Stop Washing Your Hair: Mommy and the No Poo Movement

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

I haven't used shampoo in three weeks. 

Yes, I admit it. No shampoo, no conditioner, no mousse, no hairspray, nothing. Before you assume I'm a walking grease ball right now, let me assure you I am washing my hair. I'm probably just not washing it quite like most of you are washing your own.

Last month, I came across a story on the Huffington Post about a movement of people who were saying goodbye to shampoo, aptly titled the "No Poo" movement. According to most of the participants, the main reason they were no longer using traditional shampoo was due to the carcinogenic chemicals found in many shampoo brands. Of course, that struck me as important. Who wants to keep slathering carcinogens on your skin? Not me. But as I kept reading, I found an added benefit. These women were finding their hair to be healthier, shinier, stronger, and overall more radiant that it ever was on shampoo. Plus, their hair care was reduced to once or twice a week as opposed to daily or every other day. Seriously, there seemed to be no logical reason to continue using shampoo, in my opinion.

Another thing driving me away from shampoo was not only the possibility of cancer, but in the past year, my body seems to have been quickly shutting down in rebellion to my daily abuse. I have developed raging eczema on my legs, and the rest of my body itches uncontrollably. When the eczema arose and refused to go away with lotion, I was also fighting increasingly distressing digestion issues, which I assumed must be related. Thanks to WebMD I had self-diagnosed myself with several terrible terminal diseases, so I finally broke down and called my doctor. My doctor ran every test in the book, I endured the horrors of a colonoscopy, and both my primary care physician and my GI told me it was most likely related to stress. There was no sinister disease taking over. I was just internalizing my anxiety to a detrimental effect.

Armed with this bit of knowledge, I decided to start cracking down on what went into my body, as well as what I was exposing it to. Coping with external stressors is still a work in progress. I imagine that's something I'll never be able to fully kick. What has been easier is eliminating toxins from my diet and hygienic care. I was already in the process of switching as much of my diet over to organic and natural foods as possible, so the idea of eliminating the chemistry lab of hygiene products to which I was accustomed was just a natural step in the process.

Along came the Huffington Post. The article had links to a Facebook group, which I quickly joined and started digging for tips. Thanks to the recipes suggested in the group, I'm using a mixture of watered down baking soda to wash and spraying an apple cider vinegar rinse (which gets left on for a few minutes, then rinsed out) for conditioning about twice a week. And that is it, folks. Nothing else. The vinegar smell goes away after your hair dries, so no need to worry about smelling like a salad. I've read that some people use essential oils to keep that scent they're used to with shampoo, but I haven't felt the need.

Be warned this does not take effect overnight. I read horror stories about the transition period where your hair has to adjust to not being attacked by chemicals every day and the residue from past treatments has to wind its way out. Some people said be prepared to wear your hair up for a few weeks. I prepared, but there was really only one day I felt my hair was looking a little ragged and pulled it back in a pony tail. As the days passed, I kept checking with my boyfriend to make sure I hadn't begun smelling like a dirty hippie, but I seemed to be transitioning quite well. I guess my hair was so thankful for the reprieve it didn't even attempt to rebel.

Just like everyone had been saying, I watched my hair begin to shine like I had never seen it shine before. It gradually became stronger, whereas it had become absolutely brittle in the past few years. You just had to look at it wrong for it to break. Having a two-year-old with a hair pulling attachment issue was sending me on a path to baldness. Now that I'm not using products, my hair actually seems thicker and more voluminous than ever. He can yank all he wants...my hair stays put.

Of course, the greatest benefit to this change has been going from spending $15-20 per month on shampoo, conditioner and mousse to spending less than $1 on baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I did buy a new boar's hair brush to help distribute the oil throughout my hair, but that will last me ages, so it was a one-time $5 expense. For the Mommy Making Do movement, this is definitely a win.

I would suggest anyone and everyone join the No Poo movement and begin making ourselves, our environment, and our wallets healthier. I truly had no idea what to expect when I turned my back on my shampoo, but the benefits have been incredible. Now that I have seen such success from this one change, I have no qualms about going natural in other aspects of my life.