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

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.

Has YOUR Hair Ever Been Perpendicular to Your Face?

Last Saturday I washed with Baking Soda and rinsed with Vinegar.
On Tuesday I rinsed.
On Wednesday. I played softball. Here's what that looked like:

I'll confess to not always wanting hair
that defied gravity

I'll remind everyone that it was like 91 last Wednesday. And no, thanks for asking, but we tied. There was no way in hell that rinse was going to last that long. As it was, my hair was a greasy mess. But why wash it that morning when I knew I was going to have to wash it after softball? 

I walked into the shower, and my tube had the same issue that Edwina's tube had. It was crusty (and not in a...wait...crusty is never sexy). I added water to it. Shook it like it owed me money (cause, honestly, that GoToob was NOT cheap!), and squeezed some out. It seemed a little thick, so I added a bit of shower water to it before massaging it onto my scalp. Finished with the vinegar rinse. Huzzah!

NO. There was no "huzzah" to be had. The first real time I massaged my scalp with the baking soda mixture it felt great, soft, blowing. Wonderful. This time? Straw. If I were a mule I'd eat my own hair it was that dry. I was dejected.

The fault of the internet is the lack of
impact on senses outside of sight. 

Trust me, that's me looking dejected with straw like hair.

I was rather worried about what the baking soda was doing to the color I put on my hair (yes, I know...let me remove some chemicals from my scalp, but keep others on my hair...I know it's non-sensical, but this whole naturoo thing to me is out of vanity anyway so there!). Enter fabulous hairdresser (I'm calling her Faha from now on so I don't have to type out "fabulous hairdresser" each time) . I called to make an appointment to get my roots dyed. I warned her that I've "been doing that natural shampoo thing."
"Oh, ok," she said in a quite non-judgmental tone. "What does your hair feel like?"
"Well, greasy," I admitted, "and today it feels like straw too."
She went on to say that she hasn't had many clients that continue with it after they start trying it, and she usually tries to dissuade folks from it, but that we'd talk about it at my appointment on Saturday.

Saturday rolled around. My hair was only just starting to feel almost like hair again, but it was still straw like, and tangled. Faha lifted strands. "I don't like this," she said.
I sighed. Honestly, I don't like it either. I'm giving it the good ol' college try. If it doesn't work itself out in two months, I'll have to figure something else out. I also told her I thought I was done with the baking soda regiment due to what it's done this time. "You could try using just conditioner," she said, giving me an out. I told her I'd think about it after this trial period ends if it's unsuccessful. She did say "You know, they used to use baking soda in the 20s and 30s," I nodded, she kept on, "and there's a reason they invented shampoo."

This is the part where I'm torn between whether that reason was cleanliness, softness, and body, or if it was the commercialism that my skeptical self suspects.

She lathered the dye on my short tresses. She read her magazine, and I sat there knitting. She moved me to the sink, let it sit on the ends for a bit, and then rinsed the dye off, and washed using only conditioner.

Cheating has never ever in a million eons felt as good. The color, the color is beautiful. The movement, it swings. She rolled the edges under. It had a sheen (that was NOT grease!). It was light and fluffy and wonderful. This was "huzzah" worthy!

If you could feel the silky softness,
this photo would mean a LOT more.

And honestly, I have to say, that was saturday and it's almost Tuesday and it still looks pretty good. Granted, it's only two days, and that makes sense, but still.

Anyway, I do mean it. I'm done with the baking soda. Next up will be a honey and aloe gel mix from Code Red Hat. I picked up some aloe gel from Whole Foods (nothing like a trip to the aloe area of Whole Foods to make you realize how much you're NOT a hippie!) and I apparently have a honey hookup from Bee Raw and am super psyched to use this very tasty honey (I might have opened it today to taste it before using it in naturoo...). So that'll probably happen on Thursday morning after Wednesday's softball game. Stay tuned!

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 19 (the conditioning at the salon doesn't count, right? It wasn't really shampoo...)

# of days since last naturoo: 4

Masseuse Check: It looks really good, Jenn!

