A month and a half with no shampoo

Hard to believe, but it's been that long since I've shampooed my hair. I've managed to streamline things a little in the meantime. I have a lightweight mug that I keep next to a bottle of white vinegar and a jar filled with baking soda. Before a shower I add some baking soda to the mug and grab the bottle of vinegar. Most days, I just use around a tablespoon of baking soda in around a cup of water (nice and warm from the shower head), but if I'm feeling really grungy I use it straight, rubbing my scalp well. I've learned to use a lot less vinegar - maybe a teaspoon in over a cup of water - to use as a final rinse. The vinegar (or lemon juice) is important, since the baking soda opens up the cuticle of the hair, so you need a very weak acid to close up the cuticle and make things shiny. But you don't need much at all.

I love my hair now. It's shiny, full of body, and it behaves better than it ever did before. I have gotten questions on how well this regimen does with removing styling aids from hair, and I just don't know since I don't use anything on my hair. I have heard that there's less need for products when you go the no 'poo route, and I would guess that the baking soda would remove just about anything, but I don't know. I'm really happy with my hair, and using the baking soda and vinegar doesn't end up taking any more time than a shampoo and rinse so there's no extra effort. I also love how cheap this is! Does my frugal soul good. Also no scary chemicals or additives to worry about getting into me or my environment. Very nice.

I haven't washed my hair in a week

No, I haven't been sick or busy or even too lazy to get out the shampoo. And no, I'm not a person who can get away without a good hair wash for a week - my hair is fine, thin and oily and looks pretty nasty if I miss even one day. Lately I've been trying to find a shampoo that doesn't coat my hair with stuff, since it's so baby fine and doesn't need help laying down and playing dead, thank you very much. I've tried brand after brand, good brands even, volume building varieties...and every last one of them lately leaves my hair feeling heavy and coated. By the end of the day I look like I haven't washed my hair at all. Bad enough to look like this on the rare day I don't have time to shampoo, but on a day when I did? Not fair.

So in desperation I started poking around online. I found a bunch of obviously insane people who wrote glowing reports on how they didn't wash their hair any more. What??? I bet these are people who feel that bathing is optional, too. What a crazy idea....until it started growing on me. I read over and over again about people who found their hair was healthier, shinier, more manageable, and even seemed thicker once they stopped the ol' shampoo habit.

So I gave it a try. Everything I read said there's about a week of not so great hair as you get used to something new and your scalp gets used to no detergents. I figured I'd stick it out one week as an experiment. Each day I took a tablespoon of baking soda and tossed it in a cup of water, then poured that over my scalp and rubbed. Rinse. Then vinegar in more water poured over. Rinse again. I was sure my hair was going to be a gnarly, oily mess by the second or third day and figured I'd be wearing a lot of ponytails.

Day one and two were a bit weird, I'll admit. My hair felt a bit oily and stiffer than normal. After that, each day my hair was shinier and had more body. It looked thicker, too. And when I blew my hair dry and curled the ends under, they actually stayed that way! Oddly enough, my hair felt clean and fresh after the baking soda and vinegar. It even felt lighter.

So I guess I've stopped washing my hair for good. The end result? Take a look for yourself. It's amazing what a week of no shampoo can do, isn't it?