Happy No Poo Year!!!

So to sum it all up, I've reached hair nirvana!!!

As a curly girl going no poo, consider the fact that if you want to continue curly, there's no problem doing a water wash, with scalp massage and detangle and a 50/50 (or close to that ratio) of ACV/water rinse even every day! You'll be able to tell if your hair and scalp likes that.

If you have dry scalp, it  will work itself out once you let Mother Nature do her sebum magic, but the ACV will help, perhaps with a few drops of tea tree oil and scritching gently with your fingernails and massaging with the water and detangling brush/comb in the water will help as well. 

Finally, plop to dry your hair curly. It'll become natural 

Having said that, as in love with all my curly glory as I am, I found myself becoming more committed to getting through the transition after my day 1 using baking soda messed my hair up royally by drying it out something fierce!!! 

In my experience, SoapNuts was wonderful in the summer and I've settled into my current routine nicely with an Argan Oil handmade Castille soap bar  that I only use to cleanse my scalp at the crown - the oiliest spot, only.

Last time I went 21 days with one water wash and ACV rinse. Also, I found it hard to get the sebum past my ears, that's how I figured out I needed to only use soap on the crown area only, I left the sebum in place otherwise and let it work it's way down the length of my hair then ... I flat ironed my hair... Yup... I had to look good at work one day and my daily bun wasn't cutting it... and I just felt I had to - best thing I ever did!!!!

OMG, brushing the flat ironed hair was a breeze, compared to brushed out curly hair worn in a but with Aloe Vera gel as a moisturizer and styling aid 9and even a scalp moisturizer).  With flat ironed hair I'd use a plastic comb to scritch my scalp, then brush with a boar bristle brush (with nylon mixed in) twice a day and my hair looked awesome, the sebum flowed to the ends and guess what!!! When I plop to dry, I went from taking about 8 hours overnight to dry to... 30 minutes plopped, 10 minutes air drying and then it was dry enough to go out in the winter cold!!!!!!! Ya! Serious!   I'm guessing that sebum has filled in the porous structure of my curly hair. (Think Swiss cheese) Now that the water isn't getting trapped in the holes, it slips off, and dries quickly!

I've got bra strap length, thick (formerly dry) curly hair and I'm one week shy of my 6 monthiversary no poo!! I use a handmade Argan Oil Castille soap bar, 50/50% apple cider vinegar with water as a conditioning rinse, Aloe Vera Gel as a moisturizer and a styling aid, rarely use Jojoba Oil on my ends and my favourite, tangerine essential oil.

I will never ever go back!

Happy No Poo Year!!

Making your own ACV - cool!

Making your own apple cider vinegar sounds like a fun, rewarding and quite practical endeavour!! Click here for the details :)

Exotic Butters and Oils

How awesome are these!!

Transitioning with No Poo

Well... I didn't exactly know when it happened.. it just kind of crept up on me.  I do know for a fact two things have helped me.  First, brushing... like crazy... till the cows come home kinda brushing... it moves the sebum down the hair and away from my scalp.  Second, I've been washing with my argan oil castle soap - but only washing my scalp!  This means post-wash, once I start producing sebum again, it just catches up with what was already there, and keeps on moving toward my ends.  My "transition" has my sebum reaching past my ears when my hair is down!!!

Today is a busy and pretty socially demanding day.  Normally I wear my hair in a bun or some sort of up do because we all know that when you brush curly hair, it isn't curly anymore.  Wearing it this way has obviously helped speed up the process of course.  But today, I took out my flat iron.  Turned it down to 3/4 the heat I used to use and flat ironed from just below my ears to my ends only!!!!

GASP!  All those crunchy ladies (all natural advocates) would be horrified, but my goal wasn't to be "style free", it was to have nourished, healthy hair and the fact that it costs less, and is wayyyy more sustainable is totally a happy bonus.

I'm pretty happy with the result.  My wonky old wavy ends that are still waiting for sebum got a little relaxing help.  It'll be very interesting to see how this style sustains the day!!

I remember in the past, every single picture taken in December was me with straightened hair.  I went to a hair dresser and purposely got my hair straightened so i could add oils and get it LOOKING healthy for the holidays.  As well,  it helped with wearing hats in the winter of course.

And on that note - colder weather certainly helps in this whole process!!!

5 months in, and I'll never ever turn back!!

Progress...

