No 'poo' Day 3 - Introducing the Hair Apparent

Okay, so on Sunday I began what was to be a week of hair experimentation - namely me ditching commercial shampoo.  I had read up on advice, tips, and testimonials of all of the wonderful things that this would apparently do for my hair in the long run.  The trick was making it through the short-term process of jumping off the shampoo rollercoaster.

Day 1 went reasonably well.  I rated my hair a 6.5 out of 10 - not bad at all.  I used a paste of baking soda and water to wash my hair and a vinegar rinse.  It was manageable, stylable and didn't smell badly like I thought it would.

I decided to really go cold turkey yesterday with nothing but a rinse in the shower.  That was - not so fine.  My hair felt quite greasy at the roots and the ends felt quite dry.  I was still able to style it, but it didn't look great.  I would rate it a 5/10.  I was confortable enough in the village (went to the shop and post office) and taking the dog out for a walk.  It helped that the weather was horrid and drizzly and I took comfort in the fact that everyone's hair looked a bit worse for the wear.

I woke up this morning with the day planned out.  I was supposed to go into town to meet with woman who is putting together a womens' wellbeing convention where I am speaking.  I was basically going to bring Maddie down to the centre where she was going to show me the layout and we would figure out where I would be set up.  The bonus was I knew this women (she's one of my members).  I guessed it would take about 15 minutes. After that Maddie had a playdate to go to with our neighbor's daughter.

Because I was going into town I decided to re-try the baking soda and vinegar trick again.  My hair was beginning to take on a life of its own and not in a good way.  I had such decent results on Day 1 that I figured it would be good enough to get me through my morning.

I 'washed' and rinsed then started to blowdry.  Lets say that my hair didn't respond as well as the first go round.  My hair felt like a thick lump of oil and yet was also so dry that anything that came near it set it off like a Van de Graaff generator.  It was bad enough that I had to dig out one of those pinchy-type hair clippy things and do a half-up/half-down 'do'.  The result was less than flattering, but would work - its not like I was going anywhere that I needed to impress people with my tresses.  Aside from that I didn't have time to do anything else.

What actually happened that morning when I got the the Convention Centre was mortifying.  Imagine showing up at a place where you expect to be shown a couple of rooms (by somebody you know), discuss a couple of needs and then leave - and instead walking into your worst nightmare.

For instance a full-blown, sit down formal meeting with 20 of the most fabulous women in the area (all professionals who will be presenting at the event). These women are all dressed to the 9's, made up and bejewelled with perfectly coiffed hair done up in fashionable hair accessories that match their outfits and nails.  Imagine the horror as you slink in 5 minutes late (with your 4 year old none the less) and find 20 pairs of eyes looking at you with a mixture of pity and disdain.  Imagine the mortification as your daughter decides to occupy herself by playing with your 80's themed hair clip and breaking it, leaving the hair that was clipped into it standing up at a jaunty angle.  You've seen 'Something about Mary', yes? 

I fought off the need to speak up in the middle of this meeting to explain my hair plight (maybe they would find it amusing), by slowling twirling a finger around  the patch of runaway hair that had escaped from behind my ear.  (Note to self - don't try to distract people from an embarrasing situation by drawing attention to the problem).  I tried to meet each and every woman's gaze with a bright smile and devil may care attitude.  At one point during the 2 hour meeting I ran to the toilets with Maddie and glimpsed at my hair...........

Holy crap how was I ever talked in to doing this?  My hair was beyond sad looking and quite frankly, brought my whole look down a notch (or 5). To make penance I now have to show up at this event looking abso-frickin-lutely fabulous which will probably set me back some serious cash at my hairdressers and some more serious cash finding an outfit to compliment my expensive hair.

Because the meeting went so long I took Maddie out to lunch where I ran into several old co-workers - another hit to my self esteem - and by the time we returned home I wanted to jump in the shower and shampoo my hair until my scalp bled.  But I prevailed.  After all - we just had to go to a playdate across the street and I could slink back into my home with my head of yuck.  The playdate was great - although my neighbor had just had her hair 'done' and was so obviously enjoying her new hair affair - flaunting her flaxen mane in my general direction every time she turned to speak......


All in all I would rate today a 3/10.  This is not hair I would really want to be seen in public with - but not quite bad enough to want to shave it off.  Also I think I have come to the conclusion that I am much to shallow for this to have any real money saving effect (unless of course this takes a giant turn around at some point) as I will have to fork over a load of dough to salvage my self esteem when I go to this convention.  Here is a picutre - shocking isn't it.

Here is a picture of my hair looking lovely just to balance out the universe and to look at my awesome summer ball gown again........

So far I have not saved any time, nor any money with this crazy scheme and am beginning to lose the plot. The prospects for tomorrow are frightening and I am not really sure I can do this for another 5 days.  Wish me luck!