Week Four of Social Suicide

I have become obsessed with hair! I find my self staring at other peoples heads, thinking 'ooo their hair is so soft and shiny and looks so clean'. When I'm washing the kids hair in the bath I have to restrain myself from dunking my head in a swishing it around in the lovely sweet smelling strawberry stuff.

I'm now in week four of my 'no poo' adventure and I'm starting to think that I should just be like 'normal' people and wash it with shampoo. 

I'm really not liking the once a week wash with just water, it just goes what I can only describe as waxy, here have a look...

I can't wear it down after a water wash, it just looks hideous!

 

I last washed my hair on Friday (6 days ago) with an egg and lemon wash. After this wash my hair did feel quite nice and clean but still not the same result as if I had used shampoo. 

I think my main problem is that it's gone so dark, it's neither blonde nor brown at the moment, just a kinda of greyish/brown colour! I thought that the cassia obovata that I used a few weeks ago would help to lighten it a bit but it just seemed to make it a darker but richer colour.

 Anyway this is what my hair is looking like today ... 

Saying all that though I am starting to notice a difference this week. As I said I last washed it 6 days ago and it's only just starting to go greasy today. So that's a major improvement. I've also been able to wear my hair down all week, which I haven't done since starting my 'no poo' experiment. So maybe it's not all bad.

I have also noticed that my dandruff has pretty much gone now, which is awesome.

 

 The next step that I plan to take is to try washing with bicarbonate of soda and condition with cyder vinegar. I'm want to try this just to see if it gives a better result than the egg and lemon wash. 

I'm slightly concerned about using the bicarbonate of soda incase it dries out my scalp but we'll see I suppose.

I'll let you know how that works out.

Week Three of Social Suicide

So it has been 2 weeks today since I last washed my hair with shampoo!  To find out why click here.

The alternatives that I have used so far are an egg and lemon wash, Cassia Obovata and just good old water. 

I was suppose to take a picture of my hair after the cassia obovata wash but I forgot. I know I'm useless (can I still blame it on baby brain even though my youngest is two?!)

Anyway I used the cassia obovata on Friday and it's now Wednesday and this is what my hair is looking like now...

It's not green yey

 The cassia obovata was really weird to use, it's thick like clay and you have to kind of layer it onto your head as if you are icing a cake. It also smells a little funky!

I made up my paste with the cassia obviata powder and water and then caked my head in the lot. I then covered my head with a shower cap and left it on for 1 hour. 

After an hour I rinsed it off (as best I could, that stuff is stubborn) and then just left my hair to dry naturally.

Personally I thought my hair looked awful, it felt like straw and smelt odd and I wasn't sure I had used it properly. However I went out for dinner the next evening and I got a lot of compliments about my hair (Mainly that it look full of volume) and I must say that it did curl really well afterwards. So perhaps it wasn't too bad after all.

I'll be using it again in 6 weeks so just have to wait and see what happens next time.

Today, 5 days after using the cassia obovata, my hair looks very greasy but it still has lots of volume and feels a lot thicker than normal?  (probably not helped by the fact that I haven't brushed it all week, I know lazy girl!) I also swear that it has changed colour a bit, it's darker but brighter if that makes sense. 

I'm going to wash my hair tonight with just water (don't really want to use the egg and lemon wash as I don't know how that would react with any cassia obovata left on my head). While washing it I'll also give it a good massage to get the oils moving around and see what it looks like tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted (if I remember lol) x

 

 

Silent Sunday

Week Two of Social Suicide

So it has been 9 days since I last washed my hair with shampoo! (If you want to know why anyone would be mad enough to stop using shampoo then click here).

And as you can see from the photo, it's starting to look greasy and very flat. It won't curl at the moment and the roots are stuck to my head and the ends are still frizzy!! In short I look and feel rather gross. My skin has also erupted in spots (lovely) but that's not unusual for my skin so it could just be a coincidence.

Instead of shampoo so far I have used an egg and lemon mixture (which was lovely and my hair felt really soft afterwards) and just water, while massaging my head to move the oils around.

I last washed my hair with just water 3 days ago and it looks pretty greasy today. 

Tonight I'm going to try my Cassia Obovata powder as we are going out for dinner tomorrow night and I really don't want to go out with a greasy mop! 

I'm slightly concerned about doing this as apparently sometimes it can make your hair turn green!! Lets hope that doesn't happen.

I'll put up another post tomorrow showing you how it turned out, wish me luck.

All I'm thinking right now is this better be worth it!!

Silent Sunday

Goodbye Shampoo

I have decided to stop using shampoo completely. No more shampoo, no more conditioner and no more hair products. (You can read about how I got the idea here). 

Yes I know, I have obviously lost a marble or two but I am going into this with an open mind. I might not stand the test of time but I'm going to give it a go. I mean how hard can it be right *said with a nervous quiver in my voice*.

I thought it would be interesting to log my process or lack of it on here. So I'll start with today. 

Day one of social suicide

I last washed my hair with the 'proper' sweet smelling toxin filled bottled stuff on Wednesday morning. So by today (friday) it was starting to look a little like it could do with a scrub. (I should mention here that my hair is damaged almost beyond repair through years of abuse with dyes/hair products/straighteners etc).

I thought I would try a natural wash today and see how I got on (I can see that this is going to be a game of trial and error). 

This is what I used...

3 eggs (yes you read that right eggs)

and the juice from half a lemon

Whisk it all up and it's ready to go. I wet my hair and towel dried it, I then applied the mixture to my head and really rubbed it into my scalp. Leaving the mixture on I then wrapped my head in a towel and left it for about 15 minutes or so. 

When I felt that I'd had it on for long enough I then rinsed it with cool water. Apparently if you use hot water you can end up with a kind of scrambled egg type disaster (best to avoid that, not quite the look I'm going for).

and volia 

(appologies in advance for the rubbish photos It's harder than it looks to take pictures of your own hair)

It worked really well and my hair felt lovely and soft. Still very frizzy but hopefully that will improve in time.

The next step now (I think) is to leave it until it starts to look like it needs a wash and then wash it with just water. Next spend at least 5 minutes massaging my scalp to move the natural oils around. (I'm not feeling  confident at all with this step but I'll give it a go).

The overall aim is to wash with water and massage once a week. Then use some form of natural wash (like eggs or bicarbonate of soda) once every two weeks and finally every six weeks using cassia obovata to give it a good deep cleanse and condition.

So far all is well but we'll see how it goes next time.

To wash or not to wash?

Photo by W610 Guy

These days we willing pollute our bodies with so many toxins. There in our food, our beauty products and our homes.

Today I found a post on a fantastic blog Lulastic & the Hippyshake.

'A Year Without Shampoo' and now I want to try it but I'm scared.  It's quite a commitment and I'm rubbish at that. I have a habit of starting things with the best of intention but never following them through! (I get bored too easily and have no staying power)

I have had a nightmare with my hair recently, I think too many years of dying it have finally taken it's toll. It now won't dye at all! The hair is so damaged that the dye doesn't take and it's just a dry mass of frizzyness. 

Photo by Chrissy Hunt

I love the idea of not putting any more rubbish products on it and getting it back to it's old healthy self but it's just taking the plunge. 

Should I , shouldn't I, I just don't know. 

Perhaps I should attempt it and see how I get on I. 

I could see how long I last.

I must be mad.

I can always wash it if I can't cope.

Okay, I've convinced myself, I'll give it a go.

Wish me luck x