Friday, April 29, 2011

Hair Cut

I made it past a month! Today is day 34, and I think I will likely stop keeping track of the days. Mentioning the exact day on each post is a pure pain in the ass.

I keep talking about how much I want to get a trim and I finally found the time to do it. I told the chick at Great Clips that I was 'no-pooing' and she had no idea what I was talking about. I felt ridiculous. She tried to sell me some dry shampoo and when she told me about it I just kinda said 'huh.' and left it at that. I'm thinking the trim will make my hair less frizzy. I also had her thin it out with thinning shears. I hate that it is shorter but know this was necessary.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I had my last class of the semester today, bwahaha! Not that it matters here or that anyone cares...

So, I am making it almost a week between baking soda washes at this point. On Monday I bs/acv-ed for the first time in 6 days, then I did it again today. It feels good to be doing it less and less frequently.

The first pic is a pic of my hair yesterday after water-only washing it, so you can see the length. The second picture is my trimmed hair. I can't wait to see what it looks like after water-only washing it tomorrow and plopping it. Hooray, me for trimming it and for lasting over a month!!



Thursday, April 21, 2011

Coming Up On A Month at Day 26

I can't believe I've made it this long... it feels so good to have stuck with it so far.

I keep forgetting to mention that there've been a few instances where I've used a dab of my conditioner on the ends of my hair. I haven't checked to see if the condition is 'cone-free, but after looking at the link below I see that it's not listed as 'cone-free.... 'Cones are basically silicones, and the ingredients that are siliconic (is that even a word??) generally end in -cone, -conol, or -xane. I found a (possibly incomplete) list of 'cone-free conditioners here, and as mentioned, my conditioner isn't on it. Hmmmmm.......

Anyhow, I water-only washed it today and then tried something new. I put a tiny dab of Vitamin-E oil in my hands and rubbed into lightly into the ends of my hair before I plopped. I was actually very pleased with the results! I don't know that it would be good to do it often, but I'm going to look into other ways to keep my curls/waves from separating too much.

Here are two pictures... I hate the first one and almost didn't post, so please don't look at it for too long :)



Monday, April 18, 2011

Day 23

I think I've gotten into the swing of things, sort of. My hair isn't nearly as greasy looking/feeling a few days after my baking soda wash/apple cider vinegar rinse days and I'm a little more confident about it, even when I feel like it isn't looking very good. I actually like telling people about it but then I get embarrassed when people act like they can't get past their disgusting feelings about not washing. I wonder if those people have ever gone a day without washing their hair. I also wonder just how greasy and broken down their hair is. I guess this is my defensiveness poking its ugly head out...

I actually ran out of the box of baking soda that I'd bought for this purpose and had to resort to using the one that I'd been keeping in my refrigerator. Nate bought me a huge box (not sure of the weight, don't have it in front of me) and said it was only a "few bucks." Looking online I see a 4 1/2 lb box for about $8. He also bought me another bottle of apple cider vinegar for a "few bucks." I'm noticing that I don't have to bs/acv as often anymore... I've been doing it about two times a week but think I might slowly wean myself off of it and try doing it just once a week.

Here is picture of my hair before it is completely dry, after water-only washing and plopping with my scarf.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 21

So it's been three weeks now, I guess!

I baking soda washed and apple cider vinegar rinsed my hair today after first rubbing some eucalyptus oil into my scalp and letting it set for a few hours, just like I did last weekend. Not sure if it's my imagination but it seems like it is helping :) My hair doesn't seem to be getting as greasy in between washes but it doesn't seem as bouncy and beautiful as I'd like it to be between either. I'm finding that I like the fresh start I get and the look it creates when I wet my hair every morning, but along with that I'm also finding that it is hard to get the water to penetrate my hair and it also takes even longer than it did before for my hair to dry... as in, like, a few hours. I'm sure this is normal but it's frustrating. My hair just looks like a morning-hair blob if I don't wet it because it loses it's curl but also isn't straight.

I have been using my scarf to plop my hair after wetting it and it is nice because I barely notice it's there while I'm getting ready. Actually it makes me miss being able to wear scarves or handkerchiefs on my head when I was younger and didn't have to follow a dress code :)

I actually have been getting some comments on my hair both from friends who know I'm doing this and those who don't as well as from people who don't know anything about me. I'm also astonished by how many people I see only every once in awhile who tell me they've been following this blog. Good, let me know how my hair looks next time you see me!

I'm a little concerned about the smell or lack thereof my hair has... it's just like a hair smell and I don't mind it but I sure do miss the fake floral or fruity scents my shampoo used to give me. But at least I can still smell my 18 month old's hair when I want to re-experience that. I'm wondering what I'll do when I travel in a few months... if it will be easier to just shampoo and condition or if I'll take along a box of baking soda and some vinegar... or if I just won't wash at all, hmmm!

