The no-poo method and my experience
If you’ve ever come across the no-poo method before, you know that it doesn’t have anything to do with pooping as someone could imagine at first glance. In fact, this name is just an abbreviation for the no-shampoo method, which has recently become very popular, as more and more people are realizing that there may be harmful substances in the products that we use in our hair.
Several studies have already confirmed that some substances in shampoos are better to be avoided (e.g. Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Parabens, Polyethylene Glycols (PEG), etc.). A huge number of people face problems like dry and itchy scalp, dandruff, lifeless dry hair, etc., but at the same time believe that they can solve this with a more expensive shampoo only to realize that they spent a lot of money for nothing.
Therefore people came up with alternatives that actually make a lot of sense if you think about them some more. The logic behind it is that scalp produces sebum, which protects the scalp and hair from external damaging factors. We remove this sebum with shampoo to get that squicky clean feeling, but by doing that we stimulate the scalp to produce it again in even larger amounts to protect itself. By repeating that, we fall into a vicious cycle where the scalp produces more and more sebum and the hair becomes more and more oily as it tries to protect itself from the complete dryness caused by shampoos with harsh chemicals.
The idea of the no-poo method is basically that if we stop removing sebum so aggressively, the scalp regains its balance and starts producing just the right amount of sebum also the hair no longer looks so greasy, but is healthier, more beautiful, and needs to be washed less frequently as it is not constantly subject to harsh chemicals.
There are a lot of ways for alternative hair washing that fall under the no-poo category. What they all have in common is that there is a transition period that you have to endure in which your hair will look very oily, as the scalp must first get used to not having to produce such amounts of sebum. This period can be quite daunting, as it can last for weeks or even months without any noticeable results, and many people end up quitting during this time. However, the success stories are very inspiring. Along the way, you also need to be careful not to use any hair products that you will not be able to clean thoroughly with this method (e.g. hairsprays, some conditioners). Because these products can otherwise accumulate on your scalp and clog the hair follicles, which can lead to lesser hair growth and hair loss. You also need a good wooden comb or brush to be able to effectively distribute sebum through your hair. Some rinses (tea rinses for example) or masks will also help you along the way.
I first heard of the no-poo method when I was researching how I could save my scarecrow-looking hair. It has always been extremely frizzy, dry, brittle — in fact, it matched all the long lists of negative adjectives written on the labels of shampoo bottles that this shampoo will supposedly magically fix. Also, I had to wash it almost every day, which made everything even worse.
After reading quite a few testimonies of people trying different methods, I was absolutely excited to start my journey and willing to endure that transition period to achieve the desired results. At first, I only read a lot about washing hair with baking soda, but when I researched more deeply, I found a ton of different ideas ranging from the most extreme to those that still allow using shampoo if you make sure that it is natural and does not contain harmful substances. I researched a lot on this topic and also tried a lot of methods myself, that is why I will briefly describe my experience, the pros, and cons of those methods, and how my journey unfolded.
1. Water only / sebum only
At first, I was fascinated by the idea of washing my hair only with water. It sounded really interesting that this would be the optimal way to take care of my hair, as it should supposedly get used to this method over time and the water should wash away the dirt, while the sebum would be nicely distributed throughout the hair by combing. A lot of women shared their experiences with the method, I read some blogs about it and watched videos that went more in-depth on the reasons for this method, as some achieved great results by sticking to it.
I washed my hair just with warm water, combed it well with a wooden comb or a boar bristle brush, and let it air dry. Sebum only method on the other hand means that you don’t even wet your hair with water, you just massage your scalp and comb your hair so that the sebum is evenly distributed (I’ve never tried this one).
Needless to say, I had to wear my hair in a ponytail for the first two months constantly, as it looked kind of like professor Snape’s in Harry Potter. However, by no means did I want to give up as I slowly started to notice improvement. After about two months, my scalp actually stopped producing such amounts of sebum and the hair became much less frizzy and was very soft (at least the lower two-thirds of my hair). It looked exactly as I always wanted it to be, but unfortunately with one small problem, the hair at the scalp became quite waxy, almost hard at the touch, and by no means looked clean.
