Whole Body No-Poo Lifestyle

[yeshuasdaughter]

I just got out of an amazing bath. I used No-Poo from head to toe!

First, I brushed my hair.

I put 2 cups of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) into the hot bath water. I got in and soaked for a while.

Then I got 2 cups of Baking Soda (BS) and mixed with water to make a paste. I used this on a washcloth to scrub myself from head to toe, and rinsed.

Then I used the leftover *BS to scrub my scalp and hair, and rinsed.

I poured another 2 cups of *ACV into a one gallon pitcher, and filled it the rest of the way with warm water. I poured 1/3 of this over my scalp, and the other 2/3 on the ends of my hair, being careful not to get it in my eyes.

I massaged it in, and let it sit for a couple minutes, and rinsed it out.

At first my hair felt kind of dry at the ends, but that's just temporary. As it dries, it becomes so very soft, and effortless to detangle. And that's really something for me. After going through chemotherapy a couple years ago, my hair is now spiral-curly, and tangles really bad, sometimes into dreadlock type knots. But with no-poo, that doesn't happen. My hair brushes out in only a few strokes, and it holds up to the humidity of the Pacific Northwest quite well.

So anyway, the takeaway from this is that my body and hair are soft. My hair is shinier and more manageable. I have less body odor, and my skin kind of glows and looks younger.

I really like this method.

Has anyone else tried No-Poo for hair and body?

[Deborah]

I have not used any type of soap or cleanser on my face or body for many years. I oil cleanse my face, mostly with castor oil, occasionally with mineral oil. For my body, I wash with a slightly rough washcloth in the shower, using just the water to get me clean. These work very well for me.

I have not washed my hair for 336 days. My hair looks fine, feels fine, and does not smell at all. I did not set out to go NW (no washing). Due to long-term side effects from radiation for cancer, I mostly stay home and just haven't bothered to wash my hair. So I accidentally learned that NW works for me. I'm pretty happy about that!

[yeshuasdaughter]

Radiation is totally the worst! I am finally starting to get over the side effects, 2 years in. It's good to know that there's someone who has been through it too. Because most of society thinks that if you survive cancer, that you're supposed to get up and go and be normal again. It's a heavy climb, but so worthwile. My skin is finally glowing instead of grayish, and I am relearning to walk, 2 years in. Also I have post-chemotherapy type 2 diabetes. Yes, the chemo meds gave me diabetes!! Fun...

When my hair first grew back, It was extremely kinky, unbrushable, and would not sit down at all. I'd say type 4c curls. On top of this, my scalp was so very tender, so I would cry when I tried to brush it.

Now, I'm transitioning between tight 3c curls at the ends, 3b in the middle, and 2c at the top. My current chemo curls remind me of those 1940s hairstyles where the top was straight, but the middle to ends were very curly.

@deborah , I would totally recommend essiac Tea. It is not a cure, but it has helped my whole body, and when I drink it, I actually have energy. Not the caffeine type energy. But like, pre-cancer, life force type energy, where I don't have to make great efforts to do little things around the house. A lot of survivors have a practice of drinking it.

I will pray for you Are there other cancer survivors on here too?

[lapushka]

No chemo/radiation... it depletes you of it all. My youngest aunt's best friend survived once after those 2 and it was no walk in the park! I wish you all the best. Whatever you can do, and what works: do it!

[MusicalSpoons]

Sorry to hear you've had it so rough, I hope you continue to recover and feel better

In case you weren't aware, baking soda is dreadfully alkaline, and skin and hair are mildly acidic (skin ~5.5 pH, and hair does best between 5 and 6 pH but is okay between 4.5 and 7).
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...de-rinses.html

In the main 'pH and your Hair' article she explains
"when you use baking soda-water on your hair and it feels extra-soft, it's soaking up base and taking on that slippery, slimy feel shared by many bases. Shifting the electrostatic charge on your hair takes a toll because you can't do that without altering the chemistry of the proteins and oils that make up your hair in some way." (http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co...x-to-make.html )

[Deborah]

YeshuasDaughter,

Thanks for your kind message! I just now looked up that tea. I'm a little afraid to try it because it is supposed to help with constipation and I have spent nearly two years fighting just the opposite. It's extremely rare to have this particular problem for such a long time, but I trust that our loving God has a purpose in this as He does in all things.

