no-poo

as in, no shampoo.

one of the blogs i read has been discussing the use of baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean(se) your hair and scalp, instead of shampoo and conditioner. hmmm. it sounds dodgy to me. i recall the paper-maché volcano projects of my youth. you know, the ones where you fill the innards of your homemade volcano with baking soda... pour in the vinegar and red food coloring... and stand back to watch the gurgle-y explosion... but i suppose that's not what will happen (surely not?) because in this shampoo-free regimen you don't mix the two parts - you apply them separately.

as someone with naturally greasy hair - no, i mean GREAZY hair - it still sounds dodgy to me.

but hey, i am always keen to subject myself to slightly hippie-ish beautifying treatments. why not give it a go? plus the benefits supposedly include shiny, bouncy, vibrant hair, the likes of which haven't been seen since the days of eden. because i am a brilliant researcher in my work-life, and a very lazy one in my own life - i only consulted the two resources that i accidentally stumbled upon:

1st one, very friendly and light on details (this is one of a couple of different mentions in her blog): http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2008/04/melts.html

2nd one, militant and scary: http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html

okay! so now i am armed with every bit of information out there, so i am ready to begin. i was really jazzed up about the idea last night. i wanted to start immediately, but i only had a sprinkling of baking soda left after a recent cleaning binge. and i was fresh out of apple cider vinegar. i suppose i could have used white vinegar, but it seemed extra stinky and harsh. then i remembered the militant lady saying that you should alternate the baking soda/vinegar thing with days of just washing your hair in plain ole water. so that's what i did today.

verdict, after day one - water wash, no soda/vinegar: my hair is just as limp as usual - no more, no less. slightly greasy - normally if i skipped a shower, my roots would be wet-looking and greeee-zay at the roots by mid-day. i think the water-wash simply distributed the oil and the result is mild, but uniform, greasiness.

tonight, i buy the supplies. updates to follow.