None-the-less, I have several new ones in mind, and here's the first.
Okay, so previously, sometime around last winter I believe, I ended up hearing about this thing going around about going completely Shampoo Free. ::gasp::
Going completely shampoo free? Ick!! At least that was my first reaction. But I saw so many articles on it, I figured there had to be something to it, right? So I kept reading. A lot. So I'm going to lay out for you how I'm going to go about the rest of this article. First, I'm going to explain the general terms and conditions of going shampoo free. I'll share some of the best sites I've found. Then I'm going to talk about my own experience with my hair in general, and then talk about what my version of this experiment is, and what my results thus far have been. Here is goes.
So, basically, if you've ever had the heart to turn over that shampoo bottle of yours and taken a look at the instructions, you'll have noticed about a hundred ingredients that you probably have never heard of or maybe cannot even pronounce. Don't worry, you're not alone. There's a lot in there to add more of a look and smell to the shampoo than there is to help your hair. But there's another problem with modern shampoo. The whole reason it's developed in the direction it has is not because the beauty corporations are necessarily evil and want to see your hair fall out at the tender age of 40 so they can then sell you on some hair growth shampoo. Truly, it's not. Most of these shampoo recipes came about as a way of creating faster results for customers to react to. If you switch shampoos and all of the sudden your hair looks or feels different, you'll notice. Unfortunately, as it is with nearly every aspect in life, faster usually means cutting very important corners. In this case, that means quality. And in the end, your hair suffers. There are a few ingredients in there you'll see that are actually really bad for your hair. In general, it's a good idea to stray away from anything that has the word "acid" in it, aside from amino acids, which is predominately a protein that helps to rebuild hair.
Also, glycerin. Vegetable based glycerins are the base of nearly every shampoo, conditioner, lotion, creme, what-have-you. Why? Because it works as great lubricant. But that's about it. It doesn't do much for your anything besides being a great filler to smooth what little actually-beneficial ingredients there are in that bottle over whatever part of your body you want. But it can clog. Badly. It's a lubricant, which means it's thick and slippery. It can clog the pores of your hair and skin and keep them from absorbing much of anything else. Try to avoid it.
Lately, you've probably seen a lot of shampoos out there touting "Sulfate Free". What's sulfate and why should we care? Well, if you wikipedia it, you'll get an über scientific definition. But for something a little simpler, it's a mineral, usually used to add a little iron to one's diet. It's actually used in a lot of medicines and is, in-and-of-itself, not bad for you and in fact can be beneficial. However, the specific kind of sulfate used in most shampoos is SLS, or sodium lauryl sulfate. While it does have organic origins, (from the coconut), the chemical compound that it is as found in thousands of beauty products, is actually not that great for you. And while, yes, your hair is technically dead, shampoo still comes into contact with your skin and that means those chemicals are still getting absorbed into the living matter of your body. SLS is basically a detergent, which is why it's in shampoos – fast results for cleaner feeling hair. But make no mistake. Ultimately, you shouldn't be washing your hair with it, because the long term effects are probably not worth it.
All of these chemicals strip your hair of all of its natural oils. You name it. Splint ends, dull hair, it'll happen folks. Now, yes, there are ingredients in the shampoos to nullify these effects. But they only treat the symptoms and not the cause. Which is important. Because your body is smarter than you think. The more you strip those natural oils off your hair, the faster and harder your body will work to replenish them. Have you ever thought to yourself at the end of a long day, "Eeew, my hair gets so oily!" Can't go more than 24 hours without washing your hair? There's actually a really good chance this is why. By shampooing your hair more often, your doing the opposite of what you should.
So you could drop some extra cash on some of these sulfate free products. My personal favorites are Renpure and One 'n Only's Argan Oil line. However, you could go this alternative route: Shampoo Free. Most of the articles I've read on this little technique will tell you that going shampoo free will be frustrating for about two weeks, but ultimately, you'll adjust.
