Say, I Just Noticed....

.... that my hair appears to be getting longer! Looking at the two recent pictures of my hair (and after deleting tons of the older ones from a month ago from my phone just today) it appears that my hair is indeed getting longer! I wouldn't say it is growing faster than normal, but I'm pretty happy with the length of it after being somewhat depressed at how short my last trim seemed to leave it.... though that was definitely necessary.

I've been doing a lot in my garden lately and I'm super happy that my rosemary plant is taking off. I've taken a couple cuttings for a few friends, for my use, and one to pot separately that hopefully takes off, and it seems to still be doing marvelously. Fabulous, because I plan to continue adding it to my vinegar. I just hope once the season is over that I can move the plant indoors so I can still reap it's rewards. My mint is growing out of this world as well. Good for the same reasons :)

So yesterday I used the coconut oil, and today I simply water-only washed my hair. It still seems extra-moisturized, and looks almost oily at the ends, which isn't a normal place for hair to appear oily so I'm hoping it looks just fine. I can't take a picture now but hopefully will later tonight. We'll see.

Oh, and I looked a few things up about no-pooing and look at these wonderful articles/blogs I've found on how to clean your hair without shampoo (from Simple Mom) and one from NPR stating that when it comes to shampoo, less is more. Not that I needed a reason to have a renewed interest in this no-pooing project of mine (which I'm sure you've not noticed by my lack of postings, or by my recent string of 'scheduled' postings, ahem), but this sure does make me feel better about my decision. I'm seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, whereas for the past month or so I was beginning to wonder if this method of washing my hair (or not washing, really) was really for me. My hair's been frizzy on and off, and it's hard to see how good it can look when I'm constantly pulling it up in a ponytail.

Recently a coworker stopped me and said she thinks I have hair similar to her. She described her texture and I told her about mine. I tried to stay positive about my hair (which -I've mentioned before- I have a love/hate relationship with) and I described it's frantic curls and sudden straighten-ness to her. It always does the one I don't want it to. I told her, though, about my past three 'poo-less months and she seemed intrigued. If I remember correctly I think she even complimented my hair.

I'm still sticking with it. I'm enjoying my hair lately, and hopefully it will continue to last. :):):)

Yes, Please

So, I used the coconut oil! Many thoughts abound.

Firstly, here is a picture of my hair, 10 hours after baking soda washing, apple cider vinegar (with rosemary and mint leaves soaking in it) rinsing, and coconut oiling:

As you can see, it looks overly-moisturized. Here're my thoughts: After my twice-weekly wash (see above) I toweled my hair lightly, then stuck three fingertips into the yummy-smelling coconut oil. I ended up with probably 1/2 teaspoon, if I have to guess, and I rubbed it into my palms until it softened quite a bit, then I rubbed it into the ends of my hair. It glided into my hair very smoothly and it was like I could feel the flyaways sucking back into each other so as not to be, well, flying away. It was amazing. I plopped my hair with a T-shirt of my hsuband's (which I haven't done in forever, and also haven't mentioned, so here are awesome, illustrated directions) and let it set for a few minutes. After I shook it out I thought it smelled amazing, and it looked pretty cool (though still wet), too. My husband said it still smelled like vinegar, but I think I'm immune to it. I will say that lately when I've been vinegar-rinsing I have not been rinsing out said vinegar... I rinse with the vinegar, comb it while I'm still in the shower, set my part, and get out. 

Throughout the day I really did think it looked all right, just like I'd used some gel. It had the 'wet look' to it, if you know what I mean. I liked it, and as the day wore on it smelled better and better (remember, ACV loses it's strong scent as it dries), and it actually felt dry but moisturized to the touch.

I guess I maybe used too much oil, which is a good lesson to learn because now I know I can save a little more money by using lesson. I'm a happy camper.

Coconut, Schmoconut

I finally found a tub of coconut oil! It was fairly inexpensive, about $13.99 for a 16oz container. I'd been told you can't find it at CVS, Walmart, or any other place around here and I didn't want to make a special trip any time soon for something I'm not sure about, so I've just been waiting to stumble across some. Lo and behold during a trip to the Greenwood Park Mall today I remembered there is a GNC store and in I went. The nice feller within showed me several things of Coconut Oil... and I bought one that was priced mid-range.

I've read a few things (here and here and initially here) about using coconut oil on hair in many ways, primarily for those crunchy, hippie types. Of course I was intrigued, and as my hair has been so frizzy since I started this endeavor I was super-ecstatic to bring home the bacon. Or coconut oil.

