Monday, September 5, 2011

The No Shampoo Dilema

Way back in 2009 I decided to go "no-poo" which at the time was more about stepping outside of the way of conformity. A friend and I started together using bicarb and vinegar as the hair washing mode of the time. I stuck with it for a few months but try as I did, I just really did not like it. I decided over time that I need foam :-) to feel like my hair is being cleaned.

I also really did not like the gritty feeling on my scalp although for all other reasons bicarb and vinegar worked well, it reduced the amount of times that I needed to wash my hair and the only side effect was that my hair was a little more fly away than it would normally have been. But like I said I gave it up.


Then the next option I tried was my own homemade soap. Again this worked fine and it gave me the foam I needed, and with a apple cider vinegar rinse my hair detangled easy enough. I did however notice that my hair tangled easily during the day and required more brushing.

Then I regressed to normal shampoos again...not sure why, but it was probably the fact that my kids never bought into the whole no-shampoo thing so I was still buying shampoo for them.

I have recently been looking at the effects of petrochemicals on health as right now I have 5 people in my small extended social circle who are battling with cancer in one way or another. I had bought a book in Dec 2010 called "Your Life In Your Hands" for one close relative who was about to start Chemo for breast cancer and I had dipped into certain chapters before handing it on...this was where my interest in petrochemicals started.

Recently I was given a gift of a shampoo bar and this reignited my desire to get away from shampoos and conditioners knowing that they contain alot of petrochemicals, like all cosmetics. The bar was great, it smelled divine and pretty much left my hair in the same condition that my own soap did. One side note though....if you get the foam in your eyes it burns like blazes! Superman has taken the bar over as he doesn't need to condition afterwards :-)


I am now back to shampoo but this time using Earth Sap which is free from all PC's and other toxins and find that this is best for me and my kids. Perhaps sometime in the future I will try to make my own shampoo bars for our hairtypes...we'll see.

5 comments:

Laurie Neverman, The Common Sense Woman said...

I am a foam lover, too. I don't have time for bubble baths and such, but there's something really soothing about a head full of bubbles. Lately I've using BWC (Beauty Without Cruelty) shampoo and that has been working well.

Tuinmeisie said...

I use the giovanni range of shampoos and conditioners. I just hate the fact that it is imported, but my hair will not tolerate no shampoo and conditioner.

Kit said...

Hi, I'm very interested to discover your blog. I have also been doing the no poo thing. Luckily the bicarb and vinegar has worked for all my family and we've stuck with it for nearly a year. Sometimes we vary the rinses using herbal rinses - rosemary or chamomile tea and this helps if anyone is getting at all oily.
I'm going to visit your herb blog too, as I'm also on a herb journey!

Urban Homestead South Africa said...

Hi Kit, nice to have you visit my blog.

Anonymous said...

Gosh. The no poo story. I have tried and am determined to try again. But it's just stressful ... yuck hair and just everything feels yuck! I also use earthsap and also Natures Gate from dischem.