The No Shampoo Method

I have dark, thick (well, they used to be!) curls and the DevaCurl products were a game changer (also the Deva Cut – 14 years ago and I finally made peace with my curls.) I’ve tried the baking soda rinse and it never felt as if it was working well for me. I own dry shampoo but I don’t find it makes much of a difference.

I only wash my hair about 2 times a week. No reason other than I’m lazy and my hair doesn’t need more. Sometimes I’ll do 3 times a week. I can make a nice blow dry myself last days. I never saw what the big deal about washing it every day was.

I think it totally depends on your hair. My girls both have thicker, wavier hair than me. They can easily go 4 days or longer between washes, and you would not be able to tell at all. My hair is a much finer texture and super straight. My hair looks greasy after 24 hours. I can stretch a second day with dry shampoo but can’t go any longer than that. I’ve wondered if the no wash routine would be better for my hair, but a long transition period is a deal breaker for me since I can’t even go 3 days now.

After two pregnancies, I found that my hair was… just not as it used to be. Products never seemed to be washed out completely, and it always had a funny texture. So I used the baking soda/vinegar rinse for almost two years, but I didn’t find it to be life changing. Then I started back on shampoo, but only washing my hair every 4-5 days. But then — as that NYT article discusses — I had dandruff all of a sudden. So recently I am washing every other day. As a wavy-haired person, I’ve never figured out how to make my hair look good on day 2 (or 3 or 4). It always just looks kind of flat. But I’m far too lazy to wash every day or straighten my hair, so recently I just embrace it :)

I tried it – it was OK. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that shampoo is a pretty good product, and that chemical engineering generally serves us well. Just wish I could find a conditioner I liked that isn’t full of silicones – don’t like the build up at all. Ive almost never washed my hair more than twice a week (shampoo or no shampoo) as it doesn’t behave if I wash it more often, and it frees up extra time

I tried the “no poo” thing for a couple of weeks and couldn’t stand it anymore. I felt like it made my hair feel like straw. That said, I have a good friend who started it a couple of months ago and has never been happier with her hair! I really think it depends a lot on your hair texture and personal preference. I wash my hair every three days and it works for me. And I love the Trader Joe’s tea tree peppermint shampoo! It’s inexpensive and smells amazing.

Oy, hair. I’ve been working on my ocd with cleanliness/germs and hair is my last big frontier. It’s just, like, I can’t lean back in, say a movie seat (or airplane – any public seat) without wondering if the person who sat there earlier was disgusting. It just grosses me out. So, no, I will always use shampoo. :P

I have gotten to where i only wash it about 2x week though, mostly bc my hair is dry on the ends and just sad looking. Batiste brunette dry shampoo has been a game changer! I also really love Silk Therapy and Oribe smoothing creme (I alternate them).

I’m a blond with baby fine stick straight hair. I cannot not go more than 24 hours without washing my hair. I look like a grease ball if I go any longer. There’s no amount of dry shampoo or baby powder that can cover it up.

I think I must be the only woman whose head gets sweaty when they exercise! That being said, I definitely wash my hair every day, even if I haven’t worked out. I have very short hair, similar to yours, Gabrielle, and have tried (in a pinch) to just wet it and re-blow dry it, but I can never get the same effect as if I washed it first. Maybe things would be different if I had longer, shoulder-length hair (meaning, I could put it back in a ponytail), but I think with my head-sweating, it’s just not meant to be!

I have shoulder length curly hair and have not used shampoo in years. My current routine is fairly simple: Morning and night I massage my scalp and brush with a boars hair brush to distribute my natural oil through my hair (yep, I brush my curls – gasp!). Then in the morning I wet with cool water, add a small amount of DevaCurl One Condition and let it airdry. So far, so good! Here is more about using water only — http://www.paris-to-go.com/2017/01/how-to-start-water-only-hair-and-skin-face-acne-washing.html?m=1

I have thick, straight Asian hair and basically try to wash it as little as possible. So that ends up being probably every 3 or 4 days. 3 is probably the sweet spot since I do work out but I can go 4 if I don’t have too much physical activity. My hair looks best on day 2 or 3 because it has more volume and texture. If I washed it everyday, my hair would be so puffy and just bleh. Now when people see me… they think I got a haircut when in reality I haven’t washed it for 3 days!

That said… I also use A LOT of dry shampoo and have sold so many bottles of it to friends. The key to dry shampoo is using enough. I’ve seen friends skimp on it and not liked the results but when you use just a little bit more… your hair looks great!

