A few updates since I last blogged about being shampoo free:
I use less baking soda.
Once a week, I use baking soda when washing my hair, but the other times, I just use tea tree oil and water and rinse with the apple cider vinegar. I also use less baking soda – just two large pinch with a bit of water. It’s less paste-like, but it also leaves me with less residue.
A low-maintenance, no-heat, no-product styling method.
Instead of straightening my hair or using my flatiron or mousse to create frizz-free waves, I twist my wet hair, after I brush it, into a low bun and secure it with Goody Spin Pins
Winter changes things.
In the winter, my skin is much drier, so I use more olive oil and less castor oil in my jelly cleanser for my face. I still sometimes have to use moisturizer, but much less often then when I was using harsh soaps.
Two questions I’ve gotten recently:
“…castor beans and the plants are highly toxic. The people who harvest them often suffer from very harmful effects and it’s for this reason that I would prefer to use something else…Do you think there is anything that you could replace it with that might not work as effectively, but would still (over time) do almost the same thing?”
Yikes! I’ve never heard of that and find it quite troubling. Thanks for bringing it my attention. I have heard of people using just olive oil and having favorable results, as well. The castor oil is use more for oil-prone skin, so if you have normal or drier skin, you should actually be using hardly any castor oil, anyway. Also, I’ve used about two ounces in a year-and-a-half of doing this, so the consumption level is rather low. Of course, I absolutely understand wanting to avoid it completely!
“Do you wash your washcloths separately from other washables since they contain oil or does it not affect your laundry?”
I haven’t noticed any effect on my laundry. I wash in cold water and the amount of oil is rather minimal, I suppose.
I stopped using shampoo after the last time you posted about it, around November I think, and I’ll never go back! My hair looks amazing, and it’s so nice to not have to wash it all the time!
I love this Ashley! I’m sending the link to Mr.O, because I think it would be something he’d totally be interested in trying….
Based on reading your blog and another, I decided to give this whole thing a try. For some reason my skin came out in big red welts and was super itchy! I’m not entirely sure why that happened, maybe too much teatree oil? I will say my hair was totally soft afterwards though, so I may give it another try but just change the amounts of everything.
Well, I was just trying to see if no shampoo will be really effective since it’s not just a few times when my friends and even folks here tells me not to apply shampoo anymore. It’s been already a week since I started with “no shampoo” policy but rather apply a pure lemon remedy and then a bit amount of conditioner. It make my hair smooth and I can appreciate that flakes had even reduce but will see till I reaches two weeks.:)
I stop using shampoo instead I use baking soda with vinegar combo as my hair treatment. After a weeks, it’s awesome and my hair becomes shiny and scented. I have no problems at all. Most women suffer damage hair. Thus, they have to find alternative to repair their hair into new one.
Great tips and updates! I’ve issued a challenge on my blog for my readers, I’m finally taking the no ‘poo plunge myself, so I really appreciated these tips!