I have been thinking about this for some time, and wondering why we are the only species that find the need to dig petrochemicals out of the ground, put them into plastic tubes, and rub them into our bodies several times a day.
You don't see lions, tigers or gorillas doing this, and Cole my neighbours's cat is definitely not a shampoo lover.
Apparently it takes a week for your body to adapt and clean itself, then after that your skin will smell sweet and natural. Anyone cast any more light on this? Anyone care to try it with me? Ha ha! It will be a bit of a problem as I am using the gym daily, but it's certainly something I would like to try at some stage.
How amazing this Daily Mail article is.
That article does have a mixed bag of results, so maybe it's not for everone, check out the stories in the link above. However the one below is interesting. What I would like to know is what are the people who it does not work for eating? Processed fatty foods perhaps?
Lucy Sutton, 24, a trainee marketing executive, is single and lives in Hammersmith, West London. She says:
Three weeks into the great hair challenge, my sister came over to my flat for the evening. She took one look at my hair and said: "What have you done to it? That's a great style - did it cost a fortune?"
I burst out laughing, and replied: "I haven't washed my hair for three weeks."
A look of revulsion came over her face and she said: "That?s awful." But then she looked at me curiously. "The weird thing is," she continued, "it really suits you."
My hair is naturally very fine and thin, and I used to wash it every two days, then use hair straighteners. A good 90 per cent of my self-confidence in how I look comes from my hair, so much so that if I was having a bad hair day I could barely drag myself out of the house.
Looking back, I can see how much I?ve been damaging my hair by doing so much to it. My hair always looked neat, but I think it was lifeless - the shampoo was taking all the natural oils out of it. Since I stopped using shampoo, my hair has more volume, and I?m astonished to find it has a natural wave - I always thought it was just straight and boring.
Six weeks on, I love my new look. But it has been a real test of nerve. I am applying for a new job at the moment and I need to look my best, so when I took on the challenge I thought: "What on earth will I look like in six weeks? time, when I have my job interview? And will it smell?"
I have always prided myself on looking clean and neat and my friends all thought the challenge was hysterical. They said: "You?re crazy. You?ll never keep it up."
I must say, I nearly cracked after a week, when my hair was at its worst. It was dry at the ends, but greasy at the roots, and I became obsessed with it, checking my appearance in the mirror every hour to see if it looked as bad as it felt.
In that first week I refused to go out with my friends, but I persevered, and by the second week I was beginning to see an improvement. The ends were still dry, but the roots were less greasy - my hair seemed to have a kind of film over it, like a natural sheen.
Luckily, my hair smelt clean - there was no unpleasant odour. Then it started to look rather healthy and bouncy. I now really love its natural wave, and I am worried that if I go back to washing it, I will lose that curl.
An old friend from university asked me last week: "When did you start curling your hair? It looks great." I smiled and said that in fact I just hadn?t washed it. He burst out laughing and thought I was joking. Now, my hair looks in really good condition, but it does need the ends cutting off.
This experiment has made a huge difference to my life, because I?m no longer wasting an hour a day washing and blow-drying it. I?m also saving about £40 a month on hair products.
I am now never going to wash my hair with shampoo again and feel positively liberated by this experiment. I can?t believe I used to waste so much time and money obsessing about my hair.