June 20, 2008

Visited my sister for her birthday. Knowing I’ve quit using shampoo, she stuck her nose right into my scalp and took a big sniff.

“Your hair smells like herbs.” she said.

Then she ran her fingers through my hair. “It doesn’t feel greasy at all.”  she said. “I feel really guilty now every time I get in the shower and use commercial shampoo. Especially now that I see how good your hair looks.”

Frankly, I don’t understand why everyone isn’t trying to detox from shampoo. It is completely exhilarating to be able to spurn one entire aisle in the grocery store, or to tune out the TV commercials about hair products, knowing they can’t sell me anything.

Every single person who’s heard about my no ‘poo regime instantly comes up with five reasons why they need to continue to shampoo; mostly it involves fragrance.

It doesn’t seem to convince anyone that I can make my hair as fragrant as I want to, and that I don’t have to commit to just a few scents. In one week, I can smell floral or woodsy, musky or citrusy, for a fraction of the cost of what such an olfactory repertoire would mean if I laid out the cash for a variety of commercially prepared products.