{2} Beauty Things that Didn't Work and {1} That Did

I've posted before about different homemade beauty things I've tried (all of which I still use!) but sometimes it's equally helpful to write about things that don't work.  That's what I'm going to do today.  And maybe one thing that has seemed to work, although not a very homemade one.

No Poo

To answer the most obvious question (I can't be the only one that has it!), this has nothing to do with bowel movements.  That is something I won't ever be blogging about, rest assured.  This is about No ShamPOO.  But telling people you are doing "No Poo" gets a little more of a reaction.

This was a lovely Pinterest find that was touted as a way to go up to a week between hair washes.  Since I'm always (always) looking for ways to deal with my hair less (short of cutting it all off, I need my ponytails), washing it only once a week seemed pretty awesome.

Here's the gist.  Shampoo and conditioner have various chemicals or components.  (I actually have no idea what's in my shampoo.)  But supposedly it builds up a residue on your hair and constant washing dries it out.  The idea with No Poo is you use pretty natural items to get rid of the build-up and keep your hair extra clean, all without washing it with store-bought shampoo.  I used wet baking soda to scrub my head and then the "conditioner" was a watered down apple cider vinegar.

Day 1: My hair never felt so shiny and smooth as when I first sprayed it with straight apple cider vinegar (I initially missed the watering down part of the instructions).  I was sold.  So far, so good.

Day 7: My hair felt really greasy.

The instructions said to still wet it down every day and that was supposed to help distribute your natural head oils.  So I did that.  Still giving me wet hair to deal with every day and not really saving much time.

I kept up with this for about 8 weeks.  Wetting it down every shower.  Scrubbing with baking soda and rinsing with vinegar every 5 days or so.  My hair pretty much always felt dirty.  It's supposed to take your scalp a few weeks to adjust and produce less oils.  I think I gave it long enough to adjust.  It never did.  I don't even think I have that greasy of hair.  I frequently go 5 days between washing, partially thanks to dry shampoo on days 4 and 5.  (And it's SO SATISFYING to wash the cocoa powder out of my hair when I do finally wash it.)  It just always felt dirty, the longer I was going, the dirtier it felt.  So I gave up, went back to store-bought shampoo with no regrets.  I'm glad I tried it but also glad my hair is not longer that greasy.

Oil Pulling

This was another lovely internet find.  The gist: you chew/swish around 1 TB of coconut oil in your mouth for 10 minutes.  Then spit it in the trash (never down the drain so it doesn't harden there and clog pipes).  It's supposed to help whiten teeth, freshen breath, clean stuff out of your mouth, and make you lose weight (??).  So I tried it about 3-4 times a week for a few weeks.   I never noticed any difference.  So I stopped and went back to using my coconut oil for baking.

Aztec Secret Clay Mask

 

This isn't really homemade, other than mixing the (boughten) powder with some apple cider vinegar or water.  I heard this mentioned in a few blogs and I thought it sounded good so I ordered some from Amazon.  It took me a few months to actually get around to trying it.  Now I do it every 10ish days while supervising bathtime (Luke gives me A LOT of weird looks and has a lot of questions as to why I have mud all over my face).  It's awesome.  My face never feels as clean as after using it.  It feels tighter, pores cleaning, just healthier.  I definitely plan to buy more than this tub runs out, which should take a couple months.

I've started thinking about if I should be doing more, skin-care wise as I'm getting close to mid-30s (not there yet!) and this at least makes me feel like I am doing something!  Definitely recommend!


I'd love to hear about any experiences you have with any of these products/methods!  Or any other homemade things you've found that work well!  Tell me!