Update!

Well, as before, I've settled out into a routine just using handmade bar "shampoo" which seems to be working wonders for me.  It's getting longer, and is in great shape.  This photo, taken today, is almost a month after my last henna/cassia/amla mix.  I use mostly cassia with a tiny bit of henna; it's generally very red after application, more red than I think I want.  I do like being blonde; next time I may use either all cassia or the tiniest whif of henna.  A little goes a long way!  I love how silky it is right after application though.  Very amazing. 

Yummy shampoo bars!

This is what I've been cleaning my hair with.  I may play around with French Green Clay or Rhassoul clay in the future, but for now, I've got a bunch of little samples and I've been enjoying playing with them.  I still have some leftover Aveda conditioner I'm using up (it was $$$!) but when that is gone I'll switch back to jojoba and apple cider vinegar.  My man likes the soap bars too!

The descriptions on this website are great, and the way they help you figure out which soap would work best.  My hair is very soft and shiny, and never feels stripped or heavy.  I still only wash it every 4 days or so (5 when it's dry out) and I've been very pleased.

I make home made shaving cream for my guy, and when I order cocoa butter next I'll order some French Green and some Rhassoul and see if I like that as well.  A friend from Boston has been using the French Green to great success!

9 months out!

Wow! Well it's been 9 months since I stopped using commercial shampoos. I have to admit I've changed things a little bit, because I hated how baking soda was making my hair feel. I've been unable to get any French Green clay, but I did find some "shampoo" bars made locally that work amazing!
The website, chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com, explains what they have better than I could. Basically they use old, old recipes for stuff to clean hair that in no way uses anything like silicones, parabens, and other yucky things. My hair feels amazing, very soft and I only wash once or twice a week, usually. I can feel the difference in the hair that's grown in over the last few months since I've been using it. They are made with all kinds of stuff that these folks grow (with a few things they ship in) and smell delicious! I bought a bunch of samples so I can figure out which one is my favorite. I have a tiny bit of Aveda conditioner left from my original purchase way back last summer, and I'm using it up a tiny bit at a time- it was expensive so I don't dare throw it out.

The other change is that I also hennaed my hair. I used a mix of cassia and henna since I didn't want to go too red, and some amla to tone it down. 200 g cassia with 25 g henna and 14 g amla in all. It was goopy, messy and so worth it- my hair is super glossy, very silky and it has helped the damage on the super blonde part at the bottom (which I think the baking soda did some damage to!) I like the way it looks, a lot. My natural color that grows in (before the sun bleaches it) is very dark blonde, dishwater/ mouse really, and this helped to even it out and darken everything. I don't particularly like to be bleach blonde!

It's grown, too. Despite some trims, it's definitely getting there.

Day 83

Well! I feel like the experiment is going well, though it has certainly taken a turn. I felt like the BS was really drying out my hair. I loved the body, but it seemed to me that there was some damage going on. I know that hairdressers use BS to strip color out of the hair, and it's used as a cleaning solvent... it's harsh! But I didn't want to go back to washing my hair every other day with harsh commercial chemicals. I was at an impasse.

I had a little sample bottle of Burt's Bees Herbal Remedy shampoo. It's basically oils and fats, with essential oils and teas in it. That's it. No SLS, no parabens, no silicones, nothing. Since I was getting really wary of BS, I decided to try it, last week. After all, it's in my house already, may as well use it. It worked well. It did not strip my hair completely of oils, and felt shiny and soft. I used my old Aveda conditioner as well, it seemed the most benign of the stuff I have left in the house. I was pleased, and had an unexpected bonus: I can go a full week now without needing to wash it. I still did a water only rinse every day or every other day, and resorted to a ponytail by day 4 or so... but still! My whole endeavor is based around not washing my hair as often, and consuming less.

