Post-holiday hair

I haven't forgotten or abandoned my blog! I went away to the UK and Europe for 6 weeks which was fantastic as expected, but did test my routine a little...

Since I was traveling around quite a lot between family visits, I tended to use those little travel shampoo bottles. Taking a packet of baking soda on local flights was something I didn't think very safe! Carrying white powder through customs, no matter how harmless, seemed like a dumb thing to do. Plus I was anticipating a difference in hair quality, feel etc since I was now in England where they have "hard water".

I didn't notice too much of a difference, but I indulged myself and went back to Herbal Essences for the first week. Well... interestingly and I guess not surprisingly, my hair clogged up immediately. It was dried out from the shampoo, my scalp became itchy again and I just felt a general build up around the back section.

I went to a health store somewhere in East England one day, and found a bottle of organic tea tree shampoo. This was a great find, and cleared up my hair straight away. I also eventually did buy some ACV from Waitrose and was rinsing my hair with that when not on short trips to other countries. Stuck with Herbal Essences conditioner for the ends to keep some moisture in there, as I was outdoors a lot.

It was a fairly happy balance, a little less messy that carrying baking soda and a bottle around everywhere I traveled. The shampoo was cleansing and close enough to my recent Tea Tree Oil rinse I'd be doing just before I left. The vinegar is definitely the key to shiny hair. People comment on how soft and shiny my hair is all the time, and they are a bit skeptical when I tell them I put vinegar in it!

I did notice my hair lightening, but I've thrown a semi permanent colour in there every few months to keep it back to brunette. People have pointed out that the highlights look good in the sun and especially suit the upcoming Summer here in Sydney.

Since I've been back I'm now on: Redwin Tea Tree Shampoo, ACV rinse over my whole head and then Herbal Essences classic conditioner on the ends.

Next step is to try Coconut Oil which a reader suggested to me :) Apparently this will help take away any itch and since reading about it, I've heard there are many benefits from using it!

Losing Count

Well I have absolutely no idea which week I would be up to by now! I'm guessing it's roughly 3 months since I've been shampoo-free (minus the recent "cheat"!).


I'm now on a regular routine of a tea tree oil rinse followed by a vinegar rinse, tiny bit of conditioner optional.

The other night I was at a friend's, and asked for her honest opinion on the condition of my scalp. Since it's hidden under all the hair, I'd hardly thought to take a a look at it. We parted my hair and noticed that there seems to be no flakiness, no real irritation aside from a very slight pink shade in areas. Hardly noticeable, but there all the same. I guess I do get the occasional itch now and then, and I'm thinking about doing some research on whether it's actually safe to be using tea tree oil this much on my skin. 


But so far, so good. I leave for a 6 week European holiday in 8 days from now, and having switched to this method months in advance has been great! It takes me way less time to have my hair ready to go out, because I'm even at the point where I can wash and go to bed without waking up to an afro! It's just nice and wavy, especially if I twist it before going to bed. 


The interesting thing will be seeing what the international shower heads do to my hair. I remember last time I was in England, I bought a 2-in-1 head and shoulders shampoo/conditioner, which did not agree with my hair. Combining that with "hard water" as I'm told, was not a good recipe. Luckily I have a few days at my relatives' home to see how it all works over there. If I really find my hair too gunky and looking too limp, I might have to consider changing the routine while I'm away. I certainly don't want to have dirty-looking hair in the photos that will last a lifetime! :)

Cheater?

I think I've just passed the 8 week mark! But, confession: I used a bit of shampoo.


So this goes against what I was trying to do, but it was after a horrible week and a day where I felt my hair was just a little too annoying for my liking. So I gave it one wash with a little bit of Herbal Essences, but still rinsed with my usual ingredients.


I have to admit, it did feel good. Although, my hair was tangled again as soon as I'd used the shampoo. I know now that vinegar fixes this, which has been a benefit over the last 2 months. I don't think doing this one wash has ruined my plan. If anything, it actually pointed out how well my hair now reacts after a shampoo wash. Someone commented on how amazingly shiny my hair is now. And this was a couple of days later as well. The shampoo wash felt nice, but it's not something I necessarily need to do. I've considered a shampoo wash on Sundays, then a week of my now normal routine. 


I definitely haven't given up though, and I've noticed such a great result having given my hair a break from chemicals these past couple of months. It's softer, and as I mentioned through someone else's observation, very shiny.


