The no-poo thread

[lynnala]

I don't think anyone has started one yet. I just discovered that I really like the BS/ACV routine. The first pic in my sig is right after my second time using it, the second is after cassia. I'm going to try going completely poo-free now and am going to keep track of the results.

[embee]

I'm WO in the winter time - it cuts the static and tangles, and makes my drying time much faster.

I'm a *very* diluted shampoo and conditioner user in summer when I'm out in my garden sweating away! ;)

[lynnala]

I'm WO in the winter time - it cuts the static and tangles, and makes my drying time much faster.

I'm a *very* diluted shampoo and conditioner user in summer when I'm out in my garden sweating away! ;)I hadn't thought of that! I'm out in my garden constantly in the summer, we'll see if the BS cleans my hair then!

[CaityBear]

So far I've been CO for 3-4/5 months. I started because of winter making my hair so staticy so I decided it was worth a try and I loved the softness of my hair so I've kept up with it.

I want to try a ACV rinse. I think I might do that tonight actually. :)

[lynnala]

So far I've been CO for 3-4/5 months. I started because of winter making my hair so staticy so I decided it was worth a try and I loved the softness of my hair so I've kept up with it.

I want to try a ACV rinse. I think I might do that tonight actually. :)When you CO do you put it on your scalp too?

[kissedbyfyre]

I've been doing that for the past 6 months now. I'll admit, what appealed to me was the dirt cheap cost and my addiction to vinegar. It's WONDERFUL. Sometimes I miss the nice smelly stuff, but I'm thinking of solving that by unearthing my old love of EOs.

For my super thick hair I tend to make a paste out of the baking soda mixture, massage that into my hair for a few moments, then rinse after I let it sit around for a minute or so. Then I rinse with the typical ACV rinse.

I love it and it's helping on my quest to go all natural when it comes to my beauty care. My only issue now is how to deep condition naturally that doesn't involve tons of oils. I have a hard time removing olive oil WITH shampoo. I don't care to give that a try with baking soda until I have a good week or so when I can be greasy.

I've slipped the past few weeks since I keep forgetting to pick up the supplies, but I hope to send the boy to the store with a list next time including wonderful ACV and baking soda.

[tiny_teesha]

I instead use teas to "wash" my hair. I've been poo free for i think 3 weeks now, i do miss the sort of clean scalp feeling so i'm going to do a good shikakai and amla scalp massage soon. I don't really try and massage it through, just so long as the neem sort of disinfects the scalp that's all i care. I leave the oil on, i'm trying to let it reach my ends, it will take a loooong time!
I was it after work, and maybe one day between. (3-4 times a week) If i didn't work i'd wash it 1-2 times a week. I have an oil scalp. I think i tried the no poo method and after reading how bicarb can damage the hair by constantly putting it in alkaline then acid solutions i stopped. I use it to clarify 2-3 times a year now.

[momma smurf]

I have been doing CO washes now for about 2 years, with various Suave Natural conditioners... Mountain Stawberry and Vanilla Sugar are my favorites... My scalp and hair both love it... wouldn't change a thing. :D

[Riot Crrl]

I'm CO for three or four months. I vinegar rinse but not baking soda. It has really done wonders.

I now realize that I always had oil overproduction that was stimulated by detergent. One month ago I let the stylist shampoo me and my roots were greasy in less than a day.

[TammySue]

lynnala, how exactly are you doing this routine with the BS/ACV? I'm thinking of doing away with poo and am interested. Thanks! :)

[lynnala]

lynnala, how exactly are you doing this routine with the BS/ACV? I'm thinking of doing away with poo and am interested. Thanks! :)First of all, I have to admit, I've strayed and used some shampoo bars. I was traveling, so didn't have any supplies, and there it was on the shelf...now I'll probably alternate. I'm not very scientific about the measuring, I just put about a tablespoon of baking soda in a jug and add warm shower water and pour it on my hair and massage it into my scalp, rinse off, then do the same thing with the vinegar. I think others are much more strict about the measuring? *please chime in!**. Some people leave the vinegar rinse in, I think. I rinse it out.

[n3m3sis42]

First of all, I have to admit, I've strayed and used some shampoo bars. I was traveling, so didn't have any supplies, and there it was on the shelf...now I'll probably alternate. I'm not very scientific about the measuring, I just put about a tablespoon of baking soda in a jug and add warm shower water and pour it on my hair and massage it into my scalp, rinse off, then do the same thing with the vinegar. I think others are much more strict about the measuring? *please chime in!**. Some people leave the vinegar rinse in, I think. I rinse it out.

Lynnala and Tammysue, I am no longer doing no-poo because I have fallen in love with CV shampoo bars. But I did do a BS/ACV no-poo routine successfully for about a year (up until about 2 weeks ago). So here's what I did.

My BS wash was 1 tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in about 1-1.5 cups of warm water. I put it in a plastic shampoo bottle and just squirted some on my head, massaged it in at the scalp area, and rinsed. I did not leave it on to "set" or pour it on my lengths because I tend to get dry ends. You're supposed to be able to feel that your hair is "slippery" when you rub in the baking soda rinse, if you are using the right amount for you. Some people say that 1 tbsp baking soda is too much, but when I used less, I didn't feel I was getting my hair clean.

My ACV rinse was 2 tbsp vinegar in about 1-1.5 cups of warm water. I put this in a plastic shampoo bottle as well, and squirted it all over my hair from roots to tips, then left it on while I took my shower. At the end of the shower, I rinsed it out with cold-ish water.

Most people who go from commercial shampoo to no-poo experience an icky adjustment period at some point during (I think) the first 8 weeks. I didn't really have any problems until about 6 weeks in, but then all of a sudden my hair felt oily all the time and I had to wear it up and wash it more often. This is supposedly your scalp's way of responding to no longer being stripped of its natural oils by overproducing. It's annoying but calms down if you stick with it.

I generally washed once a week during the winter and twice a week when it was warm out with my no-poo routine. I have to admit that my hair was a little limp at times while using this routine, but it was very soft and seemed happy. I suspect that if I'd sucked it up and washed a little more often, it would have been less limp, but I'm sort of lazy.

[VanillaTresses]

I have searched several different ways and can't really find any specific thread addressing the "No 'Poo" (that is, no shampoo) method that has been popular on crunchy green blogs for about the past few years or so. The basic method is to use baking soda mixed with water as "shampoo" and then to use vinegar mixed with water as a conditioning rinse.

I have experimented loosely with this in the past but was never really that committed to it. Recently however, I have begun to wash my hair in this manner. I wet my hair, wring out the excess water, then mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 cups of warm shower water in a Nalgene bottle. I pour this on my scalp and massage in, then let it sit on for about a minute. I rinse well, then ring out the excess water again. I then mix 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar with 2 cups of water in the same Nalgene, pour it on my scalp, massage in, and let sit for about a minute. Finally, I rinse well and towel dry.

If you search for "No 'Poo" on Google you will find that there are a lot of blog entries about it, and if you search under "News" then you will see that even MSNBC and NPR had picked up the topic.

Everyone seems to have their own concentration of how much baking soda or vinegar they mix with the water-- some people seem to use a thicker paste and practically straight vinegar, others use only a tsp of baking soda per cup of water.

One of the interesting aspects of this washing method that I have found is that the vinegar rinse seems to assist greatly with detangling/combing of the hair. Additionally, the method seems to allow the natural texture of the hair (whether it be very subtle waves to tight, springy curls, to emerge.

So I guess I was just wondering... are there any other LHCers who use this washing method? Did I just miss the thread somewhere out there? (I did see the one on borax-- but I really consider that to be different.)

*Also, I wasn't really sure whether this would even go under the conventional or the recipes/herbal section... :confused: Hopefully I put it in an okay place! :)

[Traceylouise226]

I'm doing CO then I'll start WO

[moominhapa]

I did it for quite a while, but eventually I gave up because my scalp was hopeless with the routine and it sort of dried out my hair over time. Maybe I could make it work, and I'm definitely leaving the possibility of trying it again sometime, but for now I'm taking a break. I think countryhopper still uses this method though. Maybe she'll chime in with some advice. And there's also a few threads on herbal washes around too if you're interested in that.
Hope it works out for you!:)

[Fractalsofhair]

It's called water only if you use water, sebum only if you use just a brush.

