no_poo

So I am new to the no poo world.
I have tried in the past beer, which a different website said that the alcohol in it was supposedly good for people with oily hair that the alcohol would dry it up and make you hair pretty. Well that didn't work it just made me smell like a bar until i actual shampooed my hair.
I have also tried egg, which sounded awesomely Ramona Quimby to me and supposedly was suppose to make my hair shiny and full of life, but did nothing for my super greasy hair.
I have very fine very thin hair, it's medium length, and very greasy. Any suggestions on which no poo method would be best for me? I'm thinking of trying backing soda next but also am very interested in fining out if this whole apple cider vinegar thing will do anything for me?

Also what is the best website or youtube channel for a tutorial on how to use the different methods?

Update: I have now also tried washing with a corn starch mixture. I have used corn starch as a dry shampoo method before and thought because i have no baking soda it might be a a good replacement. The first time it worked perfectly. Today I tried it again with bad results. After I washed it with the corn starch mixture my hair dried but still appeared wet/ or maybe greasy is the better word. It clumped together and looked terrible but it felt clean. It was an odd experience.
I then had to re-shower and use real shampoo. I am upset that I had to break the cycle, but I am still not sure how this whole no-poo thing works or what method will work best for me. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get the processes going?

Hey everyone. So I've been no-poo about 2 years now. It's been great for me. I use low-poo bars sometimes, sometimes CO, sometimes WO, and am addicted to lemon and honey rinses. Also I oil with coconut or jojoba, whatever's on hand. Anyway, so I had to get my hair styled at a salon and the stylist was totally cool with using my low-poo soap bar (awesome) but she did want to use hairspray. I'm not really fussed about putting that kind of thing in my hair, because I know it'll leave eventually, and getting your hair hairsprayed once every two years is no biggie. She also back-brushed it to give it loads of volume. The whole thing ended up looking very cool, very retro, kind of 1950s chic.

Anyway fast forward to today - the next morning. My hair is dry and back-brushed, and tangled up. I've started to very gently oil it today, but I've no idea what to do to wash it yet. Would an acid rinse get rid of the hairspray? A bs wash would probably clear out the hairspray but it would dry my hair out more. Should I heavily oil/condition my hair today and then wash with bs tomorrow? Basically, what can I do to get rid of the hairspray but not dry out my hair further? Any thoughts?

Hi everybody!

I've been 'poo free for about a month, and I'm finally leaving that dreaded transition period. I use the basic tsp baking soda per cup of water to wash and a quick acv rinse every other day or two. My hair is feeling amazingly soft and shiny. However, I'll be traveling to Los Angeles next week, which I know has pretty hard water, especially compared to Portland, where I live.
Now, I'm wondering if I should just go low poo for my week long trip, since I've heard that no poo has a lot of difficulties with hard water, and I don't know if I'll be able to boil all the water I need to wash my hair. If I go low poo for a week, will it derail all of my progress? Or should I just risk it and keep no pooing in the hard water, and hope for the best? Any recommendations for low poo products would be appreciated, if anyone thinks that's the path I should take.
For reference, I have waist length wavy hair that is fine but abundant.
Thank you for any advice!

I don't see this discussed here often, but wanted to share a really helpful tip: witch hazel! I put it in a spray bottle and use it either just before a WO wash or in-between washes for a pickmeup. It's really great at cutting oiliness, and with a bit of added EOs, doesn't smell bad at all.

Just wanted to share in case someone was looking for an alternative solution to dry shampoo, vinegar, etc.

Hi ladies!

I've looked through the tags and didn't find anything about "washing" your hair with flour. It's not me who invented this method, but a very good friend of mine (maybe not hers either, but she was the one who shared it with me), who is, like me, looking deeper into more natural life options.
I had a no 'poo experience this spring, I hadn't washed my hair with shampoo for 3 months. But neither BS, nor ACV (WV) worked for me. I'd never thought that my hair could look SO terrible. So I went back to shampoo after 3 months of no 'poo. I've found a shampoo with a soap-nut base, with some probiotic and coconut elements. It generally was okay for me until recently, when my hair was suddenly dirtier and oilier AFTER shampoo washes, like I had rubbed some oil into it. So my hair was very oily and my scalp - very itchy.
So, enough of my story, here's the method.
Buy some dark rye flour from your grocery store, mix 2-3 tablespoons with water. Carefully and evenly apply it on your scalp and damp hair and let it sit for 10-15 mins, like if you'd be doing a hair mask. That's it! Rinse really well and let it air-dry.

FAQ:
- no, wheat/corn/etc. flour won't do, it will stick to your hair like tiny pieces of play dough and you'll be trying to get rid of it forever.
- yes, rinsing will take some time. It's best to sit in a bathtub when doing this "wash" and rinse your hair by gently bending back and putting your hair and scalp under water, while your ears and face remain outside. Move your head around a little bit like if you're rinsing laundry. Then rinse it off completely under the shower (rinsing method advised by the same friend of mine). I know it's a bit of a fuss, but it's totally worth it.
- your hair may need some time to detox and adjust, like with any other no 'poo "washing" method.

