Living Sans Shampoo & Conditioner

Green cleaning applies to our homes and to ourselves. My green cleaning journey started with personal care processes and using natural ingredients to care for my skin and hair. I didn't want to put synthetic chemicals on me and especially not on my child. I began to question everything, and every product- to determine if need or greed was involved. Do I really need this item? Or is it greed-whether mine or a manufacturers. I try to screen everything through the filter of that question.
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People look surprised when I tell them I don't buy liquid shampoo and/or conditioner. Then they inevitably stare at my hair, to determine if it looks clean or not.

If something comes in a one-time use, disposable plastic container, it better be something I need, because I try not to buy it otherwise. Of course I have wants that I sometimes am too weak to resist and buy the item anyway. But I try to be disciplined and conscientious, even if I don't always make it.
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I haven't bought shampoo and conditioner for my hair in a long time. The market is flooded with brands, types and claims that one product is better than another. One of my philosophies is: the more heavily advertised and promoted a product is, the less likely it is that we actually need it. You don't have to advertise things people need. They are going to go out and buy what they need, if they can't make it themselves. Advertisements try to lure you into buying one brand over another. The more money spent on advertising, the more that product is probably a 'want' rather than a need.
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All conventional shampoos and conditioners contain petro-synthetic-chemicals, including plastics, stabilizers, thickeners, emulsifiers and artificial scents.

There are many cultures where shampoo and conditioner do not exist. That is telling.
The products are actually damaging to our body's natural potentials to cleanse itself. FMI on shampoos and conditioners and their drawbacks, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_care

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My NATURAL SUGGESTIONS to cleanse and maintain hair:

~Brush your hair often. Stimulates the scalp. Distributes the natural oils from the follicles to the ends of each strand.
~Change pillowcases often, to provide a clean place to rest your head each night.
~Protect your head and hair from lengthy bouts of strong sunlight, smog and humidity.
~Try washing hair using one of the following: a mild bar of pure castile hand soap; a mild liquid soap from a green company (dr. bronner's for example); a shampoo bar - which is a hard soap, packaged in environmentally preferred paper (v/s disposable plastic that liquid shampoos come in). I have also used baking soda to clean my hair, making a paste, massaging it into my scalp, then rinsing thoroughly.

I do a final rinse with vinegar, which is good for your hair and scalp. What I do is pour a cup into a quart container and add warm water, then pour it over my scalp and head. (take care not to get it in eyes, which tends to sting). I prefer apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar works too. It dries scentless, so no worries about smelling like a salad ingredient.

Alternatively, (in a prior blog post) I covered horsetail as a cleaner. Because it contains plant silica, it is beneficial to restore luster and shine to your hair. Gently simmer a handful of horsetail 20 min. in a cup of non-chlorinated water. Add it to a cup of apple cider vinegar. Use this to rinse your hair after shampooing. The scent of vinegar disappears once your hair dries.

Vinegar is one of my all-purpose, all-time favorite personal and household products.

Share your experiences. I'd like to hear them. ;^)

It is a fascinating journey to take.....to question everything familiar - to discontinue the non-necessary, and to find alternatives to the more toxic forms that many products take.