'No Poo'

It seems my hair has always been fragile, limp, prone to greasiness, and full of flyaways and split ends. I've tried so many different shampoos, conditioners, deep conditioning treatments, mouses, and so on. All of that = no progress, at least not for very long. About 9 months ago, I went and got my hair cut at Fantastic Sams, and (of course) the hair dresser suggested I try a fancy salon brand of shampoo & conditioner. I thought, why not? might as well. So I bought it, tried it, and for a while my hair was gorgeous. However, after a few months, it got a lot greasier, a lot faster. I found myself using twice as much shampoo as I was using when I started. I was bugged.

Then one magical day, I was pinning away, and I found a link titled 'How to Wash Your Hair No Poo Style'. It sounded really weird. I had to at least find out what it meant. What it meant was a miracle! I tried it, and haven't used shampoo or conditioner in my hair for almost 4 weeks now, and my hair has NEVER looked or felt better!

Turns out, shampoo strips your hair of all the oils it and your scalp produce. But guess what? Those natural oils are good for your hair, it needs them. Since you've stripped your hair of everything with the shampoo, you have to replace them with the chemicals in conditioner... Sounds kind of pointless, right? Kind of like some genius invented shampoo and conditioner to trick us into buying things we don't even need, but think we do? I think so...

Anyway, because you strip your hair of the natural oils, your hair, in reaction, produces more at a faster rate. The No Poo Method, is a way to set your hair back to a normal rate of oil production. Resulting in healthier, stronger, less greasy hair. True Story.

At the link above, you can read a much more detailed insight to the No Poo Method. I think my experience with it was the exception... It is suppose to take between 2 weeks & 2 months to get your hair back in balance. Mine took about 3 days...

What you'll need:

-Clarifying shampoo
-Baking soda
-Spray bottle. I just bought this little guy for less than a dollar.
-Vinegar (use apple cider vinegar for drier hair, it's what I used.)

To start:
-In the shower, use the clarifying shampoo. It gets rid of anything that's in your hair; product buildup, waxes, hairspray, gels, all that jazz. (I bought mine from a hair dresser a long time ago. I swim a lot, and use it after each swim to get the chlorine out of my hair.) You can find it at any store. I know Suave makes it.

-After rinsing out (really well) the clarifying shampoo, it's time for the baking soda. (I keep mine in a small tupperware in the shower.) Scoop about 2 tablespoon of the baking soda into your hands, try to get the majority of it onto your fingers. Then work it onto your scalp and massage it all around your head. (It'll feel pretty weird at first.) Only put the baking soda on your scalp, NOT the rest of your hair. Let it sit for a minute or so then rinse it out. (You may need to flip your hair over to rinse the hair on the lower back of your head.)

-In the spray bottle, you'll want a 2 Tablespoons vinegar to 1 cup water ratio. Shake it up! Then, spray it through only on the length of your hair, NOT the scalp. (It will stink, maybe I'm just a wimp/ I have a sensitive nose, but I had to turn my head the opposite way of where I was spraying.) Let it sit for a minute, then rinse away.

*Use a comb to detangle your hair. Start with the ends, then work your way up. Your hair will probably feel like straw for the first few days. Mine felt like it for a couple days, and was really staticy for about 4 days. But don't worry, it will get better!

*Your hair will smell like vinegar while it is wet. When it's dry, you'd never know the vinegar was there.

Repeat the process everyday. Your hair will feel greasier from anywhere between 2 weeks- 2 months (Again, I think I was the exception. I didn't experience this and am not sure why...) Once it's back to normal, you can see how it does with just water. Yep, no baking soda or vinegar; just. water. Cool huh? (I haven't been able to pull that off yet, my hair looks greasy when I've tried. So I'm giving it more time.)

Pros of No Poo:
-My hair is soooo much less greasy! Before, if I went a day without washing it, it looked like it was wet- literally. One day I hadn't washed it yet and my bro asked me if it was wet. Nope, it was just greasy. Gross.
-I can wash my hair every other day and it looks just fine :)
-My hair has never been shiner!
-My flyaways have gone down. Hello smooth hair :)
-It rarely tangles.
-It's so much softer!
-It has as much volume as my thin hair can have :)
-I'll never have to buy any products ever again...

Say goodbye to all this nonsense!

Happy hair washing! :)