I have thrown away shampoo.
I
have not completely gone off the store shelves, as far as hair care- yet. However, I may soon. In reading I came across an
article over a year ago that said some top models will not shampoo their hair days
before a shoot- if ever- because of the fight for frizz and fuss that comes
after, rather they will use only conditioner. I thought- ewwwwww! And then I
googled it, read more, and thought, “Really?”
I read more, and no longer
thought ‘ewwwww’.
My personal epiphany occurred when one blogger I read
challenged any reader to pick up their shampoo and conditioner both and compare
the back labels. I did; and I was sold. Virtually the exact same
ingredients save one factor- suds. The blog then posed the simple question: why
expose your hair, scalp, and skin to the same drying, dulling, and damaging chemicals twice in a row? No
wonder it dries it out, makes it less manageable – it’s not just squeaky clean-
it’s stripped!
So I tried it.
And
I haven’t touched shampoo since.
Amazing. It's just amazing. I am floored, excited, and slightly P-O'd I didn't understand this years ago and saved myself a small fortune on products I never needed.
It
takes about 3-4 shampoos to be effective, because what has happened is that in
the normal routine of our lives shampooing and then conditioning – we have
stripped so much of the natural oils off our scalp and hair that it doesn’t
produce a normal amount on its own anymore- it’s trained to be over stripped
and thus mass produce huge amounts of oil to compensate. Frankly, it takes about
3-5 showers of just using conditioner alone for your scalp to adjust and not
belch out so much oil. But once it does, you’ll notice as you rinse- your
fingers can still produce the clean squeak as they run through your hair- your
brush can go bye bye, as a comb runs easily through. Trimming split ends won’t be needed as fast
either, as your hair isn’t as stripped of natural oils and not as dry- [depending
on how much you blow dry or color.] I allow my curls to dry naturally, and I have virgin hair right now (no color) so I do
not experience split ends occurring until about 4-5 months.
The
trick lies in the scalp. Truthfully – healthy hair starts at the scalp. Wet
your hair to the scalp. The first portion of conditioner must be focused on the
scalp, then I get my fingers in there and really rub/massage it in to the
roots- afterwards I pull it to the ends. If the weather wind has dried me out
that day- I’ll add a bit more to the ends before rinsing. That’s it. It’s wonderful. It works! And I
have been able to throw away the anti-frizz products, the mousse, and the dry
ends serum. Saving a huge fortune on
hair products.
Hint
2: If you do use huge amounts of styling
products, the best way to remove them is with a apple cider vinegar rinse. ½ c
ACV to ½ c warm water – after conditioning, rinse with acv mix – slightly rinse
out (the smell evaporates off
quick) and wahh-lah, soft silky
naturally clean without styling products residue.
