No 'Poo, week whatever

One of my friends and readers (Hi Tiffany!) recently mentioned that my posts have inspired her to give up shampoo so now that it is week whatever-it-is I thought I'd post a status update of my own hair situation. First, a quick recap because it has been at least two months since I last reported on my no 'poo-ness.

Back in April I stopped using shampoo and conditioner. By week two I was ready to call my new regime a success. In August I won the support of my hairdresser.

And then I moved to Tampa. For weeks I could not figure out the problem, but boy did I know there was a problem. My hair constantly felt like it had been dipped in wax. Even freshly washed, my roots would be plastered to my scalp and the ends would be all frazzled. It was awful. But fear not, Internet. I did not give up! I did reaearch instead.

Turns out, it is the incredibly hard Tampa water throwing a wrench in my no 'poo plans. (On a side note, I think it is also the source of some truly horrendous cystic acne.) If you have hard water a possible solution is to install a water softener. But we rent our home, and I do not have an extra $1000+ lying about. We might still consider getting a filter/softener to install just on the shower head. In the meantime, though, I have been using distilled water for rinsing my hair. I also caved and bought a bottle of conditioner.

So here is there hair I've been working with lately (on a day I did some actual heat styling):

I did, however, recently stumble across this enjoyable blog and will soon be putting her boiled baking soda experiment to the test. Wish me luck!