# No-Poos?? Anybody tried this?



## boyago (Nov 4, 2014)

http://mountainroseblog.com/herbal-dry-shampoo-powders/

I've never heard of this and was curious what ya'll thought of it.  I've been shaving my head the past number of years, but it seems like it wouldn't be super awesome.


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## goji_fries (Nov 5, 2014)

boyago said:


> http://mountainroseblog.com/herbal-dry-shampoo-powders/
> 
> I've never heard of this and was curious what ya'll thought of it.  I've been shaving my head the past number of years, but it seems like it wouldn't be super awesome.



Sounds similar to old school Japanese body incense


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## JustBeachy (Nov 5, 2014)

Hmmm, seems like it could have it's drawbacks, but then again, I try not to rush to judgement without trying it. I'm actually working on a cleansing conditioner product, but never even thought about a dry product.


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## Obsidian (Nov 5, 2014)

That doesn't sound like a bad prodict but not for everyday use. All the dry shampoos I've tried were really icky feeling but I do occasionally use talc, seems these would be better.
I don't know if I'd want coco powder in my hair though There has to be a better option for dark hair.


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## shunt2011 (Nov 5, 2014)

Dry shampoo has been around a long time.  My mom was a hairdress for a zillion years and use to visit  clients and family members in the hospital and used dry shampoo when they weren't able to shower as often as they wanted to.  She actually just used it herself when she was in the hospital for 2 weeks. But was not allowed to get up and shower for 1 of them.  It's great for short term use but I wouldn't use it frequently.


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## sagehill (Nov 5, 2014)

Dry shampoos have been around for many decades, maybe hundreds of years, usually made of clays, starches and other powders.  I used them back in the late 60's when the leather brace for my fractured neck didn't allow showers. Shake the powder on, massage it in, then brush brush brush it out. But back then, hair was easier to clean with dry poos because shampoos were mostly soap-based anyway, with a lemon or vinegar rinse.

Nowadays, shampoos and conditioners have a lot of silicones and other chemicals designed to stick to your hair, so powder poos may not work as well.  I've gone no-poo for 5-6 years and my hair is better for it... I just rinse with water, maybe a little damp baking soda if it's extra-dirty for some reason, then rinse with diluted white vinegar or lemon juice.  My very fine hair has a lot more body this way.  

It does take a while for your hair to recover from all the commercial products, though.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 5, 2014)

I would be interested in giving it a go, if it weren't for the fancy-pants powders.  Would 1/4 cup Baking soda and 1 cup cornstarch with 20 drops of EO be a very basic, no-frills option?


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## navigator9 (Nov 5, 2014)

I've been wanting to try the "no poo" method for a while now, and have just never got around to it. But the method I'm considering is not a dry shampoo, it's what sagehill mentioned. I saved these instructions from somewhere online. 
"Here's how it goes: Take one tablespoon of baking soda to 1cup of warm water (240ml) and dissolve.  
This recipe can be tweaked to suit your needs..sometimes I use a little more bs, sometimes a lil' less. Go figure.
You'll need a squeeze bottle of some sort or just save an empty shampoo bottle which allows you to use this mix more readily. Also combine two to three teaspoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to one cup of water and fill that into another bottle. Wet hair, work your baking soda mix into your scalp, rinse. As you rinse it out, it'll also wash the rest of your hair clean. Follow with lemon (or) apple cider vinegar rinse and work through hair. Rinse again. That's all."

And yes, I've read that it takes some time for your hair to get accustomed to this method, and that it can feel weird for a while, but many people seem to love the way it makes their hair feel. I'm intrigued. And I like the idea better than dry shampoo. Sagehill, I also remember the dry shampoo of the 60s. And we used to use baby powder too, if I remember correctly. I didn't like the feeling of the residue that was left afterwards. So I think the wet no poo method may be the one for me, too.


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## snappyllama (Nov 5, 2014)

This is certainly interesting and gives me a thought to try to reverse engineer a dry shampoo that I actually like for: 

1. freshening my thin hair right after work if I have something to do 
2. fixing my heavy handedness with oily products when I'm under time constraints
3. making me feel less icky for a long drive home/dinner out after being outdoorsy all day

So far the only commercial product I like is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GKMSNO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 It is a bit spendy though a bottle lasts over a year for me. I just turn my head upside down, floof it into my long hair, wait a minute and brush it out.

I don't think the no-poo at all thing could work for me, I dye my hair and it is way too thin to go without washing.  Plus, i like washing my hair.  Who doesn't like to wash their hair?


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## Meganmischke (Nov 5, 2014)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> I would be interested in giving it a go, if it weren't for the fancy-pants powders.  Would 1/4 cup Baking soda and 1 cup cornstarch with 20 drops of EO be a very basic, no-frills option?



