Jeezopee. Can you believe it’s been three entire weeks since the beginning of the no ‘poo experiment?
I cannot.
Time went by so quickly, and you know what? I only missed the shampoo twice: Once in the beginning when I had really dry ends (which I mentioned in the It Gets Better post) and once when I wanted my hair to smell like flowers or springtime or happiness.
Not that it ever smelled bad. The feedback was, it never smelled like anything.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what we’re doing today:
I’m going to give you an update and my thoughts on this whole monumental change. Then, I’m going to show you my before and after picture.
After that, I’m going to open the floor for anyone to talk about their experience. But (more importantly) if anyone wants to send me a before and after picture, I’ll create a section in this post just for you.
Ready? Set. Go!
My Thoughts on No ‘Poo
This was so much harder than switching to homemade deodorant. I didn’t expect that.
I suppose having to look at or run your fingers through your hair is much different than sniffing your armpits. Much more tactile. Much more … alarming.
Through this entire three weeks, I stuck to the basic formula, which you can find here. I didn’t stray once.
I washed my hair every three to four days, depending on how oily it was. Occasionally, I would rinse it with plain water in the shower.
One of my favorite parts of going no ‘poo, surprisingly, was the rubber-flower shower cap I used. I picked that old thing (above) up at a thrift store last year and never, ever, ever thought I’d get use out of it.
Now, my head gets to look like an anemic daisy-covered light bulb or an extra from the Beauty School Dropout scene in Grease. It’s kind of awesome.
So, when I wasn’t washing my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, I was using the shower cap. I wish I could send you one, but I’m pretty sure it’s the only one of its kind these days. The others all combusted on the heads of smokers in the 1950s.
Check it out. That’s my “after” pic. (I’m feeling neither smiley nor photogenic tonight. Sorry about that.)
That’s what my hair looks like when it hasn’t been shampooed for three weeks.
The Detailed Run-Down on No ‘Poo Results
- The first week was t-o-u-g-h. My hair was greasy and REALLY dry at the ends. Around day 9, it suddenly zapped into relative perfection. This further solidifies the idea that if you’re going to try this: You have to give it time to work.
- Now that it’s been three weeks, my hair feels thicker – but I think it may just be the natural oils doing their job. Either way, the hair has substance, baby. I would no longer classify my hair as fine at this point. It’s better than fine.
- Oddly, even though it’s thicker and less dry and FAR less “flyaway-ish,” it’s also more prone to static electricity. Huh. Haven’t heard anyone else say that.
- Unlike other reports from people with straight hair, mine did not find some inherent wave. In fact, it became MUCH more straight. The times I’ve worn it down, I haven’t even needed to use a straightener.
- I’ve noticed it does better if I don’t use the hair dryer and just let it do its own drying naturally – otherwise, it feels a little dry and brittle.
- It’s incredibly shiny compared to before. And it’s a deep shine. A healthy shine. Yeah. That’s right. My hair is the bomb.
- Lastly, it has darkened in color. There’s no more brassy ring to it (which I wasn’t even aware of before). It’s just a deep, rich, dark brown.
All pretty good stuff, yeah?
Before and After No ‘Poo Wrap-Up
Am I going to go back to shampoo?
VERY occasionally. If it weren’t for my affinity for homemade hair masks, I probably wouldn’t ever use shampoo again. But, this blog dictates that I do other fun stuff with my hair – so I think there might be a shampoo or two in my future. Especially given the no ‘poo/olive oil mask debacle here at Confessions of a Baltimore Housewife.
BUT! I will only shampoo once in a blue moon at this point. Only when I have no other alternative. And it will always and only be natural, organic shampoos (no real surprise in THAT revelation, huh?).
Suffice it to say, I’m a hardcore no ‘poo convert. It worked for me.
Wanna see?
(I know you do.)
Now, I know the lighting is a little different (I forgot to turn on my back light tonight), and my hair isn’t quite that much darker, but it is noticeably darker. So much so, I had someone ask me yesterday where I had gotten it colored. Ha.
Also? In both pictures, my hair had just been washed (“before” with shampoo and “after” with baking soda and apple cider vinegar) and left to air dry. Other than the lighting, the “control” was exactly the same. Three weeks on the nose – that’s the time span between those two pictures.
Which hair do you prefer?
What Kind of No ‘Poo Thoughts Do You Have?
Did you do this?
Did it work?
Do you love it/hate it/feel a little emo about it?
And if you DIDN’T do it and were waiting to see what my outcome is, do you think you’re brave enough to give no ‘poo a shot?
And don’t forget to send me before and after shots. If anyone does that, I’ll pop a brand-new section in right before this one with your pics and a link to your blog, iff’n you so choose.
Man. I’ll tell you what. There’s no better feeling than finding out how much better off you are with less.
No shampoo? No problem.
its been almost 2 weeks for me, and i use 2 parts B.S., 1 part neem powder, a couple drops of vit e oil and a bit of water. and then the 50/50 rinse with ACV. i am impressed with the results so far, and my scalp feels so much better. then again, my hair is only a couple inches long at most. 😀
I have been using the baking soda and acv method for about two weeks now. I am very happy with the results. I put the baking soda mixture in an old tint bottle that was once used to color my hair. I put the acv mixture in a small spray bottle and mist in on. Not only use this on my hair, but on my entire body.
Here’s my question….after you rinse with ACV or just with water, do you put any kind of mousse or styling creme in your hair? My hair is super fine and without a perm in it my hair is like cornsilk. The other question is if I was thinking about getting a new perm, should I wait? Will the baking soda ACV straighten it out anyway?
Probably a repeat, but it’s hard to sort through the many comments. I’ve tried this for 2 weeks now and still hate what my hair feels like. I’ve only ever washed my hair 1-2 times a week anyway, so maybe my adjustment period will also be long. As you can tell, by how not often I wash my hair, I don’t have an oil problem until it’s been about 5 days. So what’s happening is my hair …during the wash, after the wash, after dried and for all the days after the wash until I wash it again…feels very gross. It is SUPER SUPER tangly. Impossible to get a comb or brush through. The ends are especially straw-like. The top does get a nice shine to it on the 3rd or 4th day after, but the ends are still straw, stiff and dry. It also feels gross when I touch my hair.
I washed with 1 tbsp baking soda in an old shampoo bottle. And then put 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar mixed with water onto the ends of my hair. Again, it never feels “clean” or soft or anything.
What am I doing wrong? Can anyone help a girl out here?
Have you tried an oil conditioner? I am currently trying to wash out apricot oil but am having little luck with the baking soda
Question: I’ve been doing no poo for 3 weeks now. I’m using the baking soda/ACV every other day. Is this too much?
I work out everyday and feel like I need to at least do something every other day. My hair is still feeling super greasy and hasn’t completed it’s “transition” (but yet still voluminous) so I’m wondering if it’s from no pooing too often?
I’ve read of others who work as fitness teachers who use this method. They said they get good results from doing the water-only method with a good scalp massage on the days they don’t wash. I also read a blog about a girl who uses water only all the time. Don’t remember her url, but her blog name is hilda blue. Hope that helps.
I have been doing this for almost a year and would never go back to shampoo. I love this. The only thing I add is sometimes rub it a diluted “good” conditioner to the baking soda “wash”. 🙂
I am considering trying the No Poo method but am wondering how using a flat iron will affect my hair while No Pooing? Is there anything I can add to my hair after the shower that can protect it? Also, for those that have a regular work out routine, how does sweating regularly affect the effectiveness of No Poo and do you have to do it more frequently? Thanks!!
I have read that people will take a TINY bit of coconut oil and rub hands together to liquefy and distribute then finger comb it into hair before it dries (or drying it) to protect it. I used to flat iron all the time and used a salon-purchased oil the same way to protect hair and iron. Always worked, so I’ll be trying coconut oil next time I do it. Hope that helps.
I tried no poo for approximately 2 months or more. I had to shampoo once because I got my hair dyed and the lady shampooed it, but other than that i followed the no poo exactly. I went through quite a few stages with this. Sometimes I loved it and sometimes hated it. I wore A LOT of pony tails because of the oilyness mostly and still do now because I got so used to it and I think I have now forgotten how to do my own hair lol. I have a terrible memory but I feel like I hit the transition phase and loved it for a little bit and it was soft but then it went bad from there. The main point is that I stopped doing it because my hair started feeling coarse and felt like there was stuff in it that needed to be washed out and trust me I rinsed and rinsed so I don’t think anything could really be left. Also I either had dandruff or baking soda remnant which once again I don’t know how it could have happened because I know I had to have rinsed enough! I finally gave up after 2+ months reluctantly and very sadly. I am now looking for a natural/organic shampoo or some other way. I don’t know what to do I really wanted this to work for me. Can anyone offer any help?
have you tried making your own shampoo with castille soap? Google (or I found pinterest) has a TON of really great recipes. I order my supplies on amazon and am getting ready to make a new batch / new recipe and I love the results!
I read a person’s comment about these things earlier. First, she suggested brushing with a boar’s bristle brush (but not too much due to oil distribution – the more it gets moved to the ends, apparently the more the scalp will produce). Second, she said if you have hard water, minerals will build up on the hair. She said to boil water, then cool it then use the boiled water to mix your poo and rinse. You can still use your shower to rinse the hair, but she said the boiled water in the poo and rinse alleviates the mineral issue. I have hard water, so I’ll be trying this. Hope it helps.
I’m still in the first week of trying it and my only problem was that it’s much more difficult to get all of the hair clean without a lather. That’ll just take some practice but I just didn’t think about that. For me getting my whole scalp clean was a bit more work than I anticipated but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Just wanted to share. 🙂 Where it actually gets my hair is clean and shiny so I expect good results when I get it more figured out lol.
Hey there! I’ve just stumbled into your blog and found some neat stuff here! Going no ‘poo seems tempting… But does it also work even after a work out/exercise etc? I also live in a tropical country which is hot and humid for every single day, which makes my hair turn greasy like really really fast.. Has somebody else living near the equator tried going no ‘poo? What results did you get?
So I have super curly hair, and I am a group fitness instructor. My hair was getting destroyed by constant shampooing-hey, I sweat for HOURS every day. I HAD to wash my hair. So I decided that this would be a great thing to try- my hair is funky more often than not any way.
I love it. I will never go back to shampoo. Like I said, I have to wash my hair more often then I would like to, but it’s just the reality of what I do. I found after the first month that I didn’t need to wash my hair every day, I could go up to 3 days with out washing it! And when I sweat, I notice a HUGE change. Before, I could really feel the funk starting-the oil mixing with sweat and hair products. Ick. Now-my scalp doesn’t really sweat. Not THAT way. I’ll run my fingers through my scalp and all that I feel is a very light sheen of water. Which is how your scalp should work for cooling your body.
