Wavy/curly hair help - benefits don't seem to outweigh the costs(=effort!) Ready to quit!

Water Only
#1

My hair: long wavy/curly

My old routine: once/week shampoo, condition every other week. Brush my hair every other week under the shower. Rub the ends of my hair with almond oil. That’s it. Day 1 my hair was always static-y/frizzy but my curls would get better and better each day and I wouldn’t have to do anything for it!

I decided to go fully water only no poo for the month that I was on vacation in the Philippines. This was because I figured salt water would mask the oiliness. It was still sometimes greasy/waxy but no one seemed to notice that I hadn’t shampooed in weeks. I was doing absolutely nothing! No combing, no brushing, just sometimes scratching my scalp under the shower.

Since I’ve been back in Europe (more than a month), my waves/curls have disappeared, hair is breaking and hair close to scalp is often waxy/greasy. I’ve tried everything: scratching, preening, brushing, combing - combinations of these. Nothing really gets my curls back and my hair is breaking a ton whenever I do use any of these techniques. Moreover, this is all so much work! So much more work than I was used to before I went fully no poo.

I’m ready to give up because I don’t even know what the benefits are anymore! I barely used to use shampoo and only used a tiny bit of oil so my costs were like 20eur a year! And I didn’t have to do anything at all! All the tips I’ve read (general and special for curly hair) seem super labour intensive.

I was hoping my hair would look nicer but now it’s just more work for less-nice hair. Flatter curls, greasy at the top, dry at the bottom and breaking tons!!

Does anyone have any golden tips to make this all easier? Or reasons why I should keep it up?? Or should I just quit no poo and go back to my zero-effort once/week normal shampoo routine??

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#2

Since beginning to use a boar bristle brush is the greasiness/waxiness of my hair less problematic and the waves/curls are slightly nicer than before. But now i suddenly have dandruff?! I’ve never had dandruff in my life! Any ideas on why this might be and how I can eliminate it?

#3

Wow, I’m sorry your having such troubled. I was wondering if the climate change had anything to do with the change in your hair and has your stress level changed? I ask because my stress will show up in my hair and stress will make hair fall out easily and my hair is effected by climate change. I cannot use the boar bristle brush. My hair breaks with that. I use a really soft detangler brush that can be used with wet hair also. I hope your hair levels out for you soon.

#4

I recently had a similar issue. It could be the water. My hair does great in hard water but soft water and its like i’m transitioning all over again. Not sure if it has something to do with that. My hair is also getting dry like how you are describing. I have been trying to put extra oil in it on my days off and using a boar bristle brush with my home made dry shampoo to get it out. I has been working decently but is a lot more work than what i was use to (washing my hair with egg yolk once and rye flour twice a month)

#5

Hi guys, so I’m still at it!!

I started adding a natural conditioner about once a month and that helped the breakage problem at least.

I must say that the greasiness is starting to become a problem again (9 months in). I only Bbb once a week and that was okay for a while but now I have greasy roots (especially top back of my head) on Day 2. I’m starting to wonder if I’m not cleaning my brushes properly?? I usually let them soak in hot soapy water for at least 10 minutes and then rinse the brushes in hot water with a comb…

Anyone else have any golden tips for cleaning?? Or otherwise? Or this might all have to do with my hard water…?

#6

From what I read, I think the dandruff is because of the build-up on the scalp - like you said your hair feels greasier near the roots. Apparently massaging the scalp when washing with water can reduce / get rid of that. I also read an egg wash works or even a natural honey solution. I’d probably google these as i’ve not actually made these myself but just heard they work for others. Also, I think the sea salt is not good for your hair - maybe that is contributing to the dryness? Maybe you should rinse/ wash your hair with water after being in sea-water?

I can totally see why you want to go back as your routine pre no-poo did seem minimal. If you go back through you are increasing the amount of crap that you expose your hair too. I think people with thicker and curlier hair have a harder time with no-poo than those with finer hair.

Have you tried a boar-bristle brush. I think not brushing is a bad idea. I use the boar bristle brush mainly on the hair nearest to my scalp to help distribute oils down the strands and it helps. I don’t know how if this would work for you but worth a try. Also, I don’t think using the no-poo method that anyone’s hair will get to the stage it was before using no-poo. What I mean is the hair’s natural state is not the same as it’s ‘natural’ stage was when using shampoo. I’ve read blogs which say that the hair has a slightly oiler feel but looks clean and nourished etc, but it does feel different. There will be more oil on your hair naturally and I think this is something we need to adjust to.

Ultimately it’s your choice, but do a bit more reading. The dandruff should definitely be something that you can eradicate from what I’ve read.

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