Just say "NO" to shampoo!

I was pretty much born with a scalp condition. Had cradle cap as an infant that developed into a life long battle with itchy flaky scalp and oily hair that made it even worse. In the 80's through the late 90's my dermatologists prescribed a plethora of tar shampoos, foaming scalp ointments or zinc-based shampoos. After awhile I would try anything new that came out on the market. I reached a point once where I spent over $600.00 on a combo treatment consisting of a 2 oz bottle of foam and a 4 oz bottle of ointment. Ridiculous I know, but it worked...for about a month. I had to over-use both products to get results and in the process they burned and seared my skin so badly I was almost too sensitive to brush my hair. My hair even thinned out quite a bit but at the time I thought it was what I had to do in order to control the disgusting flakes and serious irritation.

When I moved to Atlanta from Naples, FL in 1999 I went from absolute humidity to a little less humid but more heat. If you live on the Florida coast you know how temperature can change drastically with a little coastal breeze. My scalp gradually worsened in Atlanta because it was dryer but I kept on trying to control the insanity with over the counter shampoos like Selsun, Neutrogena, Tea Tree, Head & Shoulders, Nizoral...etc. Nothing helped very much or if it did the results only lasted a week or so.

Now that I live in Seattle, and have for going on 8 month now, I'm in an even dryer climate which is not good for my condition to say the least. The culture here is a bit different in that many in this area are more focused on natural living and removing chemicals and unneeded toxins from their daily lives. With that as my focus I started doing research on what was really in all of the products I was putting on my head and so close to my brain. What I found was somewhat shocking and made me re-think using any sort of shampoo/detergent to cleanse my hair and scalp. I discovered mounds of websites completely disregarding shampoos and conditioners all together. This sort of shocked me at first because I've had to shampoo and condition my hair daily for years to avoid the everyday oil buildup.

With this new information I've tried something for a week now and have been pleasantly surprised at the results. By simply washing my hair with a baking soda/water mixture about every other day and conditioning my hair and scalp with plain white vinegar diluted with water, my scalp irritation/flakiness and oily hair have vanished! My scalp feels clean and healthy plus it doesn't drive me crazy all day anymore. I'm truly astounded by these results and delighted I've finally found a way to remedy this life-long issue.