no_poo

Hi all,

I've been checking in on this site for some time, and went no poo last October...so 6 1/2 months ago.

I am loving no poo! Aside from doing my bit for the environment and saving hard earned dollars, my hair is healthy, shiny, softer and thicker than it has ever been before! I even went to my hairdresser a few weeks ago, and despite her initial skepticism she agreed that my hair looks amazing!!

The only problem is that my fingertips are peeling and cracking, which has become very painful. I do suffer from psoriasis, but the condition on my fingertips seems totally different. My naturopath seems to think that the bicarb and white vinegar are burning my skin, and is encouraging me to go back to natural shampoos. I never had much luck with these, so would really like to stick to no poo!

I've experimented with different mixes, but my hair responds best to 1 tablespoon bicarb to 1 cup of water, and 50/50 white vinegar and water. 

Just wondering if anyone else had this problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Monica :-)

Hey everyone! So I quit no poo for a while because I got discouraged by my hard water and fine, blonde hair. My hair looked worse AFTER I did a WO rinse rather than if I had just left it dry. I finally figured out that it was the build-up of minerals from the water and no matter how much I tried to reset my hair for grease production, I wouldn't be able to get it to look good consistently AND be healthy.

Since then I've been using Burt's Bees (all natural, SLS & paraben-free) shampoo for washing and conditioner on in-between days, but I've found that my hair just doesn't look as nice after a shampoo. It looks okay on in-between days, but the minerals are still an issue for my hair without the EDTA. So, I want to go back to no poo (or maybe a hybrid with my Burt's Bees), but I need some help.

Does anyone use a shower water filter? Most research I've done says only expensive water softeners can get rid of the alkaline minerals that are causing the problems, but I can't install one in my apartment. Furthermore, the research on filters is spotty, unreliable, and inconclusive at best. I'd really love some reliable advice!

Also, is there a better way to remove minerals from hair on in-between that doesn't involve using a ton of distilled water? It's too expensive. I've heard a citrus rinse is good, but doesn't that make the hair still greasy looking?

Thanks!

Hey everyone, I just started my no- poo journey (first week) and I had a few questions:

*My hair feels really dryyyy after I wash it BS. Is it because I'm using too much? Should I only use it on the roots?
* I have very hard water, so from what I've read I'm guessing that the waxy feeling should be coming soon to my hair. Would washing with an egg solve this problem? If so, do you mix the egg prior to putting it in your hair, or do you just crack an egg on your hair haha xD
*Does your hair smell like egg after you do an egg wash?
* I bought Heinz ACV because I didn't know there was a difference between the filtered kind and the one with the mother. Will this still do the job? I'm kind of on a strict budget and don't want to go off and buy another ACV just after buying this one.
* How often do you do an ACV rinse? Every time you shower, or every time you do a BS wash? Or whenever your hair feels dry?
* I have an old jar of coconut oil, but the ingredients say it has petroleum jelly in it, is this bad for my hair even though it's still coconut oil?
*Where can you find rosemary and other herbs? 
* Do you have to boil the water before you make the ACV rinse?

I know it's a lot, but I'd really appreciate any help you guys can give me!

I just tried a new no-poo method today. I took a liter of water and put about a half teaspoon of olive oil in it and stirred it around. then I wetted my hair and poured it over, starting from the tips and working my way up to the roots. I massaged my hair and scalp well, and rinsed.

It's lookin fine!

After watering down my shampoo after each wash, I've managed to pretty much successfully go no 'poo, though if I wait to long in between washes I have to use the watered shampoo instead of the bs mixture, which leads to conditioner instead of hair rinse, which leads to extra baking soda being needed the next time. Don't worry, I use a 'cone free protein conditioner with only a few ingredients. Anyway, I've been trying the OCM on my face, and while EVOO alone didn't do much beyond softening my skin and smoothing out a few lines that were starting to form, I now have added grapeseed and tea tree oil to the mix. I've been looking for a way to cut down on greasiness in between washes and wondered if anyone here has had any success with using some sort of diluted mixture, maybe tea tree in water or mixed with some other essential oil, as a spray to clear up scalp grease? I've tried dry shampooing, it doesn't work for me.

