Just saying...

.....i miss chemicals.....

Shikakai Update

Well haven’t I just been the slacker of all slackers re the updates!

I bet you’ve all been hanging on the edge of your seats waiting for my latest update.... J

Anywho...So after doing the patch test and discovering that it was the cinnamon that I was allergic to and not the Shikakai as originally suspected, I washed my hair with just the Shikakai alone on Sunday night.

And it was fine. No reactions, no burning, no tingling, nothing. It was great.

It certainly did stink a lot worse without the cinnamon....So that’s a bit of a downer....And I found that it must’ve been the cinnamon that made it more pastey last time, and also granuley.
I found that it mixes better but is a bit more watery without the cinnamon.

I am yet to purchase some soapnut online, as that was also what called for the original mixture but before I use it on my hair, I will do a patch test to check that I’m not allergic to that.

I am also going to do a patch test on my skin with regular cinnamon (from woollies) to see if I react to that.
It’s extremely intriguing that I had an allergic reaction to cinnamon when I’ve eaten it my entire life. The cinnamon I used though was purchased at the Indian grocer along with the Shikakai and I can’t help but wonder if perhaps there may have been something else in this particular cinnamon that caused a reaction to my skin. Stay tuned for the update on that one.

I’m still doing the bicarb soda and apple cider vinegar wash but I’m starting to wonder if maybe I might stop doing that. I have run out of the ACV and I can’t help but wonder if the bicarb may be drying out my hair or maybe I’m doing it too often. I think I might stick to just the Shikakai and honey wash, twice a week and see how my hair goes with that.

I’m sure I had more to update but my brain has gone blank and I can’t remember. J

The Prick/Patch Test: Video Footage

Here is the video footage of the allergy test I performed on myself last night.

NEW VIDEO

Josh is also going to let me do a patch test on him just to see if he also has a reaction to the Shikakamon or not....I figure it could be useful information depending on the results.

I will be doing another hair wash with the Shikakai as well, but Josh has asked that I wait till a night where he is home ... that makes sense haha so probably Friday night or over the weekend.

Stay Tuned...

The Prick/Patch Test

Patch Test

OK so according to a website I googled, the patch test goes a little something like this…

Skin testing is the oldest and most reliable form of allergy testing. This form of testing has been performed for 100 years and continues to be the testing of choice for the diagnosis of allergic disease. Testing begins with a prick, puncture or scratch method, which involves the placing a drop of the allergen in question (usually a commercially available extract of pollens, molds, foods, pet dander, etc) on the skin and abrading the skin with a needle. This testing is not painful, and generally there is no bleeding involved since the needle only scratches the surface of the skin.

After the skin is scratched, the tests takes about 15 minutes to develop. There may be many skin tests performed, depending on the person’s age, symptoms and other factors. A positive skin test appears as a raised, red itchy bump, similar to a mosquito bite.

Rightio….prick patch test done.

The results are in!

So I pricked my skin with a needle in three different spots on my arm.

I mixed up, in three separate bowls, Shikakai & water, cinnamon & water and Shikakai and cinnamon in water.

After blobbing a bit of each mixture on the punctures in my skin, I could instantly feel that familiar burning/tingling sensation but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

I waited a few minutes and could see which ones were causing a reaction.

From the photographs and video, you can see that the only two that caused a reaction was the cinnamon alone and the Shikakamon. The Shikakai had NO ill effects on my skin whatsoever.

Shikakamon - Strongest Reaction

Cinnamon - Strong Reaction

Shikakai - No Reaction!

Also, judging by the reaction that is clearly visible on my skin, it turns out that I probably didn’t need to stab myself at all haha oh well!!

So as the results show, according to my testings, I am allergic to the cinnamon. Which means I am going to try and wash my hair with the Shikakai on its own one night. I hope it doesn’t stink too bad!! The cinnamon was a nice smell.

What puzzles me is that I eat cinnamon all the time and never have an allergic reaction to it….so why now??

(Am currently editing my video footage now and will hopefully upload the finished copy before bed but its late and nay take too long so it may be tomorrow)

To Shikakai or Not to Shikakai...

Alrighty peeps, time for an update.

