Going No-Wash....How Will It Affect My Skin?!

[Linnykinz]

I've recently decided to go no-wash, all natural, only using a boar bristle brush to clean my hair..with MAYBE a monthly clarifying shampoo before I DT..after reading up on the great benefits to hair. But I've got a big question, my deciding factor: I do like to have bangs, or wear my hair around my face, but I was wondering if any of you know about the problem of sebum and acne. I'm 18, and still getting acne flare-ups, because I use products like coconut oil in my hair. Considering sebum is already on our skin would it cause even more acne, or the opposite? Any input will help, I want to know what I can before I make "the change" hehe. Thanks so much!
xox Linny

[frizzalot]

You will most likely get more horrible spots if you don't at least water wash the fringe. sweat and other bacteria wil be absorbed by the hair and iritate your forehead.

By no wash do you mean no water at all? Your hair will end up looking very stringy, dusty and maybe smelly.

Have you considered water only washing? what is your current routine? If you are using shampoo and conditioner at the moment going straight to no wash at all will leave your hair super greasy.

[Linnykinz]

Right now I CO-wash about two or three times a week, shampoo once a week if I can help it, I wouldn't be going into no-wash straight..I would be easing into it hehe. I read an article here recently (though I can't find it for the life of me right now) on no-washing, and how the hair actually responds very well after it adjusts considering our body provides what it needs to clean and protect the hair, with a little help.
I actually haven't really considered water-only..is that just rinsing and using water and massage to clean the scalp and hair? Sounds pretty self-explanitory..I hope that's not a dumb question lol.

[Fractalsofhair]

Frizzalot-I think she's referring to Sebum only washing, which doesn't make hair look that greasy, depending on the hair type.

OP-I would suggest washing the bangs, with shampoo, because the hair is young and won't look as damaged. CO washing does limit the amount of damage as well, and shampoo bars help remove sebum, and I've found them to be the most damage free method of washing for my hair, and it's hard to argue that soap+lye isn't a natural method of washing(ok so the lye isn't produced by ashes... But still xD). Others don't like it that much though.

[Linnykinz]

Fractal- Yes sorry, sebum-only. I'm still pretty new with all these terms, forgive me hehe..it sounds like something I'm going to have to do, really clean my fringe, at least until I can grow it out and get the confidence to wear it back ;) But I've never heard of a shampoo bar..that's something I will have to look into!

I really appreciate your input, both of you. <3

[spidermom]

I think there's a sebum-only thread around here somewhere. I've never been attracted because my grandmother would only wash her hair with water from the rain barrel, and if the rain barrel was empty, she didn't wash her hair. I thought it made her smell really bad.

[IcarusBride]

I Water-Only wash my hair and Coconut-Oil it almost every day, and my skin isn't any worse for it.
I DO wash my body with bar soap and my face with neutrogena, and I don't have bangs, though.
I think once your hair calms down from the initial grease-ball in the first few weeks after quitting shampoo, you won't have a huge problem as long as you are generally clean and make sure to disperse the sebum from the scalp along the length regularly.
Good luck!

[Linnykinz]

Spidermom- thanks for the heads up, I believe I've read though that as long as you are "cleaning" it with a BBB, it shouldn't smell funky, just different..I guess we will have to find out, cuz no way am I walking around with smelly hair! lol

Icarus- Coconut oil every day, wow..what kind of hair do you have? Sorry, I still can't view profiles hehe..and what type of skin do you have, are you naturally acne-prone? I think once my bangs grow out, I will be able to wear them away from my face, but the grease-ball stage is really what has me worried the most..considering my bangs will still be short, AND greasy..yuckies!

[spidermom]

Maybe that makes the difference. I don't remember my grandmother using a BBB, just a comb with close teeth on one side, wider teeth on the other.

[Roseate]

Good luck- I'll be the link fairy, ignore me if you've seen these:

The No-water, Sebum-only thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=144)

The water-only thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3412)

[embee]

When I was 18 I could not have gone Sebum Only. Certainly not with bangs. I was a regular grease spot anyway and washed every single day of the world.

Now as an old lady I have successfully gone a winter with Sebum Only, but I would not go a summer, too much sweat from the garden and all. And a winter with Water Only, but not a summer, same reasons.

You can try, it might work for you, but please do not discard your shampoo! ;) You may find it essential for your bangs.

[Linnykinz]

Good luck- I'll be the link fairy, ignore me if you've seen these:

The No-water, Sebum-only thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=144)

The water-only thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=3412)

Yes!! these are the ones I've been looking for, but for some reason they wouldn't come up at all in Search..thanks so much.

I'm still debating whether or not to go WO, or NW/SO...anybody else who has input or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. :yinyang:

[Linnykinz]

Ahh Embee...very very good point..I forgot summer is coming up right now. That's going to be an interesting experience..I might put it off and CO until fall hits.

[nellreno]

Well I'm not sebum-only, but I do only wash about once a week, and my hair gets very greasy by the end of that week.

I have *very* acne prone skin on my face, shoulders and chest. Cutting back on washes, and using the least amount of chemicals on my hair and body have actually made my acne improve by a lot. I guess my skin was sensitive to all the stuff I was putting on it.

When I first started all this I did get a couple breakouts along my hairline, I guess from the extra sebum, but after those cleared up I haven't had any problems.

[Kaileida]

I've tried water only... never got to that magical point where your hair is supposed to stop looking/feeling horrible, though, and I stuck with it for a lot longer than it should have taken for it to get there! So in my experience, skin/sebum production gets a lot worse. A LOT.
But clearly a lot of others have had success with these methods, so they're probably worth a shot!

[countryhopper]

Do you have any specific reason for not wanting to use shampoo? (like dandruff, sensitive skin, etc)

There are many washing methods that do not use shampoo. They include:

* CO (conditioner only)
* no -poo ( baking soda washes, soapnuts, and other natural or herbal alternatives)
*rinses (vinegars, lemon juice, teas, herbal infusions)
*WO (water only)
*NW/SO (no water/sebum only)

Each method is good for different things and different people's needs. I personally have not used shampoos or conditioners now for about 6 months. Instead, I use about 1 tablespoon of baking soda dilluted in a cup of warm water, massage into scalp, and rinse with tea. This works really well for me but does not work well for others (especially those with curly or dry hair. Baking soda can be very drying).

Scritching and preening are important in methods like NW/SO. I find it makes my scalp porduce more oil, so I usually try to do it only just before a wash.

Hope that helps!

PS: when I read the title of this thread, I thought you meant that you were no longer going to wash, as in body, not hair!! :D

[Feli]

Linnykinz: I went WO last year and stuck at it for 4 months. I never went through the magical transition and after seeing holiday photos of myself and seeing how horrendous my hair looked, I went back to washing and have been experimenting ever since. I think one problem I had was that our water is hard - soft water is supposed to be far better for WO. I tried using a rinse with distilled water after water washing but it didn't seem to help. Good luck deciding what to do.

[embee]

You might try seriously diluting your product - like one squirt of product in a big cup of warm water and using that. I have found it most interesting, my hair is softer, dries faster, is less tangled, etc. Now I'm using cheap shampoo, not conditioner, but diluting is something to try, and it just blew me away that I didn't need conditioner just to be able to comb out my hair after washing! You might find that very dilute shampoo works well for summertime bangs washings too. Maybe even in a leftover "foamy soap" container, kept by the bathroom basin.