Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 35
My hair is really, really waxy today. Not greasy at all, just waxy. The waxiness is mostly concentrated in the hair on the back of my head. I haven't CO-washed in 10 days. I did a WO rinse yesterday, and I've been doing them about every two to three days. I almost broke down this morning and used baking soda, because the waxiness is really bothering me, but I just pulled it back in a ponytail and decided to stick with my water only program. Hopefully this waxy period will pass. I notice it tangles a bit more when it's this waxy. It's still not as tangly as when I used shampoo, but it's tangly enough to be annoying. I didn't wet my hair today when I took a shower, but I probably will do another WO rinse tomorrow, just to try to keep it under control. In reality, my hair really doesn't look waxy at all - maybe just like I have a touch of product in it. It's just the way it feels that's bothering me most. I really hope this is a good sign that my hair and scalp are reaching the later stages of the "detox" period.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Day 31
Think I've figured out the fine art of WO-washing. I last WO-washed on Thursday night, so this morning, I decided to try it again. It wasn't super greasy, I really probably could have gone all day, but I'm going out with some friends after finals, so I wanted to try styling it to see what I would be working with. So I WO-washed it this morning, and it got very nice and clean. The key is definitely water pressure. And rinse, rinse, rinse for several minutes. I probably spend a good 10 minutes rinsing my hair and massaging my scalp. I wanted to try a straight style, but for obvious reasons, I haven't been using heat styling because I want to let my hair have a chance to get healthy again. But I can't go straight without at least a little heat (I'm somewhere between a 1C/2A hair type, in case you're wondering), so when I got out of the shower, I gently detangled with a wide-tooth comb, and then took my trusty blow dryer on the lowest setting possible (both heat-wise and how much it blows), so it was just a very light breeze of barely-warm air coming out of my dryer. The test was that I held the dryer right up to my hand. If it doesn't even bother my skin, it's probably okay for my hair. I slowly and gently dried my hair, using my fingers to smooth over it. And the finished product is great! It's sleek, smooth, and very, very clean. It doesn't stink at all, and I have fewer fly-away hairs than I used to after shampooing. And to boot, I don't even need hairspray!
The way my hair was just one month ago, I never would have dreamed that I'd be able to WO-wash so soon. My hair used to be a greasy, matted mess after only one day of not shampooing, but now I haven't CO-washed in a week, and my hair looks great every day! My hair seems to actually be doing better without CO-washing. Why was shampoo ever even invented? Oh right, profit motive!
The way my hair was just one month ago, I never would have dreamed that I'd be able to WO-wash so soon. My hair used to be a greasy, matted mess after only one day of not shampooing, but now I haven't CO-washed in a week, and my hair looks great every day! My hair seems to actually be doing better without CO-washing. Why was shampoo ever even invented? Oh right, profit motive!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Day 30
On the night of day 25, I decided to CO-wash, since it was a Sunday, and I had school the following morning. I let it air dry and it was surprisingly dry and frizzy afterward. Up to this point, I had not had that experience with CO-washing, so I thought that maybe I should start to cut down the frequency of it (I've been doing it between two and three times per week).
It is now Friday, and I haven't CO-washed since. By Wednesday, my hair was starting to look a bit greasy, so on Wednesday night, I rinsed well with a very mild ACV rinse, and the result the following morning was surprisingly not greasy. This is the first time I've been able to get my hair really degreased with vinegar. By last night, my hair was looking greasy again though, so I decided I would try just WO, since I don't have to go anywhere today. I rinsed my hair very thoroughly in the shower last night. I have a removable shower head, so I took that and got it up close to my head and rinsed every part of my scalp. I finished with a good blast of cold water and let it air dry overnight.
I am shocked this morning at how clean my hair looks. I had tried WO before, only to look just as greasy, if not greasier, than before. I believe the key to successful WO must be the amount of water pressure. The only thing I did differently was effectively increasing the pressure of the water against my head, and the result is great. I definitely will not need to wash it today, maybe not even tomorrow. It's that clean.
Right now, I've got it in pin curls, because my waves got a little bit crazy overnight from me sleeping on them when they were still damp. I'll leave them in for a while and then take them out to see if that's helped with the craziness a bit. I have to say, during these 29 days, I can only recall a couple of days where I felt my hair was clean enough to be worn down, but after last night's WO rinse, I feel my hair is definitely clean enough to wear down.
It is now Friday, and I haven't CO-washed since. By Wednesday, my hair was starting to look a bit greasy, so on Wednesday night, I rinsed well with a very mild ACV rinse, and the result the following morning was surprisingly not greasy. This is the first time I've been able to get my hair really degreased with vinegar. By last night, my hair was looking greasy again though, so I decided I would try just WO, since I don't have to go anywhere today. I rinsed my hair very thoroughly in the shower last night. I have a removable shower head, so I took that and got it up close to my head and rinsed every part of my scalp. I finished with a good blast of cold water and let it air dry overnight.
