Woman Goes 3 Years with only baking soda and ACV

[molljo]

http://thehairpin.com/2014/01/three-years-without-shampoo

I can't help but give a big side-eye to her information here, not to mention her before picture is much better than the after.

(edit- couldn't change the title to ACV, not AVC, but I trust you all know what I mean :) )

(Mod edit: You can't change the title, but I can. :D)

[Scarlet_Heart]

not to mention her before picture is much better than the after.
:scissors:

Of course! 50/50 baking soda to water?! Dryness and breakage ahoy! That's why most people say that bs/acv doesn't work for them. You only need a tiny bit mixed with water to clean your scalp properly and only once in a while. Yikes.

I love when people post articles like this in a tone that intimates that they know everything about everything and they are clearly clueless (as in this situation).

Oh, and then after she uses her 50/50 baking soda/water solution (I just read more) she blow dries it. shudder: Not that I'm casting dispersion on blow drying, but she's already drying it out with all that baking soda and then to blow dry it... eek.

[MissHoney]

Her hair is like the same length, but drier looking. :confused:

[molljo]

Right?? I understand that she's not trying to grow her hair, so she's probably not as vigilant as the people here, but I thought it was very suspicious that she makes no mention of breakage or splits, especially since she's drying the crap out of her hair. Also, as a wavy myself, I can't fathom how shiny, defined waves is worse than a big poof. She seems happy, though, so to each her own, I guess.

[jeanniet]

50/50 BS and water would kill my hair. I've clarified with BS before, although not typically, and it works fine with way less BS. It's abrasive anyway, so using that much is just scrubbing the cuticle right off your hair.

[ejking2]

Yeah, her hair looked a lot healthier before. Not sure why she seems to think fluffy=healthy. No, shampoo didn't artificially darken her hair. It's just lighter because it's dry and probably very damaged. I tried the BS/ACV routine--1 tablespoon baking soda in a cup or two of water--and I could only stick with it for a couple of weeks because it made my hair feel horrible. I'd probably have a pixie now if I'd tried to keep it up for 3 years. Also, applying a basic solution to your head and following it up with an acidic solution isn't quite the same as keeping your scalp's pH stable.

[Weewah]

It looks like she bleached the heck out of her hair in the after photo.

[ravenreed]

Ah well, she seems happy with it. My hair retains the vinegar aroma for quite some time after I have washed, but I just roll with it.

ETA: I very occasionally add baking soda to my shampoo to clarify and it always gives me wicked scalp flakies. Consequently, I only do that if I have some heavy build up of some sort.

[Neptune]

Omg her hair looks SO much better in the "before" photo! Totally fried and bleached in the 2nd one... Eeek.

Side note: Reading everyone's comments about broken/dry/brittle hair motivated me to go deep condition! Haha!

[woodswanderer]

Someone really ought to send her our way.

[turtlelover]

Baking soda TOTALLY destroys my hair faster than anything I know of. I can't fathom not being BALD after using it for that long! HAHA

[Springlets]

Goodness, a 50/50 dilution of ACV with water? And then blow drying it. No wonder her hair has been bleached about 3 levels lighter. Doesn't look natural at all, and her original color was far more flattering.

[tigerlily.]

It looks like she bleached the heck out of her hair in the after photo.

I was thinking the same thing. Does anyone know why this might be? Can the baking soda or the vinegar, or a combination of the two, produce a lightening effect?

[swearnsue]

Why do people think baking soda is "natural"?

Shampoo is not evil.

I don't believe the article is true.

[molljo]

I was thinking the same thing. Does anyone know why this might be? Can the baking soda or the vinegar, or a combination of the two, produce a lightening effect?

They're both pretty effective bleaching agents, especially in the concentrations she's been using, so I'd say it's the combo that's done it.

[Wosie]

I used 1-2 tea spoons of BS to just a tad of water (to create a slushy consistency) to rub into my scalp every 3-4 days for a month or two, before I went back to CO again... I assume this was too concentrated? :x I read that that was one of the main ways of how you were supposed to do it... Luckily I didn't do it for long.

Also, it's hard to believe that she didn't colour her hair, it looks completely different from how it used to... I never knew BS could lighten hair to that degree.

[Bambi]

I used 1-2 tea spoons of BS to just a tad of water (to create a slushy consistency) to rub into my scalp every 3-4 days for a month or two, before I went back to CO again... I assume this was too concentrated? :x I read that that was one of the main ways of how you were supposed to do it... Luckily I didn't do it for long.

Also, it's hard to believe that she didn't colour her hair, it looks completely different from how it used to... I never knew BS could lighten hair to that degree.

Me neither, it looks so much lighter! Probably dryness as others have stated...it looks kind of matte.

