I've Gone 'Poo Free

In one of the many ways that my life embraces contradiction (or maybe you'd say hypocrisy?), I have given up washing my hair.  No more shampoo for me!  Yup, I've gone 'poo free.

There are thousands of articles online about how to stop washing your hair with shampoo.  You can learn all about how using shampoo makes you need to use more shampoo by stripping your scalp of its natural oils which makes it produce more oil which makes your hair look greasy which makes you use more shampoo which strips your scalp of its natural oils......You get the picture.

So how to keep my locks looking lustrous?

Baking soda.  One tablespoon in one cup of warm water 2-3 times per week.  I use a squeeze-bottle to apply the solution directly to my scalp with my hair flipped upside-down in the shower.  I rub my scalp minimally before rinsing out.

If you are going to go this route there are two things you should know:

1. Everyone's hair and scalp are different and you have to figure out for yourself how much baking soda to use and how often to use it.
2. It takes about 2 months for your hair to feel healthy and normal and manageable.  Be patient.

At first I was using too much baking soda and rubbing too much and my scalp was raw and itchy.  Then I discovered that putting my hair in a pony tail before it was fully dry would make the area under the ponytail holder really oily.  But now that I've figured it out, I don't see myself going back to shampoo unless major hormonal issues change the pH of my hair so much that I can't figure out how to keep my hair nice.

So why does the cosmetics-loving-mommy stop using shampoo?  Well, I guess I saw it as a challenge--I wanted to see if it would work for me or if only certain types of mommies could have nice hair using only baking soda.  Turns out I am a certain type of mommy.

Just don't call me crunchy.