WHAT’S THE TRUTH ABOUT THE “NO POO” METHOD?
After shampooing your hair is it brittle, hard and tangled? Frizzy?! You have to use tons of hair oil/moisturizer but still it doesn’t recover to the previous state.Well, you should consider the “NO POO” method. Instead of using regular shampoo try just plain old hair conditioner for a co-wash or a milder, more gentler sulfate free shampoo. Gentle shampoos include glycerin soap and/or a sulfate-free shampoo. Here’s a list of inexpensive sulfate free shampoos. Gentle Cleansers and hair conditioners May or may not lather. This means no foamy, sud bubbles but they’re not necessary to effectively clean the hair. Shampooing weekly, bi-weekly or monthly with a sulfate-free shampoo is still essential for a healthy hair regimen even if you co-wash regularly.
WHY THE “NO POO” METHOD?
Shampoos that contain harsh detergents such as sodium laurel sulfate to form those lathering bubbles. These same detergents can be found in degreasers and almost all household products from dish soap, laundry detergent, toothpaste and more. So why put that in your head?
First and most importantly, The No Poo method cleans without stripping the hair of its own natural oils (sebum) that not only nourishes the hair but also the scalp. African American generally produce limited amounts of natural oils and this is why we add moisturizers to our hair. It is also more difficult for the sebum to travel down the kinky, doily, curly strands of natural hair. Natural hair is also very porous. For this reason the hair’s natural oils are lost easily. Hair in its natural state needs a little more moisture than chemically straighten hair to maintain its health and prevent breakage. This is also why it is important to retain this moisture. Natural oils help to prevents frizzness and tangles. This leads us to the second reason.
Secondly, it eliminates frizzness in turn leaving more curl definition in the hair. Your hair has more elasticity which decreases breakage. Your hair is more manageable in its natural curly state.
Thirdly, For those of us who have dry scalp and dandruff; shampoo with sls can worsen dry scalp.
Lastly, you use less product to achieve your desired style. The scalp pores and hair shaft have the ability to absorb these product more readily to obtain maximum coverage.
The hair appears to be so much healthier and easier to manage. The hair is not as big. Keep in mind you may not see result after only one uses. I recommend you try for about 3 weeks before you write the method off as a failure.
I relied on cowashes daily/every other day and shampoo once every two weeks for the first two and a half years after I BC’d. However, my coils and kinks need a lot more styling product now that my hair is longer (chin length, collarbone length when stretched). I find that I have to shampoo once a week to prevent buildup that made my hair dull and unmanageable. I use a tiny amount of mild shampoo once a week and once a month, I use a chelating shampoo because we have really hard water. Both times I follow with a really good conditioner and use moisture-rich styling products like Mizani’s H20.
I’d love to shampoo less, but the only way to do that would be to skimp on styling products when I retwist my hair. I rely on mid-week twisting sessions to freshen my definition and apply protection to the ends. If I simply spritz with water and retwist, my hair becomes puffy and frizzy. I’ve even tried water with a little oil. Nothing works the way my heavy products do.
Any suggestions?