Un-Shampoo: Wash #1

I decided today, on a whim, to try something new. Thanks a lot Pinterest, for filling my already bursting brain with MORE ideas to try! I had heard about dry shampoo, and the curse of shampoo, a few years ago, and never really did anything about it. The idea of not washing my hair didn't work for me. Until a few days ago. While browsing on Pinterest, I found an oil based, 'do it yourself' face cleaner on a blog, called Simple Mom. She had another post about going shampoo free, and I read it, and the comments on the bottom were convincing enough for me to try it. If it doesn't work, I can just have another shower, right? So here's my quick re-cap.

Simple Mom: How to Clean your Hair without Shampoo

What's wrong with Shampoo??
The scalp produces oils, which clean and moisturize our hair. When we use shampoo, we strip our scalps of those natural oils, which forces it to make more. So our hair becomes more oily, making us think we need to use more shampoo, which strips the natural oils, forcing our scalps to produce more oil. By using shampoo, we are in a cycle of, basically, fighting with our scalps. Since we don't have the natural oils, we need to use conditioner, and other products. If we stop using shampoo, we allow the oils to reset, and start producing at a natural rate. In the meantime, we have some horribly greasy, oily hair.

So how can we bridge the greasy gap and how did it work for me?
With my new best friend, baking soda, of course. Simple Mom suggested mixing one tablespoon of baking soda with one cup of water, and using that instead of shampoo. And I feel that it worked very well.

As a cloth diapering mom, I know that some laundry detergents will leave residue on your clothes, or diapers. And if you do extra rinses with no detergent, sometimes you will have suds in your wash, meaning there is detergent residue on your laundry. So I was initially surprised, while lathering my hair with the baking soda and water mixture, to have a lot of suds, until I remembered that this could just be shampoo residue that is being washed out of my hair. I could feel that my hair was not greasy at all after rinsing it out, and was anxious to see how it dried. I normally have very oily hair, so I was completely expecting to have to have another shower before bed.

My results?
I have been battling some dandruff lately, and when I brushed it after it was air dried, I immediately noticed that the color around my roots looked more natural, and vibrant, and there was NO dandruff at all. The color was sparkling in the sun, the natural high and low lights were very noticeable, and it felt thicker.

So, I didn't have another shower today, and I'm anxious to un-wash it again next time and see how it works. I even tested my husband and asked him this evening if he noticed anything different with my hair. His first answer 'did you cut it?' After some prompting, 'did you dye it?' I said that I had a shower today, but he would never have known, without me telling him that I didn't actually wash my hair with shampoo. I will definitely post here with more results after a few more un-washes. And if it starts to feel dry, I'll add the apple cider vinegar as a conditioner part and report back on how that worked.

AND my bonus, Costco sells baking soda in packages of 6 boxes. Definitely easier and cheaper than buying shampoo!


If you're interested in trying the Oil Facial Cleanser, click on the link below.
Simple Mom: How to Clean your Face Naturally