Please welcome Brittany of the Pistachio Project. She’s sharing about the ultimate in crunchy-living: no ‘poo. I’ll let her tell you more…
N o ‘Poo. It’s the latest craze in the natural world. What exactly is no ‘poo? Thankfully it’s not some sort of crazy bathroom torture. No ‘poo simply means “No ShamPOO”.
Now I know what you are thinking. No, shampoo? Doesn’t your hair get dirty and gross if you are not washing it? The answer is, thankfully, no.
There is the true ultimate form of no ‘pooing which would be washing with water only but I am not that die hard and I’m perfectly happy to continue washing my hair with some sort of product. So instead of shampoo and conditioner, I use baking soda and vinegar.
Ah baking soda and vinegar. The age-old cleaning products that many of us already use for our house cleaning. These same two products that you can use to clean your bathroom sink can be used to clean your hair as well! Baking soda becomes the “shampoo” and vinegar becomes the “conditioner”.
Why would someone want to No ‘Poo?
- It’s cheap, a great way to save money on groceries.
- No toxic chemicals.
- Helps hair and scalp to rebalance its oil production.
- Less waste as you don’t need to buy so many bottles of product.
- Hair dries faster.
- You may end up not needing hair products after going no ‘poo.
How To No ‘Poo
Shampoo: 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in 1 cup of water
Conditioner: 1 tablespoon vinegar in 1 cup of water.
Directions:
Before getting into the shower, add your baking soda to its cup and your vinegar to its cup. Don’t bother adding the water until you get into the shower.
I like to add the shower water to my cups just before I need them that way the water is nice and warm.
Shampoo
Take your baking soda cup, top off with water. Mix it around so that it’s almost dissolved. Pour over wet hair.
You can “rub it in” but you really can’t do too much as you will not get a lather. Let this mixture sit on your head for about 1 minute and then rinse well.
Conditioner
Take your vinegar cup, top off with water. Pour over wet hair. Let this mixture sit on your hair for at least a minute and then rinse really well.
That’s it! Your hair will feel amazing!
Notes about No ‘Poo
You should no ‘poo every 3-7 days. You really don’t want to no ‘poo more often than that although the occasional day 2 wash is okay. This is particularly because baking soda can be too harsh if used too often for some people and because your hair actually needs to be washed less in order to be less greasy.
Greasy hair is a result of hair being washed too often. It signals to your scalp that since it’s so clean it needs to ramp up oil production and thus results in a vicious cycle.
Since you no ‘poo every 3-7 days, you will probably go through a detox period. This detox only refers to the days after day 1 and possibly 2. Your hair should look amazing right after a no ‘poo. If it doesn’t then you need to do some tweaking.
However, as you go past that first day or so, your hair will become greasy. Hang in there. Eventually your hair will get the memo that it needs to slow down oil production and soon you’ll be able to go the entire duration with perfect looking hair. I can now go 1 week with great looking hair.
If you have any more questions about no ‘poo, I have a troubleshooting post and a FAQ as well.
Brittany lives in Seattle with her husband and four children (a 6 year old, 5 year old, 2 year old and 6 month old). She enjoys researching everything that involves living naturally and writes about her increasingly crunchy life at The Pistachio Project.
Title photo by stevendepolo on Flikr.
