One Month Without Shampoo
Okay, I’ve been promising an update and here it finally is!
As of right now I have officially gone 5.5 weeks without using shampoo or conditioner.
Going no shampoo (or no-poo as it’s called) was something I stumbled on a few weeks prior to starting, and got most of my information from this blog.
I’ve read all sorts of reasons for people taking the leap to going no-poo and honestly, the one that got me was that I read it can make your hair grow faster -count me in! Another huge benefit is the fact that you don’t have wash your hair nearly as often, a huge time saver for me.
Instead of using shampoo I now use baking soda and water and my replacement for conditioner is a vinegar and water mix.
I’ve messed around a bit with the ratios I’ve been using with the baking soda and vinegar but what seems to be working for me is mixing two tablespoons of baking soda with one cup of water and pouring that into a spray bottle. In the shower I spray this all over my scalp (not on the length or ends of my hair) and leave it in for a few minutes, then I wash it out really well (it takes a bit longer than regular shampoo).
For conditioner I mix two tablespoons of vinegar with one cup of water into a separate spray bottle. This I spray into the length and ends of my hair (not onto my scalp) I leave it in for a few minutes and then rinse it out.
If you are concerned about the smell of the vinegar -it does smell a bit when you apply it to your hair but once it’s dried you can’t smell it at all. I’ve read about some people using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar but I’ve found that it smells stronger when I am spraying it and doesn’t work as well in my hair.
So far I have not noticed my hair growing any faster -boo. But that might change, I’m totally willing to stick it out longer and hope that it does!
As for the frequency that I wash my hair . . . before going no-poo I washed my hair every other day pretty consistently. When starting the no-poo routine I slowly started increase the amount of time that I go between washes. The first time I went three days, then stretched it to four and did that for a few times, and at this point I can wash my hair every five days.
There is a transition period where your hair will feel a little weird and if you are increasing the amount of time between washing your hair you will probably have some oily days but it is definitely worth it to stick to it. Prior to going no-poo when I would wash my hair every other day on days when I didn’t wash it I definitely needed to use my diy dry shampoo but now I can go till day three or four without even needing it, my hair produces so much less oil.
Another benefit has been the fact that my hair is getting much less damaged. I usually only curl my hair the day that I wash it which means I’ve gone from curling it 3-4 times a week down to 1-2 times.
At this point the pros to going no-poo far outweigh the cons and I definitely plan on sticking with it, at least for a few more months.
I would love to hear from you!
Are you no-poo? How does it work for you?
If not, is it something you plan on trying in the future?
dress // forever 21
leggings // target
boots // walmart
belt // from a shirt I’ve had forever
P.S. today is the last day to get the learning your DSLR in manual mode workshop for the introductory price of $20 – tomorrow it will go back up to $30
I have been thinking about doing this lately! My friend was telling me about it a few weeks ago and yes- saying that her hair grows faster (and looks better now) if she doesn’t wash it a ton. Now I’m especially going to try it after hearing your thoughts as well! I typically wash my hair every other day as it is but might try to go every three days now. Here’s to faster growing, luscious hair! 😉
Yeah, definitely slowly start increasing the amount of time between washing, go three days a few times and then increase it to four. It might go through a weird stage for a bit but if you stick with it it’s worth it. If you give it a try let me know how it goes!
P.S. Your blog link isn’t in your Disqus profile, just thought you would want to know.
OH! Thank you for letting me know about my profile!!
This is so interesting! I’ve not heard of this as a ‘thing’ before but I’m interested, any excuse to wash my hair less! I have thick long brown hair and my great auntie used to always tell me I should use vinegar. In WW2 when everything was rationed her 11 sister all used to use vinegar to get shiny hair before going dancing. The only down side was smelling like a chip shop. I like this modern take on it!
Wow, so cool! I’ve heard some girls put a touch of nice smelling oils in their hair after to give it a nice smell. I’ve been too lazy to look into it and don’t feel like my hair smells like anything at all, if it did smell strongly like vinegar I’d probably look into it.
I’ve been wondering about this, but I haven’t found anybody that has curly hair that says it works. Did you come across any “curly hair” blogs when you were looking?
I have naturally curly hair and I do it. I haven’t used shampoo in forever. I only use conditioner. There are tons of videos on youtube to look at. I normally just use shampoo or clarify once a month or when I want to straighten my hair.
So do you use the baking soda/vinegar method or something else? And do you use something else for deep conditioning? I just feel like my hair is so dry and these last few days of trying DevaCurl have not been pretty. Ha!
I use conditioner only. For deep conditioning I use a lot of things. Sometimes I use honey and a leave in conditioner or yogurt. I have tons of youtube videos saved of different things that I used. My hair goes through its phases of being dry so I try not to shampoo and after I condition my hair I always rinse with cold water only.
Thanks for sharing your insight Brittany!
