I suppose this should come as no shock to you, but I gave up the no poo project last week. At first I thought I'd just shampoo my hair and reset things and start over again, but I never got around to that starting over part again. Family health circumstances last week made my life quite hellish and having to deal with a dirty, itchy scalp wasn't helping matters much.
Now, as you all know, I am willing to subject myself to all sorts of strange things, bordering on torture for some, in the name of being more environmental. But, there are some things that just aren't worth it. I'm starting to doubt the overall benefit of not shampooing from an environmental standpoint as there are plenty of commercial shampoos that are low-impact, can be bought in bulk or in bars and clean relatively well without the health/environment issues.
The other big issue for me is my water usage would most likely be higher with this method since it takes so long to wash and rinse out the baking soda. But, ultimately, even though my hair didn't look oily or greasy and it looked moderately okay, it just felt totally gross.
I would stick with it if I felt like there was going to be some improvement. The itching I can tolerate, but there's no reasonable way that the rest of my hair is going to get clean no matter how much vinegar I pour on it. It needs something saponified.
I know this works for some of you or perhaps your for tolerance is different than mine, but this is just not something I'm planning on sticking with. So, I'm back to my organic, fair trade, biodegradable shampoo.
No poo? No thanks. At least not right now.
Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.
I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.
I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!
Showing posts with label no poo experiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no poo experiment. Show all posts
Monday, January 26, 2009
Going no poo: the final report
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Going no poo: the initial report
I know some of you are curious as to how my no-poo experience is coming along and I figured it was time for an update since it's been a few days. Which is like dog years when it comes to the no-poo experiment.
Day One: Holy smokes, people. Whose idea was it to premix the baking soda and water and keep it in the shower? Rule #1 to making something more comfy: do not pour ice cold water on your head and expect the experience to be pleasant. After sitting overnight in my freezing your buns off bathroom, the cold water reception was less than tolerable.
I "washed" with BS and rinsed with vinegar and used a little coconut oil as my stylin' cream. I then dried and styled as usual since I wanted this to be a realistic survey of how this works. I didn't want to use my regular styling products since I doubt they will ever get washed out using this method and weeks of build-up just didn't sound like a good idea.
My hair didn't look dirty, but then again it didn't exactly look as clean. No oiliness, but my scalp was somewhat itchy. I could smell a whiff of vinegar emanating from my hair for several hours afterwards, but that ceased and I had to sniff hard to smell it by nighttime. Tomorrow I'll rinse better.
Day Two: Well, after the frigid experience on Day 1, I waited until right before I got in the shower before adding warm water to my BS. This allowed me to scrub my head a little better. I also rinsed out the vinegar a little bit better, but could still smell it throughout the morning. My head was still itchy all day long even though I rinsed everything out well.
This experiment may save me money in ingredients, but will cost more in water bills since it takes longer to wash thoroughly and rinse. My hair didn't look oily at all and it still felt soft at the roots, albeit stiff and quite tangly at the ends. I asked my husband to give me a sniff test and he declared that it smelled like I just went for a run. Wonderful - nothing like a heaping helping of wet dog salad to start the day!
Day Three: I got creative and added some essential oil (vanilla) to my baking soda mixture to counter-act the wet animal smell. I also added some orange oil to the vinegar mixture to hopefully reduce the salad smell. Then I went totally nuts and melted down some coconut oil and threw in a little coffee fragrance oil to mix things up. I tell you, I was excited to take a shower!
I don't know if it was the vanilla oil or just my dirty head that made my "shampoo" smell like someone was cooking rotten meat with a hint of vanilla in the shower. It was a most unpleasant odor and I suspected it was my hair that was the problem. After scrubbing and rinsing, I applied my orange vinegar concoction and was quite excited because it smelled fantastic. Even when I went to dry my hair it still smelled more like orange than vinegar so I was happy with that.
