No 'poo Qs - can't find answers anywhere

[sobamom]

Hi everyone, 

This is my second time trying to go no 'poo--big greasy failed attempt over a decade ago--and I can't find answers to my questions despite spending the past couple of hours Googling! Maybe it's because there is just so much info out there now (versus there not being any the first time I tried this all those years ago, ironically) or because unfortunately it seems to be such a trial-and-error process.

Anyhow, my two big questions are:

1. How often do you baking-soda wash at the very beginning? All those blogs and websites that write about no 'poo tell you how often you can go without washing after your hair has adjusted. But at first, do you wash as often as you used to with shampoo? I have very dry/greasy skin+scalp, and my hair is already looking awful after less than a week: flat and oily at the top, hair sticking out in all different directions (something that happens when I have over-buildup and need to use a clarifying shampoo), and my hair feels really stiff, coarse, and waxy. So I WANT to wash (with baking soda) often--every other day, at least. But some posts I've read say that overwashing is going to just make your scalp keep overproducing oil. Which way to go then? I'm also starting to break out in zits  around my hairline and I feel pretty sure it's because of going no 'poo. Is that part of the transition period?

2. I just did the baking-soda wash and ACV rinse, and I can still smell that greasy hair smell coming from my scalp. Is this okay? Other bloggers who write about going no 'poo always seem to emphasize how their hair NEVER smelled bad, so I feel like something is not right or I just have a more sensitive nose than most people.

Please help! Really want this to work and would hate to fail and have to quit a second time!

[LionessMom]

i make paste and then use my fingertips to scrub the scalp. after i have scrubbed all the greasy spots i let it sit for a few minutes. to disssolve the oil. then i rinse. i use only 3 tbsps of acv and mix with a large glasws of water and TTO then i rinse with that. i also let that sit awhile. then rinse real well with water. then i have been blow drying. i start off doing it every day. after a week you can cut back to every other day.

about greasy and dry scalp at the same time... does it itch? does it flake? you could have yeast overgrowth. sometimes it make scalp more greasy, sometimes it causes dandruff. sometimes it causes worse stuff.. which is what i am dealing with. TTO oil wasnt working by itself. i bought some yeast cream OTC and used it on my scalp. i left it sit over night then washed it out the next morning. i did a second treatment the next day. my scalp feels less dry and less oily now.

[sobamom]

Hi there!

No itchiness or flakes. What I meant be dry/greasy scalp is that I suffer from really dry skin all over, but in my face and scalp, this results in overproduction of oil to compensate, so things can then get quite greasy. 

[justmama]

I cannot do full no-poo.  I don't know why.  My hair doesn't like it.  I have thick wavy frizz-prone hair(I'm a 2c if that means anything to you) and my hair is HUGE if I don't use conditioner.  So every day I do a silicone-free conditioner to "wash" my hair and just rinse out.  Once a week I do baking soda mixed with my conditioner and follow with acv rinse to wash.  Sometimes I need to do it twice a week because I've had to use more gel that week to control my curls.  It really depends.  This time of year my hair gets frizzy and flyaway due to our forced hot air heating sysem and just the dryness in general.  So I need the extra conditioner to calm it.  I would never be able to go more than 6-7days without baking soda washing.  It's just not possible for me and I've been no-poo for 5 months now.

[justmama]

I also wanted to add that I wouldn't stick with any formula to this.  I would just wash when you need it every few days and call it that.  Eventuall ytour hair will even out and you won't be so greasy.  It's just so individual you have to figure it out on your own unfortunately.

[LionessMom]

i agree with justmama. i came on here looking for answers at first too. a specific mix etc. it is just trial and error unfortunately. i just tried everybodies ways and then settled into my own. and to tell the truth, my way changes from day to day. depending on how my scalp feels right before i hit the shower.

[sobamom]

Thanks everyone. I know, I wish there were clear-cut formulas simply based on your hair type or something! My hair was really looking insane yesterday (sticking out horizontally on one side!) and I was so tempted to shampoo it, but hung in there. Totally soaked my hair this morning in cold water. Hair sprung right back up once it dried! But it's now evening and it looks like it is losing the battle to gravity, finally. Sigh. 

I don't know exactly what my hair type is but it is definitely coarse and kinky, so I think it looks worse and reacts more extremely than fine hair when it's detoxing. Shrug.

[LionessMom]

mine gets coarser too for awhile until the oils coat the hair shaft again. do you use a wood comb or a brush to move the sebum?

[Scarlettmoon]

I've been doing no-poo almost two months now, but my situation is different as my hair was very dry from health issues, so I haven't gone through the greasy stage yet.  I am still washing every other day- I don't feel ready to go longer yet.  No-poo makes my hair much softer and more manageable, but I do have to watch how dry it gets and adjust the measurements accordingly.  I have now added a fairly safe (according to the cosmetics data-base) conditioner just to my ends each time I wash to help with the dryness.  I have had issues with acne along my hairline, and even on my face, but it seems to be getting a bit better so hopefully that goes completely away in time.  

[dynamicdoula]

Originally Posted by sobamom 

Hi everyone, 

This is my second time trying to go no 'poo--big greasy failed attempt over a decade ago--and I can't find answers to my questions despite spending the past couple of hours Googling! Maybe it's because there is just so much info out there now (versus there not being any the first time I tried this all those years ago, ironically) or because unfortunately it seems to be such a trial-and-error process.

