Six weeks ago I stopped using shampoo.  I was inspired by Amber at Fulfilled Homemaking to document the process.  When I began asking my family to snap these photos, I honestly thought I wouldn’t share them.  So, why am I posting it?  I want you to know what you will be getting yourself into if you choose to embark on a “no poo” journey and what happens when you don’t let those first few weeks deter you.  Personally, I wanted to throw in the towel… or should I say, throw on some shampoo.  Thanks to Amber’s photographs, I was encouraged to keep going.  I hope this post offers the same encouragement to others.

Let’s begin with the first week.  If you can survive week one, you will be doing great.  I felt so ugly and gross.  My hope was that things could only get better.  I wore a hat or ponytail (or both) everywhere I went.  These two photos were taken at the end of week one.  The only thing I did to my hair during the first week was rinse it when I took a shower.  Oily and flakey describes it perfectly:

Week two was not much better.  Christmas fell during week two, which meant photos with greasy hair.  I tried to mask it by hot rolling my hair but that didn’t help much.  Then, at the end of the second week, I realized that I had never washed out the product put on my hair at my last appointment (which was the day I started “no poo”).  So, I broke out the baking soda and apple cider vinegar (ACV).  I didn’t measure out the baking soda (or vinegar) but I’m guessing it was about a tablespoon that I added to a little bowl.  I mixed the baking soda with a bit of warm water and then massaged that into my scalp.  Rinse.  Then I mixed the ACV with some warm water and poured it over the ends.  Rinse.  I think I used about a quarter cup ACV.  I did this only once, all other “washings” were water only.  This is what my hair looked like by the end of the second week.  This is blown dry only with an attempt with the curling iron.  The crown is still oily.  The flash exaggerates the look a bit but you get the idea.

Week three seemed better.  My morning “bed head” is still pretty comical.  My hair sticks straight up and brings much laughter from the Husband.  I didn’t use anything but water on my hair during the third week.  Most “no poo” folks will do the baking soda thing about once a week but I am hoping to speed up the process toward using nothing by doing it every other week for now.  I’m loving not doing the shampoo/rinse thing in the shower.  My scalp is noticeably less dry and itchy.  Which is significant in this dry climate that I live in.  Here is what my hair looked like at the end of week three.  It’s still oily at the crown, although not as bad.  Clearly it is beginning to curl better.  My hair has always had difficulty holding a curl so this is a wonderful change for me.

Let’s see, week four seemed significantly improved.  I did end up repeating the baking soda/apple cider vinegar routine once.  The ends looked a little dry to me when I blew it out.  I scrunched it a lot during the fourth week and let it air dry.  I decided to just blow out my hair for this photo.  No curling iron, no flat iron.  This looks “normal”.  The flash shows a bit of separation at the crown still but the Husband tells me that it only shows up on the camera with the flash now and not in real life.

During the fifth week I went back to water only.  I’m still amazed at the amount of oil in my hair but I’m beginning to think that what I found “normal” before was not.  I think I kept my hair in a perpetual state of “dry”.  I really thought that my face would breakout more with all of the oil it comes into contact with now, but it is actually clearer than it’s been in years (this probably has a whole lot to do with eating raw).  It was during week five that I got my first hair compliment and it came from someone who had no idea I hadn’t washed it in almost five weeks.  I forgot to take this photo until the end of the day, whereas all of the others were taken right after showering.  The curl is looser than it was but clearly, it’s still there and it’s bedtime!  My hair was blown dry and curled with a curling iron.

At the end of week six I did the baking soda/apple cider vinegar routine once.  I think I’ll do that again at 8 weeks and then attempt to go three weeks in between.  I can’t really say that my hair is “normal” because I think it’s better than normal.  It’s thicker and shinier.  It holds curl better.  It’s easier to style.  It doesn’t have static (hated when it would cling to my face).  I’ve gone six weeks without spending a dime on shampoo or styling products.  Yes, that’s right, there are no styling products in my hair.  Once again, I dried and curled my hair for this photo… taken yesterday.  I was trying to curl it a little differently than I usually do.  I don’t really like how it turned out.  Still, would you ever guess that this is hair that hasn’t seen shampoo in six weeks?

Most people, like I did, would think that your hair would stay in a perpetual state of week one if not shampooed.  Clearly that isn’t the case.  This morning, as I run my fingers through my hair, I do feel a little oil on my fingers.  But oily doesn’t mean greasy.  Our natural oils are there for a reason.  They are supposed to moisturize our hair and protect it.  Even the Husband (who by the way, is the only person in this house still on shampoo), admits that my hair looks good.  He has even complimented me on it without prompting (you know, “so honey, does my hair look alright?”).  And he isn’t the only one, I received two more lovely comments during week six.  One gal didn’t know about the “no poo” and the other did.

So, what made me embark on this journey?  It wasn’t so much the chemicals in the shampoo, although that was one reason.  Mainly, I just wasn’t happy with the condition of my hair on shampoo/conditioner/styling product.  I felt like I had to add more and more stuff to get anything remotely close to what I wanted… and I still wasn’t happy with it.  I wanted to see if my natural oils could do a better job, and I believe they have.

Update 12/29/2012 – Still No-Poo?

