About a year ago, I decided to rid my cabinet of all the products I owned that could potentially contribute to any kind of hormone imbalance. I realized that so long as my hormones were not balanced, I could never truly be harmonious with my mind, my body or my understanding of attraction with others. Our hormones are so integral to everything that we do; the way that we sleep, eat, speak, interact and think are all affected by how balanced our hormones are. After doing some research, I did empty out my cabinet, and low-and-behold, my cabinet ended up being entirely empty. I owned no products.
After emptying out my cabinet, I found alternatives. I replaced all of the following products with entirely natural substitutes: toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, tampons, Ibuprofen, lotion, makeup remover, shaving cream, shampoo, conditioner and deep conditioner.
The toughest of all of these was throwing away my shampoo and conditioner. At the time, I had long, fine hair that became greasy after about 24 hours. Prior to throwing away these products, I washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner on average, five to seven times a week.
I turned to the #nopoo movement which involves quitting the usage of commercialized shampoos and conditioners and using gentle alternatives instead, such as baking soda, apple cider vinegar, or just water.
There is plenty of advice on how to go about creating the mixtures, but here is what worked for me:
My shampoo was a 1:3 baking soda to water mixture.
My conditioner was a 1:5 apple cider vinegar to water mixture.
My deep conditioner was coconut oil; I would wet my hair/scalp, massage the oil into my hair/scalp, then I would put my hair up into a plastic hair cap and sleep on it.
Every week, I increased water in the shampoo and conditioner mixtures as to eventually ween myself off of using it at all. The key to success was making sure to exfoliate and massage my scalp with water while washing my hair. At first, my hair's consistency was slightly different, but after about four weeks, I was able to only wash my hair once a week with a very diluted mixture. My hair was thicker, shinier, and much, much less demanding.
So why not use normal shampoo/conditioner?
1. Shampoos containing harsh chemicals that strip away not only grim, dirt and products, but also your hair's natural oil, sebum. When your hair is excessively dry from shampoo, your scalp will produce more sebum than normal in an attempt to compensate for this imbalance.
2. Shampoos contain toxic chemicals that are used by companies, not because they benefit your health care, but because they're cheap to use in manufacturing. We live in America, and yes, this is capitalism. There are carcinogens, ingredients that cause kidney damage, reproductive damage and organ toxicity, breast cancer and extreme estrogen imbalances. Learn more here.
3. U.S. labeling requirements allow companies to leave out potentially toxic chemicals on labels.
4. They're scented. The fragrances regularly used in health care/beauty products are "highly toxic and can result in liver toxicity, damage to the central nervous system, allergies, brain fog, obesity, asthma, headache, contact dermatitis, organ toxicity and cancer, "as said by Barbara Minton of NaturalSociety. The toxic chemicals that are within these fragrances will never be listed on your bottle's ingredients list because they are considered trade secrets.
5. Conditioners simply coat hair, not moisturize it. This coating makes hair appear shinier but is really just preventing your hair from taking in moisture, which results in a dependency on the conditioner for healthy "looking" hair. The only way to have shiny, healthy hair is to take care of your scalp and health. Instead, try taking Biotin or maintaining high levels of amino acids and supporting nutrients.
Be kind to your body and mind by nurturing it the way it is meant to be nurtured, without harsh chemicals. I am #nopoo.
