For clarity’s sake I’d like to assure you that I am not speaking about how regularly I am visiting the porcelain kingdom. No-poo refers to washing you hair without shampoo, hence the term. I first wrote about it in 2015. If you want to know more, please go back and read, to refresh your memory.
Lately, lots of people have been asking me what I do with my hair. Honestly, I don’t do much. I’m very casually low-maintenance. To the point where I get invited to things, and I have to ask if they require me to wash my hair to go. It’s a kind of #selfemployedpersonproblem. I centre my hair washing around work meetings, client calls and events. The rest of the time it just hangs out on my head as it is, or gets whirled up into a bun as a last resort.
Here’s how I no-poo:
- Twice a week, usually around a Monday and Friday night, I take a shower, and wet my hair.
- I sprinkle about a cherry-sized amount of baking soda (bicarb) into my hand.
- I wet it with the shower spray just enough so it’s all moist and turned into a wet slippery paste.
- Sometimes I’ll mix the baking soda and water with a finger to make sure there are no clumps.
- I take the fingers of my empty hand to scoop up small amounts and place them in various areas of my head: at the two front corners of the front and the back, and a few spots throughout the middle, so that when I start “washing” it the wet solution is evenly distributed.
- I massage the bicarb and water solution into my scalp. This feels amazing.
- When I’m done I wash it out straight away, without washing the lengths of my hair. As the water runs through my head from my scalp to the ends, the bicarb mixture naturally washes through the rest of my hair, and I don’t cause any damage by “scrubbing” it.
- I finish rinsing and squeeze most of the water out of my hair, and put some light conditioner in it, that I leave in. I currently use a natural aloe vera conditioner that I bought at a 7/11 in Thailand which I love.
That’s it. Then, depending on the weather, I blow-dry, or not.
My hair is very fine and gets damaged easily, so I found that it needs more moisture, especially in the dry conditions that west-Canada bring, or the sun and wind from tropical temperatures, hence I always make sure to keep it hydrated by leaving in conditioner or putting hair oils into my ends before it dries.
I wish I could say that I no-poo because I want to save the planet. That just happens to be a positive side-effect. The truth is that I have reactions to all the many natural and chemical shampoos that I’ve tested: I get a dry scalp and little flaky scabs on my head and it all feels super itchy. My version of no-poo puts an end of all my hair-woes and leaves it looking and feeling soft, healthy and strong.
It’s one of those things that you have to experiment with. Every hair type is different and has different needs. Also, the kind of water you wash with changes the result, and how much bicarb you need. I notice that it doesn’t work so well in cold water, and is generally better in soft over hard water.
I hope that answered all your questions!