Unfortunately, while drying my hair it became readily apparent that all was not so happy in hairville. Things started out great. The hair by my scalp (which I generally dry first) was cleanish and fluffy, but when I got to the rest of my hair (everything from top of the ears down), it felt filmy and totally impossible to comb/brush through. Even after brushing all the way through, it was still a tangled mess of non-brushable, filmy hair.
For the rest of the day, my head itched like crazy. The worst part was that my hair smelled like rotten bacon. If I didn't have to go to work I would have dropped the kids off at school and gone back to wash my hair. Fortunately, the bacon smell went away after lunch, but the itchiness continued.
No Poo Status: While I'm extremely tempted to give up at this point, my hair doesn't look oily or greasy at all, even late at night when it normally starts getting oily. So, in spite of the itchy scalp action, and weird, filmy hair, I'm going to continue for a little while longer.
From what I've read, Seattle has extremely soft water so I don't think it's build-up from that. Anyway, I've got a few things I'm going to try differently to see if the situation improves. And, of course, I'll give you the full, stinky, report.
Anyone else following along at home having similar issues?
Day One: Holy smokes, people. Whose idea was it to premix the baking soda and water and keep it in the shower? Rule #1 to making something more comfy: do not pour ice cold water on your head and expect the experience to be pleasant. After sitting overnight in my freezing your buns off bathroom, the cold water reception was less than tolerable.
I "washed" with BS and rinsed with vinegar and used a little coconut oil as my stylin' cream. I then dried and styled as usual since I wanted this to be a realistic survey of how this works. I didn't want to use my regular styling products since I doubt they will ever get washed out using this method and weeks of build-up just didn't sound like a good idea.
My hair didn't look dirty, but then again it didn't exactly look as clean. No oiliness, but my scalp was somewhat itchy. I could smell a whiff of vinegar emanating from my hair for several hours afterwards, but that ceased and I had to sniff hard to smell it by nighttime. Tomorrow I'll rinse better.
Day Two: Well, after the frigid experience on Day 1, I waited until right before I got in the shower before adding warm water to my BS. This allowed me to scrub my head a little better. I also rinsed out the vinegar a little bit better, but could still smell it throughout the morning. My head was still itchy all day long even though I rinsed everything out well.
This experiment may save me money in ingredients, but will cost more in water bills since it takes longer to wash thoroughly and rinse. My hair didn't look oily at all and it still felt soft at the roots, albeit stiff and quite tangly at the ends. I asked my husband to give me a sniff test and he declared that it smelled like I just went for a run. Wonderful - nothing like a heaping helping of wet dog salad to start the day!
Day Three: I got creative and added some essential oil (vanilla) to my baking soda mixture to counter-act the wet animal smell. I also added some orange oil to the vinegar mixture to hopefully reduce the salad smell. Then I went totally nuts and melted down some coconut oil and threw in a little coffee fragrance oil to mix things up. I tell you, I was excited to take a shower!
I don't know if it was the vanilla oil or just my dirty head that made my "shampoo" smell like someone was cooking rotten meat with a hint of vanilla in the shower. It was a most unpleasant odor and I suspected it was my hair that was the problem. After scrubbing and rinsing, I applied my orange vinegar concoction and was quite excited because it smelled fantastic. Even when I went to dry my hair it still smelled more like orange than vinegar so I was happy with that.
Unfortunately, while drying my hair it became readily apparent that all was not so happy in hairville. Things started out great. The hair by my scalp (which I generally dry first) was cleanish and fluffy, but when I got to the rest of my hair (everything from top of the ears down), it felt filmy and totally impossible to comb/brush through. Even after brushing all the way through, it was still a tangled mess of non-brushable, filmy hair.
For the rest of the day, my head itched like crazy. The worst part was that my hair smelled like rotten bacon. If I didn't have to go to work I would have dropped the kids off at school and gone back to wash my hair. Fortunately, the bacon smell went away after lunch, but the itchiness continued.
No Poo Status: While I'm extremely tempted to give up at this point, my hair doesn't look oily or greasy at all, even late at night when it normally starts getting oily. So, in spite of the itchy scalp action, and weird, filmy hair, I'm going to continue for a little while longer.
