No Poo, for You.

I do a lot of dumb things.  I research stuff, I do things my own way and sometimes it backfires... I have rubbed oil on my scalp and expected water and vinegar to wash it out.  Wow that looked great.  I've put straight powdered baking soda on my scalp, ineffective.  Back to my title, No Poo, it's all over the green living hippiville blogs online.


What is no pooage?  It's washing your hair with the following:

1 tbsp of baking soda dissolved in 8 oz of water.

Rinse with 1 tbs of vinegar mixed in 8 oz of water.

Let me tell you about my hair, more TMI but hey that's me.  Scalp= scummy, build up no matter WHAT or how much I wash my hair, oh I can do clarifying shampoos but then my hair ends up oilier.  Ends, dry, fly away, some of my hair is fine, my childhood hair, that never mutated with most of hair through puberty to coarse thick and curly, looser curls I guess you could say.  And I have plenty of grays so I color, which I hate that I do but I do and I have to because I hate grays.  Lately I have been trying to train my hair to go longer between pooing.  I could go 5 days.  Before shampooing I started rubbing castor oil on my scalp and then vinegar and letting sit for a few minutes, it did seem to licquify my scummy nasty build up and help some.  But like I say no matter what I would get some measure of white waxy gunk if I scraped my nails even right after shampooing and I was really scrubbing.  So, two times last week I no pooed  so I haven't used shampoo for over a week.  I am still working out the kinks but as far as step 1 goes, I'm a believer.

10 oz of water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, a couple drops of tea tree oil and my nalgene bottle.  It will all dissolve into clear water. ( we do not have a working water soften btw) Shook up and carefully poured on my already wet head in the shower. I made sure to get every segment of my scalp soaked.  I then proceeded to scrub a few minutes, yes minutes, and some crazy cool happened just like one blogger said, I could see a very fine lather on my fingers, it's got something to do with how soap is made, one of the components of how soap is made with animal fats and how your own sebum acts a component in your no pooing and a tiny lather forms, so my relaying is as lay person and probably erroneous as it gets but all I know is, my hair oil mixed with the b.s. ;) made some lather. 

Scalp results?? I could FEEL water hitting my head, I guess I forgot what that felt like, gross and weird, I could feel the temp of the water.  My scalp shined, I could no longer scrape scum.  It was amazing!!!

No mind you that was only the first half, the second half is a work in progress.  I then sprayed my hair with my bottle of half water half vinegar.  The result was straw like awful frizzy poopy crappy hair.  my roots were swell and that was it.  Two days later, I did step one, step two and after vinegar put truckloads of Nature's Gate Hemp Conditioner in my hair. < not exactly green but a lesser evil.  I was very happy with my hair then.  One thing though that is just status quo with my hair is, it gets flyaway frizzy as the day goes and that still happened even with my "product" in it < which is also a lesser evil for sure, I'll post that sometime I can't remember the name.  So, 3 days later THIS is what I did, after the vinegar, I put a little of my OCM mix in the ends and rinsed it, then put much less conditioner in.  THEN when I got out, on the bottm half of my hair hairs ends I used my beloved grapeseed oil.  It was a gamble, church was the next morning.  I woke up with softer hair and it looked like I had product in it to make it look a little wet and it was really curly.  I curled my hair as usual and used no product at ALL. This pic is my hair 12 hours after I did it  I've slept on it and fried catfish, usually it's much more frizzy and way ward at this point in the day.

  And now check out the root of the hair... no shampoo for over a week, just no pooing.

Bottomline, I am on the right track I do believe, the next thing I am going to try is to actually just do the one cup of water to tbs of vinegar, and then do some leave in grapeseed oil and see how that goes.

(why the angle makes my head look like the Queen of Hearts from the new Alice and Wonderland I do not know and good gravy my eyeballs look HUGE here...)And while you're here, a pic of also my face so you can see how it's doing with the OCM, sure it's at the end of a long day, complete with like I said, some catfish frying and my makeup has been on 12 hours.  no touching up, no more powder, no dabbing of oil. perhaps a small amount of shine but 12 hours of make up, with my face that would have normally had little oil rigs bobbing up and down on it.  Another thing I'm trying... seeing if I can make it without my serum and just use some grapeseed oil mixed with my tea tree oil and see the same results.

