A while back, just after I had bought a new bottle of some rather expensive shampoo in fact, I came across Dr Sam’s video on quitting shampoo. Having watched it a few times and given it a thought, I decided to start a test. And last weekend I started dry-brushing and stopped using shampoo. I am genuinely excited to see how this goes. Below you can find three of Sam’s videos on shampoo, soap, and deodorant respectively. Underneath, I will write a few comments.

I am quite curious to see how long it will take my scalp to adjust to this. I have to shampoo my hair daily unless I wish to look more than a bit greasy. I’ve tried washing it out with baking soda¹Well, actually I accidentally bought baking powder, but as it goes on before the vinegar and the main difference is some starch, I tried anyway. Seems to work okay so far. and apple cider vinegar once, just to get as clean a slate as possible. After that rinse, my hair felt very clean and looked quite good. Today I washed with water only, and while not as bad as all that, it certainly has a bit of a greasy texture. As I understand it, it will take anything from a fortnight to perhaps a couple of months to undo a lifetime of ‘sham’. But I will do my best to stick with it. And whenever it feels and looks too bad, I will use baking soda and apple cider vinegar again.

Soap I’ve gone back and forth on for years. It works great if you use a scrubber in the shower. What is new here for me, is that I’m trying to dry scrub my body two times a week with a brush. So far, there is no difference to speak of. Though my skin might be feeling a little softer.

Deodorant is one of those things we have been more or less indoctrinated into using. And tons of it. As a teen, I used Axe²Known as Lynx in some places. like everyone else. I don’t miss that atrocity in the least. In fact, it gave me swollen nodules in my armpits very often. Since then, I have tried to make sure there was no aluminium in my underarm products, as that seemed to cause the swelling. Now, though, I still have a deodorant stick for use in emergencies. Doing a bit of a cleanse what with edging back to my diet and health regimen after a tumble off the wagon, I definitely am having occasional cleansing smells³Sometimes almost acetone-like! that aren’t pleasant, but I know that will be less and less.

As a side note on underarm grooming. Dr Sam mentions that she has had no problem with shaving her armpits, though she says there seems to be little reason to do it for smell. Generally, she may well be right. But, back in the dark days of still trusting Big Pharma, I was given sertraline. ONE of the side effects it had for me was foul and toxic smelling sweat, especially under my arms. As a test, I started shaving my armpit hair, and found that it did smell less, and it made it much easier to do a midday cat wash when needed. Since then, I of course no longer eat those awful pills, but I do still shave. These days I do it for the aesthetics. I am Norse through and through with a hairy chest and all that, but armpit hair just creeps me out. So, of it stays.⁴And yes, for all you pink-haired re-re’s out there, I prefer that look on men and women both. But each to their own.[|mfn]

I certainly have high hopes for this. Saving money and the environment at the same time as my body might grow healthier is always a boon. That said, some good quality aftershave is on occasion very nice too.