I only had to to learn what "no poo" was to commit to it right then and there. It was June 2013, and the act of doing away with shampoo entirely—and instead cleansing locks with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and conditioning with coconut oil a couple times a week—had suddenly erupted as a major natural beauty trend. It appealed to me on so many levels: my crunchy lifestyle, my love of DIY, my willingness to try anything once. Plus, I was at my wit's end with my damn hair. After years of abusing my tresses with heating tools and loading them with every anti-frizz product I could get my hands on, my hair was dry and hopelessly poofy, and my scalp was almost unbearably itchy. And though I craved mermaid-length hair, my strands were slow to grow. By forcing me to embrace my hair's god-given, untouched state, this no poo regimen promised to do away with my frustrating, time-consuming hair battle once and for all. On a whim, I committed.
And for a little more than a year, it totally delivered.
It only took a matter of weeks on the no poo regimen to see every one of my problems start to disappear before my eyes. (Many people who transition from using shampoo report an awkward, greasy stage at first, but I somehow managed to largely sidestep this.) Suddenly, I could walk outside without fearing that my hair would swiftly double in size. Before this, it had been a rare, celebrated day when my natural waves decided to "behave"; now, I woke up with those defined, frizz-free strands nearly every morning—and without the aid of a single product. My hair was growing long and strong. "My eco-conscience is clear, my routine is ridiculously low maintenance, and my hair is happy," I euphorically reported in January 2014.
But then a few "quirks" began to put a damper on things. Even when I thought I had rinsed my locks thoroughly, sometimes a faint-yet-biting whiff of the vinegar remained, making for some very self-conscious days. On rare visits to the salon (I may be all about natural beauty, but I still appreciate the occasional professional haircut), I allowed my hairdresser to shampoo and condition my hair since I felt too awkward to explain otherwise; this usually resulted in a few greasy days of adjustment back to no poo once my blowout had run its course. Now that my already long and thick hair was longer and thicker than it had ever been, it took Herculean efforts (and often more than one shower) to remove the coconut oil from my hair without leaving behind greasy residue. Worst of all, towards the end, my scalp began to get consistently flaky, and small adjustments to the regimen did little to remedy this. So this past December, when I was running low on my no poo apple cider vinegar and coconut oil supplies and noticed a small bottle of natural shampoo among my collection of beauty samples, I figured, Eh, why not?
And much like it all started, my no poo lifestyle ended, just as abruptly.
This isn't to say that no poo was at all a lost cause for me. But I had clearly gotten all I could out of the routine, and if that was my hair's crash diet, I have since gracefully transitioned into maintenance mode: I wash and condition my hair, but only twice a week, using very carefully chosen products that feature a very short, all-natural ingredient list. My new favorite conditioner, for example, is Living Libations' Shine On Conditioner, and it actually features apple cider vinegar as a primary ingredient (along with marshmallow, aloe vera, chickweed, seaweed, and an array of organic oils—and that's it). All those annoyances—the grease, the smells, the flakiness—they've all disappeared, and my hair looks and feels better than ever. I'm still devoted to the all-natural cleansing approach, I'm just having someone else craft the formulas for me and I've switched to "some very particular poos, less often" instead of "no poo."
And fortunately, thanks to the steadily growing back-to-the-land beauty movement, there is a plethora of truly wonderful, truly natural products available. Witnessing this boom has been so thrilling for me, and not just for my own benefit: While I was totally game to try something like no poo, I completely recognize that it's probably less appealing (and more intimidating) to those less DIY-obsessed or crunchy than I. But as my own experience illustrates, these days anyone can reap the benefits of no poo without going the hardcore, DIY route—and better yet, sidestep some of the less-than-ideal side effects.
- Living Libations Seabuckthorn Shampoo and Shine On Conditioner Duo, $38; livinglibations.com
- Captain Blankenship Days at Sea Dry Shampoo, $24; captainblankenship.com
- Davines Authentic Cleansing Nectar, $29; davines.com
- Rahua Light Lather Shampoo, $32; rodales.com
- Four Elements Herbal Shampoo Bar, $6; fourelementsherbals.com
- Fig + Yarrow Hair and Scalp Tonic, $38; amazon.com
