photo by grrlscout224

Depending on who you talk to, experts will say that the average woman exposes herself to anywhere from 130-600 chemicals during her morning routine.  Many of these chemicals are carcinogenic, too.  Just in the shampoos and conditioners there are chemicals like propylene glycol and sodium laurel sulfate.  Even if you don’t consider the other chemicals in your shampoo and conditioner, just these two chemicals are enough to grow things like cancer and affect health for the worse.  Go check your bottles right now, and you will most likely see these two ingredients.  These ingredients are also found in laundry soaps, baby products, lotions, body soaps and even toothpaste.  Yuck!

But enough of my tangent.  What is a No-Poo Challenge? It’s a challenge for you to go without shampoo  and conditioner for 2 weeks.  Before you go “eeeeewwwww,” don’t think I’m saying you shouldn’t wash your hair.  I’m just saying let’s try a greener, healthier and even more frugal way of washing.

Check out this natural shampoo routine here for some ideas. What you can use for washing:

• Baking Soda
• Lemon
• Eggs

What you can use for a rinse and conditioner:

• Vinegar
• Coconut Oil (I use this as a moisturizer – just a tiny bit does the trick)

To keep it simple, mix up a bottle of part baking soda and water to use as a wash through your hair (I mix about two tablespoons of baking soda in a peri-bottle of water).  Then do a rinse with vinegar (gets out the grit – I mix half apple cider vinegar with half water in an empty mustard bottle), and then do a light leave-in condition with coconut oil.  If you find that your hair is staying too gritty, try a higher concentrate of apple cider vinegar to rinse, or add more parts water to the baking soda mixture.

For the skeptics: Take the challenge and see if your hair doesn’t become healthier and better looking after two weeks. You will have to push through some rough days as your hair adjusts and detoxifies, so just stick with it!  Join all the others participating in the No-Poo Challenge here and “Just Say No To Poo”!

I just can’t help but chuckle at that last phrase.  Will you be participating in the No-Poo Challenge?  If you are a regular when it comes to “No-Poo, what’s your favorite recipe/routine for washing?