View Full Version : No-Shampoo Challenge
Is anyone up for a month of no shampoo?
I tried it before with good results but fell off the wagon and I'm trying again. I put it in Health because I find that shampoo especially, and conditioner as well, irritate my face and neck when the product gets on my skin. Kinda helps to think of it in terms of health. I'm all about taking care of my skin right now!
I'm on day 2 and my hair looks better than expected. I almost washed it because I was going to see a friend but decided against it and I'm glad. It looks just like if I had blow-dried it and used styling gel. Yesterday it looked really flat and heavy so I braided it and that worked really well. It actually held the braid better and it looked pretty nice.
I think this will be a good time to try it because the weather is nice and I can braid it when it looks bad. Hopefully by summer all the kinks will be worked out and I can wear it however I want.
I work out 6 days a week so I'm worried about the amount of sweat building up. On the plus side, my expensive hair color should last longer now that I'm not shampooing every day!
Anyone interested?
I rarely use shampoo (it's probably been almost three weeks since I had my hair shampooed when I went to get a trim) because it dries out my curls too much. However, I do use a conditioner almost every morning to help me comb out the tangles and it seems to have just enough of a sudsing effect to clean up the scalp sweat build up. But I do have patches of dandruff that I am not sure how to take care of, other than massaging my scalp to loosen it up. I notice it, but so far no one has said anything to me about it and I wear a lot of black!
fidgiegirl
5-2-12, 10:18pm
I did try no-poo a while back but found I was still so greasy!! Then I tried Bronners, now I am back to 'poo but of course, again, getting buildup. In fact there is a bottle of diluted ACV sitting on the table in front of me waiting to go up to the bathroom in a minute because I need to strip it again. That was one good thing about the no poo . . . no build up.
I am in, but hoping people will offer ideas, too.
I tried it once for about a month. Hated it and it never got better. Gave up.
HumboldtGurl
5-3-12, 1:18pm
I tried it once for about a month. Hated it and it never got better. Gave up.
Me too! Thought it would be a good way to save water when we were dry camping, but I just couldn't hack it.
I did find that applying cornstarch in the morning helped a little. Just had to be careful because too much would make my hair white!
Good luck to those folks brave enough to do this!
Tussiemussies
5-3-12, 1:32pm
Never worked for me, my hair was greasy and oily as ever -- yuck -- but glad for those that can do it. I have an inquiry into Dr. Bronner's to see if using their soap and a lemon vinegar rinse souls be okay with my colored hair. Anyone know?
Good luck to all you no-shampooed SL friends.
Oh, the experiences shared are not encouraging :(. So if we end up giving it up, we won't feel bad! :)
After the success I've had with my skin, I'm willing to give it a go. Even if it might be very uncomfortable for a while. One thing that helps a lot is to scrunch it while it air dries. (Last time I did this I found that blow-drying was not good! It really made my hair look greasy.) If I don't scrunch, it stays flat looking - that's when the braid comes in handy! Today my hair looks ok - kinda beachy. It looks a bit messier and stickier than yesterday (maybe I over-scrunched or maybe the oil is building up). But it doesn't look dirty or greasy.
Another thing I do, which might help (or not), is that I always finish my shower with a cold-water rinse. Last night I asked DH if he could tell that I hadn't shampooed in 2 days and he said no, that my hair looked just like normal. I thought it was starting to look greasy, but I think a lot of times it's psychological. I do shower and "wash" it with water and a good massage every day.
Fidgie - thanks for joining me! Did you start yet?
Gardenarian
5-3-12, 4:09pm
I tried it and found that my scalp was really itchy and I developed dandruff. I have long thick hair and only wash it once a week anyhow (using minimal shampoo - paraben, pthalate free, etc.) so I didn't think going no-poo was going to make much impact for me anyhow.
This non-toxic bar shampoo (http://camamusoap.com/products-page/bodacious-bar-shampoo/) is excellent.
I tried it and found that my scalp was really itchy and I developed dandruff. I have long thick hair and only wash it once a week anyhow (using minimal shampoo - paraben, pthalate free, etc.) so I didn't think going no-poo was going to make much impact for me anyhow.
This non-toxic bar shampoo (http://camamusoap.com/products-page/bodacious-bar-shampoo/) is excellent.
Thanks Gardenarian! Those bars look and sound wonderful. They have coconut oil, my new fav thing! I hadn't thought of using it to shampoo with, but I've seen that it is a great cleanser so maybe if the situation gets drastic I might try it. I might try one of the bars too, just for the sheer pleasure of it.
Do you condition your hair when you do your weekly washing? If I could get to a weekly cleansing I would be happy.
Today my hair was looking blah, so I gave it a thorough brushing with a boar-bristle brush. The brushing made it very puffy (I have very fine wavy hair) so I put it up in a casual ponytail/bun with a few curls around my face. It looked pretty nice and didn't look or feel greasy at all. I'm really surprised at how much better it holds hairstyles. When I did the no-shampoo before, I liked how nice and thick my hair felt and looked after a couple of weeks. I hope it happens again.
I work out 6 days a week so I'm worried about the amount of sweat building up. On the plus side, my expensive hair color should last longer now that I'm not shampooing every day!
Are you cleansing your scalp with anything at all or doing water-washing only? You can probably get rid of sweat with some vinegar if you need to. I used to use diluted cider vinegar as a body wash and it worked very well.
I've also been "no-pooing" since 2007.
I started off using just baking soda, cider vinegar and lemon juice for about 6-8 months. While this made my curls really lovely and defined, my hair was an oil slick, mousy and my scalp was horrendously itchy and flaky. No thanks.
After a while, I started a routine using silicone-free conditioner and shikakai powder. I would mix the shikakai with conditioner or just water, and clean my scalp with it. I still use this every so often, but more recently I have been tending towards conditioner + lemon juice or just conditioner on its own. I HAVE cheated before and added a couple drops of baby shampoo to conditioner to clean my scalp when it was really itchy. I'd love to ditch the conditioner completely and go completely natural, but I can't seem to find a routine that produces nice curls and a happy scalp.
Let us know how the challenge goes!
Originally posted by Mira.
I've also been "no-pooing" since 2007.Oh, Mira... this made me laugh so good!!! One of those classic, dual-meaning expressions.
^ Been on a strict liquid diet since then too :P
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