For the past few weeks I have been trying out the "no shampoo" routine for hair care. It is part of my attempt to change my lifestyle to a more simple, natural one.
First, let me say, my hair feels and looks so much better. I can brush through it so easily, and my curls look nice. Secondly, it took a bit of research to do it right. You can't just decide to simply abandon all shampoo usage without any kind of guidance.
Since I have done all the research already, I will spare you from all the trouble I went through, and tell you what you need to know to successfully kick the shampoo habit for good, and probably empty your cabinets a fair bit. If you are interested in the hows and whys, Dorm Room Curly has an excellent post that is very thorough, and will also tell you how to go naturally curly. It will tell you everything beyond the basics I am about to tell you. I used the article as a main part of my research, and I am certain you will find it extremely helpful. I am also using my own personal experience to narrow down your needs.
Getting rid of shampoo altogether (and forever) will probably require you relieve yourself of your current conditioner as well, aaaaand probably most, if not all, of your styling product.
The first thing I would suggest doing is to go get a hair cut if you haven't had one recently. Get rid of the split ends, damaged bits, and such. Start fresh!
Second, you will have to shampoo your hair one final time. This shampooing is meant get rid of all hair product and build-up, so make sure you do a very thorough job. Don't scrape your head til its clean, just use the gentle fingertip massage.
Third, you will need to pick your new conditioner. Odds are, your current conditioner will not be acceptable as part of your new routine. You are going to have to start reading the label to be sure. You want a conditioner that has no silicone in it. If it has an ingredient in it with a -cone,-conol, or -xane suffix, that means it has silicone in it. DON'T USE IT!
I was fortunate to already have a silicone-free conditioner when I started this regimen, a giant bottle of Suave Naturals. It was the conditioner I used when I did my last hair-dyeing to help eliminate dryness. It happens also to be really cheap!
Load your hair with the conditioner, making sure you massage your scalp, and leave it in for 5 minutes or so, while you wash the rest of your body. After your time is up, rinse your hair out. I leave a very tiny bit in as a leave-in conditioner and am finished. You have the option of doing that or following up with a thicker non-silicone conditioner if you feel you need more.
When I get out of the shower, I have discovered that you should not use a towel on your hair (I have tried it both ways). It causes frizz, and tends to dry out your hair. Instead, squeeze out your hair to the best of your ability and leave it as is. Dorm Room Curly's article goes into more specific details on drying options, but this seems to work the best for me. It also goes into detail on making your hair curly. I prefer to just brush it out straight, put a slight crunch on it for a bit of wave, and leave it be.
When it comes to styling product, you want to try and keep it as simple and natural as possible. You certainly want to try to avoid silicones (and sulfates), HOWEVER, there are water soluble silicones that are perfectly fine to use. If there is a PPG or a PEG prefacing the silicone, it means it is water soluble. I have discovered that Bed Head by TIGI has water soluble silicones in it's gel product and works quite well.
I most certainly recommend that you research this all yourself, but if you want to just jump right in, I have given you the very basics to get started. I hope you have wonderful hair very soon!
