My Experience with the "No Poo" Method

Back in October I wrote about 3 Reasons Why I don't Shower Everyday. I had tested several of the diy shampoos that I had listed. (Except for the honey one, but I am allergic to honey.) None seemed to work. I did tons of research and I found out that I was not the only one. The baking soda and apple cider vinegar or as I am going to call BS & ACV was not ph balanced. This concerned me because my scalp had become dry, but my hair was oily. I thought it was the detox at first, but I had done this for a few weeks and it hadn't calmed down. (Thank goodness for dry shampoo!) I felt dirty and it seemed like it was getting worse. I finally gave in and had to wash my hair with something. I washed it with with some "organic" and supposedly "earth friendly" dish soap. I felt bad and I just had to figure it out. So after reading tons of comments on tons of recipes I decided I would explain what most people experienced in these recipes. These are the most common ingredients in "no poo" recipes.

Photo Credit: http://www.thetipz.net/tips-for-great-looking-hair/

Baking Soda:

This is the original "no poo". From my experience and others this drys your hair out and is off balance in ph. It has worked for some, but mostly none.

Apple Cider Vinegar:

Gets diluted with water. Used as a conditioner along with the BS usually. Is also used with other methods. Works great!

Castile Soap:

This one varies greatly. It left some people oily (possibly detox?) and some it worked great for. Some people would use it straight and some one dilute in water or coconut milk.

Coconut Milk:

This one was mixed greatly also. Most it seemed that the coconut milk versions made their hair
greasy. I think it may be due to the fat in coconut milk so it just coats your hair.

Vegetable Glycerin:

This most people like because it would actually clean your hair not to the point it was dry, but enough to not leave it greasy.

Aloe Vera:

Some people were left greasy and some were not. Moisturises and doesn't leave dry.

Honey:

Mixed results.

Most of these are mixed results due to everyone hair being different. This is why "no poo" is somewhat difficult because you usually have to adjust the recipe till it works and on top of that you have to detox which makes it hard to tell if it is working. I personally found one that will hopefully work for me. Like I said though what may work for me may not work for you. I am going to continually make updates on this to see how it goes.

I first tried this recipe. I made a smaller batch so I wouldn't waste any ingredients.

I did:

1 Tablespoon of Aloe Vera

1 Tablesoon of Vegetable Glycerin 

2 Tablespoons of water

A few drops of Lavender Essential Oil

I also did the ACV rinse as a conditioner.

I am currently on day 3 and my hair is not very oily. It is somewhat, but maybe due to small detox.

Don't feel icky which is great.

*UPDATE*

So far so good! It's about a month or more since I started this method. I only have to take a shower 2-3 times a week. I also us homemade dry shampoo if I have too.