Washing hair while raw?

[green goddess]

I've never been a shampoo-every-day kind of gal; usually do a full washing twice a week with water rinsing on the other days. I'm interested in getting away from using shampoos / conditioners altogether, as they don't seem natural to me.

Does anyone have any stories to share about washing their hair, what's used as shampoos or instead of shampoos? (That sentence sounds like it could be a song!) I'd love to hear what others think!

[green goddess]

Oh, and also, for information, my hair is down to my waist - wonder if that might make it harder to break away from shampooing!

[GlimR]

I wish I could do the no-poo thing. I've tried using the baking soda/apple cider vinegar thing but it turns my very fine straight hair to straw..not good...tried not shampooing for two weeks and it was horrible. Have tried just water rinsing but doesn't get it clean enough, and the oil makes it flat and greasy looking. There's a great thread on here somewhere about no-poo......I know there are several people who swear by it if you can get thru the "waiting" period. I use the gentlest, organic products I can find. Wishing you the best.

[Mary Kay]

GlimR,

Got any recommenations for some organic shampoos? Where to buy them in bulk?

I have not found any truly organic ones at Whole foods.

I have a list of truly organic ones, and some that are "fake" - you know, have "organic" in the name, and DO have SOME organic ingredients, but are not truly organic.

LOL, I bought a bottle of supposed organic shampoo from Young Living about four years ago..I think it was $22. You could supposedly drink it. My kids poured the whole bottle in the tub for a bubble bath. Didn't know I was running a spa!

Mary Kay

[Mary Kay]

Oops, I forgot to set the subscription button, so am doing so with this reply.

Mary Kay

[GlimR]

MaryKay...this is a great site...

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

[klomasius]

Glimr,

my hair was awful for about a month and a bit after going to no shampoo (and no conditioner) it takes a while for the hair's oil production system to balance out after being stripped of oils every day or so from shampooing.

After it found the balance though, it became soft and very manageable, and I mostly only use water and wash my hair with dissolved baking soda every couple of weeks followed by some floral water and/or a couple of drops of rosehip oil massaged into the ends of the hair. I sometimes do the floral water and rosehip oil without the bicarb soda, maybe once a week, massaging into the ends of my hair if they are a little dry.

People don't even know I don't use shampoo now. Initially many don't believe me, they come feel my hair and say 'but it's so soft and clean looking!'

I really believe it has a LOT to do with diet though. I've been doing the no poo thing for about a year and a half now, and have been 100% raw for over two years, so I think the 100% raw is one of the reasons I can do the no poo, my hair might be more greasy and get dirty more easily if I wasn't doing 100%.

I wrote and article about it actually, I have it somewhere. Also, and actually this kinda puts paid to the whole 100% raw theory for no poo, my partner no longer uses shampoo or conditioner, just bicarb, he has shoulder length fine hair and is not 100%, and is in fact about 50% raw. His dandruff cleared up completely when he switched from shampoo to bicarb!

As I mentioned, it takes a fair while for the hair to adjust itself and its oil production, remember, all your life you have been artificially stripping it of its oils and it's had to go into super oil production to try and minimise the damage. Most people though cannot get over the month or so of yucky hair (juts like many cannot get over the detox when first going raw) no big deal.

[Tenuviel]

I mostly use water, but the length of hair gets really dry, so I'll do a hair/ scalp massage and soak with a mixture of coconut/avocado/jojoba oils a couple times a week. I have pretty thin hair so if I do nothing to it then my hair gets stringy and I get "scalp cleavage" lol. in between washings I use orris root mixed with auromere powder like a dry shampoo. I sprinkle it on my roots and fluff it around, then brush it out. works great!

[PeachyLove]

The herb soapwort root (saponaria officinalis) contains saponins and my understanding is it was once used for cleaning and body care. Maybe it could be formulated into a all natural mild shampoo mixed with a little baking soda, apple cider vingar and/or oils.

[evelynf]

I've been playing around with giving up the poo. I wash it about once a week. Last weekend my shampoo - it's a very mild organic one didn't quite do it's job. I think I am at the end of the tube so after that I don't think I will be buying any more shampoo. The longest I was able to go was three weeks but then I lost my job and had to tweak my grey and wash my hair properly. I'm hoping to be no poo by summer.