My hair also dries in half the time now. Having a ton of curly hair usually = 4 hours to air dry. Now? About an hour. My curls are also alot more uniform. And I swear my hair did grow 2 inches. And it’s funny that so many people said thier hair got darker…I developed some auburn and red cherry lights in my curls. And my scalp feels so healthy. I never knew that a scalp could feel like…anything. But it makes sence that the skin of scalp is different then the skin of the rest of your body, and that it is going to have muscle tone under it. Getting in there with finger tips to really scrub the baking soda out has made it feel great.
Thank you for this wonderful post. I’m slowly but surely convincing my fellow teachers to try this.
I’ve been trying no ‘poo for nearly three weeks now. My friends think I’m an absolute lunatic! But there is a lot of encouragement online. I even went to a Masters interview about three days in, with my hair in a bun. I think the grease compensated for not putting in any product (like I would bother anyway). I was successful in the interview, by the way. My hair is about 90cm (3 ft) long and I like it long, but I was beginning to feel my daily or nearly-daily shampooing didn’t make for sustainably long hair. My hair is ultra greasy right now but I’m definitely waiting at least 8 weeks before I give up on no ‘poo, but honestly I don’t think I will go back to shampoo. The one thing I’m not liking so much is that my hair is less curly now, but I think that may be because I’m constantly brushing it and separating the curls.
Is the oil on your scalp the same as the oil on your face?
A blog I found called hilda blue said to use cocoa powder as a dry shampoo to help with the greasiness. I think it would work best for darker hair colors. I believe she said to use cornstarch or something for lighter colors. I also have long hair and have recently begun to use the BS/ACV method. I was already going 3-4 days between washes. I started when my daughter was born (out of necessity lol) and have just continued because my hair always seemed to be at its best on the days in the middle. My hair always had quite a bit of loose curl to it and now that I wash less often, it has gotten a little curlier. I also started using this on my toddler’s hair as her hair is fine and curly. Haven’t found the right balance for her hair yet, but I’m looking forward to finding the right formula for us both. 🙂
Do you use the baking soda and apple cider vinegar everyday?
Can u do the no poo on color treated hair. I’m a dirty blonde that goes Lighter every 3-4 months?
Hey! Someone already commented for blondes: use lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar! It lightens your hair in the sun 🙂
I know this is an older post but I’m trying this out, after the success I’ve had with washing my face with honey I figure why not!
I use eggs. What I do is to beat one in a bowl, and then add water to it. In the shower, I dip my ends into the mixture, rubbing it in and working my way upwards. At the end, I pour the puddle left at the bottom over my scalp. I leave the mixture in my hair while I wash the rest of my body, and then wash it away in the end.
In the beginning I thought I’d freak. My hair felt so greasy, and heavy, and it didn’t smell like spring, or sunshine, or love, or hotsexymama. Half of the time I was paranoid it’d smell like eggs (Cause it smells like eggs when it’s still wet/moist. And if I can smell like eggs, then someone else should be able to smell it too, right? And oh my god is that why no one’ll sit next to me in class or on the bus sweet baby jesus yuck). And then, after a few weeks it felt good and less greasy. Nowadays I almost exclusively use eggs in washing my hair. On lazy days, however, when I’m too tired to get my bum downstairs for my egg, and then up again for the shower, I use shampoo. And let me tell you, there’s a difference.
My hair gets all kind of light, and fly~ish with shampoo. It looks kind of sexy. Sort of. And then it doesn’t, cause the hair just flies around as soon as I breathe, and I always have a hundred individual strands of hair from different directions going into my face, eyes, nose and mouth and ears. It’s really hard to do stuff with it.
With eggs, however, it gets “heavier”, eg; the hair doesnt’ fly around. It comes more in.. dreads. Or, obviously not dreads, but it doesn’t fly around and live its own life like it does with shampoo. It’s still all light and wavy, but I don’t have as many strands of hair going into my mouth everytime I talk or do something. My hair gets another texture with eggs as well. With shampoo it’s like a bowling rink, and my hair pins cry for help as they keep gliding down. With eggs it’s just.. soft. And the pins stay in place for longer. And it just got really darker too, like yours.
Most of my friends get sceptical when I say I wash it with eggs, and some can’t believe it. And my dad’s harpering around on how we don’t really need to save money on shampoo cause it’s something people need in their daily life. Cut down on candy or something else. I still rock it though.
…. Long rant. Anyway. I’m happy with my eggy hair, and I’m even more happy over the fact that I’ve found this webpage and that I’m not alone in my no ‘poo. I’ve never heard of it before, but better late than never. I love it.
Did you ever figure out how to get rid of the static?? I’ve been no poo for almost two weeks. My hair is super shiny but flat and SO staticky! It’s awful!! I even tried rubbing my hair with a dryer sheet which didn’t work! Help!!
Hi Crunchy Betty
I’m trying to go no poo (it’s been a week now) and I’m quite happy because my hair is not oily but soft!
Still, I have a problem with dandruff… I already had it but I think it’s going worse with the no poo method.
Do you know what I could do to stop it?
By the way I’m french, so I’m sorry if my english is not that good.
Thanks a lot! I hope I won’t have to stop going no poo!
Hi! I haven’t tried this, but a post above said that using a drop or two of tea tree oil in the baking soda mixture can clear up dandruff. Let me know if you try that and it helps!
I’m going to try to go no poo but I have scalp psoriasis that might come back if I stop using shampoo… My psoriasis looks and acts exactly like dandruff, so I’ll probably try tea tree oil too. Good luck!
If you just use bronners then everything is way easier……..
Here’s a question: I’m a No’poo girl, but I want to use a hair mask because I have wavy kinda frizzy hair. Are there any hair masks that come out completely with out using shampoo. If you think I need Shampoo for post mask washing which/what kind would you recommend?
Actually, I heard a woman on YouTube say she did a clay (red) mask. She got regular clay powder from a health food store and did the same mixture but substituted the clay for the baking soda. She was a total believer. She said her hair felt incredible (it looked it too!) and that it was so soft. I haven’t done a lot of research on that particularly, but I suggest you do.
I don’t remember the name of the video, but the woman was very blonde blonde and the title had No ‘Poo in it. She has two videos about it so if its not one, its the other.
Hope this helped!
Hi there! I’ve stumbled upon your blog here, and I’ve been considering going “no ‘poo” for a while, but I am concerned about the transition period. I work in the food industry and have to deal with customers every day, and I don’t want them thinking that I’m “dirty”… Is there a way you can shorten the transition period? Thank you! 🙂
i just started no pooing a week ago..and yeah im in a gross phase..im not freaking out about it but i am curious about the mixture ..i see you ladies are saying use 1tbs or 2 tbs and then the rest do water..yeah idk about you guys but i have alot of hair ..i use one of my daughters old sipy cups and fill it about half way and then make it wet so it feels like wet sand..as im rubbing it into my head..ill occasionaly dip my head under running water to help distribute the baking soda while i scrub my scalp. i also put some tea tree oil in the mixture due to some dandruff issues i have. am i doing this right?? am i using too much?? or it depends on my hair??
I did it for the first time yesterday – and to my surprise my hair is…(drum roll) …completely normal! It’s clean, doesn’t smell of anything…I love it!
I found it dried super fast too! Which – aside from having to sit with the ends of my hair in towel because it wouldn’t stop dripping – was awesome. My hair is a few inches past my bra strap and within half an hour, it was dry.
Speaking of dry, today (24 hours post no ‘poo) the ends feel a little dry. It’s also a tad thicker than usual, which is cool too.
I’m a convert so far! 🙂
Ok I need some clarification: if you wash every 3-4 days, what do you do on the off days? Just rinse with water, or wrap your hair up when you shower and don’t get it wet at all?
Also, I tried an egg and olive oil mask the other day and my hair did not come clean after I used the BS/water and then ACV rinse 3 times! Can we use hair masks while going no ‘poo? If so is there a different way to make sure that you wash out all of the mask?
Last question: I have dandruff! Never had it before until I’ve started this no ‘poo. I wash every 4 days and I’ve tried pouring straight ACV on my head as someone recommended with no success. What do I do to get rid of it? Tea tree oil in BS/water mix? Less baking soda in 1 cup water? PLEASE HELP!!
I’ve been no ‘poo for almost 9 months now and my hair feels AH-MAZING! It’s softer and not nearly as frizzy as it used to be. I bought those plastic condiment bottles from walmart for less than a dollar and mix i part soda to 3-4 parts water for the no ‘poo and 1 part acv to 2-3 parts water for the rinse. When I first started out I used Heinz acv but it smelled horrible, like fermenting gym socks. Braggs leaves my hair smelling fruity, almost as if I used a fancy shampoo/conditioner. This treatment also leaves my hair somewhat curly for the first day. (With the soda wash, I’ve noticed that if I make a big batch and leave it for a week, the soda clumps together at the bottom of the container. I find it best to just make it right before I wash my hair.)
A friend and I tried no ‘poo together a few months ago. After more than 2 months my hair was still a greasy mess. I was unhappy with my results, but it worked really well for my friend. She’s still no ‘poo (4 months now) and I just use an all natural shampoo, and I still like to use vinegar every now and then.
What if for example I’d like to rinse my hair with a coffee(I make like a regular cup and rinse my hair after washing it)? I love the smell of coffee but how do I include it in this routine of washing with baking soda and rinsing with vinegar? Do it after both or in between?
Has anyone else developed dandruff? I’ve never had a problem with dandruff before in my life and I’m about 2 weeks into no ‘poo and I have dandruff every day! Is it just my scalp riding itself of build-up? Is there anything I can do to get rid of it and still stay no ‘poo? Please help!
Wonder if it’s a build up of Baking Soda? Maybe you’re not rinsing enough? Just a thought…
I haven’t tried No Poo yet but I may, though I have already had a big problem with dandruff. Do you think no poo would help at all if I added TTO?
Wonder if it’s a build up of Baking Soda? Maybe you’re not rinsing enough? Just a thought…
try adding tea tree oil to your bs mixture, just a couple drops, its supposed to be great for dandruff. I’ve only had a problem with dandruff once and I added a drop of TTO to my shampoo (sorry to say I havent made it to no poo yet, my oil is so thin and oily as it is I’m scared to!) but just the drop in my shampoo cleared up my scalp in a day, hope it helps!