It might allow waves to show through since it's cone free, and cones can flatten out curls.

[VanillaTresses]

I know about CO, WO and SO, but I was specifically more interested in the baking soda + vinegar rinse method of no 'poo. :shrug:

Here are a few of the articles that made it into the news:
NPR, When It Comes To Shampoo, Less Is More (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102062969)
DailyMail, Could You Survive Without Shampoo? (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-394226/Could-survive-shampoo.html)
MSNBC, Ditching Shampoo, A Dirty Little Beauty Secret (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30337386)

My two favorite YouTube videos on the subject are:
How to shampoo with baking soda and vinegar by Kristen Dirksen (she goes all the way and doesn't dilute either, but was happy with her results)
Also, Going No Shampoo -- Part 2 by CoolKarmaVideo (a woman and her daughter talk about how they use baking soda and vinegar in place of mainstream shampoo and conditioner)

[MonikaHa]

This is a good place for no poo info.

http://community.livejournal.com/no_poo/

[Wind Dragon]

Here you go, from the archives (http://archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=56523).

[Milui Elenath]

I know there are people using this method on this forum because I've read posts about it and used the methods suggested before I went water only.

My hair liked it and my scalp adored it but I only tried it once so I'm not sure how my hair would cope long term.

In the mean time I'm on WO. and liking that.

[Fethenwen]

I've tried it a few times, but stopped because it suddenly dried out my hair and at the same time gave me dandruff. I used only one teaspoon of BS. I agree with some LHC'rs who said that BS is too alkaline for the hair, even if one tries to balance it with vinegar, it still will open the hair cuticles every time one uses BS. I have the same problems with shampoo bars too. But for some people this doesn't seem to be much of a problem. Meeh, each to their own :)

[MonikaHa]

Even the weakest dilution of BS with water made my hair feel like straw, however a friend of mine swears by it, so I guess it is just a matter of trying it out.

[countryhopper]

Hi!

Yes, I've used baking soda instead of shampoo for over 6 months now. I did it initially to see if I could stop washing my hair EVERYDAY with shampoo. Now I wash twice a week and my hair is much more managable.

I use only about 1 tablespoon BS in about 1 cup warm shower water (I mix it in one of those bottles with the narrow tip). I apply this to my roots and massage in. Rinse with shower water. Then I follow up with an acidic rinse. I've found that using vinegar makes my hair feel and look greasy/limp/stringy. So I've started using any of the following:

* tea (any kind of tea; black, chammomile, green, etc)
*coffee (leftover or water run through used grounds)
* lavender or chamommile steeped in hot water, cooled and strained
* lemon juice or dried lemons (either a few drops of juice dilluted or lemons steeped as tea)

Rinse well with regular water. I usually try to do a cold water rinse just before stepping out of the shower to make my hair extra shiny (not sure if this really works :) )

I've had great success with this, but, as other posters have mentioned, BS can dry out some people's hair A LOT. This doesn't happen with me, which is why I continue to do it :) .

[Danelliia]

I use shampoo bars and I have never really liked the baking soda method. I have tried it, although I didn't give it THAT much of a chance. I found it really hard to massage it through my hair and just generally found it to be a pain. My hair didn't mind it when I followed with ACV rinse, it just wasn't my style.

[ohiofritty]

I tried WO washing and didn't do so well...but I do enjoy the BS/ACV washes I've been doing about once a week or week and a half.

I use a large cup and drop an unmeasured amount into the bottom of it (using the non-bristly end of my toothbrush, I use the BS to brush my teeth too). Then I fill the cup about 1/4 full with super hot tap water, stir it up and then add cold to it so I don't burn myself. I pour that on my head. When my hair starts feeling kinda slick, I know I'm pretty much done and rinse it out. I follow up using that same cup with cool water and two capfuls of ACV. If I'm feeling especially fancy I'll add an essential oil to the ACV (was tea tree last time!). I have been rinsing out the ACV solution...but I have tried leaving it in (a weaker solution) and it did make my hair feel kind of limp. I had tried leaving it in because we have hard water here, and I was hoping it would help with that.

I'd also like to add that I do all of this in the bath, no showers here! And yeah I have also tried adding ACV directly to the bathwater (on no-hair-wash days), but I haven't noticed much of an effect when I did (admittedly, I didn't add much).

[Milui Elenath]

I just thought I should mention that although I only tried it once I didn't find it drying. I had been worried because I have absurdly super dry hair.

Before I tried it I did heaps of research and I believe the keys are rinsing alot to ensure the bicarb is removed, using an appropriate dilution that is disolved and following with an acidic rinse. Trying to keep most of it on the scalp and away from length.

I also wonder if bicarbs effects might have something to do with water quality - hard/soft, ph and interactions with additives? (chlorine, fluoride etc)

[countryhopper]

Before I tried it I did heaps of research and I believe the keys are rinsing alot to ensure the bicarb is removed, using an appropriate dilution that is disolved and following with an acidic rinse. Trying to keep most of it on the scalp and away from length.

I also wonder if bicarbs effects might have something to do with water quality - hard/soft, ph and interactions with additives? (chlorine, fluoride etc)

I agree.

It's VERY important to rinse the BS very well. BS has a tendency not to dissolve well in hard water. I've read on other sites that this can be remedied by boiling the water first, adding the BS, and allowing to cool. I'm not sure how it reacts with chlorine, etc found in the water, but it could have a different outcome, I'm not sure, though.

[ratgirldjh]

I'm one of those who baking soda - even 1/4 teaspoon in a liter of water makes my hair absurdly dry. :( ACV also makes my hair dry at 1 tablespoon per liter of water or even less and if I use more it is both dry and greasy.

I've used borax solution - 1 ounce on wet hair and a citric acid rinse and it works very well. I would have thought borax and citric acid would be more drying than baking soda and ACV - but for me it is not. However I've been trying to get away from using borax even though it works great because I'd rather use something less toxic.

Lately I've been using a very diluted soapnut solution on my roots and or even a more diluted solution on my whole head with WO with cold water. I henna once a month or so and that also cleans my hair.

As long as I use cold water (well the coldest we have anyway LOL) my hair is fine. If I use warm water it starts to rebel...

This works well for me because my hair hates conditioner and also now seems to hate any poo - even poo bars! It seems the more gently you cleanse your hair the more gently it wants to be cleansed in the future - it is hard to go back to anything very cleansing.
:D

[morecowbell]

I've been using Baking Soda to clean my hair for about a week and a half now, and so far I'm loving it!

I was originally using baby shampoo in a very watery dilution to clean my scalp only, but when I looked up the ingredients on a cosmetics database, I found that TWO of them were carcinogenic, and a few of them had reproductive/developmental hazards, as well! :mad: BABY SHAMPOO! :mad:

So anyway, I coat my length in conditioner (trying to stop using that too, as there are carcinogens in it, as well), then squirt my BS mixture (I use a tablespoon in a cup of water- mixed in a recycled bodywash bottle) on my scalp only and gently rub it in. I leave it for about a minute and a half to two minutes (while I shave my legs and whatnot), and rinse out REALLY REALLY well. Then I put more conditioner on my length, because rinsing out the BS makes my length feel dry and tangly. Rinse THAT out really well, and follow with a strong citric acid rinse (half a tablespoon to three quarts of water). I leave the citric acid in for a few minutes as well, and then rinse that too.
Because I sweat a lot at my job, I have to wash every day, and where shampoo would make me frizzy and crazy-haired, using the BS and citric acid it's just fine!

Benefits so far:
Hair is easier to detangle after a shower (blame that on citric acid)
Hair is shinier (probably CA as well)
Hair is SO much softer! (THAT, I think, is due to both the BS and CA, as I've been using citric acid rinses for months, and didn't notice any increased softness til this past week)
I've noticed more of a wave to it, where it's been 1b before, it might be trying for 1c/2a on it's best days

I'm going to do my next three washes without conditioner on the length, and see how it does, and I'll definitely report back with results.

So far, I am completely happy, and don't see myself ever buying shampoo again!:cheese:

[teela1978]

I've used baking soda washes with okay results. Nothing spectacular, and over time my roots got a bit oilier than I'd like so I switched back shampoo in the end.

[morecowbell]

I'm going to do my next three washes without conditioner on the length, and see how it does, and I'll definitely report back with results.


