Natural Shampoo

All the MomBlogs are raving about it.  It's called "un-poo" which is perhaps a bit scary sounding to the unpoo-initiated.  It's just  one more way people are coming back into their own, casting off the need to buy Stuff, and getting their body healthier at the same time.
  I have to blog about it, because, hell, why not? I've tried it, it works, it's at least on the "natural" thread of this blog.
  It's been about a month now since I used any Shampoo or conditioner on my hair.  If you tell people what you are doing, they will think you a sick, dirty hippy, but the proof [that it works] is about to be in your hair.
  People didn't always use shampoo and conditioner and their hair was just fine.  Perhaps it started when we also put lots of products in our hair and needed something major to wash out the product? I don't know.  Once you use shampoo though, it completely washes out your hair's natural oils, since it's stripped, it produces even more oil, causing you to get really greasy hair again in fairly short order.  If you stop using the shampoo, eventually your hair gets back to normal oil production, and you can go for days without washing it and it getting greasy or gross.
  Interested yet?
I think for moms this is especially interesting since we are so damned busy, which is why this is spreading on Momblogs.
  To top it off, pretty much all the shampoos/conditioners we use just coat us in petroleum products which is undoubtedly bad for our bodies, so skipping the "poo" helps the environment and possibly our health as well, not to mention better hair quality and less shampooing.
  You could cut out the petroleum product and get a "natural" shampoo from the store to the tune of something like $8 + dollar a bottle, or you could "unpoo" and just use a little baking soda and apple cider vinegar (acv).
 Here's how you do it and here's what happened for me.

  Online recipes differ on how much baking soda or acv to use, I would try an amount then reduce it and see how much you actually need.
  1-2 T. baking soda in about 8 ounces water dissolved (increase or decrease as needed)
  2 t. acv (with one drop mild essential oil if desired) in 8 ounces water

  Rinse your hair, pour on about half the baking soda mixture and scrub your scalp for awhile, pour on the rest and keep scrubbing.  Rinse.
  Pour on acv mixture and let sit for 1-2 minutes, then rinse.

  Some people will experience a "grease-ball" phase where their hair will produce much more oil than normal for up to a month. I am unsure if I experienced this or not, because last time it seemed to go "greaseball" I simply upped the amount of baking soda I was using and now I'm back to normal again.  Especially in the beginning it seemed to look greasy at night and I would brush it a lot to distribute the oil, then, strangely enough, it would look fine the next day with no washing.  I think lots of brushing needs to be added to the routine.
  My hair has a ton more body now.  It's shiny again, and it smells good.  Which is more than I could say after using regular shampoo, which made it dull, flat, and need to wash every other day.
The acv acts as a type of conditioner, (balances the PH ?) and it does seem to make the hair softer, it definitely takes out all the crud from using regular shampoo.  The times I don't use it, I have a hard time getting a brush through my hair, I am no longer trying to cut out the acv from some of my washes.
  I just bought a vinegar rinse here at my local farmers market.  I thought those of you who really wanted something smelling yummy to put in your hair (like me) might be interested.  It wasn't that expensive and is a pre-made vinegar rinse with flower and herb essences infused already.  They don't appear to be selling it yet online, but I'll let you know how I like it.  Surely someone else is making them, or of course, you could make your own.
  So here I am about a month in to unpooing.  I just had to share my results. Hope you give it a try!
  An update here a few months later--I am now doing about two unpoos then I strip my hair with normal shampoo.  I've found if I go too long doing only unpooing I end up with a coating of sebum close to my scalp that annoys me. I think I like doing unpooing every-other-time or so, and I still think my hair is healthier this way, still ends up being shinier than it would otherwise.  Some people may get away with doing unpooing only, I imagine it depends on the person.