I know this is super late and may not help you directly, but maybe it will help someone else with the same problem.
I have NEVER had any problems with dandruff. I may get a dead skin cell here and there but never enough to be considered “Dandruff”. When I first transitioned to No ‘Poo, I noticed on my Boar Bristle Brush a lot of dandruff (in transition phase). Now, this was really odd for me (just like you). So, I decided to just stick it out since I was nearing 2 weeks and my transition would be over soon. Man, am I glad I did. 🙂
I later found out that the dandruff is caused by the scrubbing necessary in the shower and the brushing with a Boar Bristle Brush. During the transition phase, you are essentially supposed to be removing the dead skin cells that accumulated on your head over time. The removal of these allows your sebum oil to produce freely and adjust naturally. The dead skin cells get in the way, so you just need to remove them and then wait for your t-phase to be over. The only reason the dandruff is sticking around is because your hair is still greasy because your in the t-phase. Once your hair adjusts and absorbs your natural oil, the dandruff will fall off and you won’t have a problem with it again.
Hope this helps!
It worked for me. 🙂
I am just starting this and need some clarification…do you use the entire 1 cup water + 1 tbsp baking soda all at once…for one wash? – or do you keep a bottle of that and use say 1/4 cup every wash? Just wondering how much I should be washing with! 🙂 🙂 Thanks!
Don’t use the entire mix for one wash. I would say anywhere from 1/3 to 1/4 cup of the mix per wash is about right. And don’t forget to let it sit on your head for awhile and do a good scalp scrub then rinse!
I agree about not using the whole thing. However, if you like more water in your mixture because it helps distribute the mixture better, than dilute less baking soda (I suggest a tsp. which is 1/3 of a TBSP) in the full cup of water, or perhaps 3/4 cup of water. Whatever works.
Will NEVER use shampoo again! My preteen daughter? (who has beautiful curls, albeit difficult and frizz-prone) and I started no ‘pooing a few weeks ago, and although she has not exactly raved about the process, it is plain to see tha something WONDERFUL is happening to the Sierra girls’ hair.
Oh and do we have a name yet? Anti shampoo league? On my bottle that I use for the baking soda mixture I wrote on it calling it simply “The anti shampoo”
Any who, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
Hi! I’ve been no poo for the past 4 weeks-6 weeks. And my hair definitely is less frizzy and and more curly. But my scalp feels greasy and waxy and flaky. Anyone have any advice? I use 1 spoon of baking soda in a one 1/2L water botter and ACV same. Any suggestions on how my scalp can stop looking greasy?
My transition phase only lasted about 3 days, and I’ll tell you why! I have short hair (chin length) and I never stopped playing with my hair (redistributing my hair’s oils). But take caution, massaging your scalp will produce MORE oils during the T-phase so you may want to avoid that. brushing your hair, or running your fingers through it will get the oils to the dry parts and (if your hair is like mine) leave you with a miraculously short transition period.
I am having trouble with nopoo. I tried it in desperation as I had extremely frizzy ends. I have super fine hair that is dry. My hair became this way about 5 years ago when I hit college and was showering twice a day as a collegiate athlete. So my assumption was that I had stripped all my oils away and they had never recovered. At first when I went nopoo it was hard because my hair was oily. After about 4 weeks the oil production died down but I went in for a hair cut (of course they shampooed) and had a deep conditioning treatment as well. I have continued to do nopoo since then and have only washed my hair with shampoo (without sulfate) twice due to hairspray from an undo and a yogurt/avocado mask. Did these three shampoos make me start all over on the oily phase? Currently I am fighting an oily scalp again and my frizz does not seem to be any better. My hair feels very dirty. In addition the dirtiness makes my hair tangly and difficult to manage. I do BS/ACV two to three times a week and just rinse with water other days. What am I doing wrong? Do I have the wrong type of hair? Help!!!
Oh, I have been doing nopoo since the end of April by the way.
After I bleached my hair recently (3 or 4 times), it had been gettng SO oily. Instead of washing my hair every 2-3 days, I have to wash every day! So I decided I need to do something different. I’m tired of an always oily & itchy scalp! I dyed my hair back to brown with organic henna for the first time a couple days ago. I love the results & my husband loves the smell compared to the chemical dyes. I ordered some organic shampoo bars & I’m ready to do this! I have 3 young daughters with long hair & I think this will be an easy transition for them since they don’t have to wash as often…maybe every 3-4 days. I’m a stay home mom of 4 & my husband works out of town alot so I can stay in through most of the phase. I’m excited to go natural! I’ve got Indian in me & I think that’s why I’m always looking for natural cures for things before taking the kids to the doctor who is just going to give them poison. LOL seriously, they will prescribe antibiotics every time they get a cold. It’s ridiculous. Anyways, wish me luck!
How do you deal with the bedhead then? I have to at least wet my hair to tame it in the morning otherwise its wild. I don’t do the “no’poo” but I do only shampoo my hair every few days.
I’ve been ‘no poo’ for two weeks now and am over the yucky transition. The first week was easy though – I was camping and kept a cap on my noggin most of the time and only did one water only wash the entire week. In between times I used a dry poo mixture of corn starch and baking soda with essential oil mixed in. Just brush a dab of that through the hair in the morning and it perks it right up.
This morning – three days after my last bs/acv wash I didn’t need to do anything more than a light tousle with damp fingers and I was ready to go. I have short straight brown hair that was always flat when I was shampooing. Now it has life!
Give the “no poo” a shot, you’ll be amazed!
I am on day 4 of “no poo” conversion. Your blog has given me a pep talk! Today my hair is grooooossssssss and I was thinking this morning that I can’t stand it but I will stick it out. Thanks so much!
I am a ‘no poo’ girl, and here is how I do it: about once a week I wash with just a tiny bit of diluted baking soda, ACV rinse. Then, any other time I take a shower, I do a scalp massage with just water. Works for me! (I have short, straight hair, and I do not brush it.)
What can you use to make your hair smell good?
You should try Wen by Chaz Dean. I am having the same results you are having, with a more pleasant smell and feel and a more gentle transition…
I am in the beginning stages of No Poo (Day 11 of a BS wash and lemon juice/water rinse), and I too am experiencing extra static. Did you ever figure out anything that fixed this problem? Or will it go away as I continue to adjust? Thanks!
This response is sooooo late, but those little dryer sheets do the trick! Just take one and rub it over your hair. The static disappears, plus it leaves a light fragrance. I hope this helps anyone reading this MONTHS after this was initially posted, but who are still wondering.
I started my no ‘poo journey today! I was wondering if it were okay to use commercial conditioner on your shaft/ends, or does it strictly have to be the ACV wash?
How does this work for color-treated hair? Does the BS/ACV have any ill effects on the color?
I have been coloring for years. Dark. It hasn’t faded my color at all. Now waiting to do my first henna or other natural dye.
I’ve been no ‘poo for about 6 weeks now and my hair looks great! But I have really bad dandruff and my head is SOOOO itchy!! I really don’t want to go back to using shampoo, so any suggestions would be wonderful! Thanks
This sounds like you’re not scrubbing your scalp enough. If you don’t the oil will stick on your scalp. Use your fingertips and press firmly down, and scrub for at least a few minutes. I heard some people scrub for five. This should help.
You might want to try crushing to powder an aspirin or two and adding that to the nopoo. Aspirin can take care of the dandruff.
Just found your blog, and never heard of going no ‘poo, however I am a perfect candidate for no ‘poo bc I only wash my hair once or twice a week (really dry hair), but now that I am a 30-something I have noticed I can’t go as long as I once did (getting oily almost next day, very perplexing, messing with my system). I did my first no ‘poo the other day and am really excited about it, I did not get oily the next day! Thanks! I am looking forward to what will happen next. In the last few months I have replaced all skin care items with edible things, never thought this possible for my hair…like I said super excited!!!
2 and a half years of no ‘poo, hippy-dippy nutjob living! I was just going to try it and see, but I’m a convert. Surprises the heck out of the salon ladies who cut my hair, as a) I don’t smell like a salad dressing and b) I don’t have split ends. It’s fun to tell people, as I’ve witnessed people actually physically step backward and away from me.
Yep, my in laws are grossed out when they ask how I get my hair so nice and I reply I don’t use shampoo. lol
I just started this yesterday and I’m already loving it. Granted, I only washed my hair with shampoo about once a week anyway, but I’m enjoying the fact that I was able to sleep on wet hair and not wake up a yeti the next morning. I’ll let you know how it goes! I even have a before picture(again, it hadn’t been washed in like a week so I don’t get the nice control that you have). Anyway, thanks for turning me on to being a crunchy! 🙂
It took my hair a little longer to adjust. I’ve been No ‘Poo for a couple of months and I love it. I’d say it took me about 6 weeks or so to adjust. If you’re just trying this, stick with it!
Oh My Lanta! I love my hair now. I have been No ‘Poo for 13 days and today was the day my “transition phase” ended. My hair is sooo soft. I can’t stop touching it. 🙂 It is definatly worth it.
The only thing that I disliked, was the fact that my hair darkened a little. I have blonde hair and I would like to keep it as blonde as possible, not dirty blonde. :/
Don’t think that No’ Poo permanently darkens your hair! The reason your hair darkens is because your hair took in your natural moisture (oil) and locked it in. When your hair is oily, its darker, right? But what happens when your hair locks in that moisture on the inside? It darkens!
Just letting you know. 🙂
Also, if you are considering going No ‘Poo, one suggestion: Brush your hair! (not too much)
Brushing your hair will make your transition phase (gross oily stage where your hair is changing its PH levels) go faster. Your transition phase won’t end until the oil has fully reached the ends of your hair. When this happens your body realizes it doesn’t have to produce soo much oil. Thus, ending the transition phase and beginning the beautiful stage. 🙂
Hope this was helpful!
This is super late and who knows if you’ll even get it! However, if you want to keep your hair light, but still keep the no ‘poo up you can add lemon juice to your routine which will naturally help lighten your hair up in the sunlight.
The tip about brushing is good too. Definitely helps with the transition. However, I wonder about getting more volume out of my hair with the no ‘poo method.
I been no poo since I last got my hair cut so about 5 weeks now, my hair used to be so limp but since going no poo I noticed a big difference in volume.
If you use lemon juice instead of or with the apple cider vinegar it will lighten your hair and gives a nice glow for blondes
Thank you! I think I will try that. 🙂 I actually had to switch back to shampoo for circumstantial reasons, but just recently I was like, “I seriously need to go back to that. It was awesome!” So….currently I am in my 2nd transition phase and am hoping I am almost through and on to beautiful hair.