Well, after four washes with just BS and CA, I can say that I will definitely keep using conditioner on my length for now.... My hair was kind of dry, and there was quite a bit of build-up, which made it sticky and thick/coarse feeling. Putting conditioner on my length again completely fixed it, though, and my hair is once again smooth and soft. :)
I am overall still VERY happy with using Baking Soda to wash my scalp, and will continue to use it as long as it works! :)

[countryhopper]

I'm happy for you, morecowbell! Good for you!!

I don't think I will go back to shampoo, either. I really like washing only twice a week (I'm talking washing hair, I wash everything else everyday, of course :D)

Doesn't hurt that it's so much cheaper, too!!

[morecowbell]

Doesn't hurt that it's so much cheaper, too!!

Lol! :laugh: That's one of the reasons I decided to try it! :beercheer:

[countryhopper]

Bump :)

I haven't used shampoo or conditioner since November 1, 2009.

My current routine: Dilluted baking soda wash (1 tablespoon in a cup of warm shower water massaged into my scalp) followed by an acidic rinse. Sometimes I use tea, sometimes lemon juice, cinnamon, coffee, etc.

I really love the way my hair feels. I used to have to wash with shampoo daily because my hair was so greasy. It took AT LEAST 2 weeks for my hair to adjust to being washed only twice a week. But my hair is much more manageable now, and "obeys" instead of slipping out of styles as easily as it used to.

I've found that dussting the roots with cornstarch is really helpful whenn they start to look a little oily.

Is anyone on this thread still doing no-poo?

[morecowbell]

EDIT:
Hehe, looks like the mods heard my thoughts last night. Now it's all in one place! :)

[error]

last year for the entire year i was only washing my hair with mane and tail conditioner then i fell ill .. ran out of my conditioner .. got super greasy lol and i was such a dirtball that i used vo5 shampoo on my hair is vo5 shampoo terrible .. i use it only on my roots every few days and water it down generously !

[getoffmyskittle]

BS/ACV was by far the worst washing method I have ever tried. After only a couple weeks, I was left with hundreds of deep, forked splits. If you are new to this, I suggest proceeding with great caution.

[morecowbell]

BS/ACV was by far the worst washing method I have ever tried. After only a couple weeks, I was left with hundreds of deep, forked splits. If you are new to this, I suggest proceeding with great caution.

Hmmm, I know what you mean... I've been using this method for almost two weeks, and my hair is getting drier and drier. :( I think I'm going to find a nice organic shampoo, and use baking soda washes every other time, because my hair was absolutely fine for the first week of BS washes! :confused:

[morecowbell]

I'm pretty sure I'm giving up on the Baking Soda/Citric Acid method... for the past three days I've been trying to get my hair to behave, and it's just been feeling worse and worse. Coated, Dry as can be, tangly beyond repair, dull, gross, etc... with GREASY roots! So finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and I washed my hair with shampoo, and let me tell you, when I rinsed the shampoo, my hair had NEVER felt that damaged before! Not even when I bleached it twice in a row!!!

I'm really worried that I did some major damage to my (already damaged) hair...:(

[getoffmyskittle]

I'm pretty sure I'm giving up on the Baking Soda/Citric Acid method... for the past three days I've been trying to get my hair to behave, and it's just been feeling worse and worse. Coated, Dry as can be, tangly beyond repair, dull, gross, etc... with GREASY roots! So finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and I washed my hair with shampoo, and let me tell you, when I rinsed the shampoo, my hair had NEVER felt that damaged before! Not even when I bleached it twice in a row!!!

I'm really worried that I did some major damage to my (already damaged) hair...:(

That is EXACTLY what happened to me. I'm sorry it didn't work for you! Try a deep treatment and hope for the best, I guess..?

[morecowbell]

That is EXACTLY what happened to me. I'm sorry it didn't work for you! Try a deep treatment and hope for the best, I guess..?

Thanks for the support... Joico Reconstruct made my hair feel much much better, and I'll just baby it for awhile... I really wish this had worked for me, though.

[teela1978]

BS/ACV was by far the worst washing method I have ever tried. After only a couple weeks, I was left with hundreds of deep, forked splits. If you are new to this, I suggest proceeding with great caution.


Hmmm, I know what you mean... I've been using this method for almost two weeks, and my hair is getting drier and drier. :( I think I'm going to find a nice organic shampoo, and use baking soda washes every other time, because my hair was absolutely fine for the first week of BS washes! :confused:
Isn't it odd how that works out sometimes? My hair kept getting greasier and greasier on BS washes, it was never harsh enough. I needed real shampoo to finally clean it properly after a month or so.

[OperaTeacherMom]

I used this method for about 2 weeks, then switched to co-washing :) I mainly wanted to use the BS/ACV as a clarifying method to get any -cones and such out of my hair before I started doing things the Curly Girl way, and it was great for that. I'm not sure that I personally would ever do just BS/ACV, it really wasn't terrible on my hair, but it wasn't great either. My hair is loving my new routine using just conditioner (and lots of it!).

[paradisepony]

Hey all! Brand new here and I just tried searching the forums for a thread on "no 'poo," without much luck. I found one on conditioner-only, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm doing the baking soda/water with ACV rinse type of no poo. Can anyone point me to a thread that covers this? TIA:)

[foggybrooke]

I am new here too, so not much help. However, I think I read somewhere that you can't search until you have so many posts? 25? 50? Maybe someone who is a little more experienced will come along and help us both!

[Marjolein]

Hi Paradisepony. Welcome!!

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but there's quite an extensive Water Only thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3412

[krismuse]

Welcome, from a fellow newbie! To address the other question, I have been able to search since I joined, although there is a restriction on how often you search. You have to wait about 30 seconds in between searches. Also, when searching on abbreviations or short words (e.g., CO, CWC, NW/SO, etc.), I think you have to add a "*" to get any results. There's some more information on it here:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=10
Good luck! :cheese:

[paradisepony]

Thanks so much for your replies! Marjolein, that WO thread is quite interesting and a lot of the info there is definitely relevant to what I've been trying. Thank you! And Krismuse, that list is soooo helpful to make sense of some of the stuff I've been reading here. lol!

Well I had been doing baking soda/ ACV faithfully for about a month and it was going pretty rough... My hair was crazy oily at first (to be expected, I know), so I was BS/ACV'ing it pretty much daily in an attempt to move past that stage. Well, it then turned very dry in parts, and yet still waxy/oily in others, and I was experiencing significant breakage. :mad:

Then I heard about CO, here at LHC, so I gave that a try, with a little twist. I mixed it with honey. That one wash helped the dryness a lot! But the next day, my hair was quite greasy again. So this time, I did my CO/honey, let it sit, and then did a little bit of a rinse with my BS/water solution, scrubbed that into my roots, rinsed it all out, and did a very diluted ACV/honey rinse after that. My hair was amazing!! The day after, my hair is still clean! :D

Anyway, I think I've found my own version of no-poo, so I thought I'd update/share. Thanks for welcoming me here!

[sydneycgirl]

I am on Day 6 of going No-Poo with BS and ACV. I think I'm starting the transition period because I've tried water only washing many times and it did nothing. Thankfully this morning I am due for a BS and ACV wash :))

[luxepiggy]

Just wanted to pop in with a bit of friendly advice - please, please monitor your hair's condition very closely if you are experimenting with this method. I know everyone's hair is different, and BS/ACV routines might prove to work perfectly for some.

However, I just discovered (because she called me, in full-blown freak-out mode) that a friend of mine had been trying this method, and it apparently started out well enough before her hair sort of dropped off a cliff! So, in the hopes of preventing anyone from reaching my dear friend's current state of anxiety, I just wanted to make sure people were aware of the need for careful monitoring. That is all!

ETA: Oh, and welcome to LHC!
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff33/shoppingpiglet/piggies/3heo131.gif

Love,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Piggy (^(oo)^)

[Leoslaire]

For anyone who is doing ACV, lemon juice, etc. rinse. You should check the pH of your rinse (with a pool test kit) and make sure it isn't any lower than 3.0 pH. Even just one-tenth (0.1 pH) more acidic (to 2.9 pH) is a 27% Increase in acidity!

Pool testing kits are cheap and its good insurance to help you avoid melting your hair.

