No-poo 4: The end of the affair

Right, I tried everybody, I really did. You’ve got to admit I gave it a good run. From July 7th up to yesterday I have used no shampoo at all.

I used bicarb, lemon juice, rosemary, cider vinegar – all in different proportions. I left them on for a long time, a short time, mixed them together, used them separately. Nothing worked – my hair was still greasy. Sometimes it was greasy straight after washing and I had to wash it again. Sometimes it took a few hours, but it was always greasy by the end of the day.

Heather suggested that I try using a silicone-free conditioner. I thought about making one, but I would have had to buy a lot of ingredients and it came to such a cost that I decided to go out and find one. Not so easy as it sounded  but I eventually found one. I washed my hair as normal with the bicarb then used the conditioner. It was much better, but over the day my hair still got greasy.

Harumph! The gorgeous tresses never materialised and my crowning glory looked consistently worse with no-poo rather than better.

I caved. Sorry.

I bought a shampoo that contains no silicones at least. It has rosemary and sage in it, it smells great and it’s an organicy looking green (the cynic in me says that’s all a corporate ploy, but I like green and nice smells). My hair was much better after washing. Not only that, but I felt better. I had been feeling self conscious all the time, touching my hair to check the grease levels, wishing I could pop home for a quick wash, literally keeping my head down. Feeling my hair this morning, it needs washing (surprise!) but at least it isn’t plastered to my head.

I guess I’m going to have to face the fact that I’ll never have fabulous hair. I have to wash it every day (at least if I’m leaving the house) Maybe I should have weaned my hair slowly rather than going cold turkey?

Either way, the experiment failed.

Right, I’m off to bake the today’s bread, then I’m going charity shopping.

Beccy

No-poo 3: They call me Greasy McGrease…

… well, not to my face, but those neighbours can be cruel behind their net curtains.

It’s all gone wrong for me, this no-poo thing. I’ve read so many reports of people’s hair reverting to a fantastic, lush state when shampoo is evicted from the bathroom but sadly this hasn’t happened for me.

If you remember, week one was quite good but the state of my hair gradually got worse. I had some success with lemon juice rather than cider vinegar but again, my hair reverted to greasy. I have been trying rosemary tea variously on its own and after lemon but to no avail. I still have to wash my hair every day – in the morning it is always greasy and stuck out in all directions, I look like Russel Brand for god’s sake!

I’m beginning to think my hair’s natural state is chip pan chic. I have read that it works best on afro, curly and thick hair and mine is exactly the opposite – fine and straight. Almost like baby hair, and it’s chin-length to boot. Maybe I just don’t have enough hair to spread the natural oils? Maybe I am doomed to a life of using paint-stripper like shampoos?

I admit I broke. Just once. I had an engagement that I had to look good for and my greasy mop just wouldn’t cut it. But I didn’t use shampoo, I used my own home-made soap (reasoning that at least I knew it was nasty-free) and followed it with the usual rinses. It was a bit flyaway but it worked to an extent, my hair was less greasy than usual but by the end of the day it was back to normal.

I want to follow it through though, I honestly don’t want to give up. I was hoping that by following this routine (or a variation of it) I wouldn’t have to wash and blow dry my hair every day and it would be transformed into something manageable. Not asking too much is it?

Is there anybody out there who has had the same problems? Any hints and tips? Radical new ideas? Magic wands?

I know, I’m beginning to sound a bit desperate!

Beccy

No-poo 2: The Update

Well, it’s going pretty well so far. I haven’t used shampoo for about 3 weeks and I have no plans to start. I still don’t have tresses from heaven, but neither are they from hell. Sort of somewhere in between.

If you remember, my hair was kinda greasy about a week in, especially in the back for some reason, and it felt like it does when you don’t wash your conditioner out properly. I had a breakthrough when I did some more research and discovered this blog post. It tells you exactly what to do if your hair feels greasy/dry/stuck out like a mane.

All I had to do to stop that greasy feeling was to rinse with lemon juice rather than cider vinegar and it feels a lot better – not perfect, but better.

Now I just have to try rosemary to counteract the lightening effect of the lemon juice… Tell you something though, I’d swear my hair is growing faster!

Beccy

No-Poo?

I’ve always had unmanagable hair. It’s limp, fine, never holds curls and it’s greasy. Grr. I have tried every product known to woman – thickening shampoos, sprays, lotions, leave in things, wash out things – nothing worked.

Over time, my hair has become greasier and greasier, to the point where I’ve had to wash it every day. A Google search, in a desperate attempt to find an answer, came up with this – the no-poo method, and a further search found approximately a million other sites devoted to the same thing. Apparently it’s the shampoo itself that is giving me greasy locks. Bah, those pesky multi-national companies sullying even the simple hair-washing experience!

The no-poo method involves shunning shampoo entirely in favour of bicarbonate of soda, a spot of cider vinegar, maybe some honey, tea-tree, lavender oil – depending on how your hair reacts. Eventually you should rarely have to wash your hair at all (if ever) and, better still, it should be the envy of everyone it meets. Sceptical? Well I’m a sucker for things like this, so I’m trying it.

It appeals to me because I’m a bit of an earth mother. I like making, growing, stitching, hammering - in short, doing things for myself rather than relying on a multi-national company to do things for me. I already make my own soap, wash my face with olive oil, so why not this?

I’m about 5 days in, and I have still had to ‘wash’ my hair every day. The first couple of days were fine, my hair was soft and didn’t feel much different to using shampoo (I’m not using conditioner either, so I was quite impressed) but the last couple of days have produced less-than-glamorous tresses. My hair is a bit greasy, but as far as I have read that is normal – my hair is ‘adjusting’.

Well, I’ll reserve judgement. I’m on holiday from work until mid August so the method has a few weeks to prove itself.

Until then, I can always wear a headscarf…

Beccy