Early in the year
2014, I stopped using shampoo. I was fortunate in not having work at that
moment, because I heard that your hair goes through some really oily phase as
it adjusts to not being washed as much. I tried a variety of things at first,
but thanks to this blog post (which shared actual scientific reasoning as to
why baking soda is bad for your hair), I knew to steer clear of the most
commonly discussed method of going “no-poo” which would be a baking soda and
ACV wash/condition method.
I had done a lot of
reading leading up to my decision, and got many ideas for things to try. First
up was just water. Literally just water. I wasn’t sure how it would work, but I
knew that around week 4 was supposed to be the greasiest your hair looks with
any no-poo transition, so I decided at the start I wouldn’t judge until at
least week 7.
Week 7 and my hair
just wasn’t feelin’ it. My hair is very thick, and it is naturally a bit oily.
It just looked bad with plain water. Thankfully, with no job at that point, I
didn’t have to worry about professional appearances, and would just throw a
bandana on over my hair when I had to step out, hoping it would pass the greasy
phase.
 |
| June 2014 (nothing) |
I decided to revisit
the post linked above and tried out the rye flour method of shampoo. I just
mixed in a bit of rye flour with water until it was a paste, used that to rub
into my scalp, and rinsed. I used ACV/water for conditioner.
 |
| May 2015 (Rye flour) |
The above worked
really well, and I continued doing that for the last year and a half (if not a
bit longer). It was especially nice when I would cut my hair short, but I
recently started using shampoo again, for simplicity’s sake.
 |
| June 2016 (Rye flour) |
I know it sounds like
not much work to pour a bit of rye flour into a bowl and mix with a bit of
shower water. It really wasn’t. I stirred it with my finger. It took basically
no time. The hard part was rinsing it out of my hair. If I had thin hair, I
think it would be a totally different ending to the story, honestly. Rye flour
has little pieces of the shell (husk) in the flour. It is great as an
exfoliator for the scalp, but isn’t a friend to thick hair. I found that if I
didn’t take the time to use the highest pressure and carefully blast every part
of my hair, the tiny little pieces of husk stuck to strands of hair. This
looked bad. Not just like a weird piece of fuzzy in someone’s hair, weird… but
it looked like a piece of dandruff, or worse, a louse egg.
If I switched to the
tub faucet and rinsed under there, it was easier to get it all out, but it just
was such a water waste. That, and it hurt my neck to do that. It was more of an
inconvenience, and my hair was longer by this point. Thick, long, heavy hair…
and having to do that.
I truly believe that
if I had very fine, straight hair, this would be a non-issue. Sadly, my hair is
not only very thick, but naturally wavy (not curly). I loved paying only a few
dollars a year for rye flour and having it last so long, but now I’m back to
shampoo. I’m actually really sad about it, as I really wanted to never go back.
My hair already feels less healthy, but I’m trying out more natural shampoos
and hoping to find the perfect one for me. It will probably be a lot of trial
and error until I find one I like, and it isn’t going to be as cheap as the rye
flour (nothing would!).
If you’re looking to
go no-poo and have thin/straight hair (or just short hair), I highly recommend
trying the rye flour option. Otherwise, I’m interested in hearing suggestions
for other no-poo alternatives (or good, natural shampoos)!
Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible
for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from your
own.