Hello!

I've been a passionate and successful no-pooer however in the past 5 weeks I've been having trouble with oil all of a sudden. I used to do my routine every 7-10 days with water washes in the meantime, and now I have to do it every 3-5 days. My hair had been perfect, but then I went dancing and put a bunch of product in my hair and had to strip it to get everything out. I've been struggling ever since where usually I can get my hair back to its voluminous condition pretty fast.

What I miss the most is that the oil used to be lighter, I could get it out with water washes easily, it added volume and texture, and now it's heavier, doesn't come out, and looks greasy. I miss my old oil!!

• No-poo since May 26, 2011
• 1cFii Normal hair; fine but a lot of it, mid-back length, slight wave when I put my damp hair in a bun, dark brunette
• Current routine: I wash with about 1/8c of bs & acv. I massage in my scalp and let sit, the standard BS solution of 1 tablespoon/1 cup boiling water, and 1.5 tablespoon unfiltered ACV/c + 1c of tarragon, nettle, oat straw, rosehips infusion from 1 tablespoon each dried, the rinse also worked into the length. Occasionally as needed before my ACV rinse I massage in GSE to my dermatitis.

I log all my washes so this is what it looks like:


So I don't know what is happening. I feel like it's something with the BS not getting to the slippery texture or something. What can I do to better control this oil? Maybe it's stress or I need to change my shower filter? Do I need to go water only for awhile to reset these oils? Is my hair getting used to the routine and now I need less acv?

Help! Ideas? Thank you all! 

Hi, I feel my hair would definitely benefit from stretching out the days between washes. I'm aiming for once a week but will try for longer too. But what about after exercising? My hair seems to attract build up so quickly and I can't imagine just running some cool water over it will be enough. I'd be grateful for any suggestions, thanks :-)

Hi, everybody! First of all, a great big thank you to everyone in this community . . . your advice has been invaluable.

I don't even remember how I stumbled across the idea of no 'poo, but as my shampoo bottle got emptier and emptier back in March, I thought to myself, "Eh, I'm always up for a beauty fad that doesn't cost me anything . . . why not give it a shot?" So when it ran out, I whipped up a bottle of BS/water and suited action to the impulse.

First week went really badly . . . grease everywhere. I figured this was just transition and put up with it, gritting my teeth . . . and then double-checked my research and discovered that the standard recommendation was one TABLESPOON of BS per cup, not one TEASPOON as I'd incorrectly remembered while measuring. Oops. So I mixed up a fresh batch (and put it in a different bottle, with a narrow applicator I can use to get under the top layer) and tried again. Lovely! Really! Who'd'a thunk?

I'm still using commercial conditioner, because I had about half a bottle left when the shampoo ran out (I'm kind of compulsive about waste not/want not, which is why I'm NOT ADMITTING TO ANYONE that I found another half-bottle of shampoo in the back of the cupboard last week), but plan on switching to ACV when that's gone. (I shall call it my 'science-fair volcano hair,' which is even funnier because it rhymes.) I've been washing once a week . . . first this was just to muscle through transition, but now I've discovered that it's all I really need. About halfway through the week, I'm rubbing a few drops of sweet almond oil into the ends to keep them protected, soft, and un-frizzy. During the transition week, I also tried cornstarch to absorb some of the excess oil (another weird experience . . . who knew you could put cornstarch in your hair, like it was a pan of gravy that just didn't want to thicken up?), and that proved to be a good stop-gap while I waited for my scalp to stop freaking out. I'm also spending about 45 min. a week just brushing, usually while watching an episode of something. It feels good, it gives me something to do with my hands, and . . .

