No 'Poo: The Conditioner Only Method. Round 2. Ding Ding!

About this time last year I decided I was going to have to take a break from shampoo because it was causing more trouble than it was worth. So after a long, and sometimes awkward, break up I stopped washing my hair.

At least, in a conventional way.

I've suffered from really bad, flaky dandruff (that I'm certain is some sort of dermatitis) for the majority of my life. It died down for a few years but came back with a vengeance about 2 years ago. The first thing I did was to remove all products with Sodium Laurel Sulfate as it can be an irritant to more sensitive skin and my skin definitely responded well my my scalp didn't. I'm not saying that shampoo is some evil force in the world and must be stopped, I just got bored of trying hundreds or different medicated, anti-dandruff, sensitive skin shampoos and nothing over the years working and making things worse.

I decided I would take drastic measures and remove shampoo entirely and only use a silicon free conditioner to wash with. And you know what, my hair really liked it and for about 8 months my hair normalised. I used to have super oily hair that would be oily the same night I washed it. I always left at least 2 days between washes because over washing isn't the best for your hair. After the first 3 months of super oily hair, I noticed that I'd only have to wash it once or twice a week as it wasn't producing the same volumes of grease and I loved it! My dandruff calmed right down and I felt like I had relatively normal hair for once in my life.

That was, until I decided to use shampoo again for no bloody reason other than the Lush one my sister had smelt nice!

I'm a terrible person and my scalp and hair really let me know that. Everything flared back up again, I effectively sabotaged myself and now I'm back to square one.

So I'm restarting the process and blogging my experiences going back to a no poo hair regime!

Now, I do warn you. If you want to try this you will have to put up with greasy hair for a few months but it's worth it if you're willing to deal with updo's and braids for that time! And it's not for everyone. There are tons of No Poo methods you can try and it's worth looking into if you're interested.

So this is my routine if anyone is wanted to try this out:

The Tools of the Trade

 

It's best to use a cheap, silicone free conditioner as you will be using a shit ton of the stuff every time you want to wash your hair. I use the Tresemme Naturals one and a 900ml bottle cost me something like £3.99 from Savers so it's not breaking the bank!

Another great tool is a boars hair brush. Once you've brushed your hair, go over with this type of brush to help shift all the oils from the top of the head to the bottom. It also helps remove excess product from the hair and promotes shine and growth! Mine is a Kent brush I got from Boots but I cannae find it on their website. As long as it's boars hair, it's great to use!

Step One

Step into the shower/bath and rinse your hair under water and rub with your hands. Don't involve nails as that could damage the skin but just rub as you would if you were using shampoo but with no product. Try to use water as hot as you can stand.

Step Two

How much I use for my long hair

Grab your conditioner. I have long hair so I use about a palms worth of product and really massage it into the hair. You want to make sure the hair is saturated in conditioner and to really work it in. Basically, we are repeating step one but with product.

But don't leave it sitting on your hair like you would've before.

Step Three

Rinse throughoutly. Make sure you get all of the conditioner out your hair!

Step Four

Dry as you normally would, whether that be blow drying or leaving it naturally.

*Warning* Don't be disappointed of you still have greasy hair or it doesn't look right. You will not get results overnight and it can take months for your hair to stop craving shampoo stripping it of oil. Be patient and buy a crate of dry shampoo!

Let me know if you are a No Pooer or if you're interesting in this sort of thing!

Where to Buy
Savers
Boots - Boars Hair Brush (Goody)

xx