Sunday, January 23, 2011

Shampoo Simplicity

(I have no idea what this is a commercial for but this image is hilarious! found here)

I have a dirty little secret to tell you:

I only washed my hair once this week.

I rinsed it, but I skipped washing it. Now, you might think this is because I am secretly lazy. That is not true, okay maybe a little bit true, but it is not the real reason I skipped the shampoo.

What happened is: I saw someone tweet that they were taking the GOOD challenge to give up soap. The tweet reminded me that I had read a few places that you don't need to wash your hair. Supposedly, when you wash your hair, shampoo strips it from its natural oils and that is why you have to condition it. Basically you are undoing what you just did every time you shampoo and condition your hair. The claim is that your body will adjust it's oil production to match your hygiene habits.

Now, lets just be real: shampoo and conditioner cost money. I use community trade organic shampoo and conditioner, so I pay an obnoxious amount of money for my hair care. (When will ethically produced products be more affordable?)

Additionally, washing your hair takes time and uses water. Water is a resource that most of us misuse; it also costs money.

So, you see I am not being lazy; I am being practical. I am saving time and money, and my hair looks shiny and healthy. It is not oily and it doesn't smell bad. The not smelling thing is impressive considering I went on 6 bike rides in the last 48 hours.

I will say I am scared to skip my soap on my body. (Note, the 6 bike rides and the general desire to smell good.) The soaps I have been using for about the past year where made locally and purchased at the farmers market. (They cost more than the drug store, but have lasted longer. I would say the cost difference is negligible.) All this to say I am embarking on a little hygiene experiment in simplicity: I will only wash my hair once a week for the next 4 weeks. If after 4 weeks I decide that my hair really does in fact look gross/limp/unkempt I will go back to every other day, but if it looks good with just a daily rinsing, I am going to save so much money!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had a roommate who tried to re-adjust her head's oil production by going for a week without washing it. She did not rinse it, however, so the results may have differed if she had. But anyway, all she had at the end of the week was a mess of oily hair, and after washing it her scalp still produced oil as quickly as it had before her experiment. You're lucky you have brunette hair...blonde hair shows oil so much more easily.

O. said...

I must have a greasy head, if I don't wash my hair everyday my hair gets so oily. i'm sure you'd be able to power a small car with it.

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