no_poo

Tomorrow I will be no-pooing for 7 weeks. I like it so far for various reasons: great with my stingy budget, added some volume to my short/fine hair, and gives me loads of more time with not doing my hair. Unfortunately I seem to get so greasy so fast its discouraging.

My routine is: Sundays I travel to my moms house (she has a water softener) to wash my hair with a BS mixture (1 tbspn/cup water), ACV (same as BS), and finish off with a green tea rinse. I only do that once a week, and on Wednesdays I WO in my hard water apartment (but I have a filter that helps with chlorine and "other minerals") I have been doing this religiously for 7 weeks straight and by the Wednesday that I WO my hair is so crazy greasy that the WO barely helps hide it.

I HAVE TRIED:

Boiling the water I put in my mixtures (BS, ACV, Green Tea) . That got rid of my waxy feeling from my hard water instantly.

The boar bristle brush. It seems to not work as well as I thought it would, and I try to brush as much as a can with with it (cleaning it after each time I use it)

Using less Vinegar . Some people suggested in other posts that the ACV can add to greasiness and I've lessened it but I've seen no difference.

Various DIY Dry Shampoos. I've read a few blogs suggesting cocoa powder or cornstarch to help with some but it really doesn't help, it helps hide some grease but my hair still needed to be put in a pony tail/bun.

I've tried so many things and I guess by 7 weeks I was hoping that I could go maybe 4-5 days before I would have to resort to the pony tail/bun. Instead I'm going 2 days hair down and 5 days hair up. My transition period seems never ending...

I'm traveling to Europe soon and I was hoping to stick to my routine, but they only have hard water where I'm going. Does anybody have any suggestions? Help is much appreciated, thanks!

Hey guys,

I've been 'poo-free for about six weeks. My usual routine consists of:

- Washing my hair 2x a week with a mixture of half a cup of boiled water and half a teaspoon of baking soda and a couple drops of tea tree oil, followed by an ACV rinse
- Washing my hair WO 3x a week, sometimes followed by an ACV rinse

I had so-so results; at the very least I was not ashamed to go to class the day after washing my hair (and I have a bob, so I can't pull my hair into a ponytail). I did find that the hair at the back of my head ended up really, really brittle and wiry, and I habitually plucked out the unsavory strands. That, however, is not my main problem. My problem is that I recently moved from my college apartment back home for summer vacation, and now my hair LOOKS like an oily mess. The roots of my hair are clumping together so it just looks so greasy and stringy. The strange thing is that if I run my fingers through my hair, it doesn't feel nasty or anything. If I didn't have a mirror, I wouldn't have known my hair looked gross. I have tried washing WO and washing by BS/ACV, but my hair keeps drying into the greasy mess. It doesn't look good after being brushed by a boar bristle brush either.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Do any of you guys have any advice? I start work in a few days and I definitely don't want a bad first impression.

I am currently using tresemme shampoo and conditioner. I'm really interested in going no 'poo and I think that I finally have the chance to deal with a transition period. From what I've been reading, I should probably start limiting how many times I wash my hair a week. So here are my questions for that part:

1. If I wash it every other day what should I do with it on days that I'm not washing it. I'll probably still shower so can I get it wet or should I get a shower cap?
2. I read that you shouldn't get it wet on days you don't wash it. Why not?

Once I feel like I've transitioned enough for that would it be a good idea to go straight to no 'poo or would it be smarter to try more natural shampoos for awhile? I've tried a few before and they just made my hair extremely greasy but dry at the same time so I'm really afraid to try them again. Any recommendations on ones I might be interested in trying.

I've also heard of people using castile soap. Can any one link me to recipes or experiences with using that to wash hair?

Does anyone have any links to their story? I've found a lot of people that will tell you what they use and how often but they don't describe how they got to only washing their hair a few times a week or what they did to prepare their head for no 'poo and that's what I am most interested in.

I know this is a lot of questions that have probably been answered before but I don't have time to search through all the tags. Thanks so much!

Learning about the no-poo method had me intrigued so I decided to try it. Back in January, I started using a BS/water solution mixed in with the tiniest bit of shampoo in my old shampoo bottle. I immediately liked my hair better, and could continue to go 3-4 days between washes without being obviously greasy, same as with shampoo. I haven't seen any less time between greasy periods, though I've now been using BS/water only for at least a month. I also have been using a ACV/water rinse for conditioner since January. I'm trying to stretch it out to about one wash per week, but it's getting frustrating on those greasy days.

To recap--BS/Water/trace of shampoo and ACV/water rinse for 3-4 months and then change to BS/water and ACV/water rinse for the past 4-6 weeks, but still really needs two washes a week to avoid greasiness. Any tips to help or advice about the transition period would be greatly appreciated!

