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.

Black tea hair rinse

So it's been 7 days since I last washed my hair (arghhhhhhhhh) I did a quick water only rinse out 2 days ago not because my hair felt gross but because of the high humidity I just needed to feel fresher. I want to go until hopefully Friday without doing a wash as I'm not really leaving the house much until then (reclusive or what) but today, like Monday, I really needed to feel water on my head. It's so hot!  

So I did a bit of googling and found that whole water only is great it's always good to follow with an acid rinse.

Let me explain, the definition of WASH when going no poo is using something that will cleanse your scalp and break down dirt. Something like Basking soda or rye flour or egg. An acid rinse acts as the conditioner so it's fine to use this early everyday if you wish to.

Back to today. Black tea, which is normal tea you drink brewed with without milk or sugar and left to steep for a while in the water is a great acid rinse to use as the caffeine can stimulate hair growth and also it can help to cover greys by staining them. I wouldn't recommend using black tea if you are blonde but there are other types of tea you can use such as peppermint.

So as with a normal wash you scrub your scalp with the hottest water you can stand then add the tea, I use a small spray bottle to spray on lengths and then just rub a small amount in to roots to freshen up.

Unfortunately, it isn't a cleansing wash so it isn't going to get rid of the sebum but it does help you go a few extra days without washing by making you feel fresher and it'd given me much more volume. I have had to kiss goodbye to a partening for the next few days though but I'm still wearing my hair down!

What do you use to wash or rinse your hair with? Let me know in comments! 

12 days no poo

Well not too much go report along the hair front today, I washed my hair with bs and acv 5 days ago and today got a bit annoyed with the heat so gave it a quick refresh with hot water only wash and it seems to have done the job. It's still slightly greasy around front but nothing a bit of cornflour or an updo won't fix. I don't plan on washing my hair until maybe Friday with bs and acv so hoping this little refresh has helped.

Still going strong no poo and will be sending some product reviews your way soon!

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 

4 days without washing

OK so it's now been 4 days since I washed my hair, let me clarify. I have showered, just wore a shower cap and kept my hair up in a top knot while sleeping. On the day I washed my hair (Day 1) I blowdried and straightened. Day 2 I went swimming, day 3 I went to my mums and pretty much did nothing and day 4 I have been baking. The weather here is horrible and humid at the moment and averaging around 20 degrees so it's not ideal weather to not be washing hair... But nevertheless I am a stubborn one.
So... What you are waiting for... Pictures.

So while my hair is down it does look greasy and feels not too good, this is without dry shampoo however. I think with a bit of dry shampoo and a bit of sorting out in terms of styling it would be go-out-able. R

While up though it looks fine and feels fine. Again, no dry shampoo or any product.

So I am hoping to go another 2 days without washing my hair. This is the 4th week of trying this and it's definitely improving. With the help of the boar bristle brush, dry shampoo which I will probably use tomorrow and lots of willpower!

What is your no wash story? Comment below!

Sibel Boar Bristle Brush

As promised, I bought a boar bristle brush to help me along with my hair journey (and eventual transition into WO.) SO, it arrived today and I couldn't resist, being that my hair is now on day 3, to see if it really does help distribute sebum through to the hair and off the scalp.

Now it's important to remember that these brushes are soft and are not intended to detangle hair, they are purely there to give hair a sleek, shiny appearance and to help sebum distribution. It is equally important that you wash your BBB frequently, ideally after each use.

So, after detangling my hair with my tangle teezer it was on to the BBB. I won't lie to you, I really didn't like it. It was difficult at first to get through my hair and into the scalp and my hair really isn't that thick. After a few brushes I found a knack to it. You must pick your hair up in sections and brush through, the brush goes through lovely and really feels nice on scalp. It did a wonderful job of smoothing out my frizzy ends and my hair generally felt softer after.

So the result: it made my hair softer, sleaker, far easier to put up in a bun without the use of products to stop fly aways, and actually did distribute sebum down the shaft. Normally when hair is greasy it sort of sticks to the scalp at the top then loosens up down hair, this made my hair sleek all the way down to about my ears and then relax. I feel after a few days of brushing like this, my hair will be less oily and definitely sleaker and softer.

