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To shampoo or not to shampoo?

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  • kauaigirlkauaigirl Raw Newbie

    Day 17 for me…oilier since my last post on day 11 but it is starting to move down to the ends which is GREAT since at first it was oily at the scalp and dry/frizzy on the ends. My hair is MUCH curlier and not itchy at all which was my biggest concern.

    Also, my hair doesn’t seem to be falling out as much which was getting to be a HUGE concern for me since it seemed to be half it’s size since starting to fall out over a year ago. (Went off pill/went vegan…not sure which or if it was both) Maybe it was just poisoning my head with all those nasty chemicals.

    Still lots of white waxyness on brush and BIG, full hair. This is FUN! I may do another clay mask next week on my day off.

    Thanks for your inspiration, queenfluff!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    kauaigirl – Sounds like your going to stick with it then? So great! I did notice an increased shedding for about a week (I think it was in my 5th week) and I was freaking about a bit but than it stopped – but my hair didn’t seem any thinner. I think that was just my head and not something everyone gets in their 5th week since everyone hair goes through shedding cycles. But yes, overuse of chemicals on your head sometimes can cause hair loss.

    I am almost at 2 months! My hair is actually wavy! If you can tell from my picture (which is old), how straight my hair was on shampoo. Now, it has this cool ‘tousled’ look (if I don’t comb it right away after it dry) and has thickness and body and fluff. It isn’t the same sort of clean feeling as I had with shampoo but it feels so nice and thick there is no way I am going back to the shampooed thin feeling hair. I feel like one of those hair advertisement models (HA! HA!).

    My oils still have not made it down to the ends yet but I admit I haven’t really been brushing like I should. I am not too worried about it. I am trying to rinse as much as possible. I still have some oilness/heaviness in certain areas (still the crown/back area) but nothing near like what I had. I still have some white waxy on my brushes and a bit in my comb but nothing bad.

    Certain areas of my hair which were not growing much before are now getting longer! Yeah!

    I still haven’t done the clay mask yet. Can you let me know how you did yours? I want to do one just haven’t had the time and I wasn’t sure how I should mix mine as I reading conficting info on what to mix it with. Thanks! Glad it is going so well for you!

  • kauaigirlkauaigirl Raw Newbie

    Yes, I am definitely sticking with it…esp. since I’m in Hawaii, I can let my hair air-dry everyday and put it up for work. That ‘tousled’ look is what I’ve been trying to get with all those products… who knew we could get it naturally! For the clay mask, I just used Bentonite Detox Clay, mixed with some water. I layed out in the sun until it was mostly dry, then rinsed off. Can’t say I really noticed a difference, but I figure it can’t hurt to speed up the removal of chemicals.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    kauaigirl – Thanks for the clay recipe! I have some of the Bentonite clay but it says to mix with ACV. The ACV dried out my hair so I didn’t really want to use that. I am plannning on doing my detox bath tonight which is mostly Bentonite Clay so I am just going to get my hair soaked in it anyhow.

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff, in Brasil we use dry clay in a wet hair.Cover up and stay for 1/2 hour,then take a shower. Today is my 5th day on a WO and my hair is very oily.Yesterday it was dry.I’ve never had a dry hair before,it was an experience ! It still dark,black,...very weird.Let see when the original color dark brown will come back.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    I am sitting here with the clay on my head right now. I just did the mix with water and put it on dry hair. I think next time I’ll wet my hair first and than put it on – just because it gets so tangily with the dry hair. I am going to wait 1/2 hour and than try to get it out. It was like putting Henna on – I hope this stuff comes out. :) I am sure it will be alot of rinsing. :)

    Lucy – the first week is one of the worst. My hair was dry some days and very oily the next. Now, my skin is mostly dry. I think I might do an avocado mask next week maybe it will add some moisture back in because I think this clay is going to make my hair dry. My scalp is tingling a bit though.

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Queenfluff, clay makes the hair very dry.It takes all the oil of it,but it’s great to suck all the toxics of it.I might do it too.I drink water with clay though.I hope this week my hair gets drier.Today is very oily and soooo black collor.Looks like in my blackn’white picture. About my face skin I’m putting aloe vera. We have an aloe vera plant here,and every day I cut a piece of it and put it on my face.My face skin is glowing.Just amazing !!!Maybe you could do it with your hair.Aloe vera will make your hair less dry,I believe.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Ugh, yes, my hair is super dry – not sure i like it. It is still air drying and I am afraid to comb it right now. Lucy, have you done the clay before than? I am hoping I didn’t ruin my 2 months of no shampoo. I guess I won’t be doing anything to my hair for many days and wait for some oils to come back! I wonder if the clay alters your scalps natural balancing. I am thinking it can’t be that bad since it is more of the detox thing and not a chemical.