After further research, I realized that this waxy residue would by no means disappear as it formed due to the fact that I washed my hair with hard water. Unfortunately, I did not have access to soft water, and I would have to buy an expensive water filter to soften it (filters that only remove chlorine, for example, will not soften the water). So I slowly abandoned this method and focused on finding something that would work even with my hard water. At this point, I washed my hair about once a week.
2. Baking soda and ACV rinse
After that, I tried washing my hair with baking soda and ACV rinse. For the first time in a long time, I experienced a feeling of clean hair again and for a while, I was very happy with the results. But shortly after that my scalp started to get more greasy again and I had to make a stronger and stronger baking soda solution to clean my hair. In addition, I came across quite a few testimonials from individuals who said that this method actually dried their hair a lot.
3. Egg wash
Next I tried washing my hair with eggs. I was very pleased with the results as my hair was clean. The problem, however, was that it is not recommended to wash your hair with eggs more than once every two weeks, as eggs contain so much protein. Nor did it seem very ethical to use such quantities of eggs just to wash my hair.
4. Soap nuts
I also tried soap nuts (only twice), and I achieved pretty good results, but they dried my scalp a little too much. Maybe the mixture I made was too strong, but this method didn’t suit me and I didn’t like the smell.
5. Rye flour
After that I tried rye flour and let me tell you, I was obsessed. It is cheap, cleans hair nicely, has no unpleasant odor, and has a good pH for the scalp (unlike baking soda, for example). The disadvantages of the method were that the flour was sometimes difficult to wash out of the hair and white spots remained in my hair as if I had dandruff, which could be prevented if I sifted the flour finely beforehand. By doing this method you could risk clogging the drain, as flour and water form a sticky dense substance that can stick to the drain walls, and over time build up in the pipes.
6. Co-washing
All of the above-mentioned methods take some time and preparation before washing, so it slowly became a nuisance and I started looking for other ways that would be less time-consuming. That’s when I came across co-washing, which actually means washing your hair just with a hair conditioner. Of course, not every conditioner is suitable for this method, and it is necessary to choose one with the right ingredients. (I will not go into details as you can read a lot on this topic elsewhere and I’m not an expert). This method is really convenient and the appropriate conditioners are usually not even that expensive.
7. Low-poo
Over time, however, I began to miss the feeling of clean hair and how it lightly moves in the wind (you know all the fancy shampoo effects), because I never achieved such results with these methods and my hair on the scalp was always a bit waxy and heavy, sometimes more, sometimes less. It didn’t even look dirty, people actually couldn’t believe I wasn’t washing it with shampoo, but it never really felt clean.
It still looked much better than before, there was almost no frizz, it was soft and healthy. However, because I have thinner hair, I missed having volume, which I could not create with these methods. That’s when I discovered low-poo. The name stands for washing hair with a shampoo that contains less ‘’poo’’ and is as hair-friendly and environmentally friendly as possible. It is actually possible to buy a lot of shampoos at affordable prices, that are very high quality in terms of ingredients. What they have in common is that they are less aggressive than regular shampoos and still clean hair very well. Of course, when you start using these shampoos, you will probably experience a transitional period of a sort because your hair is still used to stronger cleaning ingredients.
In my journey, I haven’t tried methods like washing with soap bars, reetha, and other powders or the washcloth method. I currently use low-poo shampoos the most as they work best for me. My hair is no longer so soft and frizz-free, but it is still healthier than before and well cleaned after I wash it. My problems with dandruff and itchy scalp have greatly improved while using these methods, also I don’t have to wash my hair that often (every 4 days). However, I noticed a slight increase in hair loss at the beginning of using these methods. In the future, I want to start using rye flour again and maybe invest in a good water softener, as I think this would be the biggest game-changer.
If I had to give you a single piece of advice it would be to read the text on the back of shampoo bottles, not the front. It doesn’t matter if the product promises to fix a million different problems when the ingredients in it aren’t quality enough to do so. In case you haven’t paid attention to this yet, be sure to check the ingredients of your products.
