On Shampoo

[fidgiegirl]

I am never satisfied with shampoo. It always leaves a buildup in my fine hair.

I bought some Aubrey brand at the co-op. It smells great but I feel I have to shampoo daily because the next day my hair feels greasy. DH's hair is fine and quite minimal :~), so he won't be able to use it or he'll REALLY look greasy.

Some here have mentioned they've gone shampoo-less ("no 'poo," right?) or that they use Dr. Bronner's. I've tried Dr. Bronners on my hair in the past and it felt so different, maybe because I have peppermint scented. But we have a quart and are almost out of shampoo - it'd be nice to make the switch now. Do you dilute it? Mix it with something?

What about dry shampoo? I don't get it.

Oh SLN friends, please impart your wisdom on 'poo!

:thankyou:

[Float On]

Every now and again I'll do baking soda (diluted in water) and then rince with apple cider vinegar to refresh my hair but I can't do that too often in the winter or I end up with more static electricity. I've grown my hair out again so try to only wash every other day and have much better results. I also don't use any products in it other than a light hairspray.
I use to use a bar soap from burt's bees but generally just buy something different every time. There seem to always be 4 bottles in the showers so I pick a different one every time, seems if I use the same one several washes in a row my hair feels tired.

[Geila]

Kelli - you won't like my answer, but here goes: low-carb diet. I found this out by accident in early summer. I was eating a diet of just veggies and animal protein and I was feeling great, my clothes were getting looser and looser even though I wasn't exercising and I felt really good emotionally (I felt happy!) Anyway, I had my hair colored and decided to wait a few days to wash it to see if it would help with the itchiness and irritation I always get after I color. It did help a great deal with it and I noticed that my hair looked great. I have really fine hair but it was looking really full and thick. I found that I didn't have to use any shampoo/conditioner or hair products at all but it looked better than ever. I have long wavy hair and it just looked fantastic.

I think I went at least 3 weeks without shampooing it, until I fell off the low-carb wagon one day. Now my hair - and skin! - get a lot oilier (I can actually feel and see the difference on my skin after even a couple of days of high-carb eating). I'm back to using all kinds of crap on my hair and it doesn't look as good as it did then.

[pony mom]

After seeing an informercial for Wen haircare, I've started washing my hair with conditioner. Just cheapy VO5 diluted with water. My hair is fine but I have a lot of it, if that makes sense. It's a bit more work to clean it this way but I'm happy with the results--much softer and lighter. Once every week or two weeks I use a SLS-free shampoo to clarify.

A clarifying shampoo used weekly will get rid of the buildup but will also probably overclean and strip your hair. Lots of people use ACV as a rinse.

[Marianne]

Or even diluted white vinegar for a rinse, your hair doesn't care.
I was used borax water for some time. When I first tried it, I thought 'this isn't doing anything'. I was pretty shocked at how much better my hair felt right away. Best thing is that I didn't have any more itchy bumps while I was using it.

But I started coloring my hair again and the borax water will gradually lighten it, so I'm back to 'poo.

[Zoebird]

vinegar. that's what i prefer to use. i use it every third or forth day. i put it in a spray bottle (half vinegar, half water), spray it onto my dry hair and scalp, and rinse out. it gets all the "grease" out of my hair.

in between washings, i brush with a boar-bristle brush, as this draws the oil away from the root and keeps the hair looking great between washings.

[Zoebird]

oh, and i'm paleo, and my hair didn't go all perfect. it's basically the same. but i was pretty healthy before anyway. :D

[Rosemary]

Well, none of the above no-shampoo things have worked for me, and my hair isn't as oily as it used to be. Using conditioner only turned it into a ball of grease. Using baking soda or castile soap turned it into straw. I just use shampoo every 3-4 days, and alternate between brands depending on what my hair has been like, which largely depends on the season.

[Azure]

I have been interested in the Wen shampoo but really did not want to spend that much money on shampoo. And it seemed like a lot of work. I read somewhere that Sally Beauty Products has their own version called Hair One. So I decided to give it a try. I was really skeptical. I also have a lot of very very fine hair. If I don't color it the hair is very fly-away. One thing I have always loved about my hair is that it is very silky to the touch & very shiny. So I wasn't expecting to like the Hair One but I really do. My hair is still very silky & shiny.I can't describe it but it is a different kind of silky & shiny. It's really nice. I usually wash every day because if I don't it gets greasy. But if I miss a day with the Hair One it doesn't seem as greasy.

I recently got a free bottle of shampoo & conditioner to try as part of a trial. I was supposed to use it for 4 weeks but I had to give up after less than 3 weeks because I didn't like the look or feel of my hair and it did get greasy if I missed a day. So I'm back to the Hair One.

[herisf]

I have very dry hair and did the no-'poo thing for awhile, but after a couple of months my hair got way too dry. So I'm back to shampooing twice or three times a week (I use conditioner all the time). When I run out of my current shampoo, I'm going to try using my bar soap (Kiss My face Olive oil) and see how it does. I use bar soap when I go on vacation and usually do OK but need to use conditioner. Depending on the soap it can leave my hair too dry. I've also tried using body lotion in lieu of conditioner when I travel, and that's worked OK too, but haven't tried it long term.

[ctg492]

I have dabbled in the no poo for a few months at a time, no problems with it. When I color my hair which is probably too often the Bk Soda and vinegar make the color fade so I stop. I would vote for no poo if I had natural hair color.

