I started out using the honey wash method every other day. I added a lemon juice rinse after the first week. But, my hair was just not getting any less oily (the adjustment period after quitting your shampoo will not be awesome). No one but me noticed, but still... So this morning I tried what most no-pooers do and made the baking soda wash with the apple cider vinegar rinse. And WOW, for the first time in two weeks, my hair is SO soft and smooth and not oily at all!!
I do not like blow drying my hair--I just don't have the time to mess with that. So to style it wavy like this and relax the curls, I wait til it's almost dry, then gather it up, twist it and wrap it in a loose bun, sticking some pins or a pony tail holder over it. After about 30 minutes, I take it down and ta-da. Done. I do style my bangs with a flat iron and sometimes fix some curls with my curling iron if some pieces are going crazy. But, no product at all.
So my recommendations so far:
- Take the plunge!! Give it 30 days. Just see what happens.
- The honey did not work for me. It was actually more oily on the days I used the honey, so I guess there's a reason that method isn't as prevalent as the baking soda/vinegar method.
- My adjustment period was a couple weeks, but some people say it took up to 6 weeks for their natural oils to figure things out. So don't give up.
- I'm not going to bother writing the step-by-step because you can already find that alllll over the Internet. If you do have questions, leave them in the comments and I will absolutely answer them!
- You might find a couple posts that claim baking soda and vinegar will ruin your hair--that's because this method is NOT meant to be used every day. It might possibly damage your hair and scalp if you do that. You may need to use it more in those first couple weeks while your scalp adjusts, then you will be able to go 3 or 4 days or even up to a week without washing or just using water to rinse. Time for me to buy a shower cap ;)
What have you read about people with naturally straight, fine hair that seems to have absolutely not body at all? Does the baking soda/cider vinegar method work for all types of hair?
ReplyDeleteI have read success stories from people with fine hair and sometimes their transition period is longer, but they are equally happy after those 4 to 6 weeks of extra oiliness. Most people just really have to play with the amounts of baking soda and vinegar and see what's right for them. I would google "no poo for fine hair" to get the best tips for that.
DeleteI actually did it for about 5 months. My hair is straight, fine, and long. My scalp felt absolutely wonderful: not greasy and even a bit of body - I found the problem in that the rest of my hair was not easy to brush whatsoever. I ended up almost NOT being able to comb through it and it felt kinda gross (again, all but the scalp bits), so I had to go back to shampoo. :(
DeleteI tried this maybe around 4 months ago, my hair: VERY fine and spare, some days will be very straight and others a little bit curly. I haven't quit shampoo completely yet, Im going to try the baking soda rinse, so far I wash my hair every week. I will not go for the cider vinegar since I have read it makes the hair a little bit greasy. I also use baby powder made with cornscratch between days, Johnson & Johnson make a lavender scent one, buy it if you don't want to smell like a baby. I also had use like 5 different brands of dry shampoo, I found only Klorane and Gosh brands will really do the job, the others will leave your hair greasy with no volume.
DeleteAlso for the other commenter that said about the brushing of the hair, I recommend buying the Tangle Teezer, the brush stop the brake and damage of my hair and now Im loosing way less hair than before. I recommend this to everyone with fine hair that breaks easily. My hair is around 18in long and I have no dyes or layers on it. Now looks better than ever, even has started to curl up a little bit and the day before the shampoo (day 6 w/washing) looks very good and full of volume.
It will suck, your hair will look like a mask of oil for a couple of days, I solved that and look stylish using a kit to make a bun in my hair (the ones that have a huge donut on it and then you clip the hair on it) you will look fab at the same time that the donut makes more volume to your hair, making it look amazing.
I have naturally straight hair. I have found that washing LESS is the way to go for me. I use a powder to control oiliness between washes. I make the powder by mixing cocoa with cornstarch. The cornstarch is what does the work, the cocoa just keeps my dark hair from looking dull. I don't know if lighter hair types need use the cocoa or not??? I used to buy salon "Dry Shampoo", but this works every bit as good!!!
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks amazing. :o)
www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com
Yes, I have read about those kinds of dry shampoos! For blond hair, no cocoa is needed, just corn starch will do. I haven't needed to do this as of now, but good to know it works!
DeleteThanks for sharing. I've heard of people with straight hair doing the "no-poo" method, but never someone with curly hair. Your hair sounds just like mine. So now that I now it works for curly hair as well, I'll give it a try.
ReplyDeleteThe less you do with curly hair the better - as your experience demonstrates :)
ReplyDeleteIm so scared of my oil hair, that I always bail out.. I feel like everyone is watching me! lol
ReplyDelete