I caved.

I got in the shower this morning, my hair greasier than usual, and lazily skipped the dry corn starch treatment, thinking that the baking soda I had in the shower for my face would hold the solution. It didn't. Baking soda made my already greasy hair both waxy and greasy. If it wasn't early in the morning, I would have known that this is the effect it had before. Anyway, I had no time to be experimenting before going to work. (Although, apparently, I had time enough to blog.) I wearily reached for the shampoo bottle and squirted a dime-sized blob into my palm, worked it into a bit of a lather, and massaged it into my scalp. I feel like I've betrayed my own cause.

But you know what? I've gone without shampoo for almost five months and I fully intend to go back to a no-poo or at least less-than-conventional-poo lifestyle. Although shampooing for the first time after it has fallen out of personal habit and favor makes me realize why people give up on no-poo so often. Shampoo provides a predictability that no-poo cannot. It smells like sex-candy. And a little goes a long way.

Now that it's properly clean, I can confidently say that my hair definitely feels better than it ever did when I was shampooing and conditioning daily. Even if you don't give up shampoo, try to wean yourself gradually. Use less per application. You don't need it to lather on your head for it to be effective. Take a little in your palm, rub it around in your hands, and work it as far as it will go. If necessary, repeat. (I did two applications: top and sides, then crown and back.) See how much you can cut down without your hair looking any less clean than it would have with the amount you usually use.


In other news, I went a week without apple cider vinegar and could feel the effects: breakout, lethargy, tightness of clothing, etc. I've been making it with warm water and mixing honey into it recently because it's deleeeeecious. Facial routine is unchanged. Also, I ran out of Burt's Bees lip balm and have been using the super-artificial, super-effective moisturizer that I use on my elbow-rash on my lips. I'm thinking that with some beeswax and minty oil extracts, I could make a lip balm of my own, but in the meantime, this will have to do.

No Impact Man

I followed this blog for a little bit and remember reading that they were making a documentary.

No Impact Man: The Movie

Looking forward to seeing it, whenever I get a chance.

I think I've made it.

Since a brief vacation into New York City, where the tap water is wonderful for washing hair, I've cut corn starch and am living water-only, no-nonsense hair care. One thing I've started since, however, is blow drying. Energy inefficient, I know, but the principle that something is cleaner if it dries faster definitely applies to hair too.

A thorough brushing, some scalp massage, and good rinsing. I'm not using my boar bristle brush anymore, although it may come in handy if a sebummy build-up occurs around my roots. And a hand-held shower head with a power-mode is excellent for getting water pressure down to your scalp.