I'm looking to get a shampoo bar for myself, and the rest of my family. Are there any inexpensive shampoo bars out there - either online, in-store, etsy, etc? I'm hoping to use it once a week or so, but I think the others in my family might want to use it more. Are there any cheap, non-toxic shampoos you'd recommend for occasional use?

• No-poo since May 2011
• Normal hair, fine but a lot of it, 2" past brastrap (and since I'm 6'1" that's a lot of hair), straight, dark brunette
• Love no-poo for my scalp dermatitis and for volume.

I've started exercising about 5 days a week, Bikram yoga which means a lot of sweat. Now my hair is overproducing oils probably from overwashing, I'm not sure what happened. I tried reducing the BS so I could wash more frequently, every other day or every 3 days, but it is very inconsistent. The length of my hair is stringy now, and adding pomade (John Masters Organics) just makes it stringier. Now I only have good hair if it's just been washed, the next day it gets oily by the end of the day.

For a long time I had my hair on a great routine, shiny, lots of body, usually a bit on the drier side right after a wash but that made the wash last longer, around 7 days with water washes every other day or every day. A water wash after exercising worked just fine.

My routine has been totally thrown up in the air. I always put the acid on my scalp for oil control as well as on the length, though recently the more I do that the heavier/oilier my head gets, which is not how it should work, I mean, I don't go crazy with the vinegar on my head. I've been alternating as I feel like it between:
- 1 tablespoon BS/1 cup water (always using boiling water and making sure the BS hasn't gone bad)
- 2 teaspoons BS/1 cup water
- Herbal rinse for oil control and volume w ACV, infusion of 1 tablespoon wild cherry bark, oatstraw, tarragon, nettle, rosehips (this has become too heavy for my hair w the overproducing oils)
- ACV with 1 tablespoon honey and infusion of nettle
- Straight traditional 1.5 tablespoon/1 cup water ACV rinse
- Straight 1.5 tablespoon/1 cup water white vinegar rinse

I'm going to troll around the exercise, long hair, oil control posts but I'd love advise on getting my hair back to a consistent normal so I don't have to worry about it, manage it so much. This is too much work for me right now!

Thanks everyone.

I haven't actually started the No Poo method yet as I have a few questions first if anyone can clarify them for me??

First, ok so when I start my first day, I'm obviously washing with the BS and conditioning with the ACV. After that day, from what I've read from other posts, am I to NOT wash or condition for as many days as I can stand until I wash and condition again? Or, am I supposed to water only wash and ACV condition on my days in between the BS washes?

Secondly, when the transition period is over, which is hopefully sooner then later, ewww!! I will hopefully have shiny, glossy hair as most people have reported and at that point am I mostly just water only washing and occasionally using the BS and ACV?

Lastly, I know most people have said that once your hair is dry, the ACV smell disappears but I am still a little concerned and self conscious and know I'll miss my nice smelling hair so I was wondering if anyone can recommend an essential oil smell that I can add to the ACV. I know some people have added the tea tree oil or I think lavender oil, neither of which I am a huge fan so if anyone has any other suggestions I would really appreciate it.

Also, I have colored blonde hair, fairly straight with a very slight wave and fine but I have alot of it.

Thanks a bunch from a hopeful no poo newbie!!

I definitely do need to do something about once or twice a month to get rid of some build-up that's probably coming from my not-entirely-soft water.

I think I finally understand what you guys mean by "waxy." My hair doesn't look or feel greasy. It actually still looks ok. But over the last few days, it just feels... well, waxy.

Methods aimed at getting rid of just scalp oil don't work. I'm pretty sure it's mineral build-up.

So, I'm thinking a single pass with a shampoo bar once or twice a month will be it. I'm still a little wary of BS after my first terrible experience with it. And really, as long as it's not a detergent like regular 'poo, then I'm still sticking to my goal.

My scalp already seems to have more or less stopped over-producing oil, but there's no getting around my mediocre water quality.

I'm thinking the shampoo bar and then honey for the lengths to give them back some moisture.

But it's still really damn cool that my oil production has dropped so dramatically in the past month. I used to be a greaseball after just 3 days. I went 2 straight weeks of no-cheating WO twice a week with very little greasiness before I started feeling the build-up, and that's with a transitioning scalp. Maybe I can go longer with more time, or find something else that works well.

But I already tried a couple things, so I don't want to freak out my scalp again like I did the first week. I'm just going to do what I know will work.

