No Poo FAQ's Continued

Hi there! Today I will be continuing to answer some frequently asked questions about the no poo method.

How often do you wash it? The answer to this question will probably change a lot as you continue down the path of no poo. Also, the answer will be different for each person. In the beginning, you want to start out by going as long as you can without washing your hair. This is basically how long you can handle having dirty hair, because at first your hair may have an adjustment period where it gets greasy. Or you may be one of the lucky ones who’s hair revels in this new found shampoo-less freedom and doesn’t go through an icky phase. So, go as long as you can before you wash. The goal is to go longer and longer without washing. I have gotten to the point where I have to write the date I wash on my mirror with a dry erase marker so that I can remember when I washed. That is how long I can go between washings.

Can you still color/process your hair? I actually didn’t know the answer this from personal experience until a few weeks ago. When I got pregnant with my first set of twins in May of 2012 I stopped highlighting/coloring my hair. I went 4 years without processing my hair. I did read online that you should be able to color your hair; but that you may need to use an oil treatment on your hair often due to the damage coloring can cause. I personally used unrefined coconut oil, once from solid form and then as a fractionated oil.

Is it for all types of hair? I believe that going no poo would be beneficial for everyone; regardless of your type or length of hair. Shampoos are full of chemicals. So not only do they mask your beautiful natural hair, but they also can cause health problems internally, and externally. Have you been experiencing skin issues on your back, neck, or basically anywhere else? Those chemicals can clog pores and destroy skin. Ugh. Women got by for many years without shampoo. Their hair was still beautiful and shiny because they washed it so infrequently. Bathing was often a luxury.

I really am new to this whole idea of natural skin/hair care, holistic medical care and clean eating. The hair care industry irritates me it creates products and tells us that we need it; then we need more products to repair the damage that their products caused. I’m trying to use less in my life. I am finding it true that less is often more. 

I will continue to update the blog with tips and tricks for the no poo lifestyle. I welcome all suggestions and comments. Is there a particular method that works for you? Tell us about it!

 

I Decided Not To Poo Anymore...and No Poo Frequently Asked Questions

I quit pooing almost a year ago, and I couldn't be happier...Shampooing that is. I became one of the many who have stumbled upon this craze called "no-pooing." The basic idea is that you "wash" your hair without chemical shampoos or conditioners. There are actually several methods of doing this. I personally use baking soda as a shampoo and apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. 

You may be asking yourself, why in the world would you want to do that? The most common questions I get are:

• Why?
• How do yo do it?
• Does you head smell?
• Do you have a dirty head?
• How often do you wash it?
• Can you still color your hair?
• Is it for all types of hair?

So let me address some of these questions for all you skeptics and interested parties ;-) 

Why I have hated my hair since I was 8 years old. I inherited frizzy, wavy, dry hair, along with its ugly twin, dry/flaky scalp. My hair wasn't pretty and straight. It wasn't bouncy and curly. It wasn't shiny. If moisture so much as glanced at my hair, it would morph into an undulating mass of frizz that I'm pretty sure was alive; it had a mind of it's own. Not to be outdone, dryness could turn my hair into a conduit for electricity; it was so full of static electricity that it could spark. Sigh. What in the world do you do about hair like that? Nothing. I was a young girl; I had no clue how to combat my hair or tame it. 

No one gave me a straightener, or a blow dryer, or product. I had no stylist. I walked around with terrible hair, and a cowlick right in the middle of my forehead to boot. I was doomed. I don't know about you, but a good haircut/hairstyle/hair day can make me feel beautiful. Well, I didn't know what that was like for the majority of the past 20 years. I had low self esteem and I know my hair was a major factor in that. Every time I looked in the mirror all I could see was the hot mess that my hair was. When I finally did discover straightening irons, blow dryers, and product, I had no idea how to properly use them, nor how to take care of my hair. Thus, I ended up with heat damaged, frizzy, unruly hair. 

About a year ago I was getting my hair cut and I asked the stylist how I could remedy this hair problem. (Now, mind you, I asked this question a 100 times) She recommended a regimen that consisted of 5 products; things to shield my hair, protect it, and heal it. She used these products on me and she was right, my hair looked great. However, the price for said products was outlandish and I have 2 sets of twins. My budget is small and so is my allotted time for hair care. I felt sucker punched. Finally, I had found a regimen that would make my hair beautiful, but I couldn't realistically do it. 

Thankfully, some tiny part of my brain that survived carrying and raising (currently) 2 sets of twins remembered this thing called no poo that I had read about years ago. I thought, "why put all these expensive products on my hair when there is this potentially great method of hair care where I basically do nothing to my hair." It was worth a shot. I started by reading everything I could online about no poo. I found a few bloggers who had experimented with this as well. After reading about their experiences and results I was hooked, and ready to give it a go. 