    I concentrated on the scalp especially the parts where it was still has oiliness. I had put some on my length and I am thinking I should have skipped my lengths and just did the areas that were still oily. I heard about using the aloe vera too but I can’t remember if it was for conditioning.

    I might actually put some coconut oil in my hair if I can’t comb it. I hope the oily areas are less oily now. But the rest is so dry – almost matted! Esp on the top – probably should have avoided that area because it was actually balanced really well but I figured do the whole thing. I kind of rinsed it weird – I could tell in the shower that my hair was feeling dry when rinsing it.

    I am sure it will be nice again in a day or two. Well, at least, that isn’t something I will have to do that often. I have read that people who use the clay only do it on their hair a few times a year.

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    I have inspired my husband to not use shampoo or soap any more…yeah! I had to show him the posts from this site, because he wasn’t that convinced with me not using shampoo since my hair is in dreads and he can’t really ‘see’ the difference as readily.

    queenfluff, I am so glad you started this string!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Spiritedmama- that’s great! I am happy i am inspiring people! I kinda wonder if most people had pretty dready hair naturally before combs were invented. I am sure their hair stayed pretty clean with just water rinsing and getting some sun on their hair.

    My hair started to feel better after it dried out completely last night and I was able to comb it with no coconut oil. It still feels on the dry side but I am surprised at how nicely the oils are coming back. I gave myself a light scalp massage to stimulate a few oils to come up. One good thing is the areas that were still oily and heavy before are now cleaner! Hopefully they will stay that way. So, the clay was good all in all – your hair will just feel really “brillo-pad-y” when you first rinse out. Oh and today is my 2 month anniversery of no shampoo! YEAH!!!!

  • kauaigirlkauaigirl Raw Newbie

    Happy Anniversary, queenfluff! Time really flies by, I can’t believe it’s been almost three weeks for me. Will probably do the clay on Tuesday…will use your advice to focus on scalp/oilier parts.

    P.S. spiritedmama- My boyfriend also stopped using shampoo when I told him about this and WOW for men it is so much easier. He already has great texture and body with no worries of tangles or greasy long locks. Lucky him!

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Queenfluff,I’m glad you are feeling better with your hair now.Yes,I used to do the clay, a lot,and that was very good because my hair is the most oily hair in the world.I believe that the aloe is better for oily hair,but I remember Elaine Love talking about washing with honey and put some coconut butter at the end of the wash. Also,try to comb with a wooden brush.It’s amazing !!!Don’t worry about the clay because its minerals are excelent for your health. I am extremly insecured to say that,but maybe you could put some pee on your hair.It is wonderful!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Lucy,

    I have heard about urine for hair but never got around to trying it as I always forget to collect it.(although, right now, I do not think my pee is very healthy as I believe I have an internal yeast problem so I probably won’t try with for a while).

    I have a wooden brush myself and I notice I use it more now that I am no shampoo. I like the way it leaves my hair. For scalp and oil stimulation, I have a boar bristle brush. I also have a wooden comb too but it has the fine teeth which I don’t like as much so I have a plastic wide tooth comb I normally use to comb out my hair when it is wet (it is the same comb I have had for almost twenty years back when I did hair! ).

    For the next few days I am leaving my hair alone so it can replenish some of the oils. It is dry but clean feeling and fluffy. I feel like the clay definately pulled some stuff out of it. I could see how it is really good for super oily hair. :)

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff,yes urine is amazing for evrything,not only for the hair. Go to www.youtube.com and search : urine for a treat

    Just amazing!!! You have great brushes there! I love wooden brush,and it’s very good for the hair and skulp. Hope you feel better about your hair.Mine is extremly oily today.I might do the clay this week. About the clay,do you feel ok?Because clay takes a lot of energy of the body,a lot of toxins,and evry time that I did some clay on my hair I got to be extremly tired.It’s good though,but it is powerful.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Lucy

    Yes, I feel fine about the clay. I didn’t feel tired or anything after using it. It felt like I had a huge helmet on my head after it dried though! I am actually planning on doing a Detox bath which is for mercury which I think I will NOT get on my hair and I hear you are supposed to feel pretty tired after that according to the instructions.

