Did you give up on no-poo?

[Beauchamp]

It's been almost two weeks and I think I'm quitting no-poo. We're going on a week vacation for my birthday next week and my hair has been greasy every single day no matter what I do. I've used BS, ACV, honey, TTO, and lavender EO. I've done the BS wash every other day, I've diluted the ACV rinse even more. I've skipped the ACV all together (which made my hair feel like straw, and then the next morning (today) it is totally greasy again.

My hair looks like greasy beach hair, KWIM? I'm not willing to forever look like I am sporting the greasy "wet look" and have my hair in a bun eternally just to avoid shampoo. I'm SO bummed this isn't working.

Thoughts? Help! I really want to continue, but I can't go out in public like this.

[ShanaV]

Going no poo can take a month or more for some people's hair to adjust. Give it time! It's totally worth it! (Check out the forums at naturallycurly.com if you haven't already. It's very helpful.)

[Super~Single~Mama]

I quit no-poo.  I did it for 3 months, and it didn't work.  It was OK for a while, but then it was awful, and my hair was just oily, gross, and disgusting.  Now, its still not perfect, but at least it looks clean.

[Beauchamp]

Originally Posted by ShanaV 

Going no poo can take a month or more for some people's hair to adjust. Give it time! It's totally worth it! (Check out the forums at naturallycurly.com if you haven't already. It's very helpful.)

A month?!? Oh no! How do you look decent out in public until then? Yikes. I have straight hair, and it looks really greasy all over, not just on the roots.

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by Beauchamp 



A month?!? Oh no! How do you look decent out in public until then? Yikes. I have straight hair, and it looks really greasy all over, not just on the roots.

The bolded made me giggle.  I had the same question and problem when I tried it.  I did wear my hair up, but it really did not look good - I thought it looked like I didn't want to wash it so I just wore it up.  It didn't lay nicely because it was heavy and greasy.  No poo did not work for me after a fairly lengthy trial.  

I have gone through both a funky stage with no-poo and a flat out greasy stage.  The funky stage was okay because I could wear my hair up, but the greasy/heavy stage was just pure awful.

[csboles]

Good luck to you... I think you should stick it through though!

I have to admit though that I've been no poo over 2 months and have had bad greasy hair since about day 4... I'm working on it still! There are many different things to try, though I haven't had too much lucky.

It's definitely a waiting game though, and it will be worth it for us! Our hair doesn't need all those chemicals. Just be patient and put your hair up if it looks bad... always works for me! :)

[rcr]

I did it when I was visiting Europe for the summer and nobody knew who I was you could try that

[2xy]

I tried it a few years ago and it made my hair look greasy and feel like straw.

FWIW, not all of us have hair long enough to pull up. My hair is cut in a chin-length choppy bob. It's also straight and fine.

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by 2xy 

I tried it a few years ago and it made my hair look greasy and feel like straw.

FWIW, not all of us have hair long enough to pull up. My hair is cut in a chin-length choppy bob. It's also straight and fine.

Yes, true, but when your hair isn't long enough to go up, you can use other accessories to help.

[2xy]

Originally Posted by Mulvah 

Yes, true, but when your hair isn't long enough to go up, you can use other accessories to help.

I suppose, but I don't think my boss would have approved of me showing up for work week after week with dirty-looking hair. Turns customers off.

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by 2xy 

I suppose, but I don't think my boss would have approved of me showing up for work week after week with dirty-looking hair. Turns customers off.

Advice is given with the assumption that people will use common sense on what will and won't work for them/their situation.  

I had a problem with no-poo, too, and though I work from home, if I had a client meeting or something else business-related to attend, I would simply do something to correct the problem.  That is what would work for me.  I am not willing to sacrifice my business or a client relationship over shampoo use.  

Edited by Mulvah - 8/27/11 at 3:45pm

[eastkygal]

I've been no-poo for about 4 months now.  At first it was definitely the greasy beach hair feeling.  I just wore my hair in a bun.  For short hair, you could use barrettes to create a messy looking style... maybe?  But, after the first month or so, my hair evened out.  Now, I only wash it every 4 days or so.  My only issues with no-poo is that my hair is still kind of frizzy.  It also lays totally flat on top which looks awful.  I'm not sure how to remedy it, but I think I'm going to try what this gal does.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q67PhC8V1bE  My hair is also wavy, so I want to start using a straight iron, I think.  Or, if I can make the waves look more like curls and less frizzy, then I'd do that.  The video link also shows how to make no-heat waves.  I've been looking more into that too.  I love no-poo in that I hardly have to wash my hair and it isn't oily anymore.  I basically wash it to liven it up a bit and freshen the smell. :)

[Beauchamp]

OP here. Not sure if this is cheating or not, but what I ended up doing (since we were going on vacation for my birthday and I didn't want to look so greasy in the photos) was to "wash" with a very natural conditioner, one that has no bad ingredients. I massaged my scalp with it, and did a bit on my ends. It helped take away some of the greasiness. I also started doing BS/ACV every other day (with less BS and ACV than I was using before), with the conditioner "wash" on the off days. Basically I stopped the hot water washes, and have always used *something* every night in the shower.

