no_poo

Hello everyone, I have some questions about the no poo method, ACVR, the use of any conditioner afterwards, if anyone feels like their hair is dry/ frizzy after using ACV with no BS and what oils if any should or could I add to the conditioning of my hair and if from what my experience is what i am doing is correct. Any help/ feed back / comments is greatly appreciated and thank you for reading my post.

A little bit about my No Poo experience, I'm Japanese with thick wavy oily hair that is shoulder length. I've switched to the no poo method for about 3 weeks now and this is my second time trying because while using store bought hair products I could feel that after 2 days my hair would feel very oily and heavy and even if I put it up in a bun or pony tail the top of my scalp would feel tender by the end of the day as if my hair was too heavy to be put up. Another reason why I went No poo is because I am trying to grow out my hair but at a certain length it feels like it just stops growing even after every 2 months I get a trim to cut off the dead or damaged parts. I also noticed that in the shower and when I brush my hair I lose a lot of hair due to breakage. I tried the No Poo method a few months ago for the first time with shampoo soap bars from chagrin valley and I experienced some few pros and cons: Pros: I could see my individual strands of hair becoming stronger and less prone to breakage after the first 2 weeks, my hair grew longer and quickly by a few inches within a few months (from shoulder length to belly button length) and within 2-3 months I had noticed that I no longer had hair breakage when I took a shower. Another note I made was when I put my hair up after a day, the top of my scalp didn't feel tender. Con's: it did take 2-3 weeks for the "transition period" to be over and done with which felt really greasy and gross to the touch, and after I used the shampoo bar I read somewhere on some sites that it wasn't entirely necessary to use conditioner if I used a Homeopathic chemical free shampoo bar so I didn't for a while. In doing so after each wash it was hard to brush through my hair without knots due to a grungy feeling of build up that it made brushing my hair a long tedious nightmare, so I found a organic chemical free conditioner that seemed to get the grunge feeling out and return my hair brushing experience to manageable BUT the conditioner made my hair feel somewhat heavy afterwards as apposed to using no conditioner. After my hair was the length that I wanted I damaged it beyond repair by dying it and perming it that to the touch even after an expensive deep conditioning treatment my hair had a "crunchy" feeling at the ends when I rubbed them in between my fingers and ended up chopping it off into a bob hair cut. I just couldn't take the feeling of dead crispy hair leaning against my back anymore.

Now after resuming the no poo method I have tried using ACVR after i use my shampoo bar and here's my experience of the pros and cons. Pros: it gets rid of the build up left over by the shampoo bar, it makes my hair look very shiny without looking or feeling oily, it's a great detangler, and I don't need to wash my hair but 2x a week if that because of my hair feeling oily. Cons: the ACVR has a very strong smell when my hair is wet and if I sweat during the in between days the smell of AVC in my hair comes back, my hair feels clean and less prone to breakage yes but it feels and looks dry. (Ps I forgot to mention my shower head does have a water filter because where I live we do have hard water and I read that soft water is better for hair and skin, also in my mixture of ACVR I use cold water and wash with warm and I leave the ACVR in as a leave in ) Does anyone have any suggestions to Hair I can make my hair feel less dry? or what can I use to condition it? I have tried pure unfiltered organic coconut oil cold pressed and rubbed that in my hair but it makes my hair look really oily, also i have tried morrocon oil and though it absorbs better than the coconut oil without making my hair look greasy it does make me need to wash my hair 3x a week.
Any advise would be helpful and sorry about the long post. Thank you

Hi! I am very greatfull for all of the postings that have helped or inspired me along my journey of no-poo! But I seem to be in a rut and not sure how to get out. I hope someone might read my post and have some advice to share :)

I went no-poo 6 months ago and I am having little success keeping away the waxy/gunky/heavy feeling.

Info:
hair type: blonde, type 2a-b down to mid back
Water: using shower head filter. high pressure during wash/scrub
brushing: scritch and preen 2x week. BBB using every other day, cleaning after every use with bronner's soap, every day to style using neem wood comb.
lifestyle: 3x week doing yoga and usually washing/rinsing hair after

Attempts:
1. Bakingsoda-ACV routine - cleans hair well, but dries hair out and breaks at the root. EEEEEK!! I am NOT going back to this.
2. Honey-wash/ACV-rinse - waxy/greasy
3. Bentonite/ACV/honey wash +/- acid rinse (ACV or chamomile )- I tried to tweak with different amounts of ingredients. End result was that my hair just kept getting more heavy/gunky/waxy.
4. Whole egg - whoa, can we say mess of straw?
5. egg-yolk only wash (after a coconut mask) and finally felt like my hair was cleaner. It actually made suds on my head! but still had a slight slick feeling after dry, so not ideal. (plus its not really a sustainable choice of hairwash)

After the egg wash 3 weeks ago, I decided to try WO, thinking my scalp/hair was just overreacting to the things I was putting on it. I have followed all the tips, and I am slowly building up the gunk/waxy feeling. ARRGGHH!!
I am averaging WO wash every 3 days, and I have done 2 egg-yolk washes (no coconut mask) which bring things to a manageable level, but not ideal. I was hoping it was still transitioning to WO, but it seems that might not be the case. After WO when my hair is dry, it already feels gunky. I am so frustrated, and I don't want to give up.
Please, any advice might help me!

Hi, this is my first post so thanks for reading. I bought a powdered no-poo herb at an Arabic market in France, and the seller called it I believe "alzaz", but it had no label on it and I don't think I have the name right because there are no google hits.

Does anyone out there know about it, especially the English name? It is green and smells a little like pineapple. I'm not sure I'm using it right (how diluted it should be, how long it should be left on, etc.) Thanks so much.

Hello everyone! I joined livejournal to write this so please let me know if I do something wrong!>.<

I'd really appreciate any advice - I'm kinda stuck right now! I've been no poo since around February 2014, so about a year and a half, but it's like I'm still transitioning! ;o;

I'll just say right now that I have quite curly hair (the lengths) and I'm mixed race. My hair is a mixture of black&white (race not colour) hair so it's rather strange haha, though it's closer to white than black. The length/ends are naturally dry whilst my roots are naturally oily. My hair is brown if that matters.

I never really had the moment that everyone describes as when your hair magically becomes perfect (lol) at the end of the transition, it's always just been icky at the roots and every so often it was alright.

I started off with baking soda and ACV, once every week or two I think. I also tried substituting ACV with lemon juice, but I don't think it worked as well. I also attempted honey, but it made my hair so nasty and oily (though this was still during the 'transition period') I'm 16 and still at school so I put up with a fair amount of humiliation, but my hair has never really looked nice& was always frizzy so I just endured it in the hope that my hair would be healthier and look nicer eventually. Occasionally I felt my hair looked ok and was fairly confident, I think the nicest it looked was when I used a mixture of 1 egg yolk/white. Egg hasn't really worked though the few times I used it after that.

I also have been trying water only since around Christmas, because I was worried about the baking soda being harmful due to the PH/harshness. My roots are always flat and gross, but the length of my hair has been very poofy (in a good way), fluffy and curly. The ends are damaged though because I have to drag a boar bristle brush through the curls/knots. The roots are gross from using cocoa powder to keep the oily appearance under control. After trying water only I got dandruff which I read was from sebum (or something?) so I tried baking soda&ACV again and the dandruff went.

I don't want to stop no poo, it's made my hair softer and I believe it's better than shampoo. I used shampoo two or three times when it was unavoidable, but afterwards my hair was so dry&it was much harder to untangle compared to when I no poo. If anyone knows a safe way to get fluffy roots with volume I'd appreciate it if you would share your knowledge with me!

Thanks for reading!

Hi all,

I stopped using shampoo 7 years ago (summer 2008) but this is the first time I've been on this site.
I wanted to eliminate unnecessary packaging, cost and artificial chemicals from my life. I had dreads and henna at the time I started and thought it would be the perfect excuse to try it out (you can wash dreads with shampoo but since everyone assumed I was a dirty hippy I thought I might as well use the opportunity to actually become one...). At the time I washed my hair with shampoo and sometimes conditioner about once every 4-5 days. My transition lasted 7 months (I combed out the dreads a few weeks in), with the worst greasiest point being about 6 weeks in.