I have a quick question before I add Lemon Juice to my routine. If I ever had to switch back to shampoo for circumstantial reasons (I would never do it if I didn’t have to), would my hair be extremely light because all the darkness from the “locked in” natural moisture is gone?
I don’t exactly want to permanently dye my hair, but if lemon just brings out my natural HIGHLIGHTS, I would love to do it. 🙂
Thank you Amber!
Hey! I have been doing No ‘Poo for 9 days now. I was wondering…Will brushing my hair speed up the “transition phase”? Obviously I wouldn’t brush it a zillion times, but probably 50-100 strokes a day…?
My hair is similar to yours. Thin. 🙂 I also have quite long hair (reaches to my belly button). I am blonde too. So will it take longer in the transition phase because the oil has to go throughout my whole head?
I have also noticed that my hair doesn’t look that gross, it just feels gross…really gross. 😉 So far I am good though. And I am pretty sure my transition period won’t last that much longer (because I have similiar hair to yours). Thanks for you post! Much appreciated. 🙂
I’ve been no poo for a little over a month now and love it. I did have the breaking-in phase, but much of that, I think, was that I wasn’t getting the BS scrubbed in very well. I don’t tell many people that I’ve made this switch; I get too much judgment and end up explaining myself too much. So I just keep it to myself. Note: My dandruff has significantly decreased with no poo. That, and the environmental benefits, why would people NOT switch?
Ciao from Italy– I really love your blog! Bit of a challenge for you: I was wondering if anyone can offer advice about hair care for swimmers? I’m currently swimming about 5 times a week and am becoming increasingly uncool about the amount of chemicals my hair is being exposed to on a weekly basis. Obviously I’d rather have chlorine in the pool than Legionaire’s disease, but if there exists in the crunchy collective any natural way of combatting the effects I’d love to hear it!
hey I swim too and club soda actually neutralizes the effects of chlorine in your hair. After swimming just pour this through your hair and continue with whatever you would usually do such as shampoo and condition.
I’ve heard that powdered ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) neutralizes chlorine. I put about a tablespoon of it in my bath, to offset all the chlorine they put in the water supply to kill bacteria.
Plus, ascorbic acid powder, or buffered vitamin C powder (which just adds some calcium & magnesium to make it less acidic & more gentle) actually nourishes your skin, it’s like food for your skin. You might want to try making a mix of ascorbic acid & water to rinse your hair with. Be sure to wash your hair afterwards. When I don’t wash it out, it acts sort of like a hairspray–I look like I have bed head or my hair stays in sort of a towel-dried mess until the next time I wash it. Luck!
I have been poo-free for over a year now, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back. I use 1/2 T of baking soda in 12 oz of water for the wash and 3-4 T of ACV in 16 oz. of water for the rinse. My hair is on the curly side- it will straighten if I blow it out and be wavy if I leave it alone. I found that even after a few months my ends were still pretty dry. So, I finish with a little bit of commercial conditioner (organic, of course!) which I leave in. Then, to enhance the curl I “plop” my hair. I press the curls to my head using a t-shirt and leave it there as long as possible. Overnight is great. Then, I end up with nice, well-defined curls with no frizz.
So advantages are much less frizz, need to wash every 2-3 days, (I was an everyday washer before,) less split ends, and it’s toxin-free!
How do you keep the tshirt on your head! That’s a great idea. I have really curly hair and love my hair most int he morning but it’s always soo frizzy from my pillows.
I love your blog! I think you’re great, but I blame you (at least in part, there are other internet people who did this to me too) for how my hair looks right now!
Bah! I have been No ‘Poo for two (2!) months now and my hair is STILL greasy. I am starting to give up hope.
At first during this experiment I had high hopes that No ‘Poo would work, and I was only ‘washing’ my hair once a week with 1 tablespoon of baking soda dissolved into a cup of water, and then ‘conditioning’ it with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar dissolved into another cup of water. I washed my hair so infrequently because I thought my scalp was ‘detoxing’ and would do so faster if I didn’t mess with it much.
After waiting a few weeks for my hair to detox, I eventually had to admit to myself that it was still alarmingly greasy, and so I began rubbing it with a washcloth while in the shower so as to redistribute my natural hair oils. This washcloth rubbing that I do is a legitimate No ‘Pool technique and is called, “The Mexican Rag Method.”
I have like, 5 boars hair brushes that I also brush my hair with, and then
have to wash right after using because the bristles are always all filled with
grease.
I brush my hair every day with these 5 brushes and see absolutely no
improvement in the amount of oil that remains puddled on my scalp.
After the end of the second month of this situation, I began to grow disillusioned and undertook an aggressive No ‘Poo cocktail of using baking soda, vinegar, the Mexican rag method and the brushing with a boars hair brush one after another in sequence. This did nothing to cut the grease.
My disillusionment soon turned to desperation, and in the past 2 days I have washed my hair with an egg, some green clay I bought at the health food store, baking soda and vinegar and baking soda and the juice of a fresh lemon. Then, after ‘washing’ I used the Mexican rag method and then brushed my hair with all of my 5 brushes. . . AND MY HAIR IS STILL GREASY.
The **** am I doing wrong?!?! I have very fine, straight, limp, brown crappy hair. I managed to break quite a lot of it while brushing it and rubbing it with rags in the shower, but most of my hair grows to about the middle of my back.
Does anybody know if No ‘Poo just doesn’t work for people with crappy hair like mine?
Please don’t feel bad for inspiring me to stop washing my hair and looking greasy and unkempt for two months, I did it to myself. I don’t REALLY blame you, the internet, or the No ‘Poo method for my situation. . . I blame my hair.
Hey, I had the similar problem awhile back and we have the same kind of hair. I found that I was using too little baking soda and too much vinegar.
Try 1 1/2 tblspn baking soda in 1 1/2 cups of water. Use a plastic bottle, like the kind that comes from hair dye. The tip helped me get it into my scalp better and distribute it more evenly. Saturate your hair with water first though, before applying. Massage your hair from root to shaft like you would normally with any shampoo and rinse. Then, use 1 tblspn of apple cider vinegar in 3 cups of water. Try not to use too much on your scalp; as this is the mistake I was making and it was coming out greasy. Its hard to not use too much of the rinse on your scalp, but i used the bottle the distribute that evenly, also. I use just barely enough on my scalp then the rest on my hair shaft (I saved two bottles from my root dyeing.) After you use the acv rinse, rinse your hair again with warm water. I sandwich my hair between my hands and rub downwards as Im rinsing my hair out. I always feel the oils in my hair shaft as Im doing this and worry that I used too much of either one, but it seems to work. I rinse my hair 2 days later. Sometimes I have to do this twice a week, if rinsing my hair out with water doesnt get it clean. (I work in an auto parts store, very, very dusty, so I have to do all of this twice a week sometimes)
I hope this helps. If it doesnt, try an organic shampoo and conditioner from Natural Grocers Vitamin Cottage, if you have one where you live, (theyre cheaper than whole foods).
Do you have hard water? I am on the third week of no poo and everything went great the first week but the second week my hair felt greasy even with way more baking soda. I found a blog that said if you have hard water the minerals will build up on your hair. It said to boil water, let it cool and then use your cooled boiled water with the baking soda and acv. I did this and it worked. You can rinse your hair with regular shower water but mix the bs and acv with the boiled water. My roots are now squecky clean but I think I am still using too much acv on my ends they are a little sticky. Boiling my water and using that to make up my bs/water and acv/water mix helped so much.
Try that before giving up.
Maybe you are brushing it too much? That always makes my hair feel more greasy and takes the oil to the ends of my hair. What happens if you just used a regular brush, instead of a boar bristle brush? Just curious
I know that This post is old but anyway. I am on my second try of going no poo. The fist time I used BS and Vinegar, but after using vinegar my hair felt very greasy. Have you or anyone else tried just to use BS and nothing else? I am doing that at the moment, and have like you very thin strait hair…
I’ve been Baking soda ACV for about 4 months now. I have very different hair than you, but I had a similar problem. just not getting past that greasy thing. But I finally got over the hump here’s how:
1) DO NOT do a hair mask. I tried the egg hair mask, and I never got the egg out with just baking soda. Wait till hair gets over the hump for a hair mask, and then I would also have some mellow shampoo on hand to get it out.
2) Wash you hair more than once a week. I’m a full time BS/ ACV girl now and I still wash once every three days. Once a week just wasn’t enough. I might try to cut back in the future, but for now this works
3) You might need to shampoo. I swear the thing that finally got me over the hump was using a clarifying shampoo just once. I was visiting a friend and my hair was just gross, and we were going out, so I used their clarifying shampoo. When I went back to BS/ ACV things started to do good things.
Hope this helps.
I’m thinking of adding 1 egg, beaten, some molasses and warm olive oil to the baking sodawater mixture. What do you think?
I’m 17 years old and I went no ‘poo with my mom 5 months ago! Woo! I love it! I have less acne and my hair curls and all that jazz way better!
I am so excited to try this I have really bad dandruff and I will do anything to get rid of it. I started sunday not washing so Thurs. morning I will do the Baking soda Acv rinse wish me luck
Ive have been No ‘Poo for a year now. I wanted to end my greasy roots. It always happened the 2nd day after washing. I hated it. So i started reading about organic shampoos and conditioners and then I found out about this method. It was weird to transistion from shampoo/conditioner to bk/acv wash, but Im glad i did. I first freaked out the first time I ried it because I could feel the oil traveling down my hair shafts and it didnt feel right. But the acv rinse helped. I let my hair air dry. I cannot believe how soft my hair is. Oil free, no more greasiness, no staticky dry hair. My hair was shoulder length when I first began. Its now to the middle of my back. I do have to color my salt/pepper roots every 3 weeks but I use a non permanent hair color. It hasnt messed up the noo ‘poo method, thank goodness. 2 more inches to go and Im cutting it off to donate it to Locks of Love. I really wish I had taken a before photo, but I didnt. Note: I do use conditioner occassionaly, because I do miss the pretty floral scents but always follow with the acv rinse. No problems….
I forgot to add that i do 1 tlbspn bk soda in 2 1/2 cups water and rinse with 2 tlbspn acv in 3 cups water, ever 6 days, i rinse in between washes….
hey, instead of coloring your roots, try this hair color booster i found at
http://www.wholeliving.com/134636/diy-hair-color-booster?backto=true
is it weird that I have been putting honey in my hair? When I bought my raw honey to wash my face with, the first time I bought some that said “natural” but then pasteurized in small print… so when I shower I have been using that to clean and then once a week use BS because maybe I did it wrong but it felt really REALLY gross in my hair. Honey makes it feel very soft, maybe a tad oilier than I would like, but if it helps my transition, so be it! Today I may do an egg yolk treatment. It would be nice to have my hair a little thicker, so I am going to give this my all.
