hair

I did the no shampoo and I liked it, more commonly know as the NO POO shampoo. What is it? It is using baking soda (the kind you put in your refrigerator to soak up the evil smells) and Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Why would you wash your hair with banking soda and ACV?  Because typical store-bought shampoos have chemical in them that are not good for you. Things like:

BPA: Can mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen which signals the body to store fat.
Parabens: Can lead to diminished muscle mass, extra fat storage, and male breast growth.
Gluten: If you are gluten sensitive you could be having an inflammatory reaction to these chemicals which can cause you to bloat up (others develop rashes, acne or have headaches)

Why do shampoo companies use nasty chemical in their products?  BPA is actually the chemicals that come from the plastic bottles. It has been on DO NOT USE list for many years. Oh please bring back glass bottles. Parabens are used to prevent the growth of microbes in cosmetics products and can be absorbed through skin, blood and the digestive system. Parabens have been found in biopsies from breast tumors at concentrations similar to those found in consumer products and parabens may be found in a wide variety of products including shampoos, lotions, deodorants, scrubs and eye makeup, and are found in nearly all urine samples from U.S. adults regardless of ethnic, socioeconomic or geographic backgrounds. (source: http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=291)

“Gluten is the new “bad boy” in food and causes a host of digestive problems in people, even people who do not test positive for celiac disease.”

Gluten is the new bad boy in food and causes a host of digestive problems in people, even people who do not test positive for celiac disease. What is the devil protein causing this? Gliadin. Gluten (more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten)  gives bread its elasticity that is why gluten-free breads are usually dry and fall apart, at least the gluten-free bread that I make.  I particular have to avoid gluten because it is an inflammatory and I am trying to avoid inflammation in my system as much as I can. And as you know, anything we put on our skin has the same effect as eating it. So even though we are not consuming the shampoos, it’s just as bad because we are putting it our skin (or in our hair) and our skin is a GIANT SPONGE!

So, back to my own NO POO shampoo. My hair is pretty frizzy and after I shampoo I have to bow dry and then flat iron to get the frizz out. Ugh! Shampooing my hair with baking soda and ACV was going to take a lot of guts as I seem to be dependent on expensive, salon purchased shampoos. Anyway, I jumped in the shower with a box of baking soda and a ice cold bottle of ACV. I wet my hair and grabbed a handful of baking soda and threw it on top of my head and tried to massage it into my scalp through my ends as best as I could. I cannot say it felt good and I missed the suds because to me nothing says CLEAN like suds. Did my hair feel like it was getting clean? Heck no!

After a few minutes of rubbing the baking soda into my hair I rinsed and mixed about a 1/3 cup of ACV with warm water in a measuring cup and poured it over my head, and rinsed again. It did immediately feel like my hair was slicker and that I got a lot of the build-up off my shafts (build-up from products) however, not slick enough to get a comb through so I did resort to a conditioner as a final step, and rinse again.

After I got out of the shower and combed my wet hair I was thinking, meh…not so impressed. I then let my hair air dry because it was late and I was too tired for the whole blow dry and flat iron thing, and I put a towel on my pillow and went to bed with damp hair knowing that I would have to rewash my hair in the morning to style. But, hello, the next morning I got up and felt my hair: dry and smooth. I looked in the bathroom mirror and was shocked to see hair that was shiny and looking fantastic. I had no need to do anything. It was a miracle in hair miracles! Eureka!

I checked out some Youtube videos and some people swear by the No Poo shampoo and there are some that says it dries your hair out and it causes more CO2 into the atmosphere (what?!), and some people said to mix the banking soda into water first before putting it on your hair, etc.

To test that this smooth and shiny hair wasn’t just a fluke, I decided to wash my hair with Sauve Clarifying Shampoo. I saw some positive reviews on that particular shampoo and I wanted to see if it was as good at eliminating build-up of products on my hair.  Next shampoo time I washed my hair with the Suave and used the same conditioner I used when I did the NO POO process and then I again air dried. FAIL!  Super fail!  Ugh! A rat’s nest of hair.

So, in conclusion, will I use the NO POO way of washing my hair? Absolutely!  But don’t take my word for it. Do your own hairy experiment. Grab of box of baking soda and Braggs (Can you use regular apple cider vinegar? Probably. Maybe.) Apple Cider Vinegar and head for the shower.  Good luck! Let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading!

Terry Ryan

Terry Ryan