My transition consisted of largely WO every 4-5 days with raids of the kitchen cupboard sometimes supplementing it (egg yolk, vinegar, tea, lemon juice etc etc), and henna every 6 weeksish. I found that my scalp became itchy about 2 weeks in and there was loads of buildup of grease and skin. I developed an unpleasant head-scratching habit. However after several months of perseverance my hair finally became socially acceptable again, and looked much nicer than before. I started increasing the time between my WO washes first to one week, then two weeks. Sometimes I go three weeks and I once managed 5 weeks without any water! I sometimes use ACV- a splash in a pint-sized cup- if I'm feeling vain. I still henna too, and mix in tea and lemon juice. Overall I'm very happy with my results- I find that in a 2-week cycle my hair looks and feels great in the first 5 days after WO, then gradually gets a bit greasy towards days 6-8ish then softens out a bit, gradually greasing and becoming itchier towards day 14 or 21. I find that the longer I leave between WO washes the longer my hair can stay ungreasy, but my scalp gets itchy so that's when I put it in the shower. Also I don't really bother with soap either, my skin is dry and soap (even natural soap) just makes it worse.

Egg: White made hair very frizzy, yolk was the best conditioner ever BUT couldn't get rid of smell
Avocado: expensive
Rosemary oil: Tried to rid scalp of itch- didn't do much
Witch hazel: possibly slight scalp benefit?
ACV: Really nice results, since it's a chemical change you don't need much at all.
Bs: I don't use as it's actually quite harsh (used in some commercial detergents) and I personally wouldn't consider it 'no-poo'
Tea: gives a nice shine and nice smell but usually can't be bothered
Henna: Love it! Leftover powder can get stuck in the scalp and exacarbate itching though
Hot water: I kind of feel like it's not as good as lukewarm water and it certainly doesn't melt the grease away...

Here's a picture of me looking a bit weird (was gradually making the henna less red at the time but currently my whole hair length looks like the bottom half):

Here are the problems I've never really sorted:

Itchy flaky scalp with some sore patches: I use nothing harsh (No BS) although I live in a hard water area.

Split ends, breakage and white dots: I got these when I was about 14 and neither henna nor 'no-poo' (I hate that phrase) have helped. I cut my hair and the ends and dots are back withing 2 weeks. Want to work out how to stop them before cutting off the current ones. Have just started with coconut oil every 2 weeks prior to wash.

Grey gunk: Yep, still get that.

'waxiness'... I think I understand what this is, and it tends to affect me more when I don't use ACV so is possibly related to hard water, or heat of water- certainly don't get it when I get a 'free shower' from rainwater.

Lots of the advice about these problems seems to be related to reducing BS ratios, however I have never used it. I was considering starting to use ACV with every wash to counteract the hard water but don't want my hair to become dependent on it. Please feel free tao ask me questions about my experiences as I have 7 years of them!

Hi there. Looks like there's not that many people around here!

Just wanted to share here about my adventure without shampoo. I have been using a baking soda wash and vinegar rinse for just shy of 3 years now. I started for a couple of reasons. Wanting something more natural, but mostly wanting something better for my hair. As I have been getting older, my naturally sleek, straight hair has gotten more and more frizzy. I tried different shampoos and conditioners to help with the frizz but all it did was make the top of my hair oily and the ends more frizzy.

After a lot of research I gave no poo a chance. I did not have a problem with it at all. My hair is shiny, much, much less frizz and so easy to comb through. This from a person who had difficulty combing it when I used shampoo and conditioner! The only problem I had at first was split ends after doing it for a couple of months. Trimmed my ends and started putting coconut oil lightly on the ends after each wash; haven't had a problem with them since.

My hair is fairly long; about mid-back length. When I started it was longer, about butt-crack length. I am very happy with this method. I get a lot of compliments on my hair and it makes me laugh when people make faces or when they can't believe that I wash my hair with baking soda. Some people ask for advice on how to do no poo!

Anyway, just wanted to come in to say how well it's worked for me.

Hi, I started using the no poo method with BS/ACV towards the beginning of the year. At 1st I did see results since I have curly hair and it had a lot of volume and was very frizzy before I started this experiment. After a few weeks my hair became less frizzy and the volume decreased, my curls were also more defined and my hair was softer. However, my hair is also falling a lot more then it did before and it's very hard for me to untangle it. Last week it took forever to comb.

I've been using 2tbs of BS in 500ml of water, I leave it on for a few minutes and then remove it. I then apply 2tbs of ACV in 500ml of water and remove it almost instantly. I have recently started reading this site and learned I was doing it wrong. I was adding the mixture to the entire hair vrs just the scalp. I have now bought a squeeze bottle to apply the mixture directly to my scalp instead.

I still have some questions as to if I'm doing it right or not and wanted to know if someone could guide me in this process. My hair is kind of a mess since I have dyed it several times (bleached it a lot since I used fantasy colors before), I even shaved my sides off because I couldn't take how damaged it was and that's why I'm trying this method. Anyways, my questions are the following:

1-How often am I suppose to wash my hair with this?
2-For curly thin hair, what is the best mixture of BS/ACV?
3-How am I suppose to apply it (BS on scapl/ACV on hair?)?
4-Can I still add hair product to this? (I use flax seed wax I make myself)
5-Is there anything I can use to leave my hair soft enough to comb without any trouble?

Thanks in advance for helping me with these questions. I'd really like to keep using this method because it really left my hair nice at 1st but now I'm not so sure.

Hi im living in mexico city where baking soda is really hard to come by. What would be the next easiest option? I am looking for something cheap that I could probably find at a grocery store. My hair is thick and somewhere between wavy and curly. Thanks!

Hi Folks!

I am a long-time lurker of this site, but am dropping in to say hello now that I've finally joined the community... and finally took the no-poo plunge over the holidays with Water Only! After reading a gazillion and one no-poo, curlygirl, water-only posts I thought I knew somewhat what to expect. And then was totally thrown for a loop!

I know, just 7 days I am a fresh noob who's barely gone on the first loop of the no poo rollercoaster but here's my story so far. I have fine, curly (2c, 3a?), below-the-shoulders hair that has always struggled to look awesome and was super hard to grow long as it would break and look all straggley (plus I was a bleach blonde for years). I'm in the process of growing all my natural colour back, and being a bit of a hippie trying to go as natural as possible in my household. Over the holidays I decided to give water-only washing a try (giving my sad break-y hair what I`m hoping is it`s best chance at being lush and beautiful).

So I expected a be kind of greasy and limp for a while... but HECK NO. It`s voluminous, big, soft, and fluffy n frizzy to beat hell! So do a 180 and my challenge is to keep my head from being a giant fluffball rather than the greaseball I anticipated. I`ve deep conditioned halfway through the week with coconut oil overnight, and made a rosemary tea spray with a bit of essential oil in it for touch-ups. I am not sure yet if it's helped though. So right now I'm trying to go as long as possible without so much as getting my hair wet to see what happens.

So while this is mostly just a "howdy" I do have a very few questions:

1. Anyone else experienced this insta-super-frizz-fluff and know what I'm in for over the next few weeks?
2. Is there any downside to an overnight coconut oil mask? (Could it have some weird effect like the too-often egg wash?)
3. Boar bristle brush: Being fine and curly I am worried about breakage. Will a wooden comb have the same effect of pulling sebum down my hair shaft?

Thanks :) So very nice to be here, this site is chock-full of usefulness!

-Holly Grail

Hi!! My name is Meghan & I've been lurking this community for god knows how long. You guys don't know me, but you taught me and encouraged me to go shampoo-free this summer. My fairy god-LJ.

I'm finally making a post because everything's gone pear-shaped and I've gone through the archives/memories/tags as far back as about 7 years and can't find exactly what I'm looking for. I have some specific trouble with my hair now and I found a lot of advice, but not a lot of follow-up if it worked. (I hope this doesn't mean people gave up D:)

( THE HISTORY, THE PROBLEM this is long forgive meCollapse )

I don't wanna give up :( I want it to be like it was before. So I'm imploring for help.

Thank you for reading!!

