Shampoo Free

[Eden]

So the "Brazilian Blowout" thread got me to try going entirely shampoo free.

Its been about 2 weeks now and I'm pretty happy with the whole experiment. I had been doing "shampoo light" - just a few times a week before this.

So far - I like the salt scrubs. It feels nice and it keeps my hair dandruff free. I have to take care to really rinse it out well or my hair feels sticky afterwards.

I'm still using conditioner - TJ's Tea Tree Tingle, just on the ends though. I've been keeping it off my scalp. I also got some leave in conditioner that completely water based -nothing that won't rinse out Uncle something or others.... its at work and I can't remember the exact name. It smells a bit odd - vegetably, but not offensive and it does a good job.

I have found I have to brush my hair. I do it before I go to bed and use a boar bristle brush to distribute the natural oils my scalp makes to all of my hair - otherwise the hair next to my scalp will start to look a bit icky.

I almost gave in and used shampoo today - but I gave it a good salt scrub for the second day in a row with a really, really good rinse and it came out looking very nice again - not oily at all, so I'm still in - no shampoo.

[TsPoet]

I've been shampoo-free for about 3 months. With shampoo I have extremely unruly hair, so unruly it's ruly :rolleyes:. When I use shampoo I don't do more than run a comb through the hair occasionally to keep it from getting dreadlocks, otherwise nothing.
Without shampoo, it feels heavier and is less curly, so I have to comb it. But, no dandruff, and people actually have commented me on the looks of the hair. So, I'm happy.

[Eden]

I'm not sure I could get dreads..... before I stopped shampooing I never did anything more than run my fingers through my hair for the most part.... even now that's all I do to "style" it. Brushing and combing just pulls the curls out and makes it simply fuzzy - hence why I only brush it before bed.

[NbyNW]

Eden, what salt scrub are you using -- are you making your own? I would be curious to give this a try.

I can generally go with light shampoo/ every other day, except for this one part of my scalp that seems to flare up every now and again, ever since my ill-fated Guatemala trip (years ago). I have to use a tea tree oil or dandruff shampoo daily during a flare-up. Would be interesting to see what happens if I rotate in a salt scrub.

[Eden]

I've just been using salt I have - I believe its plain epsom salt - it might have once had a little lavender oil mixed in.

[moonfroggy]

i have been shampoo free for about 2 years. every few months i use some baking soda in water to rinse it if it seems actually dirty or greasy and if it is getting to tangled i rinse with vinegar but otherwise all i use is water. before i lived here i tried to go shampoo free and my hair always ended up so oily i would break down and use shampoo or just a bar of soap and vinegar rinse but i did sort of wean my hear and use soap or shampoo as little as i could manage. i think water quality and ph effect how easy it is to go completely shampoo free because as soon as we moved to this house which has very nice well water i found my hair did a whole lot better and just stopped needing the once in a while (maybe once a month or every 3 months) shampoo it was getting.

[lph]

Hey, thanks for the tips. I'll be giving this a try. I have hair that naturally can get corkscrew curly, but gets dry and strawlike very easily. I've only shampooed it once a week at most for a long time, but I've noticed that on long "showerfree" vacations it sort of changes character but actually looks nicer.

I haven't brushed my hair since I was a little girl... *breaking out the coarse salt and a hairbrush*

[Melalvai]

This is intriguing. Can you post pictures of your hair?

[jessmarimba]

lph, check out naturallycurly.com, they have tons of good advice if you want to try it.

I used to have pretty curly hair and I have tried going shampoo-free several times over the last few years and it just doesn't work for me. I think part of the problem is that there are products still in my brush that are unfriendly to no-shampoo methods of washing, but I also think that my head just gets too oily.

[NbyNW]

ooo, that gives me an idea for doing a salt+tea tree oil scrub . . .

[Jolt]

Interesting, makes me want to experiment but I'm not sure how well I could pull it off. Right now I am using TJ's tea tree shampoo and conditioner. I only shampoo every couple of days (every day is just unnecessary and is too much) but by day 3 I notice my hair starting to look greasy. How much does the success of going shampoo-free have to do with the natural texture and oiliness of one's hair? Mine is fairly thick, wavy, and I would say medium texture (not really fine but not coarse either).

