'No-Poo' the final chapter. Part 3 - Hints and tips to giving up shampoo
1. Patience and Perserverance
I'll be ther first to admit giving up shampoo isn't for the faint hearted. Your hair will go through a transitional phase while it adapts to your new routine. For some, this just lasts for a couple of weeks. My hair only started to resemble 'normal' hair again after 8 weeks and I know for others it can be even longer. During this time my hair was greasy, itchy and felt somewhat like barbie doll hair! (I promise it is worth it in the end though!)
2. Braids (and maybe hats!) will be your best friends
While my hair was 'transitioning' I found braids really useful. They keep hair out of your way and manage to somewhat disguise the oily texture.
3. Bin those other hair care products
You'll be fighting a losing battle if you cut out your chemical laiden shampoo and conditioner but keep applying all those other nasties. Hairspray, mousse, dry shampoo will all lead to build up on your hair that will prevent it from fully adapting to your new 'shampoo'.
4. Cut down the washes
When I used commercial shampoo I washed my hair everyday, making it dry, brittle and prone to damage. My hair is naturally very fine and oily but I find I now get away with washing twice a week.
5. Watch out for coloured hair
My hair had some old remaining colour in the mid lengths to ends from previous hair experiments when I started my 'no-poo' venture. I found that my new shampoo recipe lightened this somewhat. As I said in Part 2, test an inconspicuous section first!
6. Your hair is as unique as you are
My recipe in Part 2 of this series is what I have perfected through trial and error for MY hair. My advice would be to use it as a starting point, but fine tune to your hair as needed. For example very oily hair may require more bicarb, dry hair less.
7. Good luck (and don't tell the hairdresser)
I've never met a hairdresser who would appove of my methods of washing my hair, but I would never touch a bottle of commercial shampoo again. I can only speak from my personal experience of this and after being 'no-poo' for over a year I can honestly say my hair is the best it has ever been.
Part 2 -Rejecting the COMMERCIAL SHAM-poo Part 1 - My decision to give up shampoo.
Thanks so much for sharing! I'm going to give it a try. Good point about not telling the hairdressers... but what do you do when you get a cut? Over here they always wash hair before cutting and I'm terrible at telling people what to do! Do you just say "no thanks, I've already washed my hair today"?
Great post and thank you so much for sharing I need to go back and read the other parts. :)
Thank you! I always hope people are intrigued and enjoy reading whether they choose to give it a go or not :)
Hi, just another quick question....do you think this would be ok to use on my 9 month old? I'm not a fan of using the baby shampoo so have been looking around for an alternative. Just wondering if you think it would be ok and not too harsh for her soft baby skin/scalp. Thanks.
I've used it on my 2 year old without any problems. I would say to dilute the mixture more for her though. Also, kid's hair doesn't get greasy like ours so I only 'shampoo' theirs every couple of weeks. Inbetween I find a good scrub with just warm water is perfectly sufficient (to remove food, play doh etc!). In this dirt obsessed world I do feel we tend to over-clean everything, including ourselves.
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