Step 2, kinda...

So, the first try, made me take a little bit of a step back. There is a lot to know about the "No-Poo" movement. I am not saying that is my plan, to NEVER Shampoo again, but I want to get into a healthier routine.
So, I've been using Burt's Bees and I am not sure I like it. My head seems to breakout, its somewhat swore and itchy. I am still looking and a friend of mine (in fact my only follower right now, thanks!) has tipped me off to something that may help. I have not tried it yet, but it sounds very cost effective and natural.
The other thing I tried, somewhat timidly, was a TBSP of baking soda, which worked great! my hair was clean my scalp felt great, my hair even dried faster than normally (YAY!). But I had to go and add one more thing (it seems I am forever just adding one more thing, I should really stop that.), my hair has a little red in it and I really want to keep that so as suggested I used apple cider vinegar (instead of lemon juice, which for blondes that want a little natural high lighting is GREAT). The vinegar rinse felt great in the shower (a little cold), my hair felt so smooth. I was happy except the smell of pickle, which I expected. I read that went away as your hair dries...apparently not. I smell like pickles until my next shower. I almost screamed when I thought I smelled pickles n my hair again after that shower, turns out I used the brush I used after the pickle rinse. Long story short...NO MORE vinegar for my hair.
On the hunt for my next shampoo recipe, if anyone that reads this blog has a tip, please comment, I'll try it so you don't have to. hehe

Side note: My husband really likes the way his hair & scalp feel after using just baking soda for several weeks. My only fear with just baking soda is I read somewhere that it attacks proteins and since your hair s made of proteins, you will start losing it after awhile, YIKES!
He also, doesn't like Burt's Bees, but only because of the womanly smell, Pomegranate. (He should try the sugar scrub, smells even more sweet, feels great although a little greasy)

Step 1 of my life long journey...

I have decided today to tackle Shampoo. Really, I had this thought running in my head for at least a year, I just never did anything about it. Call it procrastination... fear... laziness... or being overwhelmed by the amount of information on what is called the "No-Poo" movement. There are MOUNTAINS of info (good and bad) about No-Poo. So, today I am taking my 1st step toward the good...

Recipe #1
1oz olive oil
1 egg (raw)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tsp apple cider vinegar
Combined in a blender until smooth.

Recipe #2
1 Tbs baking soda
Mug of very, very HOT water
Stir until the mixture is cloudy.
(I added a touch of apple cider vinegar, probably should not have)

Here is what I did:
1st I wet my hair like normal.
2nd rubbed in recipe #2 (use lots of elbow grease, it will not lather, but don't scratch your scalp and focus on the roots)
3rd I rinsed (well, to make sure it was really all out)
4th rubbed in recipe #1 (making sure to really work it in)
5th rinsed with COOL water (if it is too hot the egg will set or cook into your hair and thats not fun!)
6th rubbed in plain TBS of baking soda

My Thoughts:
The first thing is I knew there would be no suds, but it is a little hard to get over that. I just kept thinking will this really clean my hair? Elbow grease is a must, but never work it in so hard it hurts or damages your hair. Recipe #1 made my Hair and Skin feel oily (most likely the Olive Oil), so I thought I would use an extra TBS of Baking soda to clean out the oil build up. I don't think it worked. I needed to run errands so I decided to brave the humiliation and hope it would dry better. I left the house at 9:00am and it was very windy (normally my hair would have dried no later that 10:00am), I finished my errands around 11:30am and my hair still looked like I had just gotten out of the shower or like I hadn't showered in months. One of my stops was to Target to pickup Burt's Bees. I had never tried this shampoo before, but after reading the ingredients list I felt very comfortable that this was a natural and safe product for myself and my family. After I got home I decided I need to shampoo with Burt's Bees, my skin was itchy from the oil slick on my head. I am not as excited with  Burt's Bees as I had hoped,but that may be the fact that I "cleaned' my hair twice in one day when I normally only clean it every other day or Recipe #1 may still be causing problems. I will give Burt's Bees more time. If nothing else, I want to get my shampooing with Burt's Bees (or another NATURAL shampoo) down to once a week. I just need to teach my hair how to do that and I have read it could take up to 42 days to do that. I read a great blog about why hair gets greasy (it's not cause it's dirty, it over production of natural oils, because of daily stripping them out with harsh shampoo). Here's the link to that blog if you want to learn more for yourself, like I did: http://nopooandotherstruggles.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-poo-day-3-intro-to-no-poo.html
So, Recipe #1 is a BIG HUGE NO! even thought my scalp felt great for the 1st half hour. Also, the smell of vinegar and lemon juice isn't great, not overwhelming, but it's not Paul Mitchell coconut smell, yummy. So I will invest in a bottle of essential oils (coconut, maybe sweet pea and a few others for my other moods), which I found at Hobby Lobby (I LOVE HOBBY LOBBY!), I also found that Target has Castile soap which is a main ingredient in several of the natural homemade shampoos I found and want to try. God Bless Target and Hobby Lobby! :)
In all the homemade recipe flopped, but I found that I have MANY more options available than I had thought!
Taking more steps tomorrow...