Hairnesty (Shampoo boycott - week 3)

One week ago I posted my plan to limit myself (indefinitely) to once-per-week shampooing. I feel it's only fair to openly state that after hitting "post," everything went downhill.

(image via - also, not me)

Last Wednesday, I woke up and rinsed (only) and dried my hair followed by an application of dry shampoo. I had an appointment, and I wanted to look nice. (Remember, for comparison's sake, that the first two Wednesdays of my experiment, I'd let my hair dry naturally.)

About two hours later, I asked my sweet husband, "How does my hair look?" He answered (without a hint of rudeness or snark), "Greasy."

So, yeah.

Conveniently, you left some interesting comments on my previous post about alternating conditioner and shampoo. So, on Thursday and Friday, I rinsed and conditioned. And on both days, my hair ended up in a ponytail. (I think my experiences can be blamed on starting with hair that was abnormally greasy.)

And finally, on Saturday, I did leave my hair curly, per my usual routine, but I looked pretty rough. (It didn't help that I went to Merle Norman to pick-up some make-up that afternoon, with my rough-looking hair and no make-up on. I walked into the store to see a group of girls getting their make-up done for a wedding. They looked so cute; I had to remind myself about the merits of inner beauty just to keep myself from running out the door.)

I have never been so thankful to shampoo and condition as I was on Sunday.

My revised thoughts:

I tried to do too much at once. If you read the article, you notice it said to ease into the "no-poo" lifestyle. I got all crazy and jumped in head first (very unlike me, mind you).

Moving forward, here is my new plan:

Sunday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

Monday: Nothing (no rinse/wash, leave dry)

Tuesday: Condition only; straighten (no product).

Wednesday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

Thursday: Nothing (no rinse/wash, leave dry)

Friday: Condition only; straighten (no product).

Saturday: Rinse/condition. Leave curly with product.

Sunday: Shampoo/condition; straighten (no product).

I also reserve the right to modify at any time.

There you have it - an honest update. Anyone else have a "no-poo" experience?

I leave you with a few comments from last week. Everyone's hair is unique, but maybe one of their routines will help you make a hair break-through!

Elizabeth: It has been over nine months since I shampoo (or a straightener) has touched my long, ultra thick, very curly (translate - SUPER frizzy) hair. I use conditioner (all natural - organinc) as my cleanser as well as for my leave-in conditioner. Unfortunately, I HAVE to wet and recondition my hair (in order to present some sort of civilized mess) to the public everyday...which does nothing to reduce the amount of time I spend on it. I might actually be spending more time on it daily than ever, however, I don't have the added time of straightening it...so that's a plus. On the upside, my hair is the healthiest it's ever been! I haven't had a hair cut in about 10 months and STILL have no split ends!

I don't know if just using conditioner is helping the environment any but hopefully!

Chrl: I...go every other day with out washing or rinsing. In the summer I change it up a little bit more. I wash and straigten one day with a little product. Then just rinse the next day and add curling product. The third day I rinse condition and then add curling product if necessary. Then on day four I wash again.

Lindy: I love dry shampoo! I also just condition somedays and don't wash or rinse at all other days. I have thick short hair which sometimes can not be tamed and pony tails are not an option...

Bethy: Yay for no-poo!...I have to admit, I haven't gotten down that low. I've done twice a week. Plus I was my bangs pretty much every other day because they sit on my forehead all day and end up quite greasy. (Ew, TMI.)...

P.S. Some asked if my hair smelled. It doesn't smell "freshly washed" by the third day, but I didn't notice any bad/gross smell.