Hair Madness, Week Recap.

It is a week today since I decided to go shampoo free. It's going really poorly, but I am so lazy that having read testimonials of just-water-once-a-week-washers, I am pressing on, hoping to one day become one of them. Also, I camp a lot, and how awesome would it be to NOT have icky, oily hair at the end of day 2.

Recap:

Day 1 - I did a soda wash, and vinegar rinse, and it was dry and fluffy
Day 2 - Nothing. It was dry. And fluffy.
Day 3 - It was getting to be oily on top, but bearable, dry everywhere else.
Day 4 - a diluted soda wash (may be half table spoon) and conditioner rinse, and it was waxy and fluffy
Day 5 - nothing, even though it was absolutely atrocious, and I wore a scarf
Day 6 - I did a vinegar rinse, and rosemary tea rinse, and it was still really waxy, and not so much fluffy.
Day 7 - Nothing, though, again, it was atrociously obnoxious
Day 8 - is today.

I have washed it about every other day, which, ironically, is more often than I normally would.

I can, however, report that it appears the waxy-ness (I'm going to develop a serious nervous tick if I keep typing that) actually diminishes. Like, day one, it seems like I can rub my hair and light my fingers on fire. Day two, it's not really waxy anymore. It's soft and smooth, but some residue waxy-ness makes it look greasy, and therefore, in my head, dirty. I never use any product in my hair, so, 'clean hair' to me, is squeaky, fluffy, 80's type fluffy, hair. Anything flat, shiny, and chunky looking, no go. It does not smell, and it appears to be "clean" in an unorthodox way, but it looks horrendous.

Also, I think between the soda and the vinegar, my hair is stripped pretty well of its colour. (Dyed red) I intend on re-dying it, and I was really hoping by that time I would already be washing it infrequently and, with very little soda/vinegar deal. (HA!) A conditioner only wash might be best. I still have my Super Duper $10 small bottle of conditioner from Whole Foods, which might be an option.

So I used my left over rosemary from Rosemary Baked Potatoes to brew some Rosemary Tea. (Twig of rosemary stewed in cup of water) Rosemary is supposed to be the best thing for your hair. I am one of *those* people now. I am also one more bad hair day away from blending up an egg yolk and mayonnaise into my morning shower routine. The nice thing about rosemary is that it smell nothing like an egg yolk. It's true, that vinegar smell disappears completely after wash, and hair smells like nothing, so, in that regard rosemary was definately a plus.

It occured to me, as I was skulking around self consiously in CVS hair isle the other day - why not just switch to Burt's Bees shampoo or equivalent? I'm not going to do it out of principle and because it's expensive. But I highly recommend it, for people who are just trying to go chemical free. I bet it even foams.

I am looking forward to a day I can just wash with water. By looks of it, that day is taking its time. Tonight, I will wash it with some baking soda (a nice amount, because I am truly tired of slicky hair, and I have a job to attend tomorrow morning), then rinse it with the remainder of my rosemary "tea".

Quite frankly, my mental health will suffer if I don't wake up tomorrow morning with psychotically beautiful hair.

PS. Jesse and I played the dumpstered Score Four game, and he beat me at least 4 times. Could have been 5, I lost count. HMPH.

UPDATE: Day 9 hair is a lot better. It must have heard me make threats. Post Baking Soda wash, V + rosemary rinse, it is clean (not waxy or greasy), shiny but not in a greasy way, and really full, but not fluffy. It's also not as dry as it was after the first baking soda wash last week.