How often are you suppose to do the BS mix and ACV on your hair?
Hi, I am newbie here and loving all the info! I’ve been no-poo for 3-4
weeks now. Short, fine hair (coloured) and Wake up each morning looking
like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backward! So I cannot leave the
house without washing my hair.
I’m finding that my hair is waxy on top each day after it dries, and dry
at the edges. I’m using the ACV for the ends and am looking for some
more advice. Should I be using less BS with my water – how do I know if
my water is hard or not? If it is hard how can I soften it for little or
no-money?
I have recently moved to work in Bratislava where all of these methods
are unheard of or scorned. It’s a young country trying to play catch up
with commercialism, so the more chemicals the better it must be!
Any advice gratefully accepted.
Thanks
Sharon
Sharon,
If you try boiling your mixture first with a little bit of salt, it should (apprently) soften the water some and help get rid of the waxy buildup. I’ve also heard that simply letting the mix sit for a week fixed the problem for other people. Or you might have been right on target – use less BS / ACV. I would definitely try to soften your water first though, I guess this has been a key factor for some. Another idea is to try a boar-hair bristle brush, which might help take the edge off and more evenly distribute any gross buildup.
Honestly though, I’ve been washing my hair with a diluted mix of organic castille soap (Dr. Bronners!) two to three times a week, so I can’t vouch for any of the ideas I mentioned above.
Good luck! 😀
i lolled at how fitting your comment about bratislava is 🙂 though bratislava and the rest of slovakia are very different. almost opposite, i´d say. i should know. born and raised here 🙂
Hey, Crunchy Betty! 🙂 Could you do a post on how to naturally moisturize your skin. (I’ve looked on your site and couldn’t find any articles on it) Like, what things I may have laying in my kitchen I could use to lightly moisturize my face. LOVE YOUR BLOGGG! 😀
virgin organic coconut oil – it also a mild natural sunscreen and best thing by far. Trust me i have been looking for a ling time. It melts in without any greasy residue. I start by putting it on my nail beds and massaging that in, then using the excess on my face and lips. I get the deodorized one so i don’t have to smell coconut all day :).
yes! coconut oil is the BEST moisturizer for your skin! it works waaay better than any expensive cream i have bought & kind of gives your face a nice glow too! (i’ve converted my husband now too!)
i heard that coconut oil is not a good moisturizer because it is comedogenic.
I really want to try this! I was wondering though, since I have my hair highlighted (around every 3 to 4 months) will the bs and acv ruin my blondish highlights? If so, is there another alternative to going “no poo”? Also I have wavy and extremely bushy hair so I either use a hairdryer and/or flat iron almost everyday. Will I experience extreme hair breakage if I go “no poo” and contunue to use these styling utensils?
Definitely trying this out when winter break hits!!
i’m on week three as well but i’m going all or nothing. all i do is rise with water when i want to and my hair has been oily at the roots and dry at the ends but the oil is lightening up and i’m excited to see if this works for me! i’ve heard talk that the transition from going to shampoo (i used one with no sulfates or parabens) to nothing can take up to six weeks, but i’m in for the long haul!
I have thin, curly hair. Every time I would wash it with store ‘poo, I’d HAVE to wash it every day or every other day (depending on if I styled it or not). I couldn’t go more than two days (more like one and a half days) without shampooing my hair. But since I tried the BS mixture, I can go three days (four at the most and usually if I don’t have to work), which is a record for me and my thin hair. At first, I thought it would end up being too greasy for my thin hair but every time I use the BS rinse, my hair has MORE volume LONGER than with regular shampoo. I told a coworker that I hadn’t “washed my hair with shampoo in a week” and she told me, “You’re lying. It totally looks like you have!”. Amazing. Thank you So much. I don’t think I’ll have a breaking in period with going no ‘poo. My hair loves it and I love the way my hair looks. Thank you so much, Crunchy Betty!
Yay! I just found you through Stumble Upon and I love seeing posts like this! I started doing No ‘Poo this past Feb and I’m not going back! I do it more or less the same way, but I was missing the scent too…so I put herbs in mine (I wrote about how I do it here: http://ecb.edesignsfashion.com/2011/10/08/dirty-dirty-dirty.aspx) and for the people who work out, in the summer, I put a touch of castille soap in my mix. I’m still working on breaking my addiction to commercial conditioner…but that’s partly because my hair is a little wonky from all falling out after my pregnancy. Thank god babies are cute, because the “baby hair” fly-aways you get afterwards are NOT!
Hi! I stumbled upon your blog… somehow in the last few hours. I’ve already forgotten how but I think I was interested in homemade lip balms or something. Anyway, I think I’m going to make the leap and go no ‘poo and see if it will help. Plus, I’m trying to save some money so maybe I’ll like it and it’ll work! 😀 Thank you for your great Crunchy ideas!
The last time I used shampoo was over 2 weeks ago. I’ve done 3 BS/ACV treatments, and my hair hasn’t been oily/greasy or overly dry. I have noticed that it has inherent volume now, and even after I blow dried it last night for a wedding, it was still great.
I was expecting the “breaking-in” phase, but after 2 weeks of easy care I am hoping that I won’t experience it in the future. Like you, I did notice a LOT of static energy in my hair in the first week.
I think that, since I have always used organic and xyz-free shampoos maybe twice a week, and ACV as a conditioner (for at least 3 years), my hair was read-set-go for this new process. Yay!
As to my mixture, for the first wash I used equal parts BS and water, then 1:3, and last night 1:6. Also, I added a few drops of Tea Tree oil to the BS mix because (1) I love the smell of tea tree oil (2) this can also be used as a face wash as BS scrubs the pores and TTO is a natural astringent (say hallelujah for multi-purpose concoctions!) and (3) the TTO totally masks any leftover traces of the smell of vinegar.
Other ways to make your hair smell like flowers without the shampoo? (since I’ve used ACV for a few years, I found ways!) Just spritz your hairbrush with your favorite perfume/scent (spritz, not drench), let it dry a bit, and brush your hair. Voila, pretty smelling hair that retains the scent for quite a while.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us, and I hope other people catch on to this eco/hair-friendly trick that won’t put more chemicals in our water!
Thanks for the tip about the hairbrush! Great idea 🙂
new to your blog and absolutely love it. im going to use a lot of ur recipes for various things for a basket im making for my sister. but i just recently randomly decided to stop shampooing my hair… i dye my hair black a lot and have for a long time and i know it kills my hair but i cant give up the black hehe. but i seen one post about this same recipe with baking soda and avc and just decided to give it a try. i actually surprisingly had a very verrryy smooth transition. i couldnt belive it because i had already knew exactly what i would say to anyone who asked about my super greasy hair haha. but my hair feels just as you said “thicker”. i love it and have gotten a lot of compliments on it. my only problem is the boyfriend HATES vinegar and a week ago i spilled it in the bathroom he said i did it on purpose to keep him out… id never. 😉
Jessi, have you tried dying your hair with a mixture of henna and indigo? Indigo is a natural plant and will dye your hair dark without the harsh PPD chemicals that can be extremely toxic. It won’t kill your hair and will actually help strengthen it. you can look up indigo henna or visit henna for hair dot com
Wow, this is awesome! I’m new to your blog and I can’t wait to try some of these ideas. Unfortunately I recently bought a new bottle of ‘poo, so I’ll be trying this as soon as it’s all gone.
I thought I might make one suggestion… I’m just now starting to change my diet and lifestyle by limiting all the chemicals/additives as much as reasonably possible.
I’ve been shopping on Etsy for cold pressed soaps, and I’ve read those can be good for washing your hair with and they don’t contain any of the common shampoo chemicals…
Also, I have to rinse my hair after using ACV–otherwise it will smell like it until the next time I rinse it. On day two of no ‘poo
I’m on my second week, and my hair is at the greasy stage. I don’t normally get greasy hair at ALL so it was a little surprising!! Here’s to hoping it gets better.
Betty, did you post others’ before and after pictures they sent you somewhere? I’d love some inspiration right now!
The second week for me, my hair was oily as well. Just stick with it. I have finished my fourth week of no poo. Today, I realize I was using enough of the BS wash, my hair is back to the orginality as when I first started. I would just stick with it, it does get better
I heard about the no ‘poo thing about 6 months back and immediately tried it. I was using the baking soda with very little conditioner (enough to make my hair smell nice). The trial period wasn’t too bad but I never noticed a seriously dramatic change in my hair like I hear about. Then I switched to just BP and ACV for about 2 months but my hair never seemed to get used to it. It would feel waxy at the top half and very brittle at the ends. So now I use organic, sulfate and alcohol free shampoo and conditioner but I’m still itching to make the other way work for me. Maybe it was because some of my hair was bleached about 8 months back? Hard water? Maybe I just needed to wait longer? What do you think?
I had the same problem, with my hair feeling waxy at the top. This morning I decided to use more of the Baking Soda shampoo then usually. My hair is not waxy at the top, like it was yesturday.
I used Wen years ago and I liked it. No problems with sensitivity. I was using L’Oreal’s EverPure that has no sulfates. There are no sulfates, but there are definitely salts in it. I don’t have the bottle anymore so can’t give you the specific ingredient name.
I really wanted to get into co-washing and no ‘poo and I found Hair One from Sally Beauty. It’s exactly the same as Wen and it’s only $10.49. It smells great, works great and my fine, wavy hair feels thicker and it’s much shinier.
I only wash my hair with the Hair One every few days. And I use Argan Oil as a conditioner for my ends.
I need to click through for your step-by-step no ‘poo plan and see what you’ve been up to. I did notice however that after the first week or so, my hair became way nicer. I’m 27 and had my hair highlighted for about 15 years. Yeah, I was in the salon at 12. I’m giving it all up. I had my hair colored at the salon for the last time in October 2010. My plan is to regain the natural texture and oil balance in my hair using natural and safe products.
And, I love your site. It’s awesome.
Hi Betty! I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks, but this is my first post. I decided that I needed to commemorate my first no-poo-poo, and decided that posting on the blog that inspired it would be pretty apropos!