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 3/10

I Rinsed

I could feel the grease in my fingers. I could feel the fluffy part in the back go slick with grease. I wasn't optimistic. So I used the apple cider vinegar rinse by itself. Hoping against hope that the acid could cut through the grease better than water alone. Thinking: "We shall see...the day is early still." 

I'm not like Edwina. When I smell vinegar I think of fall. I see red leaves on the ground and apple crisps in a recycled cardboard plate. It reminds me of the first time I went to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival. Stopping at a booth of wool yarn rich in lanolin and warm despite its scratchiness. I remember picking up a brightly colored skein, bringing it to my nose and inhaling it deeply. Smells of hay, sheep, oily shears and vinegar swarming my brain. The rush of supporting the farm by buying a skein (or 2, or a whole sweater's worth, why not come out and say it?) and knitting with a yarn steeped in color, locked in with vinegar is what I think of when I smell vinegar. I have actually found myself knitting more these past two weeks than in previous months. Perhaps some subliminal motivation? At any rate, I don't mind smelling like vinegar and besides, I just assume that others can't smell my hair anyway. 

The lesson of the day is to keep a boar bristle brush at work so I can brush my hair there when I get in, after my hair dries so I'm less self conscious about the greasy separation. After I got in tonight, here's the result:

Looks smooth, doesn't it?

It still feels soft under all the grease, which I'm interpreting to mean that it's clean. I was pretty surprised by that, I must say, but there you have it. Plan is to wash again tomorrow night when I get home from softball.  

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 13

# of days since last naturoo: 4

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 7/10

Dyer Consequences

Wednesday I washed my hair with the new, more potent formula. I really dug in and scrubbed my scalp more than I had on Tuesday. Really laid into it. Results were actually pretty great.

Day of second naturoo experience, everything is groovy!

There was a breeze. My hair moved. It moved! It was fine and felt just like it had been washed with traditional shampoo! We have a winner!

But (there's always a "but," isn't there?)...

Further research is leading me to worry about the effects of the baking soda on the dye I use in my hair. To the point where there has been a nightmare where my hair dresser refuses to dye my hair because she heard I'd been using the baking soda mixture. A friend who goes to the same hairdresser I do was telling me the hairdresser told her that dye doesn't take well to hair that's been washed with baking soda and vinegar. Panic has ensued. I looked into alternatives like Dr. Brommer's Castille Soap, and found a comment by the makers that it's not good for dyed hair. I looked at honey washes, but found that not everyone finds that actually cleanses hair. I've looked at coffee grinds, and might try that next.

The thing I'm finding the hardest about this whole experience is that it's all based on others' experience. There really does seem to be a lack of science and professionals weighing in. That creates a dearth of hard and fast rules of what you should and shouldn't do, and I rather like rules. They help make it so I don't have to think ALL the time, just some of the time. I did, however, find a page on the blog: How To Hair Girl that seems to be an experiment of how the baking soda solution works on dyed hair. I'm taking solace in that experiment for now. The goal is to wash the hair only once a week, so minimizing the baking soda will be good in the long run for my scalp and my dye. I hope that it's just an issue of getting through the transition phase unscathed.

So I repeated Wednesday's process on Saturday, since I had a family event to go to. Similar results. Softness, but stopping short of the volume I've read others experiencing elsewhere. That was the last time I washed, and today we're getting back to greaseville.

There's a bit of separation going on...

I'm not feeling too too bad about this, but I doubt it's going to make it until Saturday. You can't see here, but the roots are really growing out, so that means making an appointment with my hairdresser for more dye. I'm hoping to be able to see her on Saturday, when I'll pepper her with questions about this natural thing, and see if she has any pro tips/tricks to share. Since I don't want to wash right before I see her, if I can hold out until Wednesday to wash again, I think that might work for everyone involved...

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 12

# of days since last naturoo: 3

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 5/10

1 Naturoo

I did it. I washed with natural shampoo. It felt like washing with water even though I knew there was baking soda in it. I'm strange, and actually like the smell of vinegar (it reminds me of newly dyed/washed skeins of yarn!), so I was never worried about the smell. What I worried about was how that naturoo was going to get rid of all that grease. It worked. Sort of.

