Day 40

Today was a BS wash day. I followed that with a chamomile/ ACV/ honey rinse. I left that in while I did other shower stuff... mostly to see if it softens things a bit. I've been disliking how dry I feel with a BS wash and how heavy after a Dr.B's wash. Time for a little tweaking to figure out what works for me!

As you can see though, lots of body after blowdrying. I've given up on on the idea of going completely natural until I've grown my hair completely out. This awkward stage is too difficult to manage without some styling.

This morning before I went running, I felt like my hair was heavy but not horribly greasy. I think Dr.B's not only doesn't strip your own oils but likely adds its own. It creates a texture I don't feel I can really handle unless I'm intentionally camping and want feral hair. I didn't feel like anyone could run their fingers through my hair and have a pleasant experience.

Today it's dry, but soft, and has a bit more of the silkiness I'm used to from before. When I do a BS wash it's usually really nice by day 2 or 3.

Day 38

Yesterday I washed with Dr.Bronner's (photo on the right). I was feeling like the BS is stripping my hair... and I'm sure it is. Well, Dr.B's is all oils which are saponified (soapified) but not detergents. This means it doesn't strip oils out of anything, but does definitely distribute them differently and remove excess. In other words... my hair is clean, yes, but not the way it is with shampoo or BS. I use Dr.B's when I camp, and enjoy the way it feels sort of thick and soft... but alas, it does retain the natural oiliness. Is that what our hair is supposed to look like? I don't really know. I know that it's darker in color, shinier, and not exactly stringy or gross; but not fine and "fresh washed" like all the other Miss Clairol-heads either. Dilemma. I don't want to look yucky, but I don't want to strip it.

Anyway I rinsed with just chamomile. I felt after that maybe I had stripped it (I put a little bit of Dr.B's in warm water to make my "shampoo", and it made plenty of lather, may have used too much) because it was difficult to get my fingers through. So I used the tiniest amount of coconut oil, in the ends only. I did this with my head upside down so I wouldn't touch anywhere near my scalp. It dried really thick, lots of body, but the roots looked suspicious because of course they aren't stripped. Headband it was, then.





This morning I have fabulous bedhead of course, and it actually doesn't look too bad but the roots are suspicious. It doesn't look quite as dry or crunchy as yesterday, and it's shiny. I could get away with a head band again or my usual ponytail.

Day 36

Well, it's been two days since my last BS wash and of course things are getting a little stringy. Yesterday I did not rinse, just put it in a headband- it looked fine, normal. Today I just rinsed it with water, and I still think it would look fine if it were long... I let it air dry today to be nice to my hair, and it's ugly because it's growing out, but not bad. I'm going to put it up in a ponytail as usual...

So even though it's a bit stringy it's not gross, no weird hippie smells or anything like that. I'm doing two BS washes per week, though I would like to space that out. Perhaps I will make one of my washes Dr.B's soap, since I'm suspicious that the BS is stripping my hair everytime and that means my scalp will never adjust!

I have to admit something though, even when it's somewhat oily (when I'm getting close to the time for another BS wash), when I brush it I like how deeply golden and reflective my hair is. It's just never that shiny in life, I think! I can see how if I have it long, brush religiously and rinse well, it would just be gorgeous- way more reflective, and that honey color I've always wanted it to be, instead of just sun bleached as it likes to do. I'm eager for this adjustment everyone keeps talking about. I guess I need to push it longer between washes and maybe find a less harsh solution.
cheers!

Day 34

I spent the weekend with a friend, and she was not aware at all about the fact that I stopped using shampoo. It looked fabulous on Friday (BS wash day); still looked great on Saturday in a headband; and Sunday in a couple of pigtails. I woke this morning with fabulous bedhead as usual, a fact I'm just getting used to. I want to start going longer between washes to train my hair, and I think it is getting better, but I feel I've already settled into a routine of twice weekly BS washes. I'd like to wean off the BS a bit, I think it's pretty harsh and drying. I don't want to skimp on the mixture- it was a disaster last time when I didn't use enough- but perhaps get to once per week, and then eventually longer. I produce a lot of oil though! Always have! I just don't like how dry I feel after I use BS.

Today I tried vinegar again, since I made sure I used the entire BS mixture. I wanted to see if it's truly a problem or not. So far, my hair feels normal. Well, a little better than usual, not quite as dry as it can be after BS washes. I only used a tablespoon, in my chamomile tea. That's it. Perhaps the telling moments will be in the next few days, but for today, looking good!

