"NO POO"

Confession: I hate spending a lot of time on my appearance. Don't get me wrong, I love to get dressed up and look beautiful but I would rather just put on some cute cloths and have my hair in a messy bun. 

I have slowly been minimizing my make up and hair routine since... truthfully... high school. Sure, you could call it "letting my self go" but I prefer to call it minimizing. 

Confession number two: I love my hair. I always get compliments on it and it has totally gone straight to my head.  I used to dye it all sorts of combinations from blonde to dark brown. Me Blonde? It happened, believe me. Please forgive! I was like 19 and so so stupid. Oh my fake tan. I shutter thinking about it. We all have to have low points to keep us humble though, right?

It was somewhere around then that I had an epiphany- rock what you naturally have! Truly isn't our imperfections what make us beautiful. All we need are our imperfections and self confidence.

I grew up with my mother as a beautiful example of this. I think the only time she wore makeup was when my sister or I insisted on doing it for her. I am grateful daily for her example of exuding natural beauty and seeing that same beauty in others. 

disclaimer- I still think you're awesome if you spend a lot of time and effort on your appearance, I'm just lazy and don't care to. We can still be friends.  

My mother also paved the road for my "hippie tendencies." Herbal remedies, all natural beauty products, essential oils to cure headaches, obscure health foods, that type of thing. To this day, walking into a health food store reminds me of my mother. 

So when I heard of the "No Poo" method I was intrigued. This combines my love of laziness  "minimizing" and natural products. Quick translation "No Poo" equals No Shampoo!  This method is truly simple and promises great things like: thicker, stronger, shinier and all around healthier hair that you don't have to wash as often.

It's pretty common knowledge that while you are pregnant you have super lush hair. It grows way thick and shinny and you have amazing hair days (if your not too sick to style it.) But what I didn't know is that after you have the baby it starts to fall out and presumably go back to it's regular self. I lost a lot of hair in those few postpartum months and was convinced I was going bald. 

I didn't go bald, yet, but I truly 100% believe that my hair is way thinner now. 

So, "No Poo" work your magic! 

 Here's what I did for those of you asking and letting me try it before you do ;)

"Shampoo"- baking soda and water. I used roughly 3 tablespoons baking soda and 3 tablespoons water shook it together and pored it on my head. I massaged it into my scalp and then let it sit for about a minute.

"Conditioner"- Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and water. I put one tablespoon ACV to one cup of water into a spray bottle and sprayed it all over my head, then let it sit for 2-3 minutes 

While I was reading up on this method a few people said that they used the baking soda and water mixture on their face as a gentle exfoliant. I tried it out and actually really like that too. I have a bit of peeling skin around my nose from all this sun in Yakima.  I also read to keep your eyes closed when you're spraying the vinegar, obviously! A good reminder non the less. 

I then let my hair air dry and went to bed. In the morning I looked like this. 

I did end up using my straightener in some parts. My hair used to be a lot curlier but now it's mostly curly underneath. I calmed those parts down but was generally impressed with the less frizzy result. 

So far I have only washed my hair once but I can say that it looks and feels great. I thought there would be a bit of a transition period with my hair looking nasty before it got better but I was happily surprised. 

What's even better, this method is supposed to work on all types of hair. Color treated, thin, thick, curly, it's for EVERYONE. 

I was also a bit concerned with the possible smell of vinegar following me around. I had read that it only smells like vinegar when your hair is wet but I have to say that when I did it, I could only smell the vinegar while I was actively spraying it. After my shower I went straight to Matt and asked him to smell my hair and he said, "Smells like clean hair." I have plans to purchase essential oils of rosemary and mint to channel Aveda products because really,  is there any shampoo that smells better? 

Speaking of Aveda, do you know how much money this "No Poo" is going to save me. Not that I was buying Aveda products at all since my sister stopped working there and getting it for me at cost. 

So give it a try with me. You have nothing to lose except saving hundreds of dollars and looking fab. Your choice.