SHAM-POO :(

Hey there,

This is my first ever blog! Please don't yell at me, I don't know any better. Anyway, the majority of my time and thought-space for a good while now has been taken up trying to think up ways to become completely independent from an ignorant, disconnected way of life. I don't want to be a part of a society that doesn't put any sort of thought into daily life. Lately, I've been putting a lot of effort (Okay maybe not an earth-shattering amount but still enough to occupy my thoughts pretty regularly) into eliminating unnecessary "things" that most people don't think twice about, and to start making as many of the items/products that I consume myself.

For my first post, I will share my thoughts about shampoo with you. This is a subject that I could talk for days about, so I apologize for the impending length of this post. Let me first give you some background information: I was born with very curly hair. At three years old, I essentially had a little ginger afro. After discovering the straightener, curl gel/mousse/spray/whatever, and repeating for several years, I was left with hair that was little more than wavy, very thin and fine, and which would never grow longer than a little past my shoulders. I washed my hair every day because I didn't want it to get greasy. After itching to for months, I finally gave in and got dreadlocks after graduating in May of last year. Now, contrary to what a lot of non-dreadheads think, most dreadlock owners do wash their hair, but you really shouldn't wash them more than once a week, because it leads to all sorts of nasty problems like mould :( Also, you use a special shampoo that has no additives, because regular shampoos will fill your dreads with nasty greasy crap that you will never be able to wash out. The great thing about this was that it got my hair used to this washing cycle, and I didn't have to worry about it getting greasy in the meantime because that was pretty much impossible with dreads. So, fast-forward about 6 months, and I decide to ditch the dreads. The first thing I experience is that my hair is completely wonderfully curly after the much deserved break. So I start washing with regular shampoo again. And immediately, I start to have problems. After washing, my hair is so frizzy and dry that it takes about 4 days to calm down to a manageable state, and in the meantime, I have to pour on the gel to keep it from turning into a giant fuzzball. This means I have to wash it more, and so the cycle goes... I started to do some research into shampoo and I found a lot of unbelievable information on the subject. It turns out that not only is shampoo completely unnecessary, but it actually damages your hair. What it does is strips all the oils clean off, which includes the natural oils your hair needs to keep from breaking off. To remedy this problem, companies give you conditioners to "repair damaged hair". Newsflash: All conditioner does is make the scales on each strand of hair lay down, and coat your hair with silicone. Which means you have to wash your hair again right away. Brilliant. Now if I went around trying to tell women that they didn't need to wash their hair, they'd probably back away slowly and make sure they didn't catch any germs on the way out the door. Think about it: How long have commercial shampoos been around? Obviously the human body didn't evolve to require shampoo, because it didn't exist more than 100 years ago. If you're really hardcore, you can try quitting shampoo cold-turkey, but I wouldn't recommend this method, because in the few weeks it will take your hair to adjust you may look like you went swimming in a deep fryer (okay, exaggeration). However, there is a very simple way to wash your hair without killing it in the meantime.

You're going to need (are you ready for this?) baking soda, apple cider vinegar and water. Add two tablespoons of each one into separate 1 cup portions of water. Put the soda solution in a spray bottle, and spray your hair until it's really coated, then scrub your head until your hair feels clean. Rinse, and pour the vinegar solution over your hair, making sure you get all of it. You're going to want to rinse your hair really well, or you might smell vinegary for a little bit. That's it. The baking soda will clean your hair without stripping the oils and leaving your hair frizzy, and the acidity of the vinegar smooths the scales down without leaving residue. My hair felt SO GOOD after the first time. I now wash my hair once every 7-10 days, and scrub with plain old water every day in between. It's great. My hair is shiny, healthy, and I'm pretty sure it's growing faster than it ever has before. And it keeps getting curlier. I've heard from some people that even if your hair has been straight for most of your life, discontinuing shampoo use can bring back natural curl that you didn't even know you had. I also recommend brushing your hair, and especially your scalp, to help blood flow, increase hair growth rate, and prevent dandruff, itch and other scalp conditions. Seriously, it's so important to stimulate your scalp.

If you reeeeeeeally want to pay for shampoo, make sure you buy those without sodium laurel/laureth sulphate. This little chemical potion is responsible for making shampoo all bubbly, and it's also responsible for skin irritation, acne, and all sorts of other health problems. If you have dandruff and nothing else is working for you, before you go to the doctor and try a fancy dandruff shampoo (which likely contains SLS) try an SLS-free shampoo. It could be the source of your problems.

If you want to know more about the subject, check out The Great Shampoo Scandal, it explains the problem really well.

Weeeeeell, that's my first post. If you're still here, thanks for sticking it out. It's been real. Y'all come back now, y'hear?

-Brett