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To shampoo or not to shampoo?

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  • WOW I just got to the end of the thread after 2 days of reading off & on. :) I was inspired to go soap & ‘poo-less & today is day 2 of my experiment. I am very active as well with a job that really requires good higene, as I am in very close proximity to people regularly. So far, I have no smell at all!

    I have also decided to try going without my usual perfume oil & to use unscented deodorant again just to see what my natural, clean scent smells like! When I was little, my mom said I had a citrus-y scent. I wonder if raw will bring that out again? I’ve been 100% raw for a little over 3 months now.

    So far, my hair seems fine. I have regularly gone more than a week without shampooing in the past & still never shampooed more than 2 or (rarely) 3 times a week. I thought my head would itch a lot, but so far, I have very little-to-no itching. I’m excited about this parallel-to-raw journey I’ve just begun! :)

    - Stasi

  • kundalalitakundalalita Raw Newbie

    How’s everyone’s hair doing?

    I’m at about my 4-5 month mark, really amazed how it went by! In the beginning I was so anxious to see it at this later point… totally worth it.. even though my hair is still more oily than “normal” lol!

    I’m a little concerned because I have a shoot coming up and I’m worried that the hairstylist is going to freaking destroy my hair with chemical sprays, irons, and/or blow dryer… does anyone have experience being no ‘poo and then having something like that on your hair and how you recover from something like that?

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    hi kundalalita-

    Your new pic looks great! Your hair is looking really good. I wish mine was as long as yours! Mine is pretty much the same as far as oiliness goes. This is my 8th month – eek! Yeah, it has gone by fast! I do my rinsing for ten minutes at least every other day to keep it clean and it stays pretty clean – sometimes I do vinegar rinse but otherwise not much oil at all. If I go over the second day, it tends to get too oily for me. I stopped using the soapnuts as it didn’t always clean well so I gave up. I use just the salt rinse or white vinegar and that works for me.

    For your shoot – that is a tough one. I am control of my own hair so I don’t let any of that stuff touch it. All I can say is that if you let them use hair sprays on your hair – you will have to use shampoo to get it out. Hair sprays never rinse out of the hair – they are formulated with the assumption that they will be shampooed out. I wouldn’t worry too much out some curling irons or blow dryers. Maybe you can bring a bottle of sea salt and water solution with in a spray bottle to sub for the hair spray (that is the natural sub for hair spray) and ask the hairstylist to use it (maybe say you are chemically sensitive to commerical products and they make you sick?) instead of what she may have? I don’t know how the modeling world works for the most part – can you bring in your own stuff for them to use on you?

    Another good sub for stylist products is aloe vera for gel sub.

    You might be able to get the hair spray out with vinegar rinses and a baking soda solution but water rinsing won’t do it. I can’t think of anything that might work to get it out.

    One thing I have noticed which I am thrilled about is that my hair curls SO easily now – it is unbelievable. I had stick straight hair before that didn’t hold a curl without products and lots of work. A few weeks ago, I was craving some more wave in my hair for the day and I put in some spongey rollers when my hair was damp and sat in front of my space heater and the curlers were in for about 2 hours and my hair didn’t even dry all the way but I took out the rollers and I looked like Shirley Temple! It was too curly! Ha Ha! I couldn’t believe it. Now just putting a clip in my hair when it is wet and letting it dry, I get wave and it stays in and doesn’t fall in an hour like it used to. :)

    That said – if they are planning to curl your hair – can you arrive for your shoot with it already curly by using some rollers or clips in your hair?

  • kundalalitakundalalita Raw Newbie

    Hi Queenfluff!

    Thanks! Thats a good idea that I should try to bring something of my own, i didnt know that salt water could work as hair spray. And thanks about the aloe vera suggestion too. Im remembering now that hairsprays are often advertised that they wont come out and that they will make your hair stay in place for a really long time…now its like a nightmare lol. I wish i could come already prepped but often they dont even know what they are going to do until we are there, and i think if my hair was perfect already they would still mess with it because a lot of times these hairstylists…no matter what it is they want to be able to know that it was their creation, they can use the final photo as a representation of their work to get more work, so they love to go crazy with the chemicals and machines for their art project! they want the photo to be all about the hair… and the makeup artist wants it to be all about the makeup, and it goes on like that for whoever is involved lol…

    So the things that use heat are not so bad? thats good to know. dont kill my hair enzymes lol!