So I am going to do the patch test tonight - I got lazy over the weekend and didn’t do it haha. BUT a fellow NO-POOer has informed me that she too had a bit of a reaction with the Shikakamon mix but when using the Shikakai without the Cinnamon, she had 0 reaction, so I’ll do a patch test and see what happens…And yes - I’ll be filming it.

I’ve been given a link to a website with another home made shampoo & condition recipe and am doing some research into further methods I can use for my hair.
If the patch test tonight has a negative result, I am going to have to try something because my hair is getting too oily too soon and I feel that doing the bicarb/ACV too often is drying it out. Even with the honey treatment I did the other day, it didn’t make too much difference…

Alright that’s it for now - will go and film the patch test and then report back with footage…

Stupid allergies...

Ok so I'm fresh out of the shower…still in my towel actually haha and thought I'd do another quick update.

I’ve decided tonight that I wont put any coconut oil in the ends of my hair because this time I want to see how it fares without it….I find that the first day its all good but then after I've brushed my hair a few times, the coconut oil from the ends has sort of spread all over my hair from the brushing so I want to see how it goes this time without it.

So now of course my hair smells pretty vinegary…I'm thinking I probably need to try to apply the “Less is more” tactic to the apple cider vinegar as well, especially if I don’t always add the coconut oil straight after, but it’s ok, I think tomorrow I might do a bit of a honey treatment…Normally the honey would be used as the ‘conditioner’ after the Shikakamon wash, but I think I like the idea of letting my hair soak in honey for a bit…I love honey J mmm crumpets…

I also can’t help but feel that I’m a fair bit disadvantaged by the fact that I'm allergic to that stupid Shikakai stuff! Someone suggested mixing it up again but instead of pouring on my head, just sort of treating the ends of my hair with it…Not sure I wanna take the risk of getting near that stuff again though so I think I’m going to have to really pull my finger out and start researching what I can use as a substitute! Still so bummed about the Shikakai though…it really did make my hair so nice afterwards and I think this challenge will be much more successful to those who are using it…but for me, I'm open for any and all suggestions of a substitute J

….crap! I had thought of one other thing I wanted to update with but got distracted and now I’ve completely forgotten…Oh well some other time hehe

Less is More

So after my last update, I have learnt that I am yet to master the art of “less is more” especially when it comes to the coconut oil. Even though I used less than the first time, I still used way too much.

Still it was fine for that night but by Sunday/Monday, it was getting pretty greasy. I probably should’ve done another wash on Monday but as I had swimming on Wednesday with my daughter and I knew I'd be washing it that night, I didn’t want to over do it.

Plus I think its all part of the “pushing through the gross phase” and not washing your hair all the time.

In the end, I never ended up going to swimming because my daughter is a bit sick and I didn’t want to be “that mum” with the snotty nosed child coughing and sneezing in the pool on all the other bubs.

But I also couldn’t be bothered to have a shower on Wednesday night so it’s now Thursday and I haven’t done my hair since Saturday haha it’s pretty gross.

Still no dirty hippie dreads though. Each morning I’ve been brushing it in the shower in the water, just rinsing it and letting the natural oils do what they’re designed to do….

I'm in a bit of a ‘flat’ mood tonight and in all honesty, have toyed with the idea of giving up on this challenge…the thought of having to mix up the bicarb again before I jump in the shower just seems too much like hard work tonight…I am missing the ease of just jumping in the shower and having product there and readily available….but I don’t, so the harsh reality would be going to the shops to buy some product which is much more hard work then mixing some bicarb and water in a bottle lol

Plus, my daughter is in bed asleep so I'm not exactly able to leave. And I'm not a quitter! I have committed myself to 2-3 months to see the outcome/results before deciding if I want to continue with this and to make up my own mind as to whether or not it actually works.

So in the spirit of not giving up, I’m going to stop procrastinating, get undressed, and get my ass back in that shower to clean my hair ‘cause it is so disgusting it’s driving me crazy!

Another update: Bicarb/ACV

It’s been 2 days since the Shikakamon “incident” and I was planning on doing the next bicarb/acv wash tomorrow (Sunday) after doing a coconut oil treatment tonight.

However, I am going out for a cocktail (or two) and a bit of a dance with a friend and my hair was looking particularly oily and I want to wear my hair out tonight, so I skipped the coconut oil and just did another bicarb/acv wash.

