I've decided to stop washing my hair and see what happens. Since we moved house 2.5 years ago, I've spent a long time faffing about with my hair and being cross about it. The extremely hard water here (even harder than the hard London water in our previous house) just reacts with shampoo to make a scummy mess so that long hair like mine always looks limp, dull and in need of a wash.
I've been contemplating what to do about this - I've tried various shampoos, the best being Lush's Hard (a solid shampoo) and Lush's I Love Juicy (a liquid one), but I'm not prepared to go mainstream with our shampoos again. I tried washing it in rain-water which really helped but is not very practical for most of the year and is a real faff.
I could cut my hair, which I don't want to do as it doesn't look right short and would also need regular cuts which I don't do. I also thought about dreading it, but again, seems like a lot of hassle. I just want to leave it, occasionally brush it, but generally just leave it and it look OK enough so I'm not having major self-esteem issues over it.
I've tried using lemon juice, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, and various combinations thereof, and just ended up with sticky hair or pips.
So finally, observing the fact my children seem to have lovely shiny, fluffy hair and yet wash it with shampoo once a month as the most, I have decided to do the same. Having researched this, it appears that most people experience a period of acclimatisation to not washing the hair with shampoo which can be from 4 weeks to 8 weeks. Some people don't find it ever acclimatises and stays a greasy mess. I guess I just have to try, so I'm giving it 8 weeks. I last used shampoo on Sunday 3 January, so I'll see where we are by late February.
Here's to 8 weeks of hats and tying my hair back. So far, so good.
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5 comments:
My brother did the not washing his hair with shampoo thing some years ago. It did smell a little bit for the first month (not horrible, just of hair) but after that it settled down was fine.
I know what you mean about hard water, my hair was happy in Cornwall where the water is soft, it was curly and light and I didn't have to wash it very often, but here it's not. Or it could just be changing with age, I'm not sure. Anyway, hope it works for you, keep us posted, won't you?
Using a natural bristle brush to spread the oils through your hair helps too - and I don't know why but natural bristle naturally shines your hair. I have one for Rye and is hair is gorgeous after it's brushed.. and yep I was his hair every month or two because he hates it so much. Some days it does look a bit lank then it seems to perk up naturally, particularly after brushing...a nd actually often I can get away with just wetting his hair, rather than using a soap.
Interesting challenge! I wash my hair weekly at the moment and use shampoos without all the mainstream crap in. My hair is just massive and frizzy and always has been.
I'm interested to hear how your experiment pans out!
Becky
xx
how interesting! I experimented with this same thign this past fall... I just had the feeling that my hair would calm down - because yes, the children rarely need to wash theirs. I grew frustrated though and went back to shampoo. HOWEVER, I only use a natural shampoo now (I wasn't so concerned about this before and had to wash every day). Now I only have to wash it a few times a week and never need conditioner....I think you are on to something!! Good luck.
Well, after the first week it was an oily mess, but now, after the second week it is showing signs of calming down. It's still very oily but the ends and the roots are OK. Whatever happens I'm going to keep at it for 2 months to give it a proper chance to settle.
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