This is my second edition of “My Understanding”, which is basically an expository essay I’ve written describing the basic ideas, science, terms, and ingredients involved with no poo. Most of this information was copied and pasted from snippets gotten off this site, so if you see something that looks familiar, don’t get paranoid or worry about memory problems. If something looks a little TOO familiar, then send me a comment containing a link to where you wrote the advice (to prove it’s yours) and tell me your preference about whether you want credit given to you in the essay or for it to be reworded so that it no longer resembles your advice.

If you disagree with one of my “facts”, tell me so I can do more research, please. Also, feel free to tell me about a detail or step I’ve left out or something I skipped altogether. If you know of another basic to add or an abbreviated acronym, feel free to tell me. Do you agree or disagree with anything? PLEASE GIVE ME FEEDBACK!


BS – baking soda
ACV – apple cider vinegar
WV – white vinegar
WO – water only
BBB – boar bristle brush
TTO – tea tree oil
EO – essential oil
CO – conditioner only
cone – silicone
CG – curly girly
SLSs – Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate
OCM – oil cleansing method
EVOO – extra virgin olive oil
GSE – grapefruit seed extract


People go no-poo for many different reasons - to save money, protect the environment, keep strange and unnatural chemicals off themselves, traditional hair care isn't working for them - but the goal is always the same - healthy, natural, great-looking hair at an affordable price, or, put another way, to have hair and a scalp that naturally maintains itself with the help of the fewest and most natural ingredients possible and looks great doing it.

The natural ph of your hair is 4. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH) Substances with a ph less than 7 are said to be acidic and substances/mixtures with a ph greater than 7 are called basic or alkaline. Pure water's ph is 7 and hard water's ph can be as high as 9, which means that even pure water is basic compared to your hair. As a no poo-er, you want to keep your scalp's ph as close to 4 as possible, while at the same time it stays moisturized, shiny, strong, easy-to-untangle, supple, good volume, etc.

It's a balancing act. Each ingredient you use while trying to achieve your own unique hairy balance does at least one thing you like and, sometimes, has at least one effect on your hair you don't like. The ingredients interact with each other, too, not just with your scalp. For instance, acids like tea or lemon mixtures will speed up the release rate of dye in henna, or using vinegar after carelessly rinsing out baking soda can turn your head into a middle schooler’s volcanic science experiment.

Basic (aka alkaline) ingredients and mixtures are your cleansing shampoo, while acidic mixtures are your conditioner, bringing your hair back up to its normal acidity, making it shiny and untangle easily.

But what about frizzy-ness, dandruff, fluffy/limp, extra greasy or dry hair?

Well, that's when your other ingredients and how your basic ingredients and acidic ingredients interact matter.
Tea tree oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, coconut milk, castor oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, olive oil, vitamin e oil, avocado, shea, aloe, essential oils like rosemary, orange, nettle, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, or soaking your rinse in the actual herbs and then filtering them out before use. There's castile soap, homemade soaps, Dr. Bronner's soaps and shampoos, silicone- and paraben-free shampoos and conditioners.

And, of course, your hair is unique. Its natural: color, texture, length, thickness (fine to thick), moisture level, shape (straight to curly), and porosity will determine how it looks and feels in reaction to the ingredients you put on your head. People with fine, dark hair know that a little bit of oil on the scalp is very obvious, while curly blonds can still look good with greasy hair. Your quality of water -- hard, soft, filtered, distilled, rain, boiled, salt – will also have a big effect on how your hair reacts to the ingredients. Same with harsh commercial dyes, natural henna dyes, and level of heat you subject your hair to. Your health, diet, medication, stress level, and the weather also have an effect on your hair. Activities like swimming in a chlorinated pool, or spending the day with the sun beating down on your unprotected head might make your next wash, rinse, or soak need a little extra something to return to normal.

In order to have a naturally self-maintaining head of hair, no poo-ers must check each ingredient to see if it passes the no poo tests in the first paragraph, rather than just blindly following an interesting-looking recipe he or she found online. Instead of continually doing X, Y, and Z, even when your routine isn’t no longer working, no poo-ers must put mixtures on their scalp that actually have the potential to treat whatever problems your hair/scalp is exhibiting. Each wash, rinse, scrub, or soak should be a response to the ‘symptoms’ of your hair for that day and treatment for how you hope your hair will look tomorrow. For every ingredient or mixture and every interesting recipe they find online, ask yourself, “Will/Could this help my scalp naturally balance itself and make my hair look great?”

Conditioning, acidic ingredients are apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, lemon/lime/orange/apple/grapefruit juice and juice from other sour fruits, strong tea, amla berry paste, alpha-hydroxy rich fruits like tomato juice and applesauce, shikakai, beer, egg yolks, the juice of green vegetables, etc.
Apple cider vinegar is probably the first acid new no poo-ers try. Some people love what apple cider vinegar does to their hair so much that they would marry it if they could, while others run screaming from apple cider vinegar after a single use and still have nightmares about the mess it made of their hair. Others love apple cider vinegar, but can’t stand the smell. Apple cider vinegar is said to naturally have some oils in it, so might not be a good choice for those with naturally oily scalp. Heinz is an ACV brand to avoid. What I'm trying to say is, don't be afraid to experiment. If apple cider vinegar leaves your hair feeling grimy, try white vinegar, or lemon juice.

Basic (alkaline) ingredients are baking soda, honey, clay, yucca root paste, castile soap, Dr. Bronner's, corn starch, egg whites, tonic water, water with dissolved TUMs tablets, etc.


Acids can be put on the scalp and hair length, though people with fine/thin hair often say that acid on the roots of their hair makes it look greasy. Basic mixtures go on the scalp and never ever on the hair length.
Acids washes are usually diluted anywhere from 1:16 to 1:2 (1 tbsp vinegar & 1 cup water to 1/2 cup vinegar & 1 cup water) but are occasionally as strong as 1:1 (1 cup of each). Basic washes (when they involve baking soda) are usually not stronger than 1:16 and can be as diluted as 1:96 (1/2 teaspoon baking soda & 1 cup water). A good place to start your acid and basic experimenting is the standard 1:16. Decrease, or increase, your proportion of baking soda and vinegar from there until you find the minimum amount that gives you the desired results.

Base before acid. Always. Always. Always! Or acid after base. Whichever is easier for you to remember.

I really loved cactus_rs's advice: "Scrub harder and rinse longer. The reason shampoos and soaps are effective is because they make it easier for water to cut through dirt and rinse it away. That's what the lather is doing: water's job, just much more effectively. When you take out the foaming agents and lather, that means you have to work a bit harder at getting stuff out. "

Water-only washes are scrubbing your scalp with the pads of your fingers under scalding hot water to open and clean your pores and mechanically remove oil/grease and waxy sebum, then rinsing in frigid water to close your pores.

Conditioner only wash is where you wash your hair only with a conditioner (which can be all natural/eco-friendly, homemade, or regular store bought) because, believe it or not, most conditioners contain enough cleaning agents to do shampoo’s job. If you want to try this method, which is especially popular among the curly-haired girls, check the Ingredients section on bottles to be sure they don’t have parabens (a chemical preservative), silicone, or any Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (harsh detergents which often causes skin irritation, responsible for the foaming suds found in most cleaners).
http://www.wikihow.com/Plop-Your-Hair

There are egg washes (usually egg yolk but sometimes whole egg) and beer washes. Some people swear that boar bristle brushes or wooden/horn combs will solve all your oil and wax/sebum problems by distributing oil from the scalp down the length of your hair. Raw, unpasteurized honey is a great moisturizing cleanser, while applesauce is a mild degreaser that doesn't strip your hair of its natural oils. Aloe vera is said to cure anything from itchy, flaky, dry, or frizzy hair/scalp.

Acidic egg yolks, which add moisture to hair, and basic egg whites, which gently remove excess oils, both leave hair shiny and the boost of protein gives it strength. Too much protein, or egg washing too often, can leave hair frizzy, stiff, and easily broken. Always rinse the egg out with cold water unless you want scrambled eggs in your hair.

