Water Only Hair

Hello dear readers,

I have made the decision to start a Water Only journey after my success over the last 6 months going No Poo which you can read about here. I love my no poo hair and the ease it has brought me, I only have to wash my hair every 10 days with Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar, but I'm after something even easier!

So it's been 15 days since my last wash (bs and acv) and I have water rinsed my hair twice since then. The good news with WO is that you can do it as often as you like, everyday if you want! I'm aiming for eventually once a week.

Here is how it looks today:

It's so big and bouncy, my hair has never been this big and bouncy in all my life. It feels slightly oily which is to be expected for a while, but I like it!

I will keep updating throughout this journey and let you all know how it's getting on!

Are you a no pooer? Water only? Thinking about it? I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Am I still shampoo free 6 months on?

As I haven't done an update on my no poo lifelife change I bet some of you are eagerly wondering whether I'm still a dirty haired hippy? The answer on two parts...  Yes I am still no poo, but no my hair isn't dirty!

In my journey I have used Soapnuts read about the results here, I have used rye flour, read how that went here but foremost in my journey, and still currently I have used the tried and tested method of baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

My first few months of no poo were pretty much typical of anyone transitioning into a no poo lifestyle. My hair attacked me with grease and waxy buildup, there was no more good hair days. Then suddenly, everything just changed. At around the 8 week mark my hair started looking and feeling great!

Where am I at today? Well today I haven't washed my hair for 11 days and that last wash was BS and ACV. I no longer need to do anything else with it between washes other than brush it. My typical week looks like this numbered in days:

1. Wash hair, wear down blow dried and straightened. 
2. Wear down doing nothing to it 
3. Wear down with front braided or pulled back. 
4. Some up some down hairstyle 
5. Top knot 
6. Top knot
7. Top knot 
8. Water only rinse if needed, braid hair overnight 
9. Wear down and curly from braid 
10. Usually wash again. 

Thats about it. I promise I will upload photos later with proof that my hair isn't gross anymore but I need to run! 

Let me know your experience in the comments beautiful ladies. 

Rye Flour as a Shampoo

So I have been no poo now for over 3 months, I love it. I seriously will not be going back to using shampoo and conditioned ever again. So up until now I have been a regular user of baking soda and either distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. While that was working for me, I felt like changing it up a bit and I have heard some amazing things about Rye Flour.

I picked it up in my local Holland and Barrett for £1.69 for 500g but you can get it cheaper elsewhere it was just easiest for me. So what do you do with this lovely stuff I hear you ask? It's really simple, you can use one of two methods.

Method 1
Take 3tbs of Rye flour and sieve with a very fine sieve or tea strainer to get most of the bits out (or you will be picking them out of your hair all day)
Add just enough warm water to make it a Shampoo consistency

Method 2
Put 3tbs into a sock and tie it off
Soak overnight in about half a cup of water, squeezing a few times in the morning to get all the good stuff out
(with this method you get a Shampoo like consistency, no lumps, but some people say it is less effective at cleaning without the bits in).

Currently I use method 1 but will be trying method 2 soon just for comparison. You just use the Rye flour shampoo as you would normal shampoo, and just make sure you scrub around the roots very well. It's not too important to use on ends as as you rinse it will run through to ends.

Now, some people like to follow with ACV/DWV for detangling and dry ends, but it is not necessary. Because Rye flour is totally pH balanced at 5, it makes it a perfect match for your hair. It also contains lots of amazing minerals and vitamins. I did use ACV on my lengths but only a very small amount to prevent dry ends.

So there we have it, a pH balanced all natural no poo alternative to shampoo. Here is a picture of my hair after washing with Rye flour. Bear in mind that I went 12 days without washing my hair at all before using it so it did an amazing job at removing all the oil and gross stuff out of my hair. The only draw back was combing out the bits that were left behind but it's livable.

So, yea, the picture. Happy no pooing folks. Have you used Rye flour? Let me know!

