No 'Poo

Aletha

Member
I became curious about the movement toward not using shampoo to cleanse your hair. It's not that you don't clean it if you don't use shampoo, you just use natural products. What you do it make a solution of baking soda and water until it feels "slick". Place it in a bottle like a ketchup or mustard bottle that has the nozzle that you can use to put the solution down to the roots on your hair. When you shower, wet your hair well and then shake the bottle up until the baking soda is distributed in the water. Then, squirt it down among the roots of your hair. Gently give yourself a scalp massage. It won't feel like shampoo but your hair will feel clean when you rinse it out. Be careful not to wad your hair up like you would if you shampoo as you want very few tangles. You can use a diluted cider vinegar rinse on your hair after this if you wish.

The principle is not to strip the oils and natural substances the hair and scalp produce to protect your hair. Commercial shampoos strip everything from your hair and scalp and you have to then use cream rinse to put those oils and substances back which then prompt the scalp to overproduce oils to replenish that which has been stripped away. It may take weeks to months for your scalp to stop producing so much oil to replenish your natural oil which has been stripped away. Eventually, this will allow you to stretch out the number of cleansings you have to do. It's amazing and your hair will eventually be stronger and healthier and will have natural bounce that it should have. I highly recommend it. So far this has allowed my hair to have the natural wave I was born with. My hair looks so healthy and feels so much better.
 

Myrth

New Member
I like using homemade soap on my hair. Works beautifully. It is also gentle and does not strip hair of natural oils like detergent (which is what shampoos are).
 

SoftRain

Member
I tried no poo for awhile, but I got tired of boiling my hard water before mixing it with the baking soda and the vinegar and my husband hated the vinegar smell before my hair dried. I ended up switching to a natural shampoo and conditioner instead.
 

Aletha

Member
@SoftRain - I don't boil the water before I mix it. Also, because I have extremely oily hair, I don't even use the cider vinegar for a rinse. I DO still use conditioner for the ends of my long hair simply to make it easier to comb. For the last few times though, I haven't had to use anything. So far it's working for me. I did use homemade soap but it seemed to exacerbate the oily condition of my hair.
 

freshfoodie

Member
I have been no 'poo for about 3 years. I started by using the baking soda and then rinsing with vinegar, but I didn't like the way it left my hair. After a lot of trial and error, I have started using a homemade shampoo made from a base of castille soap every couple of days. I also do a conditioning rinse once a month with olive oil, honey and yogurt.
 

Luvkenny

Member
I would love to hear more about the "once a month" conditioning treatment you use freshfoodie. I do have to say though that there is no way I would ever not wash my hair with shampoo. I don't think I would want to wash it with baking soda.
 

freshfoodie

Member
Luvkenny, the recipe for the conditioner is here. The one thing I will say is that you have to make sure that the oil is hot. Not burning scald your head hot but, more than lukewarm. It really was a wonderful treat for my hair and I have the needed ingredients on hand all the time.
 

Aletha

Member
@Luvkenny-You would be amazed how clean your hair will feel and how much body it has. I have extremely oily skin/hair which at times, I would have to shampoo and shower twice a day. Now, I don't wash my hair every day, I wash it every other day. I'm hoping I get it down to at least every three days which would suit me.
 

freshfoodie

Member
Aletha I could not agree more. My hair used to be so greasy and I definitely could not go a single day without washing it. Now I use my homemade shampoo only once a week and it is not greasy at all. It is really soft too.
 
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