So after day one I can already tell that my ends love it (my roots, not so much, but they will come around). I have long, curly, color-treated hair, and shampoo/conditioner seem to rob me both of my color and my body. After one ACV treatment, my ends were SUPER CURLY. They basically formed spiral curls all the way to the baking soda DMZ. I even like the way if feels. I wanted to try your nightly brushing routine, but I don’t normally brush my hair unless I am about to jump in the shower. Do you have any recommendations to help distribute sebum for us curlyheads?
I tried this for a year. I have fine, curly hair. Honestly my hair never smelled yucky..but often it smelled like ACV. I am assuming that with curly hair with an open shaft that my hair soaked up the ACV like a sponge. I would rinse, but the smell would stay and I really did not like smelling like vinegar.
Overall, I didn’t like it. I used baking soda sometimes(it was pretty hard on my hair) but mostly water and ACV and scalp massage.
I prefer making a Rosemary/nettle Infusion/tea for a rinse. I like the smell and they are lovely botanicals for the hair.
For the next 5 years I used conditioner for a scalp maggage rinsing and using a leave in conditioner. Eventually there was some buildup on my scalp that a very gentle shampoo would help with.
These days I have gone back to shampooing twice a week and leave in conditioners and I use the Rosemary tea for a rinse. My girls like it as well:)
Comin atchya from an 18 year old reader… I’m on the brink of going no ‘poo for a month (or more..). I am and always have been obsessed with the health and quality of my hair, and it kills me when it’s not pretty or soft or shiny. I discussed it with my boyfriend today to bounce ideas off of him, and he says go for it. Now it’s just getting the guts to actually do it! The first week-ish is gonna kill me!! I’m going to take before and after pics and see how it goes, whenever I start. AHH!!! So scary! Thanks for the inspiration, and I’ll try to remember to follow up when I’m done.
I’ve been no ‘poo for about 2 years now and only do shampoo if I have no other alternative. The one thing I have noticed and haven’t heard from others is the difference between hard and soft water. If my water softener runs out of salt, I know it immediately. My hair feels grimy and just plain yucky. When it’s full, my hair feels wonderful.
My hair did get more of a wave to it, feels fuller and the color is brighter (I’m blonde). It went from dishwater blonde to a much prettier blonde. Also I have virtually no split ends.
I do miss the flowery smell sometimes so to make it better I’ll sometimes add essential oils to my baking soda. The smell may not stay, especially after the ACV rinse, but it smells good in the shower at least.
are you saying that we should use a salt water rinse occasionally? I am at week two and very… ugh. Though I know its week two!
I also just stumbled your blog tonight and totally love it! I decided to go the no ‘poo route about 2 months ago now and absolutely love it. I use baking soda to clean my hair like the rest of you however my fine, oily hair didn’t do too well with apple cider vinegar so I needed to find an alternative. After trying a few organic conditioning methods I happened upon honey and lemon juice and haven’t looked back since. It makes my hair feel and smell amazing! The honey locks in moisture and the lemon juice gives it some awesome shine. I mix mine before every shower and don’t use any precise measurements but I found that if I make too much I can just use it as a facial (it work wonders for my combination skin!).
I have only caved and used shampoo once through this time period and let me just say it was a big mistake. My hair was awful to the point that I needed to wash it later the same day the BS/honey-lemon way.
Let me just say once again how fantastic your blog is, I will definitely be trying some of your skin care routines soon!
Woohoo! I’m so grateful for StumbleUpon, when it brings me helpful people like you! I really have to try this honey and lemon juice method – I’m noticing my hair’s getting a little more oily faster now that the winter’s here and the heater’s on.
Do you have the link to the actual method, by any chance? Even better – how do YOU do it? What ratio do you use? Can’t wait to try it out.
Big love!
I just spent 30 minutes going through my bookmarks for the recipe that I started with, to no avail.
I am probably the least technical person ever so I’ve never measured the honey and lemon. I just put a good bit of honey in my container (you need enough to coat your hair, I honestly just estimate), then I start with a few drops of lemon juice and stir it, adding more until the honey isn’t sticky anymore. I use baking soda to clean my hair but I only use it in my roots as it tends to be drying on my ends, then I use the honey-lemon mixture the way I would use a conditioner. I haven’t been brave enough to put the mixture in my roots since literally everything tends to make me oily so I just gather my hair like I’m making a ponytail, coat the ponytail part and leave it on for 3-5 minutes. If I have any of the mixture left over, I also coat my face with it and leave it on until I rinse my hair.
I hope this was helpful, maybe I should pay more attention to detail so I can before more informative haha. I live by trial and error more than I should!
I also wanted to add that if you don’t want any kind of highlighting to occur, this might not be the best method for you. I have noticed a nice amount of natural highlights, enough that I’ve had friends ask me if I’ve gone to the hairdresser!
Oooh. See, I hadn’t thought of the lemon juice possibly lightening my hair (which I don’t really want), but what you DID just do is give me a way to deal with the rinse – by using a ponytail! Genius!
I’ve been just dipping the ends of my hair in the ACV mixture, but I don’t feel like I’m coating enough of it that way. This solves it.
Thank you!
Okay, so, I just stumbled your blog today, and I have to say that I think I’m falling in love. heh. But anyway.. I actually did my last ‘Poo June 27th. (o.o Wow, I can’t believe it’s already been 5 months…) At first, I wasn’t using anything to ‘clean’ my hair, just rinsing with water every night. That really, /really/ didn’t work for me; My hair/scalp kind of went into shock and started producing oil like mad. I absolutely hated it, and it wasn’t getting any better. So, after a month of that, I sniffed around to find a homemade no ‘poo recipe (which happens to be basically the same that you use, according to your “No ‘Poo To You, Too!!!” post). I wash my hair every 3 – 4 days as well, however, my acv:water ratio’s a bit lower than yours.. when this bottle runs out, I’ll have to up it a bit, to see if that might work better for frizzy ends. I haven’t had a cut in just over a year now (it’s down to about mid back), and tho my ends aren’t as bad as I would expect, they’re not pretty. heh. I was completely ecstatic to read about your foray into No ‘Pooing, and more than a little reassured to know that so many others are trying this now.. The blog I had found before, when I was searching for the recipe, wasn’t very helpful, and I felt like I was the lamb being lead to slaughter.. tho I was leading myself, I guess. But anyway, Thank You for being a fantastic blogger. Also, I think your shower cap is absolutely fantastic. ^_^
Terrific! I’m so happy when I hear no ‘poo success stories! I happened across another person who blogged her no ‘poo experience a few days ago (sadly, can’t find the address) and she actually started experimenting with adding things to her ACV – like dried rosemary and peppermint essential oil and even dried peppermint. There’s probably a hundred different things you could try in it – just to give it a boost and make it smell yummy.
One thing I’ve noticed (and it’s been a year and a half since I’ve had my hair cut, too) is that my split ends aren’t as noticeable after going no ‘poo. I have this really weird obsession with clipping off split ends one by one with cuticle scissors while I contemplate things to write about – and I’m having a really hard time finding any lately. However, even though I can’t see the split ends, I do feel like the ends of my hair are pretty dry sometimes.
Not sure why I just shared that with you, but I did. Ha!
Thanks for your story. Can’t wait to hear more!
Miss betty! I have desperate plea for your assistance! i have been doing no poo for over a month now, and it’s pretty good and my transiiton period was easy ebcause i never wash my hair anyway, but my ends are so so horrid. I think its mainly because i was lightening my hair a bit for ages, and maybe conditioner always covered up just how much it damaged my hair. I really need to find a solution to a homemade conditioner that will help. i have already trimmed my hair a bit and that got rid of the worst of it, but the ends are just so dry even after using some oil on the ends that im contemplating using conditioner again, just on the very tips. I dont want at all though, i really want to find a natural homemade solution instead! Any advise at all at all!!
Help!
xox
Ruffles
I just joined the no poo club today, I have terrible dandruff and don’t know what else to do. I have tried everything over the counter. I was using Melaluca’s brand shampoo with Vinegar rinses help, but I was trying to moisturize my scalp with conditioner as well, and it just didn’t seem to get better when I added the conditioner. I don’t use SLS products because they make my condition worse. If this helps my scalp, I’m in. I will make sure I complete my 3 weeks to see if the results are beneficial. I have questions about it.
1. How often should I use the baking soda? Is it daily or every 3-5 days?
2. Do you then rinse with water and then ACV mixture as the final rinse?
3. Can I use hairspray or is the point of this to stop using all products?
4. And if the point is to stop using all products, do you have an all natural alternative for hairspray? I so love the stuff.
Your blog is totally awesome. I just found it last night. I have tried the baking soda dermabrasion. I think its just as good as a spa service.
THANK YOU!!!!
hello,
quick reply on the alternative hairspray, i use beer in a little spritzer/mister which i pur in a cup and let it sit overnight for the bubbles to go away. otherwise it will foam and leak and get sticky on your hand while spraying. you can mix it with water in 1:1 ratio, i prefer not to because my hair is very fine. i spray a little to tame down the flyaways on top and a little on my ends, than i crunch the ends to make it a little wavy.
it is better to find a spritzer bottle that sprays very fine, mine sprays almost powdery. don’t put too much, it will harden the hair strands. don’t worry about the smell it will linger only untill it dries. i use the cheapest brand of beer. here in romania this method was used to hold the more complicated buns and bride hairdos when even harispray would fail, or they had no money for hairspray.
another method is to mix water and sugar, i tried that too in different water/sugar ratio, did not work for me, and in summer the bees and bugs loved me! never to mentions it gets a little sticky:
http://www.longhaircommunity.com/archive/showthread.php?t=4998
I have very thick and wavy hair. I tried this once a few years ago, but with the rinse/condition method. I only gave it a week. And a problem I have now is that I work out most days, and get very sweaty. VERY. And I use some hair spray to keep the shorter hairs out of my face, so the combination of sweat and shellac makes me want to shampoo.
What about you gym goers? How did this work for you? Did you do anything differently?
Hi, Christy! I hope some gym-goers have some advice to offer, ’cause I’m not 100% sure what to tell you. Except that maybe, first, you could find a way to skip the hairspray. I can definitely see why that’d make you crave a good shampoo. Secondly, you could try just rinsing your hair with water after the workout. If it’s still oily, try a little dry shampoo with cornstarch (if your hair’s not too wavy to brush the cornstarch back through and out).
If no one offers a little better advice soon, I’ll put a call out to the veteran no ‘pooers around here and see if they have any ideas.
Good luck!
I’ve tried to find an alternative for the hairspray. Any kind of hair band I try, even the rubberized sports ones, just pop right off my head. I’ve tried less sticky/crunchy hairsprays, and they don’t work.