I am shocked this morning at how clean my hair looks. I had tried WO before, only to look just as greasy, if not greasier, than before. I believe the key to successful WO must be the amount of water pressure. The only thing I did differently was effectively increasing the pressure of the water against my head, and the result is great. I definitely will not need to wash it today, maybe not even tomorrow. It's that clean.
Right now, I've got it in pin curls, because my waves got a little bit crazy overnight from me sleeping on them when they were still damp. I'll leave them in for a while and then take them out to see if that's helped with the craziness a bit. I have to say, during these 29 days, I can only recall a couple of days where I felt my hair was clean enough to be worn down, but after last night's WO rinse, I feel my hair is definitely clean enough to wear down.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Day 25
The tresses are looking pretty good today; very shiny and full of body. My last CO-wash was on Wednesday, and I did a WO rinse yesterday. No need for any cornstarch today, my hair is not in the least bit oily. I am not wetting it today either; it doesn't seem to need anything.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Day 24
So I've been doing CO-washes about once every three days, because that seems to be the only thing that's really agreeing with my hair as of right now. Last week I did a baking soda rinse, and I used less, and it worked better on my hair, but it was still pretty drying. My last CO-wash was on Wednesday and it is now Saturday. I didn't wet my hair on Thursday and it was not greasy at all. I also didn't wet it on Friday, but it was pretty greasy by then, so I picked up some cornstarch from the store and fluffed it through my roots, then combed. The result was actually surprisingly good. I was afraid I'd look weird and powdery, but that was not the case. I have started combing my hair more than brushing it, as combing seems to not aggravate the oiliness so much. Today, I decided I should wet my hair, so I did a WO rinse, massaging my scalp for a good 10 minutes in the shower. Air dried. To my surprise, my hair really wasn't very greasy. There was a slight amount of greasiness in a few spots (temples), but really not nearly what I expected it to be.
I'm actually pretty pleased with the result; my ends aren't as frizzy as they used to be, and some of my natural waves are gradually returning. The cornstarch is actually working amazingly well to clean up little oil patches without having to wash my hair with anything other than water. It really just looks super shiny - not greasy at all. So there you have it - four days since my last CO-wash, and this is coming from someone who used to be a greaseball after one day of not shampooing. It seems that my scalp is beginning to adjust its oil production, now that I've stopped stripping it. My hair is super low maintenance on in between days, and it's beginning to look a bit healthier. Also, my boyfriend still confirms that it doesn't stink. It actually still has a slight fragrance of my conditioner that I use for CO-washing. It's Dessert Essence Organic Apple Conditioner. My ends need to be trimmed, but I'm a little hesitant to visit my hairdresser, because I know she's going to want to poo me. I think when I go, I'll CO-wash my hair that morning, and then tell her that it's already been washed, so she can hold off on the poo.
Day 11
Today is Monday, and this is what I did to cleanse my hair this morning:
First I massaged my scalp to loosen any dirt. Then I rinsed with a dillute ACV rinse. I then scrubbed my scalp with a sea salt water mixture and rinsed again with a camomile tea mix that I allowed to steep overnight. Then I rinsed with A LOT of water and finished off with a blast of cold water to seal the cuticle.
The result? Awful. All this did nothing to help with the grease factor, and it looks pretty much like I did a WO rinse. So much for not looking like a greaseball at school...
Day 10
Pretty oily today, but I'm not going anywhere, so I'm going to stick it out until tomorrow morning. I have to go to school tomorrow, so I prefer not to start out the week looking totally gross, because my hair will be plenty gross by the end of the week.
Day 9
My hair is not looking too bad today. It's not really too greasy, but it's also not good enough to wear down, so I have it up again. I can tell it is going to be pretty oily by tomorrow. Today is Saturday - I think I'm going to try to hold out until Monday morning, when I think I'm going to try tea and/or salt rinses. I doubt I'll try the baking soda again, because I felt it was too drying, which is kind of going
against what I'm trying to do, which is to get my scalp to produce the appropriate amount of oil. That won't happen if I'm drying my hair out with baking soda, just like it wouldn't happen using commercial shampoo. I think I am starting to notice a slight difference, in that the second day after a wash still seems a little bit greasy, but not as bad as it used to. Hopefully, this is a good sign that my hair might be adjusting.
Day 8
My hair was unbearably greasy today. It looks like it's wet. I know my adjustment period is going to be horrible, because I've got fine hair and an oily scalp to start with. I started out the day with a hat on, but mid-day, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to try a CO-wash today. It worked beautifully. My hair got very clean, but the ends felt a little dry, so, lacking any other oils, I put a very small bit of olive oil on my ends.
