The Long and Short of It

Wow, has it really been 3 months since we last posted? We are terrible, no good, very bad bloggers, Jenn, truly. And it's not like we haven't had updates that are relevant to your interests—we have! We're just...delinquent. Oops. Well, I'll leave Jenn to expiate her guilt on her own time—though I will tease her contributions with the following key words: no-to-low and red. Go ahead and speculate. You might even get her to write soon!

As for me, I do believe that the last time I posted, all the way back in the old days aka July, I was on a rye flour wash and occasional ACV + EO cycle, which seemed to be working just fine for me. And, well, it continued to work just fine for me, which is probably why I haven't posted anything.

Busted.

Yeah, that's a lie.

The truth is that I was just plain old lazy. And laziness is what also led to a change in my self-prescribed routine. Anyone else who's tried rye flour wash (using the actual paste, not just the water used to soak the rye flour) knows that it is an Absolute Bitch (official term) to get rye flour flakes out afterwards, especially if you have long hair. Don't get me wrong, I loved the results, my hair felt and looked great, and I was only doing a rye flour wash once every 2 weeks or so. But OMG trying to rinse and then comb all the flakes out was a real production, and not at all quick and easy, which was at least part of my reasoning for going no-poo in the first place.

Now, I probably should have just tried straining out all of the flour and just using the soaking liquid, or something else that removed the larger flakes from my mix, but I didn't. (Again, laziness was key, here.) Instead, I looked at the measuring cup I used for rye flour mixes, sitting in the caddy in my shower, and I looked at the bottle of Shea Moisture still sitting next to the sink, because I'd never gotten around to putting it back in the drawer with other rarely used haircare products, and I caved. Yep, that's right, I'm now a low-poo/no-poo lady. And you know what? I feel good about that.

I also joined HYDRA as Agent Cylocptopuss.

I settled into a nice routine—low poo once every 2 or so weeks, diluted ACV + a few drops of lavender or lemon oil every 4–5 days in between, and water only otherwise. And it worked, through the entire rest of the summer—huzzah! before jumping into this grand experiment with my (equally) MIA compatriot, I had been most worried about how to manage transitioning and going about daily, sweaty, humid life in the big city without a daily oil-stripping routine. Turns out the answer was: just fine. And that's been hair life since last you saw me. Heh, I guess I really didn't have many updates, after all.

That's a lie, too.

Oh yeah, a few minor updates! Since one of the primary reasons to switch to no-poo (and then low-poo) was to stop using potentially harmful chemicals like sulfates and silicones in my daily routine, it didn't really make sense that I wasn't following suit with other stuff I put on my body on the regular. So, keeping that in mind (and having finally finished using up the decidedly chemically stuff I had on hand), I've since switched to using an aluminum-free deodorant stick from Jäson, which I think I've mentioned (somewhere) as having had the effect of making my underarms feel smoother and less puffy than they did when I grabbed something like a Dove antiperspirant stick out of the medicine cabinet. I've also noticed that the skin of my underarms just looks...lighter than it did. (Is this TMI?) No idea if that's actually true, having not paid very close attention, but I'll go with it.

I've also recently switched to a sulfate- and phthalate-free body wash from Nature's Gate, which I chose, honestly, because it was the first one I saw on my local pharmacy shelf that didn't list sulfates as an ingredient. I have no idea, at this point, if it will cause any appreciable difference in my skin, but for now, I am enjoying NOT smelling like perfume for hours after my shower. Not that the body wash is unscented—it's actually got a pleasant, light aroma—but it doesn't really linger on my skin the way other body washes do.

Oh! One major update, too. Well, sort of major. I mean, it's really not that big of a deal. It's kind of minor, maybe. Or not.

Is it just me, or does my head feel lighter?

Rye

Geepers. I haven't posted in forever.

So I tried the Rye flour. With mixed results.

I put 2tbsp in the gotube and added water to it until it was goopy. I did this a few weeks ago.

The first time I did it, I tried a rinse with white vinegar instead of the Apple Cider Vinegar I've been using. My hair looked alright after the rye flakes came out, but my scalp was amazingly dry. So the next time I did the rye wash, I went back to the ACV and put a little coconut oil on the ends. It worked a lot better. I went about 4 days between washes the first time, and my hair didn't even seem that greasy (though, I guess at that point I was comparing it to being super greasy after the honey/aloe mixture as I found that the honey/aloe mixture doesn't actually remove sebum). It felt more like hair. Less than grease and more than straw, so that was good, right?

