what's your no-poo routine?

[sprouthead]

I thought maybe if we all posted our routines, we could help each other w/ troubleshooting..

I have red, wavy hair that's fine, but I have a lot of it.. (it feels thick but the texture is fine) my scalp gets greasy but my ends are dry.. so far this is what i'm doing:

1 tbs. bs mixed w/ 1/4 cup water- scrubbed into my roots and i let it sit while i soap up. then i rinse that out and rinse my hair w/ 2 oz. acv + 8 oz. cold water. I don't rinse this out. (i was just mixing 1-2 tbs bs w/ water to make a paste and scrubbing that in, but from reading i thought that maybe a high concentration of bs..)

after the shower my hair is a bit hard to comb out. does this happen to anyone else? i also get a lot of static between washes. right now i'm washing every 2 days- sometimes 3 but usually i'm pretty greasy by then.

[MommaShark]

Dr Bronner's now sells a rinse to use with their castile soap as well as a leave in conditioner. You have to buy it from their website - I've never seen it anywhere else - free shipping over $20. I've used it for 2 weeks now - my hair has never been so shiny!!! I love it. Does this count as nopoo? Maybe I missed the point.
I shampoo with my son's baby castile soap
then do the rinse
I bought the conditioner but don't use it - my hair is conditioned enough with the rinse.
The rinse has:
Organic Acacia Concinna (Shikakai) Extract, Organic Citrus Limon (Lemon) Juice, Organic Coconut Acid*, Organic Olive Acid*, Organic Hemp Acid, Potassium Citrate (made with Organic Lemon Juice), Organic Glycerin, Organic Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Organic Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Oil, Tocopherol (Vit. E), (* Certified Fair Trade by IMO)

[PreciousTreasures]

My routine is very simple and it works for me:
Shampoo with Dr. Bronner's then "rinse" with vinegar. For the vinegar I have a spray bottle of just straight vinegar that I spray on (tried pouring it but was wasting way too much). I work the vinegar in and let it sit a minute then rinse my hair. When I get out it is a little hard to comb out but if I'm patient and get it combed all the way out and through then it's super easy to take care of. I currently am going about 3 to 4 days between washing my hair.

(BTW, I have long, very thick, brown hair.)

[Malva]

I have a ton of fine hair too.

I use about 1/4 cup of bs, with just enough water to make a paste (like soft peaks egg white consistency).
Rub that over my scalp.
Rinse well.
Dilute a capful of ACV (maybe 1-2 tsp) in half a gallon of water. Dump that over my hair.
Rinse well again.

[luna13]

Three weeks on the no 'poo kick...

I made the change three weeks ago and need advice on when to let go of 'poo. To start I have long, thick strawberry blonde hair. It seems to be softer since I began to wean myself off of shampoo. But with the incoming summer with humidity, I do get the frizzies at times.

I make a mixture of 1/2c of bs, honey, water and drops of ylang ylang eo. Once it gets to the consistency of paste, I roll balls about 1/2 inches- well, they turn out to be discs.

Before stepping into the shower, I dissolve one disc in a 32 oz cup of water along with a drop of shampoo. Working in sections, I wet my scalp with the mixture, all the time massaging/rubbing. Once I've covered my hair, I leave the mixture in while I soap up. Wash out the mixture and finish off with 32oz rinse of h20 and a few drops of rosemary. At times, my hair can feel dry -due to left over bs? If I don't really do my scalp, it can get that separated look. I do the bs/shampoo mix a every day, with the exception of one when I use straight shampoo. Lately, I haven't showered over the weekend, so that is two days out of the week of no bs or shampoo.

Should I start slowly to eliminate shampoo altogether?

[sprouthead]

I stopped using shampoo and conditioner cold turkey and didn't have any problems -aside from those coming along with just adjusting my routine for my hair type.. i like to keep it as simple as possible!

[tinuviel_k]

I use conditioner only, no shampoo. I have four different non-silicone conditioners that I rotate through. I apply a generous amount on conditioner to my scalp and ends, and massage my scalp well. I make sure the conditioner is well distributed through my hair, let it sit several minutes, and rinse completely.

About once a month if I have some build up I add a teaspoon of baking soda to the conditioner and follow with a very diluted vinegar rinse.

I used to do a diluted baking soda and diluted vinegar rinse on my hair several times a week but found it to be very drying to my hair over time.

[lovemyfamily6]

I use a JR Liggett shampoo bar. Wash with that and rinse, then I mix a tiny bit (1/3 inch or so) of ACV in a 16 ounce bottle and fill with warm water. I apply to the bottom half of my hair only, from my ears down. I'm wondering if I should use it all over though because my scalp gets greasy before the rest. The part that I put ACV on looks great still while everything else is greasy. I wash every 3-4 days and have long, wavy dark brown hair.

[~Nancy~]

I am just curious - what is the benefit to NOT using shampoo?