But it left me in a quandry. What to do? I didn't want to go back to BS. I know some other folks have had trouble with BS as well, being too drying. I don't have enough knowledge on what really makes a shampoo to make one myself- I know that oil can remove oil, to a degree (that's the basis of castile soap), which is great if you don't want to strip your hair. So I went shopping, for something I can use until I come up with an alternative myself. (Maybe I'll give castile soap another try. Hmmm.) I scoured Whole Food's beauty aisles, and shockingly only found a few that really did not have SLS, parabens and silicone. I wanted the least ingredients. Burt's Bees is a good contender, as well as Kiss My Face. I went for Kiss My Face, it had nothing fishy in it, mostly essential oils and so forth.

I like the results so far. I can tell the oils are not stripped from my hair. Today (the photo above) is day 2 from a wash with it. So, yes, I am using shampoo, but I'm tired of ruining my hair. This will be what I use until I figure out what I can use that isn't damaging. Meanwhile I am working towards using the product less and less, I need to be brave and go beyond 7 days now. Inch by inch! If I do that, then this bottle will last me a long time anyway. I feel bad that I chickened out on the BS, and thus the experiment, but my hairdresser commented during my last haircut that I had to lay off the hair dye... and I haven't dyed my hair in months!!! I had to get a lot cut off just to get it back into health, and I'm trying to grow it out! Not worth it...

Day 58

Oooh! Two months this weekend! I feel much better today, back to what works. I did a BS wash, followed by an ACV rinse (1 tbsp in some water) and then the chamomile/ rose/ honey tea, followed by cool water. Ahhhh! It's just right today, not dry or greasy, but nice and swingy and pretty. Plus the super awesome bonus that I always have body with no product in it!

I'm going away for the weekend, so at least I know it will be pretty.

I don't know about clay... I read about Moroccan clay (Rhassoul) and French Green, but neither of those things are available here so I'll probably stick with what I've got. After all one of my reasons is sustainability and a lighter footprint on the environment, so I guess shipping stuff from overseas wouldn't qualify. I'm intrigued though! Especially if it's less drying!

I don't feel dry today, and I think it's because I did ACV after, a small amount so I'm not greasy but enough to balance things out. This may be the formula that works for me.

Day 54

Ok, today I used bentonite clay (from Death Valley... the only clay they had at Whole Paycheck). I put 1 tbsp in 1/2 cup water, mixed well- a watery paste. Put that in my hair, massaged well, and left it in for a bit while I did other shower stuff. I rinsed and rinsed... being worried that it wouldn't rinse well... then did a chamomile/ honey rinse.

Gross.

OK? Just, gross.

My hair feels dry and greasy all at the same time. I bet it just isn't rinsed out enough, because it has a sort of powdery feel to it. It also is evident that the oils were not stripped out, which makes me happy, but I feel like it's going to be yucky sooner before my next wash. I feel that when I rinse tomorrow with water (chamomile) that it will feel better, when I will likely get the rest of the clay out. It was not fun blowdrying it this morning though, it felt dry and was difficult to brush. This would have been a great day for vinegar, I think. Perhaps that would have even helped rinse it out! Ah, well, it's all a grand experiment. I'll try clay again, with vinegar, and see what happens. It will be interesting to see how the week plays out, starting with a less than stellar wash. Hmmm.

Day 53

This photo was taken last night, after brushing and then a water wash (it was pretty much dry by then). As of today, I still have not "washed" it since my BS wash on Monday the 6th. I wanted to show that it really isn't gross. It looks alright, even! Well, to tell the truth, if you comb it straight back, it stays slicked. It looks ok if I fluff it and leave it alone, as shown here. But you can pretty much position it where you want to and it would stay. I think this once again illustrates that the experiment would go differently if I had longer hair.

I would like to space washing my hair out even further, but it means I only have it in a ponytail. How boring! Anyway, I am not washing it until tomorrow morning. I bought some green clay (bentonite) and I'll see how that goes. I don't like how drying BS is so I'm hopeful it will be a little different, though clay has drying properties as well.

I don't feel icky, for going 6 to 7 days without a "wash". It helps that I brush every day and have done a water wash nearly every day as well. I'll admit I've been waiting for that magical period to pass where I suddenly can go forever without washing it, but that hasn't happened yet. True, I've been in a routine of washing Monday and Friday so who knows???