Ever since I can remember, I've had unmanageable hair. I have a full head of fine, frizz-prone hair that makes it impossible to walk out of the house without some sort of styling. My GHD hair straighteners have been my friend for years, as has some sort of anti frizz serum.
In addition to the esthetic issue, I also suffered from what (after a quick Google search) is scalp psioriasis: Itchy, flaky scalp with occasional 'crusty bits' on the crown of my head. Yep, gross!
In my quest to simplify my life by finding more natural alternatives to modern products, I came across the 'no shampoo' method. I'd tried something similar a few years back, when I only used conditioner to wash my hair, but this did not agree with me at all and left my hair lanky and heavy.
The theory behind the 'no shampoo' method is that your scalp's natural oils get stripped by the chemicals in shampoos and conditioners, in turn making your hair oilier quicker. By not using any products, your natural oil levels are restored.
I decided to embark in this new experiment, and simply wash my hair with water. If you do an internet search for 'no shampoo', you will find a lot of blog posts about the baking soda and apple cider vinegar method, which seems to work for a lot of people, but I decided to go hardcore and only use water to see what happened.
I'm not going to lie, the first few weeks were rough. My hair was greasy, lanky and dull. Not the look you want when you have several meetings a day! Luckily it's long enough to be able to braid or tie in a top knot so I think I got away with it at work. And luckily it didn't put my boyfriend off!
I used my Maison Pearson boar bristle brush every morning and night and brushed my hair thoroughly. I had to clean the brush daily as I found I had a lot of greasy white sediments left on it (ewwwww). The one thing I did notice is that my head did not smell, which, considering the greasy state of my hair, was a bonus!
By week 3 I was ready to give up, as I didn't really notice any improvement in the condition of my hair. Then, by week 4, I started to notice the oiliness disappear, and was left with soft, shiny and manageable hair. Yippee!
Last week I was in the French Alps, where the water is a lot softer than the water in London. I noticed my hair looked even better then, so am looking into a way to soften the shower water back in London.
Last week I was in the French Alps, where the water is a lot softer than the water in London. I noticed my hair looked even better then, so am looking into a way to soften the shower water back in London.
I'm now in week 6 and can safely say that my hair has never looked better. My hair straighteners are tucked away in a cupboard, and the only styling product I use is my Mark Hill curling wand when I want to add more drama to my hair! I cannot believe that I can just 'wash' my hair and let it dry naturally, without serums or magic potions.
I'm excited at the prospect of being free from shampoo and conditioners for life. Watch this space!
This is the most recent photo I have of my mane...will update with a more close up photo!
