No Shampoo Timeline

Periodical pictures of myself as I cut out shampoo from my hair diet.

[shampooless-shandi]

It's been over a year and a half since I stopped using shampoo. The top row of images is over the past few days. And the bottom are from when I first stopped using shampoo (no product/styling for any of them). The first pictures (right) in each row were take the day after I washed my hair and the next two are the third and fourth days after washing it.

I don't think going shampoo-less is for everyone, but I am so fucking happy I did. Now I just wash my hair once a week and it never gets as greasy as it did after only a couple days when I used shampoo. And it's so much softer and fluffier. I sound like a spokes-person, but fuck yes those first few nasty hair months were worth it.

[shampooless-shandi]

February 23rd 2013: Nine months shampoo free!

My hair is so fluffy and soft! I ran out of my DevaCurl cleanser and since I'm in Italy for a semester and know I can't find it here, decided to switch to baking soda and apple cidar vinegar. Best choice I've made. 100%  After a while, the DevaCurl started to really build up in my hair, even with monthly vinegar cleanses so this feels amazing!!! This was taken a few hours after a shower, no styling.

[shampooless-shandi]

UPDATE:

So, I've been shampoo free for 6 months and I wouldn't have it any other way. I was prompted to write this update because I tried a new product. For the past months, I've been using DevaCurl and although I enjoy it, I thought there might be something better out there. So I finally tried the Wen cleansing conditioner. I've heard a lot of great things about it, it seems really popular, and I know a lot of people who don't consider themselves "no-poo" who use it.

Before I stopped using shampoo I had dandruff, but since then I've had no problems with it. Until I used Wen. This is really unfortunate because I love how thick the product is, you can really feel it as it goes through your hair, unlike the DevaCurl that you have to realy scrub and massage and hope it's in there because you can't feel much. Also, it made my hair look and feel great: smooth, moisturized, shiny, not greasy. I was really happy. But within two days of cleansing my hair with it, I have A LOT of dandruff, worse than it ever was before.

I've read so many reviews on this product to see that most people love it, but something just went wrong for me I guess. It's so bad that I think I might even be allergic to something in the product. I can't say for sure though. Overall, I love the way the product feels and how it made my hair look, but this dandruff thing is a deal breaker.

[nanabananablog]

(via ModCloth Blog » Blog Archive » A Quick Fix: DIY Dry Shampoo by Fox & Doll)

[shampooless-shandi]

July 1st 2012: Six weeks shampoo free! Feeling so good. Cleansing with the DevaCurl once a week.

[shampooless-shandi]

June 2nd 2012: Nineteen shampoo-less days!

A lot has happened over the 11 days I didn't post. I was away for the majority of the week. Last Friday (day 11), I washed my hair with the DevaCurl cleanser and Burt's Bees conditioner that I bought. I was sooooo happy. My hair felt WONDERFUL! I plan on using this cleanser once a week now. These photos show what my hair looks like today after just using the cleanser last night. My hair feels amazing: soft and light and clean and still dandruff free. Some parts underneath my hair are still a bit icky feeling but I'm still getting the hang of using a no-lather cleanser. 

[shampooless-shandi]

May 22nd 2012: Eighth day shampoo-less

WOOOO! I passed the one week mark! My hair isn't looking too bad for a week with no shampoo/cleanser/soap... anything! My hair doesn't smell yet and aside from being tacky, it's not too gross. FYI: I keep my hair down to dry after showers and to take these picture, but I've been rocking a lot of up dos to hide my roots when I go out.

[shampooless-shandi]

May 20th 2012: Sixth day without shampoo

I am longing for the feeling of clean hair! But I'm surprisingly seeing results already. Just cutting out shampoo for this short amount of time has made my scalp a lot less itchy and I have less dandruff. Woot!

[shampooless-shandi]

May 19th 2012: Fifth day no-shampoo

My roots are getting greasier but my ends are getting dryer so I thoroughly brushed out my hair and that seemed to help distribute the oils a little bit.

[shampooless-shandi]

May 18th 2012 Fourth day with no shampoo (just woke up from a nap= puffy, sleepy face) About the same as yesterday.

I just ordered an all natural conditioner (Burt's Bees "Very Volumizing") which I hear comes in handy after a few weeks when things get really gnarly (and smelly... not looking forward to that)

Also, I bought a "no-poo" cleanser which is basically a product made specifically for people who don't shampoo their hair. It's called DevaCurl No-Poo. I bought the travel size cus that stuff is expensive so I'll try it and keep y'all posted.

[shampooless-shandi]

May 17, 2012 Third day without shampoo. Things are getting slick, that's for sure. My roots feel as if they have a lot of product in them. This feeling dissipates gradually as I move down to my ends.

[shampooless-shandi]

May 15, 2012: I washed my hair for the last time the night before.

[shampooless-shandi]

Info

This is a blog chronicling my no-shampoo adventure. I've been reading a lot of first-hand stories from people who have stopped using shampoo (or what we conventional think shampoo is) and finding themselves with more healthy, bouncy, shiny, flake-free, and more manageable hair. This is the main reason why I'm trying it.

But a lot of people also go "no-poo" [I hate that term, haha] because of all the chemicals in shampoo and other hair products that can be harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. Many people also stop using shampoo because of the consumerism associated with shampoo [one product leads you to buy another/ we are taught that we need all these products in our lives/ we buy more and more, constantly searching for the holy grail of products].

Some Info About My Hair:

Color: red

Dye? no. I used to dye/bleach my hair A LOT but it's been my natural color for about 5 years now

Texture: wavy

Length: mid-back

Thickness: medium-moderate

Shampoo before stopping: Aussie "Moist" Shampoo /Palmers Olive Oil Formula Replenishing Conditioner

Any other products: N/A

Heat: Occasionally, I curl my hair (probably once/twice a month on average)

Dandruff? Yes. I was using Head and Shoulders for a while and that seemed to work but about 4 months after switching to the Aussie, it's back. 

Moisture: My hair can get really dry when I use too much shampoo/ not enought conditioner but it gets really oily if I don't wash it at least, every other day.

Other Info: My hair is really limp most of the time, my roots have very little boost and my hair is generally much flatter than I'd like it to be.

NOTE: I didn't take the route that most do when stopping using shampoo. Most people replace shampoo with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. Instead, I decided to only wash my hair with water for the first 11 days and then begin using a shampoo-less cleansing product once a week. I don't really know why I did it this way but it seems to be working well so I'm hanging on to it. If I were to start this journey all over again, I probably would have gone the home remedy path but I don't believe one method or another is better/worse.

Also, here's a great no-shampoