Shampoo and Conditioner

Did you know, shampoo wasn't even invented until the turn of the century, wasn't readily available until 1930's, wasn't considered, 'the thing to do' until the 1940's and really did not have a profit in the marketplace until the 1970's?  Remember when EVERY brand had 3 formulas, 1 for oily hair, 1 for dry hair and 1 for normal hair? The shampoo business was booming.

But, what did all those people do for all those years, without shampoo.  Did they just have dirty hair? In looking back at old photographs, obviously, no they didn't.  Some of those pictures show women with gorgeous locks and amazing hairstyles that simply would not have been possible with greasy, dirty hair! Could it be possible that the shampoo industry is just a money making scheme? The more you use, the more you need? I believe so....and that is where my story begins.

A couple of years ago I kept seeing this information for poo-free or poo-less concoctions.  I was intrigued but, not convinced.  I continued to follow some of the blogs and the journeys to rid their familes of chemicals especially those surrounding health and beauty.  Then after a year or so, pictures began to surface.  These women had gorgeous hair, could it be true?  Now, I was interested so, I sat out on my own journey.  Armed with baking soda, water and apple cider vinegar, I was ready to tackle this project. It went along splendidly, yes, there was a transition period and my hair didn't look wonderful for about 1 week.  But, besides that everything was looking up.

Then it happened, without warning, I woke up on morning, took a shower, performed my new shampooing and conditioning method and it didn't feel 'clean'.  Ok so, maybe this is yet another transition period, I tell myself. I make some adjustments to the formula, and the next day...it's worse, for the following 7 days, no matter what I tried ... it got WORSE.  I was so tempted to just break down and use the store bought stuff, but, what went wrong?

Now it was to the point of just plain gross,  I was so disappointed.  I was just convinced there had to be a solution so, I went back to the drawing board, (internet)  and began my arduous search.  I came across some sites that claimed I was doing it wrong.  OK, I didn't buy their chemistry, (they claim baking soda is bad for your hair because it has a ph level that it too high,  But, we aren't using it straight out of the box, mixing it with water lowers the ph so....that really shouldn't be the issue.) They offered other solutions, everything from honey to coconut milk, sooo,  I then spent the next 4 days trying other methods only to have my hair turn into some kind of gunky disaster, full of a variety of home remedies.

Now, I was just determined to find the cause and act upon a solution that would bring back my soft, shiney....CLEAN, hair.

After many, many, searches and numerous blogs I read something that gave me of one of those.. ah ha, moments.  Could it be that simple? After a quick jaunt to the store and yet another shower. Yes, Yes....that's it... my hair is back!!

Living here in the good old state of Missouri our water is a little on the hard side... (ha, that's like saying, I am a little stubborn) So, the key to the formula? Distilled water...ahhhh. :)

If you are going to try this, and have hard water, a jug of the distilled stuff is going to be in order...or you could make your own but, even I have my limits!!

Shampoo Ingredients:

2 tblsp baking soda
2 cups DISTILLED water
1 squirt bottle

Conditioner Ingredients:
2 tbls Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cups Water
1 spray bottle

Directions:

Mix ingredients for both into separate bottles.

In the shower wet your hair and use the baking soda mixture to clean your scalp.  Don't worry so much about your hair, it's really your scalp that needs cleaning.  Just use the squirt bottle to get the solution right on to the scalp, cover well, then massage it in for 1 minute, rinse. (2 cups lasts me a week)

Lightly mist the top of your hair, NOT YOUR SCALP, and then really soak those ends.  Wait 1 minute and rinse. (2 cups lasts me 1 week)

Dry and style as normal, be cautious about using heat...your hair will be softer and more vunerable than it used to be when it was coated in chemicals.  Plus, you will find your hair is much more managable and requires less work than it used to.

Don't be so skeptial...try it ...you will love your hair!!

(PS, Steve is to the point he hardly ever even needs any shampoo and his hair always look great.  In fact, he had a haircut a couple of week ago and the stylist had to use thinning shears...he hasn't needed THAT in a very long time!)