It’s me, Kate, back to have another no-poo chat. If you missed my previous post about no-pooing your hair then go here and read it and catch up.
I loved all the comments I got on that post and tried to respond to those of you who had questions if you had your e-mail address linked to your blogger account. (Helpful tip: Link your e-mail address to your blogger account! Often we bloggers like to respond to your comments and this is the best way. This post from this very blog shows you just what I’m talking about!)
So here I am today to follow up on some of the very common questions about no-pooing. I took some of these from the comments of my last post, and collected a few questions elsewhere. Read on.
Is it still okay to color/highlight your hair? Yes! I certainly have my own opinions about home haircoloring kits. They can occasionally turn out fine and they can go horribly awry. That’s another story altogether. But it is fine to color/highlight your hair in a responsible manner. And no-pooing is especially great for colored hair. It can help preserve your color and drastically improve the condition of overprocessed hair.
What about styling products? The same rules apply to styling products—namely avoiding silicones which are a super common ingredient in styling products. Remember that silicone is fake shine, and there are a billion products out there which are shine enhancers. If you have healthy hair you don’t need fake shine. And if you don’t use fake shine you don’t have to use evil shampoo. So just read the labels on every single thing you put on your hair. It’s possible to find styling products that don’t have ‘cones. I’m going to be doing some reviews here and there on my blog so check with me every once in a while. Here is a review I did recently.
And here’s a very quick shine tip, although don’t try this if you have fine or thin hair. Awesome for thicker long hair, coarse hair, curly or wavy hair.
I will take a very very small bit of coconut oil and rub it in my hands and then scrunch it through my ends. It’s like a little shine boost and a conditioning treatment all at once. Just don’t use too much and keep it away from your roots or you’ll look like an oil spill.
What about those of us “blessed” with thin or fine hair? Do we need to adjust any of this?You people with fine or thin hair can absolutely no-poo. If you have a scalp that tends to be oily looking after a day then you might find that you have an adjustment period. Your scalp is producing oil on demand, and when you wash with evil sulfates you are signaling your scalp to send more moisture. It can take a couple of weeks for this to regulate. Stick with it and you might find that your hair feels thicker when you’re not robbing it of all its moisture by shampooing it all the time.
This is a good spot for me to stick in a little client testimonial. One of my clients has exactly the kind of fine hair that this person was asking about. She has been no-pooing ever since my last post came out, and with fantastic results. She switched her husband and her kids to no-pooing also. Her hubby went in for a haircut to his regular hair stylist and she noticed that his typically thin hair was actually starting to fill in a little bit with new growth. Think of all the scrubbing that men with thinning hair do, basically giving themselves sulfate haircuts! It was so exciting for me to hear that this client’s husband’s hair was actually coming in thicker! If you have the kind of fine hair that never seems to grow past a certain length… voila! This is probably your answer.
How do I go to get my hair done at the salon and say “oh wait, don’t poo my hair!” What is your suggestion for bringing up with with the stylist who already piles on the product at the end? It’s true. We hair stylists can get a little out of hand with styling products. Just speak up! Some of my friends who no-poo endure the occasional regular shampoo when they go in to get their haircut, and then they go back to no-pooing at home. I personally turn into a walking cotton ball if shampoo comes near my hair. Please don’t be shy about it with your stylist! If you are worried he or she won’t have the right products then bring your own. Weirder things have happened, I guarantee it. If you don’t want to bring your own then offer to read all the labels while you are getting coiffed. Your stylist might already know about no-pooing, and if he/she doesn’t, then educate!
I’ve been using a sulfate free shampoo and conditioner, however they are for colored hair which I don’t have. I can’t seem to find a sulfate free for regular hair unless it’s organic and pricey. Where do I find it?
Using sulfate free products is en vogue for maintaining hair color, which is why you are finding them more easily. Those products are just extra gentle and are great for your hair even if you don’t color. I think that haircare products will continue to move toward sulfate free and that our options will become greatly expanded. Do some google searching. Here is an awesome link. Start here. She lists professional products and products you can find at a drugstore, It’s been updated very recently, but a little more searching online will probably find you even more results. A store like Ulta is a great place to go explore also.
I thought no-poo was only using baking soda to wash your hair. If I “washed” my hair with conditioner, my hair would be slathered to my face and head all day long. Doing the baking soda and vinegar wash is one way of no-pooing. It’s not the way I go because I have highlighted, damaged, and dry hair and I need MOISTURE MOISTURE MOISTURE. If you have nearly perfectly healthy hair and you are afraid of washing with conditioner then try the bs/v. Google “baking soda and vinegar hair wash” and find lots of instructions. You can always follow up the bs/v wash with a quick conditioner to help with the vinegar smell and add a little extra moisture.
I just realized the conditioner I am using is a no no. You mentioned to “condition your hair with a richer conditioner.” What is a richer conditioner? Do you have a suggestion for a store brand that would work well? Also, my scalp still gets pretty dry (or at least really itchy and flaky – but it doesn’t seem dry – I just don’t know what else to call it). Will changing my conditioner improve this?
When looking for a richer conditioner look for something that is specifically for dry, damaged, or color treated hair. Sally Beauty Supply has a knock off Biolage Conditioning Balm. It’s GVP brand and it’s a great rich conditioner. I go back to that one frequently. I’ve also really liked some of the Giovanni conditioners, which I have purchased at Whole Foods. Become a follower on my blog and you can get updates when I post about any new inexpensive no-poo products that I’ve tried. And no-pooing just might help your scalp too. Your scalp needs to be exfoliated and moisturized just like the rest of your skin. Exfoliate with friction (your fingertips or a good brushing) and moisturize with conditioner. I think I keep getting this question about a flaky scalp because no-pooers probably don’t scrub the scalp as much as they used to with shampoo. Get a good scratchy scalp brush like this one from Sally’s and give your scalp a good brushing before you wash your hair. Just a few quick strokes in each trouble area and then a good scalp massage in the shower, being sure to really work that conditioner into the scalp. Also, rinse your scalp pretty well, even if you like to leave a little conditioner in throughout your ends. (You can leave in ‘cone-free conditioner because it doesn’t build up!)
Something that I personally haven’t tried, but I know Mariel has (hopefully she’ll chime in with a comment, wink wink nudge nudge) is the brown sugar scrub. There is a recipe for this in the Curly Girl book by Lorraine Massey. You take a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and mix it with a couple of tablespoons of conditioner. Wet your hair and massage into your scalp. I found a blog where a girl had better results by first applying her conditioner and then applying the brown sugar to her scalp, so there’s another way you could try it. Scrub scrub, then rinse it all out. I’m excited to try this one next time I get a dry patch.
Is there a big difference between just using a sulfate free shampoo and silicone free conditioner, as opposed to the conditioner/conditioner option? Using a sulfate free shampoo and a silicone free conditioner is a great option. Those shampoos are far far more gentle than the evil kind, but even so they do have some surfactant qualities. But I’m not going to hate you for using sulfate free shampoo if the conditioner/conditioner option isn’t working. I’d love to see the whole dang world stop putting sulfates on their heads. 🙂
What about for kids’ hair? Yes! No-poo is great for kids! I use only conditioner on my kids, even all through the summer with swimming at the pool and everything. I usually use Suave or V05. Check labels for ‘cones!
What about straight fine hair? Can you still no-poo if your hair isn’t curly?Yes! Absolutely! The goal for everyone is healthy, shiny hair.
I know there are bound to be more questions and I’m totally happy to answer them. Leave a comment here, make yourself reachable, and I’ll respond! Or you can always find me at my own blog, rambling on about a variety of things and every once in a while talking about hair.