The No Shampoo Experiment

I recently went through a 30 day span* where I did not wash my hair or use any kind of hair products.  I know what you are thinking and it's probably something along the lines of GROSS and WHY?!?   It's called the "No Poo" method.  (poo as in shampoo....get it?)  and it's trending lately. 

Here is the logic and reason behind the No Poo method....

Think of it this way, you wash your hair with shampoo which in turn strips your hair "clean" of all it's natural oils.  Your scalp gets confused... "What? Not enough oils up there?...I'm on it" and produces more pronto meaning, 1 day later your hair looks greasy and you think.  "Gee, I need to wash my hair again!" In the meantime those natutal oils never make it to the ends of your hair so now you had better throw some conditioner into the mix too.  Put that cylce on repeat day after day, week after week, month after month and the hair care producs industry is sitting pretty, your head is producing an excess amount of oils, and you are hooked.

I did some research, read some very convincing testimonials, and checked my calendar (greasy hair in public isn't my thing).  After a hesitant thumbs up from my husband who would have to look at my greasy mess for the next 30 days, I decided to give it a go.

At best it would be a success and I'd have unlocked the secret to healthy hair.
Worse case scenario I would go back to washing my hair everyday.   

And so the No Poo adventure began.....

Week one was rough.  For the first 6 days I decided against rinsing my hair with water even though it is technically allowed.  It was everything you can imagine....greasy, stiff, and plain old nasty.  Luckily, the ends of my hair still looked OK so I did my best to cover  up my roots with headbands/wraps, and wore lots of pony tails and buns.  Day 7 was probably the "worst" day so I caved and rinsed with water which didn't help much.

Attempted braid to hide the grease: Fail.

No, my hair is not wet, natural oils baby!

Head wraps and sock buns were my best friends.

 Week Two was a week of experimenting.  On day 8 I began to notice a musty smell.  At first I thought something was up with our house until I walked past a mirror and realized it was probably my hair! I rinsed with water and this time tried to blow dry it.  The smell left but the nastiness did not.  Day 11 I tried a honey wash....literally honey and water.  It was great!  I let my hair air dry and the results made me hopeful.  The last few days of week 2 I decided to brush arrowroot powder into my hair (similar idea to dry shampoo) which would have turned out to be a really great idea if it had been Halloween and I was trying to age myself a few decades.  (yes, I went out in public like this)

1TBSP honey to 3 TBSP hot water

Honey wash and air dry results

Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroot Powder with cocoa mixed in to darken it. #whatwasithinking

Week 3 was a turning point but not in a good way.  I began to notice a crazy amount of what I thought was dandruff (although it may have been arrowroot powder still caked to my head!) and I seemed to be shedding a little more than usual.  My hair was looking better but still felt gross.  I began to think this No Poo thing wasn't for me!  I was invested at this point though so I decided to keep going.

At this point I could go out in public without having to cover it up.

Week Four I really caved and decided to try a baking soda and vinegar rinse.  After initially researching natural rinse options I had come to the conclusion that this particular approach wasn't a great option due to the pH level of baking soda. However, after 4 weeks of not washing my hair I decided one try wouldn't hurt.  It did the trick as far as "cleaning" my hair but it seemed dry and fluffy.  By the end of week 4 my hair came full circle and the oil amount had evened out.  It didn't look bad.  It actually looked normal (clean).

End of the experiment straight

End of the experiment curly

So, did the No Shampoo Method work?  In theory YES.  Is it for me?  NO thank you.

 Day 30 I washed my hair with real shampoo and I think I smiled 99% of the rest of that day.  I have no regrets giving the No Shampoo thing a try.  It was probably really good for my hair and I learned I have the motivation to pull something like that off!  (it's not easy-peasy!)

Have you ever considered trying or attempted "No Poo?"  How did it go for you?

*  If you  happened to see me between February 8th - March 8th and wondered what was going on with my hair (or me) the mystery is now solved.  I like to think that no one outside of my house noticed but that is probably not the case...especially because right in the middle of this I had a little speaking gig where I stood up in front of 150 plus ladies and ironically spoke about inward beauty.