Poo Free

Last summer I had some mamas and their babes over for a little playdate.  One of the gals said she had gone 'poo free'.  Wondering if that was some new terminology for toilet training, I asked.  Poo free is a term relating to people who choose not to use shampoo.  That started a flurry of questions and comments to be sure!

And so for the next year, I wondered about it.  Did a little reading about it.  I already was aware of all the harmful chemicals in shampoo and had switched over to a more natural (think the brand Jason) shampoo and conditioner while pregnant with Abi.

One of the 'factors' a lot of blogs mentioned was the cost of natural and organic shampoo.  That hasn't ever been an issue for me.  With short super baby fine hair (read: female pattern baldness), and washing it only ever other day (per my hairdresser's recommendation), I can make a bottle of shampoo last well over a year.  In fact my last 16 oz bottle was closer to two years than not.

As fate would have it, I ran out of shampoo, and in my haste for something new and different ( the same scent for almost two years will do that to you!), I bought a bottle of Say Yes To Carrots at Walgreens without reading the label.  You would think that after all the times I've been burned by 'all natural' products I would have read the label.  But trying to manage three antsy children wasn't conducive to reading labels.  Oh, and I didn't even smell it.  BIG MISTAKE!

It has several things that met my disapproving eye after the first use.  I hated the scent, it burned my eyes, and no I didn't get any shampoo in them.  When I read the label I saw that it had 'fragrance' listed.  Egads, no wonder my eyes were bugging me!  Like my parents, perfume and artificial scents really bug me.

I kept trying to use that shampoo, and finally I just said, enough!  Why should I suffer through a hot shower that is intended to bring me peace and relaxation?

So I started reading some more blogs.  I opted to not do the vinegar rinse for my hair.  It is so fragile as it is.  I cannot use heat on it more than once a week or it gets brittle and frizzy.  My hairstyles are pretty limited, having thinning hair, and fragile to boot.

I read that sometimes your hair can take up to two weeks to adjust to not being shampooed.  I was pretty nervous about that.  I enjoy wearing my bandanas, but I didn't want to have to wear them for two weeks straight!

I feel pretty lucky that I only had a few days adjustment period.  Now whenever my hair starts to look really oily, I just rub in some of my baking soda water in the shower and then rinse it out.  I love that my hair isn't dry or frizzy after washing it like it previously was when using shampoo.  In case you're curious, I gave up conditioner well over two years ago.  It was too heavy for my hair and weighed it down something fierce.

A common recipe for the baking soda and vinegar rinses are 1 tsp baking soda mixed in 8oz of water.  In a separate bottle is the same ratio for the vinegar (typically an apple cider vinegar).  For myself, I did 1 tsp of baking soda to 16oz of water.  I just put it in my old shampoo bottle (you know that one that I used for nearly two years?), and put it directly on my scalp.  Rub in as a head massage, and rinse under the delightful hot sprays from the shower head.

Oh yeah, and to make it fun for myself, I put a few drops of geranium rose oil.  Smells like the bath oil beads my mom used when I was a kid!