I have a confession to make: I haven’t used any products in my hair—including shampoo and conditioner—for nearly three months.
Am I insane? Probably. Do I look like a giant greaseball? Surprisingly, no.
I had been bombarded with stories all over the internet about the wonderful results of the “no-poo” movement (can we please come up with a better name for it though?), and I’m the kind of person who will try just about anything for a little while (like that time I juice cleansed), so I decided to give it a shot. I was being promised days of actually waking up with perfect hair and saving hundreds of dollars on hair products I would no longer be needing—who wouldn’t want to jump on that?
If you’ve somehow missed the sham-free craze, I’ll break it down for you. The theory is that your hair gets greasy and gross because all the chemicals found in shampoos and whatnot throw off your natural pH balance and strip natural oils from your hair/scalp, which causes your body to over-produce its natural oils. So when you stop shampooing and putting those things in your hair, eventually your pH returns to the levels it should be at and you stop being a grease factory, resulting in beautiful hair all day every day.
No shampoo, no hairspray…nothing. Most of the articles I read online gave you two options for jumping on the bandwagon: you could either go cold-turkey or work your way up to it by using alternate cleansing methods for a while and gently ease your way into giving up the good stuff.
Most sites suggested the second method—specifically a version where you use baking soda as a cleanser and apple cider vinegar as a conditioner two or three times a week for a few weeks, then wean yourself off it until you don’t use anything but water to clean your hair. Then it should only take about a month for the natural oils to balance out and reach that Nirvana level, after which point you can add the baking soda back in once a week. I already had the ingredients in my kitchen, so that’s the method I went with.
Now it’s been a bit longer than the two-three weeks of baking soda and ACV, but I haven’t yet gotten to the water only phase of the transformation for a couple of reasons. The first is that I’m scared. I have always had very greasy hair—I could never go more than a day without washing it before my naturally-wavy hair tried to dreadlock itself. The thought of not washing it at all is a little terrifying. Second, I have a very public job with a strict dress code, and I can’t just “toss on a hat” for the week of pure greasy grossness you can expect after switching to just water, as many of the sites I perused suggested I do.
Either way, I’ve still learned a thing or two from using the baking soda method, so here’s my verdict:
This is an effective way to cleanse your hair.
Yes, your hair will actually get clean when using this method, but it won’t be the same kind of clean you’re used to. Your hair is going to feel heavier (that’s the best way I can describe it)—not dirty or greasy, but not squeaky clean either. It takes a little while to get used to, but I promise it’s not gross or dirty. You won’t smell like vinegar either.
There are definitely pros to this method.
After the first couple of weeks, my hair became softer and had more volume than it did before. I’m also able to only wash it twice a week, and I can wear my hair down every day if I want. It doesn’t get greasy until about day four, and it doesn’t really look bad, it just feels a little yucky. It’s also much easier to style now, and it holds curl longer than it did before. I can even usually wear second-day curls without looking like I slept on them—it’s great. Getting ready in the morning also takes less time, and I have saved money by not buying any new hair products.
My hair does seem healthier.
Now, I’m not positive if it’s actually healthier or if it’s just the way the baking soda and ACV make my hair feel, but either way, I like it. It’s approaching six months since my last cut, and my ends don’t look scraggly and weird. My hair feels pretty stinking amazing.
Overall, I’m a fan of the baking soda method. That being said, lately I’ve been jonesing for the smell of my favorite shampoo and the texture I got with a good sea salt spray. I still have shampoo in my shower and bin full of products under my sink that are tempting me more and more every day. I imagine this is what withdrawal feels like (except, ya know, not really). So maybe I’ll crack in the next week or so, or maybe I’ll finally make the plunge and lose the baking soda and ACV.
We’ll see what happens.
Becoming Bradshaw 