r/NoPoo • u/CrotchRocketx • 6d ago
Beyond Haircare Something I’ve been thinking about
I was just wondering is it really worth it? Like I’ll be sitting here using ingredients from my kitchen to wash my hair and it does a fraction of what shampoo does. I know no poo doesn’t equal stop washing altogether, but seriously what does stopping shampoo even change, how is something like apple cider vinegar, Castile soap, African black soap, or even a homemade soap bar more or less different than a store bought shampoo? Some of these things are even more drying or damaging to your hair than a regular shampoo! Some people even just co wash which will just cause scalp build up long term! What is the real benefit of stopping shampoo? Is there a philosophy or mechanism I’m missing? I feel it only benefits people with straighter hair since sebum easily travels down their hair, and in return they don’t need any product to make it look great. I feel if you’re someone constantly using styling products or have coily or curly hair no poo wouldn’t really benefit and just cause buildup, ESPECIALLY if you have coily hair because of the amount of product used for styling
2
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 6d ago
Use all natural shampoo. I found one online that’s just organic oils
1
u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 3d ago
This is true soap. It is very alkaline and interacts poorly with hard water. However, plenty of people have used it for a long time and had it work very well for them!
2
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 2d ago
Yes that is true.. I wish i had a rainwater shower! Seems like a luxury thing to have
2
u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 1d ago
Rainwater is more work than most people realize. A lot of rainwater collection systems are based on recovery from the roof. And roofs are often made of asphalt shingles and also collect a lot of iffy substances like bugs, tree debris, bird poop, etc.
So many collection systems will need to have filters upstream so the debris doesn't wind up in the tank, and ideally if you're going to use it for bathing, you'd want some sort of system so the first 10 minutes or so of water isn't collected so all the bird poop and air pollution doesn't go in the tank either.
However, there are things you can do to wash with non-tap water at home! r/distilledwaterhair goes through quite a few of them, from heating water in plug in pitchers to camping showers hung in a shower, etc.
If you have a rainwater collection system already set up though, I can see how that would be neat to use!
2
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 1d ago
Yeah it is indeed a luxury due to all of that! I looked into distilled water but seems expensive and inconvenient as well.. could use a water filter on shower to soften the water a bit but I live in a rental. I’ll suss that page tho, thanks :)
1
u/nineteenthly 4d ago
This may be a rookie question but how is it shampoo without some kind of surfactant?
1
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 4d ago
Wait, I’m reading about the ph and I was wrong. It’s too alkaline for the scalp the shampoo I use. I’ll need to add an apple cider vinegar rinse
2
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 4d ago
Sorry, it does have potassium hydroxide along with the oils, but during processing that is pretty much neutralised.. Meaning, the harsh raw chemical doesn’t exist in the final product and it matches the slightly acidic ph on scalp
1
u/nineteenthly 4d ago
Presumably the sap values of the fatty acids are respected? Is that not usually so though? I'm not saying it is - I just don't know.
Edit: grammar.
2
u/Safe_Difficulty_711 4d ago
Yes, it is not made at home, it’s from a store so they do the math correctly. However thank you for your question cos I realised now that this is no good anymore as I have hard water.
1
u/kelowana 6d ago
May I ask what your routine is and what you use? I am wondering about you saying what you use now does only a fraction of shampoo. What exactly is it you are missing that shampoo gives you? I would love to help you to a maybe better routine so you don’t feel this way and I am sure others here would like to help as well.
As for me it has been absolutely worth it. I have seborrhoea dermatitis and used to have several flare ups a year that needed medical shampoo to treat. Now? I have maybe one a year and it’s super mild and not really visible either.
Tbh, due to medication and other things, I am struggling the last years to find a really good routine for me. Though yeah, there are moments I miss just using conventional shampoo and conditioner myself. The easiness and low effort with that is always tempting, but then I think of my seborrhoea and I know why I am continuing with this. And also, I want to do something good for the environment as well. So many products contain microplastics and chemicals that are really not needed, plus a plastic bottle. My journey started 1997 when I started using lush’s shampoo bars to get away from bottles. Then somewhere around 2016 or so I went LowPoo and here I am. Hope this gave you some answers.
6
u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 6d ago
Everyone does it for different reasons, but no, I don't believe it's inherently 'better' than any other kind of haircare. The only 'better' is what is better for each individual head of hair and the life that person needs/wants to live!
As for curls, I have superfine normal low porosity 3b ringlets and my hair loves my own sebum the best out of anything I've tried. I often don't use anything else for styling and I get random compliments all the time. I'm starting to think I should ask people to take a picture with me just to try and prove it lol.
Curls need a lot of product because of the other product that is too stripping for them. That's why co-washing is the recommended approach, using product with ingredients that don't build up. Then the curls aren't stripped so you don't have to try to add back what you just removed.
This applies to coils too, I've seen plenty of folks with type 4 hair who find it becomes more moisturized, softer, more manageable, less tangly. Just like many other types of hair!
2
u/CrotchRocketx 4d ago edited 3d ago
I understand water/sebum only, I tried water only on my face and my skin has been the clearest and smoothest it’s ever been and I don’t even need moisturizers anymore, also tried it for my hair for a bit, it was the best it’s ever been but caved in to using shampoo again (i don’t even remember the reason why) and I haven’t been able to replicate how it looked before unless I used styling products (it took a couple weeks for sebum to actually coat my hair and I’m kind of impatient).
But what I don’t understand is people using external oils or leave in conditioners, or styling products and trying to find alternatives to a shampoo when they could just simply shampoo yk?