    Thats so funny about the change in your hair! My hair kind of did the opposite. When I was 12 my hair went from stick straight to curly and after i stopped shampooing it started to go straight again… now its very versatile and does both depending on whether its wet or dry or if i brush it or not… the change i think i appreciate the most is that i dont have to fight frizziness anymore! i used to not even be able to brush my hair when it was dry because it would just turn into a big poofball.

    I am surprised that your hair is the same as far as oilyness goes. I’m still producing white fuzzies in the brush, but the oilyness is better and i think its cuz I tend to push it with the time between my rinses, like i kind of go as long as i can before my body says k you need a shower and then i take like a 2 hour shower. i think its the same kind of thing about the body doing oil production according to what it observes to be necessary… it sounds bad only showering like 1-3 times a week but the best part is that thats all i seem to need…its kind of weird getting used to being like this and then being next to my friends and after the same amount of time which might not be even 24 hrs of not showering they get all oily all over their skin and sweaty and just kind of bummy lookin, and i stay normal.. but i used to be in the very same cycle and its not until you are not in it that it seems so peculiar and its just funny cuz it doesn’t Have to be that way…

    I also don’t use really hot water anymore, just lukewarm, and it makes a difference, i feel a lot better and somehow it makes my hair react better, its more evenly moisturized or something…

  • I haven’t really been keeping track, but I guess I’ve been no-poo for about 8-10 weeks. As a generalization, African-American hair is dry, and we often have to add oil to our hair. No poo has actually meant needing less oil, though I still add some. I love my hair this way. I usually wear it in a bun or pony tail, but it does its own curly/wavy thing and I feel more like me!

    I used to go to the hairdresser EVERY WEEK. After my Thursday morning appointment, my hair would insist on returning to its natural state, especially with my workouts. My fresh-from-the-salon ‘do only lasted a couple ofdays,but it was conventional and accepted. Now, it’s love it or leave it, cuz this is what works for me.

  • JoescJoesc Raw Master

    Wow! I haven’t been here in months and I am suprised to see how many comments are posted. I am amazed.

  • kundalalitakundalalita Raw Newbie

    Wow, i can’t imagine going to the hairdresser Every week! even before doing this i only went maybe once a year or two…

    I was just looking at this shower filter from this company which seems to have a really good water filter system (i’ve been looking as now i’ve learned that bottled and/or purified water is really bad for you). In their description they were explaining that in the shower chlorine is either a liquid or if you make your shower hot it becomes a gas and you inhale it. http://www.berkeywater.com/start.main.html (go to kdf shower filter)

    ugh. i would just dip in the ocean, which probably has oil in it now…i dont know which is worse.

  • kundalalitakundalalita Raw Newbie

    I just found a cleanser thats raw, works really well and doesn’t dry out your hair or leave it smelly, introducing:

    Kombucha !

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hey all!

    Just bumping our no poo thread – wondering how everyone is doing with their hair? :)

    I am on month nine! Wow! My hair has really normalized at this point. I am way past the gross periods. It still gets oily after a few days and I have to do my water rinse but other than that – it looks clean like I shampooed it. :) I am back to doing the sea salt rinses every once and a while too.

    Right now it is cold out and I am rinsing with pretty warm water and I am not noticing any increased sebum production really. (I was reading lots about how rinsing with warm water will increase the sebum production and make your hair oily – not really happening here).

    I noticing too that even my ends are getting more smooth and silky (and I haven’t used my BBB in a long time either – I gave up on it as it is falling apart!). I am keeping them trimmed though because I am coming to the realization that my old shampooed hair needs to be cut off – so I am waiting for it to grow out. I am thinking that the new hair growing in keeps a good protective layer of sebum on it when it is never touched by shampoo. I can tell by the difference in my ends vs. my roots. And I have more length that is soft and silky now than dry and broken. :)

    Kundalalita, that is great about the Kombucha! I’ll have to try that some day. Btw, how did your shoot go? Were you able to side step having any chemicals used on your hair?

