Today I finally took the shampoo-free plunge.
On the heels of reading Mrs Boo Radley's epic post on the subject, I decided it could work for me after all. I've toyed around with the idea for over a year now, and have been using SLS-free shampoo (trying to... most of the time, at least) for as long. While I feel good about the more natural shampoos and my hair likes them, they are crazy-expensive.
My previous concerns mostly centered around how it would work for my hair. Most of the blogs and discussion success stories I've read were about thick, curly, over-processed hair. Not so much my fine, oily, never colored variety.
So basically, my hair looks pretty much the same as any decent hair day. However, it feels fantastic- light and soft and happy. The gist of this shampoo-free thing is to use a baking soda/water paste as the "shampoo" and a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse as the "conditioner". There's science-y reasoning of course, but I'll leave that to the folks who really know what they're doing. The baking soda paste feels bizarre on my head, but in a good way. The ACV rinse gives a potent burst when poured over the head, also good. My hair does not smell like vinegar! It smells like... clean?
Like I said, so far, so good. I have no idea how my hair will tolerate going from daily washing (since I was probably 11) to this new regime, whether or not I'll have the dreaded transitional period. Clearly, there will be a learning curve. I'm just excited to eliminate freaky chemicals from one area of my life.
