Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Alternative to No Poo: Week 3

End of Week 3: The change has begun!  Lucky me!

At the beginning of the week, I decided to experiment.  Upon further research into the pH of hair and what best to do, I stumbled across a coconut aloe recipe.  I gave it a go.  People who tried it with success said that it was greasy the first few times, and then was ok.  Well let me tell you.  Greasy doesn't even begin to describe the yuck, and by now I'm used to the stringy greasy state of my head.  I couldn't stand it.  It was absolutely horrible; I came out of the shower greasier than when I went in!

I spend the day with it tucked under a hat but was so horrified by the end that I showered again and did my usual routine- honey, ACV, and washcloth.  What a relief; I was just my usual sort of stringiness after it dried.


What you see here is the day of a wash.  It's greasy but doesn't look too, too bad- I won't be able to leave it down long.  The hair just kind of hangs out in clumps, more or less.  When I brush with a BBB (which I'm doing twice daily) it will totally flatten and slick down, all shiny like a wet seal.  Orf orf.



Here it is, later in the day, slicked into a ponytail.  Heavy grease bonus?  The ponytail looks pretty good.  I think it needed tidying in this photo, but not bad.

My hair feels good even despite the oiliness.  It doesn't feel yucky when I run my hands over it; it's clean, and doesn't smell like anything at all.  It's getting shinier and shinier, and the oil has worked down to the ends, so it feels healthy and isn't flyaway anymore.
 Here's where it gets interesting.  I'm visiting a friend right now, and showered this morning.  My hair was pretty slick when I showered.  I did my usual routine- honey, leave in and massage etc, rinse, quick dilute ACV rinse, that's it.  I air dried it (I am distressed by these photos, and the utter lack of style in them- I'm growing out my hair again and this is my least favorite length).

The amazing part?  There is NO greasiness.  It dried normal, felt normal, if a little heavier than I'd be used to a month ago; but no oil slick, no stringiness.
I'm not sure you can truly appreciate that in this photo, I realize it looks a little stringy but you'll have to take my word for it.  I mainly wanted to show you how light and airy my hair is against my scalp.  Unbelievable!

I've been suspecting hard water at my home for some time now.  We have an artisian well and live in the mountains; we definitely get mineral deposits and have confirmed iron in the water.  Awesome to drink, not awesome on the hair and skin.  I am perpetually dried out and my hair has been so heavy.  Could it be that I'm further in the transition than I thought, and just need a softener system?  I am looking into buying one THIS WEEK so I can see if these effects will last at home.

I would be elated if my transition was this short!  For now on my little visit I am going to relish in the sexy "dry" hair I have- dry as in not oil slicked but feeling incredible, soft, heavier than I'm used to and really shiny.  Yay!

No comments:

Post a Comment