Any other suggestions for methods of getting rid of build-up? I am also a little bit worried the honey will lighten my dark hair if I use it regularly. But, I have it on-hand, and it should work.

Hello, all. Just wanted to share a neem vs. dandruff story. The neem won. It's only been two days, but a dandruff problem a friend has had for his whole life has vanished! I encouraged him to go no-poo, and that helped a little. I encouraged him to use tea tree on his scalp, and that helped a little more. His dandruff never went away completely, though. Until now. Over a few years, I have accumulated an apothecary of dried herbs and such, and was able to do this on a whim. However, if you are working on a budget (herbs aren't that expensive individually, but they can add up...), I'll break what I used down into groups:

Essential ingredient: Neem leaves
Additional chronic skin condition helpers: Calendula flowers, comfrey leaves, borage
Herbs for inhibiting unwanted organisms: Eucalyptus, peppermint, spearmint
Soothing agents: Lavender, rose

I used a Tablespoon of the lavender, peppermint, spearmint, calendula, rose, and borage, a teaspoon or comfrey, and a good handful of neem leaves. Like, a GOOD handful.

Place them in a heat-safe bowl that you can cover with something that won't let air escape. Pour boiling water over the herbs (for this amount, I used about 4 cups), and cover tightly. Let steep until it reaches room temperature. Strain, squeezing the herbs, so you get all the good stuff. I filled two spray bottles with this, and had some left over. I sprayed my friend's scalp while his hair was dry. He sprayed it again the next morning. I checked his scalp the next evening, and found only one patch of pink skin and flakes!! It's almost completely gone, when his entire head was covered just two days ago!

You could add a tablespoon of raw, local honey to add healing/moisturising benefits, but since summer's coming on, you might not want to.

It sort of coats the hair a little, I think, though. So, it might be better to use before and directly after a shower while the hair is still wet. Other than that, it's so wonderful. I've used it on my face as a toner, and on bug bites, and it's worked wonderfully with both!

Cross-posted to naturalliving

I read about this for a bit. I'm addicted to shampoos and conditioners. I fly through conditioner like it's water. I was doing a wash every 3 days until I started exercising and washing more often. Now, it'd reached the point where I had to wash nearly every day and I was struggling to get through a day of yucky greasy hair with dry ends just to get to the next wash. I ditched the poo three days ago and haven't yet washed since. I'm trying to hurry the detox, if I can. I did BS wash with ACV rinse. First day the ends were faintly dry. Day 3, there's only a hint of oil at the scalp which I've brushed through and my hair looks great even put up now when normally it doesn't. The ends are not oily and it's SHINY. I'm happy so far, but very early into this journey. I have no intention of eventually doing WO, just long times between washes.

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I'm so excited about my hair, I just HAD to write about it!

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had know idea that the "no-'poo" movement existed. Then, in my recent quest to try and limit the toxins that my body is exposed to, I came across some information on no-poo. After reading up on the subject, I decided I was the perfect candidate to give it a go.

I have VERY short hair...a pixie cut. The longest pieces are no more than two inches. Plus, my hair is dark brown, very wavy, and dry. It is more fine, not coarse, but I have a lot of it. Anyway, before no-poo, I was washing it every morning with Aveda shampoo & conditioner and then putting some Aveda styling product(s) in it.

And then I stopped. Eight days ago.

In that time, I have done a BS wash/ACV rinse once. Then a couple of days later I did a CO with Aubrey Organics Rosa Mosqueta conditioner. All of the other days were WO. I can't give up my morning shower; it's too refreshing. No matter what length I keep my hair (and most likely it will remain super-short), I will always get it wet in the morning. I use a BBB and then a fine-toothed comb on my hair before I get in the shower.

The pros: My hair looks healthy and fantastic. It's very shiny...not "greasy"-shiny, just healthy-shiny.

The cons: I can't dye my hair anymore, which is something that I did every month. But I'm sure I'll get over it. And then there's the....um...smell? It's sad that I associate a healthier-scalp smell with dirty hair. I suppose I will get over it. I have no intention of trying to mask it with essential oils. My hair is not dirty; I massage & rinse it every day, and will be doing the BS/ACV wash weekly (note: I live in a soft-water area).

All in all, I'm thrilled with the results and so glad that I can write about it here. Because this is just something that a lot of people would not properly understand!

Hello WO people!

How long does your hair dry after WO?
Mine takes two to (sometimes) four hours to dry - I was wondering how this would compare to other people's drying time and if this is normal.
Oh, because of my water quality I also do acidic rinses.