Grapeseed Oil, My Face Loves You.

I recently got some grapeseed oil at the grocery store.  I have been using it in my OCM routine for about a week and I wish I would have done it from the start!!  Right now my mix is about 25-30% castor oil and some flax oil I'm using up ( the next time I mix it will be omitted) a drop or two of tea tree oil and the rest grapeseed.  This oil is AMAZING, I don't want to be overly dramatic but really I am loving it!!  It's light and  a couple nights I only steamed and wiped my face once with it for it to feel so soft and clean.  I was not wearing make up on these days though, like most days... My skin is actually less oily, like barely shiny it's so weird!! but good, it's more glowy and even.  Read things like this a couple different places:

"Grapeseed oil is fantastic for your skin. By itself the oil is a wonderful moisturizer and because it is absorbed quickly by the skin, does not leave a greasy feeling. After being taken in by the skin, the oil really starts to go to work by infusing it with antioxidants, which help make the skin stay young-looking and elastic by protecting it against damaging free radicals. Many studies suggest that grapeseed oil is a more powerful antioxidant than either vitamin C or vitamin E, both of which are commonly used in antioxidant face creams and serums. In fact, there’s also evidence that the oil is as effective as vitamin C at evening out the tone of skin, resulting in a more uniform, radiant complexion." 

And:

 "Grapeseed oil contains a remarkably high concentration (73%!) of linoleic acid. One of the extraordinary properties of linoleic acid is its ability to mix with oxygen in the air to form a stable, water proof film. This film is why linoleic acid is good for skin: it not only traps moisture in the skin but also leaves it feeling dry and supple, not wet and greasy. If that weren’t enough, linoleic acid has anti-inflammatory effects that can help combat acne when applied topically to the skin." (source  http://www.vocoterra.com/blog/when-in-doubt-grab-a-grape/)

I am truly amazed at how much better my skin has gotten since starting OCM in January.(you can check out my posts about OCM here)  My forehead is really clearing up, every part of my face is!  It is softer, less oily, it's been, all happy and balanced the past couple days, even with skipping washing in the morning.  Is it perfect?? No.  But so so SO much better!!!

Face Stuff

Random, today my face seemed dry, I know, dry?? The pulling kinda dry.  So I revamped my oil mix to this, 25% castor oil, the rest flax and grapeseed, eventually I will probably phase out the flax, it's more expensive and needs to be fridged.  Alsoooo stuff I wanna try, making my own toner, I've been  back and forth, getting bloodshot eyes researching about making your own vitamin c serum and also your own toner.  I am leaning towards a toner with water, lemon juice and witch hazel.  I have never purchased it before but it's in every toner I've ever used.  I am unsure and thinking of going with one with no alcohol in it.  Though the one I'm looking at has grapefruit seed extract, which I read that how they make the extract isn't exactly natural... oh my head.  How die hard do I go here?  Sometimes it bogs me down.  Anyhoo I've been pinned these possibilites to my pinterest.

Oil Cleanse and Exfoliate

Random simple tip to add to your OCM Regimen to amp up your exfoliation.  Fine sea salt.  I did about an 1/8 tsp in my palm before I poured a quarter size amount of my oil mix in my palm.  It felt so pampering and my face was so soft afterward.  I started doing this last week, I suppose, a month into oil cleansing because I had some flaky areas when I put my make up on.  Easy, cheap, natural, effective.  Can't beat that.

Facewash: we are never never never getting back together. Oil Cleansing Update

The play by play, hey when you struggle with breakouts detailed info matters right?!!  If not then you must have great skin.  So recap.

Let us preface us with what I USED to do, for like, EVER. 
-I meticulously washed my face with BWC alpha hydroxy cleanser twice a day.
-blemish control lotion (toneresque stuff)
-eye serum ( I'll post what I use soonish)
-blemish touch stick
-mychelle serum
-mychelle spf moisturizer in the a.m.

Anal for clear skin, that is me.  I also used a microdermabrasion scrub twice a week.  Which I will share that with you too sometime.  All... two of you.

