This might sound like a dare. A dare in the vein of Jackass or a bizarre reality TV show based on personal hygiene stunts.

It’s not.

I just wanted to try something new, something that could simplify my life and save a bit of cash, and see the results. I have a sensitive scalp and get dandruff when the seasons change and if I move and the water is harder or softer than the previous city. So I…

Stopped Using Shampoo on My Hair

If you follow this blog on Facebook you may have seen me post a picture of my hair back in January. I was testing out the no ‘poo method: a light baking soda and water rinse to the roots and apple cider vinegar and water rinse to the ends of the hair (you can get more info on this method here). I tried it for two weeks and then gave it up.

There were two things I didn’t like about the no ‘poo method. The first was fairly legitimate, I didn’t like how my hair felt. It felt quite dry. Now, I have read a lot of comments from others that use this method and have coloured hair as well and there was a mixed bag of “fantastic!” and “couldn’t make it work for me.”

The second reason I didn’t like the method was that I didn’t like pouring cold water on my hair and scalp in a hot shower. I know, what a baby. But the shower is a little haven of personal time for me. I didn’t enjoy getting the shock of a cold water mix on my scalp in the middle of it.

Some of you asked on Facebook if my hair smelled from the no ‘poo method. I didn’t notice any odours, either from the apple cider vinegar or from lack of  shampoo. I even got my husband to give it a whiff and he said there was no smell to it.

So after a couple of weeks of the no ‘poo method I went Full Monty.

I Stopped Washing My Hair

Don’t freak out. I still rinsed with water but I gave up on shampoo and the no ‘poo mixtures.

As expected, there was an adjustment period. Even after a good rinse my hair felt heavy at the roots and oily. I kept at it though and the heavy feeling at the roots went away after two weeks.

I got in the habit of brushing my hair before bed and first thing in the morning. This pulled the oils from my scalp further down the hair shaft and I had less of the ‘greasy roots and dry ends’ look and feeling that I had with the no ‘poo method.

Interesting to me is that normally I avoid brushing my hair once it’s air dried or been styled (blow dry + flat iron). More brushing usually means huge fuzzy hair. When I stopped washing my hair, brushing actually kept it styled longer and looking shinier.

My scalp initially felt worse with no hair washing and I was getting dandruff. At the two week mark it started to improve. A week after that and my dandruff was almost gone. This defies the info I found here in a Huffington Post article about not washing your hair.

The plan was to keep going with this method for a few more weeks. I wasn’t convinced it was for me, my hair felt a little too stiff without shampoo, but I wanted to give it a little longer. I hit a roadblock when I got my hair coloured last week. The stylist said he had to use shampoo to get all the colour out.

A Shampoo After Six Weeks of Uber Minimalist Hair Care

You’re probably thinking that getting my hair washed after a month and a half without conventional hair products would be orgasmic. Like a first meal after being stranded on an island.

It wasn’t.

Even the person that shampooed my hair said it didn’t feel dirty or overly greasy.

Sure, it was shinier and felt a bit lighter but it wasn’t a dramatic change.

 

After this experiment I’ve decided that while the no ‘poo method isn’t for me, I do like the results from washing my hair less. For now I’m going to play it by ear. I’ll do some stretches of just rinsing my hair and then when I feel it needs a pick me up, I’ll use shampoo.

Anyone else tried the ‘no poo method?

More posts about hair and grooming:

• A Pledge to Do My Hair More
• Confessions About My (Lack of) Hair Washing

Programming note: I won’t be able to respond to comments or emails for the next day or so. Our little Henry is going into the hospital for surgery to help him breathe and hear better. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.