Fresh out of the shower, my first piece of advice for anyone following, don’t shave your legs right before doing this. The apple cider vinegar kind of stings a little on freshly shaved legs!!!

I also tried to use a little extra bicarb in my mix in the hope to make it a little thicker and perhaps more ‘paste-like’ but of course, that didn’t happen. I did however pour the mix into a bottle first for easier application.

My hair is towel drying now but as I am going out and it’s cold, I don’t wish to venture out with wet hair, so I will put a small amount of coconut oil in my hair when I get off here and give my hair a quick blow dry.

Will be interested to see if that makes any difference to the effects of the challenge…it may, it may not. I may or may not be able to accurately report the results given that, as the challenge progresses, my hair should get better and better and it is not meant to be perfect in the early stages so the results may vary with each wash/treatment.

Still, will report my findings upon finding them J

New Video: Tomato Wash + Shikakamon & Honey Disaster

Oook so I already wrote this entry out but my stupid lappy died something and it cleared it before I had the chance to publish it, so NOW, I gotta type the whole thing out again and remember what I actually wrote!! How annoying!

But anyhow, enough of the winge....finally, I have finished editing and uploading the video with all of last nights excitment!! I am 99% sure I cut out all the accidental boob shots, so if you see nudity, PLEASE TELL ME!!!! lol

Here it is :)

And here are some photos from last night, as well as an "after" shot taken this morning before work.

< < < Before the treatments - kind of oily from the night before > > > 







   



< < < After the treatments - Shiny, soft and smooth! > > >







The products





The Rash







Peace Out



Tomato Juice + "Shikakamon" & Honey Treatment

Well . . .

I am updating on last night’s progress now because it was a rather eventful evening, to say the least and it left me feeling a bit more exhausted than usual.

Because I had swimming lessons yesterday afternoon with my daughter, I wanted to use something in my hair that would be a good treatment for working against the chlorine. I have been told that tomato juice is good for that.

So, I started off with a tomato juice wash. I’m thinking next Wednesday, I may mix some tomato paste to it, or blend up some tomatoes with something to make a paste so that it’s a thicker texture. Last night I just poured juice straight from the bottle onto my hair haha! It worked but it was extremely running (and cold!) and very messy.

Still, it was a fun experience and I will continue to use it each week after swimming to help fight any chlorine build up that may occur.

Once the tomato juice was all rinsed out and my hair was brushed, I proceeded to try the Shikakai and Cinnamon paste (or Shikakamon as it will now be known as).

All of this is on film, by the way and I will be editing and uploading the video some time tonight once the munchkin is asleep.

So I rubbed the “Shikakamon” paste into my hair, being very careful not to get any on my face or in my eyes or mouth and spread it all around and just let it sit for a while. It probably stayed in my hair/on my scalp for a few minutes – the length of time it took to rinse out the bottle I used to mix it in.

Just as I was about to wash it out, I could feel my skin starting to tingle...Then it started to burn.

I called for Josh to come in and turn the camera on and film it.

I could tell just by his reaction that my skin was burning for a reason. I was having some kind of allergic reaction to the Shikakai. I sent Josh out to google the Poisons Hotline number while I rinsed the remaining Shikakamon out of my hair.

When I was out of the shower, I gave the Poisons hotline a call and they referred me on to Health Direct. While I was on the phone to the lady, a whole bunch of symptoms started appearing.

There was (in no particular order):

·         The rash

·         Burning skin

·         Increased heart rate

·         Nausea

·         Headache

·         Dizziness

·         Stuttering

·         Dry mouth

·         Numbness in mouth/tongue

·         Shakes

·         Difficulty swallowing

Health Direct thought it best to send an ambulance to give me an assessment so I went and put some underwear on and sat on the couch while Josh began to frantically clean a bit while we waited.

When they arrived they asked me some routine questions, took note of my symptoms, checked my bloods, sugar levels, temp etc, everything checked out and everything seemed fine. No anaphylactic reactions here.

It was just a mild reaction and they said the symptoms should dissipate over the night.

By the time they left and all paperwork was finalised, the rash had pretty much cleared up and the symptoms were starting to ease.

