Sunday, March 23, 2008

Blogging Extremes- What Can You Live Without ?

I love reading stories about bloggers and book writers who are trying really extreme things like the guy living with all his trash in his apartment for one year, the lady living without ever purchasing plastic, the Manhattan family who doesn't use toilet paper for der' bunghole but a wet towel in a bowl next to the toilet instead, and the various ladies who have tried to only buy sustainable clothing for one year. I realized yesterday in the shower, I too had done something really extreme... I have not used soap or shampoo for 6 years. Seriously I kid you not, not a drop of soap, no conditioner to soften my thick hair, not a bit a shampoo to create that special shine. Why on earth would I ever do this ??? Well, it all started when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease which requires a strict as 'H-E-double hockey sticks' gluten free diet. But it's more then that, I can't have gluten in ANYTHING I use, including care products. I had been eating and washing myself with all organic products already, and was super sad to learn ALL the products I used & on the shelves contained wheat...Darn-it! So I said F-it and went without any soap and shampoo, at first as a temporary thing till I could find something organic & gluten free to lather myself in. Then suddenly year after year passed and I forgot about soap and shampoo, my hair and skin adjusted (if not seemed healthier in many ways). Now I won't lie, the first few months my hair looked rather...um...odd and kinda yucky or sticky, but that quickly went away. I learned a few natural tricks like if you have build up or greasy hair just squeeze a lemon into your hair and it comes out looking like you scrubbed it in expensive conditioner! Yay! Boiling Lavender (the herb) with lemons & then rinsing your hair with that smells sooooo yummy and leaves it silky smooth. (The pic above is my shampoo free hair on an average day.)
What do you live without or think you could live without ? What's your extreme ?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't buy new clothing except underwear and the occasional pair of shoes. I am a thriftshopper. I am not sure what I "ought" to live without. I would love to try the lemon juice hair wash. I will never give up toilet paper. I can live without paper to-go cups now, I bring my ceramic lidded mug when I go out. I don't use paper towels... I can live without George Bush and his fucking war that is bleeding us dry (loss of life & money & respect)...

Anonymous said...

I want to think about and answer this question........having a hard time........picture too beautiful...................................................................................

Anonymous said...

I don't know why, but for some reason I just stopped using shampoo too. I think I just realized my hair was more manageable without it. But the secret was, I was taking really hot showers and I think it melted the excess oils out. Because once I became condemned to cold showers exclusively...my hair got really oily. So I went back to shampoos. But they all seem to carry a fragrance and I don't like that.
Raven