Monday, December 17, 2007

The great hair experiment - December update


Just dip the old noodle in an icy lake and you'll be fine. (Photo by GlenFa)

It's now been about two months since I first stopped washing my hair, so I guess this blog is due for an update.

Since I stopped posting regularly, things have been pretty good hairwise. Better than they were before, actually. My hair looks pretty clean and feels nice as well. I haven't missed shampooing one bit. I currently wash with water about every other day, though I have tried going for three days between washes. It can be done, but it doesn't look too good. Every other day seems to be working for now at least.

I encourage you to try this experiment as well (and if you do, post your comments on how it went). Even the Royal Society of Chemistry is behind me on this one. You'll not only save money, you'll save the world. Or something.

I should stress, as I have done before, that to get results you really need to rinse your hair with cold water afterwards. You can wash it with warm water first, but without the cold rinse it won't look clean. Well, mine didn't at least.

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 30


Is this the sight you want to wake up to? (Photo by alykat)

Surreal as it may seem, I've finally reached the grand finale. A month without using any hair products. I have succesfully managed using only water (well, there was that small experiment with vinegar, but that doesn't really count). To read how it began, click here.

To tell you the truth, when I first thought of this experiment I expected to see at least some results after a couple of weeks (OK, there were results, but not the kind I was looking for). And I was quite certain that after a month it'd be smooth sailing. I'd never have to wash my hair again. The success stories that I read convinced me that it could be done. They stories came, after all, from the eternal wellspring of wisdom that is the internet.

Of course, it obviously can be done, since I just did it. My hair does not completely clean itself, however. If I go more than a few days without so much as rinsing it, it looks and feels oily. In that sense this experiment has been a bit of a letdown.

On the other hand, I don't think I need to use shampoo or conditioner anymore. Washing with water every day or every other day seems to be enough, and I like the natural feel of the hair.

A month was probably too short a time period to show any remarkable results. Three months might've been more realistic. Then again, there were the horror stories of people who had dirty hair for five months, which doesn't exactly inspire me to try the same. Nevertheless, I've come too far to start using shampoo now.

I won't be posting about this experiment daily anymore, though I might update it every now and then. It's time for me to think of another inhuman experiment.

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Saturday, November 17, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 29

I went to sauna yesterday and took a shower today so it's no wonder everything is looking alright. No tangles even.

And only one more day left. Woo-hoo!

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Friday, November 16, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 28

Time to try the sauna method again. I think there's something about sweating in a sauna that actually cleanses the scalp somewhat and makes the hair less dirty. There's really no need for shampoo anymore after a sauna. That may be a slight improvement, though I might've gotten the same results had I tried the same thing before this experiment.

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Thursday, November 15, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 27

Two days without washing the hair seems to be the limit. I've had dirtier looking hair, but this is about as far as I'm willing to go right now. Time for another rinse.

I must say I'm becoming rather worried, since there's only a few days left and I was kind of hoping a month would be more than enough to start seeing results. Currently, I'm not sure there's much improvement. It may be that I should've gone cold turkey from the beginning and just stopping washing with water as well. It's just that it gets pretty unbearable after a week, and there's no guarantee of any results.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 26

No wash yesterday, and things are looking alright today, so I think it's time to up the ante and go one more day without washing just to see what happens.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 25

I'm thinking that I might need to stop rinsing the hair with water as well to get the results I so desperately need. So today I skipped the rinsing part, partly to punish the hair for not cleaning itself like it's supposed to. I hope my scalp learned a valuable lesson today.

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Monday, November 12, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 24

Thus begins the final week of the great experiment, the origin of which you can read here. Although, if all goes well, I don't plan on starting to use shampoo and conditioner again. On the contrary, after this experiment is over, my hair is supposed to have a built-in cleaning system that will get rid of all that nasty oiliness that is once again beginning to bother me.

What I need is a freakin' miracle. But anything can happen in a week, right?

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Sunday, November 11, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 23

Went to sauna again yesterday and learned a very important lesson: always dry the hair properly before going out into the freezing cold. I was foolish enough to think that the cold air would make everything alright and that I didn't have to brush or anything.

That proved to be quite a mistake. The tangle boys are back in town.

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Saturday, November 10, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 22

I spent some time today reading about other people's experiences with stopping washing their hair. I was surprised to read that so many had stopped rinsing with water as well. After two weeks of not washing with anything a lot of people said their hair began to clean itself, but there were others who were frustrated after three months.