The first photo of my hair today is directly after bs/acv-ing and plopping and it is not quite dry. The second photo is a crappy quality one I took myself just now and it is dry but has been through the wind and pulled back in a pony a few times. Heh.



I really wish I could get better pictures!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Day 16

I haven't been posting as often 1. because I've been pretty busy and 2. because I haven't seen either improvement or much change lately, and most importantly 3. because it's hard for me to remember to corral Nate to take pictures of my hair, plus he gets tired of doing it.

I baking soda/vinegared my hair on Wednesday and on Thursday I beer rinsed and vinegar rinsed it. I left it until Saturday. Saturday I took my newfound bottle of eucalyptus oil and mixed a little with water and massaged it onto my scalp... I let it set that way for about four or five hours (even though Nate said it smelled too strong) and then baking soda/vinegared it out. I actually thought it felt really soft and looked pretty good. Sunday I did nothing to it, and today, Monday, I didn't either... at first. I pulled it halfback and thought it looked decent but then had to walk the dogs in the rain and it frizzed wayyy out at the bottom but looked matted and helmet-ey around my scalp. Ick. So I baking soda/vinegared it once again. I plopped it using a scarf instead of a towel and it made pretty soft curls that I thought looked okay today.



I have been wanting to get a microfiber towel because that's what I've seen suggested for plopping. I have no idea how well it would work. I haven't been able to find one, but I do feel like the towels I've been using are just too heavy and thick.

I just can't wait for my hair to get longer and for me to find the time for a trim. I am starting to feel like my hair looks greasy up top and frizzy around the bottom and I hate how I feel like it looks. It never seems to really look as bad but it certainly doesn't feel soft all the time and I wish it would stay together instead of flyaway-ish. 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Day 10

One step forward one step back... seems like I'm having as many poor hair days as good ones. Before bed last night I went to comb my hair and it was awful. Painful and a tangled heap of... hair. I know it was from the hairspray because my hair still had that hard feeling. I combed as much as I could with a wide tooth comb and a fine tooth comb. I'm embarrassed to say both combs had gunk on them, which I'm sure was mostly hairspray. I went to massage my scalp with my nails and that's how it all started, the tangled mess. I realized it was pretty gnarly. Anyway, I got it combed and brushed out and it felt like hair feels when it's been bombarded with too much hairspray. You have no idea how tempted I was so wash it... but I didn't. I rinsed it under the tub faucet as well as I could and combed it out. This morning I did a water only wash and it still felt just heavy. I cannot wait until tomorrow... even though the baking soda is really tough to work into my hair it always feels cleaner after the vinegar rinse and after it begins to dry. The possibility of it feeling cleaner after tomorrow morning is the only thing keeping me from lathering up right now!

I have no picture today because today was hell. I slept less than two hours last night and am pretty self-conscious about my appearance overall today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a wonderful hair day and a wonderful day in general and I'll have gorgeous pictures to post.

We'll see about that.......

Monday, April 4, 2011

Progress on Day 9!

Well today makes me feel better about my shampoo-less decision thus far.

This morning I simply rinsed my hair and sort of scrubbed with my fingertips in the shower... a water-only wash is what I guess its called in no-poo lingo. When I got out of the shower I wringed (wrang? both appear as spelling errors, but whatever) it out, brushed it, then plopped it with a normal towel. I'm finding that my hair is still a little frizzy and wonder if a microfiber towel (which is what I see other no-pooers suggest) would make a difference. After about 20 minutes I let it down and it looked pretty good... I decided to try leaving it down all day instead of pulling it back.

I also had time before I had to go to work and decided to try a hairspray recipe an anonymous poster posted on the no shampoo experiment blog I constantly refer to in these posts. I didn't do the recipe exactly, though. I put about 1/2 cup of water with a little over 1/2 Tbsp of honey in a measuring glass and heated it in the microwave for 90 seconds, then stirred it and added about 2/3 Tbsp vodka, then stirred it. I put it all in a would-be cleaner spray bottle (you know, the kind you can buy at the dollar store) that had never been used. I left it uncapped and put it in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes to let it cool and then sprayed it on my hair. It didn't spray the way a normal hairspray bottle would've and so I had some drippage, and I also got some on my arms. Once it dried on my arms it was pretty hairspray sticky-like, which I took as an excellent sign.

I tried taking a picture myself (the first pic below) but am so shaky it didn't turn out well, but whatever. My hair looked styled all day, though I endured gnarly rain and wind, so I take that as a good sign. Still kinda frizzy, but I'm attributing that partly to the rain and wind. I had Nate take a picture just now (second pic) and I think it looks all right after a long day and weather.





