Showers, Soap and Shampoo, Part 3

Sunday, I washed my hair with castile soap, partly on a whim, and was amazed with the results. Many of you have been asking about it, so here you go.

Let’s put this above photo in perspective. This is Day 2 of castile soap on air-dryed hair. No styling products. If I had known my hair would look this good, I would’ve tried this a long time ago.

Remember the fiasco where I tried to go a month without shampoo and felt (and looked) dirty and gross, so I celebrated at the end of 4 weeks by washing my hair? Compare said fiasco to this picture: day 4 of castile soap and my hair is still looking awesome.

Castile soap you are one sexy bitch.

See the thing is, I really, really want to simplify my life and not rely on shampoo. I’ve been using Kiss My Face, which is SLS-free, for over two years now and it’s great. I can usually go around a week without washing, if I use it in conjunction with a dry shampoo in problem areas. However, before I cut my hair, the ends were dry and needed conditioner and that weighs down my hair. I could usually go a bit longer without spraying if I used BIG from Lush, but all that salty goodness was for sure just drying things out.

Enter Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap into my life. We’ve been using it on everything. Our bathroom, our dishes, our children, and so I started hunting for a homemade shampoo recipe. And after reading this, and after finding that be-dreaded folks use it as a residue-free shampoo, I just gave it a try last Sunday in the shower. I used the tiniest amount–maybe the size of a nickel.

My. Hair. Feels. Glorious.

You know that squeaky feeling when you wash with shampoo, which I guess we’re supposed to covet, but it just makes hair tangled and unmanageable? None of that. Just soft, full-bodied hair. It actually feels a bit weird because if I weren’t looking at it in a mirror I’d say it’s greasy, but it must be just hair as nature intended–all natural oils still intact.

Before you run out and try this yourself, I’ll say this: I’m still using the dry spray (only once on my bangs), but I suspect things may even out with time and I can put it away. This is an experiment in simplifiying my life. If I can have one product in my house instead of a dozen, great. Perhaps I’ll try a bit of baking soda next time, or follow some of the advice out there for going no poo. But really, this is already a win for me. Second, my hair is used to not using shampoo. Your hair may need an adjustment period, or it may just not work for you.

But if your heart is set on this, I challenge you–4 weeks with no shampoo. Your hair may just surprise you.