(Let me preface this post by explaining that "no poo" is short for "no shampoo" and refers to the method of washing your hair without conventional shampoo and conditioner.)
My journey to no poo greatness began fourteen months ago. Why? Well because, frankly, I'm lazy when it comes to my hair. I have a lot of hair -a lot- and washing and styling it takes a lot of time. And I was tired of spending so much time and energy on my hair.
During college I typically washed my hair every couple of days, although after having worked up a good sweat dancing and teaching and rehearsing it sometimes was every day. Once I graduated I was able to get away with only washing it twice a week. Then I decided to embark upon my no poo journey. Over the course of six months I dealt with the greasiness that comes with training your hair to adjust to being washed only once a week. Then I was officially "low poo" and my hair was looking great!
(Disclaimer, I have very thick, very coarse, wavy long hair. I realize that for some people the thought of only washing their hair once a week is completely out of the question. For me, I don't usually start getting that oily look until about day eight, so I have been blessed to be able to get away with fewer washes.)
(natural wave just after washing with shampoo)
Five weeks ago I ditched the poo. I was prepared for a greasy transition period like I had experienced going low poo. But I was not prepared for what actually happened.
(low poo dirty hair day #9, getting ready to go no poo)
My hair just felt gross. I knew it wasn't dirty because I had just washed it. But it didn't feel clean either. My roots, which used to be so light and soft after shampooing, were now matted and lacking appeal. The ends and middle lengths of my hair felt fairly normal, but oh those roots! Every day was a battle and usually ended up in a messy bun (thankfully my job calls for a bun most days anyways). Even after only one day post shower it felt like my hair hadn't been washed in weeks.
If you're in the market, there are multiple no poo recipes out there, the most common a combination of being baking soda and apple cider vinegar. However, I read a lot of negative things about this method, such as how drastically different the pH of baking soda is than what your hair is and that it can be damaging and irritate your scalp. So I decided I didn't want to go down that road. Instead I tried honey, bentonite clay, castile soap, coconut milk, and apple cider vinegar. Nothing was working. It just kept getting worse.
Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted my hair back. My bouncy, silky, pretty hair. So I caved. I poo-ed. I just couldn't help it!
(clean hair via shampoo)
How did our grandmothers do it? Have such gorgeous looking hair before conventional shampoos and conditioners came into the picture? My fellow hippies, how do you get through the transition period without hating your hair every day? I still want to achieve no poo hair glory, but at the moment I'm a little lost, and a little scared. Back to low poo I go until I can work up the courage to try again.
So tell me, how do you poo? Got a great no poo recipe that has worked for you? Please share!
