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A few years ago I decided to go ‘no poo’ after reading a post on the blog Lulastic and the Hippy Shake. I failed miserably! I lasted 7 months in total and I just couldn’t get it to work for my hair.
What is No Poo?
The No Poo process is where you stop washing your hair with shop bought shampoos and instead use natural alternatives or ideally just water.
No Poo (or no shampoo) is a collective term for methods of washing hair without commercial shampoo – Wikipedia
A Short History of Hair Washing
- Before the 1800’s people were advised to wash their hair only once a month.
- When the first synthetic shampoo was created, people were advised to increase hair washing to every 2 weeks.
- Daily shampooing became the norm in the 1970’s.
Why Go No Poo?
Your hair produces natural oil called sebum, this oil keeps your hair healthy. A combination of washing your hair too frequently and the harsh chemicals in shop bought shampoos strips your hair of this essential oil. Which results in unhappy hair.
The idea behind no poo is to use less harsh products that leave the sebum oil in your hair but also clean it.
‘According to Michelle Hanjani, a dermatologist at Columbia University, a gradual reduction in shampoo use will cause the sebum glands to produce at a slower rate, resulting in less grease in the scalp’ Wikipedia
The funny thing is that the more you wash your hair with shop bought shampoo the more you need to wash your hair. Because the shampoos strip your hair of the oils your hair goes a bit crazy and starts over producing the sebum oil which ultimately results in your hair getting greasy faster.
It’s a never ending cycle and yet another example of companies getting us hooked onto products that we don’t actually need!
Also, a number of contact allergens are used as ingredients in store bought shampoos.
The two main reasons why I want to make no poo work for my hair is to reduce the number of chemicals I put onto my body and to further reduce our bathroom waste.
My Previous No Poo Method
I was using bicarbonate of soda to wash my hair and apple cider vinegar to condition it. Looking back I think perhaps the bicarbonate was too harsh for my hair. The apple cider vinegar worked really well though and I may continue to use that this time round.
My New Plan
After a bit more research I have decided to give it another go but this time I plan to use soapnut shampoo bars. I have never used anything like this before so I really have no idea how it’s going to work with my hair.
I bought them on the Living Naturally website and I opted for their soapnut shampoo sample pack which contains 6 different bars…
- Ayurvedic
- Beer & Bay
- Coconutty
- Dead Sea Mud
- Hemp & Patchouli
- Lemon & Avocado
Watch: My latest no poo video
The Adjustment Period
Whenever you switch to natural alternatives you will most likely go through an ‘adjustment period’ which on average can take about 4 weeks but it does depend on your hair type.
During this time your hair becomes uber greasy and is just generally pretty gross. I remember this stage from last time, it wasn’t fun!
It’s all about retraining your hair to produce the right amount of oils and once you get to that point you should notice that your hair is healthier and much happier in the long run.
Apparently, you can speed up the adjustment period with a process called ‘Scritching and Preening’. It’s a method that moves the oil around your hair and can also help with hair growth.
- Scritching is where you gently massage your scalp.
- Preening is the process after scritching where you pull the excess oil down your hair with your fingers to the tips.
I found a video on YouTube that explains the process better than I can.
My Hair Before No Poo
I thought it would be good to take some before shots of my hair so I can look back and compare at a later date.
I’m really hoping that the soapnut shampoo bars work well with my hair. I shall be documenting my progress both on this blog and on my YouTube channel. If you want to be kept up to date with how well it’s going (or not going) then subscribe to my tribe.
Further Reading
If I have sparked your interest for going No Poo then do check out Lucy AitkenRead’s book *Happy Hair – The definitive guide to giving up shampoo: Save money, ditch the toxins and release your hair’s natural beauty with No Poo
Her book is packed full of tips and tricks for successfully ditching the shampoo.
You may also like: 7 Months & No Shampoo – My No Poo Adventure + My Zero Waste Beauty Routine
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Be interesting to see how you get on from one unruly hair grower to another x
Apparently, the thicker and curlier your hair is the easier it is although I didn’t find that last time I tried. Guess we’ll see what happens this time 🙂
OOH, sounds interesting. I’ve thought of going no poo before so will be watching with interest to see how you get on.
Hopefully, this time I will find something that works with my hair *fingers crossed*
Hope it works for you this time. Don’t forget you still need the acid rinse for ph balancing with shampoo bars (so I understand – since they’re supposed not to be good with hard water they are one of the no poo methods I haven’t yet tried). I’ve just switched to using Shikakai and Amla powders.
Hi Vicky,
Eeek I didn’t realise I still had to do the acid rinse with the bars. We have soft water here, do you think I still need to do that?
I was always put off by the smell of the vinegar when I did it last time and I used to freak out if it rained as when your hair got wet again the smell came back!
Hmm, I might have to do a bit more research on this!
I think you definitely need an acid rinse but it doesn’t have to be vinegar. You can use black tea or coffee for example. If you have a look at the No Poo and Low Poo Facebook group files there is a list of different acid rinses.
Okay great. I shall take a look thanks, Vicky. I think I’m already in that group on Facebook 🙂
I have really fine hair and as such gets greasy really quickly. I don’t think I’m brave enough to try the no poo challenge, but I have recently switched to using my children’s shampoo and I have found my hair to be so much better. Looking forward to seeing your results.
Hi Keeley,
I’m currently 3 weeks in now and I look pretty gross 🙁
I’m determined to perceive, though. The other half thinks I’m nuts 😉