My year of no shampoo...

Yip that's right! Except I didn't not wash it, I'm not that hardhealthcore just yet... but I didn't use shampoo. In pursuit of living a more chemical free life I stumbled across the hair care option known as, 'no poo'. Basically you use that mind blowingly versatile ingredient that is always the tops of the pops when it comes to those '34 things you didn't know you can do with...' click bait types. Know what I'm talking about? It's bicarb. Straight up plain Bicarbonate of Soda, in fact you probably have some lurking in your kitchen right this moment.

Ok enough of that, here's the story and the what to do (because you should do this).

So as is turns out using regular shampoo paves the ways for a vicious cycle of rather ironic behaviour from your hair. The chemicals used to clean your hair are so harsh that they strip your hair of all its good and nourishing oils. In an attempt to renourish itself the hair over compensates and becomes an unsightly oily mess and because you then wash it again those good oils never make their way down to tips of your hair to moisturise it and so it dries out and you are required to then use more chemicals and spend more money to do the job your own body was trying to do in the first place. Enter bicarb. The bicarb is incredibly gentle on your hair and doesn't strip it the way normal shampoos do, because it's not a detergent. It cleans the hair of dirt and unhelpful oil but just lets it be. It does not however moisturise your hair and this is where another unsung pantry hero comes out to play. Say hello to Apple Cider Vinegar. Hi. Your hair is naturally acidic and what the bicarb clean off, the vinegar puts back in and somehow is the most effective detangler I have ever used.

As I said, it's been a year now since I threw away my last bit of shampoo and I haven't looked back since. I recently had my hair cut and my hairdresser was more than happy with the health (and cleanliness!) of my hair. So below is the what to do!

For the wash, pour 1-3 Tablespoons of bicarb in your bottle. The amount will depend of the length and thickness of your hair, I use about 2 Tbs. 

Add 1 cup of water and 5 or so drops of tea tree oil, this is optional but is really good for scalp health. Shake it up but don't let it dissolve, the water is really just there to help you distribute the bicarb evenly. On a side note, I once used a bicarb that felt more like icing sugar and less like granulated sugar and I didn’t have much success with it. You need to feel the granules in your hair and massage them well into your scalp and through your hair. Use the whole bottle! When you rinse it out your hair should feel squeaky clean :)

Next is the rinse. Add 1 Tablespoon of the Apple Cider Vinegar.

And 1 cup of water. Rinse it through your hair and give it a few minutes to do its work. The smell is quite strong at this point so if you'd like you can add some nice essential oils of your choice but it washes out well and you won't smell of vinegar when you are done :) Give it a good rinse and you’re good to go!

So there you have it. Quick recap:

Wash: 1-3 Tbs bicarb

1 cup water

5 or so drops Tea Tree oil (optional)

Use it all!

Rinse: 1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Cup water

a few drops of an essential oil if you'd like

Use it all!

Have you tried this or other options? Would love to know! 

 My year of no shampoo...and my (here unseen) son taking me out from my waist shortly after taking that photo :)

Our sweet little boy

It's been a little over two months of life with our little Benjamin. 

He has made our life so much lovelier :) here are a few snaps from this very special time.

A Room fit for a Spring

Just six weeks to go until our little one is expected to arrive and we are so excited! We finally managed to get most of the room sorted and are so pleased with how it turned out. There are plenty of hand made projects and objects from special people. What a joy it is to prepare a room for a new person :) 

Baby in the belly, adding a brushed felt Weaver's nest

Fun and easy diy Alphabet Art

Joe's water colour paintings of the birds we see from our window.

A Kenyan monkey and some good advice.

A cloudy sky from Glasgow :)

A hand made blanket, a Taiwanese Rhino and a family heirloom.

And some gentle light for when the sun goes down.

A little bit of a repurposing project...

So a while back a friend gave us this fantastic piece of wood he found at a steel foundry. He had plans for it but just wasn’t getting round to them, and when I spied it in his garage my mind exploded a little with the possibility this piece heldJ. So we loaded it up and took it home. I must say it was really Joe who made this thing go from what it was to what it is. I applied a little bit of varnish at the end and supplied refreshments along the way, but the rest was him, even the process photos J

 

The biggest task was to get that top piece of wood off, it was quite a pain but it meant Joe needed to buy a new tool so he was happy :)

Then we had a few of these guys to deal with...

But finally it came off and its potential was looking evermore promising :)

I really liked the wood detail on the inside so wanted to make sure we would still be able to see it.

 

A quick coat of white varnish...

 

Add a few feet and a piece of glass and there you have it!

 

 

Hello lovely coffee table :)

 

I think this we spent more on this project than we have on our other diys, which was mostly just making sure we got strong glass but it's been well worth it :)

 

Tea with friends

I've recently been exploring the ritual of tea making and am fidning it to be a truly wonderful and relaxing experience. What has been even more special is that I have had an influx of tea related gifts in the past month all from very special people which has prompted this post. To begin with I'd like to share about these beautiful tea cups my friend Sarah gave me and my new discovery of lemon grass tea. After coming across it in Kenya I just bought some fresh lemon grass and let it dry out, then added hot water. I think this is currently my favourite drink, and now I have these beautiful cups that make the expereince feel all the more delicate and gentle, thanks lovely Hutchie :)

 

 

This next won wins the award for most time and painstaking effort put in by the very special Di. This is just a sample, but she labeled every single tea bag in the box! She even sneakily resealed the box so that it appeared not to have been tampred with. Such a great surpise and a nice thing to go look up while the kettle boils :) Thanks Lady.

 



 

The next gift was from the ever thoughtful and fellow tea loving friend Jemu. This is truly so exciting, flowering tea! I dont really need to say more, I think the photos speak for themselves. Thanks Sister Lindsay :)

 

And just as I was beginning to wonder how I was going to keep all these lovely teas my Mom arrived from Kenya with this beautiful tea box full of wonderful suprises. The Kenyan tea really is wonderful and we tried many different types there. Thank you Mom for filling it whith such a lovely variety, they are all so yum!

 

And just before it gets too hot, we have sailing juice! Introduced to me by the most tea loving of them all, Lady Cath. Sailing juice is basically iced tea. This saved me last summer when we were trying to substancially cut down on our juice drinking habits. This here variety is green tea with a rasberry infusion. But we usually do Rooibos with a bit of honey and lemon. It is a perfect refeeshment of a hot Summers day. Thanks Mrs O!

 

And finally the most yummy pudding flavoured Masala Tea. Spicy Tea from Kenya prepared with hot frothy milk. For some reason Joe is super expert at preparing this and I don't mond at all. It's so lovely and warm and cosy. Thanks Love.

 

And so that is my tea story for now, and it will hopefully continue to be a lovely and ong journey of discovery :)

Tree stump DIY

A few weeks ago a very lovely lady and her man tied the knot. In celebration of this special occasion they made a request for hand-made gifts. We were naturally very happy to oblige. There's nothing much to say about this other than it was pretty simple and loads of fun to make, and the Bride and Groom were well pleased :)