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Ok, I had to dig this up again, it’s been too long. How are the no-pooers doing? I did it for a couple of months and gave up, my scalp couldn’t take it, although I didn’t try the baking soda or acv tricks. So now I’m interested again and I’m hoping you experienced ones have worked it all out in the time that’s passed. Any advice?
I’ve been doing it 100% since January or February and even got my twin sister on the bandwagon. I love it! My non-raw husband actually says he prefers my hair no-pooed to pooed! I do still get white balls, which I wash away about every 3 weeks with 1T baking soda, 1 T salt followed by a lemon rinse.
Good to hear Carmentina, because from what you’ve said in the past I think our hair is very similar. Did you say white balls??
amysue- I too got frustrated and would shampoo from time to time. I’m not sure how long it has been now but I am back on the no poo wagon. I have had dry scalp problems in the past. A lot of people confuse dandruff with dry scalp, they are not one in the same. Dandruff is more of a wazy buildup where as flakes are just dry scalp. I use acv+peppermint oil rinses at least ince a week to help combat that, as well as rinsing with just plain old water every other day…I never use a blow dryer, air dry only. My hair is much more manageable without poo, I don’t comb it until it is dry to, helps prevent breakage.
Amysue, the white balls are more like flakes I suppose. Maybe it’s dry scalp. Unfortunately I often use a hair dryer cuz it would take like 4 hours to dry otherwise and I end up with a bit of a headache. I think I’ll give the peppermint oil rinse a try. The flakes comb out, so they’re really not much of an issue, but then they build up and I “wash” them out. I often scent my hair with a drop of essential oil (lavendar, peppermint, orange) on my hand, then I dampen it with water, rub my palms together and rub it through my hair. At this point my husband says my scalp smells like “stale bread” which I find really funny. I think my hair’s normalized, but I do expect some more changes, especially once I start going to the beach regularly in Hawaii.
Carmentina – “going to the beach regularly in Hawaii”, sigh. Just happy for you. Stale bread, eh? I like the essential oil idea because I was also paranoid about the smell.
mmmorgans – I’m the opposite of you, ridiculously waxy, which I’m hoping going 100% raw recently is going to help, but not so far, which is the only reason I’m hesitant about no poo. I had the best luck using a damp washcloth on my scalp which I read in a magazine article, but then it seemed just as easy to shampoo. Never blowdry.
the “white balls” are sebum. It is just your natural oils that comb out of your hair. I get in my brush and comb too. There could be some dry scalp flakes mixed in there too. But the white balls are normal. Just rinse really good and comb them through your hair – they are natural conditioners so comb them through parts that need some moisture like your ends. Sea salt rinse helps me. So, swimming in the ocean should defintely help. The only thing I hate about the sebum is it is hard to get out of my comb. I have to scrub it out with a little nail brush and some soap.
Thanks to running into this thread a while ago I’ve now been poo-free for 4 months. I keep my hair short now so I never experienced the growing out of yucks. I use diluted ACV every other day with really warm water and occasionally will use a baking soda paste if I start feeling greasy. Best thing I ever did. I love showers so much more now and along with the savings in shampoo $$ I know I am using much less water.
queenfluff, queen of no poo!! I was hoping you would show up. I remember the brush the first time around, it was amazing, and hard to clean as you said. I might try Dr. Bronners this time on the brush. I like the idea of thinking of it as conditioner, that seems nice.
kindaraw – that’s part of the reason I brought it up again, I had never heard of it before seeing it here and it seems to make so many people happy!
Curious to hear how others are getting on…
I do not know if this has been brought up but does anyone know if this will work with dermatitis? I’ve tried to grow dreads before and my dermatitis got worse! I hate this and am hoping eventually with the raw food diet that it will go away naturally.
This is all so interesting. Last summer I had all the coloring cut off. So had very short hair. It has now grown back a bit but after reading this, think I will go real short again and water rinse. Wounder if this will help the little bit of grey I have to leave ?lol
I have read a lot about those who don’t need deodorant when going raw. I have been raw for 3 years and still need the product.Any one else with the same problem???
