The All Natural Lifestyle: No more shampoo!

Sometimes I feel bad for my parents. Every time I tell my parents about my decisions to change my lifestyle to be a little more "green," I can see the look on their face as they think "Oh good lord, we have raised a hippy."
For example, when I told my parents I wanted to go to school in Oregon, they saw this:

Then, when I told them I had gone vegetarian, they saw this:

Now, when I told them I'm going to stop using shampoo and conditioner in search for a more natural alternative, I saw the grimace on their faces as they saw this:

Notice the slow progression into a person that my city-raised father and Christian-raised mother deem a figment of their past, reincarnated in their own daughter. Now, I never force any of my personal choices on my family and in return my parents have been amazingly supportive. They do everything possible to keep me at my school as long as I get the grades and do my best to help. I cook meat for them a few times a week and they don't complain about the meatless nights (usually). But, I may have just thrown them over the edge with my Shampoo-less decision; like most people, they don't see the need. But for me, it makes complete sense.
1. It's cheap and simple. All you need is water, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar- items that will last years.
2. It's natural. Shampoos contain detergents and toxins that my doctor sighted as the cause of the sores that I occasionally get on my scalp.
3. You need the oils that shampoos strip away and conditioners replace (synthetically). Going without shampoo allows your hair and scalp's oil production to regulate itself without need of any sort of hair product.

I have read multiple blogs and articles about the no-shampoo movement, and after finding some simple replacements for shampoo and conditioner, I decided it was my turn. I started the transition last Wednesday, and I am already happy with the results (most of the time).

My hair is not the oily type or dry type, but it is pretty thin and long.

This picture was taken a year ago, but it is a typical day for my hair during the summer. Megan (my bff sittin next to me) has the longest hair I have ever seen, and it is beautifully golden. Point of this picture is that I think that I have pretty normal hair that would easily transition into my new regimen which consists of a baking soda "shampoo" and an apple cider vinegar "conditioner." All you need a is a tablespoon of each combined with a cup of water in separate squirt bottles. You put the baking soda just on the scalp and let it sit for a few minutes before you rinse. Then, you use the vinegar mixture on the ends of your hair and let it sit as well. Super easy!

On the first day of my shampoo rejection, I let my hair air-dry and did not use any type of frizz-control product (like usual).

Pretty Normal, a little dryer and frizzier than normal, but it is to be expected. I usually wash my hair every other day and I have to say that my hair was much nicer looking the next day, but it was hot and I wore it up anyways. On the third day, I washed my hair again, but as I was off to LA that day I used my frizz-ease and called it a day. The day after, my hair was pretty oily

I think I've started the 2-week period of unruly hair that most blogs have mentioned as the hardship of this lifestyle. Keep in mind that this hair is after a full day at the beach in Venice, so it was also salty. All in all, my hair is not going too crazy from the lack of the sudsy stuff, and I can feel it getting thicker and it definitely has more body. So, win for now! Let's see how the rest of the week goes

Digster

Nerdy: The new "Hip"

Growing up I was often called a nerd: I loved to read and to get good grades, I liked Pokemon much longer than I should have (I still like it), and I wore clothes that I thought were cool (my sentiments were not shared by my peers). Things only got worse as I got older because I began to realize that I liked being smart, and hell: my clothes rocked. In high school took Advanced Placement classes, headed clubs such as "Harry Potter Club" and "Junior Statesmen of America," and I danced and worked on top of it all. I had my handful of friends and that was really all that I needed.

Coming to college I did not expect much more than I already had in high school- but I wanted the whole college experience. So, I rushed Greek Life, I went out with people that I met, and I played down my geekiness to a painfully low level. Things went alright but I was not really invested in my new life. One day during winter term I let my nerdiness slip to a friend who was suddenly intrigued by it: he actually liked who I was. Crazy, I know, but it's true. I began to let my wall down and show my natural nerdiness more often, and I was happier because of it. People actually liked me better because I was weird and I liked them better for the same reason. The more I looked around and noticed people and their personalities I realized something: being a nerd is awesome. Not only that, but in the new "hipster" culture, it is something to be sought after.

Nerds are becoming mainstream these days: just look at the show "The Big-Bang Theory," it is an extremely popular show about four physics nerds. I hadn't realized that physics was so funny. Acceptance of nerds is perpetuated even further on sites such as Collegehumor.com where short shows such as "Nerd Alert" talk about the best news in the land of nerds. Personally, I am overjoyed that our society is starting to accept the different types of geekiness and calling it personality. Especially at this point in my life where I can actually enter college and show people who I am without fear of complete rejection.

For all the nerds out there: where that Pokemon shirt proud, read books just for fun, and there is no shame in playing video games instead of going out on a saturday night.