dkMommy Spot

What is it about the whole no ‘poo movement that makes people so enthusiastic?  It’s a strange concept, I’m the first to admit:  Stop using shampoo and instead wash your hair with either baking soda and cider vinegar, or simply use water.  For some it’s a hair-raising idea, but for those of you who have heard of the results many no ‘poo people are experiencing, it sounds like one heck of an adventure; one perfect for the New Year, in fact.

That’s where I was a little over 6 months ago.  I was skeptical I’ll admit, but hopeful.  My hair had reached an impasse.  It was flat in some spots, frizzy in others, overworked and filled with static even on the humid days.  I’d heard of going no ‘poo, so I gave it a shot.  Long story short, I have no desire to ever again crack open a bottle of shampoo!  The last time shampoo hit my tresses, it straightened my hair (took it back to the old days in short order, it did) and I was stuck with a mess of tangles and unmanageable static for weeks.  Which I realized was exactly how my hair had always been; not because of bad genes, but because of the products I dumped on my head, natural or not, on a daily basis.

Is there a transition when switching to a no ‘poo regimen?  You bet!  Your hair may go into a bit of a shock.  After all, the way your scalp was meant to work has been shut down possibly for decades.  The scalp will produce more oil, but it will eventually calm down and produce less than when you shampooed it.  The chemicals in shampoos that straighten your hair will go down the drain, and if you’ve been blessed with any curl at all, it will surface.  Like me, you may find that hairspray is no longer necessary (not to mention mousse, gels, etc.)  If your hair is thick, it’ll feel even thicker but with no tangles and knots.  (Since ditching shampoo, I’ve not once needed to comb my wet hair after a shower.  Fingers through it are enough!) 

Yes, it sounds like I’m selling something, but I’m not.  If you use baking soda and cider vinegar, it’s very cheap.  And it’s easy.  I scrub my scalp under the shower water for a minute or so, then I take a small amount of baking soda (a couple of tablespoons for me, but it’s different for everyone so experiment here).  I scrub it into my scalp and don’t bother with scrubbing my hair at all, since it all works through anyway.  Then I rinse it out very well.  When I’m done with my shower, I dump a mug of water with about 2 tbs. apple cider vinegar in it.  I give it a very quick scrub to make sure it gets through my hair, then I squeeze it out.  After that, I wrap my head in a towel for awhile.  When the weather is conducive, I let it air dry, but otherwise I gently dry it with a hair dryer on a cooler setting.  Many days I use a 100% natural, plant-derived leave-in conditioner or a few drops of natural hair oil.  For “fancy” days, I may use a few squirts of homemade hairspray, but honestly I don’t really need it anymore.  It’s still just an old habit.

I’ll be pulling together a few before-and-after photos soon, although it’ll be hard to make a decent comparison.  Before going no ‘poo, I tended to straighten my hair rather than fight the unpredictable waves.  I also relied on hairsprays and other products, and so for me some of the greatest differences have been in the actual feel of my hair as well as the ease of styling, two things that don’t translate through photos.  

If you choose to go no ‘poo for your New Year’s Resolution, send me an email at themommyspot (at) gmail (dot) com.  I’d love to hear your progress!  I already hear from so many of you, and it’s been fantastic hearing your success stories with going no ‘poo.  Even one mother/daughter team who have decided to go no ‘poo together!  The enthusiasm is contagious.  So let me know how it’s going for you.  Soon I’ll put together a special post that will share your successes with our readers, so get typing!  I’d love to hear all about it.

Happy New Year everyone!  It’s 2010, and time to crank out the New Year’s Resolutions.  I think I have the easiest one to offer up for anyone who gets enjoyment from eliminating chemicals from their life:  Go no ‘poo.  If you’ve been following along this week, then you know I’ve been sharing posts from 2009 when I decided to ditch the shampoo and let my hair go all natural.  No, that doesn’t mean don’t wash your hair.  It only means washing your hair differently, and ultimately reclaiming the hair you should have had all along. Following is a post I wrote back in September cataloging my personal no ‘poo experience.  This  is the time that settled it forever for me, the time that convinced me there’s no turning back to shampoo and chemical hair dumps:

No ‘Poo Update: How I Almost Threw in the Towel, Shaved My Head, and Other Really Bad Choices

I ditched my shampoo back in June, and it was quite an adjustment at first, but I was so curious about the great results I’d heard others had had, so I stuck it out.  After a month or two, I was thoroughly convinced.  No doubt this was the way to go for me.  I learned how to use baking soda to scrub my scalp and apple cider vinegar to give myself a conditioning rinse.  My hair became soft, manageable, and curly.  I didn’t need a comb in the morning like I had my entire life to untangle my wet hair.  I didn’t need mousse, styling gels, or even a hairdryer.  I loved it!

But I made a couple of big goofs that almost threw me off the no ‘poo trail.  

Goof #1: I colored my hair.  Although I use a natural hair color and have for a long time, this particular product must still manage to strip the natural oils despite its lack of chemicals.  I was initially afraid to color my hair, but with about 2 inches of dark regrowth staring at me in the mirror, I decided I’d do it anyway.  It dried my hair out pretty good.  But I carried on.  After about 2 weeks it was almost back to what I loved about no ‘poo hair.

