No-poo VS. natural homemade shampoo

[ccasanova]

hi mamas! I have been reading many threads on how to do no-poo but I haven't seen one on why you do it. Of course no-pooing will be better then using commercial shampoos, but how does it compare to say homemade natural shampoo? Is one better then another? Or is it because of the affordability of no-pooing? I am getting ready to throw out my commercial shampoos and am not sure what route I want to take. Either no-poo or making my own shampoo at home. I saw a recipe for shampoo that had a base of castile soap and then you add water, and some other specified herbs that are good for hair. I would want to make sure that the castile soap would be able to rinse out well first though. Does anyone have any experience with using a castile based shampoo? I'd love to here the why's for why no-pooing is so great. Oh and b4 I forget, when you no-poo do you need to condition? If yes, how do you condition? thanks mamas!

[Spastica]

Here's a synopsis of the "why go shampoo free": http://community.livejournal.com/nat...ily/53928.html

The only thing I will say is that there's some debate over Sodium Lauryl and Laureth Sulfate - some people think they're evil and cause cancer, most research say they CAN be irritating, but they're not cancerous.

Castile soap shampoos are fine - you can even try Dr. Bronner's castile soap (liquid) form for a shampoo base. With the no-poo, low-poo, or homemade shampoos, the fun part is personalizing your 'recipe' with essential oils and herbal infusions - whatever your hair needs.

The no-poo standard method is based around baking soda and apple cider vinegar. The baking soda cleans the hair and opens up the cuticle to clean oils and dirt, the apple cider vinegar smooths the cuticle and gets the hair back to it's slightly acidic pH level. The apple cider vinegar rinses make your hair shine like crazy The apple cider vinegar usually works like a conditioner and that may be enough for some people. Others use regular store bought conditioner (hopefully silicone free) or a combination of hair-friendly oils like jojoba, olive oil, coconut oil, etc (just a drop to smooth the bottom of the hair).

For more information, troubleshooting, trials, tribulations, and joys of no-pooing, check out the NO SHAMPOO MAMAS thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=120033

It takes anywhere from 2 weeks to even 2-6 months for your hair and scalp to adjust to no-poo sometimes. In the end, most people think it's worth it and their hair looks super healthy.

Take a look at the recipe sticky for some other hints - and most importantly, the scalp massage method, which is optimal for getting rid of scalp dirt and oil and even invigorates your scalp so that it stimulates hair growth.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=114069

Other great places to look are the NaturallyCurly web forums (if your hair is wavy, curly, or downright kinky).

Good luck! You've come to the right place!

[EmsMom]

I can't speak to no-poo, but I have been using a homemade shampoo out of castille soap with an herbal infusion for about 1-1/2 months. The shampoo does rinse right out. I have been pleased with the way my hair looks. It does seem to get oily faster than with commercial shampoo (I was using Avalon's) and I always use a rinse from apple cider vinegar after the shampoo. Biggest complaint is that the shampoo is very thin and therefore difficult to get all through my somewhat long and very thick hair. I changed the recipe and made my shampoo slight thicker which did help.

[Spastica]

Yay EmsMom!

It's been said before, but I'll mention it for our newbie - you really do learn about your hair and scalp. Adjusting your 'formula' is part of it.

[ccasanova]

thanks mamas! I'll have to check out the links I believe that SLS is definitely not good and am going to keep my family away from it. I currently am using the Miessence shampoo with has nothing but good stuff in it and I really like it, but want to cut some costs where I can so that I can apply that $$$ to other organic and healthy things like food. I also have a lot of hair, and it's very thick. That is why I had the concern over the castile soap. Have the mamas with thicker hair had more luck with BS and vinegar? I guess I'm going to have to start experimenting. I'm sure it's fun though

[Spastica]

Fun to try - but like I said, don't get discouraged (we all go through days when we want to just give up, yesterday was my day, hah). Your hair may look worse before it gets better.

As for SLS, there's a lot of good and bad info out there, as with other things. It's good to steer clear of nasty chemicals and try to reduce exposure to them, but just watch out for bad info that just try to scare people.