No Poo experiment end of week 2

So I'm still no-Pooing... and I'm still pretty good with it... but I do wish things would hurry up and progress.  With more reading I have discovered it can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks for your hair to adjust.  Here are some of my observations, and what I'm going to try to fix them.

Observations:
My hair seems pretty dry on the ends.  But in between my BS/ACV rinses I feel waxy near my scalp (I don't want to say greasy, cause that just isn't really right).  I still have crazy person hair if I let it dry naturally (aka, frizzy and quasi-curly) but if I dry it with a hair dryer and straighten the ends it looks really good (Except when I'm visiting Dad in Corpus Christi... HUMIDITY IS NOT MY FRIEND).  I can't go more than a day, max 2 in between BS/ACV rinses.... and I know I should.... but I'm really ready for my ends to catch up with my scalp.  I miss my hair smelling "good".  Not that my hair smells bad.... it doesn't smell at all... but it doesn't have that fruity, flowery or whatever smell that I'm used to my clean hair having.

Trouble Shooting Steps (yea, yea... I'm a computer geek)
1.  To help with the dry ends, I have acquired some unrefined organic coconut oil.  I'm going to try smoothing that on my ends.  If it is too much, I've heard it makes a great moisturizer for your skin.
2.  I am going to try an Aloe Vera and Honey mixture as an in between "shampoo/conditioner".  You "shampoo" in this mixture and leave it for a few minutes, then rinse out.  I've read that you may have a week of white stuff (build up from the evil shampoo and conditioner you used all your life) sloughing off your hair and scalp, but I'm hoping that since I clarified first, I won't.

• 1/4 c of aloe gel. Get good aloe vera gel, not the cheap stuff with dye and alcohol in it. I got mine here: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com
• 2 TBS Honey

3. https://www.mountainroseherbs.com has Hydrosols that I'm going to try in order to help girl up my hair scent.   Hydrosols are basically flower water made from steam distilling.  I'm trying Rose and a Lavender.  They are pretty inexpensive, but the more popular scents do sell out.  They are only distilled once a season.  Interesting.  

4.  I'm going to cut back on my baking soda in my mix some, see if I can find a concentration that works a little better without drying out my ends.  I know you are only supposed to BS on your scalp, but I have shorter hair so it tends to get all over.  I still don't see how people do this only once a week... but I'm still keeping an open mind, and giving this another month or so.  Worst case, I don't like how my hair feels, and I go Lo Poo....I'm sure that will be fine, as I'm about 75% of the way on board with No Poo... if it doesn't get better than 75%, I'll switch... if it does, then whoooo!!!!

Edit:  I've found an alternative I just might try... especially if it smells good.  I'm going to give the BS/ACV thing a few more weeks... but then I think I'll see how I like this:

http://www.healthyvegasvegan.com/2014/02/01/simple-diy-herbal-hair-cleanser-conditioner/

• The Cleanser – Yucca Root powder 
• The Conditioner – Amla Berry powder (aka gooseberry)
• The Detangler – Fenugreek Seed powder

Instructions:

1. Mix together equal parts of each ingredient, e.g. 1 Tbsp each*.
2. Stir in hot water to make a paste – not too thin that it all runs out of your hair but not too thick that it’s hard to spread. Let cool so it doesn’t burn you.
3. In the shower, apply and lather like you would shampoo**. Let it sit on your hair to sink in for five minutes.
4. Rinse it out. It’s a 2-in-1 with conditioner built in so you’re all done!

* Mixing 1 Tbsp each ingredient makes enough for four showers or over a week if you shower every other day. 

No Poo... Week 2

My hair at work today.. Quick blow out and it looked decent for work... you can see it is nice and shiny now, and has nice body even with no product in it.  The ends are a bit crunchy, but I think that is just due to my natural oils not making it down to the ends yet.  Or... could be I need a trim.  I'm letting it grow out some.  But I think the No Poo thing is a winner.  My hair isn't oily at all and feels great.  I think there is still adjusting to do, and I'm still trying to figure out how often to rinse or BS/ACV... My ends might be a little crunchy cause I'm doing it too often too...  I call this experiment a success.  