I definitely don’t have a problem leaving the house without make-up or a shower. Because of this, I wouldn’t classify myself as vain.  However, going without shampoo has made me realize that I have at least some degree of vanity going on.  I am very aware of my hair these days and catch myself wondering if people are staring at it.  Yeah, that’s kind of vain.

Yesterday afternoon we attended a Christmas Eve service.  While I could wear a beanie to this church, I really didn’t want to.  After rinsing and drying my hair, I put hot rollers in it.  I was surprised by how well it turned out.  Despite this, I felt very self-conscious of it.  Some of the curl was still there when I woke up this morning but I won’t be showing any of our Christmas morning photos around town.  The back of my head seems very oily still, more so than the front now.

I’m sticking this out.  If I use shampoo now, I’ll have to start again.  In the meantime, I’ll turn my vanity over to the Lord.  His opinion of me is the only one that matters anyway.

By the end of the first week I have noticed an increase in energy and a new level of “restful sleep”.  My sleep improved instantly when we went Vegan but this seems to be one step further than that.  Maybe I should call it “restorative” sleep.  My skin is clearer than it has been in a really long time and I have significantly less “itching” over all (I tend to really dry out this time of year).  Even my scalp itching is subsiding;  Although, it did get worse during the first few days of going “no shampoo”.

My mood is much more stable at the end of this first week.  That wasn’t the case during the first few days though.  The significance of noting my mood is that the fifteenth anniversary of my eldest son’s birth/death is in just over a week.  I feel like I’m much more patient with the kids and so much less “snippy”.  I’m also finding it easier to “think before I speak” (thank you, Jesus!).  Minor things aren’t upsetting me as much.  So, in essence, it’s like I’m taking Zoloft (yes, I’ve been on that before)… only much better for me!

Soreness isn’t really an issue either.  I’m recovering super fast from any activity.  For example, I haven’t shoveled snow in about a year I think and I did for over an hour yesterday.  Using all those back and ab and arm muscles in a different way would normally equate to some pain and stiffness the next morning.  I’m barely sore at all and only in my back.  It feels like something a bit of minor stretching would work out rather quickly.

As far as cycle changes, I can’t note much during one week but I am hopeful that eating this way will even out irregularities there by balancing my hormones.  Wow, balanced hormones… wouldn’t that be nice?!  Of course, if my steady mood is any indication, I think it’s already heading in that direction.

So let’s get real about what happens in the bathroom.  If this is TMI for you, please skip this paragraph.  I’m including it for those who may have issues in this area.  My digestive tract seems to be working quite well – this function improved with the move to vegan and has gotten even better this last week.  Gas is rare now and none of these functions “smell” anymore.

Now for the numbers.  I did weigh and take some measurements this morning.  I lost 4.8 pounds this week and lost 3.74 inches off my chest, waist, hips and right thigh.  Most of that reduction was from my waist (hooray!).  I am very please with these numbers and even more so when I looked at my food averages for the week:

Calories: 1,879.8
Carbs: 88.2%
Protein: 5.1%
Fat: 6.7%
Fiber: 54.95 g

I’m not sure I’ve ever lost weight averaging more than 1,200-1,400 calories a day.  Even on Weight Watchers I would be in that range or sadly, much lower (yes, I know you’re supposed to only care about the points but I would occasionally check the calorie count).  So, to average almost 1,900 and drop almost five pounds?!  Yeah, that’s significant to me.  Especially since I wasn’t doing regular or even strenuous workouts.

That’s week one 🙂  I’m looking forward to seeing what happens the second week.

So I woke up this morning and thought, “hmm, it looks a mite less oily today.”  I’ve been reading everything I can find on going “no poo” as they call it.  Of course, my hair looks like “poo”, so the lingo doesn’t exactly apply at this point.  The dead, dry skin on my scalp is coming off now, which makes my head look like I’ve been outside on this snowy Colorado day.

A long talk with the Husband yesterday brought the realization that he equates the absence of shampoo smell with dirty hair.  He agreed that my hair doesn’t smell bad but it doesn’t smell like it did either.  And so, after my shower yesterday, I spritzed a bit of perfume on my head.  I also let it air dry instead of using the hair dryer.  It dried a bit wavy which actually helped mask the oil a bit.  I found a website where a woman took photos of her hair (I may do this as well).  Mine looks somewhere between her week one and week two photos.

I’m trying to remain positive and hopeful that this phase will pass.

In the spirit of eating raw foods, I thought I would embark on another journey at the same time.  Try not to freak out too much, but It’s been about five days since I used shampoo on my hair.  Yes, I’ve showered and even rinsed my hair but I haven’t put anything other than water on it.  I am in the midst of some yucky looking hair right now, but at least it doesn’t smell, which is awesome.  The entertainment factor my hair has going on is priceless though.  The Husband chuckles over my “bed head” which is now sticking out several inches every morning.  Or when I reclined on the sofa last night and got up with “big hair”, he had to comment of course.  He won’t go without shampoo.  He usually waits for me to try this kind of stuff before he jumps on board.

I’ve read varying time frames for this greasy stage.  I’ll admit that I hope it’s over sooner rather than later.  Having to wear my turtle fur beanie everywhere is getting old.  I’d like to go without putting anything on it, even the “homemade” rinses I’ve read about.  If I can get away with using nothing, that would be right up my alley (convenient and cost effective).

Fortunately, my face is staying quite clear despite the added oil.