HAIR CARE... Watered Down (Part 2)

So now that you know that I don’t use shampoo and conditioner on my hair, I will let you know what techniques I use to keep it healthy and nice. I am far from being a scientist so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of everything I am about to share here; however, this is the knowledge with which I have developed my hair care process so I think it must be true at least in part. Also, one very important fact about this process is that the beginning months are frustrating so if you want to try it (and I know it isn’t for everyone) have lots of patience! 

As I was transitioning my hair from shampoo to water, I did a little research on shampoo. I found that the word shampoo is derived from an ancient word meaning “to massage” and only in the 1860s was it applied to washing hair. Shampoo as we know it today was not commercially available until the early 1900s! We all come from a long, long line of people who didn’t use shampoo! Surprise!

Now for a little information on what is happening on your scalp. The substance that we generally call “oil” in our hair is sebum. Its tendency is to stay close to the scalp and build up creating what we might call dandruff. If you gently massage your scalp for a while you will notice that the massaging softens the sebum and leaves a whitish film on your finger. This sebum is actually helpful to your hair yet, left unattended, it can be quite unsightly! Commercial shampoo would attach to this sebum and wash it away from the hair shaft leaving a “sebum-free” hair follicle which is also now non-oily and prone to dryness. Enter conditioner! Now that the hair shaft is stripped of its natural conditioner, we need to add a commercial conditioner to restore the softness of our hair. With traditional shampooing, i.e. massaging, I use hot water and my fingers to soften the sebum and spread it down the hair shaft thereby conditioning the whole length of hair. It takes a little bit of patience but achieves the same result: conditioned, clean hair and scalp.

I have also found there to be a few extremely helpful tools in my hair care. They are wide tooth combs and round boar brushes (flat for the boys). Before I wash my hair in the morning, I carefully brush it, piece by piece, with a boar bristle brush. The brushing helps to bring the sebum all the way to the end of the hair shaft. Have you ever watched an old movie where the young lady is obediently counting the brush strokes: ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven... one hundred? I don’t count strokes but I do make sure that each bit of hair has been brushed. Now, since I am am not using shampoo to strip the sebum off of my hair shaft some of it does collect on my combs and brushes. I was at a loss for how to properly clean them initially and tried everything from ammonia to hand soap. I finally settled on using a basic dish soap in hot water. That worked well most of the time. Lately, in a effort to have the least amount of soap residue, I have simply been washing the brushes in hot water and using a toothbrush to do the fine cleaning on the combs.

I have learned so much more than just hair care in the process of eliminating shampoo. I have always known that our skin is integral in releasing unwanted materials from our bodies. That has been extremely evident in my hair! I generally try to eat whole foods and eliminate sugar from my day-to-day diet. I discovered that when I eat processed foods, i.e. anything that is white and not in its whole form, I would have trouble with my hair for a couple of days afterward! The sebum would be troublesome and come in greater quantities making the whole water washing frustrating. Now I know to watch for it and understand that if I enjoy those sweet things which I love I will just have to be patient with my hair for a day or so.

I don’t know how well this process works with heat styling as I haven’t used a curling iron in some time. I also allow my hair to drip dry. I often think of the saying “water off the back of a duck” as it seems so suitable for my hair now. The water doesn’t seem to be inside the hair shaft but rather on the surface resulting in a much shorter drying time.

So this is the basics of how I tend my shampoo-free hair. I love it!