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Day 5 and 6 of the "No Poo" shampoo experiment (evening of day 4 too!)

Ok folks... here it is.  So I just rinsed my hair on Thursday night and I'll admit it did feel pretty "heavy" on Friday, not quite but almost on the verge of dirty.  Which it was Friday, and the end of the week, so I put a wide fabric hair band to cover as much hair as possible and didn't worry about it.  Friday wasn't what I would call horrible... but on that day I would say I was ready for my hair to do the magical adjustment that I keep reading about.  I didn't have any plans on Friday night, so I hit the gym after work and went home and chilled.  (Side note, I finished my 10 week zero to running program and ran a little over 2 miles in 30 minutes.  Slow but I ran for 30 minutes straight, and I was thrilled with that!!)  I did a quick rinse off before I went home.  I was planning on hitting a spin class Saturday morning, so I figured I didn't need to be squeaky clean to sleep, and I was going to change my sheets anyway on Saturday so I just didn't care.  :)  So what, call me dirty.  This is the end of day 4.  So Thursday rinse, Friday Rinse.

Saturday rolls around and yea, I'd say my hair was dirty.  I hit spin, then cleaned up at at the gym because Kerri and I were going to go get pedicures.... I rinsed my hair at the gym and let it dry naturally... because let's face it, the hairdryer they have at the gym sucks.  My hair still did it's curly frizzy crazy woman thing... and I didn't like how it felt, but again, I survived.  I ran errands that day and eventually made it home.  That evening I decided I needed a proper shower and was going to baking soda/apple cider vinegar my hair.  The difference is I decided to blow it dry vs. letting it dry naturally.  Uhm.  My hair looked and felt great.  I didn't use any smoothing products (like I usually do) and just blowing it dry it looked pretty darn decent.  I pulled out my flat iron and ran it over the ends.  Wow... my hair looked really great.  It looked like it does when I spend a lot of time on it and use all kinds of "hold" products.  It was smooth and shiny, but still had body.  I kind of fell in love with the no poo thing last night.  Would I say it was perfect and totally adjusted?  No, not quite yet.... but it's definitely on the upswing.

IS my hair totally adjusted?  No... I think I still have another week till I really see a difference, then maybe another one or two before I see a difference letting it air dry.   I may be wrong...but we shall see.  I think my hair is short enough that a once a week baking soda/acv rinse won't be enough.  But It's easy enough that I could do it daily if I wanted.  Today (Day 6) I haven't done anything to it besides roll out of bed, and I think I could get away with just a rinse.  I know you have to find your right "formula", and every one's is different... so I'm thinking for now I'll BS/ACV every other day... and see how it goes.  I think this is going to be a success.  The key is just sticking with it.  How many years have I been stripping the natural oils out of my hair?  Uhm, all my life.  I really recommend this no poo thing, just give it 2 full weeks.  If your hair feels too dry, cut back on the BS/ACV, too oily, do it more often.  I will say I think the clarifying shampoo I did (no conditioner) on my "day 1" helped.  That stripped all the silicone and other crap out of it, which is making for an easier adjustment period in my opinion.

I will keep giving updates until I feel my hair is totally adjusted and give a final thumbs up or down.  As of today, I think it is going to be a thumbs up.  Now I'm really determined to go natural for my hair color too.  Uhg.  I know how much of a mess henna (and how much it stinks) is... but I'm going to give it a go in another few weeks.  I will for SURE write about that.  And no, I won't do straight henna.... I like my dark hair... so I'll be doing a henna/indigo mix.  Yes, the same indigo that is used to dye jeans.  Man, am I turning into a hippie tree huger?  Nah.  But maybe modern technology doesn't always have it right.