My hair is collarbone length, straight, mainly fine, quiet dense. While answering could you describe your hair type? :)


Edit - a few days later - thanks for your replies! I guess this is the nature of WO. My hair took less time to dry when I was washing my hair with anything (incl. no poo stuff such as egg yolks). I am trying to go total WO + rinse without 'cheating'. My hair today was sort of lank and stringy, cool-damp (as if 5% wet) around the lengths BUT the roots were absolutely clean and fluffy. Go figure. Let's see how it goes.

Hi everyone. First time posting, but I've been reading this comm a lot since I started my no 'poo experiment, which I did on Feb 14, so I've been shampoo-free ~7 weeks now.

I have bra-strap length, medium-thick, brown hair (never dyed). I would say it's slightly wavy; it blow-dries almost entirely straight, but it holds curls very well (for days), so...

I have mostly been using baking soda washes. By now I go 4-6 days between washes, but the last 2-3 days it's pretty oily and I only wear it up.

I started out using acv, but the smell really really got to me, so for the past three washes I've been using lemon juice instead. I don't know if I'm imagining it, but I do think it's changing my hair color. I think it looks more reddish, and also more dull! :(

I've also tried egg yolk washes, which did work well, but my hair is so long I feel like I need three egg yolks to a wash, so I don't feel like that's an option every time (too expensive!).

I tried a tea rinse once, but I think it was too conditioning for my hair? I've started concentrating my bs wash (1tpsp:1cup water) on my scalp, and my lemon rinse (1tpsb:1cup water) on the body of hair -- soaking the hair in the rinse and letting it sit, and then only pouring the remaining amount over my head and rinsing immediately. I think this did help me go longer before my hair started looking oily.

My hair feels clean when I wash it with either bs or egg yolk, and even when it's coming up on day 4-6, it doesn't feel greasy or full of gunk the way it did during transition, just oily. So I do think no 'poo is a success.

Except for how I think my hair is looking more and more dull. And I'm worried using bs as often as I do will damage it too much.

Long story short:

1) Looking for ideas to make my hair look healthier (it FEELS just fine, I just want it to LOOK nicer).

2) Any advice on how to cut down on using bs? Or are people using bs weekly with no bad effects?

3) Is there a less-smelly alternative to acv that DOESN'T redden my hair the way I suspect lemon juice is doing?

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Hey, guys. I wanted to put some stuff out there since I see kind of a dearth of straight-up WO washers. I also have a couple questions. I swear I'll stop posting so much soon! I'm just so excited!

The obligatory basics:
Color: Brunette (natural).
Length: A couple inches past my shoulders, very layered.
Texture: Wavy, fine.
Density: Medium-to-thick.
Water quality: Soft-ish/medium (looked like about 4-5 GPG when I tested it).

It's going really well, so I wanted to share what I've been doing. Cut because it's crazy-long. :3

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Now, on to a couple questions...

1. How oily my hair feels can vary from minute to minute. It might feel a little oilier than I'd like, and then a minute later, it feels just fine. Why is this? Does it have something to do with heat or something (like the way coconut oil can be hard or liquid depending on the temp)?

2. I do have a couple areas that get oilier than others, like the hair right by my ears. Is there some way to "spot treat" without drying it out too much?

3. I think I might like to do something for clarifying once a month, since my water isn't completely soft and I don't want anything building up on my hair. Salt was a little too drying and citrus did nothing, so I'm thinking of trying tea. Is this a good "in between" kind of rinse? I'm going to try either black tea or peppermint. Which do you think will work better for that, and in what ratio of teabags to water?

Hi! I made a few entries a few years back using flax seed mucilage with verious herbal washes. I've tried the widely accepted BS/ACV method, the CO method, an assortment of commercial no-poo products, castile soap, soap nuts, and finally, FINALLY I have found the solution! Just water!

Do you remember that wonderful feeling you'd have every time you ran your fingers through your hair when you fell off the no-poo wagon? How soft and fine and silky your hair felt? No-poo never felt that way. I could feel gunk in my hair; it felt coarse and tangly. I haven't used commercial shampoo for over six years. I knew the secret to gorgeous, healthy hair was somewhere in the no-poo jungle. I stuck it out. Luckily, I have easy hair to do this with. Curly hair just looks like it has too much product in it when it's greasy. About three years ago, I'd been using Miss Jessie's Creme De La Curl (which smells AMAZING), and I found out I was allergic to wheat. What does this have to do with hair?? I'll tell you. After about six months of having cut wheat entirely from my diet, I noticed my scalp was still itching, and I kept getting pimples ALL OVER my hairline. I read the ingredients, and sure enough, it has wheat germ oil in it. *sigh* So, with no where else to turn, I simply stopped washing my hair.

