Want Long, Healthy, Happy Hair?!

Strong, fast-growing, healthy, natural hair? Who doesn't want that?! My friend and I were talking this morning, and she said something about wishing she had pretty, long, curly hair like me. Well, the curly part's natural. But I have a few theories on how my hair came to be described by the other two adjectives.

My hair naturally grows really slowly. I had it cut super short in 5th grade, and have been trying to grow it out since then. Up until very recently, there was virtually no change. To illustrate this to you, I have included some photos from the past 5 years.

First of all, this photo up here ^ is of me, summer of 5th grade, very shortly after getting my hair cut short.

In this picture, taken 3 years later, summer after 7th grade, you can see my hair has grown a little. It's also gotten curly...so I guess that might have something to do with the lack of difference.

However... Over a year later, in the beggining of 9th grade, you can see my hair has barely lengthened at all. This is just under a year after I became vegan, by the way.

In this photo, taken at the beginning of this year (10th grade), you can see again that my hair has grown *a little*. In this photo, I have been gourmet (high fat) raw vegan for just under a year. I was still using conventional shampoo at this time, as well.

And finally! (This is wierd.) Only about half a year after that last photo was taken, my hair finally looks so much longer! Doesn't it?! And I think it just looks so much healthier and shinier, too. I haven't washed my hair with conventional shampoo since 2011. Zero products in my hair, no styling. Totally natural. Oh... also, barely any makeup. Just a teeny bit of mascara..

So what do I think caused this rapid change? Well, first, maybe my diet. A month after the 4th photo was taken, I became fruitarian. However, I think a better explanation would be the shampoo I have been using, honestly. Shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils, causing it to be thinner, duller, harder to manage, and break more often. Baking soda effectively (and cheaply...it's so much less expensive than commertial concoctions!) cleans your hair without doing any of this!

For more information about this awesome, simple method of washing your hair, visit my previous post on baking soda 'shampoo'. The first few paragraphs describe why and how I arrived at the decision to use baking soda shampoo. If you want to skip right to the recipe, it's in the 3rd/2nd to last paragraphs.

I seriously recommend you try this. I really can't think of any reason not to!

No Poo

❝We both know, that there's no way he could ever replace me.

But hey - if you really think it's worth trying...

Maybe if your lucky, I'll be here when you realize: it's gotta be me.❞

❤

Unrelated. Forgive me. I am 15. And I'm still in the process figuring out more than just what to wash my hair with - as this post is actually about. I've entitled this post 'No Poo' for just this reason - I do not, as a matter of fact, use shampoo, or 'poo for short.

However, my hair is not greasy, smelly, oily, limp, or in any way unattractive in that sense. This is because - though I do not use commercial shampoo on my hair, I do wash it. With a mixture of baking soda and water. I've never made a better decision for my head.

Before I go more in depth on baking soda shampoo, I did not give up commercial shampoo for no reason. Sure, it had always cleaned my hair, left it smelling good - but what this harsh shampoo also does, is strip our hair of its natural nutrients and oils. Depending upon the person, this either leaves our hair very dry, or causes our hair to produce extra oils like crazy to make up for the missing ones. This is why using harsh, concentrated shampoos actually causes one to need to wash their hair more often - which increases the damage that much more, and so on.

In addition to this, there are chemicals in commercially available shampoos. Our skin is thinnest on our scalps, so it is very easy for the chemicals present in our shampoo to seep into our bodies and blood through this protective organ. These toxic chemicals obviously cause problems in our bodies.

As a side not, these same chemicals that are bad for our bodies, also happen to be less than beneficial for our environment, as well, when we rinse them down the drain.

Previously to the baking soda and water method that I am about to discuss, I posted about a few other methods of washing my hair naturally that I've tried (as well as alternatives to body & face wash, shaving cream, and deodorant). Feel free to follow this link if you are at all interested in reading it.

Upon realizing just how harsh, detrimental, unnatural and unnecessary commercial shampoos are, I set out to find a good way to clean my hair without using them. After a decent amount of trial and error, I have settled on a method that I absolutely love. I take less time in the shower than I used to, and my hair definitely seems much healthier.

The Baking Soda Method. It's pretty simple. Heat about 8oz (soft) water, add about a tablespoon of baking soda (more or less depending on hair texture, thickness, ect - try some different amounts until you find one you like), and shake up the mixture so the baking soda dissolves. The mixture will not be thick like normal shampoo, and it will not lather when you put it in your hair. It will feel rather slippery on your hair. Be sure to get all over as well as you can. Let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse the mixture out.

The not-shampoo can be mixed up ahead of time in as large of batches as you want, it will not go bad.

This mixture will have absolutely no scent, so I assume if one was into that kind of thing, they could add essential oils if they wished.

You won't really need conditiner, but if you have dry hair, many people use apple cider vinegar in place to conditioner. (I've heard that it does not leave ones hair smelling like apple cider vinegar - but I'd still be pretty cautious.)

To be honest I was rather doubtful about washing my hair with baking soda at first - but I am glad I gave it a shot, because my hair is healthier, thicker, softer, and shinier now than I can remember it ever being in the past - and it's only been a few weeks.