- Going No Shampoo
- No Shampoo-Week 1
- No Shampoo: Week 2
- No Shampoo: Week 3
- No Shampoo: Week 4-5 1/2
Week 4 was tough. I am going to spare you the details, but I will just say that things were ugly, literally. At the very end of week 4 I decided to give in and try the notorious egg wash. You had a hint of that if you read my Not Me a couple weeks ago. (Yes, despite KimC’s warning I still ended up with bits of cooked egg in my hair.) I mixed 2 eggs with some lemon juice (use white vinegar if you don’t have blond hair), poured the mixture over my hair and rinsed well. It was exactly what my hair needed. It got rid of all the excess oil and my hair was clean and shiny once again.
Since then it has been smooth sailing and I have had clean, shiny, non-shampooed, wavy hair. I have even discovered how to put my hair up before bed so that I have nice, non-flattened curls in the morning as opposed to having to rinse and allow my hair to air dry EVERY morning.
Here’s the routine that is working for me. I rinse my hair thoroughly in the shower and really scrub my scalp. Then I use conditioner, finger brushing it through my hair and don’t rinse. When I’m done I scrunch it with a towel, apply some gel and allow to air dry. I am not and have not used any baking soda or vinegar and I’m still not using a brush.
Read the whole “no shampoo” journey:
Why it started
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
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Wow. you look at the pix of you all at Easter, and then look at the new picture you can reallllllly tell the differance. Your hair looks sooooo much more curley. I am on week 3 1/2 now. I am not so worried about the curl as I was the shine. I DO still brush my hair. I do mine a lil differently than you do. I scrub my hair with conditioner, and rinse. If it is feeling extra dry I add a touch more for leave in. Sometimes I air dry, sometimes I blow dry. It all depends on how I want to wear it, str8, wavey, or if I am just going to bed. If I want to wear it wavey/curley I take a mix of gel and conditioner and work it through my hair while it is still wet. Then I just finger it through my hair and scrunch it. If I want it extra curley that day I use hairspray while it is still wet. I love how shiney and georgimous it is now. I do not think my hair has EVER been this shiny EVER!! Thanks Kimberly!!
–Angela
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So… what do you do with your hair before bed? Do tell!
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Kimberly Reply:
May 15th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
Hi Connie,
I simply pull my hair up into a loose pony the top of my head, really on the top. (Like in the 80’s remember?) So I’m not sleeping on top of my hair at night, it is pulled to the top of my head. I use a cloth covered scrunchie and then just take it down and shake it out in the morning. Easy, I love it!
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Got it! Thanks.
And by the way… are you insinuating that I am old enough to remember styling my hair in the 1900’s?! Okay, ya got me.
I graduated from high school in the EARLY 1980’s, so I definitely remember that style!
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Excellent hair style choice…
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What type of gel are you using?
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Kimberly Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 5:47 am
Connie,
No comment.
Suzanne,
Vicki,
I use Aquage defining gel and really like it. It seems to last forever. Also, Curly Girl has a section that has suggestions for ingredients to look for when purchasing products. Check your library for a copy of Curly Girl. Ours has one, but it is currently on my book stand.
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i may have missed this somewhere, but you said you aren’t using baking soda or vinegar. what are you using to clean with then. i have been using baking soda daily, and vinegar once weekly.
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Angelia,
I have been using conditioner to clean my scalp. Then as needed I use the egg and lemon wash, less than once a week with that one.
When I mentioned to my grandmother that I was using eggs to clean my hair, her response was, “Oh yes, when I was in high school I used egg rinses all the time.” I just thought that was funny, this is nothing new.
How is your hair doing?
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just regular conditioner? i have plenty of that as well!
i feel its been a little oily so i might try the egg as well.
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Raising Olives Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Just regular conditioner. I love the egg wash, just rinse, rinse, rinse with nice cool water, trust me!
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ok, thanks for the heads up! lol, sometimes you just have to laugh don’t you?
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i used baking soda and vinegar…only 2x a week and i love it.
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Kimberly,
I must confess. I cheated on you. Up until today, I had not shampooed sence the Sunday after we got back from camping. (Middle of April) I was doing SO good!
Well long story short… Stephanie took scissors to her hair while we where in FL 2 weeks ago. (this is my 4 yr old for those that do not know me) Dan (hubby) insisted she go to the salon to get it “fixed”, cause she REALLLY did a number on it. (she lost over a foot in length! Some was saved, and sent to locks of love.) It is now a very interesting bob. (not your traditional little gurl cut)
While I was there, my old stylist proceeded to fuss at me. He got me in the chair, trimmed the dead off (it had been 3 months +/-), and ranted about my not washing. He did say that the undernieth was very nice, but the top was very dry. He proceeded to wash my hair for me, sending me home with shampoo for dry hair. I am still debating if I am going to use it or not. I love how my hair has been doing w/o the shampoo, but he made a few very valid points as well. He said I should shampoo about once every 3-4 days (unless I had very oily hair.. then a lil less). Might I add that it does look quite georgimous semce he shampooed it.
My question is… and this goes for everyone out there…. what do YOU think? What would you do if you where me? Should I shampoo it like once a week or something, just to cleanse the hair. I had been using egg. He said that was not enough to get the gunk out of the hair pores, and the conditioner just kinds lays on top of the gunk and slides off. It was not penitrating and softening my hair, like it does if you shampoo it every 3-4 days or so. IDK… what do you think? (HELP?!?!?!)
–Angela
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i’ve got a question..how much vinegar you must put among the eggs? and you put only the yolk of to eggs or the whole egg?
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Raising Olives Reply:
July 13th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I just put in enough vinegar so that the egg doesn’t land in a clump on my head
probably 1/2-3/4 cup. I use the whole egg! Let me know how it works for you!
Blessings,
Kimberly
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Why no shampoo? just curious….
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Raising Olives Reply:
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
Michelle,
I explain my reasons in this post. Of course I’m saving money by not using shampoo also, but mostly it’s the reasons outlined in that post.
Thanks for taking the time to ask!
Blessings,
Kimberly
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Thank you soo much for these posts. I gave it a try, and stuck with it through the ukiness (thanks to your posts) and now after 6 years of progressive hair loss, I have new hair growth after only 3 weeks!
Thanks again!
Jen
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I am on week 3.5 (I had been doing a partial no-shampoo, washing every two weeks) and this week is yucky. When did your hair start turning around? I’m going to go back and read your entire journey. Thanks for the egg wash idea. I’m going to try it out!
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I can’t remember when it got better, but it was later than 3.5. I think around week 5 or so. Using a baking soda scrub and vinegar rinse is also very helpful. Let me know how it goes.
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[...] your own personal hygiene products (or do without). Kimberly has a great blog documenting her withdrawl from her addiction to [...]
I found your site and read about the no poo way. I thought okay, I’ll try it. I never experienced the problems that many of you have, and I love the way my hair looks and feels. This is my third month, and I see no end in sight. I think I know why my hair didn’t freak like yours did. I have fairly long hair, and since I live on a homestead here in the mountains, I don’t wash my hair a lot in the winter. I think my hair had calmed down from the everyday washing of the summer, so my follicles didn’t feel like they had to overproduce. My hair is really thick and heavy, so It doesn’t curl like yours, but it looks good, and it is a lot cheaper to use baking soda and water to clean it with, and then cider vinegar to rinse. I’ll let you know how it does come summer when I sweat a lot more from working outside. Hmm, do you think that my using rain water to wash with also helped? Love the site!
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I certainly don’t think that the rain water hurts and you’re probably right, it probably does help.
Let us know how summer goes.
Thank you.
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