(L) back of hair is still greasy
(T) but look at the soft hair by the nape of my neck!
(B) still pretty greasy, though

This morning in the shower got weird. I'm so used to commercial shampoo that when I squirted the bottle of our Naturoo and realized it was mostly water, I got confused. To my credit, I was still under-caffeinated. Where is the lovely goopy consistency I know and love? How do I handle this? Well, I decided to handle it by squirting the tube right into my hair near the scalp. I tried to rub it around, but there's only so much rubbing around of water you can do before you start to feel useless. I sprayed the vinegar solution on my short tresses. Rinsed and toweled off.

My normal routine is to comb my hair with a wide toothed comb and get on with my life. It takes my hair about a half a day to dry, and like I say on the sidebar, I like to minimize the amount of time it takes me to get ready in the morning, so there's no blow drying when it's this warm out. Not until noon did I finally get what's going on with my hair. When I left this morning, I still felt grease and was not optimistic about this day. However, around noon, pulling my fingers through my hair, rubbing the nape of my neck I was surprised. What's this? Is it soft? It feels clean! I got it clean, it just doesn't look clean! GAH!

It's the worst nightmare, right? Being something, but coming off to others as something else.

I had to switch to Naturoo to wash my hair every day. Even with commercial shampoo I was only washing it every other day. While one wash of commercial shampoo could just whisk away all this grease, I'm not giving up that easy. A change is in order.

So, our original recipe, which you may remember from yesterday's post, was 1 tablespoon of baking soda for 1 cup of water. In the post-mortem research of today's wash, I found a blog called "The Hairpin"(now on the sidebar because it's one of my new favorite informative blogs on the subject) where the woman used a 1:1 ratio of baking soda to water. When I came home tonight, I took out my GoToob and mixed a concoction of equal parts baking soda and water. With the grease the way it is, there's no way I could handle work and a professional function after work without washing my hair, so we'll give that a go tomorrow.

Hopefully the magic potion.

You can tell the new recipe has a much more milky appearance. If this doesn't work (but if the Care Bears exist it will surely work!) my next step is to find an air tight container I can put some baking soda in to take out in clumps while I'm in the shower. I have also heard of this working, and clearly it's the most drastic case.

Hypothesis # 2

I'll bet that we started this recipe backwards. I think that our sebum creating scalps are in party mode right now like highschoolers when their parents aren't home and we probably need a higher concentration of baking soda to start with. Once our scalps get used to the fact that we're expecting them to do their own thing they won't want to party anymore and will settle down to watch some Game of Thrones with a friend and a beer. Accordingly, we'll need less of the baking soda to tame them. 

Jenn's Current Status:

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 6

# of days since last naturoo: 0

Concerned Coworker Check: "It looks great! It doesn't look wet anymore!" (never has such a ringing endorsement been doled out so cheerily)

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 7/10

It Might Just Be That Time

Huzzah for that weekend, there. I'm hoping that it helped get a lot of oil out of my system (I know the road is longer still). I think starting this project in the middle of the week was great as it allowed a lot of greaseballness to happen this weekend.

The downside of short hair is that I can't just put it in a bun.

But yeah. That's gross. I'm trying my best to pull a 90s slick hair style with it behind my ears. Sorta like Trinity from The Matrix:

Almost, right?

They wouldn't have had shampoo on the Nebuchadnezzar, right? I did tell my husband I wanted to be like Trinity. I think this might be as close as I can get as I'm 90% sure my leather catsuit wearing days have ended.

No one at work has said anything yet, but really, why would they? They're nice people and nice people keep their judgments to themselves. I have a dinner tonight with former colleagues. At least two of which check my facebook so they might know why my hair looks like crap.

So let's see what happens tomorrow morning when I wash with the naturoo (that's what I'm calling natural shampoo since I'm too lazy to continually write baking soda & Apple Cider Vinegar and "bs" means something else in my world.). I can remember only once when I was looking forward to a shower this much. The day I returned to civilization after being at Burning Man for a week.

Jenn's Current Status

# of days since last commercial shampoo: 5

Significant Other Check: not available - thank god we're on opposite schedules

Public Perception Paranoia Scale: 8/10 I'm getting through it by sheer determination...