I think I am going to gradually put in a hot water wash here and there to see how my hair reacts and take it slowly. I may not be doing no-poo 100% according to the letter of the law, but at least I haven't used any shampoo and so far it works for me.

[ZoshaMosha]

I have finally been able to go no poo after cutting my hair all the way off.  I plan on growing out again nice and healthy.  When my hair was longer (shoulder length), it was very hard to go through the adjustment period.  With short hair, there is no adjustment period!  Cutting your hair is clearly not for everyone, but it's a suggestion...

I'm also wondering if anyone has tried this... would your scalp produce less oil if you actually added MORE oil to your hair (like coconut or jojoba?). 

[Subhuti]

I tried no-poo for two weeks.  I stopped when my husband, who is eternally oblivious to my hair or any aspect of my appearance, finally commented that my hair felt really greasy.  But I was on the edge because my hair became SO ITCHY.  I don't see others complaining about that.  

I've found my hair gets super itchy unless I do a double shampoo / then conditioner every second or third day.  I generally now use Jason's anti- dandruff/seborreah shampoo w/sulfer and that really helps let me go longer between shampoos, but again, not much over a third day.

My hair is very thick and love the no-poo look ... looks gorgeous on me, all wavy and shiny.  But if feels terrible.  Even to my hubber.

[prothyraia]

I had to slowly step down to be even vaguely presentable and not feel like I should wring my hair out over the salad bowl or something. It looked something like this: first, use less and less shampoo. Then skip a day every once in a while and use a ton of BS instead. Then alternate BS/shampoo days. Then dilute the shampoo with water. And so on, until I didn't need shampoo at all and only did BS about twice a week. This took months, but in the meanwhile I didn't feel completely gross or start breaking out all over my face from my nasty greasy hair.

If I had to go somewhere and couldn't have greasy hair, I would just wash it in whatever manner made it look okay.

[csboles]

I'm glad I didn't give up. My hair has quit being greasy and now is AMAZING! I can't believe the difference. I'm glad I stuck it through more than 2 months of grease. The thing I did change though was that my weekly baking soda/water routine became more in depth. I made it less watery and more pastey and scrubbed it more and let it sit. Someone recommended that and it changed it all.

[swd12422]

Don't give up! My hair took months, but I think it would have adjusted faster if I'd just gone water-only sooner. BS/ACV was great b/c I felt like I was cleaning my hair, but then it was greasy. So I cut back to weekly, then bi-weekly, and got greasy anyway. Finally, after months of grossness (I'm a SAHM....) I shampooed with regular clarifying shampoo and then went water only. I "wash" my hair every day, just without anything. I scrub my scalp like I did with shampoo, rinse, comb  through like I did with conditioner, then rinse with cold water. It works great! (But I have curly, frizzy hair. YMMV if you have straight/fine hair. Worth a try, though!)

[Beauchamp]

I haven't given up yet, but I am using a clarifying *conditioner* from time to time (on scalp and hair shaft/ends, too) Is that cheating?

Also, my hair is falling out LIKE CRAZY. Hopefully this is just a postpartum thing, and not to do with no-poo.

[holothuroidea]

I am Water Only, but from what I've read about BS/ACV it sounds like you are washing your hair too often. Baking soda can have the same effect as shampoo as far as stripping your hair if you use it too often and your hair will go into sebum production overdrive.

Before you quit think about why you started no poo in the first place. Was it just an experiment? Do you want to stick it to the man? Was your hair awful and you're trying to improve it?

There are many different ways to go no poo. Some people start by diluting their shampoo and using it less often. You can cut your shampoo consumption in half that way without sacrificing much.  If you're trying to improve the health and texture of your hair Conditioner Only is a good option to try. A lot of people have problems with baking soda (especially people with dry, fine hair that is fragile like mine) and find that water only is the best way to wash. You can run into a whole host of complications if you have hard water, and some peoples problems are cured by using filtered or boiled water followed by an acid rinse (which could be diluted ACV, but could also be white vinegar, lemon juice, or tea).

There are also lots of ways to make your hair look better on in between days. I have short hair and I can't put it up so before I go out I "brush" my hair with a hot wash cloth and follow it up with a cold water "brush". It takes about 5 minutes and breaks up the stringy greasy look. If I follow up with a boar bristle brush my hair feels clean and looks like it has some of that "bed head" product in it. There are a lot of options for you to try before you quit!

If it is important to you to look your best on your vacation, you can always use shampoo and then try again when you get back.