Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Experiment #2: No Shampoo

This is going to be a next greasy 6 weeks for my hair, but I will persevere and experiment with washing my hair without shampoo.

Over the past few months, I have been reading up on how to better care for my hair. In summary, my research has shown me that the shampoo that I use is "cleaning" my hair by stripping it of everything. Even all the essential oils. So then, my scalp thinks it's too dry, and produces more oils. Over time, my scalp is used to this cycle of being stripped bare, and then over producing oils to compensate.

My mission is to eventually be able to use more eco-friendly and hair friendly products in my hair. I think this will help my hair be more healthy (more shiny, less breakage and more manageable). It's a win-win situation. The most difficult part will be training my hair to accept this new regime.

A little background: I have fine oily hair, and I've been washing my hair everyday for as long as I can remember. My hair is straight, shoulder length, and I do not use any products (aside from shampoo and conditioner), nor do I blow dry it.

The last time I washed my hair was this past Saturday morning. I have started experimenting with an apple cider vinegar rinse from Fabulously Broke (sorry, I couldn't find her post on her trials!) and I have gone out and bought a 100% boar bristle brush which feels great every time I brush my hair.

I will keep updating on how this experiment is going and any feed back would be greatly appreciated. I think I'm going to be using the rinse every day for the first week or two, so that my scalp can recognize it as the new shampoo. Then go to every other day, and maybe every third day. We'll see!

I hope this gets better by the 4th week since I have a wedding to attend with BF. I'm also trying to convince BF to try out my experiment on his hair. He was very intrigued when I told him that from my reading, he might have to only wash his hair once a week, since it's so short.

The savings on shampoo, will be minimal (I usually buy shampoo when it's on sale for $1.49 a bottle), but I think the long term benefits will far outway any amount of money. I may also buy a very gentle, natural shampoo for days when I might need it.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I can't believe that you're taking the plunge and doing this! I was also inspired by FB's posts on using the apple cider as shampoo - but I don't think I could handle the weeks of my hair adjusting. I can't wait to hear how it goes for you since I have similar hair to yours (it sounds like). FB posted a picture of her hair and mine definitely isn't like hers, so I wasn't sure if it would work for my hair type. So I'll be following your experiment closely, if you don't mind. =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. FB's success was a great motivator and inspiration for this experiment! I tried a few months ago for a week, and gave up (I don't think I was prepared properly or researched enough!).

    But this time, I think I am better prepared :) It's funny, I was typing up my post as you were commenting, and I had succumbed to shampoo! But I will not give up!

    ReplyDelete