For as far back as I can remember, I've hated my hair. Everybody else has loved it, it's so soft or it's so blonde or I'm jealous of your natural highlights! But I, yes, I hated it. While it is very soft, I'll admit, it's only because it's fine like a baby, has been dyed only once, bleached once to get that color out, and low-lighted once. When I was younger, I had quite a few "permanents," but those never seemed to affect the quality of my hair, and they stopped before I ever got out of elementary school. In my entire 22.83 years of existence, my hair has been tampered with only a handful of times, leaving it practically unmolested. So yes, it is very soft, but I've never been able to do anything with it!
Growing my hair long was like begging to look like a hobo, as my hair produces so much oil it's disgusting. I could shampoo it in the morning, and by mid-day I looked like your household dog (the one that needs a bath). I would cut it short, and while it looked very, very cute that way, styling it was practically out of the question, as was simply wearing it in a ponytail.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine started mentioning (via Facebook) that she was going to stop using shampoo. She claimed to have a friend who exclusively conditioned her hair and it looked amazing. I have to admit, I was heavily skeptical, even though the concept made a little bit of sense to me. I had always heard that you shouldn't shampoo everyday, but a simple rinse just never did it for me. You don't understand, my hair was so. so. oily. But this time, I decided I would try this amazing no-shampoo-method and see it through. She did admit, that it would be quite dirty for the first 2-4 weeks, because it takes a while for your body to realize you aren't stripping all of it's oils and adjust production accordingly.
So, for 2 weeks I banished my shampoo, and I wore my hair pulled back. I spent extra time thoroughly massaging the conditioner into my hair and scalp, loosening up the dirt and oil so it could rinse away. I can not lie and say my hair immediately looked like I had stepped out of a Pantene commercial. It didn't. It looked absolutely the opposite - like I had literally just stepped in off the street. I was committed, however, and today I can say I am SO GLAD!!!!
My hair looks GREAT! I give it only two shampoos a week (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) and a thorough condition every other day. It does EXACTLY what I want it to do when I blowdry and flatiron it. I bet I could get it to do anything else my length permits. It's never oily looking, or "stringy." It isn't particularly flat, and looks FAR more thick than it ever did (and feels like it too!).
As an added bonus, I use the same amount of conditioner I used to, and the same amount of shampoo on the days I shampoo, making a single bottle of shampoo last me 3.5 times longer than it used to, saving me money AND waste! If I go through 3 bottles of shampoo a year, that's 7.5 plastic bottles I never used!
Now, I can finally say, I love my hair. Not some days, not on the weekends, not only when I spend 4 hours working with it. My hair looks great all the time (even when I wake up)! I'll never do a daily-shampoo again...
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