The “no-poo” movement has been going on for a while. I wasn't particularly against using shampoo, but if going shampoo-free means less products to buy and to carry when I travel, and shorter grooming time, I am surely up for it!

So from Mar 2015 I officially started my shampoo-free experiment. Before that I have been using vegan and organic shampoo products for a while. After a year, I can say I am more or less used to it now and now, so I can finally share some tips that I learned.

Photo by Ulrike Mayrhuber

Waning from shampoo:

First of all, it takes a while for your scalp to adjust the serum level. Once you wane from shampoo, you should expect a terrible period, ranging from two to six weeks of feeling greasy and heavy. I know, that sounds horrible, but I guess no pain no gain, lol. What I can assume you is that it doesn't look that bad from the surface, it's only your “feeling”.

Secondly, you still have to wash your hair with hot water every day if you work out every day and sweat a lot, or at least every other day if you don't sweat too much.

Thirdly, it's important to buy a nice comb to comb through your hair every day, especially massage your scalp to distribute the natural grease along your hair, think it as a natural hair conditioner. I prefer the stainless steel pin hairbrush.

During the waning period you might feel a bit uncomfortable, so you might choose a vacation time or a period you don't need to meet the social requirement of fresh and clean hair, or consider wearing a hat. After you go through this period, your hair should be less greasy. I definitely went through a solid six weeks (and endured the horrible greasy “feeling”) before I started to use any other shampoo alternatives such as baking soda.

The New hair care routine:

Now I basically wash my hair every other day with hot water, unless my workout makes me sweat a lot. And once a week, I use 1 tsp baking soda mixed a bit water to make a paste, and apply to my scalp and massage well to remove the dead skin and grease, then rinse well.

For hair conditioner, blend 1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar into 250 ml water, shake well, rinse it over cleaned hair and massage into scalp and hair, especially the ends. If you're lazy you might as well avoid this step. But it does make your hair a bit smoother and shiny after you do that. Note you might smell like vinegar for a little while, but once it dries, the smell is gone. If you're really worried about that, make the hair washing day on a day you don't have to rush.

Your new shampoo-free hair will not look and feel exactly like when you use shampoo, I don't know how to describe it. It's clean but just feels different. Perhaps it's also different for every one since we all have different skin types.

So after all, I still need something to help wash my hair once a week, however, after going shampoo-free, I did find my hair less greasy than before, and it is easier to wash and maintain.