DIY Update - Giving Up Shampoo

So, according to my schedule, this is where I post an update about my DIY adventures. Or home improvements. Eventually I need to link all of them in some fashion. But too lazy today.

I know I've mentioned going 'poo-less on here. I'm not sure how much detail I went into, or if it was even mentioned in its own post, or just in passing during other DIY stuff. There was some recipe I linked to that recommended 1 Tbs. of baking soda per 1 cup water for shampoo and 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar for 1 cup water as conditioner. So I tried that. My hair got...greasy. They say it takes time to acclimate, but... 1 Tbs. for 1 CUP is...not a lot. I posted about it on Facebook (I have a DIY album) and one of my friends said she used way more than that, and that she felt like as long as you rinsed thoroughly you couldn't really use too much. After more online research, I had to agree with her. I had read some posts where people were creating a paste with the baking soda, so...I was like "MOAR!" And now my hair has really cleared up! It's at least as healthy-looking/feeling as it was with shampoo/conditioner - if not more. I don't really pay attention. My face did break out while my hair was in the super oily stage there at the beginning, so THAT was super lame. But it's clearing up now, so huzzah!

As far as my "recipe".... *shrug - I just dump some baking soda into a ketchup container, then fill it up the rest of the way with water. And I do the same with the apple cider vinegar. Except I put that into a little spray bottle. So, as far as my showering routine goes (so glad you asked about that, by the way) - 1) I put baking soda in my hair, against my scalp. Only where my hair is long - I don't do anything with the sides. Start on my forehead and go down to my neck, then back up. Rub it in real nice - it's kind of gritty with the baking soda. Then rinse it. Whatever you do, don't get it in your mouth/eyes. Blech. 2) Then I take care of my body - soap, shaving, body scrub, whatever. 3) I finish by rinsing my hair one more time, to make sure I get all the baking soda out, and then I spray the tips with the vinegar. I do one side of my mohawk, and then the other. I'm not sure how you'd do this with normal hair. I don't care. I'm not sure it matters all that much.

Anyway - another DIY success! Hooray me! Picture below because I can.

Stuff and Things

I'm too lazy to try to find the post(s), but I've mentioned - maybe a couple times - that I've been thinking about giving up shampoo. Some other cleaning DIYs I've done: laundry detergent, dish detergent, face wash, lotion, body wash, and cleaning spray. I have posts over some of those, some I don't. Look - if you're coming here for fancy pants DIY tutorials, just leave. Just...go. That's not going to happen. There are people out there who do that exceedingly well. I am not one of them. I take their ideas and try them. So far it's been mostly a win. If you want to do any of the things I've done, just Google it. 8P

Anyway - giving up shampoo/conditioner. All this started when I read this post. That was some time ago. I like to wait until I'm out of the evil store-bought products before I move on. I'm not just doing this to get chemicals out of my house - I'm also trying to save money. Throwing half a bottle of perfectly fine, chemical-riddled shampoo away is just silly talk. But, I only have 1/3 the hair of a normal human. So it's been taking for.ev.er. to go through my shampoo. I finally just moved it over to Mr. T's basket - I doubt he's going to want to go 'poo-less any time soon, so it will help keep him happy for a bit longer. And now I'm shampoo-free!

The spray bottle has the apple cider vinegar in it, and the ketchup bottle is baking soda. Well, there's 1.5 Tbs of each in them - the rest is water. It's super diluted. Like...super diluted. As with all these DIY things I've embarked on, the general consensus is "Do whatever works for you." Which, lesbianest, is NOT HELPFUL. Some people use only enough water to make a paste with the baking soda. Some people have a cup and mix the baking soda/vinegar with water in the shower. This seems pretty wise, because pouring room-temperature tap water on your head while taking a nice warm shower....that water is gonna feel really fracking cold. Just FYI.

You need more/less of each depending on how oily your hair is. More baking soda, less vinegar if you have oily hair. I just went with what worked for her. If my hair starts getting funky I'll try to adjust it. Also, there is the "adjustment phase" where your hair gets super gross and oily. See, it's used to chemical-y shampoos and conditioners that totally screw with your body's natural balance of oils and whatever. And that makes your hair oily. So you use more shampoo/conditioner and get more oil..on and on and on. Or something. I don't care. But it takes your scalp awhile to realize you're not slathering all this weird stuff on it, so it keeps on producing too much oil. They recommend pony tails, scarves, head bands, and a willingness to look a little skanky until your body adjusts. And you can also use dry shampoos.

omg, guys - I'm turning into such a dirty  hippie. Well, hopefully a clean hippie. lol! It's kind of fun. And doing all this allows me to be all DIY and crafty without spending a ton of money like trying to redo our living room would be. We are saving up to remodel our bedroom. Hopefully going to do that this winter as a Christmas present to ourselves. I can't wait!! You should follow me on Pinterest. Here is the board for our bedroom. I have so many plans!! 8} It's gonna be so nice.... <3

Let's Talk Faces: Update

I posted a few days ago about switching to oils to wash my face instead of face wash. Well, I finally bought stuff! Mixed it up and I've used it for a couple nights now. Ummm....I haven't broken out all over the place, so yay? Other than that, nothing too exciting to report. I did find a different source. Which, they give way different ratios for the two oils than my previous source.

Source 1:

• Oily Skin: Try a blend of 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Balanced Skin: Try a blend of 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
• Dry Skin: Try a blend of 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil.

Source 2:

• For those with oily skin, try three parts castor oil to one part EVOO.
• For those with normal skin, you could start off with a one-to-one ratio of castor oil and EVOO.
• For those with drier skin, start off with one part castor oil to three parts EVOO.

I consider myself oily-to-balanced, so I put in 1 part castor oil and 3 parts sunflower seed oil. I don't know what to believe anymore! Castor oil is way more expensive than the sunflower seed oil - I could only find a tiny little bottle of it at Kroger, for about $1.50. And I got one of those huge containers of sunflower seed oil for less than $4. I don't even have enough castor oil to attempt to make it three parts of the sunflower seed oil that's already in my container! I just don't see how there can be such a huge difference...

So, yeah - I'm going with my first source. It seemed to be a fairly legit site, and there was a link to a forum where everyone was doing the same kind of ratios. So 8P !!

At any rate, even though I apparently trust "Simple Mom" not one little bit with my face....I think I'm going to try her 'Poo-less hair cleaning method. Or at least do some research on it. I feel like I'm turning into a total hippie, but I'm all about saving me some money. And not destroying the environment. I'll probably do the same thing I did with the oil face cleaning stuff and just wait until I'm out of shampoo. So...one day you'll be getting another post about how all my hair has fallen out or something, I don't know.