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    Hey queenfluff,

    I wash my hair about every 3 days and bought an essential oils shampoo (but that was expensive!) I don’t get that gross sebum I had for a short time. whew And when day 4 comes, I start to notice oily hair… so if I’ve already showered, I just rinse it before going to work. Then, I wash it that night. I haven’t tried to get to 4+ days of no shampoo. I imagine that would mean more “gross hair days” until I get over that hump.

    I bought an affordable boar brush… but something about using an “unclean” (biblically speaking) brush on my hair bugs me. Is there another brush that can be used?

    Nine months of no shampoo? Wow. I don’t think I’m ready for that at all! Still taking slow small steps.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hey germin8,

    Sounds like you are making progress though! I remember you having a hard time between shampoos. 4 days is pretty good. When I shampooed, I couldn’t go only one day with skipping – even now, with just using water, I like to do it every other day (sometimes I do it everyday).

    You don’t have to use a BBB brush if you don’t want it. It is mostly useful for distributing oils throughout the hair – esp. if you have really dry ends and want to get some of the oils from your roots to your ends. If you don’t have that problem, than you don’t really need the BBB. I haven’t used mine in a while. I am using my wooden brush and combs and it is working great and I plan on sticking with that routine.

    I have read on other raw boards of rawies who have gone no poo and most say the TOTAL adjustment period is around 22 to 26 weeks average. So that is like 6 to 7 months – and this is without any shampoo at all! Sounds like a long time. But most of that period the hair isn’t that bad – it is the first few months that are the worse.

    I have noticed, in my no poo time, that there are times when my hair seems to be oilier than usual or seems dryer or thinner. It isn’t always perfect like I wish – like a few weeks ago I had some bad hair days and this week is a good hair week. Who knows why it happens? Weather, diet, natural hair cycles. Those times when it is bad – I tied it back – or doing sea salt rinse, if I haven’t done one in a while, tends to help it “bounce back”.

    But everyone’s hair is so different – different routinues work differently. I am one of those people who doesn’t have to have perfect looking hair all the time so getting through those gross days were worth it for me to be free from shampoo. It is SO nice not to have to buy shampoo anymore. I love it so much. I should have kept track of how much money I am saving. I think I used to buy shampoo twice a month (sharing with my bf) and conditioner maybe once a month. So that is maybe close to 30$!

    You will get to that point eventually. Just hang in there! :)

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    When I first read thsi thread I just laughed. I did some research into what I discovered was the no-poo movement, which I of course thought sounded like something else. My hair usually got really oily by the third day after a shampoo so I had to wash it every other day. I have been “no poo” for about 3 weeks and my hair is not oily anymore. In addition, it has never looked or felt better. I just give it a good hand-washing and then run vinegar through it before a final rinse. Who knew? I told my son almost two months ago I was going raw. I told him the other day I had quit washing my hair and I was never going to wash it again. He asked me if I was going to move away and join a commune. LOL!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hey Dain5000!

    That is great! Yeah, it is weird isn’t it? All you need to do is give it time and you will be suprised how you don’t miss shampoo and how you really don’t need it. The first weeks are the worse and than the rest is pretty much smooth sailing. I can’t see myself going back to washing mine either – I know my hair would freak out if I did!

    That is funny about the commune comment – it is funny how people automatically assume that if you don’t “wash” your hair (meaning with shampoo or soap) that you will be “dirty” (of course, “dirty” means “hippie” to most people which means “commune” ha ha!). It is not that you are not cleaning your hair any more – it is that you are just not doing it with chemicals anymore. There are many natural ways to keep your hair clean. :)

  • TomsMomTomsMom Raw Newbie

    I’m at three and a half weeks no-poo and my hair is amazingly curly again for the first time in years!But even though it doesn’t look greasy, it feels kind of gross. It also takes 3 or 4 hours to dry, so I guess my scalp is still over-producing oils. If I use vinegar as a rinse, my hair smells good after it dries, but if I just rinse with water, then my hair smells oily, which grosses me out. I hope it goes away.