I didn't need a full wash, but in between rye washes a couple weeks ago on a Wednesday I used the ACV rinse with the spray bottle. It was just a little greasy before, and it was a little less greasy with the ACV rinse, but my hair was really dull compared to what it was before this experiment. I played tennis that night and all I could smell was vinegar as I sweated which was kinda weird, but since I don't have a horrible hangup against the smell of vinegar, it was ok. i did a WO wash that night and felt better. My hair looked pretty great the next day.

I did the rye wash the following Friday with an ACV rinse. It was alright that day, and a little ok the next day (honestly, I did absolutely nothing the next day. I didn't even brush my hair or put a bra on, it was one of those - it was delightfully relaxing, but probably horrible for my hair).  After a WO wash on Sunday morning, my husband was making fun of what my hair was doing. It was stiff and greasy that day, and the next as well.

I washed again this past Thursday, so a bit less than a week between washes. Of course, the day of the wash I wake up and my hair is gorgeous. Why does that always happen to me when I'm greasy like mad the days leading up?! It seemed ok, but it does still feel rather waxy, and there really is almost NO shine to it at all. This is better, I guess, than a couple of weeks ago when I noticed that my scalp was not only crazy itchy, but also that parts were rather raw.

I think what all this means is that I'm not quite out of transition yet. Which is fine. I didn't expect it to go this quickly anyway. That's not my life. :) But the longer this transition period lasts, the less I think the payout is going to live up to my expectations.

I do rather like the body and thickness I've gained. It's possible that my hair is growing quicker because of it. It seems about time to make another appointment for my roots.

I'm really missing my shampoo hardcore right now.

Jenn's Current Status

# of days since last SLS shampoo: 55

# of days since last rye flour + ACV wash: 5

Hair Happiness Scale: 6/10

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 6/10

I'm Still Here

And just LOOK what's happened with my hair!

Hi kids. Did I mention I had a vacation? Well, I did (which is why I've been radio silent for so long), but I'm BACK and I'm still no-poo :)

Where was I? (You ask. You did ask, right?) I spent a glorious week and a half in Vancouver and SE Alaska, the latter on a surprisingly fun cruise. (Surprising, because I'd never been on a cruise before and had somewhat low expectations.) It was a great trip, filled with hiking, kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling (yes, snorkeling in Alaska), whale watching, and glacier viewing.

Glaciers are totally cool, in both senses of the word.

Going Low-Poo

As you may recall, I had a plan for my hair regimen going into the trip, which mainly consisted of holding out for as long as possible, and then indulging in a low-poo shampoo (is that cheating?). Well, that's pretty much exactly what I did. I landed in Vancouver with hair that hadn't seen a rye flour wash in 5 days, and—other than being matted airplane hair—it wasn't so bad. Which was great, because I promptly tested it—and myself—with a 3-hour mountain hike in North Vancouver the next morning.

The view was lovely.

And I celebrated by using my low poo that night! Now, I think I'd been building up in my mind what using low poo would feel like. After all, it's been quite some time since I last used a commercially available shampoo of any kind, and I have to admit I've missed the glorious sudsy feeling you get from a good lather. And since I'd so bravely conquered that mountain in the morning (a big deal for me, as I have a terrible fear of falling), I felt like I needed to reward myself. 

So in I went to my fancy hotel shower with my fancy non-SLS, moisturizing and thickening shampoo with its fancy-sounding ingredients, and it was...meh. Yes, it lathered and yes, it smelled great, but it also felt...slimy. You know that feeling you get in your hair when you use conditioner and it feels like a lot of work to rinse the product off your head and your hands? (I'm not making it up, I swear.) That's the feeling I had with the low poo, and I found that I didn't like it. It reminded me of the first time I ever used conditioner myself, which, honestly, wasn't until early college. Yes, that's right. Full disclosure: my childhood was a shampoo-only one (my mom didn't believe in the added expense of conditioners), which probably explains the giant knot that formed in my waist-length hair in high school, prompting an overnight switch to a shoulder-length style. So, you see, I grew up used to feeling my hair squeak after a wash, whereas the application of conditioner always made it feel a bit slippery, like I still had soap in it. And the Shea Moisture low poo, which was probably doing exactly what it says on the label, made my hair feel slippery and still soapy to the touch. Sigh. 