Day 7
Another super greasy day. Wore it back with the headband again, and am really trying to minimize the look of the greasiness. I tried to fluff it up a bit at the crown so maybe it just looks like I have too much product in it; actually, it looks like I styled it with vasoline...gross. I've been really self-conscious about it the last couple days. Not that I usually put that much effort into my appearance on a regular basis anyway, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with looking dirty. On the plus side, it does not smell. I've had my boyfriend check it every day, and he confirms it doesn't smell.
Day 6
I did another ACV rinse, but it didn't help much with the oiliness. Very greasy today, so I wore it back again with a cute headband to detract from its tragic state.
Day 5
My hair is quite a bit greasier today, so I wore a hat. I did not wet it today, because I felt like wetting it made it look even greasier. Thankfully, I only had one class today, so my appearance at school was only brief.
Day 4
I wore my hair back because it was starting to look a little bit greasy. When I got home for the evening, I took another shower and rinsed it with water only.
Day 3
I had a wedding to go to today, and my hair was pretty greasy, so I decided to do my first baking soda wash, followed by a weak ACV rinse. My hair was VERY clean, but I feel like the baking soda was too drying. My hair tangled a lot throughout the day and my ends hate me for it.
Day 2
My hair is a little bit waxier today. I did a dilluted ACV rinse, and the hair around my temples is starting to get pretty oily. The ACV rinse didn't seem to help with the oiliness.
Day 1
I've always been one of those unfortunate souls who has fine, limp hair that gets oily at the scalp within approximately 8 to 10 hours of washing, but whose ends are terribly dry. I've been trying to be nicer to my hair for the last few years, and have seen marked improvements, but it's still not the way I would like it. I haven't colored my hair in over five years, and stopped the daily blow drying about two years ago, and started using natural, SLS-free shampoos about two years ago. The only vice I ever used really was my straightening iron on rare occasion when I had a special event to go to. I've got a natural wave to my hair, but it's not the cute wave that every girl wishes she had. No, it's the crazy wave, where it is really curly in one place, straight in another, and a psycho poof-ball in another. It's just nonsense. I recently realized that in all of my efforts to be nicer to my hair, I was overlooking one big thing: my shampoo, although better than most, was probably doing most of the damage. I got online and started looking around at various people who were basically on the low poo agenda, when I happened to stumble across some people talking about no poo; this was the first I'd ever heard of it. I read all these wonderful stories about people who'd had success with it, and I started thinking maybe I should give it a try. I thought that maybe my hair isn't so bad - maybe I'm not genetically doomed to this seemingly illogical "combination" hair. Most of what I found online was directed at people who had very dry, curly hair, which is definitely not me. I've found some information from people with hair types similar to my own, one of them was pretty comprehensive from which I've gotten many ideas, but I wanted to make a log of my own journey. Today is February 19, and this is day 1 of no more shampoo.
Today was the first day of not shampooing my hair. It's not too bad, but seems a little waxy. I did a water only rinse today.
So I've been doing CO-washes about once every three days, because that seems to be the only thing that's really agreeing with my hair as of right now. Last week I did a baking soda rinse, and I used less, and it worked better on my hair, but it was still pretty drying. My last CO-wash was on Wednesday and it is now Saturday. I didn't wet my hair on Thursday and it was not greasy at all. I also didn't wet it on Friday, but it was pretty greasy by then, so I picked up some cornstarch from the store and fluffed it through my roots, then combed. The result was actually surprisingly good. I was afraid I'd look weird and powdery, but that was not the case. I have started combing my hair more than brushing it, as combing seems to not aggravate the oiliness so much. Today, I decided I should wet my hair, so I did a WO rinse, massaging my scalp for a good 10 minutes in the shower. Air dried. To my surprise, my hair really wasn't very greasy. There was a slight amount of greasiness in a few spots (temples), but really not nearly what I expected it to be.
I'm actually pretty pleased with the result; my ends aren't as frizzy as they used to be, and some of my natural waves are gradually returning. The cornstarch is actually working amazingly well to clean up little oil patches without having to wash my hair with anything other than water. It really just looks super shiny - not greasy at all. So there you have it - four days since my last CO-wash, and this is coming from someone who used to be a greaseball after one day of not shampooing. It seems that my scalp is beginning to adjust its oil production, now that I've stopped stripping it. My hair is super low maintenance on in between days, and it's beginning to look a bit healthier. Also, my boyfriend still confirms that it doesn't stink. It actually still has a slight fragrance of my conditioner that I use for CO-washing. It's Dessert Essence Organic Apple Conditioner. My ends need to be trimmed, but I'm a little hesitant to visit my hairdresser, because I know she's going to want to poo me. I think when I go, I'll CO-wash my hair that morning, and then tell her that it's already been washed, so she can hold off on the poo.
