beauty

“I tried the ‘no poo’ shampoo method for two weeks and this is what happened.”

Have you heard? Washing your hair without shampoo is actually a thing now.

Well, to be fair, the idea’s been floating around on the internet for quite a while.

We’ve heard about the reverse hair washing method and we’ve learned all about sulphate-free shampoo, but now the ‘no poo’ method is the latest buzzword in the hair and beauty industry.

As a follower of all things beauty, I’ve been hearing about the ‘no-poo’ (aka no shampoo) method for a few months now.

Instead of using a traditional shampoo and conditioner, fans of the no-poo method use regular ingredients from their pantry like baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash their hair.

This wonderful nugget of beauty wisdom comes courtesy of Mamamia’s beauty podcast, You Beauty.

To ensure you never miss an episode, subscribe to You Beauty here. 

Yep, we know, it sounds kind of… gross.

How could anyone possibly go without shampoo?!

But despite sounding a little strange, the no-poo method always sounded intriguing to me.

After all, the method promised to save my hair from being constantly greasy.

Although some ‘no-pooers’ simply wash their hair with water alone, I wasn’t quite so ready to give up shampoo.

Instead, for a fortnight, I swapped out my regular shampoo and conditioner for baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

Watch: Hairdressers: Translated.

ADVERTISEMENT

It took a little bit of experimenting, but soon enough I had my ‘no-poo’ hair-washing routine down pat.

I purchased paint mixing bottles from my local dollar store to use as my applicator bottles.

For my ‘shampoo’, I filled up the mixing bottle with 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda and a cup of water and then gave it a good shake.

Alternatively, you can also mix a tablespoon of baking soda with a little bit of water in your hand in the shower to create more of a paste mixture.

Once in the shower, I simply poured the baking soda mixture over my wet hair and spent a minute or two scrubbing all over.

It felt gritty and a little slippery, which was concerning at first, but once I rinsed it all out, my hair felt SO CLEAN.

For my conditioner, I used an apple cider vinegar rinse. Just like I did with the baking soda, I combined one cup of water with 3-4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

no poo method
Yep... not as glamorous as my usual shampoo and conditioner. Image: Supplied.
ADVERTISEMENT

The smell was a little strong, so after the first wash I began adding some essential oils to prevent the vinegar smell from being so overpowering.

Although I was a little skeptical, my hair felt just as conditioned when using an apple cider vinegar rinse as it does when I use a regular conditioner.

The first week of my experiment went by smoothly. My hair had more volume and body and it was nowhere near as greasy as usual, and I could even wait longer between washes.

The second week was a little more difficult though. Getting used to having no bubbles while using the baking soda mixture proved more difficult than I imagined. On two occasions, I even had to hop back in the shower to wash out places I'd missed.

Overall, my fortnight-long experiment was a positive one.

My hair felt thick and healthy, my hair was less frizzy and it was definitely less greasy too.

Would you ever try the no-poo method? Let us know down below in the comments.

Love all things beauty? Come join our You Beauty Facebook group for more chit chat about things to put on your face. And body. And hair.