How do you do it? I found several different no poo methods such as using baking soda and apple cider vinegar, using water only, adding essential oils to the mix, etc. I also found varying amounts of each ingredient suggested for use. I am kind of clueless about natural health/beauty care, so I went with the most frequently suggested routine of baking soda for wash and apple cider vinegar for conditioner. 

I started out by using a cheap detergent shampoo to clarify my hair and scalp. You want to find one that does not have any silicone in it, like Suave or White Rain (make sure nothing ends in -cone in the ingredients). Silicone is the thing that coats your hair strand and makes it something it isn't supposed to be. It is what weighs your hair down and causes build up. I put the shampoo in my palm and added a tsp of baking soda to it to give it a little extra cleansing power. I then scrubbed my hair and scalp; scrubbing my scalp for a few minutes to truly remove any chemical build up. Essentially, you are removing a mask from you hair; giving it a chance to truly breathe and eventually look like it was intended to look! I then used a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water to "condition" my hair. And no, I did not smell like vinegar when it dried. 

Does your head smell? Sadly, I have made my friends and family smell my head, and no, it does not have an unpleasant odor. You won't smell like a botanical bouquet or a piece of fruit like you would with a chemical shampoo, but if you really want to add a scent you can add a drop of your favorite scented essential oil to your baking soda mix.

Do you have a dirty head? No! When you tell people that you don't use shampoo, their mind tends to immediately conjure up an image of a greasy, smelly, lank head of hair. The opposite is the truth! If you regularly use chemical shampoos but don't wash your hair that often, you will get smelly, oily, lank hair...because that is the result of using chemical shampoo. Shampoos strip your hair and scalp of it's natural oils (sebum) which makes your scalp go into overdrive trying to produce enough oil to moisturize your hair. But it over produces, so you get greasy hair, thus having to shampoo again. However, if you use the no poo method, your scalp eventually gets back to its roots (ha ha) and corrects the amount of oil it produces. You will no longer have buildup on your scalp. Voila! No smelly dirty buildup, and no more extra grease! My hair is healthy and bouncy; I get more compliments on my hair now than I have ever gotten in my whole life. 

Phew! That is a lot of words! I will continue this post in a few days and answer the rest of the above questions. If you have any questions of your own please feel free to leave them in the comments section or email me @ Mamabrightside@gmail.com

To be continued! 

Finding Time to Blog With Two Sets of Twins

It has been a while since I wrote. But I really am still here. Life with 2 sets of twins can be crazy, hard, and beautiful all at the same time. It is hard to believe that my big kids are 3 now, and that my "babies" are almost 2! I vacillate between expecting the babies to act like the big kids and treating them like 5 month olds. It is really strange to have so many kids so close in age; they are close enough that it tricks your brain into thinking they all share the same capabilities, yet far enough apart that they are in totally different stages of development. 

The 3 year olds are now almost 100% potty trained. We have a few accidents once in a while, and sometimes they still pee while sleeping, but for the most part we only have 2 in diapers now. Woohoo! The babies think they should be potty training now too though, and they are insistent. Almost every time the big kids go potty the babies are whining to go also. They insist on sitting on the potty, and then proceeding to get up and down 100 times and run around the house naked, often peeing on the carpet. Ugh. Cute, but also frustrating. I do think they are close to being ready. They tell me 1/2 the time when they need to poop or have pooped, and they certainly want to use the potty like big girls. 

Potty training 4 kids is stressful and time consuming. I feel like I spend a majority of my day cleaning poop from butts or pottys. The rest of the day is spent preparing food, serving food, cleaning up children and said food, and then cleaning the surrounding areas. I often find myself feeling like I am doing the same thing over and over again. We have breakfast for 5 people, snack for 5 people, lunch for 5 people and dinner for 6! It can be hard to not feel like my days are monotonous; filled with the same routine over and over again. That kind of life could literally drive you crazy. So I try to find ways to make it a little different each day. 

Now, any mom of multiples will tell you that schedules are a must; that her family lives and dies by a schedule lol! However, I have found that we can survive just fine with a schedule that has some flexibility to it; it may just be the thing that keeps us sane. 

I am so thankful that the weather is starting to get a little nicer. Now we can slip some outdoor play into our day. Someday soon we may even be able to go for a "walk" in our quad stroller (now if only someone would just come push me in it too...) and maybe go to story time at the library, yes, with all 4 kids. No, I am not certifiably insane. Yet. I even went so far as to set up an outdoor play/climbing cube in our basement and a large play kitchen in the hopes of providing some indoor entertainment. 


My house officially looks like a daycare center. If you have any great ideas or tips for indoor toddler entertainment or energy burning please comment below or shoot me an email.