Goof #2: I went to the hairstylist.  My sister is a hairstylist and usually does my hair, but she lives a good distance away.  So when I just can’t stand it anymore, I go to a local salon for a trim.  Not usually a big deal, and this time I really needed it after the hair color incident.  My ends were pretty much shot.  I washed my hair before going for a cut, thinking I’d tell my stylist to please not shampoo me.  I even went in with slightly damp hair.  But when she stuck my head in that bowl, we were so busy yapping that I forgot!  She glopped on the shampoo and I said, “Oops!  I just washed my hair.”  (Yes, skeptics – no ‘poo girls doindeed wash their hair – just not with the stuff from the store.  I get that observation a lot.)  She said “No problem!” and washed the soap right out.  But something odd happened.

What happened when my hair met shampoo after 4 months? It went limp.  Dull, straight as a board, flat to my head.  For DAYS.  It became a terrible rat’s nest that I couldn’t undo, even after major conditioning.  And I could smell the shampoo in my hair for a week, no exaggeration, even after massive amounts of baking soda scrubbing, vinegar rinses, rosemary treatments… But the worst part was that it was like starting all over again.  My hair went into major oil overload.  The only reason I can think of is that shampoo does in fact strip the oil from the hair, forcing your body to produce more oil.  That’s why most people, even with expensive shampoos, can wash their hair in the morning and have an oily scalp by evening.  I’ve gotten used to waking up in the morning with hair that’s still soft and clean from the morning before.  

At first I’ll admit it, I wanted to give it all up and cry, cut my hair extra short, and go back to shampoo.  But then I remembered the reason I started it all in the first place, and I reminded myself that my stylist had used a brand of shampoo that, once upon a time, had been my favorite pricey brand.  And that it had taken out all the curl, given me snarls, and made my hair completely unmanageable for almost 3 weeks.  So that was that.  I’ve toughened it out and for the first time since my haircut, I enjoyed manageably curly hair yesterday.  My husband even commented on how cool all those curls were.

What was that expensive shampoo that turned my hair into a rat’s nest?  Hmm.  I don’t want to type it here or else those Google ads on my site will start spitting out advertising for it, but his initials are PM.  I think you can figure it out from there.

So for now I may be done with the no ‘poo updates.  It’s no longer an experiment; for me, it’s just become how I do things.  Yes, I’m enthusiastic about it, especially when someone who hasn’t seen me in a long time plays with my hair and tells me how great it looks.  And especially when I realize I’m doing something really good for my health, not just my appearance.  

I’m a no ‘poo girl.  ’Nuff said.

Well, well, well!  The last day of 2009 is here, and can I say I hear a collective sigh of relief?  A tough year for the whole country no doubt, but good things come out of tough years too.  Like my decision to go no ‘poo.  How much does the average woman spend on hair care products a year, anyway?  I’ll have to research that one after my vacation time is done, but I can assure you that going no ‘poo is more than just being a spendthrift.  It’s about reclaiming your hair!  Here’s my fourth no ‘poo update that originally ran this summer:

Eureka! My Personal No ‘Poo Challenge Update

So this is what happened:  We decided on a trip to the beach last week on a sweltering day.  Seems everyone else did too, because the beach was crowded and so was the water.  Imagine hundreds of people coated in non-biodegradable sunscreen filing in and out of the lake all day long. I didn’t notice it at first, but at the right angle you could see what looked like a mini Exxon Valdez oil spill floating on the surface of the water. I didn’t notice it until after I’d submerged my head in the goo.  When we realized we were all feeling a bit slippery for a dip in a freshwater lake, I knew my hair would need a serious scrubbing.  So when we got home I decided to try the baking soda scrub followed by a cider vinegar final rinse.

Oh my GOSH.

You know I don’t type in all caps, but…

OH MY GOSH!

Now I know what makes the whole “No ‘Poo” thing such a big deal.  What I assumed would turn my hair into a tangled dry mess, what I assumed would be an unpleasant gritty experience, actually turned out to be the best-kept natural beauty secret I’ve ever blabbed on the internet.  Yes, the baking soda scrub is gritty as all get out, and yes it feels a little weird initially, but it rinses out very well.  And if I just put the recommended tablespoon or two of cider vinegar in a mug of cold water, dump in on my head at the very end without rinsing it back out, I have the most amazing hair of my life.  No, I don’t smell like Thousand Island dressing, but the shine is about blinding.

I’ve been doing this treatment every day for about a week now and my hair improves by the day.  At first I lost some of the new curl I’d gained, but it has returned and in a much shinier version.  Still no tangles to contend with, no need for conditioners.  My hair has become softer with some natural highlights coming into play.  Cider vinegar does give you reddish highlights over the long term which actually works well for me, so I’m happy.  

I see now why some super models and famous hair stylists recommend no ‘poo.  I get it.  I really get it now.  I don’t know how the adjustment would have been if I’d started out with baking soda and vinegar rinses right from the start, but I have a feeling it would have made things a little easier.  People who have done this treatment much longer than I have say there’s still an adjustment period of one to three months, even longer sometimes.  But now I can say with confidence, and in all caps, IT’S WORTH IT!!!

Read all my articles on my No ‘Poo Personal Challenge here.