[Zoui]

Anyone here still following the no-poo method?

I'm on day 21, that's three whole weeks! I WO my hair once a week and if needed, I do an additional wash with egg yolk (the white is great for a facial mask).

ACV rinses give it shine and coconut oil gives moisture to the ends. I've noticed my skin isn't dry anymore.

[tinywife]

I'd like to go no-poo, but I'm worried...doesn't baking soda dry out your hair the way shampoo does?

[rocket_surgeon]

I've been doing no 'poo since 2009, and I couldn't be happier with it. My hair takes about two weeks to get really greasy, and it's wavier and fuller than it was before. Plus, I spend way less on haircare than I ever did before.

It's good to hear you made it out of the detox forest. So many people give up in the first few weeks.

[rocket_surgeon]

I'd like to go no-poo, but I'm worried...doesn't baking soda dry out your hair the way shampoo does?
It can. It's a base, so it will rough up the cuticle a bit. The trick is to keep the baking soda solution as dilute as possible, and to use a mild acid like diluted apple cider vinegar afterwards.

[Zoui]

@rocket surgeon
Great to hear you've been no-pooing since 2009. I haven't really had a bad detox phase. Perhaps it's because before going no-poo I shampooed only once a week. Do you do WO only or something else, too?

@tinywife

When starting this experiment I decided not to use BS. I agree with you that it's bad for the scalp and hair. Egg yolk is much better instead.

[rocket_surgeon]

@rocket surgeon
Great to hear you've been no-pooing since 2009. I haven't really had a bad detox phase. Perhaps it's because before going no-poo I shampooed only once a week. Do you do WO only or something else, too?

That's probably it. I was doing DS when I decided to switch, and I didn't get the greasies nearly as bad as I expected. I think a lot of people just expect to go from shampooing every day with SLS and 'cones, to doing full-on no-'poo without a hitch.

I do BS/ACV once a week, mostly because I like it. I don't generally get my hair wet otherwise. The trick, I've found, is to go as dilute as possible for both BS and ACV. I use about a teaspoon of BS in 20 oz. of water, or less than a third of the concentration of what I've seen recommended to new no-'pooers. I go a little more concentrated with the vinegar, but not much. And I love tea rinses, especially rosemary.

I did WO for a few months, but I actually like the infrequent hairwashing ritual quite a lot and I don't want to give it up.

Egg washes can be tricky. What's your technique?

[wandabee]

Back 2 years ago, I went 3 or 4 months using BS/ACV, but for some strange reason returned to using shampoos. About 2 months ago, I became very unhappy with the results of using shampoo on my hair, and decided to return to my old routine. I actually got my fiancee to do the same, and he and I both have experienced significant improvements to our scalp health and happiness. Now, I wash maybe every 3rd or 4th day, as opposed to every other day... It's great! I can't wait to see the effect on my hair when it's long!

[ZephyrStorms]

I'm having a bit of a problem with the "no poo" thing. I have been doing it for a couple days but after the third day my scalp began to itch really badly. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[rocket_surgeon]

I'm having a bit of a problem with the "no poo" thing. I have been doing it for a couple days but after the third day my scalp began to itch really badly. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
What do you mean by "doing it for a couple of days"? Have you been using BS/ACV on your hair every day, or something else? Or, did you no-poo a couple of days ago and now you're itchy?

[ZephyrStorms]

I "no-pooed" for a couple of days and now it itches. then I poo'ed again and now it won't stop itching!

[JuneBride]

I truly believe shampoo is evil!!! I CO wash ONLY!!!! it's a miracle and my hair loves it and doesn't shed nearly as much as when I shdmpooed. I will never buy shampoo again!!!!

[rocket_surgeon]

I "no-pooed" for a couple of days and now it itches. then I poo'ed again and now it won't stop itching!
If you go into what routine you were doing (if you've read the thread, you know that the definition of "no-poo" is quite broad), maybe I can help. What you're telling me right now is too vague for me to give you any kind of help.

[ZephyrStorms]

That's fine, I will just keep shampooing if it's gonna be this hard to get help/advice. It shouldn't be that hard to understand. I quit shampooing for a couple days. If you had read my posts, that's exactly what I said.

[Madame J]

I've been thinking about going back to using baking soda to wash with a vinegar rinse. I've been having trouble with buildup from using soap to wash my hair, and my scalp starts to itch when I use conventional shampoos. I had tried BS/ACV before, but I had my vinegar rinse ratios wrong and constantly had greasy hair, but now baking soda washes leave my hair nice. I already use baking soda once every couple of weeks to clarify out the soap buildup, but I wonder if I could just skip using soap and only use baking soda.

ZephyrStorms, the term "no-poo" can have multiple different meanings. It can mean using baking soda to wash with a vinegar rinse; it can mean using conditioner to wash (CO); it can mean using water to wash (WO); or it can even mean not washing/wetting your hair at all (NW/SO -- "no water/sebum only"). So the advice that someone would give you would depend on what you were actually doing. If you just didn't wash your hair for a few days, I would suggest scritching your scalp to remove buildup of dead skin cells and sebum, and perhaps trying a "no-poo" wash of some sort. Since you have wavy hair, I don't know if NW/SO is good for you, since it usually requires the use of a boar bristle brush. I find that my scalp gets itchy when I don't wash/wet my hair for several days, but washing with baking soda or soap-based oil shampoo (oil mixed with liquid soap) and following with a vinegar rinse usually helps my scalp.

There are official threads for most of the specific "no-poo" methods, if you search for them, so if you're doing something specific like CO, WO, or NW/SO, you might look for one of those threads and ask people there, since they'll have more specialized experience.

That said, experimenting with alternative haircare is not a quick process unless you get lucky. It can be ridiculously frustrating. I'm sorry your scalp itches; I know what that's like. I hope you find something to make it better.

[charalito]

BS/ACV was by far the worst washing method I have ever tried. After only a couple weeks, I was left with hundreds of deep, forked splits. If you are new to this, I suggest proceeding with great caution.

Same thing happened to me at first, however I attributed it to being cone-free and my hair really showing it's natural state. I chopped about an inch and a half and did some S&D to get rid of the split ends.

One year later, still doing BS/ACV every 10 days and WO in between, my hair is really healthy and shiny. I do get the occasional slit end, but not that many. And my dandruff is under control! Yay!

But, yeah, everyone's hair behaves differently, so better to be careful :)

[Finnenna]

I am doing the BS thing, but I am not liking how my hair is responding, even after a month of doing it. I wash my hair ever 4 days. I do love the white vinegar, though. ACV made my hair too greasy no matter how much I diluted it. Oh well, no one thing works for everyone. :D

[PolarCathy]

So henna users, let me repeat my water-only question here - no one seems to answer in the long water-only thread.. I am hardcore water-only, no baking soda, acv etc., just water, mostly cold. I have been thinking about henndigoing my hair to even darker (my natural color in my signature), what do you think, would my sebum-impregnated hair even take the "dye"? It's pretty much watrerproof now after almost a year of WO. Would the henna/indigo strip the oils? What can I expect? Anyone here following a water-only routine and successfully applying henna from time to time? How frequently? TIA!

[Intotouch]

Hello. My sister did water only washing for a couple of months. She has fine wavy brown hair. It got gradually flatter and greasier looking. She gave up after that long. She also was getting worried about the basic cleanliness of her scalp and hair too. I hope this helps. I don't know anyone else who tried it.

I'm on my second week trying the BS/ACV combo. Does anyone have advice on what would be good to use as a good deep moisturizer with this regime? I'm worried about using olive oil again because i don't know if the baking soda will manage to wash it out. Or other oils for that matter. I work as a teacher and am not keen on experimenting and arriving at work with a messy greasy mop.

[Intotouch]

Sorry, of course that didn't help with your henna question! I don't know what i was thinking. How did your strand tests work out?

[PolarCathy]

Sorry, of course that didn't help with your henna question! I don't know what i was thinking. How did your strand tests work out?

Thanks for the input but I have been water-only for a year now. I was asking about henna/indigo not whether I should go water-only or not. I only gave a little background so that people know what kind of hair should be hennaed (or not) in my case and so they can advise knowing that it's practically waterproof and all. It dries in 40 minutes after washing. Obv warer doesn't penetrate it like before. Henna is a watery solution. (Necessarily? Can't it be oil-based? Etc etc) No strand tests yet.

