No ‘poo- How I wash my hair with no schampoo- PART 1 ENGLISH
I wrote about the fenomenom of no ‘poo. It means no shampoo and it also says that shampoo has a lot of shit. Shampoo is the sham of the century. I will tell you why. It contains SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) which is very strong and makes the shampoo lather. Unfortunately it cleans the hair “too much” and the natural sebum of the scalp, or what we could call grease. Many hairdressers and other famous bloggers recommend to only wash the hair 1-2 a week to not damage it and then use dry shampoo in between.
If you start washing your hair less frequent you will notice it stays clean for a longer time and you don’t develop greasy hair so fast. The problem is that shampoo makes your hair lose volume and you can develop a lot of problems or conditions that you need to buy a ton of products to avoid. And of course the companies will provide you with a dozen of products to make your hair nice. The movement of no’poo uses products free of SLS and natural alternatives for taking care of your hair. Read more about the nopoo method here.
So, I am just going to let you know how I did in the beginning and how I wash my hair now. They are many asking me how I do and which methods I use and with the purpose to help others I will let you in on my secrets!
Washing my hair less frequently
The first step was to try and wash my hair once a week instead of twice. In the past I washed it every other day and then the third day. But since I read about dry shampoo and that the hairdressers recommend to wash no more than 2 times per week I wanted to try.
How did I do and what products did I use?
I used my normal shampoo, baby shampoo with no perfume, since I’m sensitive to perfume. I used Batiste dry shampoo when I started to feel that the hair got a little bit grease. I also rinsed my hair with water, Water-wash. I stopped using Conditioner when I found out that when my hair dried it was easy to comb.
Since I have a problem with perfume and a sensitive skin I can’t use other styling options since a long time ago, only at special occasions. The hair felt really nice and I suddenly had volume in my hair (except the day I washed my hair) and it was easy to style.
No shampoo is even better!
The inspiration came from another no’poo person: It works with just water-washing my hair. And then I thought, OK maybe it does work. And it did. So this is now.
How do I do it and what products do I use (and what not?)
I don’t have a schedule or program for this but I use some different methods to wash my hair. So I will go through how I do that. I never have dirty hair or greasy hair. This period is better than the once a week wash with shampoo. That’s because I don’t have to go to the no volume-too-soft hair stadium after washing with an SLS-shampoo. My hair feels the same every day.
Water-wash
This will not work for you if you just go from SLS to nothing from one day to another, I think. But it’s a good way to elongate the time between washes. I rinse my hair thoroughly while a massage my scalp for several minutes.
Conditioner-wash
I use a light weight conditioner (the thing is that it shouldn’t contain silicone or mineral oils which are only possible to wash of with SLS shampoo) and apply a small amount on the lengths and massage it. I start off by rinsing my hair thoroughly. When the conditioner is applied I also let it stay on for a while.
Baking-soda wash with Vinegar afterwash
Even if you don’t use products with silicone or mineral oils that are hard to wash off I sometimes use this method if I feel like a layer of something on the hair (and I don’t mean grease because it doesn’t really get that way anymore). Probably from the use of dry shampoo f.e. I use only a teaspoon of baking soda in an bottle with water, just shake it and apply it in the hair after a nice and thorough rinse. Massage a little more, it feels just like water. Just a small amount of vinegar, max a teaspoon, in a bottle with water that I apply to make the hair soft. I rinse that off. I use normal vinegar but apple cider vinegar is also possible to use. The result is good and still the hair is fluffy and voluminous with a nice texture. Baking-soda wash can dry out the hair (and also bleach the color).
Ok, the swedish version will be posted separately- Jag lägger upp en separat text om detta på svenska.
PART 2- English – About natural alternatives for haircare