So, it’s not quite as serious as alcoholism, but using shampoo and conditioner creates waste and may introduce you to icky toxins, like the paraben family (good info from Allie’s (Green) Answers here and here). So in an effort to reduce my plastic waste and toxin-absorption, I’ve cut them out of my morning routine (along with lotion and face wash).

Rebecca over at The Herbwife’s Kitchen recommends making the change gradually in her wonderfully informative post here. I’m really bad at waiting though, and as I already had pretty limited shampoo/conditioner usage, I cut it out straightaway (I was using a Suave shampoo and Herbal Essences conditioner, with showers ever 2 or 3 days) and went for a glycerin-based soap. Enter: Pacifica’s Nerola Orange Blossom, part of a three pack of soaps my mom had given to me as a gift but I never got around to using.

First of all, it smells heavenly. Secondly, it is made of all natural ingredients–no animal products or testing. And thirdly, it is packaged in the tiniest little bit of thin plastic around the bar of soap, which is kind of unnecessary with the adorable paper packaging they have, but at least it’s only a little bit, right? Anyway, I love the stuff, and I started just working the soap into my hair right from the bar. It does the job pretty well, though I did have a few borderline-greasy days at the beginning. The Most Exciting Part though, is that my hair, which has always been somewhere in between wavy and straight, air-dried into the most luscious waves with no help whatsoever! It’s a beautiful thing.

Recently, I’ve started using a baking soda solution (I don’t have any measurements here… I just put about a teaspoon of soda into a small bottle and fill the rest up with hot water and mix). The only issue I’ve had with the baking soda is rinsing it all out. Sometimes I’ll catch tiny little grains of the stuff in my hair after I get out of the shower and have to rub it out with a towel. I still need to try the natural bristle brush, herbal rinses, and apple cider vinegar that Rebecca mentions in the post above, but so far, I’m really liking this transition away from your everyday shampoo and conditioner. The hardest part of the whole deal has been not having that slick, smooth hair that conditioner gives you–without it, I hate running my fingers through my wet hair, but I just towel dry it, and just let it sit while I get ready, and it does it’s own thing. And that is amazing. I was wondering how I would reconcile having to use either styling products or a blow dryer (using electricity) with the whole waste-reduction aspect of this little experiment, but I’m finding that I don’t need to interfere with the natural state of things too much anymore.

And I have a feeling that a post on the wonderousness of baking soda is coming soon, so get ready!

Oh, and I just have to share this… I met two of my most favoritest musicians EVER. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova! Beautiful, kind people.