I'm pretty happy with things so far. I still can't wait to get a trim but with my work schedule and Nate's job hunting it's not easy to find the time. Also, I am noticing that my hair smells like..... hair. After the honey-vodka smell went away I would occasionally smell plain old hair when I'd whip my head around or something. It's not a bad smell but it certainly doesn't have a shampoo smell.

I also found two .17fl oz bottles of essential oils today off my work's free table... I snatched 'em up in case they might be of use... Neroli (Citrus Aurantium Dulcis) and Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Globulus) oils. I haven't had time to do much research but a quick Google search tells me that the eucalyptus oil can be used to stimulate hair growth. I'm definitely interested in that, but am hesitant to rub oil onto my scalp when I'm not shampooing. We'll see...

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Day 8... It's Been A Long Week...

I did a baking soda wash and apple cider vinegar rinse today in the shower, then plopped it with a towel afterward while it was still completely wet... I didn't even dry it much first, but did comb it out. When it had dried a bit I let it down and just kept it down for once and tried to just live with it around my face instead of pulling it back. I gave in a few times at work and pulled it back but ended up letting it back down most of the time. I was determined to get it trimmed after work but of course every ding-dang hair place closes at freaking 5 which is when I get off work, so no such luck. It seemed awfully frizzy to me, and as usual I am really eager to fins something that will tame the frizz and keep the curls clumped together. The wind was wretched today and I happened t be out in it enough that I thought my hair would knot up but it didn't completely go wacko. I just really want a trim and some product to keep it looking styled. :)

So here is my hair which I was pleased with while it was still a bit wet, and the second picture is just now at about 11pm after a windy day. It still looks all right as well, not greasy or anything and actually very shiny. Please ignore all the shit on my table.



Saturday, April 2, 2011

Day 7: Uncertainty...

I wanted to at least get my hair wet today because it's just starting to be really shapeless. Or actually, too shapely. It isn't straight and it isn't as curly as my hair is naturally. I think I really need a trim. And not putting anything in my hair to help shape the curl is making me feel less confident about it. I need to look into what I can put in it that will help the curls form.

So I did a little researching to see what else makes a good rinse for hair, and a few days ago I saw on a message board that some people use chamomile tea... so of course I tried it. I steeped 3 bags of chamomile in 24 ounces of water and let it cool.  I did a water only wash but still scrubbed my scalp with my fingertips so it would hopefully rid my scalp of anything too gross and also promote the sebum... I don't even know what I'm saying I guess. Anyway, I poured the tea over my head which was kind of painful because I'd let it cool quite a bit and it was very chilly.  I left it on while I soaped up and then rinsed it out with tepid water. I have to say that so far this is the worst my hair has felt post-shower, though the tea did make it feel a little smoother than if I'd not used anything. I tried plopping it and once I took the towel off I shook it out and tried to pull it half-back, got frustrated and ended up combing it out. I knew it would look awful when it dried so I wet it again, plopped it again and left it up for awhile. When I took it down it looked all right but I pulled it half-back gently so the curls would hopefully stick in the back a little better. It's still wet but here it is, day 7:



It actually doesn't look bad from the back but once again I just wish the curls would form better. My hair doesn't feel heavy with oil, it actually feels lighter, and maybe that's part of the 'problem,' maybe it's just something I need to get used to.

I am noticing how uneven my hair also is... it's much longer on the left side. Hmmm... I'll stick it out for awhile longer but I just want some curl control.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Day 6

All right, so still no wash today.  I last washed it with baking soda and an apple cider vinegar rinse on Wednesday and then did a water-only wash yesterday.  I mostly wore it up in a ponytail because it just seems pretty shapeless (or maybe too awkwardly shapely, if you will...) if I don't curl it or straighten it.  I know straightening is probably a bad idea and it just takes so long even though it's my favorite way to wear it.  I want too look into other things to use to help hold the curl if I plop it.

I read a lot more of the shampoo-less experimenter's blog today and read about massaging the scalp and hair itself to work the sebum from the roots down to the tips, which apparently is a long process.  For some reason it really makes sense, so last night I sat for awhile and finger-combed my hair and massaged my scalp.  It actually felt really good and my hair felt a lot more normal this morning.  It's like you can't even tell I haven't washed it; to me it looks normal just not as dry as it had been looking.  I have a lot of grays and they tend to be wiry and stand straight up and make my hair overall appear a lot more frizzy.  They don't seem to be as texturally different the past day or so.

I hope this continues on well... I'd really hate to have not washed for a week only to give in or for it to end up not working for me.  So far so good, but I hope it gets better as well.  I wish my ends weren't so raggedy, and I probably actually just need to get a trim.  I'm just not sure I could get a shop to trim my hair without washing it.