    Yesterday, I brushed my hair and it was actually static-y on the ends which shows you how dry it got – it hasn’t been staticy since the first week of no shampoo. It looked more flat and sleek than big and fluffy after I brushed. It kind of reminded me a bit of how my hair looked when I used to shampoo a bit as I could see the breakage on the ends which I couldn’t see after a week or two into no shampoo. This also makes me think of how drying shampoo must really be! It still looks thicker than it did on shampoo though and I have some nice wavy on the bottom.

    The bummer part is that after i brushed I STILL had white waxy fuzz in my brush. :( Which leads me to believe that the white fuzz is NOT product buildup. My hair was so dry I was sure that clay should have sucked out everything but than again who knows!

    So, I am not sure what causes the white fuzz anymore. Maybe my scalp is still normalizing. Many people say it is caused by sebum. I have talked to a few people who said they no longer have the white fuzz anymore – but these are people who are years into water only method. Oh well, I guess I will just keep washing my brushes alot!. At least those areas that were oily before are staying clean – so that is a definately plus!

    If the oil in your hair is getting on you nerves I would recommend doing one – I would just avoid the ends and the majority of the length though (unless your length is super oily too.). Most of my hair was already on the dry side and I probably should have avoided the length but the oils are starting to come back. At least I detoxed out my hair really good! :)

  • blujett8blujett8 Raw Newbie

    I bought a travel size shampoo about eight months ago and still plenty left in the bottle! I also only use soap at my kitchen sink for my hands….I’m athletic and still only shower every other day or so no matter what the weather’s like…no deodorant either…once when I got a new job I bought some thinking that I SHOULD…and so I picked a nice natural aloe vera brand thinking it’d be extra mild…it smelled so strong to me that I couldn’t take it after a few days….if I ever try again, I’ll definetly go with the salt stick deal….

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff,I’ll do the clay today.My hair is so oily ,and still so black.Unbelievable !! Interesting about this waxy fuzz in your brush.Wow !! I believe that I’ll have a lot of sebum that will come out soon.Many years of shampoo and conditioner….

    My husband met a woman that told him that the biggest percentage of eye problems in US is because of shampoo.Shampoo is so toxic that can give you catarats in your eye,after many years using it.I’m not surprise.So many chemicals…I’m so glad that you told us about this WO method.

    Blujett8,you could use baking soda instead of deodorant.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Lucy

    Yes, maybe the fuzz will go one day – when I think about the fact that I have been shampooing and conditioning every day for SOOO long – I don’t blame my hair for taking its sweet time to heal. I am not too worry about it – as long as the white fuzz isn’t invisible on my head!

    I am a big believer in that all those shampoo chemical get in all our ‘openings” and cause problems – ears, nose, eyes. Nothing worse than getting shampoo in your eyes and, for me, my ears are a bigger worry. I am glad I found this too. I am really loving it!

    Blujett88 – if you do baking soda for deodorant, try mixing in some corn starch with it if it starts to irritate you. I used to use the baking soda for deodorant and I found that my skin got irritated after a while and that adding the cornstarch to the mix helped out alot. Now, I have several “natural’ deodorants I am trying to use up and once those are gone I am going to just use a pink salt stone or a spray salt.

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff, I just washed my hair with aloe,pee,and red clay.It looks very good. I did put some aloe after it got dry and it helped with the oil.I believe honey would be great for the dryness of your hair,and lemon juice after helping your hair with the blond color. I just told a friend of mine about WO and she will do it.See,you are doing a revolution !!!!!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Lucy

    You used red clay? Oh, my clay was different then – it was Benotite (sp?) – it is green clay. Maybe the red clay is less drying. Although, I think my hair was alot dryer than yours before I put mine on. You said yours was pretty oily. Did the red clay get rid of all the oil? I do have some aloe (not fresh though – in a bottle). Doesn’t it make your hair sticky? I know you can use it as a sub for hair gel.

    In a day or two, I am going to do an avocado hair mask since I have some avocado. I don’t normally use honey as I stay vegan. I wonder if agave would work? I did get some coconut oil in my hair last night by accident and I think it helped a little but it still feels dry. I might just soak it real good next time and that should definately fix it.

    Yeah! Hair revolution!! :)

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff, I heard about bentonite clay and its potency.I´ll going to get some.My red clay is from Brazil,and I believe it is less drying as you said.The clay didn´t get rid of all the oil,but I believe that was because of the aloe that I used with the clay.Yes,the aloe makes your hair sticky,but my hair gets very shinny with it.I´m using in my face too,the aloe,and my skin is beautiful.