Baking soda is a harsh and abrasive (think sandpaper) cleanser. It does make hair softer but that is because the baking soda is actually slowly destroying your hair’s keratin. The softness is a symptom of your hair disintegrating and falling apart. This damaging side effect is why you want to use the minimum amount of baking soda needed to get a slippery feeling on your hands and scalp. If you have distilled, bottled, rain, or boiled water, the basic mixture is a great place to use it. It is possible that adding between 1/8 to 1 teaspoon of salt per cup of water will help increase the effectiveness of the baking soda, making it possible to use less. Another baking soda minimizing technique is to apply your mixture to a dry scalp, because putting your mixture on a wet scalp means the water already on/in your hair will combine with the water mixture containing your baking soda to dilute it even more, which forces you to use more baking soda. Unless you truly have something nasty stuck in the lengths of your hair, apply baking soda only to your scalp, not your hair length.
http://empoweredsustenance.com/no-poo-method-damages-hair/

If your hair is a bit oily, but you want to delay washing, then use corn starch to soak up extra oil. Put a couple pinches on the palm and fingers of one hand, rub hands together until the white is distributed everywhere so that only an iridescent sheen remains on your hands, (perhaps clap your hands if too much corn starch was dusted on and you now have clump left on your hand), then rub the hands onto greasy areas of hair. Use a brush or comb to further spread the starch through your hair. If, when you are done, your hair is ashy or pale, wipe a dry terry cloth across the affected area until you are satisfied.
Nothing involved in this cornstarch process should be wet: hands, hair, brush, towel, the cornstarch itself. ALL dry. Don’t apply the cornstarch while wearing the outfit you plan to wear for the rest of that day; not because this technique is super messy. Never apply cornstarch directly to your scalp or it will appear that you suffer from the world’s worst case of dandruff. Some people recommend brushing the cornstarch through your hair while upside down by lying on a bed with your hair hanging off the side. (This technique requires you to afterwards brush your hair again while right-side up.)
For those of us with dark hair, mixing cornstarch with some cocoa powder, cinnamon, mineral makeup, colored sidewalk chalk, or oatmeal pulverized to powder in a clean coffee grinder makes cornstarch less obvious.


For VOLUME try
A rinse with flat beer.
Gently rubbing coconut oil through your hair and scalp the night before a morning shower.
Brushing cornstarch into your hair.
Using less honey, IF you have fine hair, since it can weight down the thin strands.

For DANDRUFF try
Washing in the order of acid, basic, acid. The first acid rinse on your scalp, with white vinegar being specifically recommended, loosens future dandruff so that your ordinary basic scrub removes more. The final acid wash, made up of whatever you ordinarily use, simply returns your ph back to normal.
Using henna.
Using more moisture-friendly ingredients, like aloe juice.
Applying diluted tea tree oil.
Using more acid and/or less baking soda.
Staying hydrated by drinking more water.
Putting cinnamon in your acid rinse. It can be ground cinnamon, a stick, or tea. The recipe for ground cinnamon is 1/2 teaspoon in 20 oz of acid rinse. Too much cinnamon can cause skin reactions, so experiment carefully and never before an important event.
Avoiding clay as a basic washes.

For DRY ENDS try
Dipping the ends in coconut oil a few hours before or the night before your morning shower.
Dipping the ends in argan oil a few hours before or the night before your morning shower.
Dipping the ends in jojoba oil -- which might be significantly more effective than coconut oil, so be careful -- a few hours before or the night before your morning shower.
Dipping the ends in (extra virgin) olive oil a few hours before or the night before your morning shower.

For SPLIT ENDS of hair try
Cutting current split ends off. Sorry, only glue will put the splits back together. (*Don’t glue your hair.) Until cut, they will only increase in size.
Dipping the ends in coconut oil a few hours before or the night before your morning shower.
Dipping the ends in jojoba oil to reduce likelihood of future split ends a few hours before or the night before your morning shower. (Jojoba oil might be significantly more effective than coconut oil, so be careful.)

For STATIC hair try
Using more moisturizers.
Using less coconut oil.
Using more mild cleaners, like applesauce or egg, so that your hair retains its natural oils.
Using combs made of wood or horn to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using a boar bristle brush to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using baking soda less often.
Using baking soda in a more dilute mixture.
Getting a haircut to remove split ends.
Use drying and damaging heating elements like blow dryers, flat irons, and curling irons less often.

For SHINE try
Using more concentrated acid.
Switching acids.
Leaving in your acid rinse, perhaps leave in a diluted version after rinsing out your regular acid rinse.
A rinse with flat beer.

For SOFT/STIFF hair try
A rinse with flat beer.
Gently rubbing coconut oil through your hair and scalp the night before a morning shower.
Using protein-rich washes less often.
Adding moisture to your hair.

For BREAKING hair try
Using protein-rich washes less often; twice a month, or once every two weeks.
Infusing strength into your hair with a protein-filled egg wash.
Making sure that you rinse thoroughly between your basic and acid washes.
Using baking soda less often.
Using baking soda in a more dilute mixture.
Adding moisture to your hair.

For STRINGY hair try
Using less conditioning ingredients.
Using less moisturizing ingredients.

For ITCHY hair try
Adding moisture to your scalp.
Increasing the acidity of your scalp.
Using baking soda less often.
Using baking soda or other basics in a more dilute mixture.
Making sure that you rinse thoroughly between your basic and acid washes.
Adding around 1 teaspoon of salt to your baking soda mixture to increase its effectiveness.
Changing from baking soda to another basic.
Using aloe juice to soothe and moisturize your skin.

For RED SCALP try
Changing from baking soda to another basic because some people are sensitive to baking soda.
Using baking soda less often because baking soda is very abrasive.
Using baking soda or other basics in a more dilute mixture.
Using aloe juice to soothe your skin.

For FRIZZY hair try
Using aloe juice.
Using protein-rich washes less often.
Changing acids.
Rinsing your acid off sooner.
Using a heavier cleaner like honey.

For WAXY hair try
Increasing the acidity of your scalp by applying more concentrated acid.
Increasing the acidity of your scalp by applying your regular acid mixture more often.
Changing acids.
Using combs made of wood or horn to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using a boar bristle brush to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using water only washes, properly performed, more often.
Leaving in your acid rinse, perhaps leave in a diluted version after rinsing out your regular acid rinse.
Rinsing your acid off your scalp after a longer soak.
Rinsing your acid off your scalp after a harder scrub.
Using water that is not hard in your basic and acid mixtures: distilled, filtered, bottled, rain, or salt water.
Installing a carbon, chlorine, or other kind of filter on your shower head to lessen the effects of hard water.
Washing after heavy/sweaty exercise.

For GREASY/OILY hair try
Changing acids.
Using combs made of wood or horn to distribute the oils at your roots along the length of your hair.
Using a boar bristle brush to distribute the oils at your roots along the length of your hair.
Using water only washes, properly performed, more often.
Keeping acid off your scalp as much as possible, IF you have thin/fine hair.
Using gentler cleansers that don’t strip the scalp of natural oils, reducing your scalp’s need to produce oil.
Washing after heavy/sweaty exercise.

For EASY TO UN/TANGLE hair try
Changing acids.
Using combs made of wood or horn to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using a boar bristle brush to distribute the oils in your scalp along the length of your hair.
Using gentler cleansers that don’t strip the scalp of natural oils.
Rinsing acid off your scalp after a longer soak.
Leaving in your acid rinse, perhaps leave in a diluted version after rinsing out your regular acid rinse.
Spraying an acid mixture in a spray bottle onto your hair.
Applying a paste of fenugreek seed powder on your hair and rinsing after 5 minutes.


Whether your scalp is oily/greasy, waxy with nasty grey/yellow sebum that leaves gunk on your brush, has static, is limp, fluffy, dull, frizzy, brittle, breaking too easily, dry, dandruff, itchy, has split ends, the tags on http://no-poo.livejournal.com/ can help you learn more about your hair type and how to make it look wonderful cheaply, naturally, and hopefully, easily.