But yeah, rinsing doesn’t really get the job done, even without hairspray. But that may be because I’m still using shampoo the majority of the time. Maybe the the dry shampoo will help. I can do that in the morning when my hair is mostly dry, since I shower at night. I must have missed it, but did you recommend or give a recipe for a cornstarch dry shampoo? I have a couple commercial ones (Pssst and one by Tresseme I haven’t tried yet), but something more natural would probably be better.
ETA: And my hair is very wavy, so I usually only brush it before a shower. I can brush it other times, but I prefer how it looks un-brushed.
Use lemon juice instead of hairspray. I tried putting some lemon juice (just standard realemon or something from the grocery store) in my hair this summer thinking it would add highlights. Much to my amazement it dried hard and stuck down all the little hairs around my face. I immediately tossed my ‘hard-hold’ gel that felt so awful and used lemon juice to hold my hair down. I walk dogs for a living so am outside sweating in summer all day and the juice lasted until I got in the shower at night. It just rinses out with water too, it’s not sticky or nasty like gel or hair spray. It does dry hard and stiff, and if you mess with your hair it will come out of the hold but if you just let it dry and leave it alone it works great. I have long hair and put it in a ponytail and then juiced all the part not in the tail. Sometimes I even shellac back the tail with juice if it is flyaway!
ETA: I’m on about day 5 of no ‘poo and washed my hair last night for the first time with baking soda. As I was pouring the mix on my head and scrubbing it around I thought, “no way in hell is this going to DO anything” yet this morning my hair is clean! I am amazed. (I’ve been rinsing with ACV for a few days just for the conditioning, it makes it so much easier to comb out when wet!)
This isn’t so much a hairspray (I’m intrigued by the lemon juice idea) but I use a sea salt spray to add some texture to my hair now. I just mix about a 1/4 teaspoon in a small spray bottle and add about 3 oz water to it. It helps my curly/wavy hair have a little bit more definition than normal.
If I go more than a day and a half without shampooing, I get a totally disgusting, creamy buildup on my scalp that ITCHES like crazy. I mean, it will wake me up out of a sound sleep. I try not to scratch it, but eventually give in and have to scratch – at which point I wind up with little bleeding sores on my skull, goop piled up under my fingernails, and big handsful of hair coming out. Has anyone experienced anything like this, and could it have to do with the hardness of the water?
I don’t know how to tell if my water is “hard” or “soft,” but I keep having the nagging thought that the problem is not so much “my scalp” or “dirty hair” but “something in the water.” On the other hand, this gross scalp issue has come up at about the same time that my face has turned into Grease Central and the rest of my body into the Itchy Drylands of Hell, so maybe it’s a dermatologic thing. (Trying various shampoos, including hypoallergenic, sensitive skin, and multiple dandruff formulas, has not changed it in the slightest.) Any thoughts or insight will be welcome – I’d love to try going shampoo-free, but if I try it before I resolve whatever this itchy-scalp thing is, I’d claw myself to death by the first week!
I tried almost everything out there, including a shampoo my dermatologist gave me – never worked. Had the same issue (only on my scalp in 1-2 spots though) for nearly 7 years, until I tried no ‘poo. If you do no ‘poo, use some “anti-fungal” essential oils in both the BS and ACV. I use eucalyptus, cedarwood (not sure if that’s antifungal?), or tea tree oils. I now can go through most of a day with only scratching at it absentmindedly or once (again, while I’m bored). Also, the flaking decreased to normal looking dandruff – no blood or goop or lots of hair missing 🙂
I’ve been using this method for 5-6 years. I love it. I have long, wavy hair and used to have to wash it every day or so. Now, I go at least a week and often longer before washings. One thing that I think is very important is that I use rainwater to dissolve the baking soda in and to add to the apple cider vineger. If you live in a place with hard water and do not have a water softner this is ESSENTIAL! Not doing this has turned of a lot of people who tried this no poo method. If you have hard water the calcium and magnesium ions in hard water will combine with the carbonate part of the baking soda to form a layer on your hair (calcium carbonate – chalk – is one of them) an this does not make for nice hair. The vinegar will help a bit on this but truly the best result will be to use rainwater or softened water if you live in a hard water area. Good Luck!
I’ve heard we don’t need to shampoo. Your hair looks amazing!
Just something to think about when you feel like you might be in need of a shampoo… when I’m out of town traveling, I use straight castille liquid soap. It’s 1) easier to tote in my carry-on than a giant bottle of baking soda solution, most importantly, and 2) it doesn’t mess up my hair chemistry as much as using shampoo does. Maybe that’s an alternative if you feel like you “need” a shampoo?
Your hair looks great after 3 weeks! Does it feel greasy when you run your fingers through it?
After the olive oil and Ivory soap debacle, I feel like I’m going through the “breaking in” process all over again and it’s roughly the 3 week mark as well. There are patches of hair that feel and look FANTASTIC and then there’s the rest of it that is a grease pit again.
My hair is stick straight, stringy and shiny from the grease, but I will continue with the no-poo challenge. Like you, I’ve noticed the static but since my hair is pulled back most of the time, it’s not so bad. Drying also takes forever naturally and if I try to speed it up with the hair dryer, it winds up greasier than if I let it air dry.
Betty your hair looks beautiful!
As for Confessions of A Baltimore House Wife, its too bad the olive oil didn’t work well for you. Its always worked wonders for me but I have curly, dry hair so I need all the oils I can get 🙂 You should try the coconut oil instead I really hope it works for you!
Thanks, lady! I love it. It dawned on me that it’s not as “body-ful” as it was before, but I’ve never been fond of my hair having a lot of volume – I like it straight and sleek!
One big revelation for me was the water quality … I tried for a month in a house with hard water, and my hair was so ‘sticky’, I couldn’t get my fingers through it and gave up!
Since then we’ve moved house, the water is softer, and the difference is amazing! I can do a baking soda wash and my hair is silky & shiny.
If you want to do a test, try rinsing your hair with water that’s been boiled-then-cooled (that should make the water ‘softer’). If it helps your hair, maybe you need a water softener (at least for the shower!). Good luck!
Y’know, that’s one variable I hadn’t even really taken into account. I wonder if keeping a big jar of boiled/cooled water in the shower to use as a final rinse would help people with hard water issues. That last rinse is ever-so important.
Thanks for the tips!
I am dying to give this a shot but I need to hear from those of you who have tried this and have color in your hair…..did this mess with the color?
Any advice for a swimmer who wants to go no poo?
I’ve been wanting to go no poo for ages. I’m worried that it won’t work with me swimming three times a week in a pool with chlorine. Any advice on how to make it work?
I just love you and your blog!
I need some advice from you or someone else on here. Here’s the story…
I tried going no poo a couple of months ago. I was prepared to have a nasty hair transition time and I did – a really long one. The first ten days were almost unbearable. I have long and very thick red hair and the color became dull, each hair became more course and frizzy and my hair is usually straight. It was a gross greasy mess that couldn’t get a brush or my fingers through. Determined, I kept going, but put ACV only on at the tip of my hair instead of my scalp. After an entire month, things were the same and my hair didn’t appear to be getting better. I happened to be staying at a friend’s house and decided just to use her shampoo and conditioner since I forgot to bring my BS and ACV. After this one shampoo, but hair was back to being sleek and manageable, although the color was still off…and still is! So after that experience, I gave up and went back to my natural shampoo. My hair still looks dull and dry – ugh!
I so wanted no poo to work for me! I believed in it, and I still do…but why didn’t it work for me? Maybe because I have so much hair it just needs an extra long transition time? I want to give it a try again, but very scared to. Anyone have tips??
Well I guess i’ve joined no ‘poo movement after reading your blog 3 weeks ago, I washed my hair with shampoo only once – about 4 days ago since i had an important business meeting – i kind of regretted that decision later – my hair literally freaked out , there was so much frizz like i have never had before !
Overall I am loving this no ‘poo idea
The first couple of days my hair was super corse and dry but then I noticed that my super dry ends got less dry and more moist which is cool, also styling the hair after soda and ASV is super easy !
Woot! Welcome to the no ‘poo movement! After all these stories about shampooing after ditching the ‘poo, I’m afraid to try it now.
I loved the day when I realized the natural oils had moved all the way down my hair into the ends. All of a sudden, it’s, like, “Okay. This really IS awesome.”
Big chicken that I am, I’m waiting ’til I hear from more curly-heads like me. As it is I only use shampoo once a week, which is a big change from everyday like I used to. I’m also wondering what the BS/ACV will do to color-treated hair.
I hope someone else has curly-hair-sister advice for you, ’cause I’m honestly not sure – especially about the color-treated part. The only thing I read in my kajillions of hours of research on this was someone saying that their hair had a hard time accepting color treatments when they were no ‘poo.
Actually, come to think of it, what she said was that before she’d get her hair colored, she would wash it for a few days with shampoo to strip the natural oils from it. I also remember she was the one who was using a cucumber-lemon concoction to wash with.
I guess what I’m saying is: I have no idea. I fear none of that was helpful at all.
I have a bit of a natural wave to my hair and I dye my hair BRIGHT/DARK red…the BS/ACV I’ve been using for about 2 months now has barely faded my hair. If anything, the color is going because of the hard city water I have. My hair is almost perfect now, after adjusting for a while, but I just love that a mild mixture (1 Tbsp. BS to 8oz. water, and 1.5Tbsp ACV to 8oz. water, each with a little bit of whatever essential oil I feel like) cleans my hair every-other day, and keeps it so soft, coworkers come pet my hair!
Sorry about the curly, but all I know is, I get super straight hair that does what I want with a round brush and blow-dryer, or I get really medium-wavy hair with air dry – more wave than even with a Farrah haircut back in high school!
I would say try it…it’s affordable enough that after 2 weeks, if you really hate it, you can just go back to your shampoo.
Okay – I have to break in here and say THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving some insight into color-treated hair and no ‘poo. It was so frustrating to not have an answer.
You’re, like, the super hero of this blog today. For reals.
Thank you!
You look lovely darling…I love the darker color AWESOME!! I’m a complete convert now – my hair feels much thicker and has more body. It usually is “skull-sucking” straight and now has more oomph to it. AND it holds it’s style much better now..with NO product!!
I will admit that I added a small dash of castille soap to my bottle of baking soda mix after Halloween eve…simply because I had to remove the black hair paint in my hair..and water just wasn’t taking it out.
