Hi. I’ve been no poo water only for almost four months now. I’ve been to the hair dressers twice in this time. Both were embarrassing experiences and have made me feel bad. This week I decided to have my hair cut short so that I no longer have any blond and am left with my natural hair colour. This was my third hair cut since going no poo almost four months ago. Whilst I was waiting the hair dresser point blank refused to cut a ladies hair because she didn’t want to wash it. Her hair looked so clean to me. So after my too bad experiences and seeing this women practically thrown out the hairdressers I caved in and let her wash my hair. Does this no mean I’m back to square one and have to go through it all again? My hair was still greasy after four months.
You aren’t back to square one! Those 4 months were important for detoxing years of shampoo. One wash takes way less time to detox. Don’t worry! I’m sorry the hairdresser was mean but it sounds like you know what you want and in the end it will all work out!
Remember, many hairdressers will always speak negative about the current state of your hair so that they can convince you of selling you something. If you stick to it, it works. Your body will produce its natural oils for the hair and it will give its shine like it ought to. I’ve been water only since December of last year and my hair looks beautiful. Shiny. Healthy. No flakes. Doesn’t smell. It produces its natural oils. I have natural curls. No split ends. No dry hair. Dry scalp. There’s a shine to my black hair. Even the wind can’t mess with it because of the oils it keeps it tamed. I’ll never go back to the shampoo. I am water only since December. They will always try to sell you things that make your hair look nice but after it makes it look horrible. I wash my hair with cold water only. Not hot.
I had a terrible experience with a hairdresser. I have curly hair and she worked with all these famous people so when she said to trust her, I regretfully obliged. She straightened my back-length hair and cut it up to my chin. It shrunk up around my ears and I basically cried for two months. Upside was that it’s how I found out about water only. Anyways, now I contact hairdressers ahead of time. If they don’t sound cool about customizing the appointment to my needs then I know I need to look elsewhere (because I’ll always cave when I’m in that chair lol).
I have probably an irrational fear of hair dressers (I rather go the the dentist). I grew up with a family hair dresser who came to our house did pretty much every female in my one side of the families hair and she did what we wanted almost perfectly every time. She never washed our hair; she water bottle sprayed it wet instead.
So when we moved away I didn’t have my childhood/teenage trusting stylist. I went to then decent higher end salons in downtown city area and had hits and misses. And finally stopped going all together. They tend to be wanting to sell you stuff and do not care about you and I fear the less high end places can’t be trusted either since they can only land a discount chair salon job.
I hate that they almost always over trim when you say you are irrationally in fear of cuting your long hair and I must have weird hair (even pre-no poo) it wouldn’t always be the colour they meant to dye it (had koolaid purple-red in the light when doing what I thought I was getting chocolate dark brown). I cried twice, over two different times over wrong hair colouring but one at least corrected it for free the next day.
And after reading way too many beauty magazines (in my pre-no poo days) I went one time skipped 1-2 shampoos cause it was recommended in a few beauty magazines to skip before harsh colouring and the stylist “Ewww’d” me, despite being in my head/scalp area for 15mins without a complaint before hand.
I say shop around till you get someone who will listen to you. But if you don’t want to and just don’t want confrontation one odd wash will not set you back to day one.
Hi all,
I keep reading lots of very helpful comments on the no poo forum. All seem to be long hair related though.
How are girls with short hair getting on?
Does the oul calm down? ( mine’s still needing cornstarch every 3rd day or so)
How do you manage trips to the hairdresser ( wet cut? Oily hair?)
Does it keep it’s style?
Thanks all :
I’m a short-haired lassie, choppy, dyed red (I’d say not very porous), fine but ‘thick’ (plenty of it), straightish but with the odd bit of natural kink. I have cut and dyed my own hair for years. We have soft water. For me, until yesterday, I was 5 weeks in of my WO-washing method.
