I hate wasting my time. Especially when the subject is soap in your hair. Which is why I look after yours too.
This is a series about soap in your hair. You can step off the moment it starts to sound like too much trouble. No judging looks. I believe in conscious opt-outs just as much as conscious opt-ins.
I won’t sell you a dream. I’ll show you the reality. But you’re also welcome to skip all the way ahead and see what your new reality could look like.
Most people who find RenHverdag have already tried something else. A lot of something else. Maybe they left the bottles behind. Some found a shampoo bar — usually an SLS bar, liquid chemistry in solid form. Others tried Curly Girl and conditioner only. Some tried No-Poo. And they’re still looking. And then they find me.
They’re looking for different reasons. Some want away from the chemistry. Some want away from the plastic. Some have read what SLS does to skin and to drains. Some just want one thing that works, instead of seven things that compensate for each other. And some have done the math — and realized that seven bottles cost more than one bar of soap.
Whichever door you came in through… the first question is the same. “Can I use soap in my hair?”
Most people change their shampoo and conditioner more often than they buy new socks. Think about that. The socks work. They keep your feet warm. Nobody switches brands because the socks “stopped working after three months.” You find your favorite — tennis, sport, wool — and then you’re set.
But shampoo? It always works — at first. Then it works a little less. So you try a new one. And the new one works too. At first.
It’s not the shampoo’s fault. It’s the system. How else could there be such an endless number of brands?
SLS shampoo strips all the oil from your scalp. Conditioner lays down silicone to replace what the shampoo removed. The mask repairs what the shampoo damaged. Volume shampoo coats every strand with polymers. Clarifying shampoo removes the coating. And then you start over.
Every product creates the need for the next one. It’s a carousel. And it’s designed so you never get off.
Soap isn’t a new carousel. Soap is getting off. It cleans. It keeps the glycerin. It doesn’t strip. And the next step? Vinegar, not conditioner. Two steps. That’s it.
It sounds boring. It is boring. Just like the socks.
Soap is a Skoda. It runs. It starts every morning. It does what it’s supposed to. You don’t lie awake worrying about it.
Shampoo, conditioner, mask, serum, heat protectant, leave-in, and clarifying shampoo to remove all the rest — that’s a Lamborghini. It looks fantastic. But it’s an environmental disaster, it does eight kilometers to the liter, and if you clip a curb it costs a month’s salary.
And no matter what you do to a Lamborghini, it will never become a Skoda. It works the other way too. Soap will never become a Lamborghini. It won’t give you a “silky-smooth finish” — that’s silicone, not health. It won’t give you “forty-eight-hour volume” — that’s polymers, not reality. It won’t give you “repaired hair” — your hair is dead keratin, and dead cells don’t repair themselves, no matter what the bottle says.
And that’s good news. Because a Skoda doesn’t need a mechanic every month. It doesn’t need seven products to function. It just runs.
I’ve seen both kinds of customers. The ones who’d like to try soap in their hair, and the ones who thrive on the carousel. That’s a choice I can’t make for anyone. But I can help along the way — and it starts with honesty about what the way involves.
If you’re reading this and thinking “I quite like my seven bottles,” “the plastic mess can be the next generation’s problem,” and you’re not yet a regular at your dermatologist’s — then soap in your hair probably isn’t for you. Yet. And that’s completely fine. No reason to read on. Come back when you’re ready.
But personally, I can’t be bothered to be the woman who spends two hours in front of the mirror to look “natural.”
My great-grandmother didn’t. Her great-grandmother didn’t either. They washed with soap, rinsed with vinegar, and spent the time on something else.
That’s what I want to get back to. And if you want the same — then the next episode is for you.
Sources
- How Much Money Women Spend on Hair Care, Prismax Cosmetics
- Human and Environmental Toxicity of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Environ Health Insights, 2015
- Detergents Which Remove: Silicones, Science-y Hair Blog, 2016