62 days no poo

So it's been 62 days since I gave up shampoo and conditioner for good so I thought it was time for an update. Since going no poo I have tried egg, coffee, Apple cider vinegar, baking soda, soapnuts, distilled white vinegar and tea as shampoos and rinses. Quick run through.

• Egg was beautiful at getting rid of the oil. My hair looked gorgeous the day I washed it but the next day it was absolutely soaked with grease. Not good. 
• Coffee was used as a WO rinse. It was messy and my hair smelled like coffee for about a week. No visible difference between this and water only. 
• Apple cider vinegar is a popular one to be used as a rinse after a wash. I liked it, the smell didn't bother me but my hair was still getting greasy around day 3 so tried DWV instead. 
• Baking soda is a wash. It's great at cleaning hair and is my main wash method that works for me. I wash every 10 days with this. 
• Soapnuts is a wash. It's used as a liquid but for me I found it too good at cleaning. It stripped every last bit of moisture out of my hair and left it brittle and dry. 
• Distilled white vinegar is a rinse alternative to Apple cider vinegar. I use this alongside baking  soda and it doesn't leave my hair greasy. I also use with a water rinse in between washes. 
• Tea is used as an acid rinse but again, no difference between this and water for me. 

So here I am now using BS as a shampoo and DWV as a conditioner around every 10 days and occasionally doing an acid rinse a few times in between. I can honestly say my hair is shinier, healthier and certainly thicker and stronger. If you are reading this considering no poo I suggest you jump in and try it. The worse thing to happen is toy can't stick it out through transition so you go back to poo but for me transition wasn't too bad. Oh yes, here's a picture of my hair today after washing.

The one thing I wasn't expecting was how my hair would actually change the way it feels. It no longer feels soft and smooth but feels kind of thicker and rougher. Not tangly or itchy but just different. It's really hard to describe. The individual hairs actually seem thicker now than they were before.

Have you ever gone no poo? Are you considering it? Any questions? Let me know in comments :)

The great Unwashed - 11 days

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, I have been busy making my own soap, my own deodorant, cooking up batches of soapnuts and generally being a stay at home mum and human being. That being said I certainly feel more human... One month no poo!

It's been 11 days now since I last washed my hair. The last time I washed it I used BS AND ACV but tomorrow I will be using soapnut liquid so expect an update on that.

If I wasn't leaving the house tomorrow I wouldn't even bother washing it but mini me has his post op checkup and I would like to look clean as his surgeon is a bit yummy... Oops ;)

So yeah, here's the picture. 11 days Unwashed but a WO rinse yesterday. Looks  and feels OK just slightly clumpy and wet look but while up it looks totally normal.

Egg Wash for No Poo Hair

Oh. My. God. I cannot recommend this enough. 

Bit of background: up until yesterday I was washing my hair once a week with a paraben free shampoo. Yesterday I decided after 4 days without washing to just jump in and go WO washing. Water. Only. Washing. Wow.

So my hair felt disgusting right away. After washing with hot water and scrubbing I blow dried and straightened my hair and it just felt like candle wax. I couldn't even cope. Today, after brushing with my boar bristle brush it literally felt wet and my fingers felt that same greasiness after you play with a candle (oo err).

So, I did a bit of googling and with some help from the ladies on the no poo low poo forum I decided to go for an egg wash.

Here's what you do: you mix one egg with a bit of water and then apply to wet hair in shower. Really try and get to the roots and scrub scrub scrub. Leave for any thing between 5 minutes and 20 minutes then rinse. I must stress use COLD WATER. If you use hot water the egg will COOK IN YOUR HAIR.

Unfortunately I don't have a before picture but it was literally like candle wax, literally. My mum came around and said my hair looked wet. It wasn't wet. Yuck. The after picture shows my hair is nice and clean! It feels ALMOST like I used shampoo! Some of the hair underneath does still feel a bit waxy and heavier but I think I should have used more eggs as some people say they use 3 eggs. 

No it doesn't smell like eggs, or anything actually just like hair. I'm so happy with this and think I will be able to go a few more days without doing anything to it. Sigh of relief.

What is your story? Let me know in the comments.

Oh yes, and the picture 