Well, the results speak for themselves. My whole head is fantastically soft. Frizzies are down, as is the amount of hair ripped out by my hairbrush and the amount of nasty gray stuff built up around the bristles. (Before discovering this community, I though I was the only person that happened to!) My hair tangles less and holds styles better. And, wonder of wonders . . . it's GROWING! My hair (which is thick, brown, and wavy) has fallen to just below my bra band since I was about 11 years old. This last month since going no-'poo, I swear it has grown an inch. And since I'm not getting it wet every day, it's tending to be straighter, which makes it look even longer.

I am NEVER going back to shampoo. This is too great. And I'm loving the feeling of smugness that I get now whenever I see shampoo ads . . . this great evil-cackle feeling of "Ha ha! Suckers! Have fun shelling out eight bucks a bottle! I'll just stick with my $.017-per-wash miracle system, thank you kindly."

Just wanted to share.

So it's been 2 months since i've used shampoo. I tried w/o for 2 weeks, and i have hard water so it wasn't working. So I started using bs with distilled water and a citrus rinse. This was working ok, the bs never really felt slippery though, I'm not sure if it was something I was doing wrong but it didn't clean it well, it was still greasy/ sebum-y. I loved the citrus rinses though, it kept the minerals from building up. Now I have been using salt rinses, because I love the simplicity of it and it makes my hair soft, but also leaves it greasy. It is out of the sebum-y phase but it still looks greasy, though it feels a lot better I have to wear my hair up every day. It's been 2 months and I am getting very frusrtated. Is there something I'm missing? I want this to work, how long does the transition phase last?

Hi all, I'm a noobie to no poo and so far I love it, even after some initial bumps.  I started out washing with BS and water and then rinsing with water-diluted white vinegar mixed with honey approximately 2-3 times a week.  It went great until I started noticing that waxy/filmy feeling and researched it back to hard water.  So I started mixing the BS with distilled water and have had much better luck.  This is when I started noticing dry ends that felt like straw about a day or two after my wash.  I have cut back on how much BS I was mixing into the distilled water.  My hair still feels dry but better since cutting back on the BS.  I've been lurking in this community for some time looking for options to use as a conditioner but I'm just overwhelmed.  I am a vintage lover and routinely do wet sets on my hair to curl it.  I try to "preserve" my set to last a couple of days so any over brushing or combing results in having to reset my hair which is time consuming for me based on my work/home schedule.  I need something to condition my hair in the shower to help stave off the dry ends.  I am wonder if I need to up my honey mixture?  Or do I need something else?  Any thoughts are appreciated!

I haven't gone swimming since I went no-poo - do I have to do anything extra to get the chlorine out of my hair?

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

Hello all!

I've been going no-poo for a little over two months now. I do a BS wash and finish with a lemon juice rinse. I like the system that I have and I've never had any problems. However in about four days I'm going to be leaving to backpack around Europe for two months!!

Now while I would just love to attempt to carry a bag full of white powder through airport security... no f*cking thank you.

So I'm wondering what you ladies and gents would recommend for shampoo. I first started going no-poo because my hair was stuck in a grease-cycle. I would wash my hair, and then 24 hours later it would be greasy. So I decided to go no-poo and see if it would help. And it has!! So I don't have too many concerns about going back to regular shampoo/conditioner, but I would like to try one of the healthier(?) brands. 

So give me your lists and favourites and why you like them!!
thank you in advance!

I have acchieved great success in washing my family's hair with only essential oils.I use between 6-10 drops in 4 cups of warm water. I pour it first on the tips, slowly making my way up to the roots. I then massage it in very gently like the way you'd wash antique lace. I let it sit in the hair for about 5 or so minutes and then rinse. My daughter and I have butt length hair, and we both have shiny, healthy hair thanks to this combo.

