December of last year, I stopped using shampoo. Am I still “no poo”? Yes.

No-Poo-Land isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, especially if you color your hair… which I do… well, my stylist does. Unfortunately, this ritual strips my hair, and I get to start over every 10 weeks. I generally LOVE my hair texture again about two to four weeks before I go in for a color appointment. What I don’t love are the grey roots that are quite evident by then.

So, I had to make a decision. I had to ask myself which I wanted more, great texture all the time, or no grey most of the time. So far, I’ve answered “no grey”. I’m slightly afraid that I’ll look so much older if I let the grey loose. I’m still a thirty-something gal, and I’m not ready to look “wise” just yet. I believe if I wasn’t coloring, I would be able to get away with just water rinsing most (if not all) of the time. Since the color strips my hair, I smother it in coconut oil for the first few days after, and I have to “wash” it more often with vinegar/baking soda due to reliving the “oily stage” (although not as bad)… or, I’ve also started to rub my natural soap bar (from the health food store) all over my head sometimes. The bar soap thing happened because one day I was out of vinegar, so I grabbed what I had. I do a lot more “up-do” styles during those first weeks after a coloring, but the cool thing is that my hair will actually stay up since going “no poo”. Before, my hair would begin to fall almost immediately, and wouldn’t hold it’s shape very well. To even come close I had to slather it in product with death grip hold.

Over the summer I picked up a natural (made from fruit) “shampoo” from the health food store. I only used it a few times because I broke out in hives twice after use. I have no idea what would have caused the reaction, and I’m not even 100% sure it was the product that caused it. Still, I don’t touch it.

As for the benefits of “no poo”, I figure I’ve cut down on the amount of chemicals I come in contact with. Yes, I know hair color has chemicals too. I’m sure I’ll let go of that at some point too. Also, my hair is soooo much easier to style in general. I can flat iron it, curl it, up-do it… whatever I want to. My hair is thicker (oh how I always wanted thicker hair!). It’s not flighty (except right after a coloring). It doesn’t smell (but I think that’s because of the whole food vegan thing).

The husband is “no poo”, which makes me laugh since he fought me so much on this. I told him that he could buy shampoo, but I wasn’t going to. He never bought any. The kids are “no poo” most of the time. We still have some leftover shampoo in their bathrooms that they use occasionally.

Ok, so I haven’t taken one of my regular “no poo” pictures lately, so I’ll have to share one of the Husband and I on Thanksgiving. Does that look like “no poo” hair to you?

After over a year without shampoo, I don’t plan on buying it ever again. If you’re considering giving this a go, check out my other posts on the topic.