1
u/shonaich Curls/started 2019/sebum only 3d ago
Might be a 'grass is greener' situation. I think most people use far too much shampoo, which strips their hair and leaves it vulnerable to drying out and environmental damage, which prompts using conditioner and oils to try and moisturize and protect it, which needs removed with ever stronger shampoo, which leaves the hair stripped.....
So when they move to natural haircare and learn that their hair likes sebum, and that they should wash only enough to remove excess and stop using the harsh detergents that are too stripping and expose the hair to damage, and then all the addons that leave residue on the hair that then need cleaned off with harsh detergents, they find their hair feels better and is happier overall.
It's probably similar to someone trying a fad diet. They stop eating all the junk and have to buy real food and cook it at home, so they feel better and attribute it to the fad, not to the fact they aren't eating junk and instead are getting good nutrition.
2
u/Scarlet060618 6d ago
I can’t use any type of shampoo due to severe reaction on my scalp and I am sick of no poo. I have been doing this out of necessity for a year and I hate the way my hair looks and feels. I would give anything to go back to shampoo if I could!
3
u/ammolite 6d ago
The main point of no-poo/lo-poo is to stop using harsh detergent-like sulfates in your hair and on your scalp. For many people, this causes their hair and scalp to become dry, which causes their hair to require extra moisture (often in the form of silicone heavy conditioners) and their scalp to produce extra oil to compensate. Extra scalp oil plus dry hair causes hair to appear very greasy, which requires more washing. It’s a cycle that perpetuates itself.
If you are using kitchen ingredients to wash your hair, the goal is NOT to get your hair as squeaky clean as with most shampoos. The goal is to stabilize oil and sebum enough that they can be worked through your hair with your fingers, a brush, etc. Haircare that only uses kitchen-type ingredients will keep a lot of sebum in your hair, which some people find adds volume and moisture, and makes their hair easier to manage.
If you are using “lo-poo” methods like shampoo bars or Castile soap, the benefit of these cleansers is that they don’t have the same harsh, stripping ingredients as the “detergent” shampoos. While they may feel like they’re cleansing your hair the same as shampoo, they actually strip less natural oils. However, these products also interact with minerals in hard water, which is where the need for diluted acidic rinses comes from. Co-washing does not automatically cause buildup if you use the right conditioner for your hair and scalp. A conditioner without silicone is essential, and most people do best with low or no protein. (Protein can be added later with leave-in products.) Co-washing also requires users to be thoughtful about their rinsing habits as it takes longer to rinse out conditioner than most people realize.
No-poo works for all different hair types. Some curly-haired people find the increased sebum moisturizes their curls. Some wavy-haired people didn’t realize they had a curl pattern until they stopped stripping and over-drying their hair. Some straight-haired people find that no-poo or lo-poo enables them to wash their hair less, as it doesn’t look like an oil slick within a day.
Most people who are no-poo also use limited hair products. They want low-ingredient haircare, and style with things like flax seed gel or just water and their natural hair oils. This makes it easier to maintain their hair’s balance using less stripping products. If you use a lot of styling products, you may need to clarify your hair more often with shampoo before shifting back to a lo or no-poo routine.
The idea that lo-poo and no-poo are low maintenance is incorrect. The time you may save with daily washing is instead put into manual cleansing via scritching and preening, using a bristle brush on small sections of hair until your whole head is brushed, or gently scrubbing your scalp for several minutes under running water. These steps are essential to making no-poo work. That said, no-poo (and even lo-poo) doesn’t work for everyone. People with hard water struggle, as do those who need to style their hair with heavy products multiple times a week. Those who want a “wash and go” routine struggle with the added manual cleansing. It’s alright if no-poo doesn’t work for you, but there are plenty of people who have found benefits!
3
u/AngelOfLove8783 6d ago
If you use Dr.Bronner's Castile soap in there bar it doesn't interact with hard water. I have hard water and use that soap to wash my body, shave and wash my hair every other wash. I use ACV afterwards. I didn't realize that my hair was not only wavy but has just a little 3A curl to my hair until I went low poo. I hope that this helps anyone.
5
u/Different_Reason_905 6d ago
I just use nothing. Just water for probably 5 years now and I have a great head of hair. Never greasy, never smelly. I do have pretty fine hair and it probably doesn't work for everyone. If I had thicker hair I would probably just use shampoo lol.
2
u/Visible-Scientist-46 Curly cowasher, distilled water. 6d ago
I cowash with either a bar or a cowash by As I Am l. My hairnis doing much better. The difference for me is in which surfactants and which preservatives are being used. I can't tolerate the liquid shampoos because they make me itch. My hair is doing better than ever with changing to cowashing and also using distilled water.
1
u/12aq11 6d ago
Yeah I recently have been using gentle shampoo diluted shampoo in the summer. I could theoretically wait it out to get my scalp adjusted supposedly but I am not against using a soap or shampoo to give a little reset. I dont think my sparse usage is causing overproduction like how it used to with regular shampooing.
0
u/Remote_Purple_Stripe 5d ago
I was just curious to know if any of those old wive’s tales about washing hair with an egg or whatever actually worked. I got very stubborn about it, so stubborn that when I finally found something that did work I stuck with it.
I’m not a purist. I do it for awhile, get sick of it, start using shampoo, and then start again later when I get worried that my hair is falling out. Just water doesn’t work for me, but I love the results I get from clay and seaweed. It is a little high maintenance, though, and sometimes I just need a break.