No-Shampoo Update

Back in September I tried going shampoo free by using only baking soda and vinegar for about a month. Here is my report:

1. Baking soda did seem to clean, and it left my natural oils in my hair. The problem is, is that my hair is naturally oily, so this oil built up until it was a bit ridiculous and kinda gross. I washed my hair about every 3 days. This might have been part of the problem? Not sure.

2. At least for me, it was a bit difficult finding the right proportions of baking soda and how often to use the vinegar rinse. I ended up using too much baking soda and it built up on my scalp. Maybe I didn't rinse well enough? This could be an issue for people with thick hair like me.

3. Using too much baking soda also left my scalp feeling itchy. I used a few drops of tea tree oil in the vinegar rinse and it seemed to help. However, using one too many drops made my hair really, really greasy. In fact, I had to go back and wash my hair again it was so gross. A better alternative for itchy scalp is a raspberry tea rinse, but I didn't have any raspberry tea at the time.

4. The apple cider vinegar rinse is awesome! I was surprised with how it left my hair feeling so soft. This is something I will be continuing to use instead of conditioner. I could only use the ACV rinse now and then, though, because it made my hair too greasy when I used it every time.

5. I did supplement my hair-washing with some organic shampoo. I used this about once every 10 days. I'm not sure if this hindered my hair "going back to its natural state", but in my case I seemed to need it.

Needless to say, I will not be continuing washing my hair using baking soda. I might try it again sometime in the future, but for now I am using the rest of my organic shampoo, and then I will be trying out a recipe for homemade shampoo using glycerin and chammomile flowers. I'll let you know when that happens and give you the recipe!