To stop shampooing my hair or to not stop shampooing my hair?

I was chatting to one of my yogi’s and she said, oh, I’ve done that, haven’t shampooed my hair for 4 years. Wow, she said I should look up “No Poo” on Facebook, so once the class was finished, guess what I did. There’s a group called No Poo – UK, so I joined the group.

It’s now two weeks since I have washed my hair with shampoo, I have naturally curly greying hair, I used to have a really oily scalp, but dry hair, but with a few changes I have made to my diet, my hair can usually go a week without anyone noticing. Two weeks in and we are off to a party on Saturday, and I have been working out how can I continue with no shampoo and not look like I’ve not washed my hair for two weeks. Which I know I haven’t. So, tonight I have been investigating doing a baking soda wash with an apple cider vinegar conditioner.

Here's an interesting article about doing both, it gives the pro’s and con’s for both: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-8953/diy-this-baking-soda-shampoo-saved-my-hair.html

So, I have washed my hair but not with soap or shampoo or any unnatural chemicals. I have also bought some soap nuts today as it’s another way to wash the hair naturally. Waiting for them to turn up. I’m going to be adding to this article as the days and hopefully not the grease continues!

I have been looking at the posts on No Poo - UK today, lots of different ideas. I was chatting to my no poo yogi again and said that she has used soap nuts but recommends using them ground! Darn it! But wait, I’ve just found an article that says you can grind them in a blender. Result! https://wastefreeculture.com/how-to-use-soap-nuts-for-laundry-3-different-ways/

I didn’t realise that I can use soap nuts for my laundry too, so am keen to try that too. I have been using an eco egg, my partner isn’t as green as me, so hope I can get this one approved. Wish me luck. (I did used Soap Nuts for several months, but it didn't go down well, so we went back to the eco egg). Just a note to say my hair feels quite clean after its no poo wash yesterday, my hair is a bit dry as it’s curly, but I may have found some natural hair masks to try.

Hmm, wasn't able to do the hair mask suggested as I don’t have any of the ingredients, so I need to go shopping. It’s 4 day’s since I did the baking soda wash and things are okay. No comments from hubby about my hair being skanky, so it’s all good!

So, I decided to do a moisturising mix on my hair. 1 banana / ½ avocado / ½ tbsp olive oil / ½ tbsp coconut oil / ½ tbsp honey / 1 egg. Blend and apply to hair, leave in for about 20 minutes. Then wash out, I did this in the shower, that was about a week ago, my hair isn’t oily, it’s a bit dry, but that’s about normal. I might do an apple cider vinegar rinse for my next wash as my hair is a bit dry, or I might do some coconut oil and leave in for an hour or so.

It's a week later, my hair looked a little greasy yesterday, so I have showered this morning but only water washed it, then I used ACV in warm water to condition it, but it doesn’t feel like it did yesterday, it feels claggy. Think I need to do a soap nuts wash, but I will try to leave it for a few more days.

It's 2 weeks further on, I haven’t washed my hair for 2 weeks, but I did an Epsom salt bath with Borax and Baking soda a couple of days ago and my hair has been feeling yukky!, so I succumbed to a hair wash with baking soda and a conditioner of warm ACV. That’s better. I am please that I have removed lots of chemicals from my body, and that was the intention. I also must comment that I didn’t use the soap nuts for my hair, I only used them in my laundry.

My husband mentioned that we were running low on shampoo the other week and I said, oh I didn’t realise. He gave me a look and then I explained that I no longer use it. He hasn’t noticed. RESULT!

I started this article back in March 2022 and It’s now March 2024, I am only washing my hair with baking soda and conditioning with ACV. With the occasional hair mask.

I have noticed that my scalp is no longer greasy, my hair is not as dry as it used to be, and it's a bit thicker. I used to have a patch that was always tangled and it’s no longer there. I try not to dry my hair with a hairdryer, I like to dry it naturally, so it dries with my natural curl. I occasionally use my GHD’s to produce a party head!

My blogs are about what’s on my mind and the things I do to improve me. I am a work in progress, reducing toxicity and harmful chemicals to allow my body to work more efficiently. I know that my ideas may not be appetising to everyone, but if it’s something that you have thought about, why not give it a try, I am happy to discuss it with you.