My scalp has caused me troubles for many years. It has been itchy, red, irritated and basically always an issue. The transition between autumn and winter has been particularly troublesome. When it cold outside and indoors the heating is turned up, my head tends to declare a state of emergency.

In my distress I tested nearly every dandruff shampoo available, from products from the pharmacy to expensive brand products and baby shampoo. I went as far as to smearing mixtures of Argan oil and manuka honey on my head and ended up having to wash my hair on a daily base.

In the course of my research, I stumbled upon a trend from the USA: No Poo, which is shortened from No Shampoo. Already tried by Hollywood stars such as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Amanda Seyfried, among others.
The simple idea behind No Poo is that the out of balance scalp starts to regulate itself again, after not using any type of shampoo for a period of time.

Conventional shampoos contain harmful chemical ingredients such as sulfates, paraffin oils, silicone and parabens. These substances are responsible for washing the hair very thoroughly, but at the same time also rob the scalp from its protective oils and fats. This in turn brings the scalp out of balance, and within a very short time the skin on the head is busy getting lubricated by the oil glands to undo the damage caused by all those chemicals, leading to having to wash the hair again.
Before you know it, you’re stuck in the vicious circle of having to shampoo your hair on a daily base and as a result, end up with a sore, itchy and flaky scalp. Welcome to my life!

No more shampoo

Directly after reading all my research material, the decision was quickly taken: the shampooing had to stop! My mop was going cold turkey and the withdrawal of the problem area began. Would it finally be possible to soothe my scalp again, after giving up on the harmful external factors that caused the issues to begin with?
I choose to start with the hardcore version: WO, meaning water only. With this radical approach, the hair gets washed by using only water, and by brushing it.

I immediately purchased an expensive boar bristle brush, made from the neck hair of a wild boar. These types of brushes are recognizable by the lighter colored tips of the hairs, and the ergonomically shaped form, so that the brush adapts to the shape of the head.

By using strong brush strokes, dead skin particles are removed, not only allowing oxygen to penetrate the scalp again, but also aiding in excreting metabolites. In addition, the body’s skin oils called sebum get distributed to the tips of the hair. Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it? On the contrary, it’s the best hair treatment imaginable, as the sebum acts as a natural protective acid, smoothing out the hair structure and adding a natural shine to the hair. Make sure to brush the hair before washing it, as the protective sebum is more available then.

Brushing till you drop

The best way to brush your hair goes as follows: bend your head forward, and start brushing in three long strokes from the neck up, to your hairline. Then, brush from one ear to the other, and end with brushing backwards, starting at your forehead, to the hairline in your neck again. This way, your entire head gets a good brushing.
If you have long hair, also brush the hair once over from the root to the tips.
Use calm, slow movements, and add a bit of a soothing pressure. The whole operation shouldn’t take more than five minutes, and is best to do in the morning, after your scalp has accumulated most of the sebum and metabolites during the night.

After doing this routine for a while, I immediately noticed how my greasy hairline disappeared, and how shiny my hair looked overall. After only one week of the WO routine, my hair was more voluminous, and felt stronger and healthier.
However, my scalp itched more than ever before.
The idea was to do Water Only for at least four weeks in a row (which is how long it takes for your oil glands to go back to normal), but I couldn’t manage that. Even though my hair looked great, I couldn’t stand the maddening itch any longer. This hardcore routine had to end, and I went back to washing my hair again, with one difference; I was going to do it the No Poo way.

 Washing your hair without shampoo

I read my way through countless blogs and learned that there are dozens of ways of washing your hair without using shampoo.
Some swear by saponins, others use powdered nori seaweed, but the most common variants I kept reading about were natron (soda), Rhassoul clay, natural soaps, soap nuts, dry shampoo and natural henna.

Natron is more commonly known as a component of backing soda, but it is also suitable for washing hair. It’s as easy as finding the baking department in your supermarket, purchasing a little bag, and starting with experimenting.
I tried a recipe that I found at www.simplylivebetter.de, but modified it to only using 50g of soda and 2 drops of tea tree oil, as the mixture would otherwise be too aggressive for my scalp, and the scent too strong.

My hair looked dazzling after washing it with the mixture, and felt deeply cleansed. My scalped felt a bit stingy from the tea tree oil however, and just one day later, the flakes in my hair were back, and my hair and skin felt dry.
After using a few drops of Dr. Alkaitis Replenishing Serum, my irritated scalp felt immediate relief, and I went back to the drawing board to find another solution.

While common clays from the pharmacy make the hair look shaggy and dry, cleansing clay became my new best friend. The most well known type is Rhassoul clay, from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, where it originated eleven million years ago. Rhassoul contains valuable trace elements such as silicon, iron, magnesium and calcium.
I mixed two tablespoons of clay with lukewarm water, until I got a smooth paste. Afterwards, I let the paste cool off, then distributed it over my hair, massaged it in and left it there for about 10-15 minutes. The mixture draws dirt and grease from the hair without damaging the natural hair structure.

After rinsing it out thoroughly, my scalp felt calm, my hair was clean (not as clean as it did with baking soda however), it had a lot more volume and the flaking didn’t come back until three days later.
I considered Rhassoul to be my favorite method of washing without shampoo, until my medical practitioner informed me that cleansing clays are greatly affected by acid rain, and could therefor contain heavy metals. I had to keep on looking.

Soap has always been a natural cleanser, but all too often it strips the hair from its natural protective barrier. FYI: never use curd soap for washing your hair.
A great alternative is Aleppo soap. It originated from Syria, and is known to be the oldest type of soap in the world. For more than 3000 years, this soap is created from olive oil, bay leaf oil and vegetable ashes. It cleans the hair in a very gentle way, as the fatty acids in olive oil are very similar to our body’s own sebum. In addition, Aleppo soap contains a high amount of unsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E, which promotes skin elasticity, making dry scalp soft and smooth again. On top of it all, bay leaf oil is antiseptic.

The pretty looking soap with the Arabic script on it is simply used by soaping up the hair, making it foam and then rinsing it all out again. The result is silky clean hair with a lot of power volume added tot it.
I personally love this method of washing my hair because of its relative ease and quickness.

My personal conclusion

After five months of trial and error, the issues with my scalp have gradually disappeared. Now, I only wash my hair with Aleppo soap once every four days, and the time between washing keeps getting longer. My hair feels much healthier nowadays, has a lot more strength and an incredible amount of volume. Even my hairdresser was delighted by the results of my No Poo experiment.

Things to keep in mind when going No Poo

• Do not blow dry your hair, but let it dry naturally, i.e. air drying
• Do not comb your hair when wet, as it is more prone to breakage then
• Only use hairbands and hair ties without any metal in them
• Try to do an apple cider vinegar rinse every two weeks. Only use biological apple cider vinegar, the unfiltered kind
• Argan oil in a hair mask or on your scalp is ideal to regulate your sebum production
• Manuka honey in a hair mask has antibacterial effects
• Dr. Alkaitis Replenishing Serum directly applied to your scalp gives incredible moisture

Pin it! Share this article by clicking on the picture above.
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook as well!

*Translated by Csilla Liptai