When I started my coronavirus self-isolation, I decided to experiment with a few things that I was afraid to do when I was going to work every day. One of them was the No Poo method. It is not what you think!
So what is it? “No poo” is a shortcut for “No Shampoo” and as Wikipedia says, “No poo is a collective term for methods of washing hair without commercial shampoo”. There is an amazing website that contains all the needed (and more) info here, so I will not describe the method, just will describe my own experience with it.
I decided to try this method for two reasons. First, after the transplantation, my hair quality became worse than it was before. It was very thin, looked unhealthy and was falling a lot. It is known that the immunosuppressive pills have this side effect. Second, my hair was very oily. I had to wash it every morning or I looked like I didn’t wash it for a month.
Because of the second reason, it was quite hard to start with the no poo method when I had to go to work every day. I really didn’t want to scare all my colleagues to death. However, when the quarantine started, it was the ideal time for this experiment! I was home alone and could go nuts! I did the research, wrote down all the tips and started to be excited about it. But the beginning wasn’t easy at all.
During the first week, I had to use Baking soda every other day because not only was the hair oily but it was also itchy and I felt like it was very dirty. When I tried to wash it only with water, it became less oily but I could feel there was always some oil left and also the hair remained itchy. I also felt that washing it with just water wasn’t enough and it remained somehow oily anyway. Using Baking soda helped a lot. I had almost the same feeling as with the shampoo with only one big difference – I was missing the lovely smell of the shampoo and the freshly washed hair.
After the first week, the situation became a bit better. I started to feel that I didn’t have to use the Baking soda that often and so I started to switch – once I washed it with soda and once with just water. It means that I was washing my hair twice a week, usually after a run on some exercise. This was already a big change for me!
After the second week, I started to feel that my hair was somehow dry and so I started to use apple vinegar after each wash, which helped it a bit. But the problem was that when I started to sweat, I started to smell the vinegar from my hair which was really not pleasant. However, after the third week, I needed neither soda nor vinegar anymore! Finally, I felt that it was enough to wash my hair with pure water only and that was an amazing feeling!
The only problem now remains the fact, that the quality of my hair didn’t improve much. Some people say that after they started the No poo approach, their hair became more healthy, shiny and stronger. Well, mine didn’t. Now it has been the fifth week since I started and I wash my hair regularly only after my runs (usually every second or third day) with pure water, here and there I use apple vinegar after, or I use the baking soda when I want to do some styling. But my hair still feels quite thin and fidgety.
Anyway, I am happy that I had the chance to try this and that I don’t have to wash my hair daily anymore, that’s amazing!
Pinky Kidney 