I’m going “poo-free!”

Kim — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:50:09 +0000

Before you all start freaking out, I’m talking about shampoo. Calm down. The ‘poo-free’ movement has taken hold of many around the world and after coming across it a few weeks ago, I thought “this is for me!”
I have always had really thick, dark hair and I’ve washed it every second day since I can remember. During summer months and those weeks I’ve been doing cardio each day, I’d have to wash it every day. I was very jealous of friends who only had to use their shampoo and conditioner once a week. Their hair didn’t seem to get oily like mine.
Earlier this year I began changing all my cleansing products to natural, more organic brands. I was on a mission to find the perfect shampoo and conditioner to tame my oily hair! Below are the three brands I’ve tried.

The Sukin products were nice, but I didn’t think they cleaned my hair well enough and I had to use a lot of the conditioner to detangle my hair.
So I tried the Coconut Herbal brand which smelled divine! Unfortunately it was so hard to get the product out of the container. You needed to use two hands to squeeze the bottle and squeeze it out onto your leg or the edge of the bath and quickly scoop it up before it all dribbled away. Not ideal!
Next was Sanctum. The shampoo and conditioner were nice, but the product came out way too fast and I was using so much of it each week. I’d have to buy them every 2 weeks which is a bit expensive.
Now you can see how I was fed up with shampoo and conditioner, the time it took me to wash my hair each week and the expense of going to natural brands with no added nasties. My interest in the ‘no-poo’ challenge was very high!
Shampoos and conditioners act like cleaners (with many yucky chemicals) and strip away all the dirt and oils in your hair. Your hair has to start building up oils again after each wash. I finally understand why my hair was so oily!!! The more I washed – the harder my scalp had to work to produce oils to compensate!
I’ve been shampoo and conditioner free for one week now. I just use water to wash my hair now. Yes, you heard right – that magical ingredient water! As expected, my hair became oily pretty quickly and after I washed my hair last Monday night, it looked like this on Saturday.

Greasy Mess!

Yuck!!! So that is when I turned to the kitchen pantry. Most people who have done this challenge use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean the hair when it gets too oily. After a quick google search, I realised bi carb soda is what we call baking powder in Australia. So this is what I used
- 2 tablespoons of baking soda (bi carb soda) in 2 cups of water
I poured a little bit on and worked it into my hair, before adding more and more. I let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing out.
- 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar (Braggs brand)
I poured this is bowl with 2 cups of warm water and then tipped my head upside down into the bowl so it could soak it up a bit. Then I slowly poured it through my hair before rinsing.

My new shampoo and conditioner

I should say that during and straight after this process I thought that there was no way this was working. I had to go out to the farmers market so I quickly tied my hair back and ran out the door. As the day went on, my hair began to dry and it felt……. amazing. So silky and smooth and no oily bits to be found!

12 hours after I washed with bi carb soda and ACV

It has been three days since I washed my hair with the bi carb soda and ACV mix. I’ve also done two exercise sessions since then. My hair is becoming oily again but not as quickly as it used too.

To think that I may not have to spend money on shampoo and conditioner again and not waste time each day washing my hair is an exciting prospect. It will take time and patience to train my hair to get to this stage, but I’m willing to put in the effort.
To read more go to - www.nopoomethod.comDo you have what it takes to go ‘poo-free?’

Running on Wellness » no conditioner

I’m going “poo-free!”