[perkidanman]

I did no-poo for about 4 months. While I'm glad I did, I eventually decided the best thing for my hair was shampoo bars (NEVER, EVER again will I use a commercial shampoo) since with WO and CO my roots got far too greasy and I could never clean the lint out of them since my hair is so thick and curly. Even with Baking soda the grease would be back in a few days. I miss WO for the incredible thickness and health it gave my hair (it never smelled either, even when it looked greasy, it just smelled like clean hair which I miss) but overall shampoo bars work better for my type of hair.

[ooo]

co acv is my cleansing method of choice. sometimes wo acv. maybe I should finally stop buying shampoo at all :hmm: There is still half a tub of curly wurly at home.

[Sunshineliz]

I am interested in going no-poo, but I am also going gray and kept hearing worries that without a violet shampoo gray hair may turn yellow. Do you think going no-poo and using something like baking soda and vinegar might contribute to yellowing or at least not prevent it? Any other renegrays doing no-poo? I might ask on that thread too...

[PolarCathy]

In case anyone else here is interested, I have the answer now to my own question about hennaing no-poo hair: I did a strand test and the result is that even after only one hour, body art quality henna (mixed with coconut milk) has completely stripped my hair strand leaving it squeaky clean so I will not henna my water-only hair.

[Saria]

Hi No-Poo here :D I have been WO for about two years.. some times are good and some bad.. and it really make things difficult that i was swimming teaching kids at swimminhall and that is really bad for hair :/ So i had to wash my hair so much i think i lost lot's of hair. I mainly use just water and sometimes i do some honey lightening without any results but i think someday it will lighten a bit :P Oh and some oil treatmens for the ends.. usually just olive oil and sometimes avc and when my scalp feels really itchy and greasy i use some baking soda but not rarely.. i like WO because it's kinda easy :P

[Scarlet_Heart]

Tried BS/ACV but my hair and skin both did not like it.

Currently CO (and happy) but would like to eventually be able to transition to WO.

[misspurdy06]

I've been doing that for the past 6 months now. I'll admit, what appealed to me was the dirt cheap cost and my addiction to vinegar. It's WONDERFUL. Sometimes I miss the nice smelly stuff, but I'm thinking of solving that by unearthing my old love of EOs.

For my super thick hair I tend to make a paste out of the baking soda mixture, massage that into my hair for a few moments, then rinse after I let it sit around for a minute or so. Then I rinse with the typical ACV rinse.

I love it and it's helping on my quest to go all natural when it comes to my beauty care. My only issue now is how to deep condition naturally that doesn't involve tons of oils. I have a hard time removing olive oil WITH shampoo. I don't care to give that a try with baking soda until I have a good week or so when I can be greasy.

I've slipped the past few weeks since I keep forgetting to pick up the supplies, but I hope to send the boy to the store with a list next time including wonderful ACV and baking soda.

Have you tried Avocados? Make a mask for your hair with it. Much easier to wash off.

[silverstars]

I tried BS/ACV today. My hair was oily at the roots and I wanted to try going no poo. It worked like a charm, made my hair really soft, and brought out some curl. It seemed to dry faster too or maybe i'm seeing things :). I'm definitely going to keep up with it since it removed all of my build up too. I don't think my scalp has ever felt so nice.

[KiwiBum]

I did no-poo for about 4 months. While I'm glad I did, I eventually decided the best thing for my hair was shampoo bars (NEVER, EVER again will I use a commercial shampoo) since with WO and CO my roots got far too greasy and I could never clean the lint out of them since my hair is so thick and curly. Even with Baking soda the grease would be back in a few days. I miss WO for the incredible thickness and health it gave my hair (it never smelled either, even when it looked greasy, it just smelled like clean hair which I miss) but overall shampoo bars work better for my type of hair.


I went no-poo for 6 months and just recently transitioned to shampoo bars. I don't think I'll ever use anything else! I've mentioned this in another thread, but I'm glad I went thru the no-poo experience. Before that I couldn't go for more than a day without washing my hair. Now I've stretched it out to 3-4 days. I had ridiculous volume which is something I never had, but my hair never got rid of the residue and had a slight smell the first day after washing. I started using shampoo bars for experimental purposes after buying some in a travel pack from a health food store. Now I'm hooked.

[Mad*Saffron]

I'm not sure where to post this question. I hope I get some answers here. Anyway, I have been using this shampoo for about a month now, it's a herbal shampoo, it doesn't contain sls, and I think my hair loves it. But I find it kind of weird that it is not mentioned on this forum. So, I was wondering has anyone else tried it. This is the shampoo: http://www.deityusa.com/product.php?productid=16133&cat=249&page=1

[Rosake]

YES!

Okay, I never thought I wouldn't use shampoo anymore, I've always bought shampoos with really natural ingredients and didn't see a reason not to use it.

BUT my scalp has been so horrible itchy no matter what (even oiling it with coconut oil before shampooing didn't help) and flakiness that looked like dandruff bothered me so much. Funny, because generally I don't have any dry skin problems at all.

Anyway, I haven't washed my hair with shampoo for two weeks now and my scalp and hair is gorgeous. It's soft, clean, and no itchiness! My ends are also not as dry. I wash it with baking soda one or two times a week and sometimes with an ACV rinse, and then WO whenever I feel the need to. The days that my hair was greasy were the days I did a CO, that just doesn't seem to work for me.

I feel so happy with my healthy scalp thats not being stripped down all the time :D and I want to thank LHC for that!

My question though is: have shampoo bars really been an improvement to you compared to WO?

[cooklaezo13]

I've done no-poo for nearly a month and I love it. I use baking soda followed by ACV rinse. When I deep oil my hair I get the oil out using an all-natural conditioner, but I want to try sometime to see if I can get the oil out using baking soda alone.

[serin blackwood]

Is a wash made from eggs, acv, honey and aloe considered no-poo?

I've been oiling before wash day (coconut) and this combo seems to clean it off just fine. I follow with a lemon juice rinse.

BTW, I beat it with an eletric hand held mixer, and use warm water to rinse, and no problems with the egg cooking...

[serin blackwood]

In addition to the egg wash from the last post, I just used an applesauce/honey/acv/coconut wash over fairly well oiled hair and it came quite clean.

I find these to be great alternatives to baking soda... easy to whip up, not high on the ph scale or drying to the hair either.

[cooklaezo13]

YES!
I wash it with baking soda one or two times a week and sometimes with an ACV rinse, and then WO whenever I feel the need to.

Hey Rosake, I'm glad that what you are doing is working so well for you. You may get better results if you try using an acid rinse (lemon juice, citric acid, or ACV) every time after you use the baking soda, because the acid rinse is needed to smooth down and close up the cuticle of the hair. Baking soda opens it up and roughs it up, and raises the PH of your scalp. The acid rinse restores the smoothness to your hair and beneficial acid PH to your scalp.

[highlightedmess]

I am on week 3 of no poo. I was really greasy the first two weeks no matter even when washing with a baking soda paste.

Now my scalp seems to have calmed down and my hair seems pretty dry and frizzy when I get out of the shower. I've been having a lot more hair come out when I brush or comb, even in my new tangle teezer.

I think it's just because my hair is so much more tangled than it normally would be when I was using shampoo and conditioner.

I have been able to get closer to a 1tbsp to 1 cup baking soda wash without looking reasy, and maybe I just need to make the ACV rinse less diluted?

I'm also going to make an effort to try finger combing my hair first, and I want to try oiling my hair before washing. I'm going from zero hair maintenance routine other than highlighting and I have so much to learn about!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you all may have.

[MeghannRenee]

Hi!
I've been no poo since March 2011. I found this website to be very helpful in determining methods, etch http://noshampooexperiment.blogspot.com/.

I do VERY diluted BS and VERY diluted ACV every week and a half. When I started no poo I was doing it every few days, I found that after my hair acclimated (which took months - thin, fine, straight hair) I was able to extend the time. Each time I was greasy the first round, second round and others were great.

I started with a TBS BS to about a cup of water. At this point I keep a condiment bottle of premix in the shower and am doing just under a TBS for the whole bottle. The ACV is less precise - the water is still slightly off-color but not much. I usually add a few drops of EO to cover the smell. Always use the ACV (or some other acidic mix) after the BS - as another couple of posters mentioned you have to close the cuticle and restore the PH.

