Thursday, August 12, 2010

I'm a no-pooer!

Now don't take that the wrong way, I'm talking about not shampooing of course!

I have read about not using shampoo in a lot of blogs, and it really got me to start thinking it might be something I could try. It fits in nicely with my simple living and frugal mantra and I had everything I needed for this little experiment in my cupboard. I was further prompted by the fact that we had just finished our bottle of shampoo.

First step was breaking it to my partner. He wasn't too impressed and his first words were "Don't expect me to do that!" hehe. Well I was't going to let that dampen my enthusiasm.

So I have been using the bicarb and vinegar method for the past two weeks now.

After experimenting with different amounts of bicarb and vinegar, I think I have perfected my recipe!

I certainly went through about a week of greasiness, but apparently that is to be expected. I've read that using shampoo strips your hair of all its oils so your scalp compensates by producing a lot more oils. So once you stop using shampoo your scalp takes a little while to get back into the habit of not producing that much oil, hence the greasiness for a little while. But I promise it doesn't last long, and I can proudly say that now I am sporting some healthy looking hair and no one at work is any the wiser (well they will be if a certain someone reads this post!)

I've found that using vinegar is a bit too smelly and makes my hair too dry, so I only use 1 - 2 tablespoons of bicarb dissolved in a jug (that I keep handy in the shower) of warm water. I pour half over the top of my hair then I flip my hair over and pour the rest over the underside. As you would imagine the bicarb mixture isn't thick like shampoo so you need to pour slowly to get an even coverage otherwise you'll lose most of it down the drain. My hair still feels a little different when I'm towel drying it, but once it's completely dry it looks completely normal!

I just did the sums and on the 500g Coles brand bicarb soda that I get for $1.50, 2 tablespoons (approx 15grams so Wiki says) works out to be 4.5cents! How cheap is that! Very frugal indeed, and one less thing I need to buy from the supermarket!

If you wanted to also take up this challenge please do it for at least 2 weeks before you throw in the towel and experiment a little with the amounts. Report back and let me know how it's gone for you.

Happy no-pooing!

Kim

P.S. I still haven't convinced Lyndon to give no-pooing a go, but I am hoping by leading by example may show him it's not really bad

4 comments:

  1. Great work! My husband is Finish and has in his words, beautiful blonde locks (and he does) and refuses to use anything but head and shoulders! its pretty sad when the most toxic thing in our whole house is his shampoo! I am yet to try the bicarb method as the current bottle of shampoo I have has lasted me over 6 months -its a non toxic blend by Springfield aromatherapy and it smells divine!! -I do use an apple cider rinse on my hair occasionally - if you're finding vinegar too strong, try the apple cider vinegar. Plus a couple of drops of rosemary oil will help it smell nicer, and stop dry scalp/dandruff.

    xB

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  2. I do miss the florally smell of shampoo's but I will definately look at using some essential oils, thanks for the tip!
    :)
    Kim

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  3. You prompt me to give this a go :-)

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  4. Hi there,
    Just wondered if you were still no pooing and if you know how it effects coloured hair?

    ReplyDelete

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