All units are metric and liquid. Conversions according to http://www.onlineconversion.com/cooking.htm
cup
1 cup = 16 2/3 tablespoons (tbsp)
1 cup = 50 teaspoons (tsp)
1 cup = 8.45 US ounces (oz)
1 cup = 8.8 UK ounces (oz)
1 cup = 4869.22 drops
1 cup = 250 milliliters (ml)

US ounce (oz)
1 oz = 1/8 cup (0.1183)
1 oz = 1.97 tbsp
1 oz = 5.9 tsp
1 oz = 576 drops
1 oz = 29.57 ml

UK ounce (oz)
1 oz = 1/9 cup (0.1136)
1 oz = 1.9 tbsp
1 oz = 5.68 tsp
1 oz = 553.4 drops
1 oz = 28.41 ml

tablespoon (tbsp)
1 tbsp = 1/16 cup (0.06)
1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 tbsp = 0.51 US oz
1 tbsp = 0.53 UK oz
1 tbsp = 292.15 drops
1 tbsp = 15 ml

teaspoon (tsp)
1 tsp = 1/50 cup (0.02)
1 tsp = 1/3 tbsp
1 tsp = 0.169 US oz
1 tsp = 0.176 UK oz
1 tsp = 97.4 drops
1 tsp = 5 ml


Fractions and their decimal conversions
1/16 = 0.0625
1/9 = 0.111
1/8 = 0.125 ___ 2/16
1/4 = 0.25 ____ 2/8 , 4/16 ,
1/3 = 0.333 ___ 3/9
3/8 = 0.375
1/2 = 0.5 _____ 8/16 , 4/8 , 2/4
5/8 = 0.625
2/3 =0.6666 ___ 6/9
3/4 = 0.75 ____ 12/16 , 6/8 ,
7/8 = 0.875



Next edition:
How to apply regular and essential oils
How to treat dry ends
What is and how to fight Hard Water
Value of henna use for no poo-ers
When to use Glycerine
Tips for shortening the transition period
Why 15 minutes soaks are so important

after 24 years of using store-bought shampoo and conditioner
COLOR: medium brown
TEXTURE: extremely fine
LENGTH: very long, nearly to my belt
THICKNESS: extremely thin
MOISTURE: a crisco factory when the boss is watching because a deadline is approaching and his job is on the line (aka super greasy)
POROSITY: extremely low (Still floating after twelve hours.)
SHAPE: very straight and very limp - no height, no volume, no fluff, etc
WATER QUALITY: soft, filtered
I currently have peppermint, rosemary, lavender, and cinnamon ESO, as well as castor oil, vitamin E oil, and fractionated coconut oil.


I've been considering whether I should stop using my current commercial facial cleanser. My face is at least as oily as my hair, maybe more. I have really bad acne and use a cleanser that has the maximum amount of acne medicine legally allowed in a non-prescription cleanser. Unfortunately a known side effect is that it really dries out your skin. I've done so much thinking about how harsh shampoo strips my scalp of its natural oils, which makes it overproduce to compensate, that I began wondering about my face and how the same thing is happening there, too.
But I don't want to quit cold turkey, either. I've gone months using only gentle, moisturizer-infused baby wipes on my face and did not like the results.

Will the good ph and natural balance things happening on my scalp transfer goodness to my face or might the drying chemicals on my face prevent goodness from happening on my scalp -- like it's all one thing and the same treatment must be done to both parts to see results?

Are there any good moisturizing essential oils that I can put on my dry skin while still using my commercial cleanser -- to moisturize to so it doesn't overproduce and balance ph? Are there any acne-fighting essential oils (or acne fighting something else) that might ease my transition or help me get the courage to quit my cleanser? Do I even need to stop using it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 18, 2014
I have been using OCM for about a week now and I needed to share with everyone here how happy my face is with it. I'm still using my "maximum amount of acne medicine legally allowed in a non-prescription cleanser" face cleaner -- but much less -- and afterward I do OCM and I can already tell a difference in the level of oil production on my face and the faster speed at which acne disappears.

Before, if I didn't wash my face in the morning, by lunchtime, I could feel that all the oil on my forehead had slid down onto my upper eyelids. After a couple hours of that, it would slide into my eyes and that BURNED! Now I feel like I could get away with not washing in the morning, though I haven't actually tested it.

My recipe is (tesp = teaspoon)
6 tesp of castor oil
2 tesp of olive oil (not extra virgin, after looking up the difference. I also found a reputable article online claiming that the majority of imported EVOO doesn't actually meet EVOO standards, so why not use regular?)
5 drops of tea tree oil
6 drops of jojoba oil

I decided against using grape seed oil, because the oil lacks all the good qualities of grape seeds and is created in a way that uses a lot of chemicals, and chose Vitamin E oil to replace it. Then I rejected VEO, too, because research told me VEO is heavy with big molecules, which attracts dirt/dust which blocks pores and causes acne prone people to break out even more. VEO benefits also seemed to be easily stopped, or even reversed, by sunlight exposure.
http://authoritynutrition.com/grape-seed-oil/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/vitamin-e-oil-tips_n_3477654.html
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/skin/vitaminE/

EVOO
http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-basics/report-most-imported-extra-virgin-olive-oils-arent/4316
http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil

Flaxseed or linseed oil is an oil that passes my research tests, but I never got around to actually buying any.
http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-flaxseed-oil.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/180899-the-benefits-of-topically-applying-flaxseed-oil-to-skin/

I'm new at this, but I've been reading, researching, and collecting data like crazy. I want to know if my understanding (gained mostly from reading the advice and opinions of the people here) is right. It's kind of in expository essay form, sorry. I've been writing too many school papers lately and can't help it.



BS baking soda
ACV apple cider vinegar
WV white vinegar
WO water only wash
BBB boar bristle brush
TTO tea tree oil
CO conditioner only
OCM ?
GSE ?


People go no-poo for many different reasons - to save money, protect the environment, keep strange and unnatural chemicals off themselves, traditional hair care isn't working for them - but the goal is always the same - a healthy, natural, great-looking hair and scalp.

The natural ph of your hair is 4. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH) Substances with a ph less than 7 are said to be acidic and substances/mixtures with a ph greater than 7 are basic or alkaline. Pure water's ph is 7 and hard water's ph can be as high as 9, which means that even pure water is basic compared to your hair. As a no poo-er, you want to keep your scalp's ph as close to 4 as possible, while at the same time it stays moisturized, shiny, strong, easy-to-untangle, supple, good volume, etc. It's a balancing act.

Each ingredient you use to accomplish this balancing act does at least one thing you like and often has at least one effect on your hair you don't like. Oh, the ingredients can interact with each other.

Basic (aka alkaline) ingredients and mixtures are your cleansing shampoo, while acidic mixtures are your conditioner, bringing your hair back up to it's normal acidity, making it shiny and untangle easily.

But what about frizzy-ness, dandruff, fluffy/limp, extra greasy or dry hair?

Well, that's when your other ingredients and how your basic ingredients and acidic ingredients interact matter.
Tea tree oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, coconut milk, castor oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, olive oil, vitamin e oil, avocado, shea, aloe, essential oils like rosemary, orange, nettle, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, or soaking your rinse in the actual herbs and then filtering them out before use. There's castile soap, homemade soaps, Dr. Bronner's soaps and shampoos, silicone- and paraben-free shampoos and conditioners.

And, of course, your hair is unique: its natural color, texture, length, thickness, moisture level, shape, and porosity will determine how it looks and feels in reaction to the ingredients you put on your head. Your quality of water (hard water, soft, filtered, salt water) also have a big effect on how your hair reacts to the ingredients. (i.e. Dr. Bronner's and hard water do not mix!)

Acidic ingredients are white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, lemon/lime/orange juice, strong tea, tomato sauce, applesauce, beer, etc. Some people love what ACV does to their hair so much that they would marry it if they could, while others run screaming from ACV after a single use and still have nightmares about it. What I'm trying to say is, don't be afraid to experiment. If ACV leaves your hair feeling grimy, try WV or lemon juice.

Basic (alkaline) ingredients are baking soda, honey, clay, corn starch, egg whites, etc.

Acids should be put on the hair length, and mostly not the scalp (there's some debate over this). Bases go on the scalp and never ever on the hair length (it does make the hair softer but that is because it is actually slowly destroying it; at least that is what baking soda does. softer = falling apart).
http://empoweredsustenance.com/no-poo-method-damages-hair/

Vinegar acids washes are usually diluted anywhere from 1:16 to 1:2 (1 tbsp vinegar & 1 cup water to 1/2 cup vinegar & 1 cup water) but are occasionally as strong as 1:1 (1 cup of each). Basic washes (when they involve baking soda) are usually not stronger than 1:8 (1 tbsp bs & 1/2 cup water) and can be as diluted as 1:96 (1/2 tesp bs & 1 cup water). A good place to start experimenting is the standard 1:16. Decrease, or increase, your proportion of baking soda and vinegar from there until you find the minimum amount that gives you the desired results.