I wouldn't put baking soda on your scalp. Hair does not like alkaline.  I have found arrowroot, rice, kaolin even tapioca to be better than corn starch. I conditioner wash and i only wash my hair once a week.  I use dry shampoo once maybe twice a week.  I love dry shampoo i used to use some nasty stuff but i make my own now.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 5, 2014)

Meganmischke said:


> I wouldn't put baking soda on your scalp. Hair does not like alkaline. I have found arrowroot, rice, kaolin even tapioca to be better than corn starch. I conditioner wash and i only wash my hair once a week. I use dry shampoo once maybe twice a week. I love dry shampoo i used to use some nasty stuff but i make my own now.


 
Thanks for the "heads" up!  (couldn't resist it)

So the second recipe on that link is not a good one?


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## Meganmischke (Nov 5, 2014)

I wouldn't use it. I don't know if it is bad but I don't know why bs is in it. For odor control? If your hair smells it should be washed. When I use dry shampoo i sprinkle it on my roots, leave it and then rub it in. Baking soda is probably going to be abrasive to the scalp. YMMV.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 5, 2014)

I hope you didn't think I was being snarky or anything with the last question - I am genuinely interested to get to the roots of this.

So can I ask what you would look at?  Just arrowroot alone or clay alone, or is a mix best?


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## Meganmischke (Nov 5, 2014)

No no, not at all.  I just didn't want to seem as though I was calling someone else's work bad. Especially when I haven't tried it. I don't think clay would be great on it's own. Arrowroot alone will work fine though. I use clay at no more than 25% any more than that I have found it absorbs too much and ends up looking cakey. There are alot of great recipes on line this is the one I tried first: http://wellnessmama.com/5047/dry-shampoo/


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## Obsidian (Nov 5, 2014)

I don't really like the idea of using baking soda either, its alkaline and abrasive. Since I use CP shampoo bars, I don't need any extra alkaline on my hair.

I'm going to try making this some time but I'll use mostly arrowroot and maybe a bit of ground rosemary or other nice smelling herb that has some astringent properties.


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## DeeAnna (Nov 5, 2014)

"...Take one tablespoon of baking soda to 1 cup of warm water (240ml) and dissolve...."

The methods that use baking soda in water may saponify some of the fats in the hair, thus making a type of soap. That might be why this method works better than one would think at first glance, especially if you have oily skin/hair.

If your skin is at all sensitive, I'd not skip that acidic rinse, however. I've found that my scalp can sometimes be very itchy if I don't do an acid rinse after shampooing with soap. Same would be true with baking soda, since it is also alkaline. (Ditto for heavily chlorinated pools -- I use an acid rinse after swimming too.)

I would be leery of a dry shampoo with baking soda, since you cannot completely remove the soda from the hair. The lingering alkaline contamination could be troublesome -- much like the homemade "natural" deodorants with baking soda that cause major skin irritation. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, so YMMV on this....


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Nov 5, 2014)

Looks good - I'll give that a go


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## Obsidian (Nov 5, 2014)

My daughter tried the whole baking soda to wash with followed with a acid rinse, I've never seen her hair look so gross. Even after a few weeks, it didn't get better. She doesn't have oily skin but it looked like she had rubbed oil through her hair.  Its also stank, a lot. Great that it works for some people but I'll stick with my natural CP shampoo.


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## cmzaha (Nov 5, 2014)

shunt2011 said:


> Dry shampoo has been around a long time. My mom was a hairdress for a zillion years and use to visit clients and family members in the hospital and used dry shampoo when they weren't able to shower as often as they wanted to. She actually just used it herself when she was in the hospital for 2 weeks. But was not allowed to get up and shower for 1 of them. It's great for short term use but I wouldn't use it frequently.


Ask your mom if she remembered using Vapon? It is still used as a wig cleaner but in the sixties it was used as a dry shampoo for the hair. Was not put on the scalp. Vapon is a type of dry cleaning fluid. After State Board decided Vapon could not be used on hair only wigs cornmeal became popular for absorbing the oil. One must keep in mind this method does not properly clean the scalp.


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## Saponista (Nov 5, 2014)

I love batiste dry shampoo, works great on my fine hair. It's basically rice starch in an aerosol can that you spray in and brush out. 

With the no poo baking soda thing, I think if you use a commercial shampoo/conditioner with waxes silicones you would need to wash out all the residue from your hair before you started with the baking soda regime or you would suffer 'funky hair syndrome' the same thing people suffer when they start using shampoo bars.


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## sagehill (Nov 5, 2014)

snappyllama said:


> I don't think the no-poo at all thing could work for me, I dye my hair and it is way too thin to go without washing.  Plus, i like washing my hair.  Who doesn't like to wash their hair?


