The title says it all - This week marks 6 weeks for me without conventional shampoos and conditioners!
I wanted to give an update on how things have been going for me in the past month and a half, in regards to the baking soda/apple cider vinegar movement.
Some things that I'll be sharing in this blog are trial and error, and I'll be sure to share what has worked, and what has not worked, on my journey to health.
I'm honestly amazed at the response I had gotten from sharing a post on baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I expected some people to find it pretty interesting, but I did not expect so many people to get on board with it.
I've actually received text messages at 11 o'clock at night saying,
"It's amazing! This stuff really works!"
I've also had people approach me after church and say,
"My whole family has sworn off shampoo."
I can't take the credit, as it was never an original idea of mine, but I'm grateful to be used in peoples' lives as they're sojourning on this road to health and good stewardship.
Thanks for all the feedback! Keep it coming. :)
So what do I think of baking soda/apple cider vinegar replacing shampoo and conditioner?
Well, I can honestly say that it's a change I've committed to, and have been greatly pleased with the outcome.
Has it solved all my problems in life? No. Has it been an awesome shift in terms of health and beauty? Yes. Without a doubt.
The first time I used the BS/ACV mixture, my hair had never felt softer.
[This is usually when people fall in love with it.]
It was instant gratification.
I was using it one for one, in place of shampoo and conditioner. Since I used to shampoo and condition my hair roughly 6 days a week, I started off with the BS/ACV roughly 5-6x a week for the first two weeks. I did this, because I refused to have greasy hair - I knew it would discourage me from staying committed.
The first week, the texture of my hair noticeably changed. I went through somewhat of a "waxy" stage for a week or so, where my hair felt much stronger, and slightly waxy. I don't know how else to explain it. I didn't love it, but I liked it more than all those cursed xenoestrogens I was getting in my Herbal Essences.
Although the waxiness has largely gone away, the texture of my hair has remained changed. I think that's the way it's supposed to be, when we don't strip our hair of all its oils..
As such, I've been challenged to do more things with my hair. I've started curling it a lot more, because the curls stay in longer. My "bang quiff" now stays put, in addition to any twists or braids I make. The texture of my hair used to be so fine that no amount of bobby pins or hairspray could make it do what it didn't want to do. It was SO frustrating. Even hairstylists had a hard time working with it.
[This was one of the main reasons I started the BS/ACV movement, because I was tired of my hair only doing one thing. ]
But last week, something strange happened.
It was the fifth week of using BS/ACV, roughly 3 days a week at this point, and my hair just. looked. terrible. I had gotten out of the shower, blowdryed my hair straight [as I often do], and the frizziness was just awful. You know those Garnier Fructis commercials? The "before" shots? Yeah, that was me. There was nothing I could do. I even straightened my whole head of hair, which I've only done three other times since day one, and I had flyaways everywhere. I was really discouraged, and I thought, "What in the world?" I hadn't changed a single thing, so why such an outcome? Why was my hair such a frizzy mess?
And then it dawned on me:
My hair had had enough. It was literally telling me that it no longer needed so much baking soda so often.
And I wasn't even using it that often! I was drying it out, and I needed to scale it back.
I guess the pH in my hair had finally righted itself after making a clean break from years and years of conventional shampoo, and my hair was ready to do its own thing now without so much intervention.
So you know what I did?
I backed off, cut down on the baking soda, and gave my hair a break.
This was last Thursday. Thursday was real real turning point for me.
Friday I took a shower and washed my hair with water. Yes, just water. Saturday I used a very small amount of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, Sunday I used only water, Monday I used only water, and today I used a bar of goat's milk soap. That's it.
If you had told me a year ago that I'd be able to wash, blowdry, and style my hair using only a bar of soap, I'd laugh like a maniac. There just wasn't any possibility of that. And you know what? A year ago, that would have been absolutely true - No amount of yanking or detangling would have gotten a comb through my hair with just a bar of soap.
But these days, my hair is different.
The texture of my hair has changed, and I'm better off.
I've cut my flat-iron use by 90%, it takes me less time to shower and get ready, and my hair does what I want it to do, most of the time. Has BS/ACV given me perfect hair? No. But it has made my life easier, given me more confidence in my appearance, and kept me safe from all the chemicals in conventional shampoo and conditioner.
If you've tried the BS/ACV and it just didn't work like you expected it to, try again. Was your hair too greasy? Use more baking soda. Was it frizzy? Try less. It isn't a perfect science, and everyone is different. But just like with any habit, you must give it a month before you can say it doesn't work.
Two weeks in I was content to commit, but now that I'm 6 weeks in, I'm starting to see that the perks are only growing in number.
I've only "washed" my hair twice this week, and I still look like a normal person. :) I've always wanted freedom from the exhausting [monotonous]task of shampooing, conditioning, blowdrying, and straightening daily -
And now that freedom is mine to behold.
Finally.
And I have no intentions of ever going back.