I've read other people and the general idea seems to be to find something that works for you. In my case, it's a quick rinse of water (600ml) with a few drops of tea tree oil to cleanse the scalp, a rinse of apple cider vinegar in water (still 1 tsbp to 600ml) and if I really feel like it, a bit of conditioner on the ends of my hair.


I'm now alternating between letting it air dry and go wavy, or blowdrying and straightening on occasion. People tend to notice the shine more in straight hair, and I've always loved it that way. But being able to wash my hair, give it a quick comb and run out the door is definitely convenient. I just have to twist it up into a bun for a little while to encourage some curls and after that it actually looks pretty good!

Week 6: Still here!

Lately I've hardly had any time at all to update my blog, but the good news is it's now been almost 6 full weeks of the no-shampoo thing and it's mainly positive results!


I've had people comment on how much more natural and bouncy my hair looks, like beach waves or windswept. I also finally got the nerve to visit a hairdresser.... thinking she would freak out. Not the case though! She didn't say anything till I mentioned it. She's not a fan of this method, but she said that my hair's clean and healthy so keep doing what I'm doing :)


There's been the odd urge to wash my hair just once with shampoo and conditioner fully, but I've resisted based on the fact that I've made it 6 weeks, with the only cheating being conditioner on the ends of my hair. 


I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I'm busy, but this is a word for those considering the idea. Do it, stick with it because if you can make it to 6 weeks like I have, you'll reap the benefits and enjoy it. Trust me :)

Week 4: Goodbye hairdryer...

I've been so busy that the last thing I could think about was reporting on the state of my hair... but I'm approaching the one month mark and today happens to be a great one for an update!

I'm realising that not only is a change of product really helping my hair, but so is reducing the amount of blowdrying and straightening.

Last night, only due to a lack of time, I let it air dry. It must be the combination of this and the natural products I'm using because today I have nice, wavy hair! It's something to get used to, having straightened it for almost 7 years... I've always felt that shiny, straight hair always looks the nicest, neatest etc. But I'm told otherwise, especially by men. The more natural, the better it seems.

I'm not doing this to please anyone's tastes, this whole experiment/change of lifestyle was originally motivated by a need to fix my badly damaged hair. Obviously, it's nice to know that eventually I might be able to spend less time maintaining it, apparently resulting in an improved appearance.


ROUTINE UPDATE

- Using a very minimal amount (pinch) of baking soda in a small bottle of water and poured over the trouble areas: front hairline and crown
- Diluted ACV on the bottom half of my hair only
- Diluted lemon juice poured over my entire head concentrating on reaching the scalp
- Thoroughly rinsed
- On occasion I'm indulging in a small amount of Herbal Essences conditioner on the ends, purely for how amazing it smells and just moisturises the ends a little.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I figure that conditioning the ends is not going to affect the roots. My scalp and the new hair follicles are what need to get used to the all-natural products, and anyway, I'm getting a hair cut so the current ends will be gone soon anyway! :)

Day Eighteen: Back and forth

I'm almost three weeks into this all-natural hair routine now, and I've still got little to complain about really. My hair is of course still adjusting, and it doesn't have the silky smooth feeling I used to get after conditioning. But that also presented problems which I now don't have to worry about. I can actually pin my hair up without it just sliding straight back out because its too smooth. It's got some nice body to it and definitely looks more natural. I like that it doesn't have to be perfectly straight to look nice anymore.

I went back to ACV last night for the rinse, as I wondered whether the lemon juice in water was doing much different. I think either are fine really, and even though they haven't solved the crown problem I mentioned yesterday, my hair isn't looking or feeling dirty at all.

I'm looking forward to the day where I can wash it in water-only, but I'm not there yet. I may start alternating between a natural wash one day, and water the next. Hopefully after a while I can gradually reverse the routine so that I'm only washing with ingredients once or twice a week.

And also looking forward to the weekend! Might go lazy and give my hair an unwashed break again...

Day Seventeen: Sunlight

I've had a busy few days, although always managed to keep up with this hair care routine. I was finding that the crown section was still not feeling clean enough, with a gunky feel to it. Not very nice...

So I tried another approach after my Mum suggested using Sunlight soap. I Google everything before I try it, so I read a little and heard that there are women who've sworn by Sunlight soap for body and hair care their whole lives.

One supermarket trip later and I was back at home, in the shower and testing out the Sunlight method. It certainly does give that squeaky clean feeling, and it doesn't really clog up the hair very much like I'd expected. Maybe it helped also that I did the lemon rinse afterwards too.

