Hair without shampoo, 4 week update

It's now been about 4 weeks since I've used shampoo or conditioner on my hair so how am I finding it?

It's been a bit trial and error but I think I've finally settled on a system that works for me. I've had to adapt my first methods that I outlined here. I think it's been a bit trickier because I'm also trying to treat psoriasis on my scalp. 

Initially, I was using bentonite clay and apple cider vinegar (ACV) as a hair mask. I had read good things about this and after a patch test on my face (without psoriasis) I gave it a go. The patch test ended up being a full on face mask as I have to admit, my skin felt amazing afterwards. It was a little pink for about 10 minutes as the clay exfoliates as well but it didn't last long. I'm definitely keeping the face mask for when I need a bit of pampering. ;)

When I tried the clay on my hair as a mask I found it to be too difficult to do. It was messy and with long hair I wasn't able to get it onto my scalp very well. My hair tangled a LOT and that's not a good thing as my hair falls out exceptionally easily, and this was one of the things I was trying to avoid. It wasn't pleasant and I felt like a family of rats had made a home on my head. Yuck!

My next attempt at using bentonite clay was as a dry shampoo. This worked better overall. I applied a light dusting to the roots of my hair with a makeup brush (as my salt shaker kept blocking) before bed the night before I washed my hair. 

The dry shampoo method worked better as it kept the oils more under control. Then it occurred to me that dry shampoos were not going to let my skin naturally adapt to producing less oils in the long run if I kept on sucking them up with bentonite. Hmmm. Also, my scalp started to hurt after the bentonite had been washed out as it was too gritty for my injured skin to cope with. 

Hiding my greasy roots under a scarf.

For the first 2 weeks I took to hiding my scalp under my trusty head scarves again while I tried to figure this out. The length of my hair was fine as the ACV was doing a great job but the roots were looking (and feeling) pretty grotty. 

After some more research I decided to stop the bentonite treatment and instead I switched to washing my hair with about a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in half a cup of warm water. This is working far better for me. 

Bicarb has to be kept in an airtight container, especially in a damp bathroom, as it absorbs moisture from the air and turns to rock! I have a small tub in the bathroom, which I take a teaspoon from into a clean glass. I take this into the shower with me now and use the warm shower water to mix it up as I was a wimp with the cold water that ran down my back. Brrr. It's not summer any more! 

First I wet my hair, then pour the bicarb water slowly into my roots. I massage gently into my scalp to cleanse my damaged skin. It's far gentler than the bentonite clay but still a mild exfoliator. It's pretty darn good at getting the dead cells off that are caused (excessively) by psoriasis. I leave it on for a minute or two then rinse thoroughly with water as the next step is the ACV and you do NOT want to have bicarb and vinegar reacting together on your head! I doubt it would do any harm but I don't think I'd want to try it and risk it getting into my eyes. Ouch! 

Since the weather has got cooler I've also started to take concentrated ACV into the shower. I pour about 2 tablespoons of ACV into my glass and half fill it with the warm shower water so I dilute it in the shower now. Again, this is my wimp factor and not liking cold water going down my back. Such a wuss! It works for me. 

I haven't changed the ACV rinse as it's worked really well. I gently pour the diluted mix through my hair and massage it along the length of my hair to the tips. Don't get it in your eyes. That will hurt. If you do, rinse immediately with water. I stick my face under the shower head a bit quick. I only did it once! I then leave the ACV on my hair for about 3-5 minutes while I continue to wash my body. 

Incidentally, I have only used water to wash my body for several years as soaps were aggravating my skin. This is why I'm now ditching shampoo too. I can safely say that I don't smell without soap. I have repeatedly asked Hubby and Missy just to check! On hotter days in the summer I did on occasion spray a bit of diluted ACV under my arms to kill any bacteria that could cause the body odour smell. ACV doesn't smell once it's dry so simply hold your arms up for a minute for it to dry. ;) Now the weather has cooled I haven't needed to use anything and Hubby still says it's fine and I trust him. I actually sweat less since stopping deodorant.