[green goddess]

I'm thinking also to give up my shampoo stuff when the bottle runs out (which is going to be very soon!), though I'll have to educate myself on what to do with my hair then! Baking soda rinses? Orange juice instead of shampoos? Dread locks? Nah, just kidding about that last one! Although I could have some wicked two-and-a-half foot long dreads.... ;)

[Jeannie]

Last week I stopped using shampoo, and so far, my hair feels.. like straw. :dread: It looks okay though, so I am going to persevere! My roots feel really clean from the bicarb, and I have been using water and vinegar mix on the ends. Was worried my hair would stink of vinegar but the vinegar smell seems to wash out well, fortunately!

[green goddess]

I have a friend with short curly hair, who stopped using any shampoos a few months ago. Her hair looks great, and her curls are more defined now. She also uses baking soda (I think!) and orange juice rinses. Since I'm washing my hair now once a week, I'll soon join the 'no-poo' club! See how it works with long hair! And maybe bring out some natural wave that tends to get dragged down with shampoos!

[Eva]

Have you heard of JR Liggett's? I have a friend who swears by it. It's a super natural, organic, no bad stuff added bar of soap you can use for shampoo. Supposedly you won't even need conditioner!!

I like to use apple cider vinegar as conditioner and a weekly baking soda scrub for shampoo!

[Jeannie]

It is now day 8. I almost threw in the towel because my hair felt like straw, and almost like it would break if I bent it! Then I read an article on the web which explained the no-poo really well, and I realized I was using WAY too much bs! Only about 1 tblsp and I was using about 4x that amount! Lol!

Today I washed my hair with water only, and rubbed a tiny bit of coconut oil into the ends and it made the world of difference! Not giving up!:dance:

[klomasius]

Good to hear you didn't throw in the towel Jeannie!

Many people go WAY overboard with the baking soda, it's a throwback to our 'need' for product in our hair and our fear of the natural oils our scalp produces. If you use baking soda, all you really need is a heaped teaspoon for every couple of cups you use, if that! Any more and you'll be stripping too much of the natural oils and doing damage to the hair shaft.

As I've progressed, I've used less and less BS and I often now use just warm water and maybe some floral water for conditioner. 100% raw foods really makes a difference and once the oils adapt to the return of the natural cycle (i.e. no stripping), they stop being over produced and only get produced at the levels needed.

[green goddess]

Floral water sounds interesting! What is it? Water that you've soaked flowers in?

My conditioner is about to run out! Standing on the edge of the diving board, about to plunge hair-first into the realm of no-poo!

(When I first heard the term 'no-poo', I thought it was referring to, well, not pooping, and this was supposed to be a good thing. I thought, how can not pooping be good for us? Aren't we supposed to poop? ...And then I did my research, thankfully, and discovered what it really referred to! ;))

[klomasius]

Floral water sounds interesting! What is it? Water that you've soaked flowers in?

My conditioner is about to run out! Standing on the edge of the diving board, about to plunge hair-first into the realm of no-poo!

(When I first heard the term 'no-poo', I thought it was referring to, well, not pooping, and this was supposed to be a good thing. I thought, how can not pooping be good for us? Aren't we supposed to poop? ...And then I did my research, thankfully, and discovered what it really referred to! ;))

Haha, so did I!! I thought it was an American thing!

Floral water is the leftover water from the processing of essential oils, it's full of a whole bunch of active ingredients and makes my hair go soft and shiny (and detanlges it). I buy it from a soap and personal care ingredient supply place. Here's a description of it, which includes the definition of floral water i mean (a distillate from essential oil production)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbal_distillate

[Jeannie]

Good to hear you didn't throw in the towel Jeannie!

Many people go WAY overboard with the baking soda, it's a throwback to our 'need' for product in our hair and our fear of the natural oils our scalp produces. If you use baking soda, all you really need is a heaped teaspoon for every couple of cups you use, if that! Any more and you'll be stripping too much of the natural oils and doing damage to the hair shaft.

As I've progressed, I've used less and less BS and I often now use just warm water and maybe some floral water for conditioner. 100% raw foods really makes a difference and once the oils adapt to the return of the natural cycle (i.e. no stripping), they stop being over produced and only get produced at the levels needed.

Thanks so much for the tips, K! lol, I was going WAY overboard! Was using a big handful of bs paste, bad advice from some or other 'ask-how' website! Now I have used a tiny bit of bs dissolved in water and my hair is a lot softer and more manageable now!

[klomasius]

Thanks so much for the tips, K! lol, I was going WAY overboard! Was using a big handful of bs paste, bad advice from some or other 'ask-how' website! Now I have used a tiny bit of bs dissolved in water and my hair is a lot softer and more manageable now!

Great!! Welcome to the no poo club, lol! :heart