I wash my hair every time I get in the shower... I just don't use shampoo or conditioner.   I don't usually use baking soda either... just water, then a diluted vinegar rinse.  My thin, fine hair does not smell, look greasy or dirty or flat; it is not fly-away or static-y. It has shine and a lot more body than when I used commercial products. 

The problem with commercial products is that shampoos tend to overclean hair so you need conditioner to replace what's been stripped. Plus conditioners tend to be heavy on hair and and the silicones attract dust and dirt, causing hair to look dirty more quickly, so you need to rewash more frequently. 

Breaking the shampoo cycle normalizes your scalp, but there is the break-in period; sea salt is supposedly kinder to hair better than baking soda. 

I want to try  honey "shampoo": 1 Tbsp honey dissolved in 3 Tbsp water. 

 Some no-poo sites: 
http://www.howweflourish.com/2013/10/11/water-washing/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/going-poo-less/#axzz3IDYNwv1v

http://no-poo.livejournal.com/655675.html

The following link has an arrowroot/cocoa powder dry-poo recipe that looks interesting, though I'm a little reluctant about using cocoa, being a blonde. lol 
http://redandhoney.com/diy-all-natural-dry-shampoo-2-ingredients/

Honey shampoo: http://blackgirllonghair.com/2014/0...poo-my-hair-3-homemade-honey-shampoo-recipes/


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## snappyllama (Nov 5, 2014)

sagehill said:


> The problem with commercial products is that shampoos tend to overclean hair so you need conditioner to replace what's been stripped. Plus conditioners tend to be heavy on hair and and the silicones attract dust and dirt, causing hair to look dirty more quickly, so you need to rewash more frequently.



Hrmn, maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try it out.


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## Meganmischke (Nov 5, 2014)

Cinnamon or chamomile powder can be used instead of cocoa powder.  I have dark hair and don't use any. They are not need just filler and colorant.


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## goji_fries (Nov 5, 2014)

shunt2011 said:


> Dry shampoo has been around a long time.  My mom was a hairdress for a zillion years and use to visit  clients and family members in the hospital and used dry shampoo when they weren't able to shower as often as they wanted to.  She actually just used it herself when she was in the hospital for 2 weeks. But was not allowed to get up and shower for 1 of them.  It's great for short term use but I wouldn't use it frequently.





sagehill said:


> Dry shampoos have been around for many decades, maybe hundreds of years, usually made of clays, starches and other powders.  I used them back in the late 60's when the leather brace for my fractured neck didn't allow showers. Shake the powder on, massage it in, then brush brush brush it out. But back then, hair was easier to clean with dry poos because shampoos were mostly soap-based anyway, with a lemon or vinegar rinse.
> 
> Nowadays, shampoos and conditioners have a lot of silicones and other chemicals designed to stick to your hair, so powder poos may not work as well.  I've gone no-poo for 5-6 years and my hair is better for it... I just rinse with water, maybe a little damp baking soda if it's extra-dirty for some reason, then rinse with diluted white vinegar or lemon juice.  My very fine hair has a lot more body this way.
> It does take a while for your hair to recover from all the commercial products, though.



@sagehill & shunt2011, are these older powders formulated with iris/orris root? I think I remember something similar.


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## Stacy (Nov 5, 2014)

I used the 'no poo' (1 tbsp baking soda in 1 cup water and an AC Vinegar rinse) method for over a year and it worked really well for me. I've mostly stopped but that was just recently.I know some people are rabid converts of one way or another, I'm rather middle of the road about the whole thing, I do what works for me, I'm not going to say it's right or wrong for anyone else. I've seen some REALLY strongly opinionated posts both for and against...like scary strongly opinionated...

I'm not anti chemical but I saw a possible way of getting some of the more harmful ones out of my life so I thought I'd give it a go.

As DeeAnna said, there's some sort of saponification because the more oily my hair the mode suds I would get. After I did a coconut oil soak, holy crap, the suds!

When I started I had really oily hair, I'm talking like day two was ponytail territory. I was lucky and it didn't take long for my hair to adjust.  My hair was a little greasy for a week or so, but some report months. The other consideration is that i use no styling products.  I don't even blow dry my hair which is not the case for a lot of gals.

It cleaned my hair really well, and it was definately less greasy.  I even noticed it looked halthier and a bit thicker (both observations completely based on opion) so in my case it worked like it was supposed to. The thing is that I have long hair and my problem was that it almost seemed to clean it too well. I found my hair was a bugger to comb out, so even though I was getting the benefits, I think I was causing more damage just from the detangling.

I started using conditioner again so I could stop ripping my hair out. Then I started thinking that the buildup from my conditioner will not be washed out with just baking soda.

My solution is to make my own shampoo and conditioner (with the help of swiftcraftmonkey of course). Hopefully I can find the right mix of gentle ingredients that work for me.

