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Trying to go "no poo" can someone help
Hi, I'm Krista, I haven't been to this board before but I am a long time knottie/nestie/bumpie.
I have had lots of waxy residue in my hair for probably two years. I was occasionally mixing bs in my shampoo to strip the residue but then it would be back again.
After reading up on going "no poo" I decided it might be my solution.
My hair is fine but I have lots of it because I had a baby 5 weeks ago and it hasn't started falling out yet. It is somewhat dry and it is shoulder length with no body. We have somewhat hard water and use a softener almost all the time.
Sunday I tried doing a BS wash with a little bit of honey, 1tbsp bs to 1 cup water, and a rinse with 1tbsp WV and 1 cup water. It was okay but the ends were really dry and frizzy.
Today I had read about stripping residue by washing with an egg which I did, I used cold water to wash it out and then a 1tbsp WV to 1 c water rinse. It felt disgusting. I brushed it and as it was drying I rinsed it again and it feels a little bit better but it's still going to be a ponytail day.
Can anyone help? I also picked up some applesauce because I heard rinsing with that could be beneficial in stripping residue but haven't tried it yet.
Re: Trying to go "no poo" can someone help
I've been washing my hair with baking soda and vinegar for around 4 years now. I don't know about using honey, egg, or applesauce, but they don't sound like particularly good ideas to me. My hair was pretty greasy for the first 2-3 months after I switched, but I'm happy with it now. The scalp behaves differently without regular shampoo treatments, but it takes a while for it to figure out that it doesn't need to produce a ton of oil anymore. I would recommend patience rather than trying additional food products. Also, your hair doesn't need baking soda and vinegar every day. I use them 1-2 times per week and just rinse my hair the other days, unless it feels off.
Your hair is made up of little scales that respond to the pH of the treatment. BS is a base and causes the scales to open up and make your hair rough, in addition to washing away hair grease and dirt. Vinegar is an acid and causes the scales to tighten up and your hair to become smooth. If the scales are too tight or too lose, the hair will be fragile. The trick with the vinegar is to get your hair back to the right pH at the end of the was, where it is smooth enough to get the tangles out easily, but not too brittle. Try experimenting with the quantity and strength, and see how it does.
Is your hair stick straight, have some wave, or lots of curl? Do you use any other products or blow dry or straighten? That will all affect your hair.
But going poo-free does take a few weeks for your hair to get used to the new routine, and it may get a little icky before it gets better. You just have to stick with it!
I have super fine, a little curly hair. And I found lots of great info on naturallycurly.com about what ingrediants and techniques to stear clear from. And lots of just general info on how/why hair does what it does.
I use a BS water wash, scrub it in and let it sit about a minute, then scrub some more and rinse. Then if my hair is in need of more moisture, I do a conditioner wash with a silicone free, sulfate free, paraben free conditioner (I use Nature's Gate Tee Tree), and really work that into my scalp all the way to the tips and let that sit while I finish my shower.....then rinse that out and do a lemon juice water rinse (instead of ACV)....also let that sit a minute before rinsing and finish with a cold water rinse.
If you do need a deep conditioning treatment (I use a combo of oils, EVOO, castor, jojoba with some pure aloe).....you will need a shampoo to get that out....always get a sulfate free, silicone free for that to avoid super striping your hair. And you can really water it down.
Also, I never use any heat on my hair since that is super damaging to my fine hair and the make-up of curly hair in general. And use homemade flax seed gel to hold the curls in. I get no build up from that. Also no towel drying and no brushing.
Yes. You've obviously not been around that many crunchy people :-)
I'm wondering what the benefits of no poo over a "green" shampoo are. Seems like you're still washing your hair, just with baking soda and vinegar instead of shampoo.
Wendy-I don't know all the technical benefits......but for me it has really improved my curls. I think it is good because it does not have all the chemicals and crazy ingrediants that are in 'shampoo'. So no product buildup and weird things for your body to absorb. And happier hair since you are not stripping away all it's natural oils.
One of the 'green' benefits would be that you are putting less chemicals down the drain and back into the water system.
I mix a half cup of distilled water with a half up of castile soap and 1/2 t olive oil. It works great for me. It is very thin so I have it in a spay bottle in the shower. It lasts about a month and cost less then 4 dollars to make. I tried the baking soda but I missed the lather.
For me, it was about a month before I was really happy with my choice, but now it is well worth it! My hair feels cleaner and I can go longer between shampoos (now twice a week vs. every other day). My hair also looks better than ever and is far more manageable than before I went no-poo.
I have shoulder length, medium-thick, wavy hair. I wash with 1/4 cup of baking soda to 2 cups warm water, massaging half of the mixture on the top & sides of my scalp and then flipping my head over and massaging the other half on the underside of my scalp. I then rinse and pour about 1 cup of water & 2 Tbsp. Apple Cider vinegar all over the length of my hair (not the scalp). I let it sit a minute then comb through with my fingers and then rinse very well.
I thought the same thing!