Hair experiment interview - part three

No big deal, I'll just glue it back on. (Photo by Greenmonster)

I've been meaning to post part three earlier, but better late than never, right? Here it is:

Social experiences

Could you tell me a bit more about social experiences?

- On your blog you posted the question that you might “look like an idiot with no grasp of personal hygiene”. How did other people react and how did you react to other people?

- On your blog you mentioned that it “destroys any social life” and that on Sunday’s “I don’t have to leave the house and show the world my hair”. Could you tell me a bit more about it?

- Maybe you can provide some examples?

I didn’t tell anyone at first. After about two weeks, I mentioned to a friend that I had not used shampoo for two weeks and that I’m attempting to try it for a month. She didn’t believe me at first – apparently my hair didn’t look too dirty at that time – and then said that I was crazy for trying to go at it for an entire month. I’m not sure whether anyone else paid much attention.

Going to work or any social events with dirty hair was certainly pretty awkward at times, but no one commented anything. I’m sure no one had any idea about the experiment. Most likely they just thought I need to wash my hair more often. Also, I wore it on a ponytail a lot, which may or may not have helped disguise the fact that it looked terrible. After the month had passed, I told some people about the experiment, and the reaction was always the same: “Really? It doesn’t look that dirty.” If I had told them during the worst days, the reaction might’ve been different. There were days I wished I didn’t have to go outside.

The day-to-day

How did the experiment influence

- Your overall personal care?
- Feeling towards yourself?
- Feelings towards your body?
- Other daily activities?

It didn’t really affect other areas of personal care – that would take more experiments. I think I felt pretty good about myself most of the time, though there were some days I was a little embarrassed to show myself in public. Overall, my attitude was very positive, since I was very keen to find out whether the experiment could be done (and I was quite confident that it could). My daily activities weren’t really affected.

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Hair experiment interview - part two

Stop washing your hair and get the natural look you want. (Photo by ***claire***)

Here's the second part of the interview:

Changes and sensual experiences

Could you tell me about the changes to your hair during the experiment?

- Sensual experiences - In relation to feeling, touching, smelling, looking at your hair

Before the experiment, my hair smelled like shampoo and conditioner after washing it. During the experiment, it smelled more like hair smells naturally – kind of like in a barbershop, only much milder. I don’t think it was a bad smell at all, and nowadays it doesn’t smell much like anything. Or at least I don’t notice it.

The feel of the hair was pretty oily and dirty most of the time during the first couple of weeks. Even when it looked adequately clean, it felt heavier than it did after using shampoo. After washing with shampoo, it always felt really light, which I didn’t really like. These days, even after I’ve washed with water and it looks clean, it still feels distinctly different compared to before. I prefer this new feel much more, though I sometimes miss how it looks after using shampoo and conditioner. Also, when I used shampoo the colour of the hair was a lighter blonde than it is after using only water. The current colour is a more yellow blonde. I’m not sure which one is better.

On you blog you posted that “it feels more natural than when I’ve washed it with shampoo and conditioner”, “I can barely remember what it was like to have clean hair” and “feeling a little dirty again”. Could you tell me a bit more about these statements?

- What do you mean by “natural feel of hair”? Can you describe that feel?

- What is clean hair like?

- What do you mean by “feeling a little dirt again”? Can you describe that feeling?

To me, there was always something unnatural and annoying about how my hair felt after using shampoo and conditioner. Most importantly, it felt too light. Of course I liked the fact that it looked clean, but it felt much more normal and better the next day after washing it. When it gets really dirty, it feels bad again: the scalp feels oily and a little itchy, and the hair feels greasy. It also gets tangled really easily.

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Hair experiment interview - part one

Insects will love the nectar your scalp will be producing. (Photo by Nia)

Since I have now become internationally famous and am constantly receiving phone calls from journalists begging for interviews, I thought I'd save them some time and post one of the few interviews that I have accepted to give. A rare gem, I tell you. This one was done for a research project that "investigated people's activities, experiences, meanings and expectations that lie behind doing daily hair care at home". Scientists around the world will thank me for my input one day, I'm sure.

Here's the first part:

Doing things with hair

On your blog you posted "brushing it seems to help". Tell me about brushing your hair - then/ now/ before the experiment?

- What did it do and particular to your hair?

- How did it feel like using the brush?

Before the experiment I either brushed with a normal plastic brush or a natural bristle brush. I didn’t notice much difference between the two. During the experiment (which is still going on in a way) I only used the natural one, since the plastic brush makes the hair too static. After I wash and dry my hair the roots of the hair seem a little oily, but the rest of the hair looks clean. Brushing the hair helps to spread the oiliness evenly. The hair doesn’t look quite as clean as it does with shampoo, but the results are still pretty good. If I brush too much it’ll look dirty, though.

On you blog you posted that before the experiment you washed your hair twice a week but during the experiment you had to rinse it nearly every day so was there an increase in having to do something with you hair i.e. having to wet it?

- Could you tell me about rinsing your hair only with water? How does it compare to washing it with shampoo? What did it do?

- Could you tell me about rinsing your hair with cold water? What is it like?

- How does a vinegar/ water wash compare to a shampoo/ conditioner wash?

- Could you tell me a bit more about the “sauna method”?

During the first couple of weeks, I had to wash the hair with water almost daily, and it still looked kind of dirty most of the time. So yes, there was definitely an increase in having to wet the hair. Compared to washing with shampoo, using only water doesn’t seem to get rid of all the oiliness. It does help somewhat, but the hair doesn’t feel as clean or as light as it does after using shampoo. I only rinse with cold water after I’ve washed my hair with warm water. It’s not that pleasant, but without the cold rinse, washing with water seems almost futile. The final rinse is as cold as I can manage and lasts for maybe thirty seconds.

I’ve tried vinegar before, and it works pretty well as a conditioner after shampoo. If I understand correctly, it returns the natural pH balance of the hair in the same way a conditioner does. It also seems to get rid of any dandruff. Without the shampoo, the effect is a little different. Compared to using only water, I think it got rid of some of the oiliness and made the hair look a bit cleaner. I only tried vinegar once or twice during the experiment, since I wanted to find out what would happen if I used only water.

The sauna method simply means going to sauna and sweating. I imagine it gets the oils in the scalp moving and helps spread them more evenly on the hairs. I might be wrong, of course, but after sweating and rinsing with cold water my hair felt pretty nice even in the hardest weeks of the experiment. I’m not sure there’s much difference these days between going to sauna and just washing the hair with warm water and then cold water.

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