Newbie - 7 weeks in to no poo and needing advise on water only

Water Only
#1

Hi fellow no-poo’ers!

Making the best out of a terrible situation, i’ve embraced the confinement due to COVID and decided to try no poo. I have thin and straight hair, and it got oily instantly. I washed it every other day, but the truth is, by noon on the second day, it was very very oily already.
I’m in 7 weeks now, and so far have only used water to rinse my hair, like 2 or 3 times per week. For the first two weeks I looked (and felt) like a walking fryer. It also got very itchy but that could be helped with a water rinse.
Right now my hair is still oily, but it’s okay when i wear it up. I’m not ashamed to go out in public (which i definitely was for the first two weeks). Bu honestly, I expected it to be back to its natural state by now.
My question is whether this is normal, and if I should stick to water only (maybe more frequently?) or try another washing method (rye flour or something else). I would like to avoid the baking soda as I’m afraid that will undo the past 7 weeks because it is quite agressive (PH level). And let’s face it, there’s no way I want to go through all of that again. :slight_smile:
Thank you for your insights!

1 Like
#2

I’m in a similar boat. My hair feels quite waxy too so any tips, please share!!

#3

Try visiting www.thenopoomethod.com Ashlee gives great tips in her ebook for more personalized no poo methods. I’ve learned that hair type and water hardness can determine which method you use. She answers it all in her ebook. Hope this helps!

#4

Hi, I started in February and, like you, had very greasy hair very quickly which continued for weeks and weeks. At first I washed once a week with bicarbonate and on that day it felt lovely but 2 days later was claggy and disgusting. I was brushing regularly with a boar hair brush which seemed to just flatten it and bring out more grease. After many weeks I was despairing that i was ever going to get the beautiful silky locks everyone was describing and wondered where I was going wrong. So in the end(I think after about 7 weeks) I stopped brushing and stopped bicarb. Now I scrub/ massage my scalp with my fingers (I tip my head forward as if bending over a sink so I can get to whole scalp), running my fingers along the length of my hair to disperse any sebum through my hair. I do this twice a day and wash in water once or twice a week. I think it’s starting to work, the clagginess seems to be much improved and it’s lasting longer than a day (I’m about 10 weeks in now, 2-3 weeks into this new routine I think) so I’ll keep going. I think it just takes some of us longer than the few weeks we were hoping for. But hey we’re not meeting people so now is an ideal time to keep trying. Hope this helps :blush:

1 Like
#5

Hi! I too am about 7- 8 weeks in with thin and straight hair. I have found that washing my hair with water less has been helpful, apparently after 5 days your hair stops producing sebum and apparently the longer you can tolerate not washing the quicker your hair will settle.

What I have found is that my hair is having unpredictable days… some oily, some craggy, some very very soft. I think there is a method to the scalp massage and pulling the oils down the hair. You need to focus on the roots then pull it down bit by bit and firm but gently.

I have to be honest I have been washing with water only with essential oils for scalp stimiluation/growth and this past week started to feel bit fed up too that my hair wasn’t gorgeous yet so I did a wash with honey (way more friendly for your scalp than bicarb) and some brown sugar. Oh my god my scalp felt amazing afterward! And oil production has been a lot better this week.

I really think you just need to get to know your hair and experiment.

#6

I am very much the same. After 7 weeks of water only and dry shampoo (cornflour) I had to use BS just to get my hair clean - it was so waxy and dirty. I just couldn’t seem to stop it from looking dusty or dirty.
But after 5 days it looked quite oily again and I had to wash it again with BS after 8 days.
I use a BB burst twice a day everyday.
I have fine hair and before trying no poo used to wash it every second day. It has improved but still a long way off what I was hoping for. And I have dandruff, although it’s better than it was.
I could continue to use BS once a week, but then I’m wondering how that is any better than using shampoo once a week?

#7

Oh, no! I’m new and was trying to save EmilyF’s reply, because I am having problems with waxy hair too, but I accidentally hit the flag button, and I can’t seem to undo it. So if the administrators see it’s flagged, it was an accident! My apologies!