In all likelihood, it made my hair look fabulous and probably added some not unwelcome nutrients in, but I kind of missed my rye flour wash. Plus, I felt like my hair got greasy within 3 days. Boo. In any case, great-looking hair was not really a necessity on the rest of the trip, since Alaska was, well, rainy.

Can you see my hair? Doesn't it look fab?

Yep, my typical gear every day was a ponytail or pigtails and a ball cap, pulled low. Hey, Alaska is wet, and I had lots of outdoor physical activities! Water-only sufficed for most of the vacation, though there were also a few skip days (I was tired of my hair being wet).

And now, I'm back (and back to rye flour and ACV), trying to catch up. Did I miss anything?

Back to no poo, and cool with it.

Edwina's Current Status

# of days since last SLS shampoo: 48

# of days since last low poo: 9

# of days since last rye flour + ACV wash: 7

Hair Happiness Scale: 9/10

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 0/10

Transitioning Is Hard

After reading about the alkalinity of the baking soda wash we'd been using, and experiencing the straw hair of doom, I decided a change was needed.

We're still working on getting a PH test kit, so I don't know what the PH of this solution is, but the ingredients lead me to believe it will be much more gentle, maybe even nourishing than the baking soda.

Secret formula #2: Aloe Gel & Honey

I got the recipe from Code Red Hat

Naturoo Take Two!

1/4 Aloe Gel (I used one I got at Whole Foods)
2 tbs all natural honey (I used Colorado Star Thistle from Bee Raw Honey because apparently I have a honey hookup)

I actually doubled the mixture because I wasn't sure if I was going to get enough. I totally had enough, and probably would have had MORE than plenty if I'd just used the amount in the recipe. I mixed the ingredients in a blender and got something that's vaguely the consitency of shampoo. It smelled delightful, actually, though I resisted tasting it. I did, end up tasting the honey though. You know pouring that can be such a PITA. OMFG it was the most amazing honey ever and I can't wait to put it on waffles and in coffee and everything.

I digress.

This is what the mixture looked like, and probably the coolest naturoo photo this blog has ever seen:

Hey girl, I want to eat your sebum.

I used the mixture last Thursday for the first time. It did make my hair soft and it felt really clean right after. It moved in breezes and felt light.

Happy hair!

Then the oil came right back before the day was done. Not to the point where others noticed it, but I could feel it. 

I think this was taken that night, I'm not totally sure.
Looking at this now, several days removed,
the hair actually looks pretty good.

I washed again several times this week with water only, scrubbing my scalp, trying desperately to get rid of the sebum build up. No dice.

I washed again with the aloe/honey yesterday morning. I don't think I did a great job of getting all the honey out  of the back of my hair. It still felt a little sticky. But then later last night, as I was walking home, wouldn't you know that was the cleanest feeling part of my hair? 

The sebum likes to collect in the front where that one longer piece of hair likes to dangle. Indeed, that piece is covered in greasy sebum, making it look like I haven't washed my hair in days, when I just did. 

I think they key to this for me will be washing with water only almost daily until the transition phase is over.  I played tennis last night and washed with water only (which was way easier than packing my shampoo and conditioner, actually). I think I'm going to stick with the aloe/honey mixture for now since it's not drying my roots. I might pick up some essential oils to stick in it though, and make a cocoa/cornstarch dry shampoo for my especially sebumy days.

I'm not exactly the most patient of people, so this process has me a little frustrated, to be honest. I just cannot wait for that AHA moment of wonderfulness everyone talks about when my hair feels more like hair and less like the innards of an automobile's engine. Two things I have discovered, however, in this process:

1. People honestly don't notice your hair. Hair that I've thought has been almost unbearably greasy has actually been perceived as ok or nothing to comment on by other people.
2. Hippies do not smell like patchouli!  They smell like sebum! I know this because I've been smelling a LOT of sebum recently as my hair dries. I'm not really self conscious of it because I have a super high threshold of feeling self conscious of things (thanks Mom!) and also because most people aren't really getting close enough to me to smell my hair. 

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 30

# of days since last naturoo: 2

Random Friend #1 Check: Are you still even doing that no-poo thing? 

