No Poo… such an interesting name… and sounds kind of gross! What no poo means is that you don’t use shampoo or conditioner on your hair. For most, that sounds pretty gross too. From the moment we are born, we are taught that the only way to get clean hair is to use shampoo. It is completely drilled into us! So, when I first heard about going shampoo-free, I was skeptical. When I started researching it further, I started thinking that maybe there was something to this. But making the decision to totally give up shampoo was too drastic.

Because I kept away from non-organic shampoos thinking that the organics ones were gentle and loving to my hair, I didn’t feel the need to stop using shampoo altogether. Recently, though, that changed. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) came out with a study that revealed that some leading shampoos (as well as body washes and lotions) claiming to be “natural” or “organic” actually contain the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-Dioxane which can cause cancer. They did note that products certified under the USDA National Organic Program DID NOT contain this toxin. Pretty scary! Luckily my certified-organic shampoo was not one of the culprits hiding this carcinogenic contaminant, but this study did make me take a step back about what I was putting on my hair.

So, one week ago my kids and I took the plunge and stopped using shampoo. Now we use baking soda and apple cider vinegar. That’s it! Depending on your hair type, you have to figure out what combination will work best for you. For us, we use about one tablespoon of baking soda and mix it with warm water. I apply it directly to the scalp and massage in. After a minute or so I massage again a little more then rinse out. To condition my hair, I mix about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar with 3/4 cup warm water and apply to the hair shaft (not the scalp). I heard that you can actually leave the apple cider vinegar solution in and not rinse out and it will keep on conditioning while it dries. I don’t mind the smell of it, so I leave it in. Once it dries, the smell disappears! My daughter does not like the smell and has me rinse it out immediately.

So far I haven’t noticed any real change in our hair. I am surprised about how soft my hair feels and how easy it is to comb after washing. Some people’s hair become greasy for little while as their hair detoxes, but we have been very fortunate and haven’t had any greasiness.

Because baking soda can dry out your hair, you only need to wash it once or twice a week. That is taking some getting used to also (at least for me… my kids love having not to wash their hair every other night!). This is great because it allows the natural oils that protect your hair to do their job instead of being washed away with frequent shampooing.

So, are you ready to “no poo?”