[folkypoet]

I've been "no-pooing" for 5 or 6 years. I've found that the hardness/softness of the water is what seems to make all the difference. Some places I've lived, I almost had to wash my hair daily. Other places, it was closer to once a week. I use baking soda to wash and apple cider vinegar as a rinse. Every six months or so, I "strip" my hair with a natural, SLS-free shampoo. That's it for me. No products or anything like that. I don't even blow dry it. I must say, though, it turns out fabulous every time. :o) Of course, YMMV.

[daisy]

I have really fine, oily hair and a lot of it. For years I used a clarifying shampoo followed by conditioner, but that left my hair clean but completely limp. Then about a year ago a friend told me to try Liggett's bar shampoo and it has really helped. I still have to shampoo daily, but I don't notice a build up, don't have to use conditioner and my hair is much less prone to split ends. It also has the benefit of minimal packaging.

[Mighty Frugal]

When you say you rinse' with vinegar-either apples cider or white-what exactly does that mean? You pour a cup of vinegar in your wet hair and then leave the shower? Or do you dump it on your head, and then rinse with water? If you don't rinse it out do you end up smelling like a basket of fries and vinegar?

My gf was just telling me about her baking soda experience and I am tempted to try it with a vinegar rinse...

[razz]

I tried 'poo' cleaning without success but may try it again now that we have softened water. I had to find a SLS-free shampoo since I was getting itchy bumps on my scalp.

[Kestra]

When you say you rinse' with vinegar-either apples cider or white-what exactly does that mean? You pour a cup of vinegar in your wet hair and then leave the shower? Or do you dump it on your head, and then rinse with water? If you don't rinse it out do you end up smelling like a basket of fries and vinegar?

My gf was just telling me about her baking soda experience and I am tempted to try it with a vinegar rinse...

What I do is mix roughly 5 TB ACV with 1-2 cups of water. Slowly run that on my hair and massage it around so all hair is covered. Then rinse it all out. Seems slightly vingegary until it dries but seems fine after that. Have been using baking soda and vinegar for 5 plus years now. Works well for me but then again I really don't care much my hair. As long as it's clean enough and I don't overally stand out in public I'm good.

[folkypoet]

Here's my routine:

I mix about 4 Tbs baking soda with 4 cups water (I have long hair) and drench my scalp. I scritch that in for a while, then leave it in while I clean my body. Then, I rinse it out. Next, I mix about 1-2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar with the same amount of water, pour it over all my hair and immediately rinse it out. Done. My hair has no smell, really, other than hair. :o)

Try it! What have you got to lose? If it comes out horrible, you can always just shampoo. (Though, to be fair, a lot of people say it takes them a couple of weeks before their hair starts looking good. There's an adjustment period for the majority of folks, I think.)

[mira]

I have also been 'no-pooing' for about 4 or 5 years. The impetus was to try and get my curls in a reasonable state, so they weren't all fluffy and changeable depending on the weather.

I've tried various methods and used to have a real problem with greasy roots and a flaky scalp (particularly with baking soda, ACV/lemon juice), but I've found the best methods involve 1. using a conditioner with lots of oil in it (and no silicones) sparingly to condition the length of my hair AND clean the scalp, and mixing a couple drops of shampoo or shikakai powder in with it every so often for a deeper clean; or 2. using a very cheap conditioner to 'cleanse' the hair/scalp - they seem to have more of a cleansing effect than a conditioning one!

The less frequently you wash your hair and let the oil production on your scalp regulate, the less frequently your hair will become oily. Takes a while to make this transition though!

Hard water makes my hair freak out and feel like it's been slathered in glue or something. Lots of vinegar/lemon juice sorts that out though.

[nswef]

I swear by Mrs. Myers lavender laundry detergent. I've been using it at least 3 years. No build up, it seems soft and smells good. I tried the baking soda, cider vinegar and just didn't like the lack of perfume smell. I am sure other scents will work as well. It doesn't suds much yet cleans well. My hair is fine and thick. I wash every other day.

[Simplicity]

My hair was driving me crazy a couple of weeks ago. I just felt like there was a yucky buildup on my scalp - annoying and itchy. So I tried the baking soda wash and vinegar rinse just to see if I could at least get rid of whatever icky stuff that was. I worked amazingly!

I will warn you though - it strips color really fast! I noticed a difference in the color after just doing it the once. I think I will just use the baking soda and vinegar once in a while to strip all of the buildup out of my hair and off my scalp and use shampoo and conditioner the rest of the time. I could definitely see going to the baking soda and vinegar full time though.

My hair did feel soft and clean, but I found it was very "fly-away." Is that normal?

[fidgiegirl]

Maybe tomorrow I will have to give the baking soda/vinegar a try! My hair is adjusting to the Aubrey brand that was leaving me feeling really greasy, but I do still have buildup.

[Spartana]

I am never satisfied with shampoo. It always leaves a buildup in my fine hair.



I haven't read all the other posts yets so hope I'm not repeating someone. I also have very fine, straight, long (to my waist), blonde hair and it gets weighed down by almost anything. But I have found that when I use inexpensive "Suave Daily Clarifing" shampoo and conditioner it seems to be have more body that lasts longer. I also have bangs (the long choppy kind) which helps to add some body around my face so my hair stays perkier just by wetting the bangs and blow drying them even if the rest of my hair is limp that day (and usually in a pony tail, braid or bun). I have been using Suave for years and have to admit I have great hair. Tried lots of other things but they always left it feeling too oily or limp. Love my Suave!!