The Transition: I'd have to take a shower every day. Mostly to get the sebum away from my roots. After a couple weeks, I had to use shampoo, but I saw the potential. All those years of no-poo had paid off, and my sebum production was remarkably slower than I thought it would be. So, I went three weeks the next time, merely scrubbing my head with the pads of my fingers as if I were using shampoo. Then came the concern for the smell. I work out. Outside. I get all kinds of sweaty, and water with a good dousing of perfume (or 'French Showers' as I'd refer to them) was not cutting it. Luckily, I've accumulated a crapload of essential oils. I made a nice-smelling mixture with scalp-soothing elements and anti-dandruff oils, put it in a dropper bottle, and rubbed 5-10 drops into my scalp before my shower. This also reduced the need to shower every day. After about four months, my hair actually started to feel dry. My hair was still not quite the texture I loved so much with conventional shampoo and conditioner, but it felt healthy. Not coarse or filmy or straw-like or limp or greasy. With it starting to feel a little dry, I made a mixture of hemp, macademia, and argan oil to use *before* the shower (about 10 drops from a dropper), concentrating on the ends, but rubbing it all over. This ensured even distribution and no greasy layer. Somewhere around the eight month mark, the texture of my hair changed. It's soft, fine, untangly, and so shiny. I've started to use a little of the oil mixture after my shower as a styling product.

So, now I can go two weeks without a shower, and not suffer any adverse effects. I always get compliments on how good I smell (a vital thing for me and my mild obsession with all things olfactory). A lot of people have been trying to go water-only, and I'm adding this to the consensus. It just takes time. I had very short hair when I started the WO method about two years ago, which might have helped expidite the process.

I think the most rewarding part of this saga is that I was able to pass this knowledge on to my sister and boyfriend who also made the transition and have never looked back. My sister doesn't use any essential oils, but does use a commercial styling product, and my boyfriend uses castor oil with tea tree and cedarwood oil in it before his showers. I guess the trick is experimenting with what works specifically for you.

I am having the weirdest issue right now. I'm wondering if someone can explain this to me?

Background: I'm in week 2-3 of no-poo. Most days, water only. The last thing I put in my hair was a shampoo bar (after being left little choice when I dumped WAY too much cocoa powder on my head) about a week ago. I just washed WO.

And, um... each side of my head is the polar opposite of the other.

I part a bit to the side, but I also make sure to wash and brush with no part, and only part it when I'm done.

On the left side of my head, the top of my hair actually feels somewhat clean. But the under layer is greasy.

On the right side of my head, my top layer feels greasy. And the under layer feels clean.

What!?

I need a "hair types -- crazy" tag...

I used to have thick, slightly wavy waist-length hair (mixed Asian/White).  I started washing it with BS and ACV rinses in June 2010.  Just before Christmas I shaved my head for charity, and have been using the opportunity to make an easier transition to WO.

For the first week or so, my bare scalp felt quite oily, but with no hair in the way, it was easy enough to rinse it and it didn't bother me.  Three months on, my hair is a page-boy cut.  It feels different than it did; less dry.  I'm concerned that it feels oily, but I've had two people stroke/smell my hair, and they've affirmed that they don't interpret it as oily/greasy and that it smells like hair.  I've had some dandruff, which I didn't get with the BSC and ACV rinses.  I've been experimenting with leaving longer between rinses and using cooler water, and it seems to be helping.

At this point, no matter how frequently or infrequently I wash my hair, it feels pretty much the same.  The back/crown feels oilier than it did, but not dirty or greasy, and the top/sides are fluffy.

I'm quite excited to see how it looks/feels when it's longer!

Just wanted to share with those who are looking for new things to try:

I have used BS/AC and have gone water-only. My hair is thick, but the texture is fine, so if its oily its very flat and unappealing. I just moved to an area with hard water, and my water only hair went downhill. I tried everything (rinses, cornstarch, etc.) but nothing could alleviate my dry scalp and flat strands. With much regret I finally gave up on water-only washing and now have settled on a new routine. Before I wash my hair, I oil it with coconut oil (I've tried sesame oil, which makes my hair crunchy, and olive oil, which doesn't help my scalp), let it sit for awhile (either for an hour or overnight), and wash my hair with a saponified shea butter shampoo (I use Everyday Shea's baby shampoo). I do this every three days or so, depending on how it looks. It makes my hair light and fluffy again, but still as shiny, soft and healthy as water-only. I've tried using eggs and soapnut powder to wash my hair as well; both work, but I find the shampoo is just more convenient. This method is by far the most convenient and best-looking way for me to wash my hair yet.

