Toutes Directions

Stick with me on this one:

I stopped using shampoo about a month ago. And conditioner about 2 weeks ago.

I've been trying to go more "ecolo" recently (B calls me Rainbow Warrior), and at the Toulouse Christmas market I found a stand for Berthe Guilhem cosmetics, which is based in the suburbs of Toulouse and makes soaps, creams, and a few other products from organic ingredients.

At their chalet, I saw a special bar soap formulated to be used as shampoo, and I decided to try it. (It doesn't seem to be available on their website).

Result? At first my hair seems kind of stiff, almost like I'd put way too much mousse or gel in it.

When I bought the bar shampoo I also purchased their baume fondant which can be used as a hand cream, face moisturizer, lip balm, and hair conditioner. I tried it on my hands; the best moisturizer I've ever used. I tried it on my hair; looked like I hadn't washed my hair for 3 days.

So out with the baume as a conditioner, but in with the bar shampoo. After a few days, I got down a regular routine with the bar and extra conditioner. My hair was a little less stiff, but it did keep my brushing really well. It almost seemed like natural gel! Not using commercial shampoo was working well.

Before I get to my next step (hint, involves vinegar), I should explain my motivation for all this.

I've always been environmentally friendly and pro-recycling and all that jazz. But not necessarily more. Then a few years ago B and I cut down on our meat consumption because of our budget. We realized we were happy eating less meat and then learned that eating meat each day is really hard on natural resources; yay for us.

Then we started watching Breaking Bad and I became curious about the chemistry that surrounds us. Combine that with the symposium on the future, and I started looking up all the chemicals in the various household products.

I realized that there are all kinds of extra things in everything we use, just to make it more convenient to use that product. The best examples are liquid products: liquid hand soap, liquid laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner.... Any time you have liquid something, you can bet there will be anti-fungal chemicals to keep mold and mildew from growing. Sure, they're in small doses, but take that same laundry detergent in powder form, and no anti-fungal ingredients. Use a bar of soap for your hands, no anti-fungal chemicals.

The more I started looking at ingredients, the more I realized that the companies that make methylisothiazolinon and sodium benzoate are hugely rich: it's in everything! There's a huge industrial complex behind shampoo and hand soap.

But take some plain old savon de marseille: it's olive oil and glycerin for the most part. And it's cheap. And does pretty much the same thing as the expensive "delicate care wool laundry detergent".

Next step: replace the conditioner with apple cider vinegar (recommended 1:4 mix with water)

Result? The first time I used it from an old water bottle, and since I couldn't really dose it I felt like I was dying Easter eggs in the shower. I bought a spray bottle and now spritz my hair, which works better. Don't ask me how, but vinegar actually works as a conditioner. After the bar shampoo I can't really run my fingers through my hair, but spritz some vinegar and it's great.

The first time I tried it I asked B to smell my hair (not telling him why). He said he smelled something different from usual, but couldn't identify anything. I don't find I smell like vinegar when I'm blow drying my hair, or throughout the day. I haven't asked for second opinions though.

Some of the other blogs out there talking about giving up shampoo (a lot of people say "going 'poo free' which I just don't understand) mention using baking soda as the shampoo as well. They mix baking soda and water in a spray bottle and spritz their hair with that. I haven't tried that yet since I like my bar with some different oils and herb infusions.

After a month my hair is not stiff like in the beginning, but still holds a style easier than before. I think the industrial shampoo and conditioner were making my hair too "slippery" and it just fell down. I find I have more body because of this. Some blogs talk about going longer in between washes, but I haven't really felt I could do that.

I wasn't ever specifically unhappy with industrial products, but the fact that I can mix some cheap vinegar (1€30 a liter) with water to replace my conditioner that cost about 8€ a liter makes me never want to go back. Why pay for anti-fungal ingredients and dyes and perfumes that are expensive to produce, when I can do it myself for cheap?