The male ambo was a nice fella, friendly and polite. The woman ambo was a bit of a bitch! When Josh gave her the Shikakai box so they could see what it was she was like “so what is it?” I said “some kind of Indian spice...” she’s like “well did you at least google it before you put it all over your head?!” (Keeping in mind I’m sitting there in a fair amount of shock as I didn’t know what was happening to me) and I was like “well no, it was recommended by a few other people who have been using it and had no issues”. And she was like “oh well maybe next time you should do more research on new products before you use them like this!” pfft bitch!

And then she was like “so did you wash it all out of your hair?” and I said “well I was rinsing for a while so I think so...At least, I hope so” and she’s like “well you either did or you didn’t, none of this “hope so” business!”

WHAT THE EFF LADY? It’s a grainy product, I’m pretty sure I washed it all out but there may have been traces of it still in my hair but I am allowed to HOPE that I got it all! Stupid woman.

Anyway so once they all left and the rash had cleared and the nausea etc passed, I jumped back in the shower to finish what I’d started J

The last part of this treatment was to finish with Honey.

It was a bit gooey at first but then as I started to massage it into my hair and it warmed up it became easier to use.

I don’t think I had enough honey for my hair so next time I will use a lot more but it felt nice, in a sticky kind of way.

After my hair started to dry, I decided not to use coconut oil as I wanted to see the effects of the Shikakamon & Honey treatment.

This morning, my hair feels fantastic! It is so soft and clean and has a bit of a shine to it.

(will add before & after photos of the Shikakamon Treatment when I'm at home)

Alergic Reaction

SO tonight was a bit of an adventure....half way through, I had an allergic reaction, with some fairly bad symptoms and a visit from the ambulance.

I'm pretty sure the reaction was to the Shikakai...I've used/eaten all the other products before and never had any reactions so I'm guessing that's what did it.

But don't worry you can laugh at my expense....We did!!!!

But I am soo exhausted, that whole reaction/ambo experience has tuckered me out, plus I do still have the shakes a little bit (probably shouldn't be drinking kahula right now......) and I can't even be bothered to type out my blog entry, let alone make the video.

I can't do an uncut one like I did with last nights cuz majority of it is in-shower filming and a few times throughout, Josh goes "OOPS! Got your boobs!" LOL so I have to actually edit this one before I plaster it all over the internet....Not quite ready for Pornographic Hairdressing 101 lol

I've converted all the vids to correct format so will edit and compile tomorrow night.

Peace Out

The rash about 10 minutes after it first appeared....I was on the phone to the ambo's

Shikakai. Reminds me of...

Whenever I think about the Shikakai product that we'll be using for this challenge, it reminds me of Jim Carey's Ace Ventura......



SHIKAKA

Lol makes me laugh.

The Morning After

Good morning all.

So just thought I’d jump in and update on my hair after last night’s BACV wash.

I let my hair dry naturally and left it out when I went to bed.

I think if I didn’t add the coconut oil, my hair would probably be pretty normal in terms of “not dirty” but because I added the coconut oil, it seems to be acting as a leave in treatment would.

My hair is obviously a bit greasy to touch but it’s not scary gross like you might be thinking and not in a dirty way, because my hair is actually clean.
It just feels as though I’ve put a treatment in it – in fact, it feels a lot less gross then when you do use a treatment because it’s not heavy and ick.

This morning, I tied my hair up to shower. I contemplated getting it wet with the water, but my time is limited in the mornings as I like to get as much sleep as possible before work so I figured to just save the experimenting until later. I was also going to take a photo after I brushed it to show how not scary it looks with the coconut oil, but I forgot, so you’ll just have to take my word for it J

Today for work, I brushed it back and tied it up then just curled it in a bun and wrapped a nice big white ribbon around it – 'cause I’m cute like that – and in all honesty, it doesn’t look that bad.

Compared to most Wednesdays pre NPC when I was using product, even tied up with NO oil, my hair used to look and feel revolting and didn’t smell all that great either. But today, it doesn’t feel dirty or gross or oily at all, it doesn’t smell and it just looks like it may have been wet this morning.

So I think it’s safe to say that so far, the NPC is successful.

Tonight I will be trying the tomato juice treatment....Not too sure how on earth I’m going to do that one lol....I’ll have to find a way to film it as well as I sense it may be kinda funny.

Oh and just a tip with the bicarb/acv wash. I’m thinking it might be best to use a pump bottle for application as you will be able to squirt the mixture on your hair much less awkwardly then the way I poured a bowl full of it all over myself last night haha