Just wanted to share my method with those of you who haven't found that one washing technique to make their hair look great, the natural way. Don't give up hope, and hope it helps!!


Pic of my hair now

Hi all!

Proud to say I'm officially one-year of no-poo this month! Woot!

Anyway - looking for some advice. I love not being enslaved to products and want to transition to WO completely. My hair is straight, very thick, and an inch or so past my shoulders. I travel a lot so am subjected to both very hard and normal water.

My current routine is BS/WV wash once a week, with WO the rest of the week. (Sometimes instead of WO, I do a nettle tea rinse.) I've been trying to stretch the length in between BS washes (last week, I went 9 days), and when I do wash I've been using BS just in trouble areas of my scalp. Is this the best method? I thought about going cold turkey, but my hair gets so sticky and heavy with sebum and stringy at the ends that I just get fed up and need to do the BS wash. Any advice from people who've successfully made the transition? What can I expect?

Thanks bunches.

I used to have nice, healthy, slightly curly hair. Then I moved to the desert. A couple months after the move, and I am starting to have a rat's nest at the nape of my neck at the end of every day. The ends of my hair are now straw. Any suggestions for a good conditioner to help? Current conditioner is white vinegar and lavender eo in water.

I have very hard water and conditioner only after a while was leaving a build up, I mixing a bunch on baking soda in with the conditioner before I washed my hair and it seemed to get my hair cleaner, but it took a lot of conditioner to get out the bs residue, due to hard water. I think I will try it again with less baking soda. Maybe a teasponn or so in the conditioner. Has anyone else tried this method? What were the results?

I got my hair cut recently and the hairdresser told me that my natuarally blonde hair has less melanin and breaks more easily than darker hair. She suggested a Paul Mitchell product, Forever Blonde hair repairing something or other. Well I wanted something more natural of course so I was thinking of applying an oil to my hair ends. What would be a good oil to use? especially for my thin blonde hair?

EDIT: I used only a little bs in the conditioner and it worked so well! My hair is really clean. I also got some jojoba oil for my ends

Hey guys! Wondering if I could get your input. I'm new here, and this looks like a great place. :)

But first, a bit about me and my friendly keratin head growth.

I have medium length, very layered brunette hair that's fine and wavy -- but I have a lot of it. I would call it moderately oily. I've heard of worse. My hair typically looks best on day 2 after a 'poo wash. Day 1 is always too dry.

And that's pretty much why I wanted to do this. I feel like I'm destroying my hair.

No heat, no dyes, but it's still very fine and it's dry whenever I shampoo. I look back at pictures of me in my tweens, and my hair looked so beautiful. I'm only 23 now, and it just gets duller and duller over the years.

As far as what 'poo I've used, whatever's cheap. I've never met a shampoo that was worth more than as little as I could get away with paying for it, so why bother?

I first tried going no 'poo about a year ago with the BS/ACV method. It was a massive failure. Massive.

It seemed like nothing ever washed *out* of my hair. Stuff just built up and built up, and by a week in, I looked like I had perpetually wet hair. I tried not using the ACV for a couple days and going BS only, and it made no difference.

Finally, I just had to quit. I was afraid of endangering my job if I kept coming to work looking like I hadn't bathed in a week. No ponytail or bun or even hat was hiding it anymore.

So that was a year ago.

The last few months, I've been unintentionally ratcheting down the amount I shampoo. It's just been happening. The other day, I realized I hadn't washing my hair in 4 days -- I'd just been tying it back in the shower. It was getting to where I would have washed it that night, but... well...

I thought to myself, "You know what, self? Let's try this again."

I got to thinking. What if my hair just tends to hold onto things? I know that it does that with a ton of conditioners, and even some heavy shampoos. Maybe my hair just didn't want to let go of the BS.

So I'm trying water only. Go big or go home, right?

Last night, my hair was getting fairly greasy. I hopped in the shower and scritched my scalp with gusto for a few minutes under lukewarm water. Then I turned up the heat and combed through it with my fingers (which was surprisingly easy).

Today, it looked... ok. I felt fine leaving it down. It doesn't look especially oily, but it doesn't quite look clean, and it definitely doesn't FEEL clean. It feels denser and kind of dirty. It tends to stay where I put it, and it looks kind of dull. I also have a touch of scalp itch.

But it looks and feels better than before I washed it WO. And it felt better in the morning after I slept on it than it did the night before after I washed it.

Hope.

I look better on what is technically day 5 of WO than I did on day 3 of BS/ACV.

I'm thinking my plan is this. I'm going to stop by my local co-op tomorrow and get a bristle brush and a natural shampoo bar as kind of a safety if things just get out of control.