[Flor]

I'm seriously puzzled why she thinks fluffy dried-out hair is better? Just because you definitely can't say it looks even remotely "greasy"? Or is it because frizzy hair has more volume? She would have gotten the same result if she was using clarifying shampoo lathered twice with every wash for 3 years... Problem is not the product (shampoo, BS, or whatnot), it's her idea what healthy hair is supposed to look like.

[Theobroma]

Goodness, a 50/50 dilution of ACV with water? And then blow drying it. No wonder her hair has been bleached about 3 levels lighter. Doesn't look natural at all, and her original color was far more flattering.

Just reading about that dilution makes me wince. I wash with bar soap and just two tablespoons of vinegar in a litre of water is plenty to counteract the alkalinity. No wonder she says the ACV rinse stings like a hive of bees!

[Wosie]

I do wonder where she got the idea that 50/50 in such large quantities of BS/water and ACV/water were the right way to go. Also, just think of how much BS and ACV she must use monthly.

I will read the comments for the article (?) and see if anybody has told her that it's way too much BS and ACV in the solutions, otherwise I will. Then again, she seems to like her hair the way it is right now, so I don't know if she'd hear me out.

[Bagginslover]

I love how she is only replying to positive comments, like if she ignores the people trying to educate her, they aren't really there and she is still right :/

[ErinLeigh]

If I tried to rinse 50/50 vinegar my eyes would sting too. Yikes that is a lot.
Her poor hair looks so stripped now. The color change is so drastic and the texture is difference as well. She isn't doing the natural community any favors showing off that hair.
I have never tried BS/ACV vinegar together and do not intend too...but I always understood the concentrations were much much lower. Do a lot of folks use that higher ones? If so then they do need warned and those pics should help THAT.

[Loviatar]

I have a friend who's used bs and acv for the past two years, nothing else. While her hair hasn't lightened, I've thought it was looking thinner and kind of stringy looking. She's persisted that bs is better because it's natural, and that "I had taught her" shampoo is evil (um, no... I'd told her sulphate shampoo made my hair flat and my scalp itch but as with EVERYTHING, Ymmv.)

She pixied it all off this month. Apparently nothing to do with the bs, which she is still using!

I use bs once every 2 months in a bit of clarifying shampoo. I do a long and rich deep conditioning treatment afterwards...

[starlamelissa]

I kept thinking while reading this, that just yesterday I washed my hair thoroughly. Thick lather, bubbly goodness, fresh clean smell, and bouncy when dried. I'm not giving up shampoo for anybody!

[Stray_mind]

Her hair looks bleached O.o and far more damaged than in the "before" picture..I never tried putting baking soda on my head and i don't think i ever will..

[PrincessIdril]

Yikes that does not look good. I hate to think what treatment like that would do to my scalp psoriasis. It will be a cold day in hell when I give up my shampoo! lol

[YamaMaya]

Yeah, so called "no poo" is a one way ticket to breakage city, I remember the horrifying amount of breakage I suffered from a bout of insanity that caused me to go a year bs/acv.

[katiebeans]

Coming from a former BS/ACV user.. Yikes! Fortunately I never experienced the damage that is associated with BS, but I would never think about using it for three years or in those concentrations. I couldn't fathom applying a 50/50 mix to my sweet scalp. I'd like to know where she got that idea, because I did a ton of searching before, during, and after my BS days and never saw anyone suggest a solution that strong.

[sarahthegemini]

I don't understand where people get the idea that baking soda is a gentle alternative. It's used for clarifying and even then some argue it's too harsh for that. To use it as a regular wash method is ridiculous. And even worse, using BS routinely and not following up with a rich conditioner = :shudder: Vinegar isn't a conditioner ...

[CRX<3]

Oh.. Feel a bit sad for her :( and I was about yo try bs tomorrow, but i think i'll stick to CV bars and ACV ;)

[lapushka]

OMG, that's an absolute *disaster* and the posterchild for regular shampoo!

[TrapperCreekD]

:scared: 50/50 baking soda for every wash? *shudders* A teaspoon diluted with a dime size amount of shampoo and a couple cups of water for clarifying purposes every few weeks is plenty drying for me. Her waves were so pretty in the first picture; I'm not sure how floofy, undefined hair is an improvement... :confused:

[CurlMonster]

It's funny how we all have different ideas of what 'good hair' looks like. She clearly likes her hair more in the after picture - she wants it to be fluffy and with volume. So I suppose for some people a drying method of washing like this could be effective in helping them to achieve their desired look. It's another reason why we can't recommend the same methods/products to everybody; not only is everyone's hair different, but what everyone wants from their hair is different too! Very interesting. :)