Glad to hear that everyone is enjoying their no poo routines!
Haha Queen of No Poo! – I like that! :)
One of my fave thing about no poo is how much money I am saving on buying all those products. I like not having to worry about running out of anything either. So I don’t have to worry about rushing out to the store to get more. :)
Mystic – It is very possible that quitting shampoo will help your dermititis. It is possible that you are allergic to something that is used in shampoos which is quite common actually. Lots of people have scalp and skin irritations and don’t even think twice to blame it on shampoo or conditioner they are using. I don’t know what sort of shampoo you used when you were doing dreads but it also could be possible that you were not able to rinse good enough and the residue could be irritating your scalp. No poo would work great with dreads! The natural oils should keep your dreads nice and conditioned. :)
Beany – Grey is caused by a deficiency of minerals in your diet – one of them is copper. So, try to include more copper rich raw foods in your diet. I just started having a few grey myself this year so I am trying to get more copper food in myself. No poo really won’t get rid of your hair but it will definatley your color from fading.
I still use salt rock deodorant myself but I am not 100% raw. The people that don’t need tend to be rawies that have cleansed out their bodies with fasts and eat a truely 100% raw diet. It takes a while to get to the point where your body is cleaned out enough that you really never smell.
I agree with the saving money, the more pure the shampoos and conditioners are that I buy, the more expensive they are, which I understand because chemicals can be cheap. I’m hoping to be able to travel without having to tote them along, just that little bit more space now that they’re charging for baggage and everything else!
I work in an office and I literally couldn’t come in with nasty detoxing hair because professional appearance is important. I was wondering if using sea salt rinse will keep it from getting gross. Are there combinations like one day lemon and water and one day salt and water that will keep it from drying out but still look okay?
I never went through a gross phase, but my hair is course and dry. It might be easier to mask if you have longish hair you can put up in a ponytail on bad days. Sea salt is great (I use it to scrub my scalp too) and lemon is the best conditioner!
Oh and I really don’t like the smell of ACV, so I prefer lemon.
troublesjustabubble – hopefully you’ll be like Carmentina and not have a gross faze. I unfortunately did the first time around and wore a hat all day long but that was because of my scalp. I can see how that would be tough in an office. The only thing I can think of is a wide silk headband kind of thing, they’re very chic.
troublejustabubble – DONT WORRY! your hair probably wouldn’t look nasty. you have short, thin hair, i’m sure it’ll be fine. i have very long, very thick hair, and my hair looked great during the transition. i work in an office too, my hair looks great. here’s what ya do.. lemon juice twice a week directly on the scalp. then RINSE and rinse, and rub your scalp to get the oil outta there – really scrub like this for the two showers after the lemon juice. then repeat a few days later. the transition will be easy!
Winona! Thank you! I’m definitely going to try this. I have tried the transition with just water and my hair did get greasy. I have noticed that my hair is so much softer and healthier since being on raw but I would like to cleanse it naturally and this sound really good. I’ll try it starting tomorrow and see!
troublesjustabubble – Most people have a little bit of detox. It really depends on what sort of shampooer you were before and what your natural hair is like and what sort of products you used (hairspray etc). I was an everyday shampooer and conditioner. It was oily and nasty the first week or two and than it started evening out. One of my tricks I do is to rinse for 10 minutes (this is for water rinsing). I figure i am not spending the time shampooing and conditioning which might end up almost the same amount of time.
If you don’t have one, get a shower filter for your shower (even best would be to have a water softener – I am still working on that one) to remove impurities esp chlorine.
Things to help uou out if you run into the oilies would be sea salt rinse (leave it in for 5 minutes), lemon juice, white vinegar (diluted! – it will remove sticky waxy feeling in your hair). Brushing and combing your hair frequently to remove the excess oils and buildups will help too. I brushed alot at my beginning period – also helps to move the oils down and distribute them more evenly through your hair. Now, I use a fine tooth comb most of the time.
But yes, it looks like you have short, fineish hair so I wouldn’t be too worried about it. :)
If you need any more advice, post here and I can help you out! Good Luck!
