going feral?

i've just gone two weeks washing my hair with only water, and just now used vinegar as conditioner - it's awesomely effective. chemical shampoos and conditioners aren't good for you.

although i'm sure the first few weeks of getting off them are more comfortable if you have less hair :/

i can attest to the fact that there are no interesting smells, it feels good and it's less effort / wasted water / money. i'm just putting it out there in case anyone's interested; it's not the biggest deal.

in response to a comment about "nourishing the hair via the scalp": seriously? hair is made up of dead cells. it doesn't get nourished from anywhere.

in any event i think that fixating on hair is silly, just like i think that following fashion trends is silly and owning status symbols like cars is silly. if hair is a "thing" for you, then it makes sense to take care of it in a certain way. but if it's just hair, then as long as it's clean and doesn't smell then it's just fine.

of *course* it's comfortable to use shampoo. that's the whole point. once you're using shampoo your body produces the oils in excess and you *have* to use shampoo and conditioner to get rid of them. when you wean yourself off, then you don't need it any more.

just sayin'.

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obviously going public with a story like this can leave one open to all sorts of attacks, and someone insinuated that i might not be using deodorant.

the truth is that i haven't really been using deodorants or perfumes for a heck of a long time now, not because of any conscious decision but because quite frankly i don't notice much difference. i'm now convinced that as long as you take care of your personal hygiene you won't smell funny, and that it's not the use of deodorant but rather the food you eat, how much exercise you get, how often you shower... that sort of thing that matters.

i'd link to an interesting article (in i could find it) that i read a while back (i think it was in wired) about the fact that human beings use their natural smells to detect genetic compatibility, and that masking those smells is a mistake relationship-wise.

also, beware of perfumes specifically - as opposed to deodorants, which as far as i'm aware don't have this problem - because the manufacturers put all sorts of crazy things in there including animal faeces (for the "musky" quality).

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something that keeps popping into mind whenever i smell something offensive is that dogs use smell intensity in identification, whereas we use it as a way to know if we should avoid something. i find that amusing, yet knowing it doesn't help me when i have to stand next to someone smelly in a line. be clean, people!