Water Only Method Smell

[Mama Dede]

Hello All!

I'm six weeks into the water only method. I love it! My hair has never looked or felt better. Just this week I started noticing a mild smell. Fur like. Is this a normal smell? Or is it an indication that I'm not getting my scalp clean enough? Thanks!

[lapushka]

I think you might be more successful asking this in the WO/SO thread.

Second of all, even with WO, I don't think there should be a smell coming off of the hair. Maybe your scalp just doesn't tolerate the WO method well? Do you notice flakes of any kind or other things?

[Ingrid]

The food you eat affects the way your scalp smells. It could be a temporary thing based on what you ate. Also, do you air your hair frequently?

[Mama Dede]

@lapushka I tried to cross post to the WO thread. I'm new here and still trying to find my way around ;) No flakes or anything. How would I know if it doesn't tolerate the method? And then what? @Ingrid It could be diet related I suppose, but I'm pretty sensitive to my body and diet and I've never, ever smelled this before...? What is "air my hair"? Thanks!

[lapushka]

Well, if it's a really "rank" smell, it needs to be washed and can't tolerate the method, IMMHO.

[Ingrid]

@lapushka I tried to cross post to the WO thread. I'm new here and still trying to find my way around ;) No flakes or anything. How would I know if it doesn't tolerate the method? And then what? @Ingrid It could be diet related I suppose, but I'm pretty sensitive to my body and diet and I've never, ever smelled this before...? What is "air my hair"? Thanks!

Sometimes if you wear your hair up all the time without letting it down to air it can smell a little, particularly in the transition stages of the WO or SO methods, when your scalp is still adjusting.

[Annalouise]

The water only treatment was a nightmare for me. If you have any fungal issues on the scalp water only will make your hair fall out!!!!
Make sure you have no yeast/fungal issues. A smelly scalp is an indication of yeast/fungus.

No. No. No. You MUST keep a clean scalp. You do not want to 'not wash' your scalp. In my opinion. Unless you are living in the pristine wilderness with no pollution and you have a pristine diet and have no fungal issues, then I would say: BEWARE of 'NOT washing'. It will really come to haunt you.

If you live in a city, and you have city water, then fluoride and chlorine and all sorts of nasties are being deposited on your scalp not to mention airborn dust and pollution.

Oh my goodness, I can't imagine never washing the hair. GOOD LUCK with that.

Soap has been around for millennia. Why? Because whether its a soap or a detergent people have always had the need to lift dirt and debris off of their hair.

I just have to add to this one caveat and that is that even if you ARE living in the wilderness it doesn't matter. Native Americans washed their hair with herbs. They didn't 'NOT' wash themselves. I live in the SW desert and yucca is abundant and was used to wash the hair traditionally.

[AmberJewel]

I've read in the WO thread that it's common for people to notice their hair starting to smell more "fur-ish". They did say that it wasn't a BAD smell, just different and not perfumed or anything. If you have any problems or it starts actually smelling BAD then I would definitely recommend taking special care of it, but otherwise, if it's just a different un-shampooed smell I'd say let it be.

[McFearless]

Are you brushing to distribute sebum and keep the scalp clear?

Diluting essential oils in water and lightly misting dry roots can freshen things up.

[Anje]

Well, I haven't done WO for ages, but I stuck it out with a few fix-it washes for about 8 months. Then my oil production increased (as it turns out it does seasonally, though I hadn't noticed it before then), and I felt like WO wasn't keeping up.

"Fur-like" isn't a bad descriptor of it. My hair and scalp didn't smell bad (though maybe when I was due for a wash, my husband would notice that it smelled less fresh if he stuck his nose right into my scalp hair, but that's true for any washing method where you wait for your hair to need to be cleaned before cleaning it). However, it didn't smell like soap or shampoo or fragrances -- it smelled sorta like a clean animal if you started sniffing at it. It smelled like henna for a while after I hennaed.

I personally don't see this as a bad thing. I don't have a profound need to smell like something I'm not. I'm not food, I'm not a flower, I'm not a spice; I'm a mammal. A clean, well-groomed mammal!

ETA: It is worth mentioning that even more than most methods, WO is REALLY an individual sort of thing. Some people do great with it, some do OK, and some have scalps that are problematic if they're not kept super-clean. You MUST pay attention to what your body is telling you; wanting the method to work absolutely won't cut it with WO or SO if your body won't do it, and you might risk substantial hair loss if you push it when your body says "no". My body did pretty good -- I've got a happy scalp that doesn't get perturbed by much. My ends didn't fare so well, as they weren't getting sufficiently moisturized by oils originating several feet away. Interestingly, my ends like oil now better than they did those several years ago, so it's plausible that if I were to revisit the WO experiment, that I might keep my hair significantly happier with supplemental oiling than I was able to at the time.

[MsPharaohMoan]

Yeahhh... Probably best you skip over to the wo thread ;) :thumbsup: Although interesting about scalp smells - I too notice a scent from the scalp

[Baby_doll]

Try this: rubb your scalp well and then smell your fingers, if that's the smell that you smell in your hair that's more then likely the smell of your sebum, if its not it may be a smell you were around earlier, like if I cook or am around when someone's frying, the smell stays in my hair until my next wo wash. I noticed a sebum smell during my transition phase, after awhile it went away (could just be me getting used to it and not noticing it) if it doesn't stink your fine, and if your hair isn't getting insanely oily the smell shouldn't be too noticeable. If you decide you hate it and you don't want to smell like that get some essential oils mix a few drops in with a cup of water and when you wash rinse with that and rinse it out, that should take care of it. But you may want to have someone smell your hair and tell you if it stinks or not. A light smell isn't something to worry about, it's normal.