The Journey to No Poo

I've decided quite impulsively that I'm completely fed up with my hair feeling oily, itchy, and limp so I decided to research alternatives to shampoo. As an educated woman, I am fully aware that shampoos contain harsh detergents that really shouldn't be used on the body. It strips the hair and scalp of all its natural oils which causes your skin to overproduce them in order to compensate for the loss. This is why we shampooers are forced to wash our hair every 1-2 days. The amount of money I have thrown away on bottles of shampoo is unreal, and we all know how expensive everything is these days. My wallet is screaming, and so is my scalp.

Thus, I digress: The big DD- Decision Day to rid myself of shampoo forever. Today was DAY 1 of my journey! How exciting! Technically I have not washed my hair with shampoo for 4 days. Any other SAHM out there will fully understand this :P This morning, instead of reaching for the Tresseme like I normally do, I massaged my scalp with just water even though I have read of Two Popular Alternatives to 'Poo: Baking soda (cleanser) and Apple Cider Vinegar (conditioner). I have color-treated hair, so I am abstaining from baking soda for as long as I can, so I do not strip the color. I'll most likely break down and scrub with BS soon though. Today it feels mighty oily! (Although oddly enough, it does not appear so :S ) Much to be expected, considering my body's chemistry is all out of whack.
I think I should also mention that other than shampoo, I do not use any other products on my hair. I air dry, and abstain from any and all gels, hair sprays, and serums. Not that these are 'bad' per say, I just never wanted them.

According to my research, it will take 4-6 weeks for my scalps natural chemistry to reset. This seems like a long time right now, but I am SO ready to never buy another bottle of shampoo! I'm in this for the long haul!

Now for the photos:

This is a photo of my beautiful son and I on the last day I shampooed my hair.

Here, my hair looks dry, flat, brittle, and frankly unhealthy- especially next to my sweet little man's lustrous locks ;)

However,
After DAY 1 of massaging with H2O, my hair looks like this at the END of the day:

I dunno, maybe it's my imagination, but I already feel like it LOOKS better. It certainly doesn't feel all that awesome, but I'm trying not to touch it much- hah... need I be tempted to reach for the shampoo bottle! I'm very excited to keep up this journey of self-improvement.

Lets just see how far water takes me :)