So I've been no poo for almost 9 months now! I did an experiment last week and shampooed my hair. I forgot how much my hair tangles after washing it with shampoo. What a mess! Anyways, now 6 days later, my hair's just starting to look greasy! Before going no poo, I had to wash my hair every single day or else it'd be as greasy day 2 that it now is on day 6. This is probably my best kept secret. (Still haven't told my friends or family. Hopefully that'll happen soon!) I haven't experimented with much, just some tea rinses, applesauce and honey! I knew from the get go I wanted to be WO, and I didn't want to mess with BS, it seemed too similar to shampoo for me when I was trying to get my hair out of the "needs to be washed everyday" phase.

Since going no poo, I haven't traveled for a length of time long enough that I had to worry about washing my hair while traveling. But I'll be traveling shortly! I am WO but recently found my hair loves WO+honey, to combat dryness.

My fears: I've heard plenty on this community about hard water. I believe my water is somewhat-hard. While visiting my dad a while back I took a shower at his house and my hair turned out AWFUL, I figured it was because I was going through my transition phase, but now I'm not so sure, he might have hard water. I don't want hard water ruining my no poo experience.

Oh, and another thing. Soon I'll be moving (across state lines), I'm worried about how I'll have to tweak my routine! I'd rather not go through the lengthy process of figuring out how my hair and new water will get along. Should I invest in a shower filter? How exactly do the "portable" ones work? I've tried to look for them but I guess I'm not sure exactly what I should be looking for.

This is where you come in. Any advice? Have any of you gone through this? Is a shower filter worth the money? Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

I started doing the whole no-poo thing about a month ago? Maybe a little longer. I'm running into a bit of a snag in that my hair seems to be building up oil, particularly toward the back. It wasn't an issue the first couple of washes, but the last two seem to be leaving my hair looking oily.

To break things down a bit more, before I started trying the "no-poo" method I only washed my hair every three-five days anyway. I would only shampoo my scalp and then condition all of my hair, paying special attention to my ends which are all kinds of damaged and need a trim. My hair is pretty long - about hip length right now, and was always healthy and strong despite the frizz. I've never seemed to have the issues with too oily or too dry hair that other people seemed to have. I did, however, have crazy dandruff. Not the kind that would flake loose and show, but a thick coat of dead skin that would flake off if scratched. My scalp was never itchy or any of that unless it needed a wash, just... a lot of dead skin.

I decided to do the no-poo in hopes that it would help with the dandruff and frizz issue without needing to use products or whatever.

The first time I made a paste of some baking soda in the palm of my hand, and that was way too much. My hair was crazy dry and insanely frizzy, even after an ACV rinse. My scalp was also "tight" and sensitive for the first day after washing. After that I bought a couple containers from Wal-Mart that hold about a cup and a half of liquid and dissolved one tablespoon of BS in the one and about a tablespoon and a half of ACV went into the other. That's what I've been working with. Although I just refilled the ACV, the baking soda one isn't even half empty yet.

The last couple of times I've been leaving the ACV in for several minutes and then rinsing with cold water in an attempt to combat the frizz. It works to combat the frizz but I believe it may be the culprit of the oily feel. When I rinsed it out with warm water, it didn't seem to leave my hair feeling oily.
The affect on my scalp was somewhat positive. I find I have a day of obvious flakes on my scalp for the first day after I wash, and then my scalp appears to be relatively clean for a couple days, and then gets flaky again. Overall the dandruff isn't as thick in appearance - I think part of it before may have been from my anti-frizz serum and the use of products in general.

I've been washing my hair every six days or so after starting this, but after reading the reasoning behind the "adjustment" period for others (more frequent washing) I've come to the conclusion that I don't particularly need to wait even longer than my customary 3-5 days to wash my hair, so I'm going to go back to my normal washing routine for that at least.

My main question is: What do I do to combat frizz but keep from having oily hair at the same time? Keeping in mind that my scalp has never been the sort to make my hair oily, especially not the same day as a wash, it's definitely something I am doing, but I am not sure exactly what/what percentages to change in my wash.
I am also interested in citrus instead of ACV because while I don't particularly mind the smell of it myself, I braid my hair to keep it "neat" while it dries (otherwise it's a hot mess due to the ends), and often have to go to work that way. It's rather embarrassing to have the smell of vinegar constantly wafting about my person for hours.
I'm also curious if there's any way to do something about the dandruff as well. I know of tea tree oil, but it's never given me spectacular results before.

