For the past few months, I’ve been moving toward the “no-poo” lifestyle. That is, no shampoo. The theory is that the harsh detergents in shampoo strip the natural oils from one’s hair and scalp, which then causes one’s oil glands to overcompensate, pumping out more oil which is then attacked with more shampoo, lather rinse repeat.

At first I tried New Wash, a non-shampoo-but-still-full-of-chemicals hair laundering product, which is a little like a lotion that you massage onto your scalp. It smells heavenly, and left my hair feeling incredibly soft (I loved the moment that the first rinse hit my hair–so soft) but my hair never quite adjusted and always got a bit greasy unless I washed it twice in a row. At $40 for a starter bottle and $90 for a three month supply (aka $30 a month), I’d want this shampoo to wash my hair AND scrub the shower out afterward. Limp, greasy hair the next day* was not my favorite and certainly didn’t make me want to continue using it, no matter how soft it left my hair or how good it smells. (And it smells reeeeeally good.)

*I recognize that there’s an adaption phase going off shampoo, but I have not had the same issues with other types of anti-shampoo.

Next up: baking soda. Incredibly effective, but I hear it can dry out your scalp if you use it too much. I think I’ll save it for occasional use in place of a clarifying shampoo.

I’ve read a bit about clay-based shampoos. Since clay masks are an excellent way of pulling out impurities from one’s face, it makes sense that a clay-based cleaning product would also get one’s hair clean. So today I decided to experiment with a clay-based haircleaner.

I made an infusion of some herbs, based the haircare recommendations in Jeanne Rose’s Herbal Body Book:

  • Rosemary
  • Chamomile
  • Liver detox tea: dandelion and burdock root

Once that cooled, I mixed up

  • A squirt of sweet almond oil
  • A drop of tea tree oil
  • A drop of oil of oregano
  • A few drops of peppermint oil
  • Probably 1.5 tbs of bentonite clay
  • A splash of apple cider vinegar
  • and enough of the herbal infusion to make a runny paste

It was kind of fun to use in the shower, like a mask for my hair, but I made a huge tactical error with the oils. Maybe the essential oils on their own would have been okay, but the sweet almond oil didn’t rinse out of my hair, even with an apple cider vinegar rinse. I basically have been deep-conditioning my scalp ever since I got out of the shower.

Notes

My hair is soft, but the roots feel more like 3 or 4 day hair. Don’t add oil!

Do add a higher concentration of apple cider vinegar for the final rinse.

I want squeaky clean hair.