JUST ADDED!Want to Give Up Shampoo Forever? Here’s How!
by aviva
I know, I know, it sounds gross (unless you’ve already tried it!). And I’ll admit that I haven’t gotten around to trying it myself, and don’t know if I ever will. But I’ve heard some intriguing things about “no-poo,” and one of these days maybe I’ll get bored and take the plunge.
The idea behind not using shampoo is that the chemicals in most commercial varieties are basically detergents; they dry hair out. This has created a cycle that most of us assume is normal, where your scalp has to produce lots of extra oil to keep hair from being totally desertified. So if you go for more than a couple of days without washing, it gets greasy and nasty, and you run screaming for the Pantene.
But, if you can handle a week or two of extreme grease as you go cold turkey off shampoo, you’ll be rewarded with readjusted scalp oil levels; your hair will stop producing as much, which means you won’t feel the need to wash constantly to get it out. And your hair may do wonderful things that it has never done before, becoming shinier and healthier than ever. For women with curly hair in particular, no-poo can mean a dramatic decrease in frizz.
Just because you ditched the Herbal Essences doesn’t mean that you’ll never clean your hair again, or use other hair products. From what I could find out, there are basically two options.
- You can clean your hair (well, really your scalp) once a week (or something like that) with a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a cup of water, and follow it with an apple-cider vinegar rinse. You massage the baking soda solution into your hair and scalp, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse with cool water, followed by the vinegar, which balances the alkalinity of the soda to keep the scalp from feeling dry.
- The “Curly Girl” method involves washing with conditioner about once a week. You rub some into your scalp with the tips of your fingers (not your nails!) to loosen dirt, distribute it through the rest of your hair with a wide-toothed comb, let it sit for 5 minutes, then rinse. Then you can add product (like creme to prevent frizz and gel for hold) while the hair is wet, and very gently dry – an old t-shirt or microfiber towel is better than the typical terry at preventing frizz.
Dropping shampoo appeals to people for a few different reasons. If you’ve battled your hair for years and haven’t yet found a method that works for you, a dramatic change like this may be just the ticket, especially for taming unruly curls. Eco-minded women may like the idea of using fewer manufactured products (that don’t have to be bottled in plastic!). If you’re interested in learning more, google the terms “no-poo” or “curly girl method” and see if they sound like something you could go for. Anyone with experience, please comment and tell us your story!
I want to say, I am one of the ‘no-pooer’s'! And it is GREAT! I was one of the nay-sayers like you. I thought, this cannot be true. Then I had to try.
I have very brittle, dry hair. It is very thick, naturally curly and lots of frizz. The very first thing I noticed was how soft my hair was. I actually did bring back the shine too. My hair also went from being frizzy to a straighter condition.
I could go on on with all the good things that came from not using shampoo. One of the first things I noticed is my scalp no longer itched when time to shampoo. It becomes longer in between shampoos because my hair does not get as dirty as it did.
I am now an official believer. If you ever had any doubt, I encourage you to try too. I am convinced we were hit with retailers who sold us into the nightly shampoo. It makes no sense.
I have used the baking soda and water method before and it makes your hair fell amazing
I am 65 today!!!!
Now that I got that out of my system lets go to not washing or maybe over washing you hair. I remember as a child that we washed our hair once a week and it is true, it did just fine because your head puts out oil as needed. The first couple days you won’t believe it but your body has to have time to realize it doesn’t need that much oil. Because you are not washing it away. Just keep brushing (This remover dirt as well as tangles.)
A blast from the past.
Janice
i would like to try this – but what about the odor of the apple cider vinegar
Well, the verdict is in, I tried this today. I can safely say I am now hooked on this method!!! I added a tbsp instead of a tsp of baking soda because my hair needed a really good cleaning, rinsed with cold water, then cider vinegar, then a bit of cold water again and wow! My hair feels softer and cleaner than it ever has before! My scalp was burning and tingling a bit during the process, but probably because it was being cleansed of all the impurities I have loaded it with over the years! Burning subsiding and the itch I usually have after using regular shampoo isn’t there!! YAY! It works, ladies! If you can stand smelling like apple cider vinegar for a bit after you do this, then I highly recommend!
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I have switched from the average shampoos to the SLS/PARABEN FREE versions but I don’t know..the ones I have tried thus far have made my hair feel dry, so, I co-wash (washing w/a conditioner) several times a week and my tight curls LOVE IT…so there may be a point in time where I will ditch the ‘poos all together and become a co-washer for life!
Dr. Bonner’s Peppermint castile soap is natural, and good for washing hair and body etc. if you want to use other than baking soda. Follow with apple cider vinegar mixed with water, apple cider vinegar makes hair soft and comb very easily with no tangles, it is also very good for hair.
Hello,
I have used this method several years ago and yes it does dry your hair where you won’t have to wash it quite as much. But if you have colored treated (blonde) hair, it will excessively dry the ends out. So what I do anyway is wash my hair once a week and it will re-adjust the oil output of your hair naturally anyway. At 55, and my hair is at the center of my back, if I kept on washing my hair everyday like I did when I was a teen, I’d be bald by now!
A great online site that encourages long hair is called “The Long Hair Community” It gives hair tips and also has a scale, a gauge, if you will, in which to classify your hair strands, depending on your genetic make-up. Very informative and worth looking into.
Susan W
The variant I use off and on is conditioner washing. The blog does mention this as the Curly Girl method, but any one can use it, and you don’t have to go a week between washings unless you want to. I wash my hair every other or every third day, and it works fine. You just use a “thin” conditioner, like one that says volumizing on the label. Silicone free is good, because then you don’t get build up, but I’ve done it both ways and as long as you wash with an SLS shampoo when your hair starts feeling coated, you’re fine. You wet your hair and rinse it well, then start adding conditioner. First, totally saturate your scalp. massage the conditioner in very well, then apply conditioner to the rest of your hair. What I do next is just clip it up and do the rest of my shower stuff – shave, wash, you know – and then take my hair down, massage the scalp again, and then add small amounts of water and massage the scalp and length gently for about 2 minutes. Then RINSE COMPLETELY. You don’t want residue that can gak up your scalp. Once you’re rinsed, you can, if you want, apply a second, heavy conditioner to your hair from the ears down for extra moisture, but this is up to you. Experiment. Then dry, apply product and do what you normally do. I have hip length bleached hair and this works really well and is very gentle. The only drawback is that you use a TON of conditioner. That’s the only reason I don’t do it all the time; too expensive. But it makes my hair soft and clean and much more obedient, lol.