Shampoo Free update – week 7 – In Which I’m Desperate

Let me start by saying: *sigh* (Is that something you say? Or is that just a sound you emit?)

Blergh.

So for the two people wondering, I’m still plugging away at this shampoo-free thing.

I’ve given updates on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve fielded the repeated “Why are you doing this, again?” questions. I’ve admitted that some of this stuff is so “hit or miss”, and I seem to keep missing.

This sums up this week:

ok… so I finally have amazing shampoo-free hair. Looks amazing. Feels amazing. And IT STINKS!!! Literally. #shampoofree

— Karla Porter Archer (@karlaarcher) July 29, 2012

But let’s backup.

I bought some ‘organic carrot’ shampoo, on a whim, only to realize that I’d been had (my own fault — I know better), not use it (oh man, did it smell good, though…) and throw up my hands. (*note: I’m not saying this shampoo is ‘bad’ or ‘not good’. It just doesn’t fit in with what I am trying to do, which is to eliminate unnecessary chemicals/detergents; ditto for Burt’s Bees)

<insert sad face>

Instead, I continued with my baking soda paste (1-2 tbsp BS with enough water to make a paste) massaged on the scalp for 1 minute, then rinsed with warm water, followed with ACV.

Somewhere, it’s been decided that I am doomed to have the longest shampoo to shampoo-free transition ever.

Then, I watched a documentary on Netflix that had been in our queue for months: on Dr. Bronner’s. It’s nuts. It’s crazy. But I was intrigued (and desperate), so I purchased some of the peppermint the other day.

Apparently, peppermint and ACV are not a good combo, because my hair, despite the new-found luster and shine, STINKS. It’s not a repulsive smell (my kids said it smelled like “old man soap”). It’s an unexplainable smell. And no one wants to snuggle me.

To make matters worse, after two days, my hair not only smelled like ‘old man soap’, it looked dirty and grungy, too.

<insert super sad face>

This is all very ‘experimenty‘ (my own word) and hodge-podgey. But, what I’m learning is that none of this is simple. Marketing is still able to convince even this seasoned 40 year, to believe anything, just because it uses the ‘right’ words and/or pretty graphics.

So I’m open to any and all suggestions, thoughts and ideas. My only requirements at this point are that it: 1) avoid sulfates and other unnecessary chemicals/detergents (Simple Mom still has one of the best write ups on the chemicals; this is another good one), 2) is organic, and 3) is cost effective.

(*Note: I think we must have hard water. So I’m ready to try and convince Randy that we need to install a water softener (I am taking this post into heavy consideration.)

Sound off. Please.