Oh. And aside from length, my hair is fine, but strong and very long (as mentioned). I'm Caucasian, if that matters at all. The texture is very LIGHTLY wavy, although curls run in my family I don't have them - my hair will curl a bit when wet, but as it dries it straightens out whether I brush/comb it or not. I have been known to joke that I've gotten all the frizz and none of the curls.

Any and all comments/advice would be very much appreciated, and I apologize for the length of this!

I've been no-poo since the new year, when I figured it might be a good resolution and one I might actually keep. Plus my last bottle of Head & Shoulders Intensive whatever had run out, and the store didn't have any more in stock, so I figured it was a sign. ;) I have thick, semi-coarse, wavy light brown hair, just past shoulder length, and my scalp has a severe dandruff problem. The water in my area is very, very hard, and I live in Florida. I decided to go no-poo after reading that it should work wonders for dandruff, and since my hair is my one big vanity, it was worth a shot. Plus a jug of ACV and a box of BS is much cheaper and lasts longer than any bottle of shampoo!

The experiment started with 1 Tbsp BS/1 cup water to wash, and a healthy splash of ACV in 1 cup water for a rinse; I'd been using ACV for a couple years, on and off to help with the dandruff. I found that my scalp was getting really dry, and the flaking issue was different, but not necessarily better: I had gone from big, gross flakes to little bitty flakes. Brushing my hair left me with a snowstorm on my shoulders.

This led me to cut down the BS to 2 tsp/1 c water, and it helped a bit, but what really made the difference was putting 5-6 drops of Tea Tree oil in with the BS mix. I put all that in an old shampoo bottle, apply liberally to the scalp, rub it in really well and let it sit for a couple minutes before rinsing. Follow with the ACV rinse and I'm golden! I do wash every 3-4 days; I have tried doing a WO wash, but that just leaves me with more flakes than I care to see!

Currently I use a BS solution and a WV rinse. It works okay, but so many people here have had such great success with lemon juice that I'd like to give it a go.

Plus, it would smell better. I live in a sub-tropical climate (no, seriously!) and summer's coming. That means your hair and skin is pretty much always damp, and I've already noticed some vinegar smell on the muggy days as one's hair never seems to completely dry.

I only have one reservation. I haven't found an answer here in the forums.

I've heard lemon juice lightens your hair. I'm okay with a little lightening, but I like my brunette head to stay as brunette as possible. I've also heard that it only lightens your hair if you don't get it all rinsed out.

So, with the risk that I maybe accidentally don't rinse it all out, my question is, how much lightening are we talking about here? Honey-colored tints? Or platinum blonde?

Five months after making this post, I found myself in a dilemma: I had bought One Conditioner Bar online from their website, but they'd changed the formula of their bar. When I used it in the shower, it squished apart in my hands and flaked to pieces in my hair before I could get it rubbed into my scalp. I had an Email correspondence with the founder of the company who said they'd added Moroccan Oil to the recipe because of complaints he'd gotten from other customers that it was too solid.

So the search for a different conditioner bar began again. After buying one sample bar from an Etsy seller than had sulfates in it (even when she promised me it didn't and sent me an ingredient list), I found a great supplier for a great no-poo solid conditioner bar.

At the risk of giving her so much business that I can't buy any myself, I'll share: her name is CourtneyJo, and her shop is MilkAndHoneyNaturals. Her bars are all natural, and she started making them because her kids were allergic to the bad stuff. She uses her own bars herself as well. She's totally cool with selling sample sizes (one sample was $6.75 total for me) and she's friendly and quick to reply.

I've been buying her bars since October of last year. I found that, at first, I went through a bar per month, but now, I think my scalp has fully adjusted to a little less conditioner so each bar stretches to a month and a half. I don't use anything else; I shower every two or three days and scrub the bar directly onto my scalp, then rinse with warm water.