I’ve discovered Keratin and will NEVER go back! Keratin has been a LIFE-SAVER & LIFE-CHANGER! I don’t have to wash my hair very often, I don’t have to style it when I do. Its literally wash & go hair!

I’ve used no-poo for three or four years now (BS and ACV). Mostly I like it, and will stick to it because I’m idealistic. It brings out the curl/wave in my hair and is really shiny. Downside: I feel like it gets greasy-looking fast. I struggle with 2nd-day hair even. I work out regularly, so I don’t go long without a shower anyway, but I’m still learning! Learning how it feels in the shower (enough of each ingredient) and the results of different tweaks.

I have long (as in past the middle of my back), colored, coarse hair. In the winter I shampoo my hair once a week. In the summer, 2 or 3 times depending on what we’re doing and how sweaty/dirty I am. That said – I rinse and condition my hair every day. If I don’t it’s lank and sad. I also don’t blow dry, curl, or otherwise do anything to my hair unless it’s a special occasion. (And even then, most of the time I go with an updo that requires bobby pins but no curling iron. Lazy with a capital L.) I’ve noticed many changes to my hair over the last 10 years. Between aging (I’m 42) and having kids, it seems my hair changes its needs every couple months. Sometimes more oily, sometimes more dry. Sometimes more coarse, sometimes more flyaway. I have 3 or 4 high quality conditioners which don’t use sulfates, parabens, triclosan, or polyethylene glycol. I rotate through them depending on what works.

I think women are washing their hair enough if they are comfortable with whatever it is they are doing! Generalizations like that are kind of moot when everyone’s hair type and routine and body are different :) I used to be all about pantene shampoo & conditioner but started moving off of conventional shampoos in my post-grad years. Nowadays I only use a shampoo on my hair when I wash & I go every 3 days, 2 if I’ve been really active. It’s a gentle shampoo (gentle enough for babies!) so it’s been sort of a stepping-stone away from conventional shampoos+conditioners. I also never understood how conditioner helps if you just end up washing it out! And if it’s sticking, then what chemicals are doing that? Once I run out of that shampoo I’d like to try the baking soda+vinegar no-shampoo method.

I’m skeptical of the “new wash” simply because the term “natural” and “essential oils” are doing to the beauty industry what the “eco” prefix did/is doing to sustainability industries. I think if you want natural hair product then the ingredient list of that product shouldn’t need so much explaining.

My hair is thin and light colored and you can really tell when I haven’t washed, particularly around the hair line, even with powder or dry shampoo. I Usually do one day down (wash day) and one day up (non-wash day). My family decided to go zero waste around a year ago, and I started to use a shampoo bar at that time. It took a couple of weeks for my hair to adjust, but now it has body and I don’t use a conditioner or styling creams. It is fine–even with my super fine hair!! Using a shampoo bar cuts down on all of the plastic bottles, but it also ended up saving a ton of money. Our whole family uses the same bar with success (my husband has very dark, thick hair and uses styling products in it, and the bar works great on his hair, too).

My hair is curly, dry, and about shoulder length. I “wash” my hair with conditioner about two times a week. No particular brand. I pick up whatever smells good to me at the time. I’ve been doing this for years and my hair is definitely more manageable!

I have a very thin/not dense/ultra straight type of hair. I wash it every day, eventually every two days, with a mild shampoo. I often use this no talc baby powder and I don’t complain http://www.toepfer-babywelt.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Babycare_powder-1.pdf

You have an article saying wonders about the no poo recipe you gave http://theartofsimple.net/how-to-clean-your-hair-without-shampoo/

On the other hand, this french/american woman of the no waste movement gave up shampoo until… her husband complained she smelled like vinaigrette. Ha!
As she says, she now “poo’s”
http://www.zerowastehome.com/2010/01/zero-waste-bathroo/

I still use shampoo, but a very mild one. When I end it I wanna try a bar of good olive oil soap bar, like this one http://www.olivae.eu/, a portuguese version of the famous savon d’Alep…

I use conventional shampoo and conditioner but only every 2 or 3 days. My bangs are what gets me. They get oily quick so I have to use dry shampoo on day 2. But for those saying that they have to wash their hair after they workout, you don’t. I work out hard 5 days a week, and unless I’m dripping in my own sweat for an hour I don’t wash it. Sometimes I’ll rinse with water but my husband never complains of my head smelling :)

Gabby, this topic has me wondering if you are still doing oil pulling instead of brushing your teeth?