Base before acid. Always. Always. Always! Or acid after base. Whichever is easier for you to remember.

Water-only washes are scrubbing your scalp with the pads of your fingers under scalding hot water to open and clean your pores, then rinse in frigid water to close your pores.

Conditioner Only wash is where you wash your hair only with a conditioner (which can be all natural/eco-friendly, homemade, or regular store bought.)

There are egg washes (usually egg yolk but sometimes whole egg) and beer washes. Some people swear that BBBs or wooden combs will solve all your oil and wax/sebum problems. Honey is a great moisturizing cleanser while applesauce is a mild degreaser that doesn't strip your hair of its natural oils. Aloe vera is said to cure anything from itchy, flaky, dry, or frizzy hair/scalp.

I really loved cactus_rs's advice: "Scrub harder and rinse longer. The reason shampoos and soaps are effective is because they make it easier for water to cut through dirt and rinse it away. That's what the lather is doing: water's job, just much more effectively. When you take out the foaming agents and lather, that means you have to work a bit harder at getting stuff out. "

Whether your scalp is oily/greasy, waxy with nasty grey/yellow sebum that leaves gunk on your brush, has static, is limp, fluffy, dull, frizzy, brittle, breaking too easily, dry, dandruff, itchy, has split ends, the tags on http://no-poo.livejournal.com/ can help you learn more about your hair type and how to make it look wonderful cheaply, naturally, and hopefully, easily.



I have more but it's not in essay form (still copied and pasted snippets from internet or an incomplete thought format).

If you know of another basic to add or an abbreviated acronym, feel free to tell me. Do you agree or disagree with anything?

I have super-low porosity hair and last night I put the 1/4 teaspoon of castor oil in my 1/2 cup of 1:2 acv-water mixture, shook, and then put on my hair, and left in. It was too much and now my hair is a total greaseball. It's oily and I brush and brush but it doesn't really untangle. HOW DO I GET IT OUT?!

Am I supposed to do something to make that oil not float on top of my mixtures in the future? Do essential oils float, too?

If I want to leave a diluted avc-water mix in my hair at the end of my routine, then how many drops (of castor oil or anything else) should I put into the next 1/2 cup acid rinse I leave in?

after 24 years of using store-bought shampoo and conditioner
COLOR: medium brown
TEXTURE: extremely fine
LENGTH: very long, nearly to my belt
THICKNESS: extremely thin
MOISTURE: a crisco factory when the boss is watching because a deadline is approaching and his job is on the line (aka super greasy)
POROSITY: extremely low (Still floating after twelve hours.)
SHAPE: very straight and very limp - no height, no volume, no fluff etc
HEALTH: fine
WATER QUALITY: soft, filtered

I have peppermint, rosemary, lavender, and cinnamon ESO, as well as castor oil, vitamin E oil, tea tree oil, jojoba oil, and fractionated coconut oil.
Is any of that an oil that definitely shouldn't be combined with vinegar and/or left in my hair?
Is any of that an oil that I would be better off mixing with my raw honey/canned coconut milk/castile liquid soap mixture instead? Or mixed with my baking soda/water mixture?
Is any of that an oil that should only be put on my hair tips? Or combed into my hair?
Or anything else, like my greasy, fine, long hair type?

I started no poo on Saturday (prior to that, I was washing every other, or every third day with a no-sulfate shampoo) On Saturday night, I washed with diluted Dr. Bronners (8:1) and rinsed with ACV. While damp, I put in a little coconut oil. On Sunday morning, it was looking very dry, so I put in some Argan oil, which made my hair very greasy. (now I know I have low porosity hair, a strand sat on top of the water for over 12 hours!). On Sunday night, I washed with an egg and then rinsed with ACV. On Monday, I brushed thoroughly in sections with my BBB (greasy on scalp, dry on ends). Today (Tuesday) it is looking greasy, but the ends are still dry. I plan to brush again tonight, and wash on Wedn night (I have a meeting on Thursday, and I can’t look like a grease ball). I was going to make aloe honey shampoo. My plan is to put most of the shampoo (reserving some) on the ends and length of my hair and let it sit on my hair for a few minutes while I am in the steamy shower. Then I am going to take the reserved amount and add a little of the diluted Dr. B. and scrub that on my scalp to get rid of the greasiness.

So I have a couple of questions, will adding the Dr. B to my scalp cancel any of the moisture effects of the aloe/honey shampoo?

I would like to get to where I am using alternatives to Dr. B (most of the time) to removing the grease, maybe adding a drop of castor oil to the DIY shampoo instead? Applesauce? Lemon juice?

What else removes the grease? I am not sure if my hair really liked the egg wash, so I would not want to do that regularly.

Is it bad to change my washing ingredients so often? (honey / aloe one wash, applesauce the next)
Thanks!

Hi, I've been no poo for about 2 weeks now, and I really struggled not to give up today.

Basically, I've been using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash my hair and I got that horrible waxy feeling, my hair felt like waxy straw, my hands felt like they were covered in gunk when I touched my hair, and it just felt a bit like one massive clump of hair.

After doing some research, I saw that washing their hair with eggs helped some people, so that's what I did today, rather than give up. I was a bit silly though - so after washing it with two whole eggs, despite it feeling great, I still went ahead and used a little bit of baking soda at the roots of my hair because my hair didn't feel clean. I did a acv rinse as normal.

So, it's drying at the moment, and the bits that i didnt use baking soda on are not waxy at all, so thank goodness that's been fixed. They're also shiny, although a sort of dry looking and feeling, and slightly brittle feeling. The baking soda top layer of hair feels waxy - so at least I know its the baking soda and my hard water not agreeing that's causing it!

However, I used to have silky, straight, shiny hair (that I definitely should have appreciated more at the time!), and my hair when i was using shampoo, since I hit the age of about 14 (I'm 19 now), was dry, frizzy,wavy, soft but sort of fluffy feeling? I can deal with hormones or whatever having made my hair wavier but I desperately long for those silky locks! Even now, after the egg wash, I feel like its sort of fluffy.

My problem with using eggs is that -
1. I cannot stand the smell, although having said that, if it gave me shiny silky hair, I dont care. But has anyone got any ideas as to what could help?
2. It's not giving me shiny silky hair - is that just me being impatient? Should I just give it more time? Has anyone got any alternatives?
3. I dont know if this is just because I was being rough, but I still seem to lose a lot of hair when i brush it, although conisderably less than when i used the baking soda. Anyone using eggs have this problem?
4. Eggs are so expensive. Is there anything like eggs, which seem to just be so so so gentle on my hair but cheaper?

I was going to ask should I give baking soda another go, with distilled water, but even by writing all of this out I seem to have answered my own question and decided that I'm not it's biggest fan. It's so strange because I seem to be loving eggs, but hating them at the same time - I think it's because I'm so happy that it feels clean and not clumpy and waxy, as if I have washed it with shampoo, but now i'm thinking right ok and trying to find the right shampoo that will make my hair perfect. If that makes any sense whatsoever. Haha.

Sorry about the absolute essay!! I just want to find something that will make my hair healthy and strong and shiny. (And not fluffy. I hate that so much) Thanks!

I have tried a bunch of things on my hair, and have no idea where to go from here...

I have been no poo for about 7 years.

I think I have hard water, and I swim in a non-chlorine salt water pool a few times a week now it is summer (but this has been this way for a while). I use a wood pin brush, and a boars hair brush on my hair daily. I use ACV and sesame, not together, oil 2 or 3 times a week on the tips of my wet hair about 4 inches up. I wash with honey weekly, with egg white each BS once a month. (So, W1 honey and BS, W2 honey, W3 honey and egg white, W4 honey.) When I use the yoke it makes my hair very stiff and brittle. I tried beer on my hair to set pin curls and it make my hair a tinny bit softer, but mostly just frizzy and stiff. These events leave me worried about protein, therefore I avoid coconut oil and avocado.

