No-Poo Your 'Do

Don't want to wash your hair anymore? Now you have a legitimate reason to excuse your dirty- hippie ways thanks to the “no-poo” movement, a horrible name for a great concept. Its premise is simple: All of the chemical crap in shampoo and conditioner (sulfates, parabens and other fun stuff) messes up our hair despite the promises of the shampoo cartel that every bottle guarantees shine, volume and the ability to get laid. So if you want to have your hair as beautiful as Rita Hayworth, go old-school: Ditch your bottle in favor of how our great-grandmas used to do it.

Shampoo as we know it only dates back to the late 19th century, derived from British imperialists who stole from their subcontinental subjects the word and the idea of washing your hair with products separate from what you used to scrub the rest of your body. The original shampoo was usually a combination of soap heavy in animal fats and essential oils, but it wasn't a wash-and-rinse kind of situation; women underwent a tiresome regime that took hours and required several rinses and combing sessions. The most they would wash their hair was about every two weeks. Everything changed in the 1930s, though, with the introduction of synthetics and mass production—and, as with anything given the ol' capitalism spin, it went downhill from there.

No-poo seeks to go back to the garden, and it works. I have a mass of thin blond hair that just hangs without the help of volumizers and mousses—or so I thought. About a year ago, I tried the no-poo philosophy. The most hardcore way to go is substituting baking soda for shampoo and apple cider vinegar for conditioner. You dilute both ingredients with water in a 1:1 ratio (1 tablespoon per cup of filtered water), then use as needed. Sure, your hair will be greasy for the first couple of weeks, but everything balances out after your scalp detoxes. You'll have to wash your hair less, and it becomes more manageable.

Mine had never before been so full and in need of zero upkeep. And now, the full disclosure: I've since switched to completely organic shampoo instead of making my own, just for convenience and 'cause coconut smells good and I'm American and have to buy something. . . .

 

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