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Question: No-Poo and Baby Penny Update

January 10, 2011 By 9 Comments

The other day I asked for reader questions since I was bored and couldn’t think of a thing to talk about (which is really quite amazing itself).  And one of my very favorite readers, Renee asked this:

Oh purple shimmery awesome one, please let me know how your no-poo experiment went. Are you still doing it? You gave us a few updates but have been quiet about it for some time now.
Oh, and how is your cousin’s sick baby?

First up.  No Poo.  In case you don’t know the term, going “no-poo” means that someone quits using shampoo.  With only about 2 exceptions, I have been completely no-poo for one whole year.  Just imagine the amount of money I’ve saved by not using all that chemical laden shampoo!

Now, when I had my hair pinked out for The 3 Day, it got shampooed at the salon (like 3 times, I was dying!).  That just threw the balance into a tizzy and it took a couple weeks to recover.  But other wise, it’s been fabulous.  I’m so glad that I ditched the shampoo.  My hair has been curlier, fuller and all around in so much better shape than any amount of fancy shampoo could produce.  Every so often, when I have been extra sweaty or something, then I will do a baking soda and apple cider wash.  But I don’t do that very often.

I shower and rinse my hair.  Then it air drys.  I don’t need to use all the gel I was using before or conditioner to work out tangles.

No, my hair does not smell.

Sweet Penny.  She is just a doll!  I saw her at Thanksgiving when they came up for dinner.  She is such a spunky little thing and spent the day commanding everyone’s undivided attention (especially her grandpa’s!).

She had a giant surgery to remove a large portion of her tumor (I believe the one that was wrapped around her spine) in October.  Since then, she has spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital undergoing more chemo and dealing with other annoying infections.  Her mom is doing her best to update the Pennies4Penny website and hopefully now that the crazy holidays are over I can help get some more fund raising events going.  She is a trooper but still has a very long road ahead of her.

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Rhea’s No-Poo Experiment: One Month

February 10, 2010 By 12 Comments

Well folks, it’s been exactly one month since I last washed my hair with shampoo.  You know what?  I LOVE it!

Now, I wouldn’t say I am getting lots of compliments or that my hair looks healthier or anything like that.  I think it’s still early and all my damaged ends still need trimmed up.  I don’t think others can tell any difference.  But I sure feel the difference.   My hair feels thicker, has more curls and just cooperates better since I ditched the suds.  I’m really amazed at the difference.

In the shower, it feels softer and more silky.  It used to be that I would have to put a TON of leave in conditioner to even get a comb through, but now it’s really easy to comb and I don’t have a ton of hair falling out either.

So one month out of my No Poo Experiment, and I’m very pleasantly surprised.  No stinky hair, no scaly head, and more importantly, no dreads.

Just remind me next time to put some makeup on before I take a photo for the blog. *egads!*

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Rhea’s No-Poo Experiment: Week 2

January 26, 2010 By 3 Comments

You will be happy to know, that I have not caved in yet.  Go me!  And, more importantly, I don’t think my hair is doing all that bad.

I colored it this week (did you notice?).  I think that threw it for a loop.  But I tried to be good and use Herbal Essence color which is supposed to be more “natural.”  I don’t know about that.  I have actually colored my hair red since for-ever.  My mom encouraged me to go back to brown.

I don’t really like it.

It’s just SO dark.

Anyhow, dark gothic color aside, the condition of my hair is doing good.

Really surprising to me is that it’s not itchy or scaly at all.  It’s soft is holding it’s waves.  I’ve used a little hairspray here and there, but that’s about it.  And this week, with the color, I didn’t even need a baking soda wash.

Which, really, I don’t think the baking soda/vinegar wash is necessary.  I think the no-pooer’s ahead of me put it out there for people that felt the need to wash their hair, could feel like they were doing something.  Ya know?

So, two weeks down and doing good!  So far, I’m happy with the results.  I don’t think my hair is any better than it was before, but it’s not any worse either.

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Rhea’s No-Poo Experiment: Week 1

January 18, 2010 By 4 Comments

I made it through one whole week of my No-Poo experiment.  YAY me!

Honestly, it wasn’t that hard.  My hair didn’t freak out.  I don’t even think it got overly greasy.  Now on Friday my mom did mention that my hair looked a little “nappy.”

Thanks, mom.

But I think it has a lot more to do with my horrible color right now than my actual non pooed hair.  It needs a color job BAD.

Anyhow, the week went well.  Two days I used a baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse.  Basically, 2 spoonful’s of baking soda in a coffee cup and then filled that with water.  I just dumped it over my head and scrubbed the roots lightly.  Did you know that baking soda is very salty?  Yeah, I didn’t know that.  Then, I did the same thing with the apple cider vinegar.  2 spoonful’s in a coffee cup topped off with some water.  I dumped that on and actually left it on while I finished bathing.

Very simple.

Aside form the bad color (hopefully I can fix that this week so I don’t have to bore you with it anymore), I think my hair looks okay.  Like I said, not overly greasy and not itchy either.  It’s actually pretty soft since I haven’t been coating it with sticky gels.  I am surprised at how easy it is to get a comb through since I could never comb it before without added conditioners.

So far so good!  I’ll check back next week.

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Rhea’s No-Poo Experiment

January 10, 2010 By 28 Comments


I really do believe the boys have finally driven me insane.  I mean, why else would I even be contemplating this?

And by “this,” I mean going “no-poo.”

What is “no-poo” you ask?  Well, basically, I don’t wash my hair anymore.  At least not with shampoo.

“But, Rhea, you’ve really lost your ever lovin’ mind!!”

I KNOW!

*sigh*

You see that picture up there?  Those are the two main shelves in my bathroom.  They are full of hair products:  Shampoo, conditioner, gel, styling aids.  Shampoo for dry hair, for greasy hair, for red hair.  Gels for curls, serums to go straight.  It’s really out of control.  And what do I have for all of my money, time and effort?

Nappy, dry, and split ended hair.

It’s not pretty.

So I started reading up on the no-poo way of hair care.  From what I have learned, it’s really great for your hair.  All the shampoo and stuff that we use actually strips our hair of it’s natural oil and luster.  Then it’s dry and we use more products.  More products does more damage.  It’s a terrible cycle.

When you stop using shampoo, your hair goes through an adjustment period (I hear it’s not always pretty). While your head relearns how to produce the correct amount of oil, it can get a little crazy.  But after a few weeks of sticking to it, your hair will balance out and then TA-DA!  Gorgeous Hair!

At least, I hope.

So I’m going to do this little experiment.  I haven’t even told Bob yet because he’ll just laugh and shake his head at me.  I have no idea how long I’ll last.  But I am really curious to see if this works and if it can help my hair.  Has anyone else ever done this??  If you are a no-poo gal (or guy) tell me what to expect.  I’ll keep you posted!

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