If I were to stop rinsing with water, I'd either have to have much shorter hair or two weeks with no interaction with anyone. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of oil I'd be producing. I bet they could close entire oil fields and we still wouldn't have to worry about peak oil any time soon.

There were some people who kept rinsing with water, and after a month or so their hair didn't look greasy anymore. But there were also a lot of people who tried it for much longer and still weren't happy, which has got me thinking that this whole experiment might actually prove to be a huge mistake.

I shudder at the thought of having to go on much further than the month I had planned.

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Friday, November 9, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 21

Surprisingly, the hair is looking almost clean today. Perhaps the magic is beginning to work at last? I've learned not to get my hopes up, so it's probably too early to say whether this is just temporary or not.

But it's nice to not have that oily feel to the hair for once, at least.

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Thursday, November 8, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 20

Only ten more days to go! Today everything is decent at least, though it took me ages to get rid of that enormous tangle yesterday. I think the strands (that I have decided to call The Suspects) may be planning another attack tonight.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 19

Oh man. I have just encountered the mother of all tangles. Last night one of my hair strands apparently held a speech and encouraged other strands to join it in a cause that could only be described as the Ultimate Tangle.

Never have I had a tangle this bad. It's huge. It's all-consuming. It is a problem that cannot be solved and will puzzle generations to come. It's taken me half an hour already and I'm not seeing much improvement.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 18

Hair is feeling a little dirty again. Christ, I must've typed that same thing ten times during this experiment. Sometimes I feel like it's going nowhere: I wash it, it's alright for a while, then it's dirty again, I wash it, and so on. Every day is a repetition of yesterday. It's like Groundhog Day, only even less fun.

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Monday, November 5, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 17

Not washing with shampoo seems to make the hair more susceptible to tangles. If I don't dry and brush the hair properly right after a shower, it's sure to end up in one big tangled mess that is a pain to clear through.

Other than that, today has been pretty good.

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Sunday, November 4, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 16

Some good news for a change.

Even though I'm often annoyed by the fact that washing my hair with nothing but water doesn't really make it clean as shampooing it does, I have to say that during the past few days I've noticed that my hair dries quicker than it used to. It used to take ages and now it takes, well, a few hours. I'm pretty sure this has something to do with the whole process of hair beginning to get used to absence of shampoo.

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Saturday, November 3, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 15

It's day fifteen, which means I'm halfway through to finishing this experiment. To read how it all began, go here .

The last couple of days have been pretty bad, and while my hair is still not cleaning itself like it should be, I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I think my hair is a little less dirty than it was before, which is an improvement. Perhaps in the coming days it will get even less dirty, all by itself.

I definitely feel as if this day is an important turning point.

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Friday, November 2, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 14

It might be a bad sign that I now consider Fridays to be one of the best days of the week since I don't have to go to work and meet people. I'm actually enjoying the fact that I can just stay away from civilization and suckle on these oily strands of unwashed hair.

Apparently it has become necessary to destroy any social life I may have had in order to complete this God-forsaken experiment. But so it goes. Sacrifices must be made before great things happen.

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Thursday, November 1, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 13

The 13th day of the experiment. Should I be wary of bad luck? What could possibly happen when I have all this oil on my head protecting me from harm? Any problems I might encounter will just slide off my scalp, ha ha.

I'm so tired.

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 12

Another frustrating day on the western front of the scalp. You know, I can barely remember what it was like to have clean hair. How glorious it must have been. Now I'm left to look at old photographs of the hair before I go to sleep so I'd have something to dream of.

Those days have long since gone. Memories are the only thing that keep me going.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 11

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good about the experiment. Today I'm not. Everything looks so greasy again. How can I possibly make it through another ten days and then yet another ten days? It all seems absurd. Who put me up to this nonsense? Who can I talk to about all this? Who's in charge here?

Hello?

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Monday, October 29, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 10

It's the 10th day of the experiment. I guess that's some kind of an achievement. I think this is about as far as I got the last time I tried this, and from what I remember, my hair was in a much worse condition then. In that sense everything is going pretty well.

On the other hand, it's pretty frustrating having to wash every day with cold water, because it's, well, cold. Besides, it only helps for about 12 hours or so. After that it looks like it needs to be washed again.

Still, only two thirds of the experiment left as of today.

