No 'poo #2

Earlier this year I attempted to go without shampoo for a month, instead using bicarb and vinegar.

It did not work.

I don't know if it's because of the hard water where I was living, the way I was doing it, or my hair itself that was the problem. Either way, after a couple of weeks the crown of my head was permanently greasy and more than a bit gross. I may be a bit of a hippy, but I do care about my appearance. So out came the bottle of shampoo...

In an attempt to save my growing hair I also cut back how often I wash my hair to twice a week, and try not to use elasticated hair ties so much. But my hair remains unhappy, so it's time for me to try something different again.

Using the experience I gained I will be doing things a bit different this time. I think a more appropriate name for this experiment may be "no detergent" - I intend to try out a variety of 'traditional' shampoos, and report back on how they have worked for me.

My hair is now quite long and remains very thick, very fine (as per a chinchilla) and a bit greasy - I can go 3 days without a wash, but the fourth always requires dry shampoo (for which I use cornflour and a lot of brushing). I long ago stopped using chemical dyes, and rarely blow dry my hair. But because it is so fine it quickly gets very knotty, and because it grows so slowly it also tends to get ratty at the ends.

The first experiment showed me a few things that really did help with these last two things:

1) vinegar and lemon juice make excellent conditioners. I now keep an old washing up liquid bottle containing 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part lemon juice, 10 parts water and a cinnamon stick in the shower to rinse my hair after washing. It really softens my hair and makes it feel much less dry.

2) olive oil is also an excellent conditioner and detangler. I run a tiny amount through the ends of my hair by hand or by rubbing this small amount of oil onto my hairbrush. My ends seem much healthier, and less knotty as a result.

3) henna is amazing! I have more than a few grey hairs now, and it also helps with this. At about £7 for a block of Caca Rouge from Lush, it works out at just over £2 per dying session - much cheaper than chemical dyes, and much better for my hair. Obviously only useful if you have dark hair!

My main priorities with finding an alternative to standard shampoos is that it should be cheap, easy and not reliant on fossil fuels for its production; I am reluctant to use the words 'sustainable', 'green' or 'ecological', but these would also be relevant. If I can find it in my kitchen cupboard, so much the better.

Let the experiments commence!