Ciao,
This blog is a bit of a weird one as the title suggests. I have been umming and ahhing for months about going "No Poo". For those of you wondering, "No Poo" is a term used for people who have decided to stop using shampoo. Disgusted? I thought you might be. Let me explain my decision to trial "No Poo".
Ever since I hit puberty I have had to wash my hair every other day due to it becoming oily. It has reached the point that I can only wear my hair down on the day it is freshly washed, the following day I wake up to oily roots which I have to drown in dry shampoo. I do not feel comfortable wearing my hair down like this as it gets progressively more oily throughout the day so I operate on a hair down day one, hair tied up day two. When I had long hair this wasn't a massive issue, I could do lots of different things with my hair, but since having my hair just above shoulder length this became increasingly difficult and quite frankly boring. I now have only 4 hairstyles, down straight, down curly, bun or pony tail.
So I started to research ways to make my hair less oily and stumbled upon "No Poo". Essentially using shampoo strips your hair of its natural oils and so your scalp goes into overdrive and produces more oil. So inevitably you wash your hair and voila your hair produces even more oil. It is an endless cycle until you commit to having to wash, blow dry and style your hair every single day! By giving up shampoo I am giving my scalp the chance to regulate itself and it's oil production.
There are different methods of "No Poo", some people opt for natural things to wash your hair in such as apple cider vinegar whereas others like me go cold turkey. I have just started water washing my hair. I last washed my hair with shampoo 6 days ago. I didn't actually decide on that day to start "No Poo" but due to my own laziness I didn't wash my hair all week, choosing to use talcum powder as a dry shampoo instead. Yesterday I needed to wash my hair but instead decided to water wash it, I then asked my sister to french plait it and left it. My hair felt sort of waxy and I knew I hadn't done everything I should have before water washing my hair so I did a bit more research and followed the normal routine for "No Poo". I scritched and preened my hair before brushing it with a boar bristle brush which helps to distribute the oils down your hair shaft. I then washed my hair with warm water, rubbing at it the same way you would with shampoo.
So far I am quite pleased with the result. My hair is still slightly waxy and I probably wouldn't wear it down but it isn't an oil slick and it doesn't look like it hasn't been 'washed' in 6 days. Of course I am still in what is known as the oily transition phase but I am looking forward to seeing if I can adapt to this new way of washing my hair. More than anything I am hoping that I get on with it and can finally have hair that doesn't get oily for at least a week!
We will see how this goes...
Ciao for now...