I also can't wait until my aloe plant takes off. It's doing pretty well so far, but I hesitate to break a piece off because I want it to get nice and hefty first. I'd hate to deplete it too soon.

My loverly mama aloe plant (baby not shown)

Scrub-A-Dub

So, baking soda wash and vinegar rinse today was extra special after having soaked some rosemary and mint in my vinegar, even though it hasn't been a week yet. I felt pretty clever doing it, and couldn't wait to see how my hair felt after it dried. It ended up being a little less frazzled, and I actually received a few compliments on it. It was pretty soft and I managed to keep it down for most of the day, but as usual the heat eventually got to me. It's been over three months now, so this is quite nice. :)

Extra-spunky-curliness

Rosemary & Mint

Hmm, sounds like "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme." But not what I'm going for.

Rosemary, front & center

I grow a couple different herbs in my garden and around my yard and house. One of them that's doing ultra-well is rosemary. I looked online for things to do with rosemary and one of the things that popped out to me was to use it in my hair! *Awesome* I think I will. The page I looked at suggested putting a branch of fresh rosemary with a sprig of mint into a bottle of apple cider vinegar and letting it set before rinsing hair with it. I happen to have an obnoxious amount of mint (luckily it's contained in a pot so hopefully I won't randomly find it in my yard, I'm told it spreads awfully) so I added the two herbs to my vinegar bottle today... we'll see what happens.

Here are some websites/articles on the herbs:
-www.superbherbs.net/Rosemary.htm
-www.gardensablaze.com/HerbRosemaryMed.htm

It keeps going, and going, and...

It's been a month since I've posted, which means another month of not shampooing. It's been so hot that I have a hard time not letting my hair just hang dry, instead I keep wanting to pull it back in a ponytail. I've been unhappy with it lately because it get's a freaking ponytail mark in it because of my impatience and inability handle the hair on my face and neck!

I got myself an aloe plant start which has already split, and as soon as I feel confident that it's going to do really well I'm going to experiment with using it in my hair. I was also reminded by a friend about putting mayonnaise in my hair as a conditioner. I hope to try that as well. I can tell my hair is getting longer but I just can't stand the frizz.

One of the hardest things so far this summer has been dealing with pool hair and with sweat-head. I really feel like a true shampoo and good conditioning would do wonders for my hair after a busy hot day outside followed by a dip in the pool. But, I'm dealing.

At this point I'm kind of not sure what my goal is, to be honest. I can tell the overall condition of my hair is better but it is just so frizzy. Also, I just want the clean, invigorating feel a shampoo gives me sometimes. I am going to continue for now but don't have high hopes of this lasting forever. It just seems like a fad... though I'm surprised I've lasted this long.

I'm Posting!!

No, I still have not shampooed.

I apologize; I've had a lot going on (A. LOT.) and haven't been able to get pictures of my hair or even just make short posts. I'm on my lunch break at work and am trying to not work through my break for a change... So here goes!

It's been almost two months now and I'm still having bad days and good days. I am baking soda washing/apple cider vinegar rinsing about two times every 7-10 days, though I sometimes do a conditioner-only wash or an apple cider vinegar rinse in between on occasion. I am enjoying my hair for the most part, although the constant rain here lately mixed with the good 'ole Indiana humidity is giving me hair-anxiety. But all is well :)

Here is a picture of my hair yesterday after much ado... I'll explain below.

My mom gave me some hot-rollers, and while part of my intent with the whole no-poo undertaking is to learn to appreciate my curls more I still crave having my hair straight... It just seems simpler (i.e. it doesn't look ridiculous after it's been pulled back, I can sleep on it without screwing it up for the next day, it doesn't look as frizzy... all personal opinions, I suppose). I thought the hot-rollers might be a safe-ish way to give my hair since it's been bugging out with all the humidity lately. Anyway, it didn't really work for me because my hair is extremely thick, is wavy on it's own, and also I have tremors so handling my own hair for very fine things is NOT easy. The result was less than satisfactory so I w/o-washed my hair and didn't take the time to plop or pull it half-back or anything, I just put a tad bit of vitamin E oil in my palms and scrunched a little and jetted. I think it looked great all day and was really pretty frizz-free most of the day. This picture was taken at the very end of a hectic day, so I'm pretty proud.

Anyway, I'm hoping to eventually get my hands on some aloe and coconut oil so I can somewhat style my hair (re: plop) without using product. I feel like those things will make my hair even less frizzy.

It's neat that when I see people I know around town I often am told that people are keeping up with this blog. Awesome! Guess that means I should post more, but I feel like I don't have too much insightful stuff to say.