[Eden]

My hair is the same way - I have a lot of hair, its not super fine or very coarse - middling I'd say. I used to shampoo once or twice a week (I was using TJ's sulfate free) when it started looking oily. Now instead of the shampoo I do the salt scrub and it seems to do just as good (if not better!) a job of it. Brushing it out at night helps too - my only problem is that my brush is collecting a lot of lint and I'm not sure how to clean it.....

p.s. I really need a haircut.... how about I post a picture after I get a trim....

[snowroo]

Honest question, what's wrong with shampoo?

[jessmarimba]

Eden, an apple-cider vinegar rinse (diluted) will help too.

snowroo, most shampoos have sulfates (necessary for washing out the silicones added to a number of hair products - essentially a plastic coating to make it shiny and behave). sulfates, which are the detergents that make shampoo lather, are a relatively harsh chemical that causes your hair and scalp to dry out and your eyes to burn if you get shampoo in them. I think I've also heard of some studies that note the environmental damage they cause, but I don't know how scientific they are (nor do I feel like trying to find them right now...and my memory isn't good enough to recall any in particular). So that wasn't the most helpful answer but I probably just opened pandora's box.

[Veronica]

There are sulfate free shampoos.

Veronica

[jessmarimba]

There are sulfate free shampoos.

True. But even sulfate-free shampoos are a lot less necessary if you're also using silicone-free conditioners and hair products. They're much easier on dyed hair, though!

[moonfroggy]

i have a lot of fine light brown hair. i have heard of people with all textures and types going shampoo free but also read stories of people who had problems and had to go back to shampoo.

for me one of the biggest reasons to stay shampoo free is that my hair feels and looks so much healthier than it ever did with shampoo and conditioner. it takes less time and work to care for it. it just feels nice. there was a period of time though where it got pretty greasy and once in a while it feels greasy now and i just use the baking soda and water when that happens.

also i like not having to buy shampoo and conditioner and not having empty bottles to recycle.

[Chicken Little]

I went the sulfate free route, and wash every other day. Pretty big improvement in my hair quality.

[arielmoon]

I would never have thought to use salt! I would think it would dry it out.

Once upon a time I washed my hair everyday!!!

Now I am SLS + paraben free and wash 3 times a week. On the weekend I just use water and a little conditioner on the ends. I have tried going without but my very fine, very thick, wavy hair gets oily and heavy. I have had problems with dandruff with particular products. I tried the WEN products and had to send them back.

[limewave]

I have naturally curly hair. When researching the best way to care for curly hair, I read over and over again to stay away from shampoo. I've been breaking myself of the shampoo habit for the last few months.

I don't use anything other than water to clean my hair. I use a large, wide-tooth comb in the shower. Once my hair is gently combed out, I use my fingers, like a squeegee, under the shower to clean/rinse my hair. 2-3 times a week I apply conditioner and use the comb to apply it to my hair (I do not rinse out the conditioner).

I get the best curls this way and my hair looks healthy. If I have plans, I apply a dollop of honey to may hair while its still soaking wet (not at the roots, just to the hair from about the ears down).

[GLC1968]

I was also shampoo free until I started tri training. Now I shampoo only after swimming with a chlorine neutralizing shampoo. I then apply a rich conditioner and do not rinse it out until the next morning when I take my regular shower. It's not a good as being completely shampoo free, but it's do able.

For me, I went shampoo free to improve my curls. I stayed shampoo free to help the environment, actually. I had a pixie cut and could easily have handled shampooing (no curls when my hair is that short and getting cut every 3-4 weeks!) but opted out.

I 100% agree that water quality plays a BIG role. I started this when we lived in NC and had city water and it was ok. My hair saw big improvement when we moved to our house in Oregon (not so much in the apartment with city water) where we now belong to a local water co-op. When I would visit my parents in FL? ICK! Their water is softened and it could NOT rinse out the extra oils. After only 2 showers there, my hair was a flat, dull, greasy mess!

Another great resource (including lots of make at home recipes for rinses, conditioning treatments and the like) is the book Curly Girl (http://www.amazon.com/Curly-Girl-Lorraine-Massey/dp/0761123008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288024956&sr=1-1).

[Owlie]

SLS-containing shampoo makes my scalp itch like crazy. I wash my hair once a week (much to my BF's amazement) with something like Burt's Bees. I ended up with a stock of Organix, which apparently contains dimethicone. I'll see how my hair behaves with that.

Cleveland's water does a number on my hair and skin.

[lph]

After about two weeks I caved and washed my hair and used a conditioner. It looks terrific. Hm.

I think I'll have to go at this gradually.