No More Shampoo

The Beginning
I have long, thin hair. It breaks easily and has lots of fly-aways. I trim it once a year, maybe and rarely get split ends. Probably cuz it’s broken so often. I used to shampoo and condition daily. Sometimes the conditioner would build up and I would look oily.  I started researching alternatives, and I remembered a friend saying she wanted to try no-poo.  That's no shampoo.  I thought that sounded gross.  I googled "no shampoo" and found numerous ways to approach this.  


You can wash with water only.  
You can wash with conditioner only.  
You can wash with a natural shampoo bar (although, I guess that's not technically no-poo).  
You can wash with eggs.  
You can wash with baking soda.
You can rinse with vinegar.
You can make a rinse with honey.
There are more ways.
Many more ways. 


I decided baking soda and vinegar sounded cheap (I already have tons since I use them a lot to clean with).  They also sounded less nasty than some of the other ideas.  I tried conditioner only for a few days at the beginning, but my hair seemed oily faster.  Not really yucky, but more than I wanted.

I started slowly with no-poo. First I stopped the silicone conditioners and started using baking soda and vinegar. I like Suave Naturals – it’s cheap, has no silicones and smells pretty. 

My Method
I would use 1T baking soda in a cup of water to wash. I use a little plastic container I fill up when the water’s hot, cuz I hate dumping cold pre-mixed stuff on my head. I dump it on, rub with my fingers like I was washing with shampoo, then rinse really well, still rubbing my head. Then in the same container, I dump a cup of warm water with about 1T vinegar (I’ve tried apple cider and plain white with success - the only difference is the smell, I think). Then I’d rinse that out after letting it sit for a minute, then I’d use my Suave Naturals conditioner and rinse again.

Warnings
My husband insists he can smell the vinegar on my head, so I keep using the Suave on the ends, but when I skip the conditioner and smell my dry hair I smell nothing. Maybe he is imagining it 

I thought baking soda and vinegar would dry out my hair, but they didn’t despite warnings from. At the beginning I could only go about 1 week with no shampoo. I felt a bit oily. This was probably from the constant touching to see what it felt like.  After a week I’d break down and shampoo, vinegar rinse, followed by Suave Naturals conditioner. My hair would look horrible for a couple days with lots of fly-aways, then look nice again.  I tried to go longer, but couldn't.

The transition to fully no-poo and being happy can take a while.

People will think you're strange.

Now
After about 2 months of this crazy transitioning, I decided to see how long I could go before needing shampoo. It’s been almost a full month with no shampoo.  I'm not getting oily anymore and my fly-aways are much better.  I'm not dirty or gross.  I’m just using natural things to wash my hair. I also used to have dry scalp and eczema.  This natural cleaning has helped with both.  Much less dryness and itching.

Next, I’m going to try some other homemade things to save money and be healthier.  

Challenge
You should take the challenge and go "no-poo."  Even using shampoo less often is an improvement.  Do what works for you, but try it and see how it goes.  You'll save money and the environment for a bit if nothing else. 

Join all the others participating in the No-Poo Challenge at Feelin' Feminine.