My experience:
- initial grease built up (as I was expecting), and I washed after 5 days, then 6, then 7. (Pre WO I was a Day 3/4 washer (Day 1 - squeaky clean but flat and unmanageable, Day 2: hair just as I wanted it, Day 3 - hair starting to look greasy)
- started BBB after first week (typical me, jumped in at the deep end, but no BBB or research; had to wait over a week before BBB delivered), did scritching/preening and did nylon BBing until BBB arrived
- weeks 2-3: hair generally ‘felt’ greasy (even though it often didn’t look it); but I was pleased the number of times I did the scritch/preen/brush at the end of a day and found my hair looked so much better the following morning
- weeks 4-5: really pleased at the body my hair now had. I even developed a cowlick! - which really pleased me as my fringe tended to hang forlornly pre WO method. The downside was the smell of my hair (reminded me of kissing my dad on his bald pate when he was in hospital).
And now?
Now I’ve gone and dyed it again (Schwarzkopf Real Red / permanent). Hair/scalp felt lovely having a ‘real’ wash; ditto for smelling ‘clean’ (funny how we apply that word); condition felt lousy until I conditioned it with in-the-box sachet stuff - then felt better and looked gloriously shiny. (Of course, the shine is simply plastic-derived crap that all conditioners contain, and is a false friend sitting on top of not-so-obviously-conditioned hair.)
Where does this leave me?
- My hair might have felt clean, dazzled with colour once again and looked super shiny BUT all the body in it that I’d built up over the past 5 weeks had completely gone: hair felt ‘thin’ and just laid flat again (in spite of the chop I cut into it).
- Worse, my cut looked flipping awful: it’s always a bit hit-and-miss but in the past this hasn’t mattered that much because I’ve used styling products to pep it up and disguise it (semi-successfully). In the past 5 weeks, as my hair’s body has improved, I’ve been able to cut into it at random, and it’s begun to look great! (And I guess that’s where the problem lies: with fuller, ‘curlier’ hair you have freer rein to cut into it as you see fit.)
The future?
a) Continue with WO method, for time being (with a view to dyeing my hair again in ca 6 weeks time)
b) Research (again!) a low-poo conditioner, which I could use next time I dye my hair (to replace the conditioner in the packet)
c) Research a rinse for my hair, to use occasionally, for times when hair smells greasy
Ive been no poo for 10 years and I went to a hair dresser once and told her I no longer use shampoo to clean my hair. I requested she only rinse with water if she needed to have my hair wet. Then as she was combing and cutting she asked what i used because my hair was beautiful. Lol never had anyone call my mousy striaght brown hair BEAUTIFUL! So I proudly told her I only use baking soda and acv. She was impressed. Dont give in to HAVING to have your hair shampooed. To me we are doing good…those shampoos and conditioners are full of chemicals. If they wont rinse with water…find another hair dresser.
My hairdresser always wants to put stuff in my thin hair to make it more volume, but… since i went no poo i don’t want that anymore. They use cruelty free shampoo wich is a great step… but… is is still shampoo.
I have thin hair and that will not become a great and fantastic head of hair with that stuff, i accepted that now for a long time. After believing it for several years, wishful thinking. And very expensive.
So… 4 months no poo and now i am getting volume, so funny. No stuff needed.
I go to an Eco hairdresser, great! Just cut my hair, no stuff and she understands the no poo method.
I feel comfortable not having a discussion, or a hair dresser that tries to convince you other wise.
Nope, i like simple. Happy there is this Eco hairdresser.
I went to a Korean hairdresser who loved my hair and never mentioned anything nor did I about no poo. She always cut my hair dry so no need to disclose. She was amazing at cutting!
We moved across country so I found Brad Mondo on Youtube and now do the Butterfly cut and bang trim on my own at home with his tutorial. So easy and I have complete control of my hair. It looks great too. No more taking off too much hair or bad haircuts from hairdressers. I rarely cut it but a trim/layers and it’s nice and long. I love saving money too.