I have been going ‘no poo (shampoo free or at least only using it every few weeks) for well over a year. I’m pretty happy with the results, but I’m always on the lookout for more ideas. I found an article written by Audrey Schulman describing her experience giving up shampoo in which I found three interesting points.
- You can use a washcloth to even out the sebum in your hair. I think this is only necessary for those with long hair. I had previously heard about brushing your hair a lot to keep spreading the sebum. I had some problems with the ends of my hair becoming dry in the first couple of months, but I have not had any problems since then. Now that my hair is shorter than it used to be I don’t really worry about greasiness or waxiness.
- She brought up primitive cultures. I had not thought about them, but when I looked through the pictures in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration again I saw that most of the people photographed had good hair. These people did not have any access to industrial soaps or shampoos, but they had good hair. It is ridiculous to think that you would need an invention of the past 20 years in order to have beautiful hair.
- Her friends, hairdresser, and mother were not able to tell that she was not using shampoo. They were actually impressed with her hair.
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I like the new website, Ben. Looks great!
Thanks. I’m probably going to have to take it down and reinstall it. I can’t edit any of the permanent pages for some reason. Hopefully I can get it done in a couple hours though.
Good points. I’ve tried going shampoo free, but I’m back to using it about once a week, and baking soda twice a week. My kids (1 and 3) I’ve never used shampoo on, and they’re just fine. I’ll do a vinegar rinse when my daughter has tangles and that works well.
I would expect that you’d have more problems because your hair is long. When I started cutting my hair short (it was long for a man, but it would have been really short for a woman), it made everything easier. I usually use baking soda about once every three weeks although I don’t pay much attention any more.
It will be interesting to see how your children do. I think the big test will be at puberty when their bodies start producing more oils. Maybe this would not be as bad though on a healthy diet.