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 3/10

Shamless plug: no really, go check out Bee Raw's honey. It's delightful both for your insides and your outsides (the kind I used is also good for honey facials, which I didn't know is a thing, but apparently it is - this blog post is pretty good at explaining stuff on honey facials: She Knows - Why Honey Is Good For Your Skin). Their honey is also good for the bees too - they not only support artisinal beekeepers, but they've also set up a foundation to save endangered bees.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Yep, about to head off for vacation! BUT FIRST. Yes, that's right, I tried using a rye flour mix to wash my hair, and the results are...pretty good :)

Exhibit A: In which I am happier than a chocolate brownie.

I was admittedly a bit skeptical about washing my hair with yet another baking product, particularly one that looks like gloop.

Gloop is a technical term.

But the results speak for themselves: After washing with it, my hair felt clean, smooth, shiny, voluminous... Need I go on? Also, can I tell you a secret? That photo was taken 3 sweaty, humid days after using the rye flour wash. It should also be noted that I'm still using ACV as a conditioner, but much, much diluted from what I started with. Will it make a difference? We'll see. Am I a rye flour shampoo convert? Well, after just one go at it, sure...for now. Of course, I am about to embark on a low 'poo-fueled trip, using a Shea Moisture product, so who knows. Perhaps the seductive qualities of low 'poo will wile me away from the no-'poo life? (I'll certainly be cheating this week...)

The New Formula

Rye flour wash:

• 2 tbsp rye flour (in a 2oz. squeeze tube)
• just enough water to make it gloopy (see, technical term)

Apple cider vinegar rinse:

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 3 drops rosemary oil
• 4 drops lemon oil

Edwina's current status:

# of days since last commercial (sulfate-inclusive) shampoo: 27

# of days since last naturoo (rye flour + ACV): 3

Significant Other Check: "It looks good."
Judgmental Coworker Check: "It actually has more volume now (0 days post-rye flour) than at any other point in this whole experiment!"

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 1/10

Bonus video:

See you on the flipside!

Not Pictured

No, I am not about to reveal the identity of the guilty party in a season-long murder mystery arc. On the other hand, I haven't procured a pH test kit to photograph (or use), yet, so it must be guilty of something...

Not the correct way to pose for a mugshot.

I may have thrown us off-track a bit by blithely declaring, "Oh, any pet store that carries aquarium stuff will have a pH testing kit for sale!" Now, this is not untrue. However, contrary to my bleary memories of childhood fish tank maintenance, the pH kits sold in pet stores provide color guides that typically fall between 6–8 pH only, since it's not likely that your aquarium water is any closer to acidic than that without you actively dumping acids in among the poor little fishies. Also, since pH level is just one of many potential concerns when trying to help your aquarium thrive, the test kits I found were all bundled with a slew of other water testing purposes, driving up the cost of the kit past the point I was willing to spend to do a one-time test of my current BS and ACV mixes. Hello, selective stinginess, my old friend.

That said, as Jenn and I are finding online, MANY before us have done the legwork of testing their mixes and documenting their results, so...I'll continue to be lazy for at least a bit more. In any case, over the past few weeks, Friday morning has been my cave-in-and-wash-with-naturoo day, the day I sort of get fed up with the oily feel of my hair and/or the paranoia actually sets in. This past Friday, though, I had been binge-reading anti-baking soda no-poo blog posts, had not managed to acquire a pH test to determine how potentially damaging my own mixes might be, and also had not managed to find time to seek out rye flour to attempt a rye flour-based shampoo. What's a girl to do?

So, I opted to be daring, did my usual water-only rinse, and swept in to work with my hair down, air-drying on the subway, with only a slight care in the world. No one sat me down to ask me if there was a reason I was neglecting personal hygiene, so I'm guessing it looked completely normal. Phew! And, as it turns out, I think that was kind of the break I needed. I'd been locking myself in to the idea that I couldn't possibly last more than a week, when the truth is, I could probably go for longer. I should at least try, right?

Not bad for 3 hours of sweating while walking around in the sun.