I have lightened my hair at a salon some 9+m.s ago (and to tell the truth it is after the tec "forgot" and washed my hair that trouble really started). It was a level 10 in the front and a level 9 in the back which I hennaed and wonderful light red. Recently lightened the over grown roots from a level 2 to an 8 with peroxide, v30, and BS and dyed with Ion Violet, and as it faded redyed Gentian Violet. I also have done a a vit. c treatment on my hair to try and pull the color out, as the purples on the yellow blond made brown. Ick. I am planing on doing another vit. c treatment, possible a vodka treatment (and if needed a prox, v20ish and bs) to see if I can pull the GV out any more before dye it again.

I do not feel that I have ruined my hair, even if these are all drying/damaging events. I have very few split ends, and my hair is strong enough to tie in a knot! However it will tangle like a MoFo unless braid or curl it before bed, and untangle it by hand before I brush it at night. They only times it has really felt soft recently was a few months ago I was at a hotel and showed WO. Each time I change what I do with my hair it feel a little better then goes back to oil covered hay.

I am so lost! I really want to cry!!
Ideas?

P.S. If you have any ideas about getting the brown to a dyeable level let me know that too... lol.

RANDOM MORNING UPDATE:
My hair to day seems softer, and ever so slightly less oily - in parts, the thinner parts. My bathroom is being remodeled and the pool had a leak, so it has been a few days nice I got my hair Nice and Wet/Washed. Is this just really build up from hard water? It isn't "waxy". I feel like it aught to be something more.

I don't know where I went wrong, but I really want to go right before my birthday in less than two weeks.

My hair started misbehaving this winter and being unmanageable. I decided to try co-only first. That was in March. I decided the Shea butter brand was right for me and bought the formula for dry hair.

This went well for about a month. I typically shower every other day; I use only water on my hair every other shower, so I wash my hair about every four days.

Well, it was April, and my hair was greasy. I live in the South, so it was already humid. I switched to the volumizing conditioner, and this worked well for another month.

Then, my hair seemed to get used to it. My friend uses baking soda; we don't have the same kind of hair, but I tried it anyway. It went well for a week or so, but then I noticed my hair was staticy as ****. I tried putting my conditioner on the ends, but it didn't help.

She had told me she didn't use acv. She just puts two tbs of baking soda into a mason jar with water. I did the same, but I always eyeball the amount I use. I tried cutting back to one tbs. Then I tried a mason jar of acv and water in conjunction with half a jar of water and bs.

It took the static out, but now my hair is limp and ugly. The roots are greasy. First, they were crunchy from bs, so I poured some acv on them. I saw a recent post about how going back and forth with bs (or something similar) and acv will slowly strip your hair.

I just want to find what's right for me before my birthday. I'm not opposed to buying organic shampoos and conditioners. I never used them before my hair went crazy. I just don't know what happened this winter to make my hair so upset and why it hasn't gone back to normal yet.

The worst part is my birthday is coming up. The last thing I want to worry about is having awful hair! Especially since I'm going to be dyeing it for the first time ever. I've always wanted pink hair. I'm going to have it professionally done. That being said, any recs on what to tell the stylist to shampoo my hair with?

I'm posting pictures of how my hair was in fall 2012, back when I still liked it a lot. I also have a couple of how it was this spring when whatever I was using at the time was working. Basically pictures of how my hair SHOULD look. Then, I'll post ones of how it looks at this very moment. I showered last night. My hair is fine. It gets greasy at the roots and static and limp from my ears down.

( Pictures...Collapse )

Please, help. ;w; I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know what to try. I just want my hair back the way it was. Also, if anyone can suggest how to tag this, I'll add them.

Hi everyone, I have been no poo for two years. It is the best thing I have every done for my hair and it has made my life so much easier. I have very short, thick, straight hair that hasn't been dyed in years. Almost a year ago I started travelling and went WO. I rinse my hair in the shower with diluted ACV or WV (1 tablespoon to 1/2 cup of cold water) and then massage my scalp when I'm done the shower with a dry towel. I was only once every week or two when it starts to look greasy.
Ever since I started no poo I seem to have at least a little bit of dandruff. The past few months the dandruff seems to be quite noticeable. I make sure that I never scratch my scalp with my comb to aggravate the dandruff.
Any thoughts on what might be causing dandruff, and/or suggestions on possible solutions? I should note that I am travelling and unfortunately I have limited access to shampoo/ conditioner ingredients, and it is difficult to get a regular schedule in terms of my water supply and my diet.
Thanks so much!

Hi community. I wanted to report that I have returned to my regimen of shampoo free, and have been no poo once more for about 4 weeks after a year hiatus. I had stopped using ACV/BS because my husband hated the smell of vinegar and for a while I was unable to really experiment much with trying to make the whole process more pleasant for those who didn't like the vinegar. I went back to using shampoo and conditioner, and found that in the extreme dryness my hair got a lot more damaged. Back earlier in May I decided to finally go back to using the no poo system. Its taken a while, and my hair has to rebound from about a year of shampoo build up, but thus far I've started noticing that my natural wave comes out in my hair after the vinegar wash. I have my BS in a canister and do the paste in my hand and thoroughly scrub my scalp. Then I wash with ACV that I've distilled through rosemary and have cut the concentration considerably to about 1/5 parts ACV and water. I find that this helps the ACV a lot less strong and smell a lot better.
Here is my current set up for my ACV and my BS:

I used one of my cat's old litter containers to store the diluted ACV.
My only frustration at this point is that my hair is still really frizzy especially at the top of my head. If I add the least bit of oil (tea tree and coconut) it get's really really oily and gross looking. So I'm wondering if anyone has any tips to help out with this issue.

I am brand new to the no poo method and have tried to research as much as possible before starting it. I am not huge into all organic honestly, but am looking for something to improve my hair health. I have very fine/thin/wavy/curly hair....I have always blow dried and worn it straight. It's not a very flattering curl when I air dry it, bc I have no clue how to manage it.

Ok, my issue....I have only been using no poo for about 2 weeks (I know I probably need to give it a little longer but I feel like I may need some adjustments and don't know what to do.) I also use African Black soap occasionally (as suggested by someone who uses this as shampoo)

Issues:
--Even while in the shower after using the BS/ACV mix my hair feels SUPER heavy and when I either let it air dry or blow dry it it is super WAXY at the roots. I can barely brush through it.
--I'm noticing the dry itchy scalp starting to dandruff
--Hair loss= major! I have always had issues with this but it's gotten much worse.

Here is the run down of what I have been trying:
Day1: clarifying shampoo with Shear Moisture conditioner (no rinse and only on ends). Air dried. Hair soft, curly and no frizz---although I just look weird with curly hair
Day 2: No Wash. Still curly, no frizz, a little oily, but ok
Day 3: BS & ACV with a little Shear moisture cond on ends. Blow dried. Big mistake with extra cond...super oily..used salt water mix spray to absorb oil. Air dried.....NAPPY looking
Day 4: No wash....used salt water mix again and air dried. Yuck
Day 5: Af. Black soap shampoo and ACV. Heavy hair, blow dried. Super oily and waxy.
Day 6: Water only. Air dried. No tangles....no frizz...curly....didn't look oily but super waxy feeling and heavy.
Day 7: No wash in the AM. Oily. BS & ACV in evening. Blow dried. Very oily and waxy again.
Day 8: Only water. Air dried. Nasty
Day 9: Only water. Air dried. Nasty
Day 10: BS & ACV. Air dried. Heavy and waxy.
Day 11: af blck soap with Shear moisture on ends. blow dried. Waxy...curled end with flat iron...looks ok, feels gross.
Day 12: Water only. waxy.
Day 13: Af. Blck. soap with Shear moisture. Air dry. Waxy!
Day 14: No wash. Still waxy. PM: BS & ACV, air dried over night. So far....hair loss= major!
Day 15: No wash. Waxy...brushed with comb and straighted. Wore in ponytail but feels disgusting and heavy.
Day 16: No wash. Still waxy.
Day 17: No wash. waxy and oily, itchy and seeing lots of dandruff. Still major hair loss.
Day 18: (today) about to give up and use traditional shampoo. =-(

Sorry if that is a lot to read through, but I don't know what to do to remedy this. =-(

Hello,

I'm in need for some advice! I've been doing no poo for five months but I still feel the need to wash my hair every second day. I started with BS and ACV or conditioner only every other day. But lately I've experimented with egg wash, rhasoul clay, birch leaves and rye flour. I absolutely love clay and rye flour and my hair gets really soft and fluffy the first day. I usually rinse with either ACV or lemon juice and water. But the second day it feels and looks oily and greasy. It doesn't get better and I really thought it would after five months. I'm Swedish and I have typically Scandinavian hair, blond and thin hairs. The colour is nice and shiny the first day, but gets dark and dull the second day already. It will take a lot for me to start using shampoo again but I was looking forward to not feeling the need to wash my hair every day...

