Soapnuts Revisited

Hi all,

The last time we spoke I was embarking on a WO journey, that lasted around 32 days before I finally crashed and washed with baking soda and rinsed with black tea. While that was all well and good I do tend to get a bit bored using that method, so I decided to retry soapnuts.
Now, last time I used soapnuts they really dried my hair out, so much so that there was an audible squeak if I rubbed my hair togehher, you can read about my experience with soapnuts here and also a little bit more about soapnuts here

So I decided to try them again but this time I added an aloe gel and water rinse afterwards to keep my hair moisturised. The results? Soft, silky, shiny hair.

Decide for yourself!

Soap nuts on hair Results

As promised here is my review of the soap nut liquid on my hair. You all saw the picture of my hair yesterday it was fairly gross after 12 days of not washing it and a month of no poo.

So what you do is take the soapnut liquid in the shower with you in a plastic bottle or container. Please don't use glass in the shower guys, safety first. Then just use in place of normal shampoo. Really work it into the roots and lengths and you will get a lovely squeaky clean feeling. I also followed up with a quick spritz Of ACV as I have heard soap nuts can make hair tangly. The acv did it's job so there were no tangles.

I then blow dried and straightened my hair. This is a must for me as I am currently only washing my hair every 10-13 days.

Here is the results

Grease be gone! It is so clean it's actually a little too clean tbh and feels slightly dry but I know my sebum will sort that out in a day or two. To those of you with dry hair you would probably need to use an oil such a coconut oil just for moisture as it really sucks the moisture right out.

I am very pleased with the results! What do you think? Have you tried soapnuts? Tell me about your SN experience in the comments.

Black tea hair rinse

So it's been 7 days since I last washed my hair (arghhhhhhhhh) I did a quick water only rinse out 2 days ago not because my hair felt gross but because of the high humidity I just needed to feel fresher. I want to go until hopefully Friday without doing a wash as I'm not really leaving the house much until then (reclusive or what) but today, like Monday, I really needed to feel water on my head. It's so hot!  

So I did a bit of googling and found that whole water only is great it's always good to follow with an acid rinse.

Let me explain, the definition of WASH when going no poo is using something that will cleanse your scalp and break down dirt. Something like Basking soda or rye flour or egg. An acid rinse acts as the conditioner so it's fine to use this early everyday if you wish to.

Back to today. Black tea, which is normal tea you drink brewed with without milk or sugar and left to steep for a while in the water is a great acid rinse to use as the caffeine can stimulate hair growth and also it can help to cover greys by staining them. I wouldn't recommend using black tea if you are blonde but there are other types of tea you can use such as peppermint.

So as with a normal wash you scrub your scalp with the hottest water you can stand then add the tea, I use a small spray bottle to spray on lengths and then just rub a small amount in to roots to freshen up.

Unfortunately, it isn't a cleansing wash so it isn't going to get rid of the sebum but it does help you go a few extra days without washing by making you feel fresher and it'd given me much more volume. I have had to kiss goodbye to a partening for the next few days though but I'm still wearing my hair down!

What do you use to wash or rinse your hair with? Let me know in comments! 

12 days no poo

Well not too much go report along the hair front today, I washed my hair with bs and acv 5 days ago and today got a bit annoyed with the heat so gave it a quick refresh with hot water only wash and it seems to have done the job. It's still slightly greasy around front but nothing a bit of cornflour or an updo won't fix. I don't plan on washing my hair until maybe Friday with bs and acv so hoping this little refresh has helped.

Still going strong no poo and will be sending some product reviews your way soon!

Day 3 Hair

So it's been 3 days now, Wednesday I washed my hair with bs and acv and wore it down, Thursday I wore it down and did absolutely nothing with it not even brushed and today, well today it's still down and still looking great! All I have done is brushed and tipped fingertips into cornflour and rubbed into roots as a natural dry shampoo and it's worked wonders. Here's the pic :

Now before you think ugh that looks greasy, it really isn't! My hair is so incredibly shiny from roots to tips it looks amazing even my grumpy manly partner has noticed how awesome it looks.

9 days no poo and never looking back!

No poo Water Only

I caved in today!  After 4 days of no washing and humidity I couldn't go on, my hair genuinely looked wet and gross.  Now I didn't want to set myself back by washing so early on with shampoo so I thought, fuck it. Why not just jump in, and go WO!

WO is a method used by some extreme no pooers where instead of using BS and acv you use just water. JUST. WATER.

