My "Poo Free" Experiment

Wow it's been a long time since I've blogged, I'm sorry. But I have a feeling you aren't too upset about it. Even though we have been having lots of fun this Summer, I'm not going to blog about it... at least not right now.

I am, instead, going to blog about my "poo free" experiment. Shampoo free, that is. And as I sit here on my couch blogging about no longer using shampoo to clean my hair, my husband sits next to me, reading up on how to build an earthship home. Are we turning into hippies or what? (If you don't know what an earthship home is you can find out by clicking here)

Anyway, lets get back to my experiment. So a few days ago I was reading a blog and came across a post about going "poo free." It said how women have done it and loved the results. Their hair is more voluminous, pliable, and healthy than it ever was during years of shampoo using, or so they claim. It talked about how our hair has natural oils in it that can regulate themselves and how using shampoo and conditioner only messes with that balance. Well, because I am a big believer that natural processes are all too often ruined by human intervention, (for example pitocin and epidurals during birth. That's right ladies, I plan on having my babies au natural) I was immediately interested.

I scoped out a few different blogs that had information on going "poo free" and what I found was this:
-Instead of using shampoo and conditioner you can use 1 T of baking soda with 1 C of water and 2-3 T of apple cider vinegar to 1 C of water
-You do this about once a week
-You may eventually be able to wean yourself from any type of product and just use water to wash your hair
-People usually have a transition phase for the first little bit, meaning your hair will probably be a bit greasy at first. They recommend resisting the urge to wash it more than once a week and simply slap on a hat.
-They recommend letting your hair air dry

Well, I was honestly not sure if this is going to work for me because A) I dye my hair B) I blow dry my hair and C) I use products in my hair. I would guess that all of this would mess with the natural oil balance. Plus, what do I do at the hair salon when she goes to shampoo and condition my hair? "Actually, I brought my own concoction for you to use." However, since I really don't wash my hair all that much anyway (about twice a week), I decided I would give it a shot. I've got two weeks til school starts, it'll be easy on the budget, I'll just shower at night when I have the time for my hair to air dry, and I'll follow the rules exactly, just to give it a fair chance. If I don't like it, there is no harm done.

So here I am on day 1 of being "poo free." I washed my hair with baking soda and ACV last night and let it air dry. How does it feel you ask? Well I'll tell ya.
-At first I was like wow my bangs look good today, then they started to look a little greasy.
-My hair kinda has a different texture. I saw one blogger mention this. They said it is your hair's natural texture and it almost feels dirty but its not, and you have to get used to it.
-I kinda wonder if I used to much baking powder cause I think my hair is kinda dry
-My hair is seeming to tangle an awful lot today

Really though, my hair doesn't look gross except for a small portion of my bangs and I think that might be because I didn't get any baking soda solution on them. It's hard when you are just pouring it out of a mason jar (I will be investing in some squirt bottles shortly). Also it's kinda hard to believe that your hair is getting clean because the baking soda solution isn't sudsy at all.

Anyway, I am not totally convinced that this is going to be as awesome as everyone says because I think these people might be real hippies. You know, the real crunchy, granola hippies. I am just a fairweather hippie and I'm vain. Ha. But I'm not going to give up on the experiment yet. I'll keep you updated.

P.S. I would just like to mention that my hair is 9 inches past my shoulders. I'm very proud of myself.

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