Trying the No-Poo Method (as in no Sham-poo)

A couple of years ago, my nephew-in-law came for a visit with his girlfriend. At some point he let it slip that he hadn`t shampoo-ed his hair in months! We were all amazed at how clean his hair looked. My partner even gave it the sniff test and admitted that his hair didn't smell bad... it just smelled like... hair.

I have been thinking about doing my own no-poo experiment and after reading up on it in several blogs, decided that April/May would be a good time to try it. What are some of the benefits of going no-poo?

Benefits
Well, some-poo advocates will tell you that shampoo strips the natural oils from our hair, making our scalp produce oil in excess to try and replenish. Once you stop using shampoo, your scalp will eventually readjust.

Others will tell you that shampoo darkens your hair so that blonds become darker over time. Stop using shampoo and your hair will get lighter in colour.

Some say that their super-straight hair has started to get some body after they stopped using shampoo. Other people susceptible to frizz say that the frizziness went away after they went no-poo.

Some say that their hair gets thicker, fuller and more lustrous after they ditched the shampoo.

Others say that their chronic dandruff problem vanished after a few weeks of going no-poo.

Then, of course, there are the environmental benefits - not adding any phosphates to our waste water or adding plastic bottles to the landfills (or recycling depots).

It actually turns out that shampoo, as we know it, is less than a century old, which makes one wonder what people used before that?

Pitfalls
Well, the obvious one - oily hair for the first few days/weeks. Although apparently this calms down after 3 to 5 weeks, depending on your hair and scalp time. Oops.... maybe longer. Some people say it can take up to 3 months for your scalp and hair to adjust. That is a LONG transition period!

The No-Poo Method
Soooo... how does one actually go no-poo? Well, obviously, you stop using shampoo and conditioner. But that doesn't mean that you don't actually clean your hair. Turns out that there are a lot of options for how to clean your hair.

Plain Old Water
The easiest by far is the water method. You simply rinse your hair with warm water while you're in the shower. Mind you, you do have to be mindful to not grab the shampoo bottle out of habit!

Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar 
This option is the most well-known. You make a paste from a bit of baking soda and water, and massage that into your scalp. After rinsing very well, you then use a spray bottle to spritz some diluted apple cider vinegar onto your scalp. It turns out that your scalp needs a certain pH in order to be happy. Normally, it is slightly acidic and since baking soda is alkaline, you need the vinegar to balance things out. Soda can make your hair dry and vinegar acts like a conditioner.

Dry Shampoo
You can buy dry shampoo powder and use that to wash your hair. Commercial dry shampoos have chemicals though, so you can find recipes for home-made variants that use arrowroot and baby powder as a base.

Other Options
There are many other products that you can use to clean you hair, including (but not limited to):

• eggs
• beer
• kefir
• rye flour
• lemon juice
• aloe vera
• coconut milk
• epsom salts
• apple sauce
• soap nuts
• bentonite clay

I'm not sure about all of these things. Their use depends on your hair type, your scalp type, your water type (hard or soft) and a myriad of other factors. I thought going no-poo would be relatively simple but... this is sounding more and more complicated.

One Complicated Routine
One lady who has gone no-poo uses the following routine on her hair:

•  About once a month, I wash with baking soda and condition with apple cider vinegar.
•  In between the baking soda wash, I will wash using another method about once a week. My preferred method is rye flour. But I occasionally use bentonite clay, egg, or kefir.
•  I use a dry shampoo in between washes (see my recipe here) as needed, usually about twice a week.
•  About once a month, I do a deep conditioning mask, usually coconut oil.
•  I use argan oil with essential oils as a hair serum once or twice in between washings (see my recipe here).
•  In general, I do not wet my hair unless I am washing it.
•  I scritch and preen with a boar bristle brush 2-3 times a week.

I'm sorry, but I just read that and each sentence made my eyes bug out a bit more. This method seems a tad complicated. And I'm not sure I'd want to put clay in my hair...


My Experience
It's been about three weeks since I last shampoo-ed my hair. The first week it looked rather greasy but since then it has calmed down a bit. When I brush it, it looks nice and fluffy and then settles down into something that still looks a bit greasy but not too bad.

I went to visit my sister last weekend and she had two comments about my hair - it was super long for me (I normally have very short hair) and it looked a bit greasy. Sooo... I think if my hair was shorter, it would look better. One thing that is stopping me from getting a haircut is the comments from the hairdresser!

Will I continue to go no-poo? Good question. I think I'll go and get a hair cut and see if that makes a difference for the better. Some no-poo advocates say you sometimes need to go 3 months to get rid of the greasiness. So I may wait that long... My partner did the sniff test on my hair and said it doesn't smell "bad" per se... it just smells like unscented, unshampoo-ed hair. Not sure if that is a good thing or not!