Comments on Life Less Plastic: The No Shampoo Revolution: No 'Poo Update

Hi, Ethical Consumer magazine is covering shampoo...

2010-02-26T04:52:52.685-08:00

Hi,

Ethical Consumer magazine is covering shampoo and no-poo in the next issue. If you've got a story you'd like to share with us, please post to our forum

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/Forums/tabid/61/aff/7/aft/8/afv/topic/Default.aspx

I worked with a guy for 10 years who played this h...

2010-01-26T20:00:10.506-08:00

I worked with a guy for 10 years who played this hippie crap, he smelled awful and had no one, then he died.

I bet you buy into all this whacko enviromentalist crap don't you? I do not want to destroy the Earth, but I think you are over the top with this nasty crap.

I stopped using anything at all on my hair over 10...

2010-01-15T10:35:12.598-08:00

I stopped using anything at all on my hair over 10 years ago. Since then I have used only olive oil soap on my body and nothing on my hair apart from water sometimes in the shower or swimming pool (my local pool is UV treated so not much chlorine so I just shower in plain water to get rid of it). Can't even remember what it was like to have to do anything to my hair apart from brush it occasionally! I've never bothered with any of the baking-soda and vinegar alternatives, and to be honest, I haven't ever wanted to - the whole point was to let my hair and skin get on with it and its worked. The only time I ever used a product on my hair was a few years ago when I picked up some little passengers (I'm a teacher so headlice are one of the perks...) and I used a conditioner (not shampoo) and combing to get rid of them - it took a few weeks to recover from inhaling the stench of the conditioner and for my hair to get back to normal.

Great to know there are others out there getting shot of the cosmetic addiction.

I started no poo 3 weeks ago, it's going great so ...

2009-09-19T16:07:41.257-07:00

I started no poo 3 weeks ago, it's going great so far but I have some weird things happening; when I shower I loose tons of hair after shampooing, my ends feel super dry, and I have a huge clump of hair around my neck that just knots up and now looks like 1 big dreadlock.... Will this pass when my hair gets used to no chemicals?!

for those that are getting oilier scalp, cut back ...

2009-08-17T21:34:01.028-07:00

for those that are getting oilier scalp, cut back on the vinegar amount. I have the same hair and I use bs then vinegar on the dry parts only, not my scalp, then rinse. Dont use more than about a tablespoon per cup for vinegar and dont get onto scalp. Leave bs in for about five min if oily scalp, leave vinegar (same ratio) in for five to ten then rinse. I have to buy distilled water or boil and filter mine to use for my hair as the hard water here in horrible and only works against me.

Aunt Jessie, I have found the exact same thing t...

2009-06-12T21:05:35.248-07:00

Aunt Jessie,

I have found the exact same thing to happen with me! So far, no poo has worked really well everywhere but at the back of the crown of my head. I can't quite understand why the baking soda would help so much everywhere else and not seem to help in that area. Any suggestions? I just keep hoping that it will even itself out eventually. . .

I've been no 'poo for 3 1/2 weeks now, after readi...

2009-05-19T17:22:45.870-07:00

I've been no 'poo for 3 1/2 weeks now, after reading this blog and others! My hair has always been thick and healthy, but my scalp was really dry, flaky, and itchy. For these past weeks I've been using baking soda, honey, & AC vinegar to wash my hair whenever I feel like it needs it, usually every 4-5 days. On the other days I just rinse it with water or water and a little bit of conditioner. I don't usually use any styling products. My hair looks about the same as it did before, but maybe with a little more body, but after I wash it the back of my crown feels greasy. Maybe I'm using too much vinegar, or washing it too often? I'm not sure. Either way, I'm sticking with this, because my scalp feels soooo much better! I can wear black anytime I want to without worrying about scratching my head and having my shirt get flaky. My fiance decided to try giving up shampoo too. So far (also 3.5 weeks) he's been doing just fine with only rinsing with water and scrubbing his head with a washcloth. Who needs 'poo?!

This all sounds very interesting.. I was wonder, t...

2009-05-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

This all sounds very interesting.. I was wonder, though, since I use product in my hair-gel,paste & sometimes hairspray, can I still go "no poo?" Would there be a problem w/build-up?

for people who swim in chlorine, wetting your hair...

2009-04-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

for people who swim in chlorine, wetting your hair down and then rubbing in about 1 Tbsp of vinegar should take care of the chlorine. I also mist my skin with vinegar and then wash it off the chlorine is off my skin too! Yeah!

I have gray hair and our water has some metals in ...

2009-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have gray hair and our water has some metals in it which make my hair turn yellowish. How can I join the no 'poo revolution and not end up with yellow hair? right now I have to use a purple shampoo to tone the yellow down.

Additionally, NPR did a piece on shampooing hair -...

2009-03-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Additionally, NPR did a piece on shampooing hair - it might be a good point of reference for those who are nervous about going shampoo-less.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102062969&ps=cprs

DON'T give up on the less or no shampoo use!!! I ...