But I'm going to go as long as possible without using ANYTHING but water to wash my hair.

What kind of transition does it sound like I'm looking at? Has anyone had success doing it by just jumping off the deep end?

I just don't feel like BS/ACV is the thing for me. I feel like if I just let it, it will work itself out more gracefully than if I try to mess with it. This was the case with my skin (which I usually just wash with hot water). The more I left it alone, the better it got.

Maybe my hair is like that too?

Is this totally insane?

Hi,

Just a quick entry. I gave up my no-poo experiment :( Stopped it back in January, I was around 8 weeks into it but felt the greasiness I was still putting up with was getting me down and I was really paranoid about my appearance.

I'm now trying sulphate free shampoo. A Burt's Bees one. Again, I'm finding it a hard slog with little to redeem it initially (there's quite a lot of waxy looking strands in places) but I think I'm slowly seeing results. Again, it feels healthy but it just looks a bit dodgy and seems to be stuck in the one position, if that makes sense; it's not as easy to style as it was when I was using shampoo with SLS. But I don't want to give up on this. It's been a couple of months nearly. I was thinking of trying another sulphate free shampoo but I'm worried it'll put me back at square one and I'll have to transition all over again. Anyone else made the transition to sulphate-free?

Thanks :)

Hi, everyone. I'm very, very new to this (my last shampoo was on 28th February, 2013) and have been using water only and combing my hair under the running water when I do so, every second or third day. I just found this comm. My hair is naturally wavy/frizzy, (think Hermione Granger hair) and to the bottom of my shoulder blades, and it seems to be responding surprisingly well to the no-poo method so far, much easier to control. However, I'm not thrilled at the oily feel of the hair when I touch it and I'm concerned about potential smell as I hang around smokers a fair bit. I've read things about egg washes and rinses with different types vinegar and baking soda and citrus juices/essential oils and all sorts of things. Does anyone have advice for someone with hair like mine?

Hello All!

So I have been stalking this page for about 4 weeks now and I have decided to post to see if there is anything else I need to be doing!!
Ok I will try to make the story of the past 4 weeks as short and sweet as possible!
I started no pooing roughly 4 weeks ago and it was a downhill battle from the start and I was just about ready to give up. I statred with a BS paste and WV rinse (2 tbsp to 1c water). Ahh this basically fried my hair after a week! So I switched to using 1 tbs BS to 1c water with ACV rinse. This left my hair very waxy and just gross!! I wasn't at the point of giving up quite yet though! I added some lemon juice to my AVC rinse and it helped a little bit. I was able to wear my hair down for the first time in 3 weeks (but it still felt disgusting). Thus ends the good news for a while.
My hair was waxy, oily, dry, and I was starting to get dandruff all at the same time! I know there is a transition period, but this was insane!! So after some more research I decided to boil the water I was using for my BS wash. I don't know if I have hard water, but it was worth a shot!
So I used this mixture with my ACV/lemon juice rinse. My hair felt just ok but it was VERY greasy (I had to use a dry shampoo of cornstarch and cocoa powder after my hair dried!). Okkkk, so I tweaked my ratios a bit. I added more BS to my solution and some tea tree oil and I applied it to my dry hair, I also took maybe 1/2 tsp of straight baking soda and rubbed it into my scalp. I let it sit for 2-3 min and rinsed rinsed rinsed. I also adjusted my ACV rinse. I did a rinse of 1tbs ACV and 1tbs WV to 1c water. Lo and behold once my hair dried it actually felt like, well, HAIR!!! I was thrilled!! Well it still isn't perfect, there is still a slight waxy feel to it (esp on the back of my head), but nothing like the past few weeks have been! I don't know if this waxy feeling is sebum or a soap scum from mixing BS with hard water?? It also still looks a little greasy. I do brush with a BBB about 2x per day.
I am hoping with this ratio I will start to transition out of my transition period!
I will take advice from anyone about anything I might be doing wrong or could be doing better!! Thanks!!

