Adventure in No 'Poo Hair & Skin Care - Day One!

Hey everyone!

As I said in my last rambling, I decided to try doing the "No 'Poo" hair care technique. Being fairly sure that I'm allergic to some (or all) chemicals in most shampoos. I also have the same issue with skin care products. Even in the rare occasion that I -DO- find something that seems to work, a few weeks later my skin has a reaction to whatever is in it.

So, instead of going through and trying to rule things out, I decided to start from scratch! I read up on different techniques for homemade shampoo/conditioners and settled on the most basic one- A baking soda rinse for the scalp and ACV (apple cider vinegar for you non crunchies) for the tips as a conditioner. I even took pictures. Apparently, if successful, your hair has a LOT more body and pizzazz after it detoxes from all the crap that they put in shampoo.

Here's the before photo. Keep in mind, I'm currently 8.5 months pregnant, cranky, and wearing my hubby's Half Life t-shirt because, well... It fits over his gigantic kid growing inside me.

 

Now is a good time to mention that at the same time, I also stumbled upon a skin remedy that is also supposed to work wonders, and takes about 3 weeks of daily use to really show itself. Wanna know what it is?

You ready?

You use honey. That's it. Seriously. All natural honey, of course. But, never the less... just plain ol' honey! Just a little bit of honey (I used about 1/2 a teaspoon), warmed up in your hands and massaged all over the face. You can let it sit for up to 10 minutes (beyond that, I expect it would be kinda difficult to wash off) and then rinse with a towel and warm water. I was a little surprised to find that it both dries your skin, but moisturizes. I do have pretty temperamental skin, so if I find later on that I need a little extra moisture (probably before bed) I'll probably supplement with coconut oil.

Here's an after picture for the first day of no 'poo, just so we can see the immediate difference. I apologize, I used my cell phone camera, not the super awesome real camera we have. I'm not sure why, let's just blame pregnancy brain on that. But you really can tell the difference, regardless.

See? Minus the cranky pregnant lady facade  and the different camera, my hair already has more body and oomph, and my skin already looks a little less angry at the world. I should mention here that you really won't need to use your hairdryer much when trying this technique, this was after having a towel wrapped on my head for about ten minutes while I did the honey scrub. I guess shampoo and conditioner was making it retain a lot of water.

Anyway! That's what's going on in -my- neck of the woods while waiting for little baby Tobin to make his grand appearance!

Hope everyone else is having a fantastic week!

For more info on the No 'Poo ideas I used, here are some of the starting points I used.

Hair:
Crunchy Betty - No Poo To You Too
How To Quit Shampoo Without Becoming Disgusting

Honey Facial Cleanser:
Crunchy Betty - The Honey Challenge