Sweat only smells when it goes stale. I wash under my arms every morning with water alone and that's usually enough. Sometimes on hot days I might need to wash again by evening (or use a little vinegar in the morning to prevent it). Either way, my skin and body are happier because I'm not using chemicals that make me sick and no one has ever indicated, politely or otherwise, that I smell. I'm usually the first one to notice at which point I splash some water again. It's only noticeable when I'm not well as sweating is different then and a sign of illness. These days I'm stuck in bed anyway when sick so not offending anyone with my smell. I also have bigger things to worry about than a little bit of odour so I cut myself some slack on these days. 

About 2.5 weeks ago, I did use a bit of soap on my hair after spending all day and night in A&E after a chemical exposure (to air freshener) made me collapse in the doctor's office. When I got home I was long overdue treating my skin and the psoriasis was so bad that I was forced to use steroid creams on it. The next day I needed something a bit stronger to wash out the creams. I opted for Castille soap that it chemical free. A tiny amount was all I needed, then I rinsed again with ACV. This was my only blip. They happen. Since then I haven't used the steroid creams but it's good to know that this works for when I can't avoid them. 

So after 4 weeks I've learnt a lot. I now have a routine where I wash my hair every other day with bicarb and rinse with ACV. I tried to go longer between washes and just rinse with water in between but this simply isn't possible with psoriasis, at least until I can heal it. 

I'm happy with this routine. My skin is feeling a lot less irritated and is less scaly. My hair is clean and shiny. Moreover, I'm using far fewer plastic bottles than I did with shampoo and conditioner as I bulk buy the bicarb and ACV that last so much longer as such a small amount is needed each wash. And a great bonus is that it's costing me pennies now. (They are affiliate links.) I also use them both for other things like making cleaning products and cooking with. Don't worry, they are kept in the kitchen not the bathroom! :) 

Here's a pic of my hair as it is today. Also, I haven't washed it today so I'm pretty happy. 

4 weeks without shampoo and conditioner.
I need to smile more. I think I was concentrating!

Can I give up Christmas?

Isn't that a big question!

This is something that has bothered me for many years. Well, not specifically from a Save the World point of view until recent years, but it has bothered me by how wasteful Christmas is these days, both financially as well as in resources.

Let me start by saying that we are not Christians in this house. I was brought up Catholic but left the faith in my childhood. As a result, I have been brought up to celebrate Christmas, just like most people in the UK (Christian or not), and it is part of our culture. What it does mean is that we (and many in the UK) do not celebrate Christmas for the right reasons.

For decades I've wanted to stop celebrating Christmas as I feel like a hypocrite but that is not easy when it is so completely ingrained into society, especially our families. I feel trapped into Christmas through peer pressure. I know I'm not a spotty teenager any more but peer pressure is still very much in society even as we get older and should know better.

I honestly think that my family would be accepting (maybe not so much understanding) but this will definitely not fly with my in laws. The (annual) fights and emotional blackmail over Christmas have already started in that quarter!

I'm faced with this dilemma every year and still haven't found the right balance.

If it was exactly what I wanted it would be simple. Our household celebrates Yule on the 21st December. It is all about our little family. We have a luxury (for us) meal together and we each receive a book (pinched from the Icelandic Christmas Eve tradition) that we can snuggle up with in the evening with our fire on and a box of chocolates to share while we read together.

Our family is forming our own celebration based on our values. Yule makes sense to our beliefs and values. It is the longest night of the year and the next day we welcome the new solar year as the sun and longer days return to us.

Missy made a gluten free Yule log last year. I love it.

We draw a wheel (representing the last year) and we take it in turns to draw something that we are grateful for  around the circumference. I always feature books and last year one of mine was my Kindle (aka, my Precious!). This is a simple thing to do that makes us stop and think about what we already have in life and are thankful for. Incidentally, I love my Kindle so much that I cried when my last one broke after 7 years!

Last year we also wrote a letter to ourselves that we will read back this year to reflect on and hopefully see how far we've come in the last year. Then we will write a new one to ourselves for next year. This is our equivalent to New Year's resolutions in a way, but we celebrate the new Solar Year. We are moving back towards Pagan ways as they make a lot more sense to us.

As a family, we don't follow a religion. Instead, we have based our values around Mother Earth. We have been trying to become more and more sustainable each year as we wish to protect the Earth that we depend on. We all feel a connection to this Earth that sadly Hubby and I lost for many years while we were brainwashed into the rat race and the consumerism trap.

