For years now J and I have been on a mission to rid our home of as many chemicals as we can. We’ve been making our own cleaning supplies for a long time now, and just recently started using our own homemade deodorant (it’s amazing!). Today brought me one step closer to our goal. I am officially shampoo and conditioner free. That’s right, I used up the last of my shampoo and conditioner and decided the time was ripe to make a long anticipated change to a baking soda wash and an apple cider rinse. I came across a fantastic step-by-step guide to going ‘no-poo’ on Pinterest that you can check out here. Basically, the idea is that the shampoos we use not only strip our hair of dirt and grease, it also strips away all the healthy oils naturally produced by our bodies which throws off the Ph balance of our hair. So we have to use a conditioner to put back in manufactured oils to replace the natural oils the shampoo took away. And the cycle just goes on and on and on. Until today. Since baking soda isn’t a detergent it won’t strip the healthy oils out of my hair. As someone who has ALWAYS had curly dry hair this really appeals to me. Also, not pouring chemicals down the drain every time I wash my hair is a definite plus.

This morning I did my final shampoo with a clarifying shampoo (as recommended on the site), followed by the cider vinegar rinse. The clarifying shampoo left my hair with that squeaky clean feeling that I’ve come to dread with my curly, and ever dry, locks, but the cider vinegar really did seem to do the trick and my hair was easy to comb out and has been soft and extra curly today. So far, so good. Can’t wait to try the baking soda wash! I’ll keep you all posted on the progress, but it felt so liberating to realize I’ll soon make it through my entire morning routine without a single chemical in sight.

As a side note, any local Edinburghers looking to make the switch, give me a shout as I have a mostly unused bottle of clarifying shampoo I’d be happy to pass along!