No Poo Movement

I'm not the first person, nor will I be the last, to write a blog post about the No Poo Movement. If you haven't heard about it, let me enlighten you.

Despite the title, it has nothing to do with actual poo. Rather it's talking about shampoo, or the lack thereof. The movement is about not using commercial shampoo [and conditioner] and instead using baking soda and apple cider vinegar if you do condition your hair, which you should. What?!?! But that's crazy talk!! I can't not use shampoo and conditioner!! Those were my reactions and I was the one who decided to do this! Let me tell you, it's weird not using the store-bought-stuff but now, after taking two showers without, I'll be hard pressed to go back.

Beside the obvious, there are a few differences when using baking soda and vinegar. The first being that neither of these lather. This kind of sucks... there's no reassuring lather to tell you it's working. Instead the baking soda makes your hair feel grainy and dry while the vinegar feels like nothing at all, but you can smell it, so there's that...I guess... The magic happens when you rinse out the vinegar. You hair feels smooth and silky, just like it does when using the 'real' stuff. Then I thought, "okay, it feels good now, but it's going to be a bear to brush (I have super curly hair, prone to tangling). Nope! I wrapped my hair in a towel, as I always do, and waited <10 minutes before brushing, again, what I always do. My hair was surprisingly easy to brush and manage. It didn't look or feel any different either, which was surprising.

My next step in my post-shower routine is to apply argan oil. This stuff is amazing and if you don't use it, go flipping get some. Not only does it smell ah-mazing, but it also makes your hair super silky soft and gives a beautiful luster. Then I let my hair air dry, it's jut easiest. The first time I didn't apply any mousse or curling agent and my hair looked pretty good; a little frizzy, but that's normal.

Today I took a shower again, using this same method and routine, but I added mousse to my hair after the argan oil. I've added some pictures to show you that my hair doesn't look gross. Haha! It doesn't look amazing, by any means, but again, that's normal for me. I, like most people I suspect, have my good days and my 'meh' days; today is a meh day. Oh and be nice, because I also don't have any makeup on (four consecutive snow days = no makeup or bra, although I do have one of those blasted things on, just for you guys).

A lot [all] of these photos are similar and that makes sense as I took them at the same time. If you think my hair looks normal and you'd like to try the No Poo Movement for yourself which has many benefits including major monetary savings as well as being environmentally friendly, then check out how I do it below. Or you can type it into Google and check out all the countless others who use it too.

I don't have a container yet, so I've been using a measuring cup, the plastic kind with a spout. I add one tablespoon of baking soda to one cup of warm shower water. This is the 'shampoo' part. If you do it right your hair will feel sort of smooth, that is, if you distribute the mixture evenly. Now leave this on for a few minutes (1-3) before you rinse. The next step is to add one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to one cup of warm shower water. Now, before I go on, it's super important that you use apple cider vinegar and not white distilled vinegar or else your hair will stink of vinegar even after you rinse. Pour this mixture over your hair just like you did with the baking soda mixture. I like to dip the ends of my hair into the mix first, then pour the rest on my head and massage into my scalp, just a little trick! Let this sit for another few minutes before rinsing. If you didn't add too much vinegar then your hair will not smell, but no promises.

The amounts above are perfect for my hair length, which should be obvious from the photos. I might even use a tad bit more next time. So, if you have shorter or longer hair, please adjust accordingly!

Overall, I'm very happy with this method and I intend on using it for awhile. So far my hair feels great and it's reacting well. That's not to say everyone's will, and some might experience more oil than others as their hair adjusts to the change. But stick with it! Nothing truly good comes easy.