Drat - overfilled the pool AGAIN! And thoughts on hair, my no-'poo secret, etc.

I always resolve to remember to turn off the hose and then I always forget! Well, okay, this is just the second time it's actually overflowed... and it is kind of pretty in a zen-garden kind of way. Except for the bright blue colour.

Funny. My hair was getting kind of greasy the last couple of days and I actually started feeling annoyed - like, maybe this "no-'poo" ('poo = shampoo) thing isn't working anymore - because, after all, I just washed my hair last month when I went to the mikveh!

And then I was, like, uh-oh... need a sense of perspective here. Remember when I used to have to wash my hair every single DAY?

So, the no-'poo thing. I use two squirt bottles, from the dollar store. They're yellow and red, for mustard and ketchup, but never used for that at all. I fill the yellow bottle with hottish water and add 3 tsp or so of baking soda. In the red bottle, I put a bit of apple cider vinegar, maybe 1/3 of a cup, then fill the bottle all the way to the top with hottish water. I also add a drop of orange essential oil, just for the nice smell. Highly optional. Then, put on the lids and shake, shake, shake. And you're ready to go!

In case that seems like a lot of prep, keep in mind that:
a) you probably won't need to no-'poo as often as you sham-'poo, so just set aside a couple of extra minutes every however-often - it's no big deal, and also...
b) I don't use all the vinegar mixture at a time - the bottle lasts through several no-'poos. Though I do have to remix the baking soda every time; you want it nice and fizzy. The vinegar stuff, as far as I know, can sit and sit in the ketchup bottle and remain effective forever.

SO, then, you just use them like shampoo and conditioner.
1) Wet hair.
2) Pour in the baking soda mixture (yellow bottle). Rub hair and scalp thoroughly. It may fizz! I use this opportunity to pull out loose hairs... I usually get a good handful because I don't wash my hair very often.
3) Rinse hair well.
4) Apply vinegar mixture (red bottle). Rub hair and scalp thoroughly. Run fingers through to detangle.
5) Rinse hair well.

OK, if the rinsing wasn't listed as an extra step, it really would be just 3 steps... so no big deal, right? And I will tell you honestly - there is NO conditioner in the world that has been as effective at letting me brush through my dense, prone-to-dreadlocks tangly hair the way this simple, two-ingredient combo has. My hair feels softer and silkier than ever before, and at the aforementioned mikveh visit, I was even able to COMB through it for the first time in I have no idea how long.

How often you'll need to no-'poo really depends on your own personal chemistry. At one point, I was going a couple of months, but being on Mirena now has, I suspect, made me more pimply in general and perhaps because of this, my hair seems slightly greasier as well. Which is a reasonable trade-off because, in case you're curious, it has not affected my milk supply in the slightest. Considering that was my Number One biggest fear, I will happily accept more frequent no-'pooing (like maybe every 3 weeks) and a couple of zits.

So there you have it. Hair-care secrets from the woman with the covered hair. You'll just have to take my word for it that beneath this tichel lie the most gorgeous silky tresses.

Oh, yeah - the vinegar smells yuck until you get used to it, but it dries completely ODOURLESS. I promise! I started using the orange essential oil to mask the scent, but there is no need. I have skipped it on occasion and Ted cannot detect the smell of vinegar once my hair is dry. So there. Try it and see!