No 'poo movement

I am now officially a part of the No 'poo movement! It's a terrible name for a trend where people give up using shampoo and conditioner. My hair actually feels pretty good and I have no plans of going back to using shampoo anytime soon. It's been a gradual journey to this point.

The first thing I gave up was conditioner. I started using a cider vinegar hair rinse, which is about one tablespoon cider vinegar to a cup of water. You basically use that to rinse your hair after shampooing. My fiance generally hates the way it makes the bathroom smell like a salad bar, but fortunately, he doesn't shower the same time I do so he can avoid the bathroom after I'm done. :-)

Then I switched from shampoo to a shampoo bar. The shampoo bar is made from vegetable oils and contains no weird chemicals on its ingredients list. It can actually be used all over the body and is great for travel! At first, it was kind of weird to rub a block of soap on my head, but I got used to it. Once my hair got used to the soap, I realized that the soap was pretty moisturizing and I didn't need to use the cider vinegar rinse afterwards.

Once my shampoo bar ran out, I had a choice of either purchasing another or dropping shampoo altogether. I decided to at least try the No 'poo route. I dissolved a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water and poured it into a squeeze bottle. I worked it into my hair after wetting it and the mix felt slippery and slick. For this first time, I decided not to use the vinegar rinse to see if I even needed it. As it turns out, my hair felt a bit rough and scaly once it dried. So the next time, I used the vinegar rinse and the issue was solved.

I understand that not everyone can take this plunge and I don't generally tell people I meet that I wash my hair with baking soda and vinegar. I get strange looks when I tell people. I remember a few hair stylists telling me I have very healthy and shiny hair. On rare occasions, someone will ask me what I use in my hair and when I tell them, they fall silent and act rather awkward. The thing is, if my hair didn't feel nice and clean, I would not be continuing to wash my hair with baking soda and vinegar. It just so happens that this method works well for me. I like what it does for my hair and I like the fact that it's inexpensive AND it's not a weird chemically substance!