I’m not referring to a cessation of the defecatory function. Although if someone could invent no-poo dogs and cats, s/he would become a zillionaire over night.
I’m talking about no long using shampoo on your hair. It’s described here:
and if you google on “no poo” you’ll find lots.
You apply baking soda to your hair and massage it through then rinse with vinegar. I gather there is no vinegar smell when your hair dries and that this method overall yields soft, shiny, non-greasy hair, and is especially good for keeping colored hair from fading (particularly reds, which fade fast). The principle behind it is that washing your hair often- like every day- is not good for your hair or scalp. That shampoo strips the natural oils and that’s why you have to apply conditioners, etc. They say it may take a few weeks for your hair to adjust and it’s at this point that many people cave and go back to poo.
I know when I was a kid, you generally washed your hair only once a week. And in the 1920’s and 30’s women didn’t wash their hair at home much at all- they only had it done in a salon.
I have very thick dry hair, and a while ago I quit using shampoo altogether. Instead, I lather through twice with conditioner, and am very careful to throughly massage my scalp under the water while the conditioner is in. I do this every day, and I’ve never gotten any complaints (actually a few people have told me my hair smells really good).
I’ve noticed an improvement in my hair (shinier, less brittle), although one of the downsides of this is that I do have to “wash” every day or it gets noticeably greasy (when I was using shampoo I could go like four days before it got gross).
Yes, I didn’t use any shampoo or soap on my hair for about 6 years. I never used baking soda to wash, I have to wet my hair every day or every other day for it to look nice so I just used water half the time, and washed with a light conditioner the others (massaging my scalp well with both). I did and do use vinegar rinses (be warned, you have to dilute the vinegar quite a bit or your head/hair will STINK of vinegar).
I have dry, porous, curly hair which was a dry frizzy mess until I stopped using commerical (sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate) shampoos, they dry it out horrendously. I never had issues with my hair looking greasy or feeling ‘dirty’ without shampoo as long as I washed other ways at least 3 times weekly. However, I did have issues with persistant scalp build-up and flaking after a while with no shampoo, and I really had to scrub my scalp to get it clean, which seems to lead to more hairs shedding during a wash. So now for my scalp’s sake I use a ‘natural’ (no SLS), mild shampoo a few times per week that isn’t so drying for my hair.
If y’all are interested in exploring this further, go to the link in the OP and read the many comments at the bottom of the page. For some, using only the baking soda and vinegar “cured” oiliness and also gave volume to baby-fine hair. Some also use commercial conditioners, but no shampoo. Some add a dash of honey to the vinegar to help with the vinegar odor.
I’ve been no-poo for about 1.5 years and I love it. I go the water & baking soda route (mixing a pint at a time- enough for 3 or 4 washings), alternating with the cider vinegar. I seldom combine the two in the same “shampoo.” My hair is neither oily nor dry, and is wavy. I can go about 3 or 4 days between “shampoos” but usually only go 2. I didn’t have an adjustment period-- just clean, beautiful hair from the first day.
I noticed that my hair doesn’t get that “crispy” feel from the blow dryer anymore! No matter how much I dry it, it still feels soft.
When I started dying it about a year ago (it faded from red to brown over the years), I used henna to bring it back to red. I don’t know if it is the henna or the no-poo, but it doesn’t fade. When dying, I can either rinse the henna out or use a commercial shampoo & conditioner. I just go back to no-poo the next time with no problem. The same holds true for haircuts with the stylist shampooing/conditioning as usual, then back to the routine.
No one has mentioned a vinegary oder and I can’t smell one. Just be sure to rinse.
The b.s. and vinegar aren’t really necessary. It works equally well with just water (scrub your scalp as if there was shampoo) but I still have half a bag of baking soda from Costco and I can’t make enough buttermilk pancakes to use up 12 pounds of baking soda! :smack:
No, but with some essential oils you can make jars of bath salts as christmas presents, and I cant remember if it is just liquid food coloring or if paste works for tinting the baking soda…
add oils and tint to baking soda, mix it all up well and let the moisture spread into the whole mass, then break it up again into a powder. Put in a pretty jar.