I started no poo about 8 weeks ago. I loved it. But then I realized my hair was getting dry (starting from 3-4 inches from the roots) I tried just washing my roots with BS but then the rest would be clumpy and waxy, so I couldn't do that. I started this because I have really long hair down to my waist and I was getting (unwanted) dreadlocks at night and someone told me it was my shampoo. Now I still get dreadlocks after sleeping on it one night and it hurts so much more to detangle it than it did before. I feel like I'm shredding my hair! I tried smoothing through some coconut oil after my shower, that made it greasy. Then I brilliantly washed my whole head with a paste of BS and coconut oil, which as you can guess, left it so greasy that the plain old BS wasn't even washing it out. So I came on here and read about doing CO to get the coconut oil out, and that didn't work so I just finally washed it with regular shampoo. My hair already looks healthier! I had already tried the egg wash and that didn't do anything to "moisturize" my hair, I try brushing it with the BBB. Nothing. So what do I do? How can I condition my hair (more than just a vinegar rinse) thats easy? I already sort of find it a pain to make a concoction of BS and vinegar every time before I shower (I'm pretty lazy and low maintenance) Is there something I should be using instead of the BS? I haven't tried boiling my water first, but I haven't had issues with wax at all. The coconut hair actually felt great because I could brush my hair so much easier without feeling like I was destroying it.

My washing routine: Every 3-4 days I wash with 1-2 TB of BS mixed with 10 oz of water, scrub all over and rinse with 1 TB of white vinegar (because that is what I had on hand and it worked great) Its doing wonders for my scalp and have no flakes (I had some form of psoriasis that looked like a chunkier dandruff). I have long straight medium thick hair and a lot of it. If I don't brush it out of the shower, it can keep the smallest hint of a wave, but that usually straightened out into boring hair by the end of the day.

To reiterate:
Is there a better alternative to BS thats not so drying?
Is there something easy I can condition with (not regular conditioner)?

I have been no-poo since July 2011.

I'm very happy with the texture and feel of my hair.  I have no desire to return to shampoo.

That said -- I do not like the color -- esp the whisps and streaks for gray.  I really want to color it.  I don't wish to embrace the gray -- there's truly not enough to embrace, not enough to have a head of gray hair.  I'm ok if coloring results in the gray looking like "highlights" and not the same shade as the rest of my head.  I just don't want the gray anymore!

I need suggestions.  Has anyone tried Aubrey Organics Color Me Natural?  Light Mountain Naturals?  Morroco Method?

I am looking for a natural, non-chemical (or maybe less chemical than your drugstore brands) and won't require me to return to shampoo.

Help!

I've just completed 8 weeks of no 'poo, the vast majority of it water only. I can't say there's a huge improvement as far as the transition period is concerned. I'm forcing two days between water washes, and on wash day, the hair looks alright for a few hours and is completely flat and lackluster by evening. On the first day post-wo-wash, I need to put the hair into a head band; otherwise, I'd be completely embarrassed by streaks of flat hair, and the second day, my hair looks really greasy, flat and dirty (headband and ponytail day).

Not much of an improvement week-over-week, and I'm starting to lose faith. My husband, so far, has been supportive, although I can see him shaking his head sometimes over the way my hair looks, especially when we go out. I'm BBBing my brains out twice a day, and my hair feels nice and soft. It just looks like shit, is all.

Any encouragement to stick with this is much appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I finally found a really simple way of retaining moisture in fine hair. I stumbled across a site about 'natural hair' ('African' hair is really fragile and breaks incredibly easily) and this article is really helpful. Have a look if you have fine, dry hair http://blackgirllonghair.com/2012/02/4-steps-to-sealing-in-moisture/ I think it might also be very helpful for damaged hair - I also recommend related articles on this site.

Anyway, yesterday I did a WO. about 15 minutes later, my hair was still 60% wet, I applied a little bit of EVOO on my ends, but I wasn't careful enough as the very ends of my hair were still 'dry' (some time later, after my hair actually dried) and so was the hair framing my face. So I sprayed those parts of the hair with water, repeated the process for my tips a couple of times, as they were getting dry very quickly. And then sealed the moisture with EVOO 15 mins later. Wow. it worked. it really worked, I had nicely conditioned tips :D

Also, I tried the same process for my face. Works well :)

hey guys
i've gone no poo since may 2012, tried the bs + acv method but dried out my hair and left it waxy so i did an egg wash once which got rid of the waxiness so i've been water only ever since.

one thing i cant stand is the smell of my hair when its dried. it smells very musty and greasy as though i was in a kitchen deep frying food the entire day.
i've never had issues with the smell of acv so i'm not its not because of that.
i've tried infusing essential oils into my once a month rosemary tea rinse, but the weird smell comes back after a few days of WO.
and i've even tried mixing EO with water to spray onto my hair directly. still didnt help much

im not asking for the smell of herbal essences or other shampoos i just want my hair to smell fresh as i'm very conscious about it (not sure if others can smell it). i've to mention that my hair smelled faintly like that during the period when i was still using commercial shampoos, my hair could never smell nice i've no idea why :(
if it helps i have very coarse and thick hair thats straight.
Has anyone experienced this or knows what i'm talking about? Hopefully its not the natural smell of my hair which will totally be weird,