On day 10 I carefully brushed my hair in every direction. I then took a shower and washed only my scalp with my argan oil soap bar. I scritch'd and massaged my scalp and rinsed.

The soap barely had suds, but I feel wonderfully refreshed and my hair is soooo super soft, it's insane!!! The last 4-5 inches got treated to jojoba oil to help that hair catch up.

I rarely wear my hair out curly, it's just do convenient to brush and keep it in a bun ;)

For hydration, I'm using jojoba oil and either lime or tangerine essential oils for scent and also for both me and the kids, some 100% Aloe Vera gel from the leaf!!!

100% Natural Ways to cleanse hair

http://blackgirllonghair.com/2013/10/3-100-natural-shampoo-options/

This is what one person had to share:

Nicole
NOVEMBER 3, 2013 AT 2:54 AM
I use a combination of shikakai, bhringraj, brahma, aloe vera and hibiscus powders in my daughter’s hair. I’ve found it to be very moisturizing. Also, apple cider vinegar works well as a natural conditioner. I’ve also seen recipes for a natural detangler with marshmallow root.

Jojoba Oil for Moisturizing

When I started no poo, I researched oils I could use because I just didn't feel the the Coconut Oil suggestion was penetrating my hair and moisturizing it as much as my curly and thus porous hair needed.

My oil if choice back then was Jojoba Oil and I still love it!

"Jojoba - A popular basic oil, which is generally more expensive than other oils. Works well on both dry and damp hair to condition it. Also works well when mixed with aloe and glycerin as a leave-in and styling product. Excellent also as scalp massage oil and for skin moisturizing. Great on the ends. Blends exceptionally well with essential oils and fragrances."

Taken from an excellent write up, I highly recommend reading!!

Hair Update

I am not sure, but I believe my last wash was November 2nd.  I'm guessing simply because of my blog posts!! That was 22 days ago!

I washed with my Argan Oil Castille Soap Bar last night only because I've been wearing my hair our curly after WO washes and I do NOT brush as much.  My hair started to look limp and lifeless, no volume at the roots as a result so I washed.  I specifically, I took that little bar of soap and rubbed my scalp at the crown, interestingly right where I wear my ponytail/bun all the time.  You know the areas, no air except at night, and even then it's buried deep in all that hair!!!

So I've washed, and noticed a few things while washing.  At this point... 22 days since my last cleanse/wash my hair started to smell a little funky when it rained or it got wet.  I'm a curly, I'm not afraid to get my hair wet when it rains, so that was a bit of a surprise.  My other surprise was that the soap wouldn't lather, and I don't mean bubbles, I mean when in my hair I can move it around - too much oil I guess so it was working too hard,  I started lathering in my hands and applying directly to my scalp in that crown area I mentioned only!!

Then rinsed with ACV and then again with hot water, 5 drops of my fave tangerine EO and a tip of jojoba oil.  Then I plopped to dry.

Today it is curly, bouncy, revitalized and feels light again.  Keep in mind I only soaped my scalp, so I've still got sebum down to the top of my ears... which is further down the length than previously so I'm doing alright!!

I'll wear it curly for two days then back to brushing daily and wearing it in a bun.

Let's see how long I go this time.... any bets?

Water Only washing?

How and when did this become my reality? I've got two and a half Argan Oil bars ready for shampooing, and haven't used one in three weeks!!

Ya... Me, water, ACV with tangerine EO, 100% pure aloe Vera as a moisturizer and my brush... That's it!

... Oh, and wearing my hair in a bun.

My hair is not stinky. It's not frizzy. Its not oily looking. It's easy to detangle. And I'm in shock!

It helps I've been sick, so washing my hair needs to be an evening event so I don't go out with a wet head and get more sick. It also helps that I've been too busy and tired to notice. It also helps that I've used the light and easily absorbed aloe Vera instead if my beloved jojoba oil for adding moisture to the ends. I thin it's helped with the smelling fresh factor. And tangerine essential oil, I love that stuff!

So, here's before the day 18 water only wash, ACV rinse with 1/2 tsp of jojoba in hot water to evenly squirt to distribute through the ends that tenderizer more dry.

Crazy huh...!

I've plopped to dry overnight.

I'm losing track of my washing....

What a lovely problem to have!!!

I'm on day 16 since my last argan oil wash with two WOs in between and my hair is soooo different!! I know the cooler air is to my advantage, however something is definitely different!

I just realized since my washes are less predictable, I'm forgetting to post!

