NO-SHAMPOO MAMAS - MAY! Month 4! - Page 2

[Kam]

not at all--no smell, no stick

[Threefold]

Thanks Tracymom. I shampooed this morning b/c I hadn't gotten back online yet to know what to do :LOL , but as I did I thought, okay, last time for a while! I'll be trying the bs and ACV in a few days.
Rosemary Gladstar's family herbal has recipes for homemade "shampoos". Has anyone used these?

[stafl]

Hi everyone! I tried this, I dunno, February? March? anyway... I have super oily/greasy hair.
That first week, I thought this was some sort of sick joke to see how long those dirty hippies would go without shampooing their hair. Really, I did.
The second week, I broke down and used regular shampoo - BIG mistake! Yikes!! Itchy, bumpy, chemical burns on my scalp. Not fun, and my hair looked really bad, too.
So, I started alternating BS one day, skip a day, hypo-allergenic olive oil shampoo the next day, skip a day, and on and on...
Now I can go even longer in between, and just very rarely use DD's (very expensive) shampoo! I'm sold on it, and my scalp has never felt healthier! I have never been able to skip a day washing my hair, ever before.
Thanks to everyone for the encouragement!

I'm using redwine vinegar instead of ACV - it doesn't smell as bad, and seems to work better for my hair.

[tracymom]

Originally Posted by stafl

Hi everyone! That first week, I thought this was some sort of sick joke to see how long those dirty hippies would go without shampooing their hair. Really, I did.

That would be me, the dirty hippie!

[ShannonCC]

I'm still here I think I've finally got my routine down pat. I do BS with diluted vinegar rinse maybe once a week. I worry about my hair getting lightened so I use a very little bit and dont let it sit at all. Just dump it on, scrub it in, rinse it out. The day after that, I just wash with water. I do egg once a week. I found I can't do it two days in a row or my hair gets heavy. I ran out of honey and found that just plain egg works great so that's what I do now. A diluted vinegar rinse for that too. The day after I wash with plain water. Also, falling off the bandwagon a tad, I use soap once a week. Not shampoo bar or anything but my natural soap from the health food store that I use on the rest of me (and sometimes I use soap two days instead of the BS). I also use a diluted vinegar rinse for that and just use plain water on my hair the day after. That leaves only one day of the week that I have to figure out. Depending on I have no idea what :LOL I can sometimes go two days with just plain water and still have great hair. I make the decision before I get in the shower

I used the soap out of desperation one day. I've been no poo since Feb and in the beginning it was awesome. Pretty much all of April though my hair was driving me nuts. Maybe the weather change where I am? Anyway, one day I broke down and soaped my hair and then realized what is the big deal? My goal for no poo is avoiding artificial chemicals and avoiding high price tags so this soap fits in with that.

Oh, and I read on here that someone was using white vinegar so I gave it a try. Works great! I only use brands that are made from grains, not petroleum (Shoprite brand and Heinz). I'm sticking with white. Actually I think it's funny so many people like ACV. I have tried ACV, red wine vinegar, white vinegar and balsamic and I have to say I thought the ACV was the stinkiest :LOL I guess it's a personal taste thing

Even when I wasn't happy with my hair I have to say my scalp has never been healthier. I am finding it incredible that the poo that was supposed to be cleaning my hair and scalp was what was actually CAUSING the greasy itchies I used to get on a regular basis! At the very least, if I just went to a soap bar for my hair (with vinegar rinse to get out the residue) I think it would be far better than poo was. I'm so disillusioned. What else am I ignorant about? :LOL (no, don't tell me, I don't wanna know!).

[QueeTheBean]

Originally Posted by Cyneburh

stylist was amazed that the texture of my hair had so completely changed. It went from coarse to much smoother and silkier. And not just the new growth so it wasn't from pregnancy.

OK. that did it for me. I used to have lovely, soft, shiny hair & now it is frizzy and awful. It is fine, but wavy--darn near curly if I let it dry naturally. But I have a lot of it. It is chin length now & I may or may not be growing it out.

It is dry, so I only wash it 2-3 times a week, anyway.

I tried BS and ACV a few days ago & DH said a couple times how nice it looked and how soft it felt. I haven't told him what I had done yet!