Thank you queenfluff! That is so helpful. I do have thinish fineish hair but I’ve always had pretty greasy hair so I wash it every day. Lately I’ve been trying to do every other day just to be more natural. I figure it’s silly to take out the oils with shampoo and then put fake ones in the conditioner. My only struggle is my office. But if all these lovely ideas work I should be alright. Thanks so much! I’m really excited to get it started!
Thanks queenfluff for the reply. Going to wash the gunk out of my hair then go no shampoo. I am so excited. Doesnt take much. When I went 100% raw the greying stopped spreading. Thankful for that. Concerning the smell. Guess detoxing can go on for a long time. Oh well, I have a lifetime. smile
Alright everyone, I did the lemon juice today and rinsed and didn’t put any product in my hair and it’s amazing! It feels like baby hair and is so soft and fluffy.
Before I put the lemon juice in I brushed and brushed my hair not only to get it untangled after sleeping on it but to get my scalp to release oils and to get some of the hair spray out. I put the lemon juice in and let it sit for a few minutes and then hopped in the shower and rinsed it for a long time. I blow dried it still because I don’t have time to let it dry on it’s own(I can’t show up to work with wet hair) and I even used the flat iron to make my curls a little more even. I usually have to use tons of hair spray but I didn’t use any and it looks amazing. Thank you all so much for sharing your techniques!
I haven’t had a chance to use lemon juice yet, but I use white vinegar in water, and it makes my hair clean, very soft and easy to comb. (when I do bother to comb it, than is, haha)
Does that make your hair smell like vinegar? I thought about that and decided to go with lemon juice but my hair doesn’t smell like lemon at all. It just smells clean and soft.
Troublejustabubble (I love your cute user name btw): Isn’t is amazing that when you don’t use shampoo and conditioner that the curls stay in better?
I have stick straight hair. Or at least I USED to before no poo. Now, if I put spongey rollers in my hair curls TOO much and they don’t come out (I would have to wet them again to get rid of them) before, on shampoo, curls wouldn’t even stay in an hour.
I truly belive the sebum works like a hair gel/spray or styling product. Helps keep your curls and body in!
I have found that the white vinegar is good when you old sticky residue in your hair (this will be something you might get at the beginning of no poo but it can occasionally pop up later). I had this at my crown area at the beginning and white vinegar was the only thing that got rid of it. But don’t use the white vinegar unless you feel you really need it. Lemon or sea salt will be good for the oilies.
definitely good for the oilies! It’s been hours and hours and my hair is still soft and buoyant! Such a huge difference. I can’t believe how much better it is.
the name is from a song I sang in a show one time called “Let’s have another cup of coffee and let’s have another piece of pie!”. Totally an adorable song. Written in the thirties or so.
So far so good here, I’m intrigued by the lemon juice although my hair is the opposite, thick and curly. I’m using a boar bristle brush to brush my scalp before I shower and rinse my hair. I figure it’s like skin brushing the body. My only problem is that after it airdries it still looks messy on no poo so I tend to pull it into a bun or ponytail. Takes a long time to dry too with all of that natural conditioner but the sun helped me out today.
troublesjustabubble, my hair doesn’t smell like vinegar if I use the white. However, if I use apple cider vinegar, for some reason the smell will hang around my head for a couple of hours.
queenfluff, why shouldn’t we use white vinegar instead of lemon? I clean my hair once or twice a week.
Alix – The white vinegar can be very stripping. It will strip the natural oils from your hair. White vinegar is different from the ACV. Some times it is made from an acetic acid that is corrosive and can cause irritation esp if you get it in your eyes. So depending on what sort you buy it may not be very natural. Normally it is made from distilled alcohol or grains. Make sure you use that kind but a lot of white vinegars sold today have some of the acid in them.
It is alot stronger than lemon or ACV. I would only recommend using it if you have buildup that you can’t get rid of with other methods (lemon or salt) only because it can be really drying and make your hair feel brittle. It is useful when your hair feels sticky and gunky.
Make sure you dilute it – it really too strong to use straight.