Water only for 5+ years

#1

Hey. I came here after googling ‘no poo friendly hairdressers’ (still looking)

My story is that I stopped using anything in my hair other than water many years ago. Certainly 5. Maybe 7.

I’ve always been very fastidious about hair washing. This dates from my early teens. I went to boarding school, and one kid decided to bully me, telling me I had greasy hair. Maybe I did. I was 12. And then I was further humiliated by the school barber who decided to comment on my greasy hair in front of a room full of people. So - this, and puberty (I also had terrible acne on my face and back) caused me to rebound from my earlier hygiene regime (I have no idea what it was, but maybe my mum hasn’t told me how to wash before sending me away?). My new regime: a shower absolutely every morning, with through soaping and shampooing everywhere.

The result, for the next few years? Even worse acne, and hair that only looked non greasy if I kept up the daily chemical onslaught. That kept on til my early uni years, when an enlightened doctor, during one of my many visits to try to fix my acne, told me to dump the soap. Only use it on ‘your hairy bits’. Result? Instant improvement in the acne.

Fast forward 25 years, and I gradually started to do the same thing with my (head) hair. I don’t actually know how or when I decided to do this, which is curious. I can remember working with someone who declared that he ‘never used shampoo’, and thinking his hair looked horrible. And I remember a beach holiday a few years later when I got sand in my hair, which was hell to remove without shampoo. So, it must’ve been around that time.

So, anyway - what is my hair regime now, and what has my experience been?

I only use water. I shower every morning, religiously. I rub warm/hot water through my hair (and over my body), and do so quite vigorously and thoroughly. I then towel dry and take care to get my hair roughly in style while doing so. I let it air dry, and try not to interfere with it too much while it does so. I never comb it, I never use conditioner and I never use any of the frankly bizarre substances I see listed on this forum (flour? vinegar? eggs?). I style with my fingers (clean hands!) and I have to say - my hair is the best it has ever been on my life. I am a Caucasian Male in my 50s. I have always had fine but very dense hair, with a slight wave. Hairdressers have said ‘wow, you’ve got a lot of hair!’ to me before, referring to the density with which it grows. It is now mostly silver, with some underlying dark brown, and luckily it hasn’t thinned at all with age.

So how is it? I would say that now - every day is a good hair day. My hair is clean looking, thick, it styles as if I had the best subtle wax product in it, is silky and shiny, and just hangs together great. No frizzing away. The funny thing is - it gets better during the day. After the air dry it is nice - but almost ‘crunchy’. A slight feeling like I’ve put gel in it which has dried. During the day it gets less ‘waxy’ or moist feeling and thicker and drier. It’s just fun to play with.

A couple of times in the last few years, I have had set backs. One time, I made the mistake of trying a conditioner wash. My hair looked shit for weeks after, thin and flat and dull, until the natural condition re established itself. Other times, barbers have ruined it with all their incessant spraying with purple tinted water and combing (again - after, my hair is just flat). But always - after a few days or weeks of water washing and gentle finger combing, my hair gets back to its normal best.

A parting observation - I was reading a memoir recently about a guy who lives a subsistence lifestyle in rural Alaska, having been brought up from childhood in close contact with indigenous Alaskans. He mentioned how hunters, away from home for many weeks, would note how ‘silky’ their unwashed hair would become. Have a look at old photos of native Alaskan and other Inuit. They have incredible looking hair. Interesting.

Thanks for reading this little confessional.

#2

Hi, also been water only for over 3 years now and found this forum recently. Similar to you, bloke in his 50’s. Never been too fussed about what others think of me except during a few adolescent years.
Was never a heavy poo user as have never liked the idea of slathering myself in chemicals, now tend to only wash occasionally (2-3 weekly) with water and brush daily. Also cant see the need for all the other substances people on here are using, but then circumstances do vary. Also have always kept soaps to essential use, relying more on a good scrub instead. My take on the plethora of chemicals for personal use available on the market is that it is more to do with marketing & money making rather than any actual need. Goes for all the household cleaning chemicals too.
Do wonder if too many people have been lead up the garden path by modern chemicals giving unrealistic expectations of what clean hair should look like. A bit like expecting pearly white teeth with the average modern diet.(archeological evidence shows the vikings had excellent teeth - way better than us)
Tend to go with what feels right so wash with water when I think it needs it which can vary depending on what I have been doing and eating. I do think diet plays a part, but guess hair is more directly susceptible and affected by what is in the air around us. I live in the country side and work well away from towns & cities which I think helps in this respect. I just towel & air dry.
Hair doesn’t smell like it used to, skin is better, hair feels better, psoriasis seems to have cleared, (not just on my head) as have other skin blemishes and a long term wart on my finger disappeared a few weeks after I went no poo - possibly co-incidental?? Hair has also gone darker and greys cleared to a large degree.
Not yet had a comment from barbers except to say my hair is quite thick which never used to be the case. It also tends to hold its shape better rather than just falling flat.
Quite happy with my current low input approach and dont foresee ever needing to change.

#3

I’ve been using mostly just water for 3 or 4 or 5 years now; I’ve lost track.The transition was easy for me, mostly because I had begun to “spread out” my shampooing already. I have thin hair with very little body, and it only looked better when I had a little “build up” of products - mostly things in an attempt to build some thickness and body. The day I shampooed, it was just a flop, to the point I started to avoid washing. It had gotten to twice a week when I read about the “no-poo” method.

I started out with the baking soda/ACV, but after awhile, I switched to water, scrubbing my scalp, and occasionally using conditioner on the ends. My scalp doesn’t smell, even if I go a few weeks without even water.

My hair had started graying, and I was dying it at home, an ash blond color. I realized that when it grew out, I didn’t have any roots showing, so I stopped dying. Since I’m retired, I’m happy not to have the expense of buying shampoo and hair dye, although I still sometimes fall for products that claim to add body and fullness.

I never liked my hair, and only once found a hairdresser whose cut I liked. So, now I cut it myself - I figure I can give myself a bad cut and not pay somebody to do it for me.

All in all, I’m happy that I stopped using shampoo, mostly because of the money and convenience. My hair didn’t suddenly turn into my “crowning glory”, but I don’t get the greasies and it doesn’t look or smell nasty. It helps that the current hairstyles are mostly non-fuss or sculpted, nor do they require an hour with a curling iron or the pain of sleeping in curlers.

I guess age is a factor too, and the fact that I don’t do sweaty exercises. There’s no way I could have done this during puberty.