So starting Jan 5th, I decided because of running out of my serum so I thought I should dial back on the product usage to save some money.  I started researching, do you reaaaaallly have to wash your face in the morning/oily skin etc;  I stumbled across a plethora of blogs about this oil cleansing method.  Heresy I tell you, but I was intrigued by the oil skin breakout stories that had turned their skin around,  that using the proper oils helped skin to function as it was meant to.  And it does make sense that companies would love to compound your problems and keep you coming back for the NEXT thing that was finally gonna help.  *Tangent alert*  I am just now realizing and learning how amazing our bodies were designed, how man has dinked with that in hopes of bigger and better but we're in worse shape healthwise, stresswise.  Look at how our bodies heal themselves when treated correctly, given the right nutrition ( netflix docs I'm telling you!!  Hungry for Change, Food Inc etc) naturally our bodies can do what they were meant to do.  We forget how amazing the Creator designed all these amazing details of nature and our bodies to work together and function.  Countless benefits to getting your sleep, not living such a fast paced stressed life, eating healthy, exercise.  Anyway enough about that, so that is how I came across OCM.

My skin status before starting OCM, oily, pore clogged always, under control but always clogged areas.  It was also prone to itchy breakouts and irritation in times past.  Skipping washing my face in the mornign didn't seem to make it worse tho it did take getting used to,  do I tone or not tone? serum or not?? splash some water on face? dab my forehead with a tissue?  nothing?  put, dare I say it, moisturizer OVER my unwashed skin??  I've been all over the board here.

Day 1- (or night I should say)I can do this, I have clogged pores oily skin and I. am. rubbing. oil. on my FACE.  I prepared to wake up for church with a disaster.  Morning came and I was no worse off than usual. relief.

-Few more days, finding that I needed to changed my castor oil ratio, it was drying me,  from 60-70% to50/50 currently.  Discovered that putting my oil mix on my eyes irritated them.  So used almond oil for eyes and they were happy again.  I have also been trying this on makeup days, to rub the oil on, then tissue the makeup off before I get into the shower to do the the oil cleansing routine,  I notice my toner cottonball was much cleaner this way.  I started getting zits in places I didn't usually and my pores were releasing grody little plugs, some hard like sand, others softer.  Gross but hey if you have zits you get it!

-Days 8-10  Skin looking crappier than it had in a while, while some pores and the sides of my face were smoothing out, I had some stupid zits that, dad gum it I picked at. GRRR  you know the battle goes in your head, " I can help this resolve faster if I juuuust...."  So while we are talking about " pore clearing" ;) Here are my tips, wait as long as you can, or don't even pick or poke at ALL most zits resolve on their own.  If it's real obvious something needs to be done:  This is what works best for me, sterile needle, sterile comedone extractor, after a steamy shower, prick it once with the needle to make channel, then you use a rocking back and forth motion with the extractor, don't push too hard, you'll make it worse, if the zit won't yield after 1 or 2 times, you're done, walk away, it's not time and it may be itjust needs to resolve on it's own.  I broke my own rules on two zits last week and kept going back thinking THIS time we'll clear it!!  Ok so at this point in the game, I kept thinking, that's it, I have to use my cleanser... I need to do my microdermabrasion!!  But I took the advice of the blogosphere and stayed the course so as to not confuse my skin, let it work itself out.  Ok ok.... ok.

-Day 11, discovered something, almond oil, my newest bestest friend, it downright awesome, I put on my cheeks the night before, my skin there was looking good,  I even put it on my oily forehead, it wasn't as oily in the morning... HUH?  And more zit talk sooorrrreeee, but it brought 2 zits to a head within hours and they cleared easy.  Gross, yes, I'm sorry but other pore clogged suffers need to know this!! 

-Day 12  I think I made it through the wilderness...somehow. ;)

-Day 14 continued improvement!!  Face smoothing out, bumpy forehead getting smoother, I'm really amazed.  really.  No, my skin is not perfect, and it's still working out some cloggs but it keeps getting better and better and I haven't felt my face this smooth in years!! ( since getting off the pill in 2008 my breakouts got worse, tho it is so worth it to be off them fyi)

The Routine Rundown Thus Far.