It really worked for me, unexpectedly. Though I thought my dull oily hair was hopeless.. So maybe it will work for you, too.

Mods, I have no idea about what tags would be appropriate for this post, so I'm asking for your advice. 

Hello! I just joined no_poo, as I've been shampoo-free for a week now, and I have a question I've been having some trouble finding the answer to.
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I ran across this recipe for homemade honey shampoo on pinterest. http://empoweredsustenance.com/diy-honey-shampoo/# Thoughts about what she says? If it weren't for the price of raw honey in my area, I would definitely try this. For the moment, though, I'm sticking with my all natural shampoo bars (yay, Sweet Creek Herbal Care on Etsy!).

Hey everyone - I'm looking to start doing BS and a vinegar rinse (red wine, just because we have it in the house). My understanding is that it's best to wait as long as possible between washings. That said, what does that mean for rinsing with just water when I'm in the shower on the days between no 'poo applications? Is part of the transition process avoiding water on the in-between days, or does water help in the transition? Or is that something I have to play around with? Sorry if this is something obvious I should have picked up on by now!

For the record, I have fine hair, a little less than shoulder length.

Hey, guys. It's been a while, and things have changed a lot.

There seems to have been a tipping point with my quest to go water-only. Things got better, and then they started getting worse. My scalp was unhappy and the oiliness came back again. Most tellingly, my hair and scalp just plain didn't look healthy.

It was just out of control, and unacceptable for my profession. I had tried citrus rinses, honey, tea, waiting it out, and a bunch of other things for good measure. I fiddled with my scrubbing technique, brushing frequency, brush type, and on and on and on.

At a certain point, I had to sit down and think about how I was approaching this.

It's entirely possible that without some kind of true soap, this is just what my hair is like in the polluted civilization in which I live. In our quest to have more natural lives, we have to remember our environment isn't natural.

I looked at my cat. She's a fastidious groomer, like most cats. But sometimes, she still gets smelly. Sometimes, her fur still gets oily. And her hair is only an inch long at the most. Mine is over a foot.

It might be kind of a misnomer that anyone can have clean, clear hair and scalps going W/O, or even more traditional no-poo routes, with how much air pollution and water grime we're exposed to (which my cat generally isn't).

But I don't want to go back to sulfates and silicones. My hair wasn't healthy then either. It was limp and thin, and had gradually been becoming more so over the course of my life. Since getting off them, I have a lot more curl and body. It reminds me more of how my hair looked as a child, when I had fewer years of damage.

I don't want to go to baking soda. I am quite convinced it is WAY too harsh. I honestly don't understand how it became a staple of no-poo. And from my first attempt, I know it makes my sensitive hair absolutely horrible.

What's a girl to do?

Then I realized something.

I (and I think a lot of no-poo'ers) have an associative aversion to suds. We associate suds with sulfate shampoo, thus suds on our hair are bad.

I have a natural shampoo/body bar, nothing but saponified oils and essential oils, sitting in my bathroom, and I use it for everything except my hair.

Meanwhile, my shower is cluttered with bottle after bottle of concoctions from my kitchen that I was hoping would accomplish the exact same thing soap does: clean my hair.

That is ridiculous.

So I tried out the shampoo bar, at last.

Bingo.

My hair is clean. My scalp feels better.

And at the same time, I have kept all the benefits I had before. I'm not using harsh chemicals. I'm not spending extra money. My hair still retains the natural curl it had before sulfates destroyed it. And my oil production is still down, so I only have to do it once a week or so.

The only difference between this and what I was doing before is that, one, it works, and two, it suds. That's it.

I follow it up with a restrained ACV rinse, and that's it. I may try honey again as well.

This is where I'm staying, I think.

There is nothing wrong with suds. Most of us go no-poo to avoid putting chemicals on our heads that are strong enough to strip rust out of our tub. We don't do it to avoid suds.

As far as I'm concerned, this is still no-poo. It's just no-poo when you live in a city and you can only fight your situation so much.

I'm quite happy with it, and I wish it were put forward as an option more often. I think it could avoid a lot of frustration, and I truly do think it's gentler than baking soda.

I have happy hair, and that's what counts!

I have been trying to no-poo for about a month now - with not very good results. My hair is long, thick and naturally wavy. I only color about once a year so not over-processed. After I no-poo my hair is dry, unmanageable and has a waxy build-up at the back of my head. I have been using 1Tbl BS with 2 cups water and rinsing with 1 TBL ACV with 2 cups water. My hair normally falls out but when I use the no-poo process it falls out by the handfuls. The rate of hair loss is alarming. I want to continue the no-poo process but want to keep my thick hair. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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.