Meg, I didn’t come across any bloggers with curly hair that really shared about going no-poo but I do frequently look through #nopoo on Instagram and from what I’ve read from some curly girls is that their curls get more defined, and some said it gets better after a couple of days of not washing it.
Yes! I started this two weeks ago. Going good so far! I need to experiment more with ratios, but I’m liking it.
Sweet! I find I’m still experimenting with the ratios a bit too. And I’m thinking my summer ratios will differ from my winter ones.
I love this post, I am desperate for my hair to grow longer and have heard of some friends doing this so I may have to give it a try. Also, there is a young couple in our church beginning the process of domestic adoption. I have been helping research different fundraising avenues for them and stumbled upon the once was lost website and saw you front and center! I got so excited! Really neat to connect in this cyber world! much love!
If you give it a try let me know how it goes!
What a small little world. 🙂 Yes, we started Once Was Lost about a year and a half ago!
How interesting, I had never heard of this! My grandmother and mother are firm believers in using vinegar in their hair though, and they’ve got really strong locks so I’m sure there’s something to this!
So cool! You should give it a try!
Really cute photos! I did no-poo for two months before my wedding, and I did love it….felt like my hair was really healthy- I got lazy in it though, and missed the smell of shampoo! So, for now, I am back on shampoo-ing….but this post inspires me to go no-poo again in April!
Thanks for sharing!
http://www.lovelydoesit.com
I’ve heard some girls use nice smelling essential oils on their hair to give it a good smell. I’ve been to lazy to look into it myself and have been totally okay with my hair smelling like nothing so far but you might want to look into it!
Seriously, my hair would NEVER look as good as yours does! Two days without shampoo and my hair is too gross. But I have heard of many girls doing this and they say it is wonderful for their hair!
There is definitely a transition period. When I went to three days, day three wasn’t so pretty. But after a few times it got used to it, then I went on to four days, now that I can do that I’m transitioning to five. If possible I usually try to work it out that I don’t have to go out much on that last day.
P.S. Lauren, your blog link isn’t in your Disqus profile.
I have been wanting to try this. All I need is the spray bottles. I’ve been hearing lots of good thing about it, so I’m pretty pumped!
Let me know how it goes once you start!
You are to cute and your hair looks great!
Thanks Joanna!
shut up! 5.5 weeks without shampoo? that’s awesome!!! and your hair seriously looks like you just washed it yesterday. I’ll be trying this!
Definitely give it a try Whitney! And let me know what you think!
This is so awesome… I’ve been looking forward to this post! Right now I wash my hair every other day, and it’s badly damaged. (I’ve been coloring it for 14 years now!) I would love to go no-poo, but I’m worried about the tangle part. Right now when I wash my hair, I use tons of conditioner to help untangle my hair (it becomes a hot tangled mess after I shampoo it). Have you used anything post-shower to help with tangles or to add that “softness” that conditioner normally gives?
The vinegar has helped with tangles. I usually leave it in for a few minutes in the shower and then work my fingers through it as I rinse it. If I feel it’s still too tangled I’ll add more vinegar and leave it on for a few more minutes before rinsing it out. But with no-poo since you don’t work the baking soda into all of your hair like you would with regular shampoo it might not get as tangled? I would definitely give it a try and see what you think! And maybe your hair would prefer the apple cider vinegar over white vinegar, I would test a few things out over time.
I totally went no-poo too for about a year, (now I’m back on the poo)
I found the baking soda dried my hair too much and I sometimes mixed it with an essential oil.
Nowadays I use baking soda and shampoo mixed together is great for getting rid of the chlorine smell after swimming, and I wash my hair about twice a week.
Interesting! I’ve never heard of anyone mixing baking soda and shampoo. I’ll keep that in mind!
I’m definitely thinking about doing this and I love hearing from others that it works!
If you do it, let me know how it goes!
You know, I’ve been seeing this around and I’ve definitely been considering it! I wash my hair about every other day (sometimes longer). I have thick and curly hair, so I don’t wash it as much. And I don’t straighten it nearly as much as I used too. I love it when it is long and straight, it just takes too long! Anyways, I was wondering what this would be like if I tried it. I wonder if it would help/harm the curls…?
I’ve heard some curly girls that have had great results (after getting though the transition phase). Some have said their curls get better the longer they go without washing. Definitely seems like it’s worth a shot!
yayyy I’m so happy to have found another lover of dry shampoo 😀 I haven’t tried no-poo yet… I’m not sure why. I’m probably psyching my self into the idea slowly because I actually hate washing my hair, so any excuse that lets me go wash-free for 5 whole days is definitely exciting ^^ For now I can go 4 days with dry shampoo on day 3 and 4. I’m wondering about vinegar as a conditioner though. What is it that vinegar has that’s conditioning?
I don’t really know how the vinegar works but since writing this I’ve changed things up a bit because the baking soda wasn’t working for me, so now I use a silicone free shampoo and continue to just use vinegar as conditioner, the vinegar still works really well.