OCM at night.

If makeuped, oil up and wipe with tissue then procede.

-Wet face

-Massage in oil blend ( I use half castor oil half flax oil with a few drops of tea tree oil)

-Wet your clean washcloth with real hot water, not to burn you, but warmer than you could stand pouring on you in the shower, ring it out, and press on to your face gently till it cools down to room temp.  Wipe the oil from your face, get everywhere, leave no area unwiped.  I then rinse it out.  Heat it up again, use the other side of the cloth, steam and wipe once more.

-now maybe eventually I will get this down to a science where my skin is just fab and well balanced it's good to go with nothing else to do for the face routine but I need to make things are harder on myself, more time consuming and expensive. so next:

-blemish toner lotion stuff
-eye serum
-blemish touch stick on breaking out areas
-mychelle serum
-the little magic bullet that's done so much for me lately, almond oil on the orbital bone eye area is that right?? orbital bone?  And now I've been patting it on my cheeks and forehead, I'm going to get real crazy and let my chin in on this too tonight!!  I also have been putting it around my nose, it always gets flaky and porecloggy and it's helping it, it's so strange!!! oil on those problem areas.

Now morning time, it's not set it stone but here is what seems to be working, no washing, no toning, a splash of water on my forehead and eyes, pat dry, blemish touch stick on zits, almond oil around eye area ( not upper eyelid or makeup will slide all over probably) and forehead clogged area.  IF I plan on being outside that day, spf mchelle.

-unexpected goodies from OCM. longer thicker lashes, not falling out nearly as much!!!  When I'm oiling up my face I use some on my chest, another bumpy unhappy area, I don't steam or anything just gently wipe with the washcloth,  it's so much better, smooth and clear.

-A general guide to the oil mixes:

25 -50% Castor oil to any of the following oils:

Olive Oil, best for DRY skin.

Flax, grapeseed, jojoba oils for normal and problem skin.  Heck, who knows maybe you could do a tiny percent of castor oil to these if you have dry skin, probably so but it takes some tweaking at the beginning.

Play with the ratios, you'll be able to tell if your face is feeling tight and pulling this is not the goal, you don't want the tight feeling.  This may even make a difference from winter to summer how much your castor oil portion varies.  Also my fave to add for anti fungal and anti bacterial, some drops of tea tree oil,  I put maybe 2-3 drops into 2 ounces of my oil mix.

-Tips

-Prepare yourself for your skin to look worse than it did before you started at the beginning, but don't be afraid to adjust your oil ratios while your skin is working things out.

-Stay the course, you're going to want to cop out and use a scrub, a facewash " just this one time..." but be strong, it will mess with your skin adjustment.

-optional : take some lysine for a few days, I did for about 5 days.  Did it help??  It certainly didn't seem to hurt.

-ask yourself, what other products am I using on my face? does your moisturizer you're putting on afterwards, contain fragrance(parfum), parabens and other chemically crap?  This won't help your cause.  Check out the Skin Deep Data link at the top of the blog to see what your products and ingredients rate.  I am a really big fan of using the almond oil or something like it, grapeseed or jojoba on your face,dry, breaking out, where ever.

*if something crazy happens and you break out in HIVES on your face then I would stop, or see what is in your mix you could be reacting to, though in my own research I haven't come across these stories, doesn't mean they aren't out there...

 To think that maybe I can start my daughters on the right foot when they get older and not have them enter into the wretched cycle of crappy skin is pretty exciting for me.

Now, when I slather that oil all over my face, it actually feels good and not freaky weird anymore, my face is smoother and happier.   Now face says " welcome, oil. welcome." ;) 

Flax Oil and..

 Click the pic for this person's take on flax oil for beautifulness.  I also researched jojoba oil and grapeseed oil and castor oil today.