I do still wet my hair almost every day in between. I'm a runner and avid exerciser, so I have to WO to get rid of the sweat. If it's dry out I'll use a little jojoba on the ends while still wet, but haven't found it to be necessary all the time.

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

Bump.
Anyone still following this thread? I just left the monster WO thread because of..uh... odour issues, and have washed with BS and citric acid rinse. Love it, feels great, (smells great) but I know I am going to have to be cautious of my fried ends.

I am trying to avoid all commercial hair products, so does anyone have any natural conditioning ideas to pamper my ends a bit? They feel really good at the moment, but they always crave moisture (not protein!). I'd love to hear from anyone who has been no-poo/no-condish for a while and how they overcame any obstacles.:)

[OakTreeGirl]

I do BS/ACV but haven't posted her because my hair washing is pretty routine and I didn't have much to post about.

Sorry to hear that WO didn't work for you, but hopefully you'll be able to find your stride with this method. You might be able to find a balance where you don't need to use BS very often. Some people do it about once a week and report having good hair.

I've heard of people rubbing coconut oil or sunflower oil in their hair before washing. That can make it smooth and silky. I have not tried it myself yet, so far. Just make sure you DON'T use olive oil. I didn't do my research and found out the hard way. You can't wash out olive oil on no-poo.

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

I do BS/ACV but haven't posted her because my hair washing is pretty routine and I didn't have much to post about.

Sorry to hear that WO didn't work for you, but hopefully you'll be able to find your stride with this method. You might be able to find a balance where you don't need to use BS very often. Some people do it about once a week and report having good hair.

I've heard of people rubbing coconut oil or sunflower oil in their hair before washing. That can make it smooth and silky. I have not tried it myself yet, so far. Just make sure you DON'T use olive oil. I didn't do my research and found out the hard way. You can't wash out olive oil on no-poo.

Hi OakTreeGirl, thanks for replying. I'd love to hear about your current routine- how often you wash, what dilutions you use and what, if any, oils/conditioning products you use.

I'm hoping to stretch "washes" as well, but am very conscious of smelling.:o It is the end of day 2, and DH is aways so can't confirm... but so far so good. Hair still clean and no odours.:) I'm not going anywhere tomorrow, so I'll probably leave it alone come what may, but Monday is my eldest's first day at school, and I don't what to be greasy or smelly for that!

[OakTreeGirl]

My routine is pretty simple. I make a 1/16 baking soda solution. I use 1 tablespoon BS to 1 cup water. (For convenience I keep BS in a glass jar with a measuring spoon.) I just pour a little bit of it onto my scalp one section at a time, and rub the solution into my scalp and roots of my hair. Sometimes it seems to have bubbles like soap. I make sure to wash the BS off thoroughly. Close to the end of the shower I add the vinegar rinse. The vinegar is a 1/16 ratio again. I use an ACV solution that I store in a spray bottle in the shower. I can't say exactly how much I use since I'm spraying it in, but it's not a whole lot. I put it on the roots and on the length, and basically I just stop when my hair feels slippery. I take this opportunity to detangle with my fingers. Some people are fine leaving the vinegar solution in their hair when it's this dilute. I have not tried that myself. I just use a quick cool (not cold) rinse at the end.

Right now I'm doing this approximately every second evening. I'm still experimenting with what to do on the "off" days. I've tried just not wetting my hair. I've also tried doing just the vinegar rinse. I can't do pure water only because I have hard water. So far it seems better not to wet my hair at all. I just try to preen to bring the oil down my shaft.

About once a month or so I use a dilute lemon juice solution instead of vinegar, to chelate my hair and remove the salts. My hair is soft for days after. I use about 1/20 for lemon juice since it's more concentrated than vinegar. (This isn't a scientific calculation. I just approximated what felt right. I'm thinking of buying pH testing strips so that I can get an exact measurement of what is a good dilution.) I'm experimenting with the timing of lemon juice. I could probably stand to do it more often than once a month. The only reason I don't use lemon juice on a regular basis is that it has to be stored in the fridge.

I would say that conditioning treatments are important if you have long hair. Vinegar doesn't actually condition hair, as you probably know. It just helps the oil move down the hair strands. I haven't done much in the way of conditioning treatments myself, though. I'm at shoulder length now, and I didn't really pay too much attention to my hair until I found LHC. I did try one treatment which was to soak it in olive oil over night. It did not work. Olive oil does not wash out with baking soda. Yikes! However, I have once very lightly put an olive oil/coconut oil mix on just the ends of my hair on a dry day and that worked out fine.

I hope that helps! :)

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

Thanks for sharing your routine! I was using vinegar rinses when I was trying WO- our water quality isn't great also- but didn't like how stripped my hair felt. Since going to BS, I've been using citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as my acid rinse. I like them much better then vinegar- my hair feels lovely and soft. I guess both these are found in lemons, so maybe it's similar to your lemon rinse. They're not expensive and don't need refridgeration if you wanted to try them.

So far I am also washing every second day. I went three days once and found my scalp smelt bad :(. But it is very hot in the tropics down here at the moment. Maybe in winter I can stretch washes out more...

[Lala3488]

my hair has done much better since i have given up shampoo 4 months ago, I use CO. now when i do rarely use shampoo, my hair gets so dry and matted.. ughh cant believe i did that too it everyday for so many years !!

[OakTreeGirl]

Thanks for the suggestion, Moor_tu_lyfe. Vinegar seems to react okay to my body chemistry. But, I am interested in experimenting with the possibilities. (I just have to make sure to do it slowly, one item at a time.) I will probably try citric and ascorbic acid at some point.



So far I am also washing every second day. I went three days once and found my scalp smelt bad :(. But it is very hot in the tropics down here at the moment. Maybe in winter I can stretch washes out more...

If the smell is from the sebum, then slowly stretching out your washes may help your body acclimatize to less washing.

Lala3488, I am the same with shampoo. If I ahve to try it in an emergency now, my hair hates it!

[OakTreeGirl]

I just wanted to share that I found some very interesting shampoo products which still count as "no-poo" because the ingretients are pure natural. I went through the ingredients list and couldn't find a single objectionable item. It's called Saje Natural Wellness. As far as I can tell, it's a canadian company, but they do sell online. Basically, it's a body wash that doubles as a shampoo. The ingredients are:

Organic Oils of Coconut, Olive & Jojoba, Organic Guar Gum, Vegetable Organic Aloe Vera & Organic Rosemary Extract, essential oils lavender, geranium, clary sage

I have not tried it yet, because I've gotten comfortable with the BS/vinegar thing. However, it's really good to be aware of products like this for times when I have to travel for example. The website is www.saje.ca

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

Thanks for sharing OakTreeGirl. I would be really interested to see how they work, as it seems to be mostly oil! (Unless they mean extracts from those oil, because I think ingredients such as sodium sarcosinate can be extracted from coconut oil).

I'm really happy with my BS and acid rinse routine. I did give up the coconut oil completely- my husband finally smelt it directly and declared that it stinks and was making my hair stink! I washed yesterday morning and so far today, my DH declared that I don't smell!!:cheese:I might need to find some neutral smelling oil to use occassionally on my fried ends- recommendations anyone?

[OakTreeGirl]

I like bs/vinegar too. I like that it makes me feel really independant. I don't depend on any company and I don't have to constantly check to make sure that the ingredients list is still the same. That said, I do like to have something to use when travelling because (and I might be paranoid) I'm not comfortable travelling with unmarked white powder in a ziplock bag... could incur suspicion!

So did you figure out that it was the coconut oil that was causing the smell all along? It helps to know what caused it. I've heard some people recommend sunflour oil. Have you read the no_poo community on livejournal? It's not specifically oriented towards long hair, but it's got a lot of great information there.

[Mischamiu]

I've just started CO... and i loove it!

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

I like bs/vinegar too. I like that it makes me feel really independant. I don't depend on any company and I don't have to constantly check to make sure that the ingredients list is still the same. That said, I do like to have something to use when travelling because (and I might be paranoid) I'm not comfortable travelling with unmarked white powder in a ziplock bag... could incur suspicion!

