Back to Basics: Shampoo Free 2

From May 2013

It’s been about 2 weeks since I’ve used shampoo and conditioner. At first, I thought my hair was protesting the change. Now, I’m not so sure about that. Unless my hair is taking its own sweet time adjusting, I think the texture of my hair is going to be significantly different now. It is a bit straw-like, thick feeling (not greasy but different…it’s hard to explain) and I have extra static (which I’ve always had a problem with).

I’ve tried adjusting the amount of baking soda, not using the apple cider vinegar, and just rinsing with herbal infusions. Maybe it will chill out after a while. We’ll see.

I tried making a batch of yucca (pronounced “Yuck-uh”) root shampoo too. Yucca root is supposed to lather. Different cultures have used it as shampoo and soap. I grew up in New Mexico and the state plant is the yucca. All those years I could have been getting free shampoo and soap….I had no idea.

Now that I live in VA, I have no access to it. So I bought it at the grocery store (for $6). I washed it, peeled it and pulverized it in the food processor. I froze what I wasn’t going to use right now. The recipe I had said to dry it in the sun or in the oven on 200 for an hour or so. Since it is usually overcast here, I opted to use the oven which made it rubbery. I tried it with no success. It didn’t lather at all.

Apparently the kind they have in the grocery store isn’t the right version (who knew there was more than 1 kind?). I found another recipe that uses root powder (which I can order online). I think I’ll try laying the frozen stuff out to dry too, though. I’ll let you know how my experiments go.