No 'Poo

   Several years ago we started working on getting rid of processed food in our home, we did it gradually and I have to say over all we eat pretty clean and at this point its second nature. We have definitely seen a bunch of the benefits - move energy, better digestion and improved overall health.

   For the last 2 years I have worked on getting rid of toxins in our home - plastics, chemical cleaners etc. and have done a pretty good job (although I still have one lone bottle of Tilex sitting in the back of the cabinet for when the enamel sink stains - I have yet to find a "natural" cleaner that can do the job.) You dont "feel" these changes but I believe we will get these benefits down the road when hopefully we dont have many of the illnesses that have been linked to all of it.

So this year I am moving on to my health and beauty stuff. I dont have a ton to start with which helps but one thing I have relied on heavily is shampoo and conditioner. I have a TON of hair and its textured which means in order for it not to be a dry frizzy ball of hay on my head I have to use A LOT of products which = $$$$. So for the past year or so I have just used whatever was on sale at Costco, squirt a handful of shampoo on my hair, lather, rinse, use half a bottle of conditioner, brush it threw (leaving a tumbleweed of hair for Tony at the bottom of the bathtub), towel dry and just wrangled it into a bun and called it a day. My hair is not in the best shape to say the least but I dont want to spend our life savings on my hair so enter..................no 'poo.

No 'poo is not using any shampoo, conditioner, styling product or heat on your hair. I know it sounds super gross and stange but people SWEAR by it and Ill try anything at this point. I found this awesome blog that outlines a how-to and pretty much any question you have. There is a pretty gnarly transition period where your hair gets super greasy because its use to having to produce so much oil since we strip our hair every day with shampoo. I figured it goes along with my 2014 word -BRAVE. Because you have to a certain level of brave in order to walk around a hot greasy mess right??

So I began -
Step 1 - clarify your hair. Rub a paste of baking soda and water into your scalp, condition with raw honey and air dry. I was skeptical for sure but my hair came out looking like it usually does.

One week in........this is with NO WASHING just a rinse with water one day this week. Definetly a little greasy on top but not as bad as I thought it would be. I finger brush it everynight and use a boars hairbrush to pull down the natural oils to the ends plus it gets any gunk.

2 weeks in and its definitely oilier than its ever been but can pretty much be masked by pulling it into a bun. I washed with very diluted castile soap on day #7 and did an apple cider vinegar rinse.

 

On day #14 I put a coconut oil mask on my hair overnight (wrapped in an old t-shirt) and did the same wash/rinse routine as last week. I didnt get all the oil out on my first wash so I am doing round 2 tonight, we shall see how it goes!!!

xoxo
Ashlea