Anyhow, my two big questions are:

1. How often do you baking-soda wash at the very beginning? 

2. I just did the baking-soda wash and ACV rinse, and I can still smell that greasy hair smell coming from my scalp. Is this okay? Other bloggers who write about going no 'poo always seem to emphasize how their hair NEVER smelled bad, so I feel like something is not right or I just have a more sensitive nose than most people.

Please help! Really want this to work and would hate to fail and have to quit a second time!

1. I wash and ACV only when my hair feels greasy. I found after I detoxed from shampoo that I could go a week or more without using it (then I got color in my hair and now I'm back on shampoo, at least for now). When I started, I was washing every other day just like I normally do. I just stopped routinely washing, and started washing only when my hair was greasy. It took a while for that time period to stretch out but it did. My routine: First, I brush my hair thoroughly. The only time I ever brush my hair is right before I shower (I have curly hair). This helps distribute the oils throughout my hair. I keep a mason jar of baking soda in my shower and a small bowl. I have long hair so I added about 1/4 cup of BS and then about a cup of water and just slowly poured it over my scalp. It doesn't matter if it gets on my long hair because that's not what's greasy, and just massaged my scalp a bit. I let it sit on my hair while I washed my body and then just rinsed everything at once. Do not use hot water! Warm is fine, cooler water is even better- but don't use hot. Then I do about the same proportions (sometimes a little more acv) of ACV and water in the same bowl. I dip my ends right into the bowl and then pour the rest of it over my head slowly. I let that sit a minute while I brush my teeth or shave or whatever and then again rinse. I was *reliant* on conditioner and now I can go completely product free (no defrizzers, gel, conditioner, etc) this way. Now that I'm using shampoo again I find I still don't have to wash my hair every other day- I'm on day four and my hair is not greasy. I'm hoping that since I'm using it again I can keep it stretched out so it does less damage to my oil balance, but who knows. Either way I'll go back off of it because I just prefer how my hair feels w/o shampoo.

2. My hair never had that greasy smell after washing- it always smelled like ACV. lol What are your proportions?

[justmama]

Kristina, I find it amazing that you can go without gel and condtioner in your curly hair and that you can brush it.  If I brush, I have massively frizzy hair because brushing disrupts the spiral pattern in my hair.  Likewise with no gel or conditioner.  Massive frizz.  I will say that since I ditched the shampoo my hair has been much easier to manage though, but not quite enough to quit those things.

[dynamicdoula]

I DO have massive frizz! That's why I only ever brush it right before I shower. LOL 

[edensong]

I'd like to offer a few suggestions.

You might consider using 1/2 cup baking soda to 3 cups of water, instead of a paste.  Be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse to get the powdery residue out.  Then use your ACV/water rinse and rinse again.  Consider adding some EOs to the ACV rinse that are stimulating for your hair, like cedarwood, juniper, lavender, lavandin, rosemary, thyme.

You might also want to try a hair oil tonic prior washing -- kind of like a deep conditioner.  I know that may sound counter-productive to greasy hair, but remember that oil cuts oil.

Here's a formula that I created for my mother and son for hair loss:

Hair Tonic

8 oz castor oil

60 d cedarwood

60 d juniper

80 d lavender

80 d rosemary

Leave on hair at least 20 minutes prior to washing. May be left on overnight.  The above may seem heavy with EOs, but it's for therapeutic purposes, not for scent.

Keep in mind that any natural formula usually takes a bit longer to show the effects.

Another conditioning option is virgin coconut oil.  It is wonderful for the hair.

Once your hair is washed and rinsed, use a natural hair gel -- 70% distilled water mixed with 30% sea kelp bioferment or mix up a flax seed gel (here's a recipe).  This will help nourish your hair, as well as encourage growth.

HTH

[Kohava]

Hi.  I'm also having issues with this - I've doing the no-poo for about 6 months, and it's been great for my three daughters.  I use a soap-nut solution, and their hair is wonderful.  We were using ACV, but it made our hair so greasy and caused dandruff.

The soapnut thing cleans my hair - it squeaks, that must mean it's clean, right?  But as it starts to dry it feels sticky, and when it's dry my fingers can feel oily if I run my hand through it.  It looks great though, provided I don't brush it.  If I brush it, it seems very greasy, until I spray it with a rosemary infusion, and then it looks great.   Doesn't smell at all,  but I still have dandruff issues.

Any advice?  Why would it be great for my daughters, and not work for me?

[edensong]

I love soap nuts, but I have only experimented with them for shampoo.

It's odd that soap nuts or the ACV rinse would cause greasiness.  Additional rinsing might help.  I wonder if your water is part of the problem.

I'm only guessing about the dandruff, but perhaps because your daughters are younger and haven't had years of commercial shampoo usage, it works better.  One would think that 6 months of usage would have corrected your problem though, but, again, if you have hard water that could be part of the problem.

You might try reducing the amount of baking soda in your water mixture.  You really need the ACV rinse, too, because it's a pH balancer.  Using only the baking soda may be offsetting your pH balance.  I'd also recommend using virgin coconut oil before washing -- even the night before.  It's antibacterial and if you have a bacterial problem causing the dandruff, it could repair it.

[Kohava]

Sucess!  Fixed my hair and the dandruff.  Another thread recommended diluted lemon juice with a few drops of tea tree oil, which I used after rinsing the soap nut solution.  I also put raw egg yolk on my scalp before the shampoo, and all of that together made the dandruff dissapear, and get rid of the grease.  Yay.

I think the lemon juice will work for me better - for whatever reason ACV seems to make my scalp produce a ridiculous amount of grease, which I think is what was causing the dandruff as well. 

It's amazing how much work a no-poo lifestyle is.  :S  I hope this will continue to work.