Oh-- a request--as has been mentioned a few times, the no poo threads are SO overwhelming to weed through. Is there anyway we can have a "STICKY" at the top of this forum with some basic no poo strategies? As in the compost 101 sticky in the gardening forum???

Thanks.


EDITED TO ADD: Not that I meant to compare no poo-ing to compost!!!!

PS--has this already been mentioned?? The hairstylist on TLC's "What Not To Wear" says he only washes his hair every 3 months!!

[myrrhmaid]

nak
i just heard on the news that research done on shampoo shows that DEA-TEA in poo blocks choline absorption. the tests show that these ingredients rob the brains ability to make memory cells-especially in children.
they suggest upping choline intake during pregnancy and for children.
I say 'GO NO POO'! in case anyone needs a reaally good reason to go no poo.
love, Laura-no poo since Jan. 2004

[Persephone]

Can I join you guys? I've been wanting to do this for a while now, but I couldn't face the greasy detox time at work. But I'm no longer working, so yay! I think I may 'poo for my wedding in a few weeks, but after that, I'm totally back to no 'poo. And if all is well, I just very well may not 'poo for my wedding.

Questions: How long was your greasy detox time? I'm anticipating a couple weeks of grossness. I have really greasy hair. I have been able to cut down on that a little bit by not shampooing as much, but if I go for more than a couple days... grease city!

I have already tried the BS and ACV wash once, and it was nice, but my hair felt heavy the next day. It was nice and soft though. It also took on this cool reddish cast.

Anyway, looking forward to joining you guys!

[alexisyael]

I never actually stopped washing my hair for long enough to go into the greasies -- i'm using my b/s mixture every other day... sometimes i go for 3 days and get greasies, but then I just wash it...

I'm getting an estimate from a friend-of-a-friend tomorrow on getting my hair dreaded (and adding dread extensions). Yay! Oh how I hope she's able to give me a little price break!

[Persephone]

Alexis: So by "wash", you mean BS/ACV, not 'poo, right?

See, with me, I did the BS/ACV, and my hair was greasy the next day... felt like I had gone one day without poo, rather than 3 or 4 by that point. (It was winter, and I poo every other day in winter, but instead of poo, I did BS, and that made it 3 days)

[tracymom]

Originally Posted by Persephone

Alexis: So by "wash", you mean BS/ACV, not 'poo, right?

See, with me, I did the BS/ACV, and my hair was greasy the next day... felt like I had gone one day without poo, rather than 3 or 4 by that point. (It was winter, and I poo every other day in winter, but instead of poo, I did BS, and that made it 3 days)

Persephone, maybe you used too much ACV? I feel like my hair is greasy and heavy if I use too much. Did you dilute it really well? You might try another acidic rinse if ACV doesn't work well; some mamas are using white, balsalmic or red wine vinegar....

[tracymom]

Originally Posted by QueeTheBean

Oh-- a request--as has been mentioned a few times, the no poo threads are SO overwhelming to weed through. Is there anyway we can have a "STICKY" at the top of this forum with some basic no poo strategies? As in the compost 101 sticky in the gardening forum???

It's under the recipe sticky, such as it is, more a compilation of hints. I kept meaning to make it neater but never found the time so LaLa rescued me and put it there "as it was."

[Threefold]

Did the bs and ACV rinse today. It felt great and my hair feel softer and less dry than with shampoo. Not a huge difference, but enough for now. Eager to see what it loks like in a few weeks.

[Persephone]

tracymom: really too much ACV can make your hair feel like that? I'm almost sure that's what it was... I used a lot, because the way my hair felt after rinsing out the BS scared me. *sheepish*

[tracymom]

Originally Posted by Persephone

tracymom: really too much ACV can make your hair feel like that? I'm almost sure that's what it was... I used a lot, because the way my hair felt after rinsing out the BS scared me. *sheepish*

Well, I don't think I've seen anybody else post that it does but it seems to do that for me. I have hard water. I think busybusymomma gave up the regimen because of her hard water problems and I agree it seems to be more difficult to deal with it. I look forward to traveling to FL this summer to "test" my regimen with a different water supply!

