I prefer going ‘natural’ when it comes to skin and hair care as unfortunately, I have super sensitive skin. But, I’ve had my fair share of chemical-laden treatments, especially when it comes to my hair. Let’s just say that I’m quite obsessed with how my hair looks – I straighten it, curl it and often dye it. In fact, I even chopped of my long locks for a bob. In short, I love to experiment with my hair, just to see what works best.
A few years back I came across this ‘no-poo’ concept that people were going crazy about. Celebs and beauty mavens from around the world were ditching their shampoos and conditioners, and making their own concoctions of organic liquid to wash their hair. I hadn’t experimented with my hair in quite a while, so I decided to go ahead and give it a shot. I ditched my shampoo for a week (it wasn’t working, anyway!).
I decided to go with a mix of apple cider vinegar (ACV) and water. Now, the thing with me is, I absolutely *love* apple cider vinegar. It works like magic on your skin, but only if you know how to use it and in what quantity. As I have an oily scalp and skin, I prefer adding a bit more of ACV with water.
I was a bit skeptical ditching my shampoo for a week, because I love to lather up my hair with it. I had also come across some success stories where people used a mix of ACV, baking soda and water, but I didn’t really want to use baking soda on my skin, so I decided to skip that bit. Finally, I made a bottle with the ACV and water mix that replaced my shampoo for that particular week.
My initial reaction? Amazing! The apple cider vinegar worked wonders for my hair. My strands were super smooth and my gosh, the frizz? What’s that? I felt like a celeb from all the hair commercials with unnaturally shiny hair. I let my hair air-dry every time I used this mix and I’m sure my locks felt good, too. I continued using this natural ‘shampoo’ for the rest of the week but I realized that i missed my shampoo.
Given my hair texture and scalp type, I need to wash my hair at least two to three times a week. And I had to do the same thing with this ACV mix. While my hair ends and the entire length felt great, my scalp wasn’t really loving it. I guess, it needed that chemical-laden shampoo it was so used to. I also noticed that my scalp was getting a bit greasier, even though my dandruff problem reduced to an extent. I ended up using this mix for a total of 10 days and I decided to stop using it altogether. Why? Because my scalp started irritating me with the greasiness.
So, after ten days I started using my shampoo again and believe me, it felt great! Ditching my shampoo was a great experience but I also know what it did to my scalp. So, these days I use the Apple Cider Vinegar as a conditioner for my strands.
Well, I lost pretty much nothing and learnt a new way of pampering my locks. It’s a win-win situation, I feel!
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