I would love to only wash my hair once or twice a week, but with a combination of sebhoretic dermatitis (scalp eczema) and working out 4-5x a week, I am lucky to go more than a day or two between washes. I have to use T-gel (soooo stinky!) to keep my scalp eczema under control, but I’m sure that washing it more often only irritates my scalp more. I’d love to hear how other people workout regularly and don’t have to wash their hair! I can blow dry the sweaty hair one day but the next day it’s just gross.

I’ve got long, dark wavy hair and have used baking soda and vinegar for about the last 4 years. I have to wash (baking soda and vinegar wash, I mean) a little more than once a week. I had zero transition time and neither did my husband. It really feels like no compromise- it works better than the crazy expensive shampoo and conditioner I was using before and there is no chemical exposure! For a long time I continued using my standard products after washing but I’ve recently found a leave in conditioner product from Acure that is a 1 on the EWG site (totally non-toxic) and works just as well for shine and frizz-taming.

I have eczema on the back of my scalp and regular shampoo really irritates it, so I switched to the no-poo method about 5 years ago. It worked very well for 2-3 years, I could go up to 5 days without washing “washing”. But my hair became dry and brittle, I think the back and forth with the acidic and basic rinses was hard on my hair. By the time I was ready to be done with the no-poo method sulfate free and gentle shampoos were much easier to find and a lot cheaper. I use Alba, which I can buy at target, as well as a sulfate free purple shampoo and conditioner because I added some blonde balayage to my hair. So fair my scalp only acts up in the winter when it’s drier, so I just have to put the conditioner directly on my scalp in those irritated areas to help keep it moisturizer. I can still go 4 days without washing.
I’m always interested in how other people take care of their hair and scalp. Thanks for the topic :)

I used to wash my hair every morning and I sometimes even washed it again in the evening because I thought it looked a bit greasy (thin, straight, blondish hair). For a few years now I’ve used baking soda and apple cider vinegar about once a week and it only starts looking greasy at about day 6. I do rinse every day with water and use a boar bristle brush.
My 5 year old has gorgeous hair and it gets wet when she bathes but I’ve only actually washed it a handful of times (to get out horribly sticky food). Her hair and scalp are clean and sweet smelling, it’s like magic. I wonder if it will change when she reaches puberty.

My method is less ‘poo. I have long, curly, dry hair; I shampoo and condition with traditional products about once/week. If I straighten it and use dry shampoo, I can stretch this to 10 days. I used to have dandruff issues and lots of frizz when I washed every day or two, but now I have much less of both. It works for me and on the plus side, a large bottle of shampoo gets me through an entire year!

I used to be concerned about sweat: isn’t it dirty? What if I work out?! But someone made the point that sweat is 99% water so you can just let your hair dry, and it is very nearly as clean as it was before you got sweaty. And of course if my hair gets smelly or looks oily, I just wash it. That’s what this whole method is really about for me – only washing your hair when it actually needs it, and not just doing it all the time out of habit.

I have curly, dry, coarse hair as well and it is too frizzy if I wash it very often. In the winter I wash it once a week, in the summer probably twice. My hair actually looks better and more manageable after a few days of not being washed.

I’ve gone through quite a journey with shampoo & my hair! I did no shampooing for a few months and it was okay, but I felt like my hair was never soft enough. I used an all-natural shampoo bar for awhile after that (maybe six months) and I loved it! Eventually though, I went back to traditional shampoo & conditioner after a haircut appointment that left my hair silky smooth & shiny. Now I shampoo once every 4 days or so and I really like that. I feel like my hair has better volume & more shine, but still feels CLEAN because it’s getting a regular wash. Plus I love that if I want a blowout to last all week, it’s not that hard since my hair is used to going 4 or 5 days without a wash anyway. :)

I have straight hair, and I keep it short. I looked a lot for herbal, natural shampoos/conditioners that were gentle on my hair and the environment. I found a brand that worked for me but it came in plastic containers, plus I was never fully sure about the chemicals involved.

Finally I began using a mix of Shikakai, Aritha and Amla to wash my hair. These herbs are commonly used in India by women to wash hair. I found packets at my local Indian store. I apply warm oil to my hair and leave it in overnight, washing off with shampoo/conditioner in the morning. Initially I was skeptical if the herb mix would be able to wash off the oil. But it does! Aritha is soap nut, so it functions as a cleaning agent.

To condition, I use a hair rinse that is a mix of filtered water, apple cider vinegar, and a few drops of essential oils.

I am happy. No chemicals any more, or any plastic containers either.