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Sunday, October 28, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 9

Sundays are great. I don't have to leave the house and show the world my hair and its terrible state. I wish there were more Sundays in a week.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 8

Last night I had the chance to go to sauna again and someone there asked me if he could borrow my shampoo. I thought about explaining the whole thing to him, but instead just politely answered that I don't have any.

I tried washing my hair with cold water afterwards, but it was so damn cold in the showers that I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I had to do with warm water this time.

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Friday, October 26, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 7

Hair forecast for today: mild greasiness on the roots with some tangled tips coming in from the southern side of the head. Everything is looking half-decent at least.

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Thursday, October 25, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 6

Well, not washing the hair yesterday wasn't such a great idea, at least if you consider how it's looking today. Everything's kind of dirty and tangled. At least it feels alright.

Anyway, it might actually be good for the scalp (and for this experiment) to not wash it every day. I'm hoping my hair will get used to not being washed with shampoo sooner if I don't wash it with water every day. Maybe I'll even get to the point where I only have to use water three times a week. And while I'm at it, I might as well quit drinking it too. I'll call it The Great Water Experiment. Thirty days without water. I'll survive on nothing but the tears of joy I'll be crying when this is over.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 5

No big changes today. The scalp is feeling fine, but the hair looks a bit oily again. Brushing it seems to help somewhat. Anyway, it's not as bad as I thought it might be on the fifth day. Had I not washed it with water it'd probably be a lot worse.

I'm going to skip washing it today just to see what happens.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 4

Yesterday evening my scalp was beginning to feel a little itchy so I washed my hair with cold water again. Afterwards I rinsed it with a few tablespoons of vinegar mixed with water, since I'd read that it helps. And it did.

Today my hair is looking pretty normal - a little oily maybe, but nothing too bad. And the best part is that it feels more natural than when I've just washed it with shampoo and conditioner. So things are looking pretty positive right now. I'm actually surprised I quit the last time.

Really, how hard could this be?

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Monday, October 22, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 3

Hair is beginning to look a little dirty. The tips are fine but the roots feel a little oily. But, like I said, three days with no shampooing is nothing unusual for me these days, so no matter. Onwards with courage!

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Sunday, October 21, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 2

It's the second day of the experiment, and so far everything is looking really good. I went swimming and to sauna yesterday and washed my hair with cold water afterwards, and this morning it looked clean as ever.

I must admit, though, that recently I've managed to cut down shampooing to only two times a week, so I'm not really expecting any problems during these first couple of days. We'll see what happens.

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Saturday, October 20, 2007

The great hair experiment - day 1


Japanese with their crazy hair products... no wonder they're all bald. (Photo by libraryman)

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you just quit washing your hair? Would the oils in your scalp build up and turn your hair into a tangled ball of grease? Or would it start producing dandruff like it was Christmas season again? Or would you just look like an idiot with no grasp of personal hygiene? It is the sacred purpose of this experiment to find the answers to these puzzling questions.

The inspiration behind this experiment is an article I read about a woman who stopped washing her hair altogether. Now she only rinses her hair about once every two months. I'm not sure I'm willing to go that far, but I'm determined to survive without shampoos, conditioners or any other hair care products.

This should actually be really straightforward, since it's obvious that humans did just fine before shampoo or even soap was invented. Who's ever heard of cavemen with greasy hair? If our ancestors could do it, so can I, with a little bit of determination and willingness to look ridiculous for the next month or so (the woman in the article mentioned that it'll take some time before the hair will adapt to the new shampoo-less condition - but that's a small price to pay, right?)

I must admit that I've tried this experiment once before, and I failed miserably after about a week. My hair - which was then kind of short and is now well below shoulders - looked dirty as hell, and after accidentally seeing myself from a different view in a mirror while trying out a suit in a clothes store I decided I looked a crackhead and that I couldn't go through with it. I gave the salesman an apologizing look, told him I would come back and buy the suit later, and ran out onto the street with tears running down my cheeks. Well, almost. The next day I came back, having washed my hair and looking decent again, and bought the suit. There was no escaping from the fact that I'd let something as meaningless as looking like a homeless person let me stop me in my search for shampoo-free days, though.

I believe I learned a valuable lesson that day. The lesson was that no matter how many suits you can buy or how many people will treat you like an actual person just because you have clean hair, you're still a quitter. The cavemen are still laughing.

This time I won't quit at the first sign of trouble. The last time I was mentally unprepared; this time I know it can be done.

This time, it's different.

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