    I´m in Brazil right now visiting my family,and here we have a plant called jaborandi.It´s great for the hair.I´ve just blended some of the leaves with aloe and pour it on my hair,and it looks great,a little oily though,but beautiful.My mom and sister are going to try WO because they got impressed with my hair and its color (though still very dark. I believe tomorrow I´ll put some lemon.

    Maybe the agave would work for you with aloe,or even the avocado and agave.

    Hair Revolution—Hairvolution.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Lucy. I am glad the clay worked for you. Yes, if you really want to get the oil out get the green clay and just mix it with equal parts water. Leave it on for half on hour – you hair will be very dry and clean.

    The jaborandi plant sounds interesting. Is it a plant you can eat or it is like an herbal? Is the aloe and jaborandi mixture for cleansing the hair or is a conditioning. That is so great that your mom and sister are interested in this. So, many people think it is weird – they think you won’t be clean if you don’t use soap or shampoo – they don’t realize the body can clean itself.

    Well, my hair is getting oily again. I wonder if the clay mask confused my scalp and it producing a little extra oil. I have been busy so I did skip a day of rinsing it. But before I had remaining oily problems areas only in certain areas and now some areas that didn’t have extra oil before are more oily. I am sure it will even itself out. My hair seemed flat for a few days (like I had shampooed it). I liked the clay but i think it was too drying for my hair. Maybe next time I will use it like a shampoo and just rinse it out right away instead of leaving it on so long or just leave it on less time.

    My ends are still dry – I am going to do an avocado or coconut oil treatment on them tomorrow.

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Have any of you ever tried soap nuts? Mike Adams has been writing about them on News Target Insider as a laundry, personal hygiene, house cleaner, dish soap, vegetable cleaner, pet cleaner….

    If you do an Internet search, look for Maggie’s Soap Nuts.

    The natural saponins have been used as soap in India forever. It’s a non-chemical alternative to cleaners. He claims it works well. I plan to order some soon. I’m moving to a ranch in Texas and water is limited. I want to be able to re-use the grey water on my garden without adding toxins to my tomatoes.

    Allison

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Allison,

    No, I have never heard of these before. I did a search and I see it is mostly marketed as a natural laundry detergent. I couldn’t find much about people using it as a shampoo. But I guess it is that natural and right of the tree, it is probably safe to use on your body.

    For myself, I am also trying to get away from having to “buy” products all the time to keep myself clean. I guess if I had a Chinese soapberry tree and could pick off of it freely – I might use it if my hair got mud in it or something. Right now, I am trying to let my body do the job of keep my hair clean.

    For the laundry, right now I use Dr. Bronners but I also have some laundry capsules that clean with out chemicals and they are reuseable. I guess I would try the soap berry for my laundry though.

    Thanks for the tip!

  • Hi, i just happened upon this site and saw this post and felt bad if left and didn’t let you guys know about the Morrocco Method since no one seems to know about it or mention it, so I just joined the site… I think it is important to clean the hair and scalp somehow although not necessarily with chemical laden commercial shampoos. Just as it is important to bath the skin to exfoliate and remove dirt oil and debris. Anyway, check out www.morroccomethod.com. The shampoo system is pricey, but it is RAW VEGAN ORGANIC shampoo and the cleanest and purest stuff you will find. Not a single chemical in it. They sell it through some raw sites like natures first law and highvibe too. I just started using it again and it definitely is not stripping. Post what you think if you try it….

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Here’s what Mike Adams has to say about soap nuts.

    More than just laundry soap

    The natural saponins found in Maggie’s Soap Nuts are universal cleaning agents. Sure, they work great in the laundry, but did you know they are also traditionally used to clean skin and hair? In fact, the soap nut saponins work on everything from pets and children to washing fruits and vegetables. In ancient India, jewelers even used the soap to shine their precious metals and stones, giving them a beautiful natural luster.

    By the way, all children’s clothes should be washed in these soap nuts to avoid exposing infants and children to the toxic chemicals found in commercial laundry products. And while you’re at it, why not save yourself from that exposure, too, by washing your own clothes with nature’s laundry soap?

    Using Maggie’s Soap Nuts, you can make your own ultra-pure multipurpose cleaner.

