All Natural DIY Haircare - I No poo?!?!

How $1.50 saved my hair!

Okay, when I first started reading about my friends who "no-poo", I totally thought that they were giving me more information that I needed to know.

I FINALLY urged myself to click the link and see what this craze was all about. Thankfully (and to my surprise), they were talking about haircare and SHAMPOO! My first thought was ewwwww (sorry, the honesty card is out). Since I am working on getting my family a little greener, I did transition to organic shampoo and conditioner recently -but yikes...it was pricey for this cheap gal (not pricey for most people...about $7 per bottle). My friends were singing no-poo praises and it was super cheap so why not try it....right?!?!?

So what is "no-poo" all about anyway? Well, it is basically a term for giving up shampoo. It seems to be a hot trend now with more and more people looking to rid their lives of unecessary chemicals.I too have been ridding my diet and now my beauty routines from chemicals but buying the organic shampoos and conditioners at the store was not budget friendly. So, with 2 items in my arsenal...I embarked on a mission that I thought would be a sure fail (sorry blogger buddies- I thought you were wrong).

Did you Know?

• Until the late 1930s, women did not use shampoo! 

• In the early 1900's women used bar soap to wash their hair about every other week!
  

My story of getting the poo out!

Let me give you a bit of history of my hair. About 6 months ago, I thought it would be a great idea to go from jet black hair to bright blonde. I went to the beauty school (remember, I am cheap) and had it bleached. My hair was not in too bad of shape after that so when it was time for my roots to be done...I tried to go it alone. BIG-BAD-MISTAKE! I did the roots as well as the rest of my hair to brighten the color and ended up with hair resembling straw. Actually...I WISH it was like straw. It was worse. I had big patches of missing hair where my hair simply burned off. Running a brush through my hair produced fistfuls of damaged hair. When I washed my hair...it took HOURS to air dry (at least 5). My hair simply was one thing- shot. For the girl who always thought I could do anything to my hair...I had met my match.

I tried fancy conditioners and even had a conditioning treatment done at the salon....no luck.The only thing that helped was a homemade mayonnaise hair mask ( my homemeade mayo recipe here- it is so easy to make and chemical free).  With the failure rate of commercial conditioner,  I really wasn't giving this "no-poo" thing a vote of confidence but I had to try it. I can honestly say...I was wrong! For the first time (in a long time) my hair is healthy, shiny, and has TONS of volume - more than ever before.

Here is how and why it works:

Traditional shampoos are really just detergents. They use chemicals to strip your hair and scalp of dirt and oils. While this sounds like a good thing, the  Shampoo strips the hair and your scalp of sebum (natural oils created by your scalp). This is why you then use conditioner - to replace the natural oils in your hair that your shampoo has stripped away.

The no-poo hair care method uses baking soda and vinegar. Since baking soda is not a detergent the natural oils are not stripped away. This makes your hair naturally healthy  (notice that I did NOT say greasy). Your scalp will now be balance will produce less oil! It was only producing so much because you were stripping it away with chemical shampoo!  Some people say that they go a whole week without washing!

Some perks of this super frugal and natural way to care for hair....

• Your hair will have more body
• Your scalp will produce less oil
• Shiny  and silky hair
• Its GREEN haircare!
• Super cheap
• My hair is now "behaving"! Really, it is!
• I had damaged hair that was chemically processed so I would say that it is definitely safe!

So...you want to start no-pooing?

Here is something that I somehow missed. You should buy 1 last bottle of commercial shampoo. It needs to be a clarifying shampoo. Suave Daily Clarifying Shampoo, Normal to Oily Hair is a great one that costs only $1!  Use this for about 1 week to begin getting rid of the silicone left behind from your old shampoo and it will make your transition to no-poo smooth! (I did NOT do this and had a week of evil).

If you are a stay at home mom and don't mind your hair being a little yucky for a week or two..you can start no-pooing immediately. I did and the first few washings were not pretty. PLEASE....stay with it and give it a chance. It took about 2 weeks for my hair to look and feel awesome. Yesterday, it air dried in just an hour :)!

Ready to Start...or stop 'pooing?

You only need a few things !

• Baking Soda 
• Vinegar ( I use apple cider)
• Squirt Bottles (I reused bottles :)
•  Essential oil (if you want to scent your cider- mine cost only a few dollars!)

Instructions:

MAKE YOUR NEW HAIR CARE PRODUCTS!

1. Create a solution of baking soda and water – add 1 TBS of baking soda to 1 cup of water. Completely dissolve the baking soda.
2. Create a rinse of vinegar and water – 2 TBS of vinegar to 1 cup of water. If you want to add a few drops of essential oil to this, you can! The vinegar smell honestly does go away after a few minutes so it isn't necessary.

These will last you maybe 2 washes depending on how much hair you have. I make BIG batches! I spent $1.50 on a bottle on vinegar and a box of baking soda and those are going to last a LONG time!

NOW START USING THEM!

1. WASH: Wet hair and then apply the baking soda solution to the roots of your hair massaging it into your scalp with your fingertips in a circular motion.  This will not lather up like soap! That doesn't mean it is not working! Leave it on for a minute or two until it starts to feel slick.  Most people say not to add this to the entire length of your hair but I do. That is up to you! Now rinse.
   
2. TO CONDITION: Put the cider vinegar rinse on all of hair paying the most attention to the ends. Leave it in fora minute or so then rinse!

That's all. These two things have saved my hair! I am actually surprised that I am finding out that many items I have in my refrigerator are actually miracle workers on my skin and on my hair. 
If you want to check out more...
8 Beauty Reasons to Add Coconut Oil to your Beauty Routine 
Homemade All-Natural Slimming Body Wrap 2 Ways - Cost about $2 per wrap..if that!
Homemade Cellulite Busting Vanilla Latte Body Scrub

Won't you no-poo with me?

I plan to bring you some more all natural and organic beauty tricks soon! I also will be sharing some other no-poo methods and organic hair care conditioners and enhancers!

If you want to try chemical free hair care too but just aren't ready to plunge into the Baking Soda and Vinegar...Check out Walgreens Green Shop! They carry many brands of all natural and organic hair care and personal items! You get FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $25!

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