My husband stopped washing his with shampoo hair almost three years ago. He just gives it a good scrub in the shower and that is it. During the first week or so it was a bit oily, but after that it sort of settled out. Not using shampoo has made it so that he no longer needs styling products as his hair just has a bit more body. You would never guess that this is how he takes care of his very full head of hair. He has used shampoo just a few times after camping or bunch of days of swimming. I tried to do the same, but at the time my hair was really long and I couldn’t get my hair to figure out how to balance the dry ends with an outlier scalp.

I’m excited about this post because I’ve reveled in the changes I’ve made in my hair routines in the past few years– they’ve been significant and, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, have changed my life! I’ve always had straight, stringy, oily hair and never thought I could get away with not washing every day. In fact, my hair would be greasy by the end of the day despite efforts to avoid touching it and using only “lightweight” products. It wasn’t until I learned to manage my daughters’ thick, dry, curly hair (they’re black, I’m white) that a new approach dawned on me. It took some time to balance out the oil control, but now I wash my hair twice per week and use dry shampoo in the interim. My hair has never had as much texture and I have an extra half hour each day not spend on washing and blow drying and styling my hair! It’s glorious.

[…] No shampoo….what do you think? […]

I’ve been ‘no poo for years. I also know that I’m late in joining in the conversation; I’m in the middle of running lights for Noises Off at my amazing community theatre.

But know that there are many women and men out there who practice no ‘poo, and also many people who have tried it but didn’t like it or didn’t get the concept right.

I used to belong to a Livejournal community called no ‘poo, but it seems to have disbanded since Facebook.

Once you’ve gone through that purge and emerged on the other side, being no ‘poo means that you read all ingredient labels for anything you apply on your hair. There are few products out there that claim to be no ‘poo, so it takes constant diligence. We look for ingredients that look like Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and at the endings of chemical names to find dimenthicones. Those are two big words to avoid.

We find that products that have a simple ingredients list are the best. I’ve never been one to try baking soda and vinegar, but I like solid conditioners and Dr. Bronner’s products.

I could keep going, but I’ll stop for now.

I did the baking soda thing. My hair was fine but I didn’t really got into it. While using baking soda and vinegar I looked for other options and found solid shampoos. No plastic but still a ready to go option. It’s a perfect and easy solution.

I have fine thin hair, and a lot of it. I get greasy by noon on the second day, so I usually shampoo everyday. I have found that I can go longer if I use Living Proof Prime style extender. I spray it on and it literally repeals dirt and oil. I still have issues trying to make it look normal after sleeping on it, but that product was a game changer for me, also their dry shampoo and no frizz line for summer.

I have thick curly/wavy hair which drove me crazy for years. Now, I wash 1-2 times per week at it looks much better. I use dry shampoo between washes. I use inexpensive hair products – Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa shampoo and Batiste dry shampoo. I don’t style – just wash at night and let dry and let the curls be curly. Sometimes, I might blow it out, but only occasionally. It seems to look its best around day 3 or 4.

My 4-year-old daughter has straight, fine, fly-away hair. She also has very dry skin (and eczema). We found that her hair and skin do SOOOOO much better when she gets no soap at all. So, while she gets a bath once a week, we don’t use any soap or shampoo. Rather, we use Free&Clear conditioner over her whole body, including her hair (concentrating on her scalp). She then gets Cetaphil lotion all over, and then Aquaphor healing ointment on her dry spots. She now has rosy, soft sweet baby skin with very seldom eczema break-outs. :)

I do use New Wash! I’ve been using it consistently (1-2 times a week) for just about exactly a year and I really really like it — I suspect that other “co-wash” options might work the same way, more cheaply, but I have been so pleased with how clean, comfortable, and well-behaved it leaves my thick wavy hair (and my daughter’s finer, curlier hair, too) that I don’t want to experiment with anything else. I feel a bit silly recommending it because it *is* expensive, and I feel sure that they must be claiming a level of uniqueness that isn’t quite in line with reality, but, boy, I sure am happy with it.

I tried no poo (first baking soda / rinse, later betonite clay) for a whole summer, it was a desaster and, related to hair things, a terrible summer.
Then I started to wash my hair with Aleppo Soap, which is beautiful for my very thin, straight hair. For the first time my hair had texture and was voluminous, but I started getting pimples on my forehead and dandruffs on my head.
Now I’m back on normal shampoo, washing every 2 or 3 days. No pimples, no dandruffs.
I wasted days online reading everything about no poo to make it happen- but for me it sadly just didn’t work out.

I forgot to mention that we washed our 8yo sons hair maybe 8 times in his entire life. We just brush it every evening and it is PERFECT.
So maybe there is a hormonal reason why it didn’t work out for me.