Hello & welcome to The No Poo Method site. If you are here, then you are interested in ditching toxic shampoo and going no poo. Or you are at least curious about it. Here is everything you need to know to start the no poo method. First, let’s clear up a few things.
Myth #1: People that use the no poo method do not wash their hair.
The truth is, us no poo-ers do wash our hair! Our hair is very clean, shiny, and healthy. We just wash our hair with products that don’t have a label on them that say “shampoo.” There are many, many, many natural, single ingredient products that clean hair. Many of them clean better than commercial shampoo products.
Myth #2: No poo hair stinks.
Nope. It doesn’t. We wash our hair and it doesn’t smell. In fact, I’m smelling my hair right now and it smells like lavender and rosemary.
Myth #3: No poo hair is unhealthy (and ugly).
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I get a lot more compliments on my hair since I have gone no poo. I’d guess at least 3 times as many compliments. My hair is thicker, shinier, healthier, smoother, and grows much faster.
For More Info
For more info, be sure to check out my ebook, The No Poo Method.
Why in the world would anyone no poo?
I decided to go no poo for 2 reasons.
#1. Toxins:
Our world is full of toxins. More and more studies are linking these toxins to cancer, autoimmune diseases, birth defects, and more. And the amount of people with those illnesses is quickly rising. Why not eliminate some toxins that are easy to eliminate? Like the ones in my shampoo bottle. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a database rating the toxicity of over 71,000 personal care products. A rating of 0 is nontoxic. A rating of 10 is very toxic. Here’s a peek at a few popular shampoo brands:
- Pantene Pro-V Expert Collection Advanced Keratin Repair Shampoo, Rating = 5
- Head & Shoulders Men Extra Strength Dandruff Shampoo, Rating = 6
- Suave Professionals Moroccan Infusion Shine Shampoo, Rating = 5
- Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo Orchid & Coconut Milk, Rating = 5
- Garnier Fructis Length & Strength Shampoo, Rating = 5
- Aussie Moist Shampoo, Rating = 5
- TRESemme Naturals Vibrantly Smooth Shampoo, Rating = 6
- Dove Moisturizing Shampoo, for Dry or Damaged Hair, Intense Moisture, Rating = 5
- L’Oreal Everpure Volume Shampoo, Rating = 8
- Aveeno Active Naturals Nourish & Shine Shampoo, Rating = 5
- John Frieda Root Awakening Normal Hair Shampoo, Rating = 7
Harmful ingredients in these and many other commercial shampoo products include:
- Synthetic Fragrance, rating = 8
- Oxybenzone, rating = 8
- Benzyl Salicylate, rating = 7
- Lilial, rating = 7
- Formaldehyde Releaser, rating = 7
- Methylisothiazolinone, rating = 5
- Linalool, rating = 5
- Methylchloroisothiazolinone, rating – 5
- Benzyl Alcohol, rating = 5
- Hexyl Cinnamal, rating = 5
And those are just a very small sample of the toxic ingredients in commercial shampoo. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of putting chemicals I can’t pronounce in or near my body. And on my head, near my brain, is no exception. With no poo, you are using mostly single ingredient washes with natural ingredients, not harmful chemicals.
#2. Healthier Hair
The idea that your hair needs chemicals to be healthy is crazy! And frankly, the commercial shampoo marketers are genius to convince us of that. Natural, nourishing, healthy ingredients is what makes natural, nourished, healthy hair.
Commercial shampoo is great at removing dirt from your hair. It is also great at removing natural oils from your hair. These oils are called sebum. Two things happen next.
- You use a commercial conditioner to make your hair soft and manageable again. This commercial conditioner is full of lots more harmful chemicals.
- Your hair reacts to being deprived of all it’s natural oils by producing a lot more of those oils. This is why you have to wash your hair every 1-2 days or else it is greasy. Many no poo-ers report being able to go 2 weeks easily without washing their hair.
A couple things to consider before taking the no poo plunge:
Transition
If you have been using commercial shampoo for your entire life (and most of us have), your hair has a lot of buildup and toxins. It took a lifetime for you to accumulate it, it will take awhile to get rid of it. It took my hair 3 full months to transition. It takes most people 1-6 months to fully detox their hair. This is what I experienced (everyone responds differently during transition):
- The 1st month: My hair was very, very, very, very greasy. Always and constantly.
- The 2nd month: My hair had a lot of static.
- The 3rd month: A lot better, but still a little frizzy.
- The 4th month: My hair was back & better than ever! It was a long 3 months, but it was worth about 90 bad hair days.
Porosity
The no poo path you take should depend on the porosity of your hair. There are other factors to consider, but your hair porosity is one of the main factors and good indicator of how your hair will respond to different no poo methods. Find out about porosity here.
Are you ready to no poo?
Here is a list of no poo options. It will take some trial and error to find the routine that works for your hair. But trust me, it’s worth it!
Be sure to check out the FAQ page!