Does anyone have some advice??

  I've been washing with natural products for ver two years so far -- clay hairwashes most of the time. The promblem I have always had with my no poo was residue on the brush -- dark oily, greyish oily -- even after the wash.
  And now, on 'the water only' route -- I have been washing my hair (big wash) once a week -- it was hard: most of the week the hair was oily. Water only in between the 'big' washes didn't help, neither did fruit juice or vegetable juice masks -- this only helped until the end of the day.
  The results are healthier hair, less hair loss, fewer split ends.
  The longest I could go without touching hair with water was 4 days (it was after 6 weeks, I think) -- hair was volumous, good-looking. Then -- 2 days on the 3d you'd better do sth to look nice.
  Perhaps some things depend on the season. Now summer warmth is coming.
  As for the residue on the brush -- I wanted to share this joy -- maybe someone else needs this. On the 27th of April I put old refined cocnut oil on my slightly wetted hair and kept it on for 1,5 hours -- then washed it with black clay with a bit of tea tre essential oil. And there was no residue/gunk on the brush for 2 days! Hurray!
  My hair is long, thick, and strong, brown.
  Now I've decided to wash my hair on the 4th or 5th day (then, when/if possibly -- I'll add a day longer etc.) -- trying to stick to this, I'll continue with my haircare experiments.

  Hello, no-poers! How after 6 weeks of water-washing and training hair I'm starting to see and feel more noticeable results. I have been giving my hair a 'big' wash once a week? Now is the third day hair: it's quite good, softly oily. Tonoight I'm plannina carrot/carrot juice hair mask as for refreshment. So hurray -- it's getting easier.
  Just curious to ask (was there a topic somewhere?) -- how do you usually wash out the oil masks with ''no poo' in you do them? Do you use soaps, shampoo bars -- if so, how is your hair after them? If you do an oll mask -- do you do it on clean or on greasy hair? Thanks in advance. :)

  I've been 'no-poo' for over two years: I mostly used clay as a cleanser (the cheapest and most convenient and fastest way), and sometimes wheat-rye bread mixture. This is briefly. Story and questions.
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Hey everyone! I have been no poo for two weeks. Prior to no poo, I had been in the hospital where I couldn't wash my hair for three weeks, so I felt like that added to the clarifying and regulating of my sebum. I started using a BS wash just once a week. Between washes, I do a water only wash and ACV rinse for shine. My hair feels awful. It feels like straw. The length of my hair feels OK, but the ends are just horrid. I hate the water only washes because my hair just feels like wet straw when it's in the shower: it's heavy, rough, and the ends are horribly dry. I am so bummed because I felt like it was getting to where it's supposed to be. I tried an egg wash to restore the proteins and strengthen my hair, but it seems to make it 10X worse. HELP

Hello all!
Just found this community, and I thought all of you would be able to help with your expertise.  I have been no-poo for 35 days.  Every 2 days I use a baking soda paste on my hair and let it sit (wash my body, shave my legs, etc.) and then rinse with apple cider vinegar.  I have really greasy hair that when I was shampooing I needed to wash everyday or my hair would become a big pile of grease.  My hair is still greasy.  I was hoping by day 35 I would have noticed some results, but I haven't really.  When I wake up my hair is still greasy and I am still doing the pony tail/hat hiding maneuver.  Any pointers that you guys have would be greatly appreciated.  I washed today and while my hair looks okay in the front, it's still feels greasy and the back looks greasy.  Thank you :)

So, there's no tag here for "coconut milk" so I found it hard to search. Anyway, wanted to get some opinions/comments on the use of coconut milk. I'm almost 2 years no-poo. Lately, with my BS wash, I've been struggling with dry hair and scalp and oily roots. Weird, I know. Like, the first day or so after washing would be fine, but then the length of my hair would get very dry, the roots would be oily, and my scalp would be flaky. I started reading about some people's experience with the base/acid combo Ph switching being too harsh on the scalp and decided to try a coconut milk wash. I found a few recipes online for coconut milk + Dr. Bronner's + oil (followed by a vinegar rinse) and tried it last night - LOVE IT! Now, it's only the first day, but my roots are clean and the length of my hair is soft and shiny. Can I expect this to last? What other changes to my routine do I need to make? Anyone done this yet?

Hi! This is my first post and - believe it or not, it's about a problem!
I have been No 'Poo for 11 days now. At the end of this post is a little run-down of my days since I started.
Everything was going as expected - greasy hair, itchy, more dandruff than normal - for my transition period.
Then, Friday, even though my hair had had a wash on Thursday and was fine, I thought "I know, I'll try and do an egg and lemon wash and then condition with tea."
NOPE.
It went ok. I rinsed and rinsed and only used cold water and was so so careful. I used the tea rinse and let the whole lot air dry. It smelt a bit lemony but there were no bits in it or anything. My hair tends to pick up smells easily.
Unfortunately, when I went to see my boyfriend, instead of saying "your hair smells glorious like lemon and tea" he asked me why my hair smelled like fish.
FISH.
Now, my hair feels lovely. My scalp appears clean and I even think it's helped with my dandruff. It's not a rinsing issue, I'm sure - I rinsed so many times with so many partings and there was nothing left in my hair when I got out. I also washed it again with conditioner last night, after realising how gross it was, and scrubbed the scalp and, while it was still wet, it was fine. Now, this morning, it's dry and has the weird lemon/egg/fish smell again.

HELP! If I can't get rid of the smell No 'Poo, I might just try a no cone shampoo or something. Honestly, it's pretty grim. I don't have any EOs to put in it, or a BBB (I use a plastic bristle brush at the moment, the BBB should arrive soon). I have no plans to ever put an egg in my hair again.

TueD0: Shampooed, blow dried. All the things you're not supposed to. Hair = lovely.
WedD1: No wash. Hair passable.
ThuD2: WO. Hair only hat-worthy upon waking up. Greasy. Looks pretty grim.
CO in evening, no cones. Better.
FriD3: Hair not a happy place to be. Greasy and dandruffy.
SatD4: Greasier. Dandruff less problematic. Itchy.
SunD5: Greasy, itchy, pain in the butt to do anything with. Dandruff. Everything.
MonD6: WO Morning. Looks ok. Bit greasy @ roots & underneath. Bit itchy.
TueD7: Greasy underneath & roots. Very itchy. Wore it down.
WedD8: Wore up. Pretty greasy all over esp under. Dandruff. SO ITCHY.
ThuD9: WO Morning. Down all day. Looks nice. Feels ok not under though. Some itching. Smells sebum-y.
FriD10: Egg and lemon wash. Green tea rinse. SMELLS LIKE FISH - WHAT. Panic - CO wash. Fixes it.
SatD11: Nope. did not fix it. Smells like fish again.

I've just started to gradually go no-poo. While I'm familiar with the basics, the actual practice is completely new to me.

I used to wash my hair every 2 days. What I'm trying to do is gradually spread out my washes. Has anyone else done this? At the moment, I'm currently on every 3 days, and next month I'll be every 4, etc. My shampoo is currently Nature's Gate brand Tea Tree shampoo (no sulfates listed). I also have some Dove shampoo, which I should use up since I'd feel bad about not using it after spending money on it. I'm thinking I should use up the Dove and move onto the more natural tea tree shampoo (which has cut back on my dandruff itch,btw). Correct me if I'm wrong; I'm completely new here.

Has anyone else here done a gradual step away from shampoo? Did you do any rinses between? A year ago, while I was still on conventional shampoos, I tried a chamomile rinse instead of conditioner and my hair felt fantastic. Since then I've heard good things about green tea on hair.

I'm at a loss because, at the moment, I'm struggling with the oily smell, and I think it's coming from a waxy buildup. I think my fine, wavy hair is getting used to not getting as much shampoo otherwise.