  • grasshopper Deletedgrasshopper Deleted Raw Newbie

    Hi I live in New York City. Have been no poo for about two weeks but have been out on Long Island…worried no-poo will not work in the city because there is so much grime. I have a little back yard there (nyc) and it is amazing how quickly the grime/dirt collects on things. Any advice or no-poo experiences from city dwellers would be appreciated . thanks and regards

  • I do wash my hair with shampoo now using organics green apple shampoo. Which I love. I also haven’t brushed my hair in weeks. It seems my hair gets more greasy when I brushed daily. I don’t have dreds. Every once in awhile I get a tangle and I just pull it out with my hands and I’m fine. About shampoo, in the summer when i surf I never wash my hair Ever. The salt water makes my hair clean. I actually prefer summer when i dont have to wash my hair. So I read on some peoples reply’s about salt cleanse. I never thought about it before but now I think that would really help you with your transition.

  • grasshopper Deletedgrasshopper Deleted Raw Newbie

    Thanks steamboatkatie-

    when i get back to the city. I am going to try the salt water rinse, and the apple cider vinegar rinse as well and maybe the baking soda scrub. If that fails…I am back to my old aubrey organics poo routine.

    I must admit that since no poo,my hair has so much more body.

  • Hi, I’m new to this forum. I have been living a somewhat green/organic life for a couple of years now but really feel like its time to take it to the next level. I started making my own cleaning and laundry products and yesterday was my first day with no shampoo. I have been reading back on this topic a bit and did a BS wash and then a ACV rinse to start. I usually dont brush my hair unless its wet but I have read that its better if you do. I have thick long hair so would a wooden brush be best and where do I get it? Also what is this sea salt spray? I would love any help that anyone is willing to give and am really excited about the whole concept.

  • OneOne

    I agree that if you can survive the oily stage it’s really worth it long-term. For those of you who swim often and your blonde hair turns green, just massage some tomato paste into it, leave for about 20 minutes and rinse. Your hair will be back to normal. This is a tip i am so grateful for and thought i’d share it :)

  • SbutterAMflySbutterAMfly Raw Newbie

    The last time I used shampoo was on Thursday (Dec 27th) I’m planning on using water only for 3 weeks with the occasional ACV rinse if necessary. I’ve been rinsing it with water since I decided to do this, on Saturday. Before this I shampooed every other day.

    So far, it’s not TOO greasy. I mean, I can notice, but I don’t think it’s something very noticable to other people. I’m going to look into getting a BBB. My hair is pretty long, so I’m hoping that will help spread out the oils.

    I told a few friends that I’m doing this, and one of them confessed that he hasn’t been using shampoo either. He has been growing out his hair for about a year or so, and it seems really healthy. I never would have guessed.

    I always keep my hair up in a clip, but I would like it to be down more often. I just can’t stand the frizzies sticking to my face. So I’m hoping this might help with that too.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Hi all! Nice to see some new people trying the no poo! :)

    Grasshopper – You might want to consider investing in a water softener and filter combo for your shower if you can afford it. They cost around 100$ but since you live in an area with very hard water – you might find it will help to keep your hair cleaner. I am going invest in one myself. At least get a filter for chlorine even if you can’t afford the softener. You can get one for about 30$ and they are easy to install. For keeping your hair extra clean, try a sea salt rinse every once and a while – it helps with oil too. (1 tbslspoon of water per cup of warm water – leave in five minutes and rinse out) Another thing you can do is do a vinegar rinse – start out with one ounce of vinegar to 2 cups warm water – leave in for about a minute and than rinse out – if your hair doesn’t seem clean enough – up the vingear.

    Naturegal28 – the sea salt spray is for using as a hair spray substitute – just dissolve some sea salt in warm water and put in a little spray bottle to spritz on your hair like hair spray. I got my wooden brush at Whole Foods. It is the Bass brand. Or you can buy online.

    One – is the blonde hair turning green from swimming in chlorinated pools? That is a great idea. I avoid chlorine pools but it is a nice tip – plus I am sure it will take out the chlorine smell from your hair!