I'll be praying for you too. I'm not glad that you have long-term side effects too, but it does make me feel better knowing that I am not alone in this struggle.

Also, years ago I went water-only for hair washing. At that time many of us used baking soda with the water. For me, it did a great job and caused no damage to my hair, but I gathered that it did for others. I did not participate in the thread about it, but I stuck with it for 22 months. At that time my hair smelled funny so I gave it up. I have baby fine hair but it seems to be impervious to damage. Ha! Strong hair and weak gut.

[yeshuasdaughter]

YeshuasDaughter,

Thanks for your kind message! I just now looked up that tea. I'm a little afraid to try it because it is supposed to help with constipation and I have spent nearly two years fighting just the opposite. It's extremely rare to have this particular problem for such a long time, but I trust that our loving God has a purpose in this as He does in all things.

I'll be praying for you too. I'm not glad that you have long-term side effects too, but it does make me feel better knowing that I am not alone in this struggle.

Also, years ago I went water-only for hair washing. At that time many of us used baking soda with the water. For me, it did a great job and caused no damage to my hair, but I gathered that it did for others. I did not participate in the thread about it, but I stuck with it for 22 months. At that time my hair smelled funny so I gave it up. I have baby fine hair but it seems to be impervious to damage. Ha! Strong hair and weak gut.

Essiac isn't a laxative at all. I think what they mean is it just makes you healthy. If you have money for the best, I would invest in SPAM . It really is a quality product with a high amount of tumor shrinking Sheep Sorrel Root. If times are tough, I would buy from SPAMLORDS . They will even do sliding scale prices. And their tea does great things too.

[spidermom]

The routine sounds awful to me, so no, I've never tried it and never will. Even when I use extremely diluted vinegar as a hair rinse, the odor lingers, and I'd prefer my hair NOT smell like vinegar. I tried baking soda on my hair years ago, and it made my hair mat together almost like felt. It took daily conditioner soaks to get a comb through my hair. I forget how long it took before my hair was back to normal.

MusicalSpoons is correct about the effect of using baking soda (an alkaline) on hair and skin. It may seem fine at first, but I predict that the long-term effects will not be good.

[SeppV]

Spidermom: would you think it would be right to say that baking soda is not good for anyone's hair? There is this whole YMMW thing, but... aren't some things just a bit beyond that because it's been proven to be problematic for hair per se? I have kind of put baking soda into that category after reading about how alkaline it is and that it doesn't really help much to do a vinegar rinse after, won't undo what's been done.

And... I don't want to derail the thread completely. Hmmm... no soap for my entire body? No clue how that would go! I mean, if I had a substitute, I'm sure I could go for it. But just plain water? It doesn't remove bacteria, unless it's near boiling, which.. for obvious reasons, it's not when I shower. But if I used something else than regular shampoo/soap to wash, sure. What did people do before our regular soap? Anyone know the history of cleanliness? Would be interesting! Now, people did smell a lot more back in the day, but every one was probably used to it :-P
I'm not opposed to the idea (for the body, anyways, I would not want to stop shampooing my hair), I am just wondering if there would be a problem in bacteria etc having a party on my skin....?

My son suffers from eczema. For example, he gets rashes from wearing wool (we wear wool a lot here in Norway), and I rarely wash him with soap. Just warm water. He's only 15 months and I have done this with all of my children when they are that young, because I figured it would be better for their skin.

[yeshuasdaughter]

I actually changed this a bit. I went back to using a very natural soap on my body, and then washing my hair with vinegar. I find the vinegar smell goes away very quickly. If anything it smells kind of like sweet oranges after I wash my hair.