So did you figure out that it was the coconut oil that was causing the smell all along? It helps to know what caused it. I've heard some people recommend sunflour oil. Have you read the no_poo community on livejournal? It's not specifically oriented towards long hair, but it's got a lot of great information there.

Yeah, seems like coconut oil was the culprit all along. I've just bought some sweet almond oil to try- it seems like some oils agree with some people, and you just need to find the right one. I would have bought some specific "hair" oil, but can't find any locally and wanted to get something straight away because....
-after washing my hair this morning, it was verrry tangly. I didn't detangle before washing (which I will do in the future!) and I had my hair up in a bun all the previous day and night. This may explain the mass shedding that I had when combing. :( I definitely miss the less shedding that I got with WO. I couldn't even hazard a guess at how many hairs fell out (and they did fall out, I could see the root bit still attached to all of them, even the shorter ones :(:() but there was a LOT!! Almost like post pregnancy shedding.

Did anyone else experience this when beginning BS and ACV/acid rinse? Does it settle down, or is this a sign that this method isn't for me? I don't have any itchies, and now my hair is dry, it only feels a bit rough/dry on the very ends (hence the oil I bought today :p). The rest of my hair feels quite smooth. :confused: Any help is appreciated...

[Lala3488]

The health of my hair has increased greatly since i havent been using shampoo all the time. I use CO, and shampoo once a month maybe.. no poo is awesome for my hair type, fine & curly

[OakTreeGirl]

When I first started no-poo, about a year ago, I wasn't thinking about long hair, or even beautiful short hair. I did not really pay attention much. I just wanted to feel less dependant on commercial products. So if I did shed more than usual, I didn't notice.

I've only started paying attention in the past couple of months since I started reading the LHC. I've started to do all the things that are recommended to protect hair. (Detengle gently, braid before sleep, etc.) What I can say for sure is that, at this time, I do not shed more than I did back on full time sulfate shampoos. It's hard to estimate the actual amount because I wear my hair down and I might loose stray strands through the day. I usually don't see more than ten in the shower.

[Moor_tu_lyfe]

Phwaar! 10 Hairs in the shower! Good Job!!:cheer: Even when I wear my hair down (which I do to try and dry it quicker- a bit smell paranoid at the moment :wigtongue) when I washed with BS and acid rinse, I would lose more then 10. And recently my hair has been very tangly after each wash, and the shedding that resulted from detangling was a bit scaryshudder:.

Yesterday I did a WO- with no excessive hair shed and fewer tangles. This morning I did a BS and acid- with more tangles but not so much- due to the sweet almond oil I was trying out. Hair was feeling pretty good today until my chlorine swim. Can't be bothered washing tonight, probably just do an acid rinse (with lots of ascorbic acid for the chlorine!), and some sweet almond oil. So far so good on the oil front...

[sarahmp]

Hello everyone! Quick question...
I have been going no poo for almost a month now but for a while the back of my hair is feeling really gross. It has a weird feeling that I can't really describe. It's been like this since the second week, I would say. Some of my hair feels like this as well, but it's really noticeable for me on the back. Is this a normal part in the process? What should I do use something to help or wait it out?
Thanks guys!

[lunamummy]

I had that for ages - a weird patch at the back, I don't know what caused it. I think it is sebum. I got rid of it by rinsing and preening and brushing with my BBB twice a day, 100 strokes each time. I've read on this thread about using a wash cloth to get that sebum moving too. Basically, it just needs to get moving down the hair shaft but for some reason stays there. Getting yucky :)

[maradeerfarmer]

Apologies if this has already been answered somewhere... I would love some advice! :) :) :)

I have 1b hair and the last time I used shampoo or conditioner was at Christmas. I went from shampoo/conditioner every day to shampoo/ACV every other day to Aleppo soap/ACV every other day, then started stretching out washes (I used the incredibly mild Aleppo soap with a high laurel oil content recommended for faces). Then I switched to BS/ACV every three or four days.
I have been very fortunate that my gradual phase-in didn't leave me experiencing any of those horrid transition periods people describe, despite having oily skin and oily hair. Wahoo!!! This is important as I am working as a specialist and I have to appear well groomed. I doubt I will use conventional products ever again at this rate.

My hair is rather dry and slightly frizzy the day I wash it but nice on subsequent days, and at day five is oily enough to warrant washing. This is odd for me as I have never had dry hair in my life. If I am going to wash less, should I:
1) dilute the BS/ACV more and keep with every four or five days for now, or
2) stretch out washes and use cornstarch etc. in between washes as a dry shampoo, or
3) a combination of the two, or something else?

[Littlewing13]

Ok so my story is that I've tried CO. Works great for moisturisation. But gotta wash every day or roots get oily. I have lightening damage on my ends, but roots are virgin+henna over all. So I started shampooing once a week. Now I shampoo & conditioner. I want to keep whatever I do as simple as possible for 2 reasons: I plan to possibly go backpacking (camping) in a yr or so & dont wanna lug around shampoo & conditioner, also wanna keep my hair nice & not dried out. As well as this I just wanna cut down on packaging for environmental reasons. So Im thinking I will try shampoo bars next. If it works I will start making my own. If not I will try WO.

[goldnymph]

I've long been curious about using BS and vinegar rinses in lieu of shampoo, but because my hair is very fine and prone to getting greasy I have been hesitant to try it.

This afternoon I washed my hair for the first time with 1 teaspoon of BS mixed with a mug of water, then followed with an ACV rinse. My hair is gorgeous! Voluminous, fluffy, soft, and silky...even the color is lighter and brighter!

Now I'm considering phasing shampoo out of my routine entirely (I currently use it when I get sweaty and gross and/or every two or three days) but I am concerned that switching to washing with BS will be drying or damaging long term. How much is likely to be too much for a fine-haired girl?

For those who use BS to wash their hair instead of 'poo, how often do you wash?

[goldnymph]

After washing my hair for a second time w/diluted BS and ACV, I've determined it's too harsh for frequent use. Though my length was lovely, the roots were dry, frizzed, and showed signs of damage, none of which was present before. My usual greasiness at the roots seems to have increased to compensate.

I think I'm back to shampoo until I can get down to just a couple washes a month...

[maradeerfarmer]

That happened to me too... maybe try adjusting amount of BS/ACV you are using? Decreasing the amount of BS I added and reducing the time I spent rubbing my scalp with it worked for me, but YMMV.

Have you tried using a dry shampoo to help stretch washes? There are lots of suggestions on the boards for 'homemade' ones... sounds a bit odd but good quality cocoa powder (in very small amounts!) works best for be, although BS was good too.

[OakTreeGirl]

The no-poo livejournal community has a tag for alternative washes. If you search through the posts, you'll find that there are a few different washes people can use. I've read that some people have found certain types of tea can be cleansing. I have not tried it myself. I have tried using raw egg yolk on its own and found it works very well, as long as I condition well afterwards.

http://no-poo.livejournal.com/tag/alternative%20washes

[ReghanC]

I've been using the bs/acv thing for about two weeks. It's amazing :) I didn't think it would clean my greasy mop but it really does! I don't think I'll EVER go back to shampoo

[Eireann]

I've been using the bs/acv thing for about two weeks. It's amazing :) I didn't think it would clean my greasy mop but it really does! I don't think I'll EVER go back to shampoo

Me too! I tried it on a whim, but I'm amazed with the results. :joy:

[Luminaria]

Ah, The no-poo thread! It does exist! I'm no poo and I'm looking for tips. Are there any alternatives to baking soda?

[Ivybelle]

Anyone have any exciting new bars or washes to try out? I've been happy with my current no-poo routine for a while now, but the top of my head is starting to get a little dry and I feel like its time for a change.

[Eireann]

Ah, The no-poo thread! It does exist! I'm no poo and I'm looking for tips. Are there any alternatives to baking soda?

I have read that some people use egg yolks for cleansing. I haven't tried it myself, but my guess is that the fats in the egg make it less drying than BS.

[Flittingsis]

Hi No-Poo-ers! I did some time over in WO, but have found that I need to be back here. Have any of you experimented at all with aloe vera? This thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=112563) helped me a ton! I want to do a bit more with some jojoba oil or a SMT, but I'm a little nervous.
Luminaria I wish I knew of an alternative to BS.
Eireann Is it really just the yolk, or could the whole egg be used? I'm actually envisioning an egg white+aloe vera wash...

