t’s now been 17 months since I stopped using shampoo and started to follow these instructions. I’ve had a few people ask me how it’s been going and I’ve finally remembered to write about it. It seems that there’s been a lot of talk lately (here and here) about making the transition and how it’s better for you and your hair to stop using shampoo entirely.

This is a long post about hair. I’ll spare you the scalpy details, unless you’re interested, then by all means continue!

I’ve read several sites and tried to learn as much as I can about hair types, cleansing methods, etc, etc, and while I haven’t kept all of the links, I’ve given it over a year and now feel confident that I’ve found what works perfectly for MY hair. If you’re interested in trying to go shampoo-free, I highly recommend it, but give yourself some time to find the right groove since a lot of the results depend on your hair-type, skin-type (how oily you get), climate, water-type (hard vs. soft water), your grooming habits, etc, etc. Be patient!

My first recommendation is to try starting in the late fall/winter -right now would be perfect (for Northern Hemisphere-ites).. well, maybe after the New Year since you’ll likely have a week to four weeks of oilier transition hair than you’d like. In the summer when it’s hot, humid and you’re likely to be sweating more, the transitional oiliness can be excessively irritating and you might want to give up before your scalp adjusts.

I have naturally very curly hair. I like it long and in neat locks (not combed out, frizzy, or too clumpy). I cut my hair very short after Lochren was born because it had grown in straight during pregnancy and then half of it fell out after his birth and it was making me crazy. Now, 2 years later, it’s shoulder length and starting to make me happy again! I’ll go through what works for me and explain why.

I use a baking soda wash. The water here is semi-hard (not terribly hard but definitely not soft) and while I’m sure I would adjust to an oil- or conditioner-wash, I like the clean I get from the baking soda. I use a plastic bottle (empty contact lens solution bottles are great) and make up 2 cups of solution at a time: 2 cups warm water with 2 tablespoons of baking soda, shake well before using; and it lasts me 5-6 washes. I finger comb my hair and scalp well under the shower then apply enough of the solution to my scalp (not on the ends at all) to cover all areas (the solution cools off a lot in our basement shower so I can feel where I’ve missed a spot) and massage it in well. I let it sit for a minute or so, then rinse thoroughly.

I follow with a silicone-free conditioner (Aveda’s Shampure Conditioner is lovely, the Curly Girl Method suggests avoiding silicone on curlies), which I apply only on the ends, massage in, then rinse thoroughly. I’d also like to add that Aveda is one of the few companies who’s products do not bother my skin allergies. I don’t know exactly what it is that I react to, but I’m just happy to have a reliable product line.

I think this is one of the most important steps for achieving awesome curls: after the final rinse of your hair: shake like a dog. It separates the curls into nice locks: not too fine (frizzy) or too clumpy (if you like clumpier locks, don’t shake so hard or so long). Try it, you’ll like it!

When I’m getting out of the shower, I blot my hair on a regular towel, wrap myself in the same towel and by the time I blow my nose (post-shower nose-blowing ftw!) my hair has started to drip. At that point I wrap it up turban-style in the towel and put on my bathrobe. I share these details because I read on the Curly Girl Method that you should use a non-terry towel to ‘plop‘ your hair because terry absorbs too much water. I find that it’s perfectly OK to use a terry towel -as long as it’s only for a couple of minutes. Too long and, yes, the curls will dry out and become frizzy. I’m not going to go buy a microfiber towel just for plopping my hair! Once my hair is wrapped up, I put some moisturizer on my face, Q-tip my ears and then the towel comes off.

This next idea was suggested to me by Justine (former Day Home Superhero) who has gorgeous, lush long wavy red hair: put in conditioner after washing. Not a leave-in conditioner, but a regular one, the same one you used in the shower. I use about a penny-sized blob of it and work it into the ends, then two pumps of Phomollient and then let my hair air-dry.

My hair has never felt and looked so awesome. It’s thick, it’s shiny, it’s not the slightest bit oily and the curls are wonderful, they fall and sit so nicely. I haven’t had split ends and I only get frizzy if I plop too long, am too indecisive about pinning it up or pull sweaters over my head too many times (cardigans ftw)!

A few things:

• I only wash every 2nd or 3rd day, on in-between days I only used the conditioner (rinse and then some left-in) and the phomollient.
• When my hair was shorter, I’d often go 4 days between showering before I would notice that I was starting to get somewhat oily (still not as bad as going 2 days without when I was using shampoo).
• I don’t use any soap or cleansers on my face anymore, either, I use a scrub in the shower (only every 2nd day) and then a light moisturizer afterwards (I can’t remember which one, I usually get whatever’s on sale). My facial skin has never been better.
• There have been a few times when I have used shampoo, either because I forgot to bring my wash or forgot to refill my bottle until I was already in the shower. When I do, my scalp feels dry (even with rubbing conditioner through my hair and scalp) and the next day I’m super oily and I break out in a few pimples: my scalp and face over-react to the dryness with excessive oil. Even though my face doesn’t encounter the shampoo, the skin is sensitive to the scalp and reacts with it.
• Some instructions say to brush your hair to loosen grime and product on your hair and move natural oils from your scalp to the shaft of the hair, while others say not to because it causes breakage. Some instructions say to flip your hair for volume, while other say not to flip because it causes breakage. I don’t brush my hair at all and do the final rinse of my hair with my head tilted to the side (on each side). I haven’t noticed breakage but my hair might not be long enough for it be noticeable. *shrug*

So, there you have it. I suggest trying it for a month or so, then going back and re-reading some instructions. I found that some of the suggestions didn’t make sense to me until I’d tried it and got a feel for where my hair & scalp were at that point. I’m shampoo-free and loving it and, given some time, I’m sure you would, too!