Yea for No Poo! Updated the Honeymoon's over. Update light at the end of the rainbow post 13.

[ParisApril]

My hair history.

I have been shampooing with bars for the last year, first a natural shampoo bar then Dr. Bronners baby mild bar, 2-3x a week. I haven't been using conditioner because 1)they don't work well and 2)I am trying to cut down on packaging

I have a dry scalp that is flaky and itchy. And dry, dull, brittle, thinning curly dark hair that has lots of breakage due to wearing ponytails a lot for sports.

I am on day 7 of no poo and am loving it! I have used a vinegar rinse once but it made my hair seem greasy so I have just been scrubbing and combing with warm/hot water and doing tea rinses to "wash". I have done peppermint, ginger, and dandelion rinses basically whatever I have leftover from the previous nights tea.

My hair is so different already. It was so soft, shiny and curly last night after my shower that I was amazed. My scalp is much better as well. Not as flaky or itchy.

I wonder if I'll have a transition? My hair seems to have taken well to the no poo.

[Amy0417]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

My hair history.

I have been shampooing with bars for the last year, first a natural shampoo bar then Dr. Bronners baby mild bar, 2-3x a week. I haven't been using conditioner because 1)they don't work well and 2)I am trying to cut down on packaging

I have a dry scalp that is flaky and itchy. And dry, dull, brittle, thinning curly dark hair that has lots of breakage due to wearing ponytails a lot for sports.

I am on day 7 of no poo and am loving it! I have used a vinegar rinse once but it made my hair seem greasy so I have just been scrubbing and combing with warm/hot water and doing tea rinses to "wash". I have done peppermint, ginger, and dandelion rinses basically whatever I have leftover from the previous nights tea.

My hair is so different already. It was so soft, shiny and curly last night after my shower that I was amazed. My scalp is much better as well. Not as flaky or itchy.

I wonder if I'll have a transition? My hair seems to have taken well to the no poo.

Do you think the tea helps your itchy scalp? I've been no-pooing for a month and now I have a really itchy scalp. I switched from baking soda and vinegar to the conditioner (natural TJs brand) only, which is the curly girl method. MY hair looks awesome by the dandruff is unsightly.

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

My hair history.

I have been shampooing with bars for the last year, first a natural shampoo bar then Dr. Bronners baby mild bar, 2-3x a week. I haven't been using conditioner because 1)they don't work well and 2)I am trying to cut down on packaging

I have a dry scalp that is flaky and itchy. And dry, dull, brittle, thinning curly dark hair that has lots of breakage due to wearing ponytails a lot for sports.

I am on day 7 of no poo and am loving it! I have used a vinegar rinse once but it made my hair seem greasy so I have just been scrubbing and combing with warm/hot water and doing tea rinses to "wash". I have done peppermint, ginger, and dandelion rinses basically whatever I have leftover from the previous nights tea.

My hair is so different already. It was so soft, shiny and curly last night after my shower that I was amazed. My scalp is much better as well. Not as flaky or itchy.

I wonder if I'll have a transition? My hair seems to have taken well to the no poo.

Peppermint is stimulating, so it may very well be helping the dandruff.
I am not sure about the ginger or dandelion, but I am sure that it is doing a lot for your scalp. Maybe research the beauty benefits of ginger and dandelion, and how that may helping your scalp.

Do you use any EOs?

[ParisApril]

Originally Posted by Amy0417

Do you think the tea helps your itchy scalp? I've been no-pooing for a month and now I have a really itchy scalp. I switched from baking soda and vinegar to the conditioner (natural TJs brand) only, which is the curly girl method. MY hair looks awesome by the dandruff is unsightly.

I have been using the tea just because I have it leftover anyway so I thought it would be nice to rinse with it. It certainly can't be hurting.

I do comb with a small toothed comb for a few minutes before I "wash" and when I am "washing" as well. That really help to loosen up the dry bits.

From what I've read bs is very drying for the scalp so thats why I haven't tried using any as of yet. I am a bit oily today though so I am considering it.

[PatienceAndLove]

Day 6 of No Poo
I rinsed my hair with a rosemary/mint/lavender/tea tree oil blend 3 days ago. I haven't noticed any excessive nasties.

I am planning on a thyme/ACV rinse tomorrow.

[ParisApril]

Day 12 I was so oily it was gross so I decided to wash my hair with a tiny bit of my seabuckthorn soap only on the back of the head where the oil was worst. It helped the oil but did dry out the ends a bit.

Does anyone out there just wash their hair less often? Like once every 2 weeks or once a month?

[PatienceAndLove]

Sorry sweetie.

