Monday, March 21, 2011

Life without shampoo

self portraits = self indulgence
So...not sure if you've heard, but shampoo is taboo. Chemicals galore, long term side effects, unnecessary expenses, who needs it? For years I've used Davines a la this pretty lady. I sometimes switched it up with Crede ER and Nigelle ER shampoo, but still my scalp suffered with itchiness and my hair: lack luster. 

Well I have no success story for you.

I can only tell you that despite 4+ days of not bathing and a sweatastic yoga class, I still haven't shampooed. The No More Dirty Looks story really got me thinking...maybe shampoo is one of those things where natural is not only cheaper (I was spending $25-30 per bottle), but better!? So my locks are currently saturated with apple cider vinegar and going to stay that way. Luckily there is no one around for the next few days to smell me. We shall see, let me know.

2 comments:

cuttlefish said...

The solution to many problems for curly haired girls is to eliminate both sulfates (in your shampoos) and silicones (in your conditioners and styling products). An exception to this rule: if a silicone has "PEG" in front of it, it is water-soluble and will not cause product build up.

* Silicones that are not soluble in water and build up on the hair: Cetearyl methicone, Cetyl Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Dimethiconol, Stearyl Dimethicone, Amodimethicone (and) Trideceth-12 (and) Cetrimonium Chloride, and Trimethylsilylamodimethicone. Note: Trideceth-12 and Cetrimonium Chloride are only considered a silcone when both are combined with Amodimethicone.
* Silicones that are slightly soluble in water and will build up on most types of curly hair: Amodimethicone, Behenoxy Dimethicone, and Stearoxy Dimethicone.
* Silicones that are soluble in water and safe to use (they are not listed with PEG in front of them): Dimethicone Copolyol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Hydroxypropyl Polysiloxane, and Lauryl methicone copolyol. [10]

# Check to make sure your shampoo does not contain any sulfates listed here. Instead, look for the mild cleansers in the ingredient list if you need to use shampoo occasionally for cleansing or after swimming in chlorinated water. (In contrast, salt water from the ocean is actually beneficial for curls as sea salt is a natural curl enhancer.)

* Some common sulfates are Alkylbenzene sulfonate, Ammonium laureth or lauryl sulfate, Ammonium or Sodium Xylenesulfonate, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, Sodium laureth, myreth, or lauryl sulfate, Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, TEA-dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Ethyl PEG-15 cocamine sulfate, and Dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.
* Some mild cleansers, less drying and included in modified CG, are Cocamidopropyl betaine, Coco betaine, Cocoamphoacetate, Cocoamphodipropionate, Disodium cocoamphodiacetate or cocoamphodipropionate, Lauroamphoacetate, and Sodium cocoyl isethionate. [11]

Penney said...
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