Remember back when I made the crazy decision to toss my shampoo and start going "no-'poo"? Ever wonder what happened with that experiment?
Over a year later, I'm pleased to say that I have continued it for the most part! I went strong with this method from last April, up until December this year, when I got pregnant. The only time that I briefly stopped was during the first half of this pregnancy, when my hair, scalp and hormones all went crazy. It wasn't pretty, so I started using natural shampoos again for that season.
Since things have evened out a bit (probably the last 3 months or so) and for all of the months I did it last year, I've been really enjoying my simple, frugal habit.
The method I'm using these days is to:
- Keep a squirt bottle with about 1/8 baking soda and the rest water in the shower. It settles between use, so each time I just shake it up briefly before I use it. I squirt it all over the top of my head and a bit onto the back, and then just rub it around and somewhat "lather" it (I add the quotations because it's not a true lather, like shampoo, but it does foam up a bit) for about 30 seconds, then rinse.
- Next I use some apple cider vinegar for conditioning. I dilute it 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water and keep it in a glass jar with a lid. This isn't ideal, and I'd like to get a squirt or spray bottle for it as well. I only apply it to the bottom half of my hair, because it causes my fine, thin hair to get a bit greasy if I use it anywhere near my scalp.
- Every once in a while, I shampoo with a high quality, natural shampoo that I happened to have around. It served as a nice transition from when I stopped no-'poo temporarily, and has helped me to ease back into it without it being obvious that I was transitioning back again. Soon I don't think I will need to use it anymore at all.
- I wash my hair only every 2nd day. Back when I started, last April, I was a shower-every-day kind of girl, and my hair would get so greasy without being washed daily. Between the no-'poo and gradually spacing out my showers (taking advantage of days at home, when I could toss it up in a ponytail!), I've managed to get it to the place where I can almost always go 2 days in between. The picture of my hair above is actually taken on a 2nd day, without showering, and you really can't tell.
Once in a while, I notice that my hair is a bit dry, but then again, I'm struggling to stay hydrated enough with a summer pregnancy, and it has been a dry summer here so far this year. I have experimented once with using my homemade mayonnaise as a deep conditioner, but I didn't find the results particularly impressive, so I haven't bothered much since then.
I stumbled across a blog post the other day, about how a mother has adapted a similar method for her daughter's beautiful, long hair. She uses a natural bar soap, every 5 days, and then the apple cider vinegar rinse for conditioning. Looks like it's working well for her. Check it out!
For my kids, I continue to use just water on Caden's short and fine hair, and maybe 1-2 drops of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap
on Abbie's slightly longer (but still very fine) hair. I wash their hair about 1-2 times per week and I don't ever find that it looks dirty. I mean, aside from the smears of yogurt and jam and spaghetti sauce. :)
Have any of you transitioned over to using the no-'poo method? How is it going for you, and do you do it any differently than I do? Any deep conditioning suggestions for me? What are the rest of you using for shampooing?
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I like to use Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-one liquid soap. Does anyone who have posted have any opinions or suggestions? It is expensive but a little bit goes a long way.
I’m having my second try at no poo now. First time around I got impatient with it. I think the transition was bad then due to dietary and hormonal issues. So I’m confident I’ll see success with it this time. Still experimenting to find the best formula for my hair during the transition period, but so far so good. :-)
I went poo free about 2 months ago and am loving it! I have thick, curly hair and I use 1 tbsp of baking soda and 1 cup of water for the shampoo and the same for ACV for the conditioner about once a week. The only problem that I have had is with the dry winter air and so I have added 2-3 drops of vitamin e oil in 1 cup of water to rinse. I have never had such healthier and cleaner hair. Even my natural highlights (gray hair) are shinier, which I don’t mind. I also use a hair cap at night which helps to hold in the moisture that would otherwise get sucked out by my pillowcases.
I have just started this transition! I had oily hair even with shampoo. If I washed my hair at night it was greasy looking by noon :( So I figured that it would be so nice for my body to actually start regulating itself. I have to tell you that I didn’t wait a whole two weeks to tweak the formula. After 3-4 days my hair was so oily that when I took the ponytail holder out, my hair didn’t move!! So I added some more baking soda and it’s gotten better. I am only on day 6 so it’s still early and I still think my hair is looking a little on the gross side but ponytails and hats are helping and hopefully in the next week or so it will start to look better. Your hair looks great! Can’t wait to get there!!!
Just came across your blog and love it! I’ve been using a very similar method for washing my hair for about 10 months now with excellent results. The difference in my “recipe” is I combine the baking soda with Dr. Woods Pure Black Soap. Then I condition with 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar in 3/4 cup of water to which I add several drops of essential oils, usually a few drops of orange and a few drops of grapefruit. Sometimes I’ll use lemon or peppermint (which makes the scalp tingle). I mix it up so I’m not using the same EO’s all the time. I used to wash my hair every other day but now I only have to wash it once every five days!!! Amazing!! I love getting back to basics!
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