no poo troubles

[DaniCalifornia]

i have been no poo since the middle of september and have had nothing but problems with it . my hair is curly, dry and usually full of split ends, with that said, i have really fun hair

i know that too much bs was the cause of the white flakes, i know that too much bs was the cause of the "crunchy stiff" hair... i know that too much acv was the cause of the lovely greasy hair... i am frusterated because i don't want to use shampoos or conditioners at all... oh and then there was the WONDERFUL ITCH that comes along with the no poo thing. what works for that for me is the tea tree oil, but thats the only thing that seems to work for me.

this is where i break down and confess that i washed my hair for the first time on friday, so i know that i have to start over.
i know this is the question that probably is asked time and again, but how does everyone do their no poo routine? i really want to succeed at this no poo thing.

please help me if you can!!! i'm really : ticked that i can't seem to get this right. i have even gone as far as buying distilled water to see if that makes a difference.

if this doesn't work for me, i am going to have to break down and wash my hair with something... i used sauve, but really don't like it for my hair, maybe washing with conditioner like i've read on here? i don't know...

anyone that can say something to me that may help, i would be so grateful!!!!

thanks so much for reading :

[sprouthead]

Okay- I'll share my routine, but I'm still no-pooing every 3-4 days... I use a half tbs. bs in 1/8 cup water on my scalp, and then 3 oz. wdv with 5 oz. water on the ends- I rinse that out afterwards, too.. I want to try a natural bristle brush to see if that helps redistribute the oil and then maybe i won't have to wash as frequently..

anyways- back to your situation. if your hair is dry and your scalp is too, then I would use less baking soda then I'm using, or dilute it moreso.. and maybe more vinegar on the ends? good luck!

[Draupadi]

Dani, since you have curly hair, I highly recommend going to the www.naturallycurly.com website. Their forums are great and most of the participants on the forum are no-poo.
I do suggest that make sure to massage your scalp when you wet your hair in the shower. I always make sure to gently massage my scalp to stimulate it and to loosen any flakes or debris. I use a no-shampoo cleanser called "Deva No-Poo" once a week, but for the most part I only conditioner wash. Since you don't do conditioner, you probably only need to make sure you massage your scalp well to get rid of the itchies.

[DaniCalifornia]

thanks so much for your help, i didn't know exactly what i was doing wrong with the no poo.
i can tell you that using a natural bristle brush such as boar hair does distribute the natural oils nicely through your hair. however, i recommend one that is a mix of natural and plastic (i know its unfortunate) because boar hair is soft and doesn't go through hair easily without the plastic bristles.

i'm hoping to get this no poo thing right because i don't want to be using chemicals on my hair. hopefully i will get this balance right for my hair, if not i will have to use conditioner, cause hard stiff greasy hair is NOT the look for me!!!

thanks again.

[larablue]

I tried no-poo in different variations. I decided at last, that it is not for me.
I have very sensitive skin and it varies between very greasy and very dry/flaky. I also tend to get eczema.

I have now found a wonderful shampoo which doesn´t make my hair greasy or too dry and I like my hair much better if I use this than no-pooing.

I wash every 3 days.

Maybe no-pooing is just not for everyone.

[Mallori]

I tried this back in July. Just couldn't get it to work for me, to the tune of having to cut three inches off my hair.

I don't have curly hair, but I went to that long hair site too, to find more information. Some people there don't shampoo at all, but rather use conditioner only (Suave I think). They gob it on and let it sit, then lather it and rinse it. I've never itched so bad in my life.

After getting it cut, I switched over to a jojoba shampoo. MUCH better. I have since gone back to store-brands due to tight finances, but hope to get back there again. You may be better off trying an organic shampoo, and shampooing less often, at least as a step before no-poo. It might make the transition less painful.

[Teenytoona]

I don't have curly hair, but my DD/DSC do. For DSD, this past summer I've done the Conditioner/Brown Sugar scrub and her hair just looked soft and lovely! Gorgeous curls (she's biracial AA/Mexican, so she's got thick curly hair).

Basically, I took an old yogurt container, and used suave conditioner (the recommended kind is Coconut oil, but we only had this tropical stuff and it worked fine), and brown sugar. I put a squirt of cocnditioner, a small handfull of brown sugar, some water, mixed it up good, and poured it on her hair and worked it in, in sections. Massage really well - in that shaky circular motion- around the section of her hair that I did, then I'd finger comb out the tangles.

Rinse and towel/scrunch dry.

Really, her hair was the softest and the curls were just the most touchable they'd ever been. WE only washed her hair once a week.

Curly hair no-pooing and straight, fine hair no pooing is terribly different. The above routine would send me back to scrubbing for sure as I'd be oily again in about what two minutes? I do baking soda/acv and I have fair results.

There is a ccurly girl tribe around here somewhere, I learned alot from that.