No Poo Update

I tried four times to get this to work for me. After researching a bit, the build up I was getting was actually soap scum because I have hard water. Not cool! It wasn't probable to spend money on buying filtered water to just pour down the drain. Since then, I've switched to Organix Pomegranate Green Tea shampoo. I like it, I don't even have to follow with conditioner after because it's moisturizing. It does cause dye to come out of my hair, but not as bad. It's roughly the same color stripping effect as TIGI's Superstar. I do find my hair does get greasy quicker than with TIGI's, but dry shampoo fixes it and I get 4-5 days in between shampooing.

I'll probably stick with this shampoo, especially for the winter since it's so moisturizing. It's probably not wise for the summer months, so I'm not complaining.

No 'Poo: Take Two

This time I used 1/2T baking soda mixed with 16oz. of water. No apple cider vinegar rinse. For some reason, my hair felt really gross while wet. It knotted up and just became a gnarl mess. In my previous entry about this experiment, I'd mentioned how my hair took on a different texture after the rinse. This took it to a whole different level of different. I'm thinking perhaps I shampooed it too much since I used the whole 16oz. mixture. Compared to what I did before, this was about two times more; but with less baking soda. Maybe since I didn't have product build up as I did the first time, I didn't need as much baking soda?

How would I describe what my hair felt like? Like I took a handful of pomade and focused it at my scalp, just ick! Upon drying, it still felt like I had that sticky, greasy wax in my hair. It is texturized (piecey) as all hell, but looked as though I haven't shampooed my hair in a few days instead of a mere hours ago.

My hair color didn't bleed as much this time, I'm happy to report. I also have insane volume.

So I obviously need to work on what my mixture needs to be.

Note to self: Next time 1tsp to coffee mug. If that doesn't work, go back to 1T.

No 'Poo Regimen

I tried the no poo regimen on my hair Saturday. If you aren't familiar with it: it's where you use baking soda and apple cider vinegar instead of commercial shampoo and conditioner.

I dig the fact that I'm dealing with two natural ingredients. One cleanses, one conditions without any little fillers and silicone. Plus, it's cheap as dirt. I typically use TIGI shampoo and conditioner, that ain't cheap! The fact that I can get a box of baking soda and apple cider vinegar for under $10...awesome! Full sized TIGI bottles last me a looong time, but this would last me nearly as long; plus in the long run it helps decrease in shampooing as often.

Me, I shampoo my hair every 5-7 days. I don't brush it often since it's chin length. I use dry shampoo to extend on shampooing it. I maybe use a spray wax or a little light hairspray on it. Since I've cut most of it off, I'm pretty easy on managing it...I just keep it messy.

The Process

Alright. So, I took a coffee mug with 1T of baking soda, filled it to the brim with warm water. Then I took another mug 1T apple cider vinegar, filled it to the brim as well.

Wet my hair down the cold water (I have red hair, hello!), carefully poured the baking soda mixture to concentrate it at the root. (In hindsight, a pointed squeeze bottle would be a great solution) Scrubbed it into my scalp to loosen the product build-up (dry shampoo), let it sit for a minute, scrubbed once again then rinsed. I was disappointed to see my color going down the drain, but it does that with sulfate-free shampoos. Plus it was a given, it is baking soda. I only had to 'shampoo' once, whereas if I shampoo with shampoo, I'd have to lather up twice to get my hair all the way clean.

I noticed my hair took on a different texture once it was rinsed. Not so much dry, but just roughed up.

I squeezed out excess water then dumped the apple cider vinegar on my ends, let it sit for a minute then rinsed. The smell made me gag, but it faded and wasn't noticeable.

Once Dry

The volume was crazy and my curl came out. Since cutting my hair, it'd been really hard to get my curl to cooperate. It took product overload to try and get it to scrunch up, but after a few hours it would fall out. After the no poo, I simply applied a spot of TIGI's Some Like It Hot serum and let it air dry. I'm still amazed at the volume, even days after, I have crazy volume. Which I admit, I have a lot of hair, but usually it greases up and falls flat within a couple days.

As for the color, I didn't notice a big change in color fade. Nothing that made me think I need to never do this again.

I'm going to give it a couple more tries to see what it does to my color and just my hair period. I'll update accordingly.