*Castor Oil ~ Studies Support Castor Oil's Efficacy as an Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory, and Immunostimulant

All of these oils are oils that are anti germy pore clearing.  I keep reading to make sure it's organic when you buy it.  All of these oils are supposed to help with acne.  Crazy, I think it just must be getting the hang of using it and your own little personal mix, which I'm still working on.  But gotta say this, it hasn't made my hair greasy around the hairline like I thought and on my 3rd day when I wash my hairline is strangely LESS greasy.  This was a concern for me, also, strange but true, I feel like my face itself is less oily and greasy.  So my face status today, about 1 ugly zit and 3 annoying lesser ones I am riding out.  High hopes, people... high hopes...

ps I also started to take some lysine while my skin, *ahem* "works out" it's nasties while I'm getting use to OCM.  I have no intention of taking it long term.

Oil Cleansing

 

Hmmm so shaking up my face regimine since after the new year, first, I stopped washing my face in the morning, did nothing in the morning for a week but went back to everything, toning, serums but not washing in the morning and just started the oil cleansing last night.(last saturday)  I'm, on the fence, just not sure, I read different things, for and against.  Some people love it, some gave it up.  So far I'm a few days in and my skin is breaking out a little more than usual but I'm willing to see what happens in the next couple weeks to give my skin a chance to adjust.  THIS article I just read today says no, it's crap.  Then there are articles like this that say it's great and why.  I have also read various mixes.  half castor oil for normal skin, 2/3 for oily and a 1/4 for dry, combined with the remaining percent of various oils, flax, evoo, sunflower, jojoba, grapseed, etc;  "Another example: In terms of the blend, it will depend on your skin type. I have very oily skin so I used 60% or so Castor Oil to start off
with but after a few weeks lowered this amount as my skin was getting quite dry. It might take a bit of trial and
error. The basic rule is:
- Oily Skin: 30% Castor Oil to 70% Sunflower Seed Oil.
- Balanced Skin: 20% Castor Oil to 80% Sunflower Seed Oil.
- Dry Skin: 10% Castor Oil to 90% Sunflower Seed Oil."
http://www.mommypotamus.com/oil-cleansing-for-clear-baby-soft-skin-video-tutorial/ check out this link for even more info and a video tutorial.

So I started about 5 days ago, I started with, 2/3 or maybe even 75% castor oil then the rest Flax oil which I didn't realize had some additional ingredients  and that I need to OOPS get in the fridge pronto.  The ingredients :
Organic flax seed oil (cold-pressed, unrefined and non-GE) and a natural antioxidant blend of organic sunflower oil, organic rosemary extract, natural mixed tocopherols, ascorbic acid and citric acid.
Contains soy derivative. < soy dang and I just read how it's no so good, but it's not going in my body so maybe that is not so bad???  Now Foods Castor oil is the brand I got for castor oil.  Anyway so initially it felt wrong, soo soo so wrong, to rub oil on my oily skin. Oh yes and I also added a drop of tea tree oil for it's anti bacterial properties.  I probably have only made.... an ounce to start out.  First thing, believe it or not after a few days, I had to up my flax oil ratio to half because that castor oil CAN dry.  I did start to pull gunk and little plugs (yum!) out of my face and empty out pores a lot easier.  I have started to break out a little more than normal this far into it.  But I really want to give it a chance,  I feel like the zits resolve faster than normal too, so we shall see.  The first night I did it I was wearing makeup and I used my "toner" Home Health Blemish lotion and got dirty looking dark stuff on my cottonball.  So I don't know if I need to try oil then wipe the makeup off with a tissue, then oil again and steam?  Still figuring this out.  The other nights I have  not worn makeup I have not gotten dark stuff to come off on the cottonball.  I also do not know if I should be using the oil mix with the tea tree oil on my eyes, though it does just great at getting off eyemakeup, I do use almond oil to get off whatever is left when I get done.  I know most women just oil cleanse and that's it, nothing else, maybe a little moisturizer if needed.  I think this will take some figuring out, if anyone has insights and tips please let me know!!  I keep using my serum and eye serum because I love just so much but could there be just a good stuff, cheaper made at home stuff out there??  I need to do more research.  Saving money and having great skin with no chemicals, that just sounds awesome!!
Gotta go refridgerate that flax oil.... and one more link for you from Detox Diva. And more info from her on the various oils...maybe I should've gone with jojoba??  More to come I'm sure...