It's a simple routine with a happy, non-itching, very little dandruff scalp and smooth, non-frizzy, non-static-y hair that smells good. The bar even increases the natural wave in my hair just a little to give it more of a curl.

Celebrate a success story with me for a moment, will you? Do a little happy dance wherever you are for one no-poo girl who has a stable hair routine with acceptable results. Then, if you have any conditioner bar experiences, I'd love to hear them.

Hi everyone! I'm new to no-'poo and I've been shampoo-free for about a week and a half.

My hair is shoulder-length, wavy, fine but thick, and really, really dry. My scalp is dry too. In my shampoo days, I had to use a shampoo+conditioner, conditioner, then a leave-in conditioner just to make it manageable. Even then it was still frizzy.

Maybe because of this dryness I only had a 3-4 day transition period. My hair is not really greasy at all. I was loving no-'poo (and my husband even loved the look and smell of my hair) until a couple of days ago when I got that great waxy build-up on my hair and brush.

This is really stubborn waxy stuff. I had already tried the BS wash (plus a couple drops of tea tree oil for my dry itchy scalp) followed by ACV rinse, to no avail. Then I read a method on here that seemed to work for everyone: BS, scrub the heck out of your hair, then rinse with green tea. Still I have the build-up; actually it is getting worse and my hair is becoming very dry and coarse on top of it. This stuff seems to ignore all the ways I'm trying to wash it!

Has anyone else had a chronic waxy build-up problem? Am I missing something? We have soft water here so that is not a problem.

I've been No Poo for exactly two months now, and because I have an identical twin who's been doing it for longer, I feel like I've had an easy time, since she can tell me what works for our hair type and what doesn't. I can go about a week, or even longer if I brush corn starch through my hair.

But I do have some questions about hard water and traveling. I currently live in Portland, Oregon, and have had no problems with the water here. But last week, I visited my mother in Arizona. She has hard water, with traces of limestone, and something else (I forgot what she said.) in it, so we used distilled water to mix the baking soda. She only had white vinegar, so I used that instead of acv for my rinse, and we used distilled water for this as well. But I rinsed everything out with the regular water, and my hair felt a bit waxy, not as soft as when I do it at home. Should I have rinsed with distilled water as well?

I am back at home, and did the whole routine, and my hair is back to normal, but what should I know for future trips to see my mother? I know Arizona is also pretty dry, and I was really feeling it while I was there. Could that have added to the problem?

Also, does anybody have experience with traveling abroad? Eventually, I want to study in Japan, and once I'm done with school, I want to teach English over there. Will I have everything I need over there? (It's ok if you're laughing, I feel pretty silly having to ask.)

Im sure it has been covered already, but ive been looking, and nothing seems to be my situation, and Im at my whits end with my scalp!


I tried following the curly girl method, but my hair was NOT happy!  So I went back to shampooing and had some bad scalp reactions to all the natural shampoos.  I think I figured out it was the cocoa betatine (spelling sorry)was making me have painful welts all over my scalp, forehead, neck and back.  So I then ventured into the no poo method and Ive been really happy with the way my hair feels (most of the time)  Ive only been on this for about 3 weeks.  Ive tried different washes and rinses (BS, ACV, citric acid, aloe, witch hazel, honey).  My scalp seemed to clear up within a couple of days, but now it has come back with a vengance!!!  

Do yall think im doing too much and should stick with just one method?  I get the best results with 1 TBSP BS in 8oz of water and full strength ACV.  The only problem is when I do the BS, as Im rinsing it out, my hair seems to tangle badly.  But my hair seems the happiest once it dries and it doesnt get greasy as fast.  IDK WHAT TO DO!!!!!

Any and ALL advice is greatly appreciated!!!

<3 KK

For those who aren't sure, this might help you to figure out if you have hard water.