Day 11
Today is Monday, and this is what I did to cleanse my hair this morning:
First I massaged my scalp to loosen any dirt. Then I rinsed with a dillute ACV rinse. I then scrubbed my scalp with a sea salt water mixture and rinsed again with a camomile tea mix that I allowed to steep overnight. Then I rinsed with A LOT of water and finished off with a blast of cold water to seal the cuticle.
The result? Awful. All this did nothing to help with the grease factor, and it looks pretty much like I did a WO rinse. So much for not looking like a greaseball at school...
Day 10
Pretty oily today, but I'm not going anywhere, so I'm going to stick it out until tomorrow morning. I have to go to school tomorrow, so I prefer not to start out the week looking totally gross, because my hair will be plenty gross by the end of the week.
Day 9
My hair is not looking too bad today. It's not really too greasy, but it's also not good enough to wear down, so I have it up again. I can tell it is going to be pretty oily by tomorrow. Today is Saturday - I think I'm going to try to hold out until Monday morning, when I think I'm going to try tea and/or salt rinses. I doubt I'll try the baking soda again, because I felt it was too drying, which is kind of going
against what I'm trying to do, which is to get my scalp to produce the appropriate amount of oil. That won't happen if I'm drying my hair out with baking soda, just like it wouldn't happen using commercial shampoo. I think I am starting to notice a slight difference, in that the second day after a wash still seems a little bit greasy, but not as bad as it used to. Hopefully, this is a good sign that my hair might be adjusting.
Day 8
My hair was unbearably greasy today. It looks like it's wet. I know my adjustment period is going to be horrible, because I've got fine hair and an oily scalp to start with. I started out the day with a hat on, but mid-day, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to try a CO-wash today. It worked beautifully. My hair got very clean, but the ends felt a little dry, so, lacking any other oils, I put a very small bit of olive oil on my ends.
Day 7
Another super greasy day. Wore it back with the headband again, and am really trying to minimize the look of the greasiness. I tried to fluff it up a bit at the crown so maybe it just looks like I have too much product in it; actually, it looks like I styled it with vasoline...gross. I've been really self-conscious about it the last couple days. Not that I usually put that much effort into my appearance on a regular basis anyway, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with looking dirty. On the plus side, it does not smell. I've had my boyfriend check it every day, and he confirms it doesn't smell.
Day 6
I did another ACV rinse, but it didn't help much with the oiliness. Very greasy today, so I wore it back again with a cute headband to detract from its tragic state.
Day 5
My hair is quite a bit greasier today, so I wore a hat. I did not wet it today, because I felt like wetting it made it look even greasier. Thankfully, I only had one class today, so my appearance at school was only brief.
Day 4
I wore my hair back because it was starting to look a little bit greasy. When I got home for the evening, I took another shower and rinsed it with water only.
Day 3
I had a wedding to go to today, and my hair was pretty greasy, so I decided to do my first baking soda wash, followed by a weak ACV rinse. My hair was VERY clean, but I feel like the baking soda was too drying. My hair tangled a lot throughout the day and my ends hate me for it.
Day 2
My hair is a little bit waxier today. I did a dilluted ACV rinse, and the hair around my temples is starting to get pretty oily. The ACV rinse didn't seem to help with the oiliness.
Day 1
I've always been one of those unfortunate souls who has fine, limp hair that gets oily at the scalp within approximately 8 to 10 hours of washing, but whose ends are terribly dry. I've been trying to be nicer to my hair for the last few years, and have seen marked improvements, but it's still not the way I would like it. I haven't colored my hair in over five years, and stopped the daily blow drying about two years ago, and started using natural, SLS-free shampoos about two years ago. The only vice I ever used really was my straightening iron on rare occasion when I had a special event to go to. I've got a natural wave to my hair, but it's not the cute wave that every girl wishes she had. No, it's the crazy wave, where it is really curly in one place, straight in another, and a psycho poof-ball in another. It's just nonsense. I recently realized that in all of my efforts to be nicer to my hair, I was overlooking one big thing: my shampoo, although better than most, was probably doing most of the damage. I got online and started looking around at various people who were basically on the low poo agenda, when I happened to stumble across some people talking about no poo; this was the first I'd ever heard of it. I read all these wonderful stories about people who'd had success with it, and I started thinking maybe I should give it a try. I thought that maybe my hair isn't so bad - maybe I'm not genetically doomed to this seemingly illogical "combination" hair. Most of what I found online was directed at people who had very dry, curly hair, which is definitely not me. I've found some information from people with hair types similar to my own, one of them was pretty comprehensive from which I've gotten many ideas, but I wanted to make a log of my own journey. Today is February 19, and this is day 1 of no more shampoo.
Today was the first day of not shampooing my hair. It's not too bad, but seems a little waxy. I did a water only rinse today.
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