Here's the summary of where I'm at:

The sebum has travelled down the length of almost my waist length hair, past my ponytail holder now reaching my bra strap. After that the length of it needs help from aloe vera or jojoba oil, or I'd wear it all out!!

So, going on 5 months of no poo I'm just going to put it out there... You will NOT get the same benefits without BBBing. Moving the sebum down the length of your hair is remarkable, gloriously beautiful and something I cannot say I've ever seen, not even in children's' hair!!

What you will get is still healthy, lovely hair, but it's different.

I've come to realize that BBBing and wearing my very curly hair in a bun is best to move the sebum, and get the beautiful results, however, I BBB really really well, then do a WO with ACV and EO rinse and plop to dry after a finger or wide tooth comb straightening (my hair doesn't tangle as much either!!!!!!) and it looks fabulous for 2 days... Then BBB, wear in a bun and repeat WO when I'm ready to be curly.

Products:
I use aloe or jojoba oils in my hair, sometimes I put the jojoba teaspoon in my squirt bottle with very warm water and shake immediately as I'm applying it (mixing with warm water) so it gets better distributed down the bottom half of my hair - that's been awesome! To wash, I use an argan oil soap bar or in the summer SoapNuts juice was great!

I also... Brush every day or every other day, or the crown of my head gets itchy and oily, and I'm
Not a happy girl! Oh! I was using aloe butter for the hairline flyaways but I don't seem to need it anymore despite wearing it in a bun so often. Crazy!!!

And plopping in an old T-shirt is how I get my curls!!! The pic above was on day 10 I believe, using nothing but a little 100% aloe vera gel on the bottom and ends! (Google long sleeve plop or plunk hair)

Hair Update

So, I'm on day 13 or 14 now and I did a WO this morning with an ACV rinse and plopped to dry and guess what... my hair is back!!  It's still soft, and shiny and my natural sebum is a hands width down the length of my hair past my ponytail elastic and finally, my hair has volume when curly again.  I did feel that yuck, I think I should wash feeling on day 9 or ten, and I just brushed and wore it in a bun the whole week.  Today, it looks great!

I'm tempted to keep going with the WO washes and brushing till the cows come home... I wonder if I can get my natural oils right down to the tips of my hair???

My scalp feels great!  Not smelly either!  It helps that the weather is colder and I'm really not sweating!!!

My hair is shiny and smooth when brushed into a bun... I'm gonna keep on keeping on!!  Wish me luck!

Coconut Oil - wow!!

Click here to go to the article.

Hair Update

As a curly girl, my hair needs to be wet to restyle it, so I tend to rinse with water and use my fingertips to scrub my scalp and I call that a WO or a water only rinse. Some days I follow up with a 50/50% apple cider vinegar/water rinse, sometimes I don't. Because of time and work and life, I've been washing with the argan oil soap bar and following up with the ACV/water rinse and sometimes instead of adding oil for moisture, I was putting that small amount ing squeeze bottle with hot water and my fave essential oil and adding it to the length of my hair, avoiding the scalp and brushing it through. I found I got an excellent distribution, my tangles just fell away and my hair was looking great!

But in my last post I mentioned I think my hair reached its saturation point... So weird! It became lifeless, yet shiny.

So I've been thinking about that and decided since the weather is getting colder and even my skin is feeling more dry, I'd skip the routine of washing this weekend and try for 14 days instead of 7 knowing full well that 9 days is my tipping point.

Wish me luck!

Update: To solve my saturation problem, I didn't use egg... I did nothing - it worked!!

A setback

I'm 14 weeks into no poo using SoapNuts successfully and now the Argan Oil handmade Castille soap bar - both successfully with an ACV rinse. As a curly girl, I tried DWV once and pretty much knew we were never going to get along ;)

Here's my issue. I think my hair has gotten used to the argan oil soap. It sounds weird but the first few times my hair just sucked it up, then a much needed trim and my curls were smiling.

It may just be possible that I'm too oiled up, using hair friendly oils, with lustre but what I think has happened is since my hair looked great, I wore it curly most days versus previously wearing it in a bun.... That meant less time BBBing and therein lies the problem.

I think my hair is lacking natural sebum and has reached a saturation point with the oils I'm adding!

It's lighter, more flyaway curls, it doesn't look as healthy...

I find this very interesting. I'm going up do an egg wash on the weekend, and in the meantine, back to my slick and stylish up do, and some BBB me-time.