I have very hard water. I use distilled water with bs and it works alright, I follow with a citrus rinse. I have heard that it's practically impossible to go water only with hard water but I was wondering if I could go water only and just follow with a citus rinse. This seems to keep my hair from getting waxy like it did when I tried water only. But my hair is greasy but very soft and feels cleaner, the grease is probably because I'm still going through the transition phase, will this make transitioning worse?

Has anyone tried this before? what were the results?
Does anyone know if there is any real difference between limes and lemons for a rinse?

I came across the No Poo revolution while searching for something on Google, and I was intrigued. My hair is very important to me. I always have to have it just so. I've had short hair for about 4 years now, and have been an every day/every other day shampoo'er. I am now trying to grow my hair out from an inverted bob. The front is now a little past my shoulders, and the back is about an inch from my shoulders. I would use a lot of products (4-5 a day after shampooing, before and after blow drying), so this is a BIG change for me. The last time I washed my hair with shampoo was Monday (3/26/2012). I'll have to admit, the way my hair looks and feels right now is making me very skeptical. as I am reading more and more on it, I realize it's just going through the transition phase, so I'm hanging in there.

It has been 3+ months since I have had a good trim, and I am wondering if I should get a trim before I go much further with not using shampoo to make sure my hair is in good health. I have dry, brittle, and split ends. Or, would it be wise for me while in the transition phase to do some sort of deep conditioning treatment, and for go the trim?
Should I stop blow drying while I am trying to go 'No Poo'?
How often should I be washing with the BS/ACV?

This icon shows how my hair looked before going no poo. As you can see, it was quite frizzy and could barely hold a shape. It would have a bit of curl or wave, but mostly if my hair was still wet.

About 4 months ago, I went no poo. I had been using organic shampoo, and for the previous few months had switched from conditioner to ACV. When I replaced shampoo with BS, I only had a few days of bad hair days - spread over a couple of weeks. I had to travel about a month after going no poo, but didn't know what to do. I had the misguided idea of trying the moisturizing soap instead of shampoo... and that was a major mistake! However, water only for the rest of the trip helped.

My hair still has a slight bit of frizz, but very mild. I have curls and ringlets - but is mostly wavy hair. My hair is now shiny. The texture is sometimes a little oily or waxy, but usually I find that an ACV rinse will clear that up. I recently tried adding some tea to the ACV (actually, orange roiboos). It might be helping a bit with the waxiness, but not sure... and I realize that I need to add more to add scent to my hair.

Recently, I went to the hair dresser. He's always liked my hair texture, which he said was easy to style. But this time he noticed that the frizziness and kinkiness was gone and that he do better styling that wouldn't have worked before.

I was lurking before, except for occasional questions in the comments. Thanks everyone for your posts and advice!

I've been kind of lurking this blog for almost a year, and have been no-poo (water only) for about three months.

I started out by cutting down on shampoo washes, then switched to a natural shampoo bar used intermittently with BS/ACV. I then cut down to just BS/ACV, then finally water only. Luckily, I had no real problems transitioning between hair care regimens.

I colored my hair for the first time when I started water only, and the color is still here two months later! I've heard so much about colors fading quickly, but mine's still as vibrant as day one.

So, here's a big thanks to everyone posting and answering questions.. They've helped me get so far with my hair!

I guess I should add my hair type. I've got long (mid-back) hair that's thick in volume but fine strand-wise.

After extensive research, I think my biggest challenge is hard water. 

I'd love to hear from people who have successfully tackled this problem.  The primary solutions seem to be using distilled water, boiling water or using a filter.  As most of my family live in hard water areas, I'd like super simple solutions that travel easily.

Thanks!

What do you guys think of Liggett's? http://secure.jrliggett.com/ Seems really great to me, but I am 10 days in to no-poo, and I have only used BS wash and WV rinse. check out my blog if you have a minute: http://noshampooforme.blogspot.com/
We go into pretty ridiculous detail about the importance of using vinegar to balance the alkalinity of the baking soda.