Scent-wise – as I’m a sucker for scents – occasionally, I’ve been adding a drop of essential oil to my rinse bottle…just to give my hair a little love.
so, what’s next??? 🙂
Y’know, that’s what I’ve been hearing the MOST from all of this – that people no longer need to use product. I’ve never been much of a product-user anyway, but I can say that I no longer need to even consider using a “glossing” agent to smooth the broken hairs down and make it shinier.
I’m SO afraid I’m going to jinx this good run, but seriously – what have we done that hasn’t (at least eventually) been awesome?
What’s next? I don’t know. You got any suggestions??
Heh, heh, I totally thought that shower cap was whipped cream and I was sitting here thinking about how perfectly shaped all the whipped cream flowers were and WTH were you doing and then I realized it was…not whipped cream.
I think your hair looks great in the no poo picture. And it’s true your hair might FREAK OUT if you use shampoo after not using for awhile. I did just to shut my husband up about the vinegar smell and my hair felt weird. I do use a shampoo bar maybe once a month or so – that seems fine. The rest of the time, it’s shikakai and white vin. Turns out tangerine eo hides the vin.smell pretty well.
Haha! I went back and looked and I TOTALLY see where you got the whipped cream idea. Now I’m not going to be able to wear that thing without thinking of whipped creamhead.
I’m so glad you brought up Shikakai. Do you know anything about Song of India Powder Shampoo? I bought some a while back – used it once – and LOVED it, but I’m just not 100% sure what the ingredients are. According to the packaging, they don’t use any preservatives, but they don’t go into detail on the ingredients. A search online brought me little to nothing in the way of “official” ingredients (just a mention of coconut oil, essential oils, and other stuff).
Anyway, was hoping maybe – with using Shikakai, you might have some idea? I hate to recommend this stuff until I know what’s in it.
I’ve never heard of it (though now of course I am all dying to try it) but all I got after googling was the same ingredient list as you, probably. Though they make one with a scent called “Heart Erection”!?!?
I did come across a cool website for making Indian haircare: http://www.gossamerstrands.com/Hair/Indianherbs.htm
My hair is a lot straighter too, my hair had been damaged from peroxcide use when I was a teenager and it seems as thick as it was before I did that. I have less fly aways too, but I do miss my hair smelling like something
I hear you, lady. I miss the smell, too. A lot.
You could make a quick spray with essential oils and water, shake it up before using, and just spray on your hair. I’ve been meaning to do that, but what I’ve been doing lately is just pulling out one of my little natural perfume bottles (I have a lovely vanilla and an amber musk that’s to die for) and dabbing a drop or two in my hair.
Actually, there’s SO many things we could do to bring the yummy smells back. You just gave me a post idea. Thanks!
Craven coward that I am I was waiting to see this post first. If you still want ’em in three weeks, I’ll send pictures then. 🙂
Oh heck yes. I’ll still want ’em then!
Good luck. You know where to go if you have any questions (or, I can point you in the direction of people who have answers I don’t). Also, if you’re on Twitter, you could use the hashtag #teamnopoo and there’s a few ladies there who’ll give you encouragement/answers, too.
Mwah!
Before and after photos will come tomorrow morning, I think, after I wash. I can’t BELIEVE it’s been three weeks already!
You already know part of my story — I used the BS/ACV method and my hair started falling out. In clumps. It was NOOOT PRETTY! But thankfully this wonderful community pointed me in the right direction — wash with conditioner and sugar! SUGAR! I stopped putting it in my food so I’m really glad I have something else to do with it!
I was with sugar and (all natural) conditioner every three or four days and rinse with water and a teeny bit of conditioner between those times. For the first little while I had to use 1/2 cup of conditioner just to feel like I was helping my hair along!! But the more I do this the less conditioner I need for my hair to feel healthy and smooth… thank goodness!
The results? Well, my hair is about the same as it was when I was shampooing… except that it requires far less product. Conditioner + sugar, then some Argan oil to smooth out flyaways and then I let it air dry and we’re good to go! Curly, happy… except that now it takes about 5 hours to air dry. I don’t know how I feel about that — it used to take 2 hours, tops!
I’m not 100% converted yet, though! I’d love to find a way to do this without using a conditioner! Part of my reason for trying this out was the fact that I really really really want to reduce my plastic consumption and I’ve yet to find a place that has a refill program for conditioner! I’m going to keep trying different things, but for now? This is working pretty well 🙂
I think after awhile it takes less time to dry. I noticed that it was taking practically all day for my hair to dry and this lasted for months. Now though, after 4 months or so, it seems better. Maybe it is an adjustment thing.
I’m SO glad to hear your update, lady! You’ve been on my mind several times throughout this whole thing.
Oooh – I also LOVE that you’re using Argan oil, too. I’m waiting on some that my Moroccan ex-boyfriend is sending me. I’ll have to try an Argan oil hair mask. Yum.
Also, thank goodness you found something that works for you, at least for now. The sugar idea sounds so interesting. Will have to try that for a while, too, just for fun (and what a great use for extra sugar, too).
Do you have any local natural foods stores? We have a couple here in Colorado Springs that lets you just bring in your own container and fill your shampoo/conditioner/castille/whatever right there in the store. SO handy!
Anyway, THANK YOU for the update! Good to know you’re not running around with five strands of hair left on your head screaming, “I’LL GET THAT CRUNCHY BETTY IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO!”
Lemme just warn you, SERIOUSLY, if you shampoo it after not shampooing it forever, it might freak out. At least mine did. It was like my hair wanted to fly away :3
SO many stories about hair having a negative reaction to shampoo after going no ‘poo for a while! I may have to rethink using ‘poo ever in the future, and find an alternative.
Although some sick side of me really wants to see how badly my hair WILL freak out now. Hehe.
It looks so different!!! I thought you had good hair before. it looks really good now.
I’m giving that Wen haircare a try first. more because I love the smell of shampoo and they’re sending me product to try for free (yay for blogger outreach programs!)
I’ve been no ‘poo for over a year. I gave up BS/ACV in favor of gentler methods because my hair is wavy and fine, which doesn’t always work with BS. I now use Indian herbs, egg, flaxseed, and a number of other things that I brew up in my own kitchen.
gigi–check out this http://tightlycurly.com/products/combingconditioners/ before you shell out the big bucks for Wen. (seach for it once you click on the link). The product is a big waste of money–nothing you couldn’t get from a regular store-bought conditioner. It’s all in the marketing.
On that note, those of you fond of hair masks might find that conditioner is all you need to get even the toughest crud from your hair. I will under no circumstances go back to shampoo. I will go Water-Only if shampoo is the only alternative!
Ugh! See? I’m SO glad I mentioned that I might use shampoo again some day. SO many people telling me it’s going to be a huge mistake.
I got some Song of India powder shampoo at one of the little Tibetan shops here (I used it once a while back) and loved it. Think it might do the job. I just wish I could find out exactly what the ingredients are in it. Emailed the manufacturer and got no reply. Meh.
And thanks for the info on Wen! That’ll be a great resource to pass along.
Thanks, lady. I was thinking earlier today that it looks like I’ve found my inner Native American hair (I’m, like, 1/16th Choctaw and Cherokee somewhere in there). I love that!
Yay for blogger outreach programs, indeed. We’re plotting a cruise line takeover on Twitter by pulling the bloggy card. Wanna come?
I’ve been going no ‘poo for… awhile? I think I started a little after you posted about it. It’s been pretty totally painless. I have short, very fine hair, and have just skipped the vinegar part, using only the baking soda solution you specified, washing every 3 days. Your comment about how our grandmothers used to do things got me thinking, though, and I’ve been giving my head and scalp a very thorough brushing every night with a natural boar bristle brush. Even when it look totally slick and oily when I go to bed, it has all absorbed by morning. I can’t believe how much more body I have, but unfortunately my grey seems much more prominent, too.
Oooh, I know! That last brush of the night is always SO satisfying. And I agree, the morning hair is way better than it used to be.
I’m going to have to make sure Kristin from Peace, Love and Muesli sees this comment, too, ’cause she has short hair and has mentioned issues with the no ‘poo. Maybe she just needs to ditch ACV to make it all better.
Thanks for sharing your story!
I am way impressed, pretty lady.
You is one tough broad!
So to speak.
So, I was really looking at your hair in your Halloween pictures, and I have the feeling you’re, like, the PERFECT candidate for no ‘poo.
I’m just sayin’.
Ken says it’s fine and feels less smooth, coarser. I caved in and used ‘poo once, then immediately regretted it bc my hair was too shiny to style. Then I had to use product and then my scalp went nuts…
Mostly I’m liking the no ‘poo too. My hair is coarser too and dull, which I’m not loving. I’ll continue on too.
I don’t know if this’ll help, but there’s a comment by Loquamani down there where she says she’s got short hair and had issues with the ACV. Maybe you need to drop the ACV for a while and see how that goes?
Glad you kept up with it, and THANK YOU for being the brainchild behind #teamnopoo. That was SO handy the last few weeks.
I will give the ACV a break and I think I need a better brush.
Also I have a face cream crisis- I’m all out. Do I have to buy more?
You don’t have to buy more! Instead (and this will probably be more expensive, but it’ll last a LOT longer) get yourself some jojoba and apricot kernel oils (your skin’s kinda dry, right) and maybe some avocado oil. Put 1 tsp jojoba, 2 Tbsp apricot kernel, and 1 Tbsp avocado oil in a small bottle. Shake well. To that, you could add a few drops of essential oil (if your skin IS dry, use roman chamomile or rose otto). Use that as a moisturizer instead.
I’m so in love with my oil moisturizer, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to creams.
I am on Day 5 and I do wash daily. My hair is short and very fine/thin so my greasiness was not at all lasting…maybe the first day it felt oily sooner than usual. I have used 2 squirt bottles…one with Baking soda and water, the other with white vinegar and water- added a Rosemary sprig (I am dirty blond trying to get darker for winter) and a cinnamon stick.
I enjoy it HOWEVER– I have sensitive skin and if the vinegar solution drips on my face, it leaves a red streak….which can be avoided and also if I vary the ratio probably will not be a future issue.
Oooh. I LOVE the idea to add rosemary and other stuff to the ACV. I’m making a new bottle right now, but I have to use dried. I only have dried on hand, though, but that’ll be okay. Because my hair’s so long, I’ve just been dipping the ends of it in the ACV jar – I won’t even need to strain it!
Thanks for the idea!
Oh how fabulous! I’ve just discovered your blog and boy am I inspired! Yeehah, I’ve thrown my poo out and I’m taking on the honey facial wash regime as well… so excited to see how it goes! Thank you for the butt kick!