No-Poo Hair Washing

So a few weeks ago I decided to give the No-Poo technique a try. I'm probably about 4 weeks in. For those of you who don't know what this is, it's a method of hair care that doesn't use shampoo (or most conditioners). There are lots of reasons why people like this trend and you can read about them all over the Internet, but it all comes down to one major factor: shampoo strips hair of natural, healthy oils.

I've read a lot of articles about the no-poo method, but the one i found most helpful is this one:
http://coderedhat.com/no-poo-method/
It's super informative AND amusing! I highly recommend reading it if you're new to the idea of no-poo.

So when you use this method you replace your shampoo with baking soda (or a baking soda solution) and your conditioner with diluted apple cider vinegar (though there are other options, including regular vinegar). I prefer to use the baking soda solution method because I find it easier to really wash down to the roots that way, so I can wash my hair less frequently with it. 

Anyway, here's what you'll need:

1. Spray bottle

2. Water right container of baking soda and container for mixing solution

Or a bottle to keep pre-mixed solution in.

For the solution the ratio is around a tablespoon of baking soda per cup of water, maybe a little more. When your solution is mixed it should feel slippery (kinda like oil) rather than gritty or just like normal water. Trust me, this is important. Like I mentioned above, you can premix the solution and keep it in a bottle but I mix up half a cup or so in a small container each washing. This is because I also use my baking soda in masks and scrubs so it's more convenient to have a container of dry baking soda in the bathroom.

The apple cider vinegar solution is a bit less precise. You don't need a whole ton of it. The article above recommends 2 tablespoons of vinegar per cup of water, but I use a slightly more potent solution. It's really up to you. A good thing to remember is that your hair will not smell like vinegar when dry. I promise. I was super worried, asking friends to smell my hair and such, but seriously there's no trace of the scent once hair is dry.

Here's what I have discovered:

1. My hair looks better when it air dries than when I blow dry it.

Some days it still looks kinda weird- maybe I'm not using enough baking soda or something- but these days are getting further apart the longer I no-poo.

Overall my hair is softer and falls out less.

I'm still not used to smelling like vinegar while my hair is wet.

It's definitely much cheaper than shampoo and conditioner.

In all, I'm very happy and going to continue this method at least until I get done studying abroad.

My First Trip to Lush

Yesterday, Alex took me to Lush for the first time. It was a very fun experience. Despite the fact that I'm not willing to spend money on extra beauty products right now, I went for a few reasons.
1. It's natural beauty and health products - how could i resist?
2. My friends are addicts so i thought i'd check it out.
3. Kelsey and Alex insist that i need to work there someday.

I kinda had an idea of what i was walking into, so i wasn't completely overwhelmed with the amount of wonderful, tempting products. However, even though i'd been told, i was still floored by the wonderful customer service. I spoke with two of the employees (one was a manager) who were both very kind and down-to-earth. They were both personal, yet still professional.

I tried out the sea-salt scrub everyone raves about as well as a few lotions. The second employee I spoke with demo-ed a face wash (Dark Angels) and a few moisturizers on my hand and gave me samples to take home and try on my face.

The samples aren't very large but they are enough to try out a product a 2-3 times. I really like Dark Angels. It's a charcoal-based face wash, so it's black and a bit gritty but leaves your skin feeling deep-cleaned. I was pretty surprised when it did not dry out my skin at all. The girl who demo-ed it for me also suggested letting the charcoal-wash sit on my face a few minutes before rinsing so it functions like a short-term mask. In all I would certainly recommend the wash. However, I'm not in love with either of the moisturizers I brought home (Imperialis and Vanishing Cream).

In all it was a very nice trip and I'll definately be going back to make a few purchases when I have more cash to spare. They have so many really fun products to try! It's hard to resist making a purchase immediately when you know that the products are all-natural, smell delicious, and are ethically sourced and tested.

I went back a few days later with Greg to show him how much fun it was. He thought it was just as cool. It was another good experience (though not as fun since they were a bit busy at that time). My only complaint would be that one of the male employees was a bit overly insistent that we get the Soft Coeur Massage bar...because it's lickable. haha. needless to say, a bit uncomfortable. Anyway, still a nice trip. If you haven't been, I promise it's a fun store to visit!

Beauty Trends I Loathe

The following is a short list of beauty-related trends I wish would just disappear.

1. Ombre everything. Ombre cake: cute. Nails: fantastic. Dress: so gorgeous. Ombre hair that fades from lime green to pink, meeting at a nice puke-like color: please, no.
2. Bad contouring. The idea is to enhance your natural features. If you're going for an edgy high-fashion look, be my guest. Otherwise, drop the war-paint look please.
3. The idea that we must be tan. Pale skin is also gorgeous. Fair, warm, tan, olive, copper, dark - whatever your skin color, your skin will look gorgeous if you take good care of it.
4. These nails. how do you function? don't you injure people?!
   
   
   
   
5. itty-bitty skinny thighs. I mean there's nothing wrong with skinny legs- thigh high stockings stay in place and you probably look better in skinny jeans, but stop demeaning big thighs; there's nothing wrong with being muscular or curvy either.
6. Body Wrapping. Stop doing this to yourself just so you can smush yourself in 1/2 an inch. 
7. This gross hair look. You look like you have a pointy head. Why?
8. Articles entitled "beauty tricks to look more awake". Instead of spending an hour more on your makeup routine, you could try sleeping in an hour. Just a thought.
9. "Natural eyeshadow" tutorials that don't look at all natural. Not saying it's not pretty, but if I want to look like I'm not wearing much makeup, this isn't what I'm going to go with.