Sometimes if I get that greasy feeling (ooh, sounds like a song, don't it?) I wash with my unscented soap bar or use a little VO5 Hot Oil Shower Works (that bottle said it had four applications but that was two years ago, :LOL) then BS and ACV. It's really, really odd but that extra oil and the accompanying head massage seem to fix the problem. I haven't figured it out yet.

:LOL It does take a few times to get the hang of how much BS and ACV you need. I've both gotten my hair so dry with BS paste I couldn't get a comb thru it and used so much ACV that I stank like a salad for the whole day! So don't feel

Edited for error!

[Persephone]

Ok, so I washed my hair today, and I used 1 egg, 1 tbsp of vinegar, and 1 tbsp of honey. Even though I made sure the water was cool, I managed to get eggy bits in my hair. I hope they brush out when my hair dries. I can't say for sure until my hair dries, but I think this works better than BS and ACV for me. I did use some of my lavender infused ACV for a rinse, but I used less than last time. My hair feels like it normally does after a shampoo, so hopefully it'll look like it normally does after it dries too. My only concern is that I'm afraid using a few eggs a week will get expensive. Can anyone reassure me? Does anyone wash their hair exculsively with eggs?

[ShannonCC]

Persephone, you actually have EGG in your hair? That is so weird. I use egg a lot and I use pretty warm water and I've never had that happen. I don't use vinegar in the egg wash though. I don't think that would cause it but thought I'd mention that. Did you rinse the egg out with water? I rinse it WELL with water and *then* rinse with diluted vinegar. I only use egg once a week. I tried it two days in a row once and my hair got too "heavy" so I don't do that. I definitely use egg on special occasions like when we're going out or holidays

I've also noticed that less vinegar works better than more. When I use too much, I think it does something to my hair. I can't put my finger on what (it's not exactly greasy, I don't know) but it's definitely better if I use a little bit in a lot of water.

[loftmama]

off the wagon

Originally Posted by pilesoflaundry

I am off the wagon mamas . I really tried to make it work but my hair smelled like vinegar all the time and was getting greasy again after it being good for awhile and the bs lightened my hair too much so I gave up. Maybe I will try experimenting again in a few months but for now I'm back to 'poo .

Hey piles of laundry, don't feel bad. i went off the wagon, too. however, it was because we were in the middle of a major move. we left mexico for texas with new baby in tow, had to move to a new house, get stuff out of storage, stay with in-laws, etc. anyway, it was so much easier to just reach for the old bottles.

but i'm back! woooh-hoooh!

i've tried acv and can't stand the smell. i definitley prefer the nice lemony smell of lemon juice. i think i'll stick to it, althought, i think it's a little drier than the acv.

[alexisyael]

Persephone, I think the vinegar cooked the egg -- I sure hope it brushes out!

I don't use the egg washing technique, mostly b/c I can't stand the smell of yolk ::shudder:: it just make me want to :Barf and always has, since I was little. I'll eat egg whites, but yolk is yucky!

Cyneburh - cool story! I bet your sis will come aboard for our crazy experiment! :LOL

Loftmama --hope the move went smoothly and you're loving your new digs (even if you aren't loving Texas as much as Mexico -- I can relate to that: I moved from California to Toronto, and while I love this City a lot, I can't stand winter and I miss Cali so much! PS. I was born in Dallas, and I don't miss it even a little bit! I'm a Cali girl through and through!)

Just waiting for the pricing for my new dread extensions... funny thing -- everyone's been complimenting my hair (cut and look) and then when I say, "Oh, I'm not liking it right now" the first thing they say is "yeah, it's not bright enough for you, eh?" And then they get excited about the dread extensions! It's happened three times in the past three days!

[brooklyngirl]

Oh My!!!!!!

Ok moms I am so glad that I've found you. I really want to try this like this instant. I will look over recipes when I come back from hanging up wash.

Since it's hotter I've been increasing the times I shampoo and the skin on my entire body is suffering the consequences.

Teach me what to do !!!!!!

Years ago prepregnancymy hair was kess oily so I shampoed less and usually rinsed. My hair was super glossy and healthy and I want it back!!

OK how do I get started. Would it be the same for a little girl?