FOR WOMEN ONLY: Do you 'poo

[Half_Pint]

I am talking about shampooing your hair of course. Does anyone go no poo? If you have no idea what I am talking about&nbsp;<a href="http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://simplemom.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/</a>&nbsp;check this out.

 

[suestuck76]

I stopped shampooing last July. I did the baking soda method for a while, and then stopped that also. (No reason, I just got lazy I guess.) Now I just rinse my hair with warm water every day. I don't use any product on my hair, no gels or hairsprays or anything. I love it. I think my hair is healthier and stronger than it's ever been before. Last November I decided to cut my hair super short - about an inch long. Since then I have been letting it grow back out, so I have not had it trimmed. Normally if I went this long without a trim my hair would be full of split-ends and would be a frizzy mess, but that has not been an issue this time.

 

[twokniveskatie]

I did a couple of posts on my blog about it. Lots of good info in the comments too!

http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com/search/label/hygeine?m=0

 

[Suanne]

I've been cleaning&nbsp;my hair with nothing but water for the past 2 years.&nbsp; The 3 years before that, I used only&nbsp;hair conditioner (which binds with the oils before rinsing out).&nbsp; So, no poo for the past 5 years.<br><br>Between "washings" I've begun taking a stiff-bristle brush and&nbsp;dry scrubing my&nbsp;scalp to exfoliate.<br><br>My hair length varies&nbsp;between very short to shoulder-length.&nbsp; It's thick and somewhat coarse with a slight wave.&nbsp; It's now mostly grey, vs. dark blond.<br><br>I love that this hair-care method is super easy, vandweller-friendly, and keeps my locks and scalp healthy.<br><br>Suanne

 

[blueberry]

I went no-poo last winter, not long after I cut my waist-length hair super short in preparation for going on the road, so I could conserve water. I tried going without shampoo when it was long but it was a horrible mess and I couldn't wait it out. Supposedly, it takes a couple of weeks of greasy hair before it normalizes. Now that it's short, I just rinse with warm water when I shower. On days when I don't shower, I just rub my head with a wet washcloth and I'm good to go. My hair is shiny and has more body than it ever did before.

 

[RV-Kitty]

My hair is too oily. I have to use some kind of soap or shampoo.

 

[Kimbopolo]

I'm a fan of No-Rinse Shampoo which can be purchased at any of those beauty supply stores. I use it on the road a lot and wrote a review about it on my blog:

http://kimbopolo.blogspot.com/2013/02/carlsbad-nm.html

 

[jeanontheroad]

I'm old school and can't imagine not shampooing my hair at least every couple days. My hair is thick and gets oily. But a word about products to RVing women, who probably spend a lot of time outdoors. Be careful what you use. My son keeps bees in my backyard. I usually use Pert and am totally ignored by them. I ran into a great sale on VO5 Herbal and bought some. Apparently, I started to smell bee-liicious. They started swarming around my head and got caught in my hair twice. Creepy feeling. I really liked the VO5 Herbal, but I went back to Pert.

 

[christine]

Tried no poo. I didn't like it. After 30 days my hair felt like greasy hay, and it didn't smell nice. Back to shampoo I went, but if I could do no poo, I would.

 

[AimlessWanderLust]

Even though this thread hasn't been posted in for a while, thought I'd share. I haven't used shampoo in over a year now. Mostly I don't use anything but water, but occassionally hair will get greasy/dirty/sweaty - for those times I use baking soda. It's incredibly cheap, no fragrances or weird chemicals, and takes a small amount. Even when I had hair length down to my elbows, all it took was a spoonful of baking soda stirred into a cup of water. Pour it over your head, scrub, and rinse. So, just thought I'd put that out there.

Tori

 

[Hereandthere]

Been meaning to try no poo, now I will!

 

[crookedforkers]

We are going to write a whole article about the topic on our blog soon because it's been quite the little journey for us. As performance artists, we have to do stage make-up and hair for shows but still want to be more eco-friendly and practical for moving into a cargo trailer soon.

To sum up our experience so far: I have very fine, long, straight hair and can wash it with Dr. Bronner's liquid Castile soap and condition with apple cider vinegar with no issues. It looks just as good as with shampoo and conditioner, even with a bleached stripe that I color bright red or purple (soap isn't kind to color, however).

My partner in all things and fiancee on the other hand has thick hair that is a bit wavier. She cannot use soap without coming out too oily after several months of trying (as well as trying the rye flour option). We found her a shampoo based on cocamidopropyl betaine, which seems to be a gentle, less-toxic and biodegradable option in the same family of chemicals as most surfactants. I'm pretty comfortable with chemicals (having done organic chem in college) and can't really say much about toxic substances in my body because I eat fire on a regular basis for shows (fuel isn't good for you). However, it seems to have a good eco-toxicity profile so far. The one she is using for now is Kiss My Face Whenever. We'll know more after some time passes, and that will be in our article. Overall, different people seem to have different results.
-Brooke

 

[Hereandthere]

I sometimes use Dr Bronner's on my hair too, but I have noticed that it stings if I wash tender areas of my body with it.

 

[crookedforkers]

Zana, that's usually the peppermint oil in it. If you try the rose or lavender varieties, it shouldn't sting your bits (if you want to bother with the stuff--it's not the only pure soap out there). For me, the peppermint just kind of tingles and feels frightfully cold until rinsed. I don't mind it, but I can understand it probably stings and bothers other people.

 

[Hereandthere]

Zana, that's usually the peppermint oil in it. If you try the rose or lavender varieties, it shouldn't sting your bits (if you want to bother with the stuff--it's not the only pure soap out there). For me, the peppermint just kind of tingles and feels frightfully cold until rinsed. I don't mind it, but I can understand it probably stings and bothers other people.

Thanks... It's almond that we have...

 

[crookedforkers]

Ooh, I haven't tried that one. Perhaps now I won't, just in case! We like the peppermint because you can always tell what you got soap on because of the weird cool sensation, lol. I know some people hate that, or it actually is painful for them.

 

[KayakGirl]

How do you get the "crusty" stuff off your scalp if you don't use shampoo? I don't have dandruff per se; no flaking, but my scalp gets a smelly layer of something on it.

 

[KayakGirl]

Did a bit of googling earlier this evening and found some more specifics on the no 'poo trial. Apparently, it may take a while for the scalp to "adjust" to the new pH level. Soooo, I am going to keep trying this for a bit and see if that sebum layer on my scalp will fix itself if I continue with the baking soda/water mix and the vinegar/water rinse. One of the articles I read says it should. We shall see. I love the idea of fluffy shiny hair for more than one day!

 

[KayakGirl]

OK -- Crookedfeathers, loved your blog post on this subject. It has been almost five days since I tried the no 'poo method of washing my hair. It is STILL clean and fluffy, no smelly, crusty layer on my scalp. I am in shock! Wish I had found this method years ago. I never imagined something meant to clean hair would be the culprit in my scalp problem; always thought it was just what I was born with. Even though I still do not need to wash my hair, I will before I take Freedom on her maiden voyage this weekend to see my youngest son and his family. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread!!!!

 

[Qayen]

I haven't used shampoo for years. Baking soda dried my hair too much, so I switched to cider vinegar/water mixture. I don't use it every time I shower, just when plain water isn't enough. Works great for me.