I noticed that adding 100mL of ACV to my tea rinse cleans my hair and takes care of the oilies.

[thixle]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

Does anyone out there just wash their hair less often? Like once every 2 weeks or once a month?

Yep! Once a week or two. I wash when I wake up and it looks and feels like it needs washing I usually use a TBSP of BS in a cup of water. No rinse- even the most diluted ACV makes me greasy.

[columbusmomma]

From what I understand and I've been using the curly girl method, is that there is a transition period the hair goes through. I am actually using a low-poo product and am really happy with this vs. no poo. Most days I just condition. I do think my hair looks better not using any sulfate products

[Juvysen]

I do every once in a while, now. Like once a month? I find that my hair is a bit greasier when I'm nearing my period. I went two years without, though. I did use vinegar on the top about every other day, though. I quit using baking soda because it was drying out my hair, but dh still does a bs rinse about once a month.

Also, I found I could go a month or so without doing anything if i took time to scrub my scalp for like 4 minutes (well, a really long time - minutes, not seconds).

[frenchfry]

I really wish I could have the will power to do this! I have really oily hair and very breakout prone skin. I made it to 3 days and my shoulders and face were a mess! (hair is not quite long enough to keep in a pony tail to keep it off my skin well).

I only made it to day 3 before I felt too gross to continue. How do you get past this?

[A_Random_Phrase]

subbing

[ParisApril]

Today is November 1 so I haven't used shampoo/soap on my hair in 21 days. Here is what I have noticed.

- Baking soda is way too drying for my hair leaving it very crunchy even when using a small amount. (1 tsp bs to 1 cup water)
- Vinegar leaves my hair shiny but greasy.
- Adding any kind of oil after washing is a really bad idea because it makes my hair really greasy.

I have been washing once a week with conditioner containing no silicones or SLS's and it is working great. I have found I need to let the conditioner sit on my head for a good 20 minutes and then give my scalp a thorough scrubbing otherwise I end up with flakes. My hair is producing a lot less oil every week now. I washed my hair on Saturday and straightened it for a Halloween party and I can wear it down and it still looks nice as of today Tuesday. By the end of the week I will have to wear it up though.

[ParisApril]

Originally Posted by frenchfry

I really wish I could have the will power to do this! I have really oily hair and very breakout prone skin. I made it to 3 days and my shoulders and face were a mess! (hair is not quite long enough to keep in a pony tail to keep it off my skin well).

I only made it to day 3 before I felt too gross to continue. How do you get past this?

Putting my hair back really helped through the initial greasy phase. I also broke out more than normal for the first 2 weeks but that has totally stopped now. Could you wear a dew rag in your hair to keep it off your face?

As a side note I have also stopped washing my face with soap as I have really dry skin and soap makes it so much worse. Just water and a face cloth for me.

[PatienceAndLove]

ParisApril-
Have you tried the conditioner/BS method? You mix the BS in with the conditioner. I used that for awhile and it worked really well. I stopped for unknown reasons (this was over 2 years ago), but I am thinking of switching back to that method.

[ParisApril]

Patience- The conditioner seems to be doing a great job on it's own. The hair seems very clean and shiny afterward with no dryness. I didn't like how my hair felt after using BS, crisp and dry is the best way to describe it. What kind of results did you get when you mixed both?

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

Patience- The conditioner seems to be doing a great job on it's own. The hair seems very clean and shiny afterward with no dryness. I didn't like how my hair felt after using BS, crisp and dry is the best way to describe it. What kind of results did you get when you mixed both?

It was quite lovely.
I only mentioned it because you said you had to leave your conditioner on for 20 minutes. I do know with my hair, that would make it heavy and greasy, and I found that the BS lightened the conditioner up a bit, and cleaned my hair well.

I was introduced to the idea here on MDC, but I haven't been able to find the original post.

[ParisApril]

I have found leaving it on for 20 minutes really helps loosen up the dry skin on my scalp. Then I really scrub the scalp. My hair is not greasy afterward just shinny but I rinse it really, really well. I might try the BS/Conditioner method how much BS do you add to the conditioner?

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by ParisApril

I have found leaving it on for 20 minutes really helps loosen up the dry skin on my scalp. Then I really scrub the scalp. My hair is not greasy afterward just shinny but I rinse it really, really well. I might try the BS/Conditioner method how much BS do you add to the conditioner?

Just a tad.
I used a travel sized bottle- about 1/2 to 1 tsp of BS, conditioner, and a bit of water to mix.

[ParisApril]

Thanks I think I'll give it a try when I wash today (I'm going to have Friday be my wash day now). How often did you wash it with BS/conditioner?