The "No Poo" Movement

Years ago when I was a teenager I read in a beauty magazine about a girl who stopped washing her hair. The thought grossed me out, but she explained how she believed the toxic ingredients in shampoo were damaging our skin, scalp and body. We weren't born to use chemicals and our hair has a natural cleansing process if we'd just leave it alone. She described the transition between constant shampooing and no shampooing. I was fascinated. After a few weeks of a greasy, dandruffy, oily head, her normally thick, yet dry, stringy and unmanageable hair became full, glossy, and gorgeous for the first time in her life. She claimed she hadn't washed her hair in years. I had thick, frizzy, dry, unmanageable hair and her story definitely made an impression. I didn't give up my shampoo at the time, but I've never forgotten it.

Today I found an article by a woman who has done the same experiment. You can read about her experience HERE. Shampoos are loaded with chemicals, many of them proven to cause cancer. It amazes me with all the information we have based on research that has been done, shampoos are still sold. No one seems to care because we are so conditioned to believe we are required to wash and strip our hair of all its natural oils and if we don't...eeewww...society will look down upon us and no one will like us. After all, it's all about being liked.

 

I have found few products I can tolerate and I only wash my hair once every two or three weeks as it is. I've also had many people ask me which shampoos are non-toxic and others who have told me they have very little tolerance to any soap. I usually suggest using baking soda, or like I do, Planet dish washing liquid, but even those options might not work for the extremely sensitive. But no shampoo!? Hooray! This anti-shampoo movement is being called "No Poo".

I love it! We can't control what chemical companies and manufacturers produce and market. We can't control the lies they tell with their fancy advertisements and erroneous claims. We CAN vote with our money, and by not purchasing these chemical-laden, toxic products, let those chemical and manufacturing companies know we aren't interested in poisoning ourselves anymore. The No Poo movement is one step toward a chemically-free world.

Alternative Beauty Products

If housecleaning isn't enough to overload women, then add an overabundance of beauty products. That should do the trick! What I don't understand is why are women expected to use cosmetics and men aren't? The male of every other species is the one that has the fancy plumage or attention-getting dances for mating. And with the feminist movement of the 1970s, why do women STILL feel the need to go to outlandish effort to attract a man? It should be the other way around. My neighbor's husband used to make her wash her hands with bleach. Hmmmm...she's had cancer three times.

Mary's goat

Soap Mary's Milk Monsters soap is my favorite. It does have sodium hydroxide (lye/caustic soda) which is the basic ingredient of old-fashioned soap, but little else in the way of poison. It is rare that I can find an unscented soap that doesn't give me grief. It is sold by Mary who is the cutest little goat wrangler I've ever seen in my life. She looks like a fairytale character. Mary and her mother sell goat milk products at a local farmers' market. You can even get a soap that is vegan without the goat milk, but Mary claims the goat milk makes your skin smooth. She's so adorable. See her blog to the right on my blog list.

Shampoo  Planet Dishwashing Liquid, the all-purpose miracle soap! Another option is aluminum-free baking soda. Put about 1/2 cup of baking soda in a small bowl with just enough water to make a paste. Wet your hair, apply soda paste, scrub through, rinse. I do an extra rinse with vinegar water. When I first read about this on a minimalist blog I didn't think it would work very well, but this is what was used for centuries before fancy products replaced it. Your hair comes out squeaky clean.

I wash my hair about once every three weeks. I'm sure to some that is unimaginable! When I was in high school I read an article in Glamour magazine about a girl who quit washing her hair because she was having skin issues. She said it made her crazy for a week and then all was fine. Since she wasn't stripping it every day with harsh chemicals, it grew full and healthy. It was as if her body balanced itself and all the oily greasiness went away along with her skin problems! That left a huge impression on me for the rest of my life although it took becoming chemically sensitive to stop washing my hair so much.

Me (London, 1979)

Hair conditioner  Organic coconut oil. Just a tiny bit. When it's not on my hair or skin, it's in the frying pan.

Beauty Parlor and Hair Styling I cut my own hair in my bathroom. It's short so I don't even have to use a blow dryer anymore. No poofing or lacquering short hair either. I've heard if you want to sculpt your hair, use whipped up egg whites. That's what British punk rockers used to get their long hair to stand straight up. Homemade mousse.

Make-Up  Zilch.  On occasion I use Nanak's Lip Smoothee for chap stick. Does that count as make-up? I don't think so. Nanak's has Vitamin E in it. I recently read Vitamin E is made with gluten and if you are on a gluten-free diet (which I am) you shouldn't even wear make-up with gluten. Nearly all cosmetics and lotions have Vitamin E as an ingredient. We are a vitamin-crazed society and manufacturer's think if they put that on the label, people associate it with health. Another marketing ploy by the money-makers.

Moisturizer/Lotion/Suntan Lotion  Coconut oil. Makes me feel like I'm on a Hawaiian beach. I don't use moisturizers often since I don't wear cosmetics so I don't use harsh soaps to scrub off the first layer of skin to get the chemicals off.

Aloha!

Deodorant  Vinegar for smell, baking soda for wetness. I've tried some non-toxic deodorants and none of them work as well as vinegar and baking soda.

Bath water conditioning  Sometimes I put vinegar in my bath. The acid is good for your skin. Sometimes I put Epsom salts in my bath. Both are good for muscle pains. (Note: After years of vinegar baths I'm noticing my bathtub finish is wearing thin. From the vinegar? Maybe....this is a warning.)

Toothpaste  I use a toothbrush and water, and I floss every day. Once a week or so I brush with baking soda for a scrub. Toothpaste is loaded with chemicals: fluoride, whiteners, dyes, flavorings, preservatives,  and SUGAR! It used to be camouflaged as sucrose in hopes stupid consumers wouldn't recognize it. How many people look at ingredients labels on a tube of toothpaste?  I'm constantly baffled by the lack of common sense. Or was this a ploy by the American Dental Association to guarantee returning patients? Lately manufacturers have been replacing sugar with sorbitol and saccharin. Are those any safer in my mouth? No.

My old dentist used to always ask if I drank coffee or tea. I didn't. When I stopped using toothpaste, the plaque build-up decreased.  Now I only go to the dentist about once every five years because it's hard to find one that doesn't stink and I like to avoid being radiated so often.  They love to radiate! $$ I also refuse tooth polish with flavored chemicals. Like the AMA, dentists can get really testy if you aren't spending money like a normal American.

Some people use soap. Another use for Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid, the miracle soap? Eeewww! That's where I draw the line. The childhood threat of getting your mouth washed out with soap still haunts me.

If you haven't seen The Story of Cosmetics, check it out: http://storyofcosmetics.org Very cute and informative.

And that's a savings of... Getting rid of cosmetics, make-up removers, make-up tools, shampoos, conditioners, hair gel, hair mousse, hair dyes, hair bleaches, hair appliances, hair accessories, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, Ivory soap, bath oil beads, bubble bath, lotions, fingernail polish, and fingernail polish remover and I can afford to buy quality, organic food!