From what I've read, Seattle has extremely soft water so I don't think it's build-up from that. Anyway, I've got a few things I'm going to try differently to see if the situation improves. And, of course, I'll give you the full, stinky, report.
Anyone else following along at home having similar issues?
Monday, January 19, 2009
The no poo experiment
Let me first start off by saying that I've been avoiding doing this experiment like the plague for a variety of reasons. Primarily, I have little faith that this will actually work and that I'll be destined to weeks of substantially greasy hair, ending in major disappointment.
Nothing like starting out on a seriously positive note, huh? Anyway, Melinda and Vanessa have finally influenced (shamed?) me into trying the no poo method. What is this? Well, it's basically using baking soda to wash your hair and a vinegar rinse instead of conditioner. Using coconut oil as a deeper conditioner is okay from what I've read.
The savings are substantial, the impact on the environment is minimal, the amount of plastic waste is none (unless your vinegar comes in plastic bottles) and allegedly, my hair will become healthy, shiny and totally manageable.
Like my previous pit problems, I'm going to air out my dirty laundry just so you know what I'm dealing with here. Unlike some others who have switched to no poo, my hair is long. It's mid-back and very thick. It's also highlighted and prone to dryness on the ends. On top of that my hair is very oily.
I really can't go more than one day without washing it otherwise I become a giant grease slick and my scalp stinks. Add to that the fact that I exercise 6 days a week and get sweaty enough to warrant a washing, even if the greasy factor didn't come into consideration. This is why I'm dubious to this actually working. But, because I'm a complete glutton for punishment I'm going to give it a try.
And because I'm an exhibitionist, I'll be sharing with you all the gory details and sparing no details. I'll be posting weekly updates with daily notes on how my hair feels and how I'm adjusting the mix. To start, I'll be using 1 T baking soda per cup of water for the "shampoo" part and 1 T white vinegar for the rinse (I hucked a cinnamon stick in and some allspice berries in for good measure to cut the salad dressing smell).
So, needless to say, if this no poo experiment works for me, well, then it will work for pretty much anyone. Baboons with a hormone-imbalance included.
How about you, have you tried using no-poo? Did it work for you or was it a hair disaster?
Nothing like starting out on a seriously positive note, huh? Anyway, Melinda and Vanessa have finally influenced (shamed?) me into trying the no poo method. What is this? Well, it's basically using baking soda to wash your hair and a vinegar rinse instead of conditioner. Using coconut oil as a deeper conditioner is okay from what I've read.
The savings are substantial, the impact on the environment is minimal, the amount of plastic waste is none (unless your vinegar comes in plastic bottles) and allegedly, my hair will become healthy, shiny and totally manageable.
Like my previous pit problems, I'm going to air out my dirty laundry just so you know what I'm dealing with here. Unlike some others who have switched to no poo, my hair is long. It's mid-back and very thick. It's also highlighted and prone to dryness on the ends. On top of that my hair is very oily.
I really can't go more than one day without washing it otherwise I become a giant grease slick and my scalp stinks. Add to that the fact that I exercise 6 days a week and get sweaty enough to warrant a washing, even if the greasy factor didn't come into consideration. This is why I'm dubious to this actually working. But, because I'm a complete glutton for punishment I'm going to give it a try.
And because I'm an exhibitionist, I'll be sharing with you all the gory details and sparing no details. I'll be posting weekly updates with daily notes on how my hair feels and how I'm adjusting the mix. To start, I'll be using 1 T baking soda per cup of water for the "shampoo" part and 1 T white vinegar for the rinse (I hucked a cinnamon stick in and some allspice berries in for good measure to cut the salad dressing smell).
So, needless to say, if this no poo experiment works for me, well, then it will work for pretty much anyone. Baboons with a hormone-imbalance included.
How about you, have you tried using no-poo? Did it work for you or was it a hair disaster?
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