Day 30!!!

Yay, one month! Today my hair is settled from Tuesday's washing, getting a bit greasy at the roots but not bad. I put it into a ponytail after I did a chamomile rinse this morning, so it's got that fun funky pony-head. I brushed it before I took the photo, and shook it out. Maybe you can see that although the roots look a bit oily, it's not too bad; it does not smell bad (or have any smell, actually) and feels thick and soft.

I am not stopping. I'm curious as to how I'll adjust. I think I may need to start stretching the time between BS washes, in order to actually get my scalp to adjust. I doubt that I will be able to stop BS washes altogether, since I am a good producer of oil... I used to have very oily skin as a kid, one reason I'm aging well now (no complaints here!) I do find BS very drying, and makes my hair feel a bit chalky. Maybe I will try coconut oil again but very very carefully.

I'm traveling away for the weekend tomorrow, so I am going to do a wash and then wing it for the weekend!

Day 28

Top 'o the mornin! It's St.Patty's day and I plan on going out tonight... so today was a BS wash day. I used my new and improved chamomile/ lemon/ honey formula- my hair feels clean and soft.












It wasn't too bad even this morning... here's the bedhead, in case you were wondering. I get the most fabulous bedhead now, I never looked that crazy in the morning.











And this picture is from yesterday, it was a ponytail day... I find that I can definitely go 4 days between BS washes, and perhaps more, but only with my hair up. Maybe that will change with time, or when I have longer hair... it hasn't quite been a month, so I can't complain if I've managed to stretch out to "washing" only twice per week! (With rinses in between, naturally, I do shower).

Day 25

Oh, yesterday was so frustrating!!! I washed my hair and ended up just as greasy after as when I started! Grrr!

It was entirely my fault though, because I made some mistakes. I am learning... it's a process, indeed. Well, I did a BS wash with the second half of the bottle I made at the beginning of the week. It seemed there was plenty, so no problems there. Then I followed with a chamomile/ honey/ lemon rinse, but I think I was a little heavy handed with the lemon and maybe even the honey. I didn't measure, just dolloped. My hair felt thick and a bit slick at the end, and I wondered if it was going to be gross, but since I've had good luck so far I figured I was fine.

I was running late. This is part of the problem, I'm sure. My face felt dry and I wanted to put coconut oil on it. The last two times I did a BS wash my hair felt dry and chalky so I figured some coconut in the hair would be good too. Well usually it is but I went a little crazy, I think! I don't believe I got it on my scalp but I did have quite a bit on my hands when I passed my hands into my hair. When I went to blowdry and style it, ugh! I could see before I was even two minutes into it that things were gross. Greasy. Especially behind my ears. Stiff, heavy, and oily. Boy did that make me so mad, I wanted to get my haircut too! I didn't bother to finish drying it, just combed it into a ponytail and left.

Later, at work, in front of the bathroom mirror I took it out of the ponytail and shook it out. It didn't actually look too bad, but it definitely did not look like I just washed it. It looked like it used to when I was two or three days out from a shampoo. The ends were horribly ugly (goddamn razor) and flyaway, so I decided to risk getting a haircut after all.

I went and I must confess... I was ready to lie if she wanted to know what I used in my hair. I am not ready to tell the world at large, especially yesterday since it looked a bit heavy and oily. I lied, I'm not proud, and said "sorry it's gross, I need to wash my hair" but she only laughed and said it was not a big deal. At least it never smells bad! It probably wasn't as oily as I thought too. It definitely looked worse damp.

She tried to clean up the damage from the razor, but she tells me it will be another haircut or two before it's totally sharp again. Meh. I hate that- I lost some length yesterday but it looks better, the shape is way better.

I broke down and washed again today. That was a rule I didn't want to break, because I want to space out the time between washes, but I couldn't take it. I felt like wash day was reward for making it so long and I was so disappointed! Plus I'm dating someone and I can't feel this gross. I was careful today- I made a warm BS solution and dumped the WHOLE THING on my head. I made up tea too- chamomile with roses, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tsp honey. I wanted to see if it made things come out ok. No coconut, nothing...

And this is the result. Much better! New haircut, wash day, things are swingy and soft and pretty. It feels nice, clean and gorgeous. Whew!