Through our daughter, who stills sees the Earth as a wonderful living being, we have woken up again. I have been sleepwalking through life for too many years. It took the wonder in my daughter's eyes to make me stop and look more closely again. I will always be grateful to her for that.

This brings me back to our dilemma. So far we do still celebrate Christmas as well because of peer pressure. We do exchange gifts on Christmas day but we are keeping things far more simple. We don't spend a fortune and we are perfectly happy (happier even) if something is found second hand (and saved from landfill).

The gifts we do buy for each other are well thought out and are things that we really, really want (but don't necessarily need). Missy will happily wait for birthdays and Christmas for something she's been eagerly waiting for. For instance, her phone died months ago and she waited until this month for her birthday. She made do with a broken, half working phone for about 3 months, which I'm very proud of her for. She asked for money from everyone this year to go towards her new phone and she's said that she's even more thrilled with it because she's had to wait and now really appreciates one that doesn't keep letting her down. I will also show her how to sell her old phone online for parts so that she also gets something back and avoids sending her phone to landfill.

About to start our Yule dinner

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem at all with buying (new or second hand) gifts when someone needs something or genuinely wants it and will use it. What I do hate is the duty to spend on things that are not needed or often wanted just because it's Christmas. It's a waste of resources to make that product, a waste of hard earned money, and often ends up in landfill (or a charity shop then landfill) soon after. It makes me shudder to think about it.

This feeling isn't new, it's been with me for a long time. I just didn't have the words to articulate how I felt for a long time. Something felt very wrong with Christmas. As a child we went to mass and celebrated the birth of Christ. Ok, I don't follow it now but I can respect that others do and that's the true meaning of CHRISTmas. All the commercialism to make money for profit that occurs is wrong to me. This is why Yule resonates so much better for me. We only gift one book each and the day is about celebrating what we already have, as well as looking forward to what we want to change in the coming year.

Yes, Christmas is a time for giving but we've got it all wrong. We need to give our time to connect with those who are around us. Give to those who need a little help. Charities are good if you don't know anyone in person who genuinely needs some help. It could be something as simple as inviting a friend or family member who lives alone to eat Christmas dinner with you. You are giving the gift of company. As someone who is largely housebound, the gift of company would be the best gift ever.

What I want to say is that giving doesn't need to involve money at all. In fact, using money is the easy way out and doesn't usually give what that person truly needs.

In the UK most people have enough money already. And I do mean enough for basic needs, not wants. We are a wealthy nation when compared to many others. Most people can buy their own material gifts whenever they want them (to a point).

What we are lacking is a sense of community. Isolation and loneliness are ever increasing and are in the news all the time these days. I know first hand. Depression is a big problem for many, especially in the darker months. Giving someone a novelty plastic gift doesn't do anything for the fundamental need for community and togetherness. It doesn't nurture the soul.

We keep our Yule decorations simple

Right now I feel trapped between my values and peer pressure. I still don't know how to address this as fundamentally I am a people pleaser and want to keep the peace. I think this Christmas is going to be a tough one. One family member has been banned from our house as they refuse to stop wearing perfumes around me and make me exceptionally sick. This is going to be the first Christmas when they are not allowed to come here and I can't go near them either. I end up in hospital! I really don't know how to deal with this. I'm not even sure why I feel so bad to be honest as this person has had everything explained to them countless times and continued to make me sick for a long time before I said enough.

I really want to give up Christmas and carry on with Yule. It's not easy to go against the grain though and my immediate family have to be on board too. That's a lot to ask. Missy isn't bothered about Christmas (oddly for a child) but Hubby is stuck between us and his extended family. It's hard for him.

Last year we really downplayed Christmas and kept it simple. We still saw everyone and exchanged gifts but our little household had already celebrated on Yule, which was fantastic. Christmas felt like the little brother in comparison. I expect this year will go a similar way, except that I can't see Hubby's family.

I'd love to know if others feel the same as I do and if anyone has any tips on how to get the balance better. I don't like upsetting people but I also don't like being the one who's upset. I think Hubby and I need to have another chat about this. I really hope he's got some ideas.