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Look Ma, No Poo!

I guess it all started when I got a haircut two weeks ago. In Turkey, a hair salon is called a kuaför, and typically only men are hairdressers. I had been to the same salon once before. I wanted a trim and went prepared with some photos and a description in Turkish a friend had written out for me.

Near the end of the cut, through charades and my limited Turkish, he asked me when was the last time I shampooed my hair. I told him last night. (Well, I actually told him “night.”)

And then I got a lecture in Turkish.

I didn’t understand but a handful of words he was saying, but I knew he was telling me I washed my hair too often. Which, was true. I take my showers at night, and for the most part, I was washing my hair every night.

I felt guilty about my shampoo habits, and then I remembered some articles I read about the “no poo” method.

What is no poo?
No poo is short for no shampoo. It’s a process that resets your scalp’s oils. People do it for healthier hair and to avoid the chemicals in normal shampoos. Some people never use shampoo again. Even though you’re not using shampoo, you do actually wash your hair.

How do you no poo?
You need baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and water. Take a tablespoon of baking soda and mix it with 8oz of water. After scrubbing and rinsing that out, take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, mix that with 8oz of water, and use it as your conditioner. (The smell wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be and rinsed right out.)

My two week no poo experience
My start didn’t go so well. I washed two days in a row. The second wash got my scalp fairly clean, but the ends were really bad because my BS and ACV ratios to water were off. Or maybe I didn’t let the mixtures sit long enough before rinsing. After further research, I read you’re supposed to let your hair go as long as you can before washing. I then went for four days without shampooing. (I couldn’t go any longer; I’m a wimp. And I did one water-only rinse.) My hair was nasty and greasy, but I kept it in a pony tail with my bangs pulled back. Luckily, we had spirit week at school and Wednesday was hat day.

I did the BS wash and ACV rinse Wednesday night. I fixed the proportions and let it sit a couple of minutes before rinsing. My hair cleaned up quite nicely!

Here are some photos, since I guess if I’m going to talk about all this, I have to show my greasy hair? It’s hard to tell in the photos since my hair is black, but here was my nasty state after hat day:

 

4 days with no poo

 

Again, hard to tell, but my hair really did clean up. Before and after:

 

No poo before and after

 

I slept with my hair damp and used a straightener in the morning. You’re probably not supposed to do that with this whole process, but oh well. Sorry for the bathroom pic:

 

After a no poo wash

 

Will I continue to no poo?
We’ll see. There is an “adjustment period” as your scalp resets its pH and learns to cut back on producing so much oil. The adjustment period can take a couple weeks to a couple of months. I like the idea behind the whole process, but I don’t know if I can deal with greasy hair for several more months. I’ll give it another week or two and see from there. David’s trying it out, too!

 

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5 Comments

  • Reply Leah

    My mom just emailed me: “I had read about this but not sure I could stand the transition period. When we were kids, without indoor plumbing, we would shampoo on Saturday (same as the weekly bath day), and always use vinegar in the water we rinsed our hair with.”

    (… And that is why I always pictured her growing up like Laura Ingalls!)

    February 8, 2015 at 11:04 am
  • Reply Ria

    I was discussing this subject with my husband not so long ago. I am naturally curly and at the moment my hair is pretty long. I am getting to the point where I am sick of washing my hair because it ends up dry and frizzy. I have read many articles about no shampoo method, but Im scared that I going to end up looking like a mess! But Ive also noticed that IF I dont wash my hair for a few days it looks a lot healthier with more bounce (which makes me feel a little Catherine Zeta Jone-ish!). I guess I just gotta try… when.. not sure yet! Great post! 😀 

    P.S I go to bed with my hair damp too :/

    February 8, 2015 at 11:28 am
    • Reply Leah

      I’ve read a lot of success stories from people with curly hair. Also, plopping is a thing for curly hair? You should definitely at least give it a try! I’ve found a lot of good information on this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nopoo

      Good luck!

      February 9, 2015 at 2:16 am
      • Reply Ria

        Hi Leah, thanks for the group link, I’ll definitely check them out! There are so many articles out there it makes my head spin… Never heard of plopping though! Ill look it up, thanks for the advice… maybe this time with a little more knowledge and input from people like yourself I’ll be a lot braver to try it! 😀 xx

        February 9, 2015 at 3:01 am
  • Reply Donna

    Your hair looks lovely! I’ve heard about using baking soda and vinegar instead of shampoo before! It sounds great to me! I’d love to try it! Thanks for sharing! Greetings, Monken Hadley Carpet Cleaners Ltd.

    February 19, 2015 at 8:00 am
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