To Poo Or Not To Poo - No Shampoo Trial

Just to be up front with you, no we are not talking about poop.  Although poop conversation is a recurring subject in our house with 4 males living in my house. When I say "no poo" I'm simply mean no shampoo.  There was a woman on the today recently who did this for a full year and loved it, I was a little more than  skeptical...

However, I am willing to try anything once or twice. 

So my trial period for "no poo" was two weeks.  I felt like this was sufficient time to figure out if this was for me or not but I love my shampoo and conditioner so it was going to be a long two weeks.  I want to point out though I spent a little more on shampoo and conditioner because I fell in love with a new brand that's about $18 per bottle.  I do not buy other products, I make my own toner and use water to wash my face so it's my little splurge.

I started this trial with a hair mask of avocado, mayo, banana, and egg.  I will skip the mayo next time because it was a bit too much oil for my hair but it did a great job and I loved it.  The next wash I used a paste of baking soda which is your shampoo and then a rinse of raw organic ACV (apple cider vinegar),  Bragg brand, diluted with water.  This will be your conditioner and don't worry if you get out of the shower and your hair smells a bit of ACV, it will go away after you dry your hair.

I then blow dried and straightened my hair as usual.  The end result was great!  I wasn't thrilled when I go out if the shower and my hair felt odd because I hadn't used conditioner which typically makes it super soft and thinned out.  Once it was dry and styled it was really soft and clean!  I was impressed to say the least.   My hair didn't need the extra product or chemicals that are in shampoo and conditioner.  The best part was 3 days later I didn't feel like I needed to wash it! 

OK skeptics,  I know what your thinking,  she's only tried it once and it was after the hair mask and you would be right which is why I was giving this 2 weeks so just calm down and keep reading.

3 days after the first no poo wash I tried again.  This time was the same but 2 days later my hair felt oily and needed another wash.  So I washed it again with the same results after it was dry but again 2 days later it was oily again.

Let me explain why this is unusual for me....

I typically only wash my hair once a week, not shower once a week so don't get the wrong idea.  When I shampoo it dries my hair out and if I washed it every day or twice a day my hair ends up brittle and dry so being oily after 2 days was a strange occurrence but makes sense and do you know why?!?!  Shampoo strips your hair and adds artifical oils and cleansers back in it.  When I was going without the natural oils were back in my hair!  It was healthy again!

I love the fact that my hair is recovering and I am not putting strange chemicals on my hair however I miss shampoo...  I am now at a cross roads and struggling with going back to my beloved $18 bottle.  So what's a girl to do?!?!  A friend suggested an all natural shampoo so I researched and settled on Kiss My Face.  It doesn't lather like you would see from your typical shampoo but is made of natural ingredients so I've decided to give it a try. 

Moral of the story, "no poo" isn't for everyone and if I can give you any advice, cold turkey isn't the way to go.  I still may go full "no poo" but for now I will taper off with the all natural shampoo and go no poo every other wash. 

Do you have any advice?  Or experience?  Let me know!  I'm always interested to hear other people's experiences!

**UPDATE**  I found a new all natural shampoo and conditioner at Trader Joe's called Tea Tree Tingle which you can purchase on Amazon but it's $8 and in the store it's only $3.99.  I have heard really great things and will update you once I have tried it more than once!