher, cleaner, and silkier than it ever has, and I don't need hair product anymore! My hair now looks the same with zero product as it did when I was using Aveda's Be Curly product before ($18 plus tax). More money saved! However, I am still working out the kinks for my specific hair type. This is what I have learned so far:

• Baking soda can actually be kind of harsh on your hair and can dry it out unnecessarily. I am seeing this in my own hair, since it is more fine and delicate. After doing some more research online, I am realizing that I probably don't need to use baking soda at all, but can probably get away with just apple cider vinegar (2 Tablespoons to 2 cups of water).
• It's really key that you thoroughly massage your scalp with water while in the shower in order to break up the sebum. We're so used to being lazy hair-washers because the chemicals in shampoo do all the hard work for us, but without those chemicals, we need to actually get in there and do the work ourselves. I am positive this is why going off shampoo before did not work for me. I wasn't breaking up the sebum, and so it just built up and my hair got super greasy.
• So, to recap, for my fine, wavy hair, my shower routine needs to be massaging my scalp really well with water, and then doing an apple cider vinegar rinse (this is optional I think, but it feels really nice).
• Then, for the second (or third) days, I need to brush my hair through a lot with a boar bristle brush, which will not only take out any dust, but will also redistribute the sebum from the top of my head to the rest of my hair.

For a final recap, then, going without shampoo has been really great so far. My hair feels healthier, silkier, and shinier and I don't need to use any product anymore when I get out of the shower. However, the baking soda is making my hair too dry and brittle, and I am going to stop using it and switch to a new routine: massaging my scalp really well with water, using an apple cider vinegar rinse, letting my hair air dry (you can't blow dry your hair if you go off shampoo - it doesn't work at all), and brushing my hair thoroughly with a boar bristle hairbrush until I get it wet again. I promise to write another update in a few weeks to report on how this is going.

If you are thinking about doing this yourself, you'll want to do some research online, where there is detailed information on the different methods you can use. And you have to be prepared for a transition phase of greasier hair that can last up to several weeks. Going off shampoo is not for the faint of heart, but I'm determined to work out the kinks, wait out the transition phase, and reap the benefits in the end!

2013 Update: As it turns out, washing my hair with baking soda and/or vinegar was working so well because we had very soft water where we lived. Once we moved, our water was harder and we didn't have access to the water tank to add softener. So, I'm back to using normal shampoo and conditioner, although I look for ones made with more natural ingredients and no parabens. It was great to do while I could though, and it saved us a ton of money at a time when we were counting every penny.