I have been trying an experiment for almost 3 months.

I have gone "no-poo".

I took the plunge after wondering how our ggrandparents took are of their hair needs back before commercial shampoo. Since all of my grandparents are gone, along with my parents, I have asked my aunt, who is 70, but she can't remember what they used.

One of the ladies that I follow, RaisingOlives, is also no-poo, and I found a lot of information there. My hair is so different from hers though, in that mine is short, fine, oily, and straight as a stick. It has no elasticity. I have tried to grow it out because I see so many hairstyles that I would love to try, but it just doesn't look good on me. *sigh*

Before finding Kimberly's blog, I had seen an infomercial about WEN, and bought some of that. It is basically just conditioner, but thicker than what I have ever bought at Walmart. It feels good, but I wanted something that was more easily available, and a lot more green, closer to how we used to live. Something that didn't cost alot, and more readily available with ingredients that I could easily obtain.

I have been using baking soda and apple cider vinegar and I really like it. Of course it isn't going to lather like shampoo, it is just a paste, but does the trick. I use about 1 tablespoon of baking soda with just enough water to make a paste, and rub it in my hair. You use your fingertips but be careful not to scratch your scalp with your nails-that's just a little to harsh on your scalp. Just rub with the pads of your fingertips. Sometimes i leave it in a few minutes, I don't know if it makes a difference or not-sometimes I think so and sometimes I think not.

I dont condition much because it makes my hair a little softer than I want, but occasionally I rinse with the apple cider vinegar rinse. 1 tablespoon vinegar in a cup of water. I have an old water bottle that I use to mix and store it in on my tub. So that I'm not shocked but it being chilly, I let it float around in my tub while I bathe-it's nice and warm that way, lol.

My hair feels so much thicker-it actually has texture!! It still lays close to my head but not nearly as much. I look like i actually have hair!! It also isn't as "wispy" in the wind as it has always been. I just don't think I will ever go back to using commercial shampoo.