(Here are some decent reference sites:)
http://shine.yahoo.com/beauty/3-hair-rinses-going-shampoo-free-155400549.html
http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/
http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/4-tips-to-going-no-poo-the-shampoo-free-movement/
Okay, maybe you can handle that. But, most of these will also give you some natural hair shampoo recipes for a reason. And I've read a lot of them, and I've heard a lot of advice on it too. But if you ever want good hair-care advice, ask a woman of colour with natural hair. One late night I explained my hair-care woes to a friend of mine and she explained to me, in basically what was a slap-the-back-of-your-head kind of way, that I needed to lay off the shampoo.
"But, I've read about this," I argued. "And I have a really bad scalp. Seriously a few days without my Selsun Blue and my scalp starts to bleed. I can't go without it." Which is true. I have really dry skin and have since I was in elementary school. I've been using Selsun Blue for over a decade, and I would recommend it highly to anyone who asks. But my friend gave me a dead pan look again and returned this: "If you give me that bottle I bet I can find ten ingredients on there actually that are bad for your hair."
And she's certainly not wrong. Now, I'm not going to lie or attempt to play victim. When it comes right down to it, if I really want to take care of my hair and style it, I can have gorgeous hair. It has it's faults, but when all is said and done, it's not the worst to deal with. I have hair that's very fine, and I have a lot of it. It tangles easily and is extraordinarily not resilient. In some ways that's a good thing. It's highly style-able. So, besides the scalp, I don't have much to argue about.
Only, the conversation with my friend made me realize something. I had previously mentioned in this very blog how I'd gone cleanser-free with my face and it actually righted a lot of problems I was having with that, both oily and dry skin. So why was I thinking my hair was any different?
Alright, let's do this, yeah? No. Needless to say, I still have my hesitations about going shampoo free. Mostly because of my scalp. Seriously, it hurts. BUT I have vowed to not shampoo nearly as much. I used to shampoo every day. I'm down to every third day now, going on a month of this experiment. I bet there are still some people cringing out there, but seriously, give it some time and yes you will absolutely see the results.
I started with a four day detox. No shampoo at all. Then I began to shampoo every third day. I use only my Selsum Blue Medicated Shampoo for my scalp. After a week my hair was producing less oil so that going three days felt like I had gone only two. It took a little longer for my dry scalp to catch up to the change, but it did eventually and I've decided I want to try and push for every four days and see how that goes. In the mean time, yes, my hair does still get unsightly oily, so to rectify that, I do what I had always done in times of emergency when I couldn't shampoo every day–powder your hair.
Sounds weird, but it's actually what you do when you use dry shampoo. And you can use dry shampoo too, if you feel the need. I used to use Rockaholic's Dirty Secret Dry Shampoo back in high school but the price of that has gone up significantly since then. More recently I found Beyond the Zone's dry shampoo to be satisfactory. The thing about dry shampoo is this, though. It doesn't last long and it's expensive. Now, if you like the convenience and don't mind the cost, go for it. The benefit of dry shampoo versus powdering your hair is the fact that the powder is aerosolized so it's spread more evenly. But if you want the cheaper option, just pick up a bottle of baby powder. Lightly sprinkle it one your roots, then use your finger tips to rub it in like you would shampoo. Finally, take a brush through your hair. A boar's hair or imitation boar's hair brush is best to help distribute the powder as evenly as possible. This helps to absorb the excess oil and gives a nice smell to your hair. However, this technique becomes a litte difficult for those with darker hair, as the powder lightens even my dirty blonde roots. Another alternative (thought one I cannot personally vouch for as I've never tried it) is Bamboo Style Cleanse Extend Translucent Dry Shampoo which can get pretty pricy, or the alternative, Bumble and Bumble's hair powder, in various colours.
So what should you take away from this awfully long entry? Well, pointers:
1. Try to shampoo less; it'll benefit the overall health of your hair.
2. If reducing your shampoo use or going shampoo free, be patient. It takes time to undo the damage that's been done.
3. How your treat your body is often an extension of yourself. The more you pay attention to what your body needs and its long term care, the more you begin to treat yourself the way you deserve to be treated: with respect and care.
- KissMYGorgeous
