I'm Back!!!!

[Spotsleftear]

Hello from sunny Scotland!!
I was on here a while ago but I fell off the wagon, but after a bad hair dye and shaving my head to get rid, I'm planning to have lovely long terminal length no poo hair as soon as possible.
i have my boar bristle brush and my multi vitamins, is there anything else you'd recommend?
also what is the best way to switch to 'no poo' cold turkey of easing my hair in? I read of one women who used shampoo to until she had got her hair used to being washed once a week and then went no poo. I currently wash every other day?

[Aderyn]

Hi!

I think starting off with the basic would be a good thing to do. Just be careful, patient and gentle with the hair - styling, washing, etc. Protective styling is also a very common thing here, particularly updos held with hair sticks/forks/ficcares/flexis/spin pins/etc.

Everyone is different, some find going cold-turkey to be a breeze, others find gradually transitioning (i.e. every other wash with no-poo, or switch to sulfate-free first, then no-poo, etc.) to work better, and some find no-poo to not work at all! I've been through a lot of washing methods - sulfates, sulfate-free, mudwashes, soap bars, COwashing, WCC, WC, CWC, stretching washes to every 3-4 weeks to washing every day, etc. I found, for the most part, my hair doesn't care if I'm no-poo or not, it really just comes down to just being gentle with the hair and decent ingredients for the products you do use.

It's a YMMV (your mileage may vary) sort of thing. If you want to stretch your washes, I think the best/fastest way is to just tough it out with greasy hair, but again, YMMV.

[coyoteanne]

Hello! When I initially switched to no 'poo, I had already been washing my hair once a week to a week and a half. I've read stretching between washes makes transitioning easier. I found scalp massages, scritching, and a BBB to be my best friends. I had to oil me ends a lot since I no longer used conditioner. For a while I tried CO washing, but my hair didn't seem to like it, though I tried several different -cone free conditioners.
Occasional ACV rinses helped me work towards WO. Putting it up and forgetting about it and wearing hats certainly helped me a lot throughout the transition. Honestly for a while, my hair was not pretty, but the process was very worth it.
Of course, what's worked for me may not work for you.

Something I'd recommend but is by no means necessary is a seamless comb, preferably one of wood or horn. They are great for scritching and help distribute your sebum like a BBB does. I prefer horn since they're comprised of keratin, just like our hair, so they don't create static or frizz.