My hair is washed. The first time this has happened with shampoo and conditioner since the end of January. My body is also soap-sudsy clean. Again, this is the first time since the first month of the year. How does that make you feel?
At the beginning of February I began a physical test. A man that usually offers intriguing practices to exhibit was issued a challenge to ‘go animal.’ For reference purposes this man is Bill Allred of the Radio From Hell show on X96 (check it out phvuef). I was not familiar with the term, so I will define it thus. To live as cave people might have done- washing only with water. The reason proposed to him for the healthiness of the program is that the body has the ability to take care of itself. Shampoo just strips the hair of its natural oils and then you slather your hair with synthetic ones through conditioning. Bill said he would go without washing with soap or shampoo for at least two weeks. After that time he no longer chronicled the count of his experience over the airways. I will share mine here.
My decision was nut initially out of experiment or resolution. I had just been in a period of laziness of not showering for a couple days and washing my hair less frequently. Now, you may not be aware of the current length of my hair. If you were thinking it was short, you would not be considering this a factor in the trial. My hair is almost as long as it ever was, thus it is relevant.
*I did continue to use deodorant (I have already gone at least two weeks at a time without deodorant and that experience produced adverse affects). And as you may think I should use some Toms of Maine or other natural product, I figured this period of no soap was, at the least, a cost-cutting vehicle. I am as a hippie as the next long-haired, hemp wearer, but I also know, as George Carlin taught, going green/conserving/recycling is not about saving the world, it is about saving yourself. For me saving myself equates with saving money.
**I also continued to use hand soap that was available to me in various restrooms. This was for my health and yours. Preservation is as stated earlier the purpose of ‘going animal.’ If you feel these caveats discredit the whole scientific method you have the ability to choose to stop reading and hate me for a lack of integrity. I did not use chapstick, lotion or shaving cream (electric razor).
The chronological tale begins. The first few weeks were easy. Taking a few less steps in any process brightens my day. In the shower, I would still use a cloth to exfoliate and wash (with only water) whatever may be deposited on my skin. My hair was also thoroughly rinsed with that life-sustaining substance.
The next few weeks were brutal. My skin made a quick transition to regulation itself. Contrarily, my hair did not. As Mary and her younger sister, Laura a.k.a. Half Pint or Beth, of The Little House on the Prairie showed us, to maintain healthy hair; a solid brushing session is required. During my brushing sessions I found that my hair was covered in some sort of film. This film made a sizeable deposit on my brush and made my hair have an odd texture. Two months in to the process I purchased a boar-bristle hair brush which is vital in evenly spreading the secreted oils through the length of each strand of hair. This helped lessen the natural residue on my hair.
Although one problem was partially solved, one aspect of it remained and another issue became apparent. What I think caused much of the film was that shampoo also washes away layers of skin on the scalp. Since I was not using stringent soaps on my head the skin remained. Also, my head was not dry, so I didn’t have a flaky scalp so what dandruff I had attached itself to the cuticle of my hair, causing the film (these are not clinical or salon-ical facts, just personal conjecture).
The other problem that surfaced was revealed through brushing. After only a few strokes of a brush through my hair, the hair would stand nearly on end. Whatever changes had overcome my hair had caused it to be easily susceptible to static electricity. My hair could stick to my face with only a glance against any fabric. While wearing headphones, the charge built up in my hair would interfere with my listening experience.
These details are the empirical data and some conclusions of the research. I conclude with results. I have learned as was the hypothesis that the body has evolved to take care of itself; it’s are designed to do so (those two phrases are the same, but one is written for those of you who don’t believe that a supreme being could exist and create less-than-equal beings and the other is for those of you who don’t believe that evolution could be the way that the supreme being that you believe in operates). The practical reasons for ‘going animal’ only presented themselves after I completed the test by showering with shampoo. My hair is better than it ever has been. It is amazingly soft and shiny. I believe that this means that hair is best left alone for sometime but should be kept in balance with a bit of a chemical cleanse from time to time.
I will continue to ‘go animal’ but on a shorter length of time schedule. Some times were miserable. Some days my hair seemed oily. Most days it was more than bearable. The unique and natural smell of my hair is pleasant. I will complete my report by saying that it cannot be a full experience since I did not ‘go animal’ through the summer months, though I feel I could extrapolate the findings with just an added measure of sweat.
You may now return to associating with me in proximity.