Yes, my hair feels oily to the touch, but only at the very back of my head and, honestly, not as oily as it did say the first week of this whole enterprise. And yes, you can see some separation of locks happening, but I can live with that. (Oh the benefits of doing this with long hair.) Today, I let it air dry in the sun as I traipsed around Brooklyn, and it felt completely normal in the breeze. What's more, as far as I can tell, no one has noticed a difference! Either that or they're all being fake nice to my face. Speaking of which, quick shout-out to my fellow Bella Voce Singers for a lovely concert last weekend, and for—at the very least—being bemused by this blog. I DO hope (and believe) that I can slot you all into the former option, not the latter :)

What's Next?

So with a vacation looming, I think I'm going to hold off on ending this current water-only phase until just before I fly out OR my hair achieves previously unseen levels of oiliness (whichever occurs first). I'm sufficiently scared by all of the BS-is-bad-for-your-hair chatter to avoid a return to that method (though I WILL, I swear, test what's left of my mix...at some point. That said, I did manage, in all my errands today, to acquire some rye flour, courtesy of Whole Foods.

Not just for baking, apparently, though baking will also happen.

I also picked up some Shea Moisture Yucca & Baobab Thickening Shampoo as a low-poo option, if and when I'm ready to go that route. I'm bringing this with me on my trip, in case I need something more than a WO wash but without requiring that I find either BS or rye flour and ACV while on a cruise ship. (Though that would be an amusing request for shipboard services, I'm sure. "Um, could I ask your kitchen staff for a favor?") 

Edwina's current status:

# of days since last commercial (sulfate-inclusive) shampoo: 22

# of days since last BS+ACV wash: 8

Significant Other Check (immediately after WO rinse): "There's a slight smell, but it's barely noticeable. It's not pleasant or unpleasant, it just smells like wet hair."

Partner in Crime Check: "Have I mentioned that my level of jealous increases every time we talk about this?"

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 2/10

Put It to the Test!

I love these guys. Also, they're totally on the right track. When in doubt or when curious about something, put it to the test!

Over the past week or so, Jenn and I have been alternately terrifying ourselves and soothing ourselves by continuing to seek out and read others' recaps of their experiences with going no poo/shamphree (depending on which term you like best), including those who have, per the title of this post, put this method to the test. The biggest scare? The chemistry of what we're doing.

Baking soda is an alkaline substance, which makes it great as a cleaning agent. Apple cider vinegar is an acidic substance, which no-pooers use to neutralize the baking soda and return your hair to a good balance. Here's the thing, though—when they say that baking soda is alkaline, they mean REALLY alkaline.

Here's one of the best blog posts I've found that actually walks through the pH ups and downs of the BS/ACV technique, the not-at-all-scary-sounding Baking Soda Destroyed My Hair. (Seriously, go read this.) Basically (hehe), the sebum coating on human hair has a natural pH of somewhere between 4 and 5 (slightly acidic). This protective coating keeps your hair healthy and shiny. ACV has a pH of 2–3 (very acidic) or 3–4 when diluted, which makes it great at neutralizing a highly alkaline solution. An alkaline wash like baking soda cleans your hair by opening up the cuticles on your hair and an acidic rinse like apple cider vinegar closes them back up. Simple. Here's the thing, though—that opening up of hair cuticles that baking soda does? That's exactly what you do to your hair when you get it dyed—opening up the cuticles allows the dye to soak into your hair, resulting in longer-lasting color. And what happens when you dye your hair frequently (say once a month)?

Yep, exactly.

Now imagine doing that to your hair once a week. Oh, dear.

What this means for me, I have yet to determine. Jenn is trying some alternatives right now (but I'll leave it to her to update us all), and we've both been eyeing interesting posts about the benefits of rye flour. In the meantime—again, back to the theme—I still plan to test the pH of my own solutions. I wonder where they'll land... I, meanwhile, am bound for a 10-day vacation in a week, so I need to figure out a travel solution soon, if only because I don't really care to carry baking soda and apple cider vinegar with me (the logistics of the vacation make it somewhat impractical to mix on the go). Perhaps a low-poo for travel?

That said, I feel like my goal is clearer now: Reduce dependency on any kind of shampoo (no-poo alternative, low-poo, or other) to about once per month. I'm tracking at about a week's worth of water-only rinses right now before I'm fed up with oiliness, so I'd definitely like to extend that.

Edwina's current status:

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 20

# of days since last naturoo (BS + ACV): 6

Significant Other Check: "No, it doesn't look oily, just unkempt." (In response to my request for a check shortly after waking up.)

Public Perception Paranoia Check: 3/10