2009-03-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

DON'T give up on the less or no shampoo use!!! I have found a book "Curly Girl" by Lorainne Massey that advocates NOT using shampoo for healthier shinier stronger hair. Mostly the book talks about the care of curly hair, but it also talks about healthy hair. Please read the book (it's rather short) for full details, but she advocates scrubbing the scalp with the pads of your fingers and not using any product. You may spend a little longer scrubbing but you WILL get that squeaky clean feeling. I have tried this and have been successful, but got self conscious about how flat my curly and usually RATHER full and frizzy hair was looking. I compromised to only using a good conditioner. I use about 25% of what I would normally use when using shampoo. I scrub/massage very well and I get VERY surprised looks when I tell people that I have not used shampoo for about 3 years.

DON'T give up. Going shampooless is possible. It may take an adjustment period, but you can do it!

A few years ago, I talked with my grandfather, who...

2008-11-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I talked with my grandfather, who lived from his birth to his twenty years in mountains far away from civilization. I asked him how did they wash their hair, without any shampoo or soap. He replied, that they used common salt for everything, like cleaning their teeth, their clothes, washing their hair..
After reading this article and trying baking soda for a week, I remembered what my already dead grandpa said to me. "We used salt". So I tried salt, and this is the right thing to me. I melt some salt in water, and then rub it into hair, than flush with water and it is done. My hair is more stronger and shiny than with baking soda. And it is much cheaper. I recommend using common salt instead of baking soda.

I've recently gone poo-free and now love my hair. ...

2008-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

I've recently gone poo-free and now love my hair. I use three or four tablespoons of bicarb to about two cups of hot water, but my hair is long and thick and I like to have plenty to work through. I put the vinegar and water mix through my hair before I rinse out the bicarb because the slight sizzle and tingle feels really energizing and refreshing. Then I rinse it all out together. My hair has always been very greasy and my ends damaged easily but things seems to be pretty equalized now and it's more shiny than it's ever been, even with all the gray coming in. If I've had a sweaty day or have been gardening or whatever, it does no harm to wash it whenever it feels like it needs it, unlike washing it "extra days" with shampoo. At first I felt I needed to wash it every three days or so but now that it's equalized, if I'm not doing anything to get it extra dirty it only needs it at most twice a week.

Someone mentioned bicarb coming in plastic jars. I don't know where they are from but around here it only comes in paper boxes.

I have battle with shampoo since my teen years, my...

2008-09-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have battle with shampoo since my teen years, my hair is abundant and has the tendency to go dry very quickly. Up to know have try about 30 different kinds of shampoos and conditioners but still keep becoming frizzy. Looking for more solutions I found the no poo alternative. I took the risk and ... the results are fabulous, after "cleaning" I could not notice a big difference but them after brushing my hair already dry, is silky, smooth and extra shiny, without any extra product other than heat protector. I can even iron my hair and is still silky smooth and not dry at all, just love it never again going for expensive products, Can clean it as often as I please and the result is just the same.

Here’s my little modest ”less shampoo reform” (me:...

2008-08-31T02:10:00.000-07:00

Here’s my little modest ”less shampoo reform” (me: thin hair, tending to greasy): I haven’t liked not using shampoo at all, but with a small towel in the shower I scrub my hair every day and have reduced shampoo use by a third, from every other day to every third day. ... more seldom than that starts to feel itchy. Also with the towel you can give your skin a good scrub, and I use less soap than before. I think this scrub contributes to less acne on my back. Greetings from Sweden
/Peter

Were can I get bicarb that is not in a plastic pot...

2008-08-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Were can I get bicarb that is not in a plastic pot.

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar...

2008-08-26T10:31:00.001-07:00

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar will do your hair and scalp much good over the long term. Also I have never seen bicard for sale in anything other than plastic jars.

If you use Rhassoul clay mixed with a little oil (preferably argan oil), you will eliminate excessive sebum production (the main factor in male hair loss) as well as at the other end of the spectrum dandruff/itchy scalps. The hair will be soft, flexible, full of body and shiny. Rhassoul clay has been used for at least 1400 years by the Berber tribe to wash the scalp and body, and it should come as no surprise that it really works a treat - there is a lot behind 'traditional knowledge'.
The clay and oil is available from www.naturalspasupplies.com

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar...

2008-08-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar...

2008-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar...

2008-08-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

To be honest, I don't think the bicarb and vinegar...

2008-08-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

About the face cleaner childengineer-I just discov...

2008-08-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

About the face cleaner childengineer-

I just discovered http://www.farmaesthetics.com/.

I love her face wash and lotion. I kind of made my own face exfoliater following here ingredients list. I just took powered milk, cornmeal and chamomile, then blended it together. I just put a little in my palm, wet it, then scrub. If you want the vegan free method, leave out the powered milk. I wash now twice a day with here face wash and try to exfoliate once a day. NO makeup!! Makeup just clogs you pores, reducing your skins elasticity, and making you look old quicker in turn making you need more makeup. Your skin may take a while to clear up, but it should look good once you go chemical free.

For Lush - be sure to ask about ingredients. They...

2008-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

For Lush - be sure to ask about ingredients. They are supposed to be phasing out SLS/SLES but check the website of any products that interest you first. The bar shampoos use SLS.

Lush products are a nice alternative. The shampoo ...

2008-07-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

Lush products are a nice alternative. The shampoo bars are preservative free and you can get the products without packaging in the retail stores.

http://usa.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/index.html?lang=en_US&dlang=en