Try one out for yourself I purchased mine from Amazon for about £7

The picture added is after brushing with the BBB unfortunately you can see a little flakiness which is the dreaded transitional period mentioned in previous posts. Happy no washing!

Do you have an oily hair story to tell? Let me know in the comments!

No Poo, Do You?

I have recently been in awe of the ladies out there who call themselves No Poo'ers. Have you heard of them? It is a trend that is gaining many followers out there where it is simple, you no longer wash your hair. By no longer wash it means you don't use Shampoo (hence, no poo) or any harmful chemicals on your hair and the results are all seemingly spectacular! Many of the followers opt for a Baking Soda mixture on their hair as the shampoo and use an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse which acts as the conditioner. I am trying to pluck up the courage myself to use a more extreme version of this trend called WO, which is simply Water Only washing. Just as it says on the tin (or lack of) you just rinse your hair with water. Why on earth would someone do this, I hear you ask. Well it's simple. The chemicals in the Shampoos and Conditioners most of us use everyday are crazy harmful to your hair and skin and the lack of rules and regulations in the cosmetic industry make it extremely easy for these companies to get away with it, not to mention those who use animals for testing.

Now here is the difficult part of the movement: Transitioning. Because your hair and scalp are so used to you using these harsh chemicals to strip away the oils, they go into a crazy supply and demand cycle. You wash away, they replace with more. So not only do you have greasy hair all over again the next day but its just going to be replaced the next time you wash it out! So, transitioning can take anything from a few weeks, to a few months of greasy and dull hair, which can also accompany a flaky scalp while the scalp tries to unclog the sebum producing glands in the first place.

I am really dying to jump in, and seeings as I wash my hair only once a week these days I am hoping for a quick transitioning period. So what I want to know is, what is your experience with No Poo? Have you tried it? Would you try it? Comments below folks!

My Quest To Healthier Hair

Ok folks so my hair has finally had enough. I guess the years of ironing (yes, ironing, with an actual IRON) straightening, dying, perming, bleaching etc on my hair have finally given up the ghost. Not only is my hair now dry and brittle but its prone to tangling... and hair loss. Lets not forget the hair loss. So that is why I pledged around 3 weeks ago to find healthier aleternatives in hair management. Since then I have officially stopped washing my hair everyday and have managed at this point to wash it ONCE A WEEK. Yuck, ew, gross, I hear you. But my hair really does feel clean(ish) and at the end of the 6 day stint between washing you would swear it was second day hair.The only product I use on it in between is Batiste dry shampoo, if you haven't yet discovered this product you really need to because it is a God send.

 My hair since making the pledge is far healthier (and this is week 3) and much more manageable. Not to mention that the oiliness of my hair has definately depleted over the weeks and now doesn't feel greasy until day 3 (in the beginning it was day 2.)

So, I hear you ask, what is my new routine? Simple.

I now wash my hair once a week, around the 6-7 day mark with shampoo and conditioner, then I blowdry and straighten as normal (it really helps to get your hair looking the best it possibly can on day 1 as the better it starts out the easier it is to not wash) and thats it. At night I brush my hair up into a very high twisted top knot and then in the morning brush again. As my hair starts to get greasy I use a technique called Scritching and Preening favoured by those No Poo'ers we are all quite jealous of (post about that to follow) where you gently scratch and rub your scalp to loosen any clogged pore etc then you gently pull the oils down your hair shaft with your fingers. This helps your hair not look as greasy as it normally would and is an amazing natural conditioner. Another method favoured by the No Poo community is using a Boar Bristle Brush, mine is on order so I will review that when it comes. This type of brush helps to brush dirt away from the scalps and also distribute Sebum (the natural oil) straight down the hair shaft with ease leaving hair feeling healthier and less greasy.

I will keep my journey up to do with you guys but yes, its as easy as that. It starts off hard but get through it and you will be so much happier, as a stay at home Mum I am so greatful for not having to wash my hair every day!