a very late hair update

Due to our holiday and then a massive heatwave here in WA that melted my typing spirit, I failed to do an update on my NO POO experiment.

So.

This is my hair after the second last wash.

I tried the honey rinse as my sister suggested. But I think most of the credit is due to the treatment as a whole. My hair is settling down, it doesn't feel as rough, and it doesn't get as greasy or irritating as it used to.
In this pic, you can see the frizzies are not too bad. All I did was comb it out and let it dry naturally.
It's quicker to straighten now, too.

I washed it when we got back from the weekend away, but it didn't really need it. Even though we'd been on dirt roads and spent two days in salt-spray and wind.

It's been mad humid here for about 5 days and I don't have frizzy bits poking out everywhere, which I would normally have.

SO -- I've started washing The Princess's hair this way too! She has Shirley Temple curls, which got frizzy and messy when we lived out on the Goldfields, from the amount of chlorine added to the water supply.
I also crushed some rosemary leaves and steeped them in boiling water, allowed it to cool and used it as a final rinse for her, just because I knew she would hate the vinegar smell.

Her hair looks and feels no different from usual, yet, but I'll persevere for a few weeks and see if there's a change.

the great hair experiment update

After many requests (one) (from River) I've decided to post a pic of my hair PRE-straightening.

This is quite traumatic for me. And it might be for you, too -- if you're easily frightened, click away NOW.

Ready?

Well, don't say I didn't warn you.

This is after using the bicarb/vinegar treatment, and allowing it to dry naturally overnight. I can't (ever) get a brush through it and if I did I'd look like the worlds' largest dandelion, so it's completely au naturel.
It looks like this if I put half a bottle of conditioner on it, too, so don't blame the experiment.

Now, by way of comparison, here is my sister with her experimented-on-for-more-than-a-year hair.

Now, before she started using the no poo treatment, her hair was like straw. It wasn't frizzy like mine, but really dry and brittle, and it had no shine, at ALL. I think it's fair to say that it looks FANTASTIC now!!

She's modified her original recipe, and here it is:

Ingredients
2lt jug
honey
bi-carb soda
white or apple cider vinegar

Shampoo
1tsp honey into the jug, dissolve in a bit of boiling water (prevents stickiness)
fill jug halfway with cool water
add 1tsp bi-carb soda
i find half a jug at this stage enough

pour onto wet hair, massage in, rinse out.

condition (ENDS ONLY, if you wish. i do this only every now and again) and rinse really well

Conditoner
rinse out your jug, refill with water, and add a good splash of your vinegar
pour through your hair.
rinse if you wish ( i leave it in, smell goes when it’s dry)


I'm going to try with the honey, next time I wash. Who knows, it may even make me sweeter.

the one week hair update

Right. It's been a week since I washed my hair and began this experiment.

Normally by now I would have my hair tied back all the time and be thinking about cutting it off (myself) (with a pocket knife if necessary) because it would be giving me the irrits so bad.
And it would be itchy, and greasy, and look gross.

But no.

Yes, it is starting to look like a wash wouldn't hurt, but not so bad that I have to explain to random strangers or wear hats. It's still manageable and soft, and I only have a few 'frizzies'.
AND I haven't seen ANY dandruff. Not saying there isn't any, but it's not on my shoulders at least.

See?

That's not too bad, is it? I mean, it IS Sunday morning and all.....

poo free

I have become my own guinea pig, and am conducting an experiment on myself.

Unlike the experiments I conducted when I was young and stupid, this one is legal and hopefully won't be very very bad for me.

You see, my hair is like coconut fibre in its' natural state. It's really thick, dry, mad frizzy, and I have to use a ton of product on it every week.

My sisters' hair is much the same, and when she told me she'd stopped using shampoo and conditioner, and was now using BICARB and VINEGAR to wash it, I thought she'd gone mad.

BUT.... her hair looks lovely! it's soft and shiny and utterly manageable, and I've been thinking about trying it for months.

So yesterday, after Googling for about half an hour, I wet my hair as usual, and gave my scalp a really good massage, then used a mix of about 1/2 cup of bicarb and about a cup of water, to 'wash' my hair.
It felt very weird -- really runny, no lather -- but I rubbed it in and let it sit for a couple of minutes, then 'finger-combed' it through my hair, and rinsed really well.

Then I used a diluted vinegar solution, and rinsed REALLY well (who wants to smell like fish and chips, right?)

Now, it can take up to 6 weeks to restore the natural pH of your hair and scalp, so I wasn't expecting miracles -- but I gotta say, my hair is MUCH softer than I thought it would be, and more natural feeling than it would be after I'd subdued it with about a cup of conditioner.

I've let it dry for a day (yeah, it takes that long) and I'll straighten it today, so that will be the real test.

It doesn't smell of vinegar (I used the fancy shmancy white wine vinegar that I bought cos I like the bottle) and my scalp is really clean.

My sister says her dandruff is completely gone, so I'm hoping for a big win there. And not having to load my head up with expensive and chemical-laden product would be nice!
Let's see how it goes....