The Miracle Of A Whole Year Without Any Shampoo
Your hair would thank you for the rest of your life
I hated my hair till about a year back when I left shampoo for good. I was 27 when that happened. Up until then, the thought that it was an option never crossed my mind. The fact of the matter is, I was sick of my hair. I had tried everything. Oh, and my by “everything”, I mean every shampoo- the popular ones, the costly ones, the organic ones, and of course, the sulphate free ones. But nothing ever worked and I gave up on my hair and thought to myself- why not stop shampooing all together. After all, my hair was in the worst state possible and couldn’t get any worse.
In that very moment, I decided to quit and I did it. I started using a homemade soap that I was using for my skin. In about a month, I noticed my hair’s texture improving. It was a surprise to me since my motivation to go shampoo free was to let go of how my hair looked.
Ever since I took notice of my hair as a child, it always used to be dry and rough. My early twenties tagged along hair fall as well. However, just one month into discarding shampoos and I was already in love with my wavy hair. My hairdresser even complimented me when I went for a haircut. It never happened to me before. Generally, they used to pitch me some combination of expensive shampoos, conditioners, masks and oils so that my hair could get the “required nutrition”. Someone even went as far as to tell me how not getting a hair spa done was the biggest mistake of my life.
Without shampoo, my hair fall also reduced. I could no longer see stands of hair on my sofa, bed, swing set and floor. My hairfall didn’t stop completely though. When I comb, I can still see some of my hair breaking and cuddling with my comb.
The next question that you should ask me, if you are planning to quit shampoo is, what other things I am doing as far as my hair is concerned?
Regular Oiling
In India, we use coconut oil to massage the scalp and that works like a charm. You can use virgin olive oil or any other oil of your liking. It would provide your hair the shine and smoothness that you otherwise expect from chemical based treatments/products.
Eating Healthy
If you are not eating a healthy diet, your hair won’t be healthy and you would end up masking the roughness, dryness of your hair with multiple treatments and tag along shampoos.
No Chemical Treatment
The idea is not limited to saying good bye to shampoos. It is about saying good bye to every product that comes in a plastic bottle and contains chemicals. These things can’t be good for your hair, skin or your overall health.
What Else Did I Quit?
While my motivation of quitting the shampoo might be different, I did quit a lot of products because these products not just harm us, but also our environment. The plastic bottles that these products come in, take more than 700 years to degrade. The pollution caused by the factories to make these products result in us breathing in polluted air.
Here is what I have quit till now-
- Soap
- Toothpaste
- Body cream, moisturisers and other shit they sell for your skin
- Mouthwash
- Any food item that comes in a plastic bag (I switched to locally sourced vegetables and food grains that don’t come in plastic bags)
Here is what I have reduced using but not quit-
- Car (Use limited to only long distances)
- Social Media (After all, they are paid hefty amount by FMCG companies to help them sell you these very things)
The Parting Note
If you have reduced the use of, or quit any of the above things and more, please make your friends aware of the same. People are using way too many chemical products and it is about time we stop this nonsense.
On a lighter note, this article probably saved you at least $70 per year.
