101 in 1001: All-natural baking soda shampoo and apple cider vinegar conditioner

No-poo! What a horrible term for a great thing. I'd been wanting to try doing the no-shampoo/conditioner thing for a while, ever since a few of my friends converted, but honestly was just too scared to deal with the transition period that's supposed to happen. But I finally did it, and I love it! I'm not going back anytime soon. My hair looks and feels great, and it's super cheap. At this point, I've been no-poo for I think about a month straight, and before that, I was using shampoo only about once a week since probably sometime in February. Here are some tips and tricks that I've figured out, for anyone that's interested.

Transitioning to no shampoo: 

Before I went no-poo (did I mention I hate this term), I switched to an all-natural shampoo with no lathering agent (I was using a Nature's Gate product, but there are plenty of alternatives). And even before that, when I was still using regular shampoo, I was only watching my hair every other day. Then I started adding in an apple cider vinegar rise about once or twice a week, and that was a big part of what convinced me to make the switch. I was using about 1/4 C apple cider vinegar (ACV) to about 3/4 C water, and it made my hair so soft, shiny, and bouncy! Even if you aren't into no-poo (who would be with that name), try the ACV rinse.
Anyways, once I was using natural shampoo and ACV, I figured trying the baking soda shampoo couldn't hurt--after all, you can always start to use regular shampoo if you don't like it, and baking soda is so cheap there's not a lot to lose. I initially was using regular shampoo about once a week if I felt my hair was too dirty or if I used a lot of product in my hair, but at this point I'm all no-poo all the time!
There definitely was a bit of a transition period but I'd recommend keeping a natural shampoo or shampoo bar (I like the Burt's Bees) on hand just in case. Baking soda also makes a great dry shampoo, and I've also been using Batiste dry shampoo, which really works (unlike a lot of other ones I've tried), smells great, and washes out fine with baking soda. Also, brush your hair! I tend to wet down my hair every day in the shower even if I don't wash it. Keep with it for about 2 weeks and you should see your hair adjusting.

Recipes and tips for use

My shampoo recipe is pretty much the basic one floating around on the internet--about one part baking soda to three parts water. I also add a few drops or shakes of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap, which helps it later a tiny bit and smells good. I put this in an old Dr. Bronner's bottle, which is basically like a regular shampoo bottle--screw on lid with a flip top and little hole. This is important, because you need a wide-ish mouth to get the baking soda in, but then a narrow opening because the shampoo is basically the thickness of water. I'd recommend an old shampoo, conditioner, body wash, or other bottle with a screw on lid. I think a water bottle with the pop-up top, the standard kind with the little thing you can bite open, would work too. I mix about 3 washes worth a few times a week.
In the shower, I just wet my hair, shake the bottle, and pour it on my head. I start on one side above my ear and move around, then do the crown/back of my head. My hair is really short, so distributing it isn't a big deal for me, but friends with longer hair suggest sectioning your hair sort of how they would if you were getting a haircut, and then doing each section. Leave this mixture on for about a minute and rinse.
For ACV conditioner, I use about 1/4 C of ACV with 3/4 C water. I don't mix this ahead of time, just pour some vinegar in a Solo cup before I shower and fill it up with water right before I dump it on my head. Simple! Using a Solo cup (or the same cup every time) also helps with measuring. Leave this one for about 3-5 minutes, as long as you would leave conditioner on, then rinse.

But won't my hair smell weird?

Nope! I've found that sometimes when I wet my hair down again, it smells faintly of vinegar, but there's no bad smell at all. If you're really concerned, you can really use some dry shampoo or perfume.

Why should I bother with this?

So many reasons! First, my hair really is softer and more under control. I get tons of compliments on it. On top of that, this might be a tiny bit more work than just buying your shampoo from the store (really, it's 30 seconds more work), but it's much cheaper. You'll never have to worry about needing 'your brand'--you can always find baking soda and ACV. Also, it's better for your hair to have a little bit more of it's natural oils in it--that's what helps to make it so soft and flyaway-free. And there's all kinds of nasty chemicals in traditional shampoos and conditioners--they're made to strip your hair of it's oil so it feels good for about a day but then you need to wash it again, conveniently using even more shampoo and conditioner. Those chemicals and plastic bottles also aren't great for the environment. I also find myself using less product in my hair (again, cheaper!), which I'll talk more about later. Something that I've noticed personally is that my scalp isn't as itchy--I used to use an anti-dandruff shampoo a few days a week because my scalp would get dry, itchy, and sort of flaky, but I've had absolutely no problems with any of this.
So in short: your hair will look/feel better, it's cheaper, easy to do, safer, more environmentally friendly, no need to use 900 products, no more itchy dandruff scalp.

But the breaking-in period is supposed to be 3 weeks! I can't go three weeks with dirty hair!!

Oh, yes you can. If I did it, anyone can do it. It's really not that bad, just get yourself some dry shampoo and suck it up.

Pictures or it didn't happen!

Just to prove that you won't be a grease ball, here are some pictures of me before and after no-poo.

Here are some pictures of me before going no-poo:

Me on the left (and my friend Maggie)

 

Right after getting my hair cut.

I think you can see how my hair looks kind of dry, and there are definitely flyaways.

Now, after no-poo for several weeks!

This day, I washed my hair in the morning.

Me (and Maggie again) on a dry-shampoo day.

I think you can tell that 1) my hair is really not a greasy mess, 2) it actually looks shiny and healthy, with no flyaways, 3) I think that the texture looks better--almost like I have product in it (I don't). This has cut down on the amount of product I use, because I don't need a smoothing serum and a texturing cream and hairspray--now I just use a little bit of heat protector before I blow dry.

I really prefer the way my hair looks and feels when I'm using baking soda shampoo and ACV. It's definitely cheaper too! Overall, I'm really glad I did it, and especially glad that I stuck with it for long enough to see the results. If you're inspired to go no-poo after this (or maybe to come up with a better term for no-poo), I'd love to know what you think!