No Poo is Good Poo!

I could be the last person on the planet to have tried "No Poo", but I'm going into week three and I really like it.  For anyone still unfamiliar with No Poo, it gets your hair and scalp rebalanced to the point of not having to wash it every day and having it NOT be nasty when you don't wash it every day!  Sound crazy?  Yea, I thought so, too.  My bestie is a hair stylist who sort of introduced me to the idea a couple of years ago.  I tried it and it was awful so I quit, but all this time later, I figured out that I was totally doing it wrong.  There is a right and wrong way to No Poo!!!

I'm hair maintenance illiterate.  I don't get it cut or styled or colored or use anything fancy on it ever, so even the particulars about No Poo were something I didn't have a clue to ask about.  But I came across one of those awesome Pins that made me go, "OK, I've got to give this a try."  It answered questions I didn't even know to ask about No Poo!

So what is No Poo?  Baking Soda - yep, the same Arm and Hammer stuff in the orange box that you may use for deodorizing your fridge or baking - and brown or white vinegar.  You mix them both with water prior to using, but it is simple... and did I mention REALLY CHEAP?!!!  (Magic words, those two!  Ha!)

How does it work?  Well, for starters, it doesn't strip away all the natural oils that your hair is producing, causing your hair to go into hyper drive to produce more, which makes you go, "Ew!  My hair is gross!  I need to wash it!" and you go wash it.... and you see why the companies making shampoo are doing good business.  If you DON'T keep stripping your hair, the oil production slows down and you don't have to wash it a whole lot at all.  I'm No-Pooing my hair every three days, which is HUGE considering I've always thought of my scalp as an oil slick I needed to manage.  The vinegar is used for a rinse after washing with baking soda.  You do rinse it out and your hair does not smell like vinegar! 

The mistakes I made with No Poo the first time around could kind of happen to anyone.  Not that it's complicated, but I had only an idea of how to No Poo and NO CLUE what I was actually doing!  These are things you need to know BEFORE you start:

• Wait four or five days after washing your hair before you start No Poo.  As I mentioned, my scalp was very trained to produce a lot of oil to make up for daily shampooing, so this was a scary first step for me.  To make it less awful, I rinsed my hair really well every time I showered for those five days, and it wasn't so bad.
• Your hair may not be fantastic right away after you start No Poo.  It may feel like straw for a little while because it could still be adjusting.  Mine adjusted pretty quickly (probably sighing with relief!), but I've heard some people say it could take a couple weeks before your hair starts feeling nice.
• Don't No Poo every day!!!  This is where I went so wrong a couple years ago!  Oh my gosh, my hair was like a straw stack!  It was dry and unmanageable and I thought everyone who raved about how great No Poo was must be stark raving nuts, and had never tried the Suave Professionals shampoo and conditioner that even a hair maintenance illiterate can pick up at Walmart!

Here is the Pin that really got me started.  This lady does an EXELLENT job of explaining what to do and how and why it works!  If you can bring yourself to try it, you will be very pleasantly suprised.  :)