I am trying to go as natural as possible, but I don' t think I can live without my shampoo

[jemar]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

I use conditioner only, no shampoo. I have four different non-silicone conditioners that I rotate through.

Can you tell us which ones?

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by ~Nancy~

I am just curious - what is the benefit to NOT using shampoo?

I am trying to go as natural as possible, but I don' t think I can live without my shampoo

really, you need to ask what the benefit is of USING shampoo . My hair is so much nicer since I quit. I'll never go back. Plus, most shampoo has all sorts of nasty chemicals in there like propelyne glycol (um... spelling?) which is also used as a "less toxic" antifreeze (it's actually in lots of lotions, too... ew!), as well as SLS (sodium lauryl(th) sulphate)

I make no-poo balls, too... very similar to the disks in a pp. Some baking soda, some honey, a bunch of rosemary eo drops, mix it up, add some water if it's too crumbly still, then roll it into balls and let it dry.

For my shower, I put maybe 1/4 c or less vinegar (w/whatever EO I'm feeling like) into an old coke bottle and bring a no-poo ball into the shower. I get my hair wet, and dampen the no-poo ball and rub it together in my hands then spread it through my hair w/my finger tips so I don't get too much in any one spot. I scrub my head this way for a minute or so, then rinse it out. I fill the coke bottle (w/vinegar and eo in it) the rest of the way with the warm water from the shower (otherwise the vinegar is COLD!) and then pour it slowly all over my scalp.

After I get out I put a pea-sized amount of coconut oil on my ends, instead of gel or mousse or whatever.

[neveryoumindthere]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

I use conditioner only, no shampoo. I have four different non-silicone conditioners that I rotate through. I apply a generous amount on conditioner to my scalp and ends, and massage my scalp well. I make sure the conditioner is well distributed through my hair, let it sit several minutes, and rinse completely.

About once a month if I have some build up I add a teaspoon of baking soda to the conditioner and follow with a very diluted vinegar rinse.

I used to do a diluted baking soda and diluted vinegar rinse on my hair several times a week but found it to be very drying to my hair over time.

This is my routine exactly. I've been doing it over a year now and my hair is healthier than EVER.

[sprouthead]

i think if i tried conditioner only my hair would be a greasy mess!

[neveryoumindthere]

I thought it would too. The key for me was to use conditioners that did not contain any silicones or glycerin. Those 2 things make my hair feel filmy and slick. YUCK

There's loads of info on thelonghaircommunity.com about the CO method. It will take readjusting but it's worth it, especially if your hair is curly.

[Juvysen]

Yeah, I think anytime you quit shampoo, you have a certain amount of time for your hair to get used to the new routine. Shampoo REALLY strips out your natural oils and makes your head produce WAY more to keep up.

[prana]

I usually no poo in the summer. I'm not sure why I don't carry it through all year.

[Marni]

Originally Posted by Malva

I have a ton of fine hair too.

I use about 1/4 cup of bs, with just enough water to make a paste (like soft peaks egg white consistency).
Rub that over my scalp.
Rinse well.
Dilute a capful of ACV (maybe 1-2 tsp) in half a gallon of water. Dump that over my hair.
Rinse well again.

Ditto that : )

But I think I'll try Bronner's today too...It's nice tot mix things up.

[cristeen]

I just started no poo last week, and what was amazing to me is that I was able to go 5 days without washing my hair during a heat wave, even. Usually by day 2 my hair is getting greasy and my scalp starts itching. But it took until yesterday for my scalp to really start itching, and even then it was mostly sweat... my hair still wasn't greasy.

Admittedly I'm still figuring things out, but this is what I'm doing. I have a little milk pitcher that I put about 1-2 Tbs of BS in, fill it about halfway with shower water. Once my hair is wet, I just pour it slowly over my head, separating my hair so it can get down to my scalp, moving it around so I don't miss any spots. Let it sit for a minute then rinse. Then I pour about 1 Tbs of ACV into the pitcher, add about 1/2 c of shower water, and starting at the ends douse my hair with it (I don't get it on my scalp). Let that sit while I soap up and then rinse. That's it. Amazingly enough I'm not even needing a detangler with my thick curly hair.

If I can go a week without washing my hair, I'm gonna be one happy camper... washing my hair every other day really slows down my morning routine.

[Chakra]

Is b/s baking soda?

I use the dr bronners baby mild soap with his new conditioner too! I love it.

I heard that the dr bronners soap can clog your scalp hair pores and cause hair loss over time...

Is that true?

What do you do if your hair is super greasy and fine? shampoo routine?

[aris99]

Hi,

I was looking for a "no 'poo" method for my kids and last night I tried some soapnut liquid on their hair. I think their hair came out beautifully shiny but a tad tangly and they HATED the smell....it's def. an acquired smell! Anyone else used a no-'poo option for their kids? My littlest one doesn't know quite what to do when I say "head back"! So I'm trying to avoid using vinegar or anything that might sting her eyes. Any suggestions for no-'pooing kids ?