The only problem is the crown again. Sunlight soap is probably best not worked into the scalp like I did. I've since learnt to return to baking soda for my scalp, wash the rest of the hair in Sunlight, then rinse it all in lemon water.

Today it's feeling ok, but the crown... not sure I'm ever going to get this fixed. But it is after all the roots of my hair, and if this is the adjustment period, I'm doing pretty well. It does look and feel slightly greasy at that part of the hair, but the rest looks really clean and healthy so it's not too noticeable.

Sidenote: Baking Soda face wash

Although this blog is about my hair experiment, I've read about the many uses of baking soda (way more than I ever thought there could be!). One of them is to use it as a facial wash. I have complicated skin... it can get dry, but the T-zone is also prone to slight oilyness. Pretty sure this means I have combination skin (?). So since I'm on this baking soda thing anyway, I decided to try it out as my new face wash. I have to say, a few days in and I am pretty pleased with how it feels. I don't get any irritation, but probably because I followed instruction and make sure I moisturise straight away (maximum 10 minutes later). It doesn't sting, leave blotchiness or anything, I just need to be careful not to get it in my eyes.

I would definitely recommend it as a cleanser though, it even removes my eye make up! I'll keep an eye on what it does to my skin and blog again in a couple of weeks, and hopefully with more positive things to say.

Day Fourteen: 2 weeks later...

It's now been two whole weeks since I've been shampoo-free, and I'm already at a point where I'm quite happy with these results! The only downsides are slight itching which, when I was a little stressed, caused me to scratch and I've realised I need to be careful. My scalp is adjusting and is a bit tender so I have to refrain from touching it.

But generally, I think I've found a good routine for myself and my hair is looking surprisingly healthy right now. I've definitely converted to the lemon juice wash, rather than apple cider vinegar. It may work for some people, but I found that it just dried out and left my hair feeling strange. The lemon water makes it a lot softer and works well after the baking soda wash. I've kept indulging in the Herbal Essences to condition the ends only.

The only problem area for me is still that crown section, the top/back of the hair. It's the only area that still gets kinda oily, but is easily fixed with a bit of talcum powder brushed through, or a spray of my Batiste dry shampoo.

The best part of this is still that my need to straighten has all but disappeared. I have thick hair, so when I used to shampoo, condition, blow dry (or leave to air dry), I was left with a big frizzy mess. Since switching to natural ingredients that has really changed, and I think there will be a significant improvement now that I'm not straightening.

I'm going to post again today because I've discovered a second use for baking soda that's now incorporated into my daily grooming routine!

Day Eleven: 50/50

After yesterday's horrid result, I attempted to fix the greasy mess of hair that resulted from the food mask. I did a bit more reading yesterday and found out that some people prefer lemon juice to ACV. Since I've had good results from the lemon water rinse on Day 1 (and tried it successfully years ago), I decided that lemon juice was going to be the remedy for last night's wash.

I started with a bottle of diluted lemon juice and completely rinsed my hair, hoping it would wash out the leftover gunk. I then did a baking soda paste scrub to my scalp and thoroughly rinsed it out. Instead of ACV, I did a tea tree oil rinse as well to combat itchy scalp (which is a side effect as your hair adjusts) and then a lemon water rinse. I'm lucky enough to have a lemon tree close by so I just chopped the leaves up and left them to sit in boiling water for a while, before using that water to rinse my hair.

I slightly caved on the conditioner front, just using a very small amount of Herbal Essences on the ends of my hair to keep them soft. After all, I'm essentially trying to get the new hair and my scalp used to this alternative method. The ends really aren't going to be affected as much, and the conditioner gave it a nice scent as I was going out.

After blow-drying, there was definitely an improvement compared to last night. My hair is still adjusting, so there's a layer of oil but as a friend commented, it's really not noticeable and still looks fine.

The most positive thing to report is that even after blowdrying, I've noticed a dramatic reduction in frizz and flyaways. This was always a problem for me, and was something I would generally fix by straightening my hair all the time (too much!). Despite the slight amount of oil, my hair had a nice bounce, wave and frizz-free look to it. Quite natural and a little bit more interesting than previously dead straight hair!

So it was really a case of half bad, half good when it came to the results. I'm willing to overlook the oily texture as, like I said yesterday, that was something I'd read about and expected. I was quite pleasantly surprised with how nice and natural my hair started to look, so I'll be interested to see what happens when the oilyness subsides. I'm hoping to be left with naturally wavy hair minus the annoying frizz, and with no need to blowdry or straighten! Fingers crossed...