Here are the results, as you see from the photos close up it does look slightly greasy. It certainly feels greasy and much heavier than my hair normally feels. It is however much shinier (duh) and more manageable. It took less than 10 minutes to blow dry and quickly whizz with the straighteners. I have also added a front facing picture, what do you think?

What is your story? Let me know in the Comments :)

4 days without washing

OK so it's now been 4 days since I washed my hair, let me clarify. I have showered, just wore a shower cap and kept my hair up in a top knot while sleeping. On the day I washed my hair (Day 1) I blowdried and straightened. Day 2 I went swimming, day 3 I went to my mums and pretty much did nothing and day 4 I have been baking. The weather here is horrible and humid at the moment and averaging around 20 degrees so it's not ideal weather to not be washing hair... But nevertheless I am a stubborn one.
So... What you are waiting for... Pictures.

So while my hair is down it does look greasy and feels not too good, this is without dry shampoo however. I think with a bit of dry shampoo and a bit of sorting out in terms of styling it would be go-out-able. R

While up though it looks fine and feels fine. Again, no dry shampoo or any product.

So I am hoping to go another 2 days without washing my hair. This is the 4th week of trying this and it's definitely improving. With the help of the boar bristle brush, dry shampoo which I will probably use tomorrow and lots of willpower!

What is your no wash story? Comment below!

My Quest To Healthier Hair

Ok folks so my hair has finally had enough. I guess the years of ironing (yes, ironing, with an actual IRON) straightening, dying, perming, bleaching etc on my hair have finally given up the ghost. Not only is my hair now dry and brittle but its prone to tangling... and hair loss. Lets not forget the hair loss. So that is why I pledged around 3 weeks ago to find healthier aleternatives in hair management. Since then I have officially stopped washing my hair everyday and have managed at this point to wash it ONCE A WEEK. Yuck, ew, gross, I hear you. But my hair really does feel clean(ish) and at the end of the 6 day stint between washing you would swear it was second day hair.The only product I use on it in between is Batiste dry shampoo, if you haven't yet discovered this product you really need to because it is a God send.

 My hair since making the pledge is far healthier (and this is week 3) and much more manageable. Not to mention that the oiliness of my hair has definately depleted over the weeks and now doesn't feel greasy until day 3 (in the beginning it was day 2.)

So, I hear you ask, what is my new routine? Simple.

I now wash my hair once a week, around the 6-7 day mark with shampoo and conditioner, then I blowdry and straighten as normal (it really helps to get your hair looking the best it possibly can on day 1 as the better it starts out the easier it is to not wash) and thats it. At night I brush my hair up into a very high twisted top knot and then in the morning brush again. As my hair starts to get greasy I use a technique called Scritching and Preening favoured by those No Poo'ers we are all quite jealous of (post about that to follow) where you gently scratch and rub your scalp to loosen any clogged pore etc then you gently pull the oils down your hair shaft with your fingers. This helps your hair not look as greasy as it normally would and is an amazing natural conditioner. Another method favoured by the No Poo community is using a Boar Bristle Brush, mine is on order so I will review that when it comes. This type of brush helps to brush dirt away from the scalps and also distribute Sebum (the natural oil) straight down the hair shaft with ease leaving hair feeling healthier and less greasy.

I will keep my journey up to do with you guys but yes, its as easy as that. It starts off hard but get through it and you will be so much happier, as a stay at home Mum I am so greatful for not having to wash my hair every day!

John Frieda Frizz - Ease Original Hair Serum

I received this product to try and review and I have to say, this was a bit of a blast from the past for me. I used to have my hair permed when I was at school, and used to use this serum when I couldn't be bothered to moose and scrunch (terrible I know.) Back then I used it religiously and I have to say it was one of my desert island items, when my hair was permed if I wanted to wear my hair straight even a little bit of moisture would make me look like a cave girl, this helped.

So back to the now. The size is 50ml and it retails at around £6.29. This might seem like alot of money but I have found in boots they normally do a 3 for 2, so you can buy the shampoo and conditioner as well as the serum for about a tenner which isn't too bad.

This is how it looks: 

It is a fairly small product for the price, but believe me a little goes a long way. Just put a pea sized amount in your hand, rub your hands together and run through hair avoiding roots. If you put it on your roots it does tend to weigh it down and make it feel a little greasy. 

Its nice and silky and pretty much does what its supposed to, it stops my hair from going frizzy when I cant be bothered to do my hair after the shower, which seems very often now little man is 8 months old!

To sum it up, I love the product and would definitely buy it regularly if I needed to! ;)