[Flittingsis]

double post, sorry

[farmlass]

Flittingsis I know this if for conditioning, I'm not sure if it applies to cleansing too, but it suggests you use a different part of the egg depending on how dry/oily you hair is. http://www.womansday.com/style-beauty/beauty-tips-products/8-homemade-hair-treatments-110251
As far as no-poo goes, I thought this was a great idea and went BS/ACV with regular shampoo/conditioner maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks. My hair seemed great, I thought it was brilliant, until a week or two ago when my hair and scalp suddenly went really dry. After asking for help on here I have been told that BS is really harsh on hair and is not good for regular use. That's my experience anyway, I guess as some people have said they seem to get on really well with it.
If you want to give it a go, go ahead, you probably have the stuff in your kitchen anyway, just see how it goes for you. For me, I think I'm giving my hair a break with some gentle shampoo, and then maybe try CO, with the occasional BS/ACV.

[valkyrie90]

I officially just brought this thread to life . Yayy. So recently I give rhassoul clay a try and love it. It took me only 2 washes to archive what I got after 4 months with soapnuts. I wanna try bentonite as I heard that it's better for oily hair and also cheaper than rhassoul clay. But I heard that using clay on the long run could be harmful to hair . What do you guys think ?

[lapushka]

I officially just brought this thread to life . Yayy. So recently I give rhassoul clay a try and love it. It took me only 2 washes to archive what I got after 4 months with soapnuts. I wanna try bentonite as I heard that it's better for oily hair and also cheaper than rhassoul clay. But I heard that using clay on the long run could be harmful to hair . What do you guys think ?

I think clay should be used like a clarifier should be used, once every x-amount of time you need it, not as a regular wash, most certainly not. That's my take on it, at least. :)

[Waveurly]

I officially just brought this thread to life . Yayy. So recently I give rhassoul clay a try and love it. It took me only 2 washes to archive what I got after 4 months with soapnuts. I wanna try bentonite as I heard that it's better for oily hair and also cheaper than rhassoul clay. But I heard that using clay on the long run could be harmful to hair . What do you guys think ?

Hey that's fun that you've revived this thread. Just stumbled upon it and actually have quite a lot of information on this topic.
I think pure clay is too alkaline and would be best used in combination with something else, there's a no-poo recipe with clay, honey, vinegar which is called 'the holy grail', since it works for all water types and also hairtypes, you can find it on this website:
https://almostexactlyblog.com/2013/10/21/problems-with-no-poo-or-low-poo-heres-the-holy-grail-of-natural-shampoos/

And then I'd like to share this facebook page on no-poo https://www.facebook.com/groups/nopoo/
They have a huge list of information in their group files and there are loads of different wash methods.

I've been no poo myself, and it really matters if you have soft or hard water. Some methods are not recommended with hard water since they interact with the minerals in the water. I've tried most things no poo. Started off one year with just vinegar rinses, which didn't work out because of my lack of knowledge, so I made the vinegar rinse way too strong. Nevertheless I went a whole year without shampoo.
After that I stopped and started later on again and tried most of the methods that are listed in the facebook group.
My favorite method was shikakai and amla in my hard water. Also the holy grail clay method with honey and vinegar worked great.

But I stopped again because it was time consuming to make all the concoctions and to try to find the perfect balance between clean and moisturised hair. It was a bit hard to keep soft and moisturised hair with no poo. I've tried Co washing as well but my scalp didn't like it, even though my hair did like it quite much.

Hopefully I could be of help with this information!

[valkyrie90]

I think clay should be used like a clarifier should be used, once every x-amount of time you need it, not as a regular wash, most certainly not. That's my take on it, at least. :)

I wash every 5 days . Is it frequent ? I use soapnuts every 5 days and soapnut is said to be clarifier too ? I used to use egg as clarifier but it doesn't work anymore .


Hey that's fun that you've revived this thread. Just stumbled upon it and actually have quite a lot of information on this topic.
I think pure clay is too alkaline and would be best used in combination with something else, there's a no-poo recipe with clay, honey, vinegar which is called 'the holy grail', since it works for all water types and also hairtypes, you can find it on this website:
https://almostexactlyblog.com/2013/10/21/problems-with-no-poo-or-low-poo-heres-the-holy-grail-of-natural-shampoos/

And then I'd like to share this facebook page on no-poo https://www.facebook.com/groups/nopoo/
They have a huge list of information in their group files and there are loads of different wash methods.

I've been no poo myself, and it really matters if you have soft or hard water. Some methods are not recommended with hard water since they interact with the minerals in the water. I've tried most things no poo. Started off one year with just vinegar rinses, which didn't work out because of my lack of knowledge, so I made the vinegar rinse way too strong. Nevertheless I went a whole year without shampoo.
After that I stopped and started later on again and tried most of the methods that are listed in the facebook group.
My favorite method was shikakai and amla in my hard water. Also the holy grail clay method with honey and vinegar worked great.

But I stopped again because it was time consuming to make all the concoctions and to try to find the perfect balance between clean and moisturised hair. It was a bit hard to keep soft and moisturised hair with no poo. I've tried Co washing as well but my scalp didn't like it, even though my hair did like it quite much.

Hopefully I could be of help with this information!

Thanks for your infomation. I really appreciate that. I think I will try the holy grail method , experience with clay more. I was on that group back when I still use fb. That group is so useful. No poo is defenitely time consuming but it's a fun thing to do . I like to learn how different ingredients affect hair. Guess I'm gonna stick with it for a little while before I get too lazy =)). Thanks again

[Cherriezzzzz]

I just read through all 13 pages of this thread and I feel like I'm at home :) I've had success with all these methods. Some LHC ladies are very uncomfortable to lift the hair cuticle, but it's happening every single time you wet your hair! If it wasn't opening then the hair couldn't absorb the water. We're closing our cuticle more often and tighter with our acidic rinses! Yay!

I'm trying to decide btwn my favoured chagrin valley shampoo bar and a dyi Shikakai, orange peel, and hibiscus "shampoo." I loooooove how gently it is.

Also Calia is a great Canadian brand that is a liquid poo bar branf and they have conditioners! Great ones! Holistic habits on YouTube (very long hair) has been using it for years with success.

I loooooove bs and acv! It makes my hair fuller, curlier, and much less frizz.

Lastly there's Dr. Bronners... they have a fabulous rinse! Although I used their castile for awhile too!

I'm going to switch to dr bronners rinse with my favorite cv poo bar (coconut milk.) My hubby doesn't like the scent on acv.

Nightblooming has a trillion things I want to try, but I also am wanting to venture into herbs. Like slippery elm bark for tangles!

I'm going to jump in with BOTH feet here and in the thread for henna, recipes, and herbs!!!

[riphair]

I think clay should be used like a clarifier should be used, once every x-amount of time you need it, not as a regular wash, most certainly not. That's my take on it, at least. :)

Does clay clarify cones as well?

[Cherriezzzzz]

Does clay clarify cones as well?

Not Rhassoul clay, but I've never used bentonite clay...

Rhassoul is very moisturizing. It defines curls very well. ChagrinValley and Apple Valley naturals have rhassoul clay bars for hair and face. I've used the AV on me head to toe it's one of my hairs favorites. After the shower my facial skin isn't tight from washing so I don't even use a moisturizer!

[ArtOfNoot]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywxhUoXKKL8&t=1s&ab_channel=FitShortie

I gasped :agape:
This video genuinely terrified me! I'm so confused as to what she was doing.
This is my submission for a "how not to do the no-poo method" tutorial.

[Feral_]

As someone currently doing no shampoo it seems she did many things wrong. You can see she has not distributed the sebum throughout her hair so it’s just clumped together. Fail! My hair looks a bit cavewoman when it comes out of my sleep bun, but I detangle, comb and brush it. I don’t think mine looks too bad considering :hmm:

https://i.imgur.com/zlJVww3.jpg

[ArtOfNoot]

As someone currently doing no shampoo it seems she did many things wrong. You can see she has not distributed the sebum throughout her hair so it’s just clumped together. Fail! My hair looks a bit cavewoman when it comes out of my sleep bun, but I detangle, comb and brush it. I don’t think mine looks too bad considering :hmm:

Your hair looks extremely healthy!