I can't imgine trying to formulate anything like this to sell. From the wide range of ways this works for different people, it seems like a really difficult product.  Not only do you have to take into account the different hair and scalp types but also all of the lifestyle and environmental variables. It would be a nightmare.


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## KatieShephard (Nov 5, 2014)

Saponista said:


> I love batiste dry shampoo, works great on my fine hair. It's basically rice starch in an aerosol can that you spray in and brush out.



I second the Batiste dry shampoo...I like the tropical scent the best.  I use this in between hair washes and my hair never looks greasy...or powderey from the product.

I stopped using commercial shampoos right after Easter of this year.  I started using the baking soda rinse followed by an acv rinse and have since switched over to shampoo bars that I bought from Chagrin Valley soaps.  Although, I used my coconut milk body bar the past two times I've washed my hair and I likey!  I have fine, thin hair, and am just looking for a way that I don't start going bald!  Not such a hot look on girl 

Still on my list of things to do...make the Genny/Lindy shampoo bar mentioned on these forums


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## prunellame (Jan 13, 2015)

*Long time No-Poo*

I read a book by Lorraine Massey, The Curly Girl Handbook () sometime around the late 1990's/early 2000's, that revolutionized how I view my spiral curls.  I have come up with my own variation on the book's recommendations, and gave up shampoo when I first read the book over ten years ago.  Hairdressers used to refer to me as the woman who did not use shampoo to their other customers when I went in for haircuts.  After receiving friendly ribbing for a while, my hairdressers have unequivocably endorsed my no-poo regimen, and said they noticed my hair was shinier, the curls were more defined, and my split ends dramatically decreased as my hair became healthier.

I took baby steps when I first gave up shampoo, first for one week, then for two week stretches, then one month, etc.  Eventually I gave up shampoo altogether.

For the record, I do wash my hair, I just don't use shampoo; I use conditioner to rinse dirt away and leave the natural oils my scalp produces intact.  My hair is not greasy, smelly, nor does my scalp itch.  People seem to be fascinated by my curls, and after touching and smelling it, say they love my hair.  Funny, because I initially read the book because I HATED my hair and wanted to find a better way to tame my curls.  I did not tame my hair, I just learned to love it for what it is.

What I like about the book is that it covers a range of hair texture from straight to afro.  My mother has stick straight, greasy hair,, and was initially skeptical until her own hairdresser told her to give it a try.  She uses a sulfate-free conditioner now, that that more appropriate for hair type, and has done so for at least 5 years.  A side benefit is she finds her hair retains her hair colorant a lot longer.

Right now I still use off the shelf sulfate-free conditioner to clean my hair in lieu of shampoo, but the book has a couple of nice tonics and wraps.  I have seen a couple of nice hair tonic recipes, that use vinegar and a variety of herbs, that I may experiment with and try out on my hair.  I have not tried out dry shampoos, so I cannot offer any input on that technique.

I am a No-Poo believer.


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## girlishcharm2004 (Jan 13, 2015)

I was a sucker and fell for the baking soda thing.  I didn't have the "transition" that people talked about.  In fact, I thought my hair looked great right away.  It was clean, though a pain to wash and very tangled.  I did use a vinegar rinse -- sometimes pure vinegar.  My hair just got more and more tangled, frizzy, and damaged.  It got to the point it where it never looked good.  I went back to shampoo, and loved it.  I love the way my shampoo makes my hair feel, but I hate the thought of using "chemicals" on it.  That was the reason why I tried to make the switch, and I felt like an idiot for it.  Currently, I use a cold process shampoo bar.  It's okay.  My hair doesn't look and feel as great as when I use my shampoo (my opinion), but people still compliment my hair and tell me how healthy it looks.  So, that said, I'll live with it especially since it's economical and "natural".  My avatar picture is from using my cold process shampoo bar, FYI.  And, I will never use anything with baking soda in it on my hair again! Ha.


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## cmzaha (Jan 13, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> Dry shampoo has been around a long time. My mom was a hairdress for a zillion years and use to visit clients and family members in the hospital and used dry shampoo when they weren't able to shower as often as they wanted to. She actually just used it herself when she was in the hospital for 2 weeks. But was not allowed to get up and shower for 1 of them. It's great for short term use but I wouldn't use it frequently.


Same here, my mom was a hairdresser for 50+ years and I for over 30. The reason for the dry shampoo was for patients that could not shampoo their hair, but they mainly remove oil not clean the scalp. For awhile Vapon was used which was dry cleaning fluid before fda banned the use on hair. Although we could still use it for wig cleaning. Cornmeal will also work for absorbing the oil. Full time use nope, not in my house. A mild surfactant based shampoo is still best for the hair and scalp. No all manufactured products are bad for us


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