Ever Thought of Going 'Pooless?

About a month ago I saw a picture of a friend of mine on Facebook and her hair looked amazing, so I told her as much. She said she had ditched shampoo and was using baking soda and apple cider vinegar every other day in its place. She also gave me a link to a website for more info. I was intrigued and decided to try it out.

The gist of what I did was this:

Dissolve about 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda in hot water, use the solution to clean the scalp.

Mix about 1-2 teaspoons of apple cider in hot water, and use it as a conditioning rinse. I poured on the crown of my head, without rinsing the baking soda, so it did a mild little fizz. Then I just let it run through my hair and massaged it in a little before rinsing very well.

Generally, I wash my hair less than every other day...maybe every third day or so. I figured it would be best to continue with that schedule when I made the switch. I read that the first couple weeks could be rough on your hair while the pH level adjusts, but the first two weeks were actually not bad at all for me. My scalp felt clean, I wasn't itchy. My hair didn't feel oily, as some people experience during the adjustment period.

It was the third week that did me in. Suddenly I felt like I had a baking soda film on my hair. Then someone commented on my Facebook page that she knew someone whose hair was ruined from using this 'pooless method for a year, and that it was very drying (which is opposite of everything else I've read - most people who quit seem to do so because their hair doesn't get past the oily stage, but everyone's hair is different so you never know how yours will react!).

I was slightly freaked though, so I decided to put a small amount of coconut oil in my hair to try to bring it back around. I would say I used less than one teaspoon, and my hair was an utter greaseball. I lasted about two days with my hair in sock buns, which wasn't too bad because I like sock buns anyway. At that point though, I had to get the oil out of my hair. I had a sample of a L'Oreal sulfate-free shampoo and deep conditioner in my closet, products that I had never tried before, and decided to use those. There was enough shampoo in the packet for two washes, and then I put the deep conditioner in my hair and left it for about five minutes or so. I let it air dry.

This was Saturday. Once it was dry, my hair felt softer and cleaner than it has ever felt, ever. It's now Wednesday night and I still haven't washed my hair again. It doesn't even feel dirty yet. I use a shower cap when I shower, but I did get it wet in the pool this week. I feel like maybe tomorrow might be a pony tail or bun day, but it's still doing alright.

Now I'm left to wonder...was it the going 'pooless for 3 weeks? Was it the coconut oil? Was it the L'Oreal products? Was it a combo of all three? All I know is I want a repeat performance, so I might just do the whole process all over again. Only problem is I'm going to New York next week, and I don't my hair jacked up for my trip. So what I think I'll do is this:

Wash with baking soda and apple cider vinegar on Friday.

Skip a few days.

Condition with coconut oil on Monday.

Shampoo and condition with the L'Oreal stuff on Wednesday (I leave Thursday morning). Hopefully I can find the same products since my samples are gone! Maybe it would work with any shampoo and conditioner, but I feel like this is some kind of mad voodoo and I have to do it just right!

Disclosure about my hair: I rarely use any product in it, so that is not an issue for me. I know that many hair products can simply be rinsed out with water, but those containing certain ingredients really need to be washed out (if you know which ingredients, will please tell me in the comments?!). Also my hair is "normal" and kind of thick...it doesn't really get oily.

Have you tried going 'pooless? I'd love to hear about your experience!