To health, happiness, and good stewardship!
I wanted to give an update on how things have been going for me in the past month and a half, in regards to the baking soda/apple cider vinegar movement.
Some things that I'll be sharing in this blog are trial and error, and I'll be sure to share what has worked, and what has not worked, on my journey to health.
I'm honestly amazed at the response I had gotten from sharing a post on baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I expected some people to find it pretty interesting, but I did not expect so many people to get on board with it.
I've actually received text messages at 11 o'clock at night saying,
"It's amazing! This stuff really works!"
I've also had people approach me after church and say,
"My whole family has sworn off shampoo."
I can't take the credit, as it was never an original idea of mine, but I'm grateful to be used in peoples' lives as they're sojourning on this road to health and good stewardship.
Thanks for all the feedback! Keep it coming. :)
So what do I think of baking soda/apple cider vinegar replacing shampoo and conditioner?
Well, I can honestly say that it's a change I've committed to, and have been greatly pleased with the outcome.
Has it solved all my problems in life? No. Has it been an awesome shift in terms of health and beauty? Yes. Without a doubt.
The first time I used the BS/ACV mixture, my hair had never felt softer.
[This is usually when people fall in love with it.]
It was instant gratification.
I was using it one for one, in place of shampoo and conditioner. Since I used to shampoo and condition my hair roughly 6 days a week, I started off with the BS/ACV roughly 5-6x a week for the first two weeks. I did this, because I refused to have greasy hair - I knew it would discourage me from staying committed.
The first week, the texture of my hair noticeably changed. I went through somewhat of a "waxy" stage for a week or so, where my hair felt much stronger, and slightly waxy. I don't know how else to explain it. I didn't love it, but I liked it more than all those cursed xenoestrogens I was getting in my Herbal Essences.
Although the waxiness has largely gone away, the texture of my hair has remained changed. I think that's the way it's supposed to be, when we don't strip our hair of all its oils..
As such, I've been challenged to do more things with my hair. I've started curling it a lot more, because the curls stay in longer. My "bang quiff" now stays put, in addition to any twists or braids I make. The texture of my hair used to be so fine that no amount of bobby pins or hairspray could make it do what it didn't want to do. It was SO frustrating. Even hairstylists had a hard time working with it.
[This was one of the main reasons I started the BS/ACV movement, because I was tired of my hair only doing one thing. ]
But last week, something strange happened.
It was the fifth week of using BS/ACV, roughly 3 days a week at this point, and my hair just. looked. terrible. I had gotten out of the shower, blowdryed my hair straight [as I often do], and the frizziness was just awful. You know those Garnier Fructis commercials? The "before" shots? Yeah, that was me. There was nothing I could do. I even straightened my whole head of hair, which I've only done three other times since day one, and I had flyaways everywhere. I was really discouraged, and I thought, "What in the world?" I hadn't changed a single thing, so why such an outcome? Why was my hair such a frizzy mess?
And then it dawned on me:
My hair had had enough. It was literally telling me that it no longer needed so much baking soda so often.
And I wasn't even using it that often! I was drying it out, and I needed to scale it back.
I guess the pH in my hair had finally righted itself after making a clean break from years and years of conventional shampoo, and my hair was ready to do its own thing now without so much intervention.
So you know what I did?
I backed off, cut down on the baking soda, and gave my hair a break.
This was last Thursday. Thursday was real real turning point for me.
Friday I took a shower and washed my hair with water. Yes, just water. Saturday I used a very small amount of baking soda and apple cider vinegar, Sunday I used only water, Monday I used only water, and today I used a bar of goat's milk soap. That's it.
If you had told me a year ago that I'd be able to wash, blowdry, and style my hair using only a bar of soap, I'd laugh like a maniac. There just wasn't any possibility of that. And you know what? A year ago, that would have been absolutely true - No amount of yanking or detangling would have gotten a comb through my hair with just a bar of soap.
But these days, my hair is different.
The texture of my hair has changed, and I'm better off.
I've cut my flat-iron use by 90%, it takes me less time to shower and get ready, and my hair does what I want it to do, most of the time. Has BS/ACV given me perfect hair? No. But it has made my life easier, given me more confidence in my appearance, and kept me safe from all the chemicals in conventional shampoo and conditioner.
If you've tried the BS/ACV and it just didn't work like you expected it to, try again. Was your hair too greasy? Use more baking soda. Was it frizzy? Try less. It isn't a perfect science, and everyone is different. But just like with any habit, you must give it a month before you can say it doesn't work.
Two weeks in I was content to commit, but now that I'm 6 weeks in, I'm starting to see that the perks are only growing in number.
I've only "washed" my hair twice this week, and I still look like a normal person. :) I've always wanted freedom from the exhausting [monotonous]task of shampooing, conditioning, blowdrying, and straightening daily -
And now that freedom is mine to behold.
Finally.
And I have no intentions of ever going back.
To health, happiness, and good stewardship!