    Here’s the recipe:

    Simmer 1 cup of soap nuts in 4 cups of water on your stove, then allow the liquid to cool. Mash the soap nuts by hand (squish them around to get out all the saponins), then drain the resulting liquid through a cheese cloth or nut milk bag. Voila! You’ve got a concentrated cleaner made by nature! Use it around the kitchen, in the shower, washing the dog… it’s all good. You can even use it to wash your dishes.

    Remember: This natural soap isn’t going to foam up like phoney cleaning products made by chemical companies, and it sure doesn’t smell like fragrance chemicals. So don’t expect it to look or smell like the products you might have been using. However, soap nuts get things really clean. The soap works so well that it’s actually being studied right now as a way to decontaminate soils from exposure to toxic chemicals. How’s that for a natural solution? Nature’s soap can save the planet from man’s soap.

    The bottom line: Nature’s replacement for manufactured soap products.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi Blueberry,

    Yes, I have actually tried the Morocco Method before and I hate to say it but I was not impressed with it. I bought all the products (and wasted more money than I care to say!) and I followed all the instructions and used it for the recommended amount of time and my hair never got clean. My hair looks better and feels cleaner now on the water only method than it did on the Morrocco Method.

    Maybe it works for some people for it didn’t work for me. I heard lots of complaints about it on other raw boards too. People were mad that they spent all that money and nothing. It is not that it made some peoples hair worse (although some said it did and they had increased hair loss but they could have had other health issues underlying), it is just that it never got their hair clean.

    What I think is that the product itself doesn’t do anything. It is your body actually adjusting to no chemicals on your scalp. M.M. normally recommends to use their products for at least three months to see results (and it may take longer they say) – well, that is how long it can take for your hair to adjust to water only or other kind of natural shampoo methods too! So my thinking is that if any one saw results at exactly three months, their bodies were probably mostly responsible for it and not the products. Not to mention too that you are using them in the shower with water.

    Maybe the ingredients might clean off a bit of debris or clarify a bit(I think I remember the apple cider vinegar shampoo seems to be the only one that brought any sort of cleaniness to my hair and even that wasn’t that much – which some people use to clean out their hair anyhow but they pay a lot less money for it) but I think your body and the water are actually doing most of the work. The ingredients in most of their shampoos are basically things you could buy yourself but cheaper – clays, ACV, aloe. There are other expensive ingredients like irish moss, seaweeds, cactus, herbs, EOs, and lake waters. I think if those expensive ingredients were that great for your hair you would have heard about it elsewhere already – I haven’t heard it at all.

    So honestly I felt very ripped off by them – moneywise. The products are super expensive and I have long hair so I had to use a lot to get it all over my hair. My hair never got to looking good. Although, I do still have the boar bristle brush I brought from their site and I like it.

    I would rather spend my money on great raw organic food.

    Sorry, I sound so down on them. I agree the product is a clean raw and vegan product but it just didn’t work and based on the research I have done I think it is unnecessary – unless your aim is to clean out your wallet entirely. (a 2 ounce bottle of the shampoo is 6 bucks!).

    I am a little over two months on water only (the only thing I have used it the clay) and my hair is cleaner than it was on the Morrocco method. My body is doing all the work. :)

    Queenfluff

  • I didnt have time to read all the posts, so my question is: I have dandruff. When I wasnt vegan (many years ago) I would use commercial dandruff shampoo that got rid of it. Once going vegan I couldnt find any dandruff shampoo until two weeks ago. Been raw for two months and for the first month I didnt wash my hair except with water and my dandruff got worse. I found a vegan Natures First dandruff shampoo and it hasnt worked yet.

    If I detox my hair will it go away?

  • Since I’m a shampooer the Morrocco method would probably be a better choice for me, thanks for the site Blueberry.

  • kauaigirlkauaigirl Raw Newbie

    I totally agree with you, queenfluff, about trying to get away with having to buy products, waste plastic, energy, etc. when your body can do it for you. That is why this appeals to me so much. I’d like to live much more simply, with less impact on the planet.

    I am going through a really oily stage, the worst I have experienced so far, at Day 24. I think it just seems worse b/c the oil is working down into the ends so it’s looking greasier. I’m confused about the ACV, is it more of a shampoo or conditioner? It’s the only thing I have around the house right now and wondering if I rinse with it, will it be oilier or drier?

    Or I may just try clay again but now I’m concerned that this is confusing the scalp…but I don’t think so b/c when you use a clay mask on the skin, it doesn’t have a rebound oilyness.

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