No shampoo, 30 days later.

You may notice that I only say "no shampoo," as opposed to "no shampoo, as well as the oil cleansing method." More on that later...

The last time I used shampoo was Tuesday, April 30th, the day of my Junior Standing Jury here at EIU (which I passed, by the way). Since then, my hair has gone through tremendous ups and downs. Some good, some bad, and some in between. I should have taken a picture that day, but silly me, I didn't think of it. Here are some pictures that were taken within a month of me starting this challenge:

Cooking tofu stir fry, of course. See my hair? Long, pretty thin, kind of dull and limp.

Dad and I at the greenhouse. My hair is long, as you can see, but it's pretty thin and limp.

Here's the low down:

Week 1:
Hair was disgusting. After four days I used a ton of baking soda. Hair felt cleaner, but still really oily compared to what I was used to. So I waited two days and used more. I continued this for the first week. My hair still felt sticky, or damp, or something, but the ends were somewhat dry, even though I was using apple cider vinegar.

Week 2:
One day this week, I curled my hair for a concert. It was the weirdest smell--like burning scalp--even though I had used the baking soda. The curls barely held, because I didn't want to put anything in my hair to hold them. That was frustrating, but I continued trying. Still keeping up with the every other day baking soda washes, my hair was feeling incredibly sticky and frizzy in the back of my head, even though my hair looked clean. I wasn't sure what was going on. I also noticed my hair feeling especially tangled, which got me pretty bummed.

Week 3:
Dry. My hair was so dry, I thought it was all going to break off. It was incredibly tangled, still, but dry, frizzy, and just not feeling right. I ended up putting some vegetable glycerin in it one night (before I went to bed) toward the end of this week, which helped a lot, but it was still feeling pretty dry the next day.

Week 4:
This week started off much like the previous week. My hair was okay, but pretty dry. Then, on Saturday, the 25th day of no shampoo, something happened. My hair felt absolutely glorious. So soft, very little frizz, volume, and the ends were hydrated and healthy looking! Here's the thing, though. That morning, I took my shower at a house about two hours south of where I live, where there is very, very soft water. So I was left to wonder, can a difference in water really change things that much? Since then, though, my hair has still been pretty soft.

Consensus:

This challenge has been pretty interesting. It was really difficult for the first week or two, and in the end, am I totally happy with my hair? Well, I'm not sure yet! I think I need another few weeks to really decide. My hair is definitely much softer at the top, and much more voluminous, too. That's the really big thing I've noticed--so much more natural volume to my hair. It feels like it isn't being weighed down. However, the ends are dryer than I'd like, in general, and my hair tangles so easily--it can be a huge hassle to de-tangle it in the morning. I have a feeling this is because it's so long, though. This is why I'd like to give this challenge at least a few more weeks before I make a final decision. Below is a picture of me with my 'poo-free hair. Completely natural. Washed with baking soda, rinsed with ACV, air-dried, and brushed.

Hair. Feels healthy, looks fairly healthy.

So what about the oil cleansing method?

Well, about a week and a half in, my face broke out like crazy. I mean, really, really bad. Maybe it had nothing to do with it--who knows! However, I was desperate, so I switched to using only the Castile Soap with tea tree oil, then used aloe and tea tree oil as a moisturizer/acne fighter. My face is looking really good these days. I am still sort of experimenting, but I've found that the Castile Soap is working great as a cleanser, and I alternate between vegetable glycerin and coconut oil as a moisturizer. It has been working really well.