So I was reading about this No Poo thing, where people are giving up shampoo. There are several reasons to do it, the first and probably most compelling for me is the news of cancer causing agents in kids shampoos (click for a list.) Here's the thing, I wash Ella's hair at the beginning of the bath and then she is steeped in slightly soapy water with pores wide open, while she plays mermaid until her toes get pruny and the water goes cold. So it's probably not good to soak a kid in cancer causing chemicals. Sure I could go ahead and try to find a shampoo that doesn't contain toxins but a) I'm not a chemist and b) I no longer trust any large company to tell the truth.
So besides all that, there's the plastic which I am trying to give up, and the cost of hair products as well as the argument that un-shampooed hair is sleeker and shinier after 6 weeks, especially if you have coarse kinky hair (which I do.) I've been reading about it and some people use baking soda instead of shampoo and vinegar instead of cream rinse. But there is this 6 week period where your body is re- adjusting it's natural oils and your hair metabolises to the new routine and you just walk around looking greasy and I'm not sure how it works at all if you work out and get all sweaty twice a week like I do. I mean I don't mind living a little hippier but I don't want to smell like a hippy, that is where I draw the line.
So I am hoping to try this out, but I think I'm going to try it when I have a block of six weeks where my hair is long enough to just put in a tight shiny little bun for a month and a half (perhaps this summer.) I also need to keep reminding myself that no shampoo does not mean I don't wash my hair, it just means I will be using a gentler method. I promise if I decide to go for it, I will document in detail every agonizing day and the hopefully shiny results.
5 comments:
You will have to tell me what you use and if it is cheaper than buying shampoo.
I will, I'll report it all.
Jenny, I am dismayed at your comment, "I don't want to smell like a hippy." I was a "hippie" (societies name for us)in the late 60's, early 70's, and I am still proud to consider myself a flower child to this day. I have always bathed regularly and kept my long hair clean and shampooed. (Probably with the same shampoo with all the cancerous toxins!).
In fact, all of my "hippie" friends from back then were not smelly as you allude to. You met me a couple of years ago at a Diva's skating practice, and I don't believe you were offended my presence. You are what I would consider a fairly intelligent woman, and you are fairly liberal in your thinking just as all of us were back then. I now feel like all of us who flew our freak flags in the name of peace and love are being profiled and I am sorry your perception of who we were and how we smelled is not actually factual. We were the generation who wore flowers in our hair, wore patchouli oil and burned incense, and I never considered those scents to be offensive. Even during Woodstock we found a pond to bathe in after a day or two of being outside listening to the music. Hopefully you will now have a little better conception of who we "hippies" were and that we were not the smelly longhaired radicals that society made us out to be.
I know and I deserve that. My parents wore patchouli and I grew up with flowers in my hair and I remember bathing regularly. I'm guilty of making a sweeping statement and letting a few apples spoil the bunch. I went to college with some dred locked patchouli wearing peace lovers who believed in the natural body smells and pheromones and let me tell you - you wouldn't want to share a long ride with them. I am also guilty of hypocrisy as derby girls often walk around after practice (to the bar and whatnot) emanating the grandest of sweaty funks.
Thank you Jenny for allowing my viewpoint to be made on your blog. I will admit there were probably a few "smelly hippies" back in the day, but I never met any, and I met many of our peace loving brothers and sisters from New York State to San Francisco. Although I don't wear flowers in my hair any more these days, I still have long hair and I still wear patchouli oil and I still bathe regularly and wash my hair. I realize your statement was not really meant to be offensive,(no pun intended)and I'm still the Divas biggest fan in the Southwest! Peace and love!
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