After the first hair experiment, you'd think I'd have learned. But I decided to try another not-washing experiment, with the added use of a hair tonic as recommended by the guides. I went with the cheapest and simplest of them all: salt water.
The text claims that salt water will lighten and strengthen the hair. I mixed up about 10 or 12 ounces of warm water with a tablespoon of cosmetic grade sea salt, let it cool, then rubbed the mixture into my scalp. I found it does impart something of a courser texture to the hair that I supposed could be mistaken for strengthening it, and it does lighten the hair by way of the fine salt buildup (which rinses out with fresh water.)
Interestingly, using this "tonic" actually did reduce the need to wash my hair. I found my hair got much less oily and my scalp less dandruff-ridden when I used it -- maybe because it acted in a similar way to a hair powder. My hair comb sure got caked with salt, though! Combing out my hair while wearing a black dress, I got covered in fine salt that was scraped out. I noticed a little salt on my brush afterward too, but mostly I found it on the comb.
I don't know that I observed any great merits to using salt water tonic that go beyond what one can get from using modern shampoo and conditioner on a regular basis, but it was definitely an improvement over just not washing your hair at all, and even did a better job than using just plain water (another experiment I tried.) If you lived in the time of the Gibson girls where hairwashing was discouraged but tonics were encouraged, then you may have indeed found benefit from this.
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