Amy Warden’s Soap Challenge for the month of October was to recreate a soap that looks like the picture below.

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You are probably wondering why I would write about this.  Well, I haven't washed my hair since September 8th, so for me it was a big deal! 

Now, you must be thinking I am a crazy woman - why  wouldn't you wash your hair?

I've been performing an experiment.  I've had an increase in customers asking about my shampoo bars and about going the "no poo" route, mostly for the reason of not adding all those empty bottles into landfills.  Our shampoo bars definitely solve that solution, as they dissolve away completely and the packaging is biodegradable paper.  However, there are other reasons people do not wish to use what we consider to be "traditional" shampoos and conditioners. 

Some folks want to be more natural, being one with nature and all that.  When I was a teenager, we had a friend of the family that never used these products, saying that all you are doing is stripping your natural oils away only to replace it with other synthetic ones.  He was certainly right, and I have always seen the light in his reasoning.  However, I could never bring myself to actually abandoning the hygiene lessons my parents and grandparents had taught me.

On another note, many people today struggle with health and/or infertility issues and are avoiding certain chemicals found in body care products (not to mention caffeine, sugars, alcohol and all kinds of other things that we enjoy poisoning ourselves with daily).  I have been intrigued by this phenomena, and have done a little research into this, as I do believe that much of what we do to our bodies is unnecessarily harmful.  Because of this, I have been more aware of ingredients found in beauty products.  A season of The Handmaid's Tale is enough to scare anyone :)

In doing my research, I found that many people go without washing their hair with shampoos and conditioners.  They state that after 6-8 weeks, your head will stop producing so much oil, claiming that if you care for your hair the way it was done back in the day - brushing it through with a bristled brush 100 strokes a day - it will distribute the oils properly throughout the hair making it absolutely lovely.  They believe that this was the case up until the 1930's to 50's when the shampoos and conditioners that we so love today came into existence.  People didn't necessarily have horrible hygiene, instead they actually had a much more involved routine when it came to their hair, an art that has been lost.  Interesting thoughts to ponder upon...

Now, before I go even further into this, there is another reason that I went cold turkey on the shampoos and conditioners, instead of switching to my shampoo bar.  I've used my shampoo bar off and on for several years, and I love it.  However, in the soap making world, there is a lot of debate as to whether or not a shampoo bar is good for your hair.  Some believe that it will eventually break the hair, especially if you use an apple cider vinegar rinse or some other "conditioning" agent because it bends the shaft one way as it cleans and then the other way to relax it.  Eventually, the hair becomes weak.  Others swear by their products and have been using them for years with no problems.  The discrepancy here is probably a formulation difference. 

However, my thoughts were, why go through all the fuss?  I'm not the type of person who uses a lot of product in my hair and now my interest was piqued -  I really wanted to see what would happen to let it go naturally.  And, my hair is fairly short right now, so I decided to let it all go completely, so as not to do any damage, but instead, use my natural oils as the conditioning product.

I started off with a good clean, after using my shampoo bar on September 8th.  I always find that my hair lasts a bit longer, meaning that I can go more days without washing, when I use my shampoo bar.  So, when I am using the shampoo bar, I tend to only wash my hair about twice a week anyway.  But, I was about to go on a longer journey.

Now, when I say I wasn't washing my hair, that is really not true.  I did wash it, very well in fact, with warm water in the shower.  I spent an equivalent amount of time on my hair, really getting into the roots.  A good shower comb was extremely helpful!  And, I was still blow drying it.  I found that "washing" it daily definitely made a difference, and I felt better if it were blow dried.  I'm sure this was just my preference, but it felt like it had more lift and I liked the style better.

After five days, I noted that it was at its peak of "oiliness".  However, throughout this entire experiment, my hair fluctuated from being oily and actually being a bit dry.  This is probably due to my lack of diligence in brushing my hair every night.  Brushing the oil through definitely helped to maintain a more uniform consistency, keeping the roots from being too oily and the ends from getting dried out. 

After five weeks, I had an appointment with my hairdresser (who I have to say is a trooper for dealing with my crazy!) and we discussed the properties of my hair.  She felt like it was difficult to really get the roots wet, and I have to agree.  There was also what we both felt was a considerable amount of oil built up on the hair.  The hair looked just fine, and I received many compliments on my hair throughout the experiment, it just felt different. 

Now, there are pros and cons to both of these attributes.  In centuries past, women created elaborate hair styles that are difficult for us to imagine today.  However, while in the midst of this experiment, I could see how well it would work.  I could easily put a barrette in my hair and it would stay put all day.  Today, with nice clean hair, I've had to reattach them no less than ten times.  So, that was certainly a plus! 

I continued on, and got into a new routine, however, I really did not like the physical feel of my hair.  I do realize that it is just what I am used to, but I was waiting for that wonderful, silky hair that people claim to have after 6-8 weeks.  The last couple of weeks, the build up on my hair just seemed to get worse.  And, that is why I washed my hair today.  For me, personally, I like the softer, lighter feel of freshly washed hair. 

I do have to say that it feels amazing today!  Much softer than before the experiment.  I think that if you needed a good, deep conditioning treatment, letting the washing go for a while would be beneficial.

Growing up, whenever I attempted to use a bar of soap on my head, it got....well you probably know, all that film left on the hair.  It was just down right awful!  And, my husband and I have had several conversations about this.  Where I think the shampoo bar is very clarifying and tends to get your hair squeaky clean, he feels that "squeakiness" is a film, as one would expect from a bar of soap.  So, today when I washed my hair, I wasn't sure what to expect.   Would I have to repeat the wash to get all the build up off?  The answer was a resounding no!  A simple wash with the bar did a beautiful job of getting it clean, and once dry, it is as great as it's ever been. 

I think I have found a work around using conditioners filled with harmful chemicals.  In the future, I think that just letting it go for a while will work wonders, at least for my hair and body type.  I may not go two months, but a month or so wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and the end result is amazing!