And then puberty was confusing...suddenly I wasn't a natural platinum blonde anymore and my skin was breaking out in pimples from hormones and stress. Being persuaded to bleach my hair, wax my eyebrows, and use all sorts of hair products, skin products, and makeup so I would look "presentable" was not helping.
I had no idea there were any natural alternatives for hair and skin care until I was in college. I think that if I were offered natural remedies and alternative hair care/skin care methods I would have gladly tried them, I always hated the smell of the harmful chemicals in bleach and nail polish and there is so much evidence out there that cosmetics are bad for your health.
So fast-forward to 2012, I was 25, 5 months pregnant, and setting up a new life in Hawaii. I wanted to keep things simple and sustainable for environmental, health, and financial reasons, and looking online for information about nutrition and natural remedies, I found out about no-poo, and so I decided to go for it.
I had already spaced out my hair washing to every 2-3 days because my long hair would get dried out if I washed it too much. I had a little bit of travel size shampoo/conditioner and I bought a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap to use as body soap, shampoo, face wash, dish soap, cleaner, etc, as we were starting out our life in Hawaii renting a room in a house until we could find an apartment and I wanted to keep everything simple and scaled-down. I used the Dr. Bronner's as shampoo and started to stretch out washings to every 4-5 days. On the 5th day, my hair often started to get greasy, so I then started to incorporate baking soda and apple cider vinegar into my routine as we moved into our apartment. I boiled water and mixed it with baking soda and put that in one bottle, and diluted apple cider vinegar with water and put that in another bottle. The baking soda solution was like my shampoo, and the vinegar was like my conditioner. I pretty much played it by ear, sometimes letting it go an extra day even when it was getting greasy, sometimes rinsing it with just water in the shower, sometimes using Dr. Bronner's, and sometimes apple cider vinegar.
It was a gradual process and by the time Chinami was born, I was able to just jump in the shower, wash my body, and get back out, and my hair would look no worse for wear, sometimes even going a week without even getting wet. Now, I feel like my hair is more manageable and healthy looking than it ever was. I used to have to use liberal amounts of leave-in conditioner to get a brush through it and even then it tended to look frizzy and damaged. Now, I use a boar's hair brush and the oils from my scalp are naturally distributed through my hair, I still use a little coconut oil on the very end as it is a far way to go from my scalp. I recommend a boar's hair brush to anyone with long hair, and anyone with small children. It goes without saying that I would never knowingly inflict pain on my daughter by brushing her hair roughly, but a boar's hair brush is virtually pain-free and is good for the hair as well.
The result? Nobody who sees me can guess that I haven't touched shampoo or conditioner in over a year! My hair is naturally clean and healthy. Right now in my bathroom I have my boar's hair brush, as well as baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and a spray bottle with water, coconut oil, olive oil, and a little alcohol to keep it mixed, which I use on my face, legs, and the ends of my hair. The only commercial products I have left are deodorant, and toothpaste, which I am also phasing out, but that will be a subject for another post.
私は小さい頃、自然系の科学（植物学など）が好きで、カリブの大自然で遊んだり、猫と友達になってみたり、木登りしたりするのが好きで、よく学校の昼休みの時間によく友達と一緒に校舎にあったでっかい石に昇ったり、虫や種と何かで遊びました。化粧品といった「女らしい」物に興味がなくて、読書や映画、ドキュメンタリーなどを見るのが趣味でした。
そして思春期に入ったら複雑になってしまった。急に髪の毛が金髪じゃなくなってきて、肌もホルモンやストレスで荒れてニキビが増えました。そして「よく」見せるために髪の毛をブリーチしたり、眉毛をワックスしたり、そしてさらに色んな科学的な化粧品を使うように言われてたことで複雑な気持ちになってました。
私は大学生になるまで髪の毛や肌を自然な素材で良くできるという事は一切知らなかったんです。もしもっと早い時期から知ってたら多分喜んで自然派に行ったんだろうと思います。ケミカルの匂いいつも嫌でしたから。
２０１２年に早送りします。私は２５才、５ヶ月妊娠してて、ハワイで新しい人生を始めようとしていました。感興的にも、健康的にも、経済的にも、シンプルにしたくて、食事のバランス、自然の治療、などをグーグルで調べてたら、ノーシャンプーに出会いました。
髪の毛が長くて、あまり洗いすぎると少しパサパサになってしまうので、その時はもう２−３日に一回しか頭を洗わないようにしていました。旅行用サイズのシャンプーを使ってたけど、Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap （自然な万能石けん）を買って、シャンプー、ボディーソープ、お皿の石けん、お掃除などに使いました。その時はまだルームシェアしてたのでなるべく荷物を集めないようにしていました。自然石けんをシャンプーに使って、４−５日おきに頭を洗うようにしてみました。でも5日目になると頭の油がかなりたまってきたので、新しいアパートに住み始めたら重曹とリンゴ酢を使うようにしました。重曹と白湯はシャンプーで、リンゴ酢と白湯はリンス。１日多く洗わなかったり、シャワーでお湯だけで洗ったり、石けん使ったり、重曹つかったり、ほぼ感でやってました。
段々とそうやってたら、ちなみが産まれてからシャワーで体だけ洗って、一週間も頭を濡らすことなく過ごすことができました。今は前よりずっと髪の毛が健康で扱いやすいと思います。前はトリートメントなどいっぱい使わないとくしが通らなくて、どんなトリートメントを使ってもしっとり感がないと思いました。今は毛先まで油が行かなくて少しパサパサ感がある時はココナッツオイルを使います。今はイノシシ毛ブラシを使ってることで、頭の油は毛先まで行きます。イノシシ毛ブラシを長い髪や、お子さんにおすすめします。自分の娘にくしで暴力を振るうことはないのはもちろんですけど、イノシシ毛ブラシは子供の頭に凄く優しくて全然痛い思いさせなくて済むんです。
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