giving up commercial shampoos and conditioners and switching to a wash with a baking soda paste and a rinse with apple cider vinegar. It supposedly is much healthier for your hair and can eliminate dandruff and hair loss, both of which are becoming an increasing problem for me.
My last typical shower with shampoo and conditioner was Sunday morning. I did not wash my hair on Monday and by Monday night my hair was beginning to feel like a mini oil spill had occurred.
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| 2/18: Before first wash. Check out all my grays!! |
On Tuesday (2/18), I first tried out the baking soda and vinegar. My thoughts on the baking soda wash: it was messy making the paste and did not lather at all. It felt gritty and corse, obviously. My thoughts on the apple cider vinegar: STINKY!
However, when I got out of the shower and dried off, I was amazed at how clean my hair felt compared to the night before. I have only ever used normal shampoos OR done a complete shampoo hiatus while camping for many nights (and my hair is definitely NOT pretty after that). So this was the first time trying to clean it with an alternative.
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| 2/18: Day 1 of BS & V |
2/19: Day #2 with BS&V. Had the same thoughts. Hair feels surprisingly clean for not having used shampoo since Sunday. Scalp is a little itchy though, to be honest. I've heard that days 5-7 can be the worst as your hair is detoxing from everything that shampoo typically does to it.
We'll see. And if you live near me, you WILL see and find out for yourself how well this is actually working!
2/22: Day #5. Hair actually feels really good and only complaint is the dry, patchy, itchy scalp near my hairline, which I had even before I started this experiment. I went to get my haircut today and waffled with getting it washed and conditioned there or not. Decided that I really did not want to start from square one again so I told the stylist to just rinse it with water and not to wash. I asked if she'd heard of the BS & V thing, she hadn't and I'm pretty sure she thought I was totally insane. Photos to come soon.
3/5: Day 15. I have made it 2 weeks and a day. I think that my hair looks healthier and perhaps I am getting some hair growth from some areas where I was apparently balding. So that is the good side. I still have the scaly scalp and the big bad side is that vinegar REALLY smells. It smells bad enough to really make me consider throwing in the towel. I've heard that putting a bit of essential oil in the vinegar might help, but I haven't tried it yet.
The good news about the vinegar is that it only smells in the shower and as I'm drying my hair, but then doesn't smell afterwards. But it also doesn't smell good. Just neutral. Which is probably healthier.
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| 3/3 Day 13 |
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