    SbutterAMfly – You also might want to try getting a fine tooth woodeen comb. They are pretty cheap compared to the BBB and honestly, at least for me, they are working better to smooth out any oilies I have (which are almost always at the roots of course). Usually at the beginning though, you might find the BBB great at removing some of the excess oils and sebum – you will see alot of “greyish” fuzz in your brush. As time goes on, you will have less of it but it will never really completely go away and honestly, you don’t want it too since that is your natural conditioner, sebum. One tip, with the brush though, is to brush the ends of your hair after you brush the roots because you will have lots of oilies and sebum in the brush which you can get into your ends. If you have frizzies, try spritzing water on your hair or the smallest dab of coconut oil. That will smooth them out – you have those because your hair is dried out. They will calm down eventually. Oh, also, the ACV rinse can be drying to the hair – try to do it less often if you notice your hair gets too dry.

  • queenfluff, I this might be a stupid question but when you say to put a dab of coconut oil in your hair for frizz do you do it to wet or dry hair. Today my hair isnt greasy at all. I think its still too early for that, but its really dry and REALLY frizzy. Its probably from the ACV rinse I did last night but I’d like to calm it down if I could.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Naturegal28 -

    You could do either but I would let my dry first and than see what parts are frizzy and apply the coconut oil to those parts only. Sort of put in your palms and than massage or “scrunch” it in like you would mousse or gel.

  • OneOne

    Queenfluff – It’s the copper in the water that turns your hair green :)

  • teadeteade Raw Newbie

    I’m on day four of my no-poo adventure. I’m rather enjoying it..
    at first I was scared of getting bugs, lol.. and getting really oily (I’ve got some Italian hair!)
    but rinsing it keeps it under control (it gets really oily without a rinse)
    But it does feel like the oil is almost at the way ends.
    Any recommendation for keeping dark hair looking nice and dark? lol.
    And I’m not really feeling very gunkd up, but that could be because I’ve been using natural organic products for a while now, and my hair doesn’t have to detox that badly?
    Any advice is appreciated!
    p.s. I love soaking in an epsom salt bath and letting my hair just flow in it.. it seems to help.

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Hi Teade,do you soak your hair in epson salt? Wow!! Do you have an oily and fine hair like I have? If so,I’ll do that too.I like very much epson salt and I drink it for colon cleanse,and liver cleanse,and I can definitelly soak it on my hair.Thanks !!! How many times do you do that and for how long ?

  • teadeteade Raw Newbie

    Yup, my hair is oily and fine.. I’m thinking that’s why it was so quick to get the oil distributed throughout. I did alot of brushing and pulling the oil down with my fingers at first, not so much anymore. I usually take a bath with epsom salt maybe twice a week, and I just lay with my hair submerged for maybe 30 minutes.. sometimes more cause its sooo comfy. lol.

  • Thanks Queenfluff for the links. I read them all. When I ate cooked, I washed my hair daily. When I began raw, every other day. All raw, and went to shampoo with no SLS, etc I shower and shampoo 2 times a week and that’s getting less. BEST shampoo & cond I found: Dr. Christopher’s BF&C Shampoo and BF&C Conditioner. Use the shampoo as a body wash too. BF&C stands for bone, flesh and cartilage. All organic and pure ingredients. It’s wonderful. The first month the hair goes through a transition as it strips off the plastic junk from commercial products. After that period, it glows.

  • LucyLucy Raw Newbie

    Thanks Teade,I’ll do that.I love epson salt.My husband takes hot baths with epson salt and feel very calm every time,and I never thought in doing that,not mention with my hair. With no shampoo my hair got so fine as it was when I was a child and I love to wash it every time I can,just for the feeling of it. Also,the color of my hair was dark brown,then went to light brown,and now came back to dark brown again,Just weird!

  • grasshopper Deletedgrasshopper Deleted Raw Newbie

    Queenfluff-

    Thanks for the headsup re hard vs. soft water. I am back in the city, but caved in and used poo last week. Think I may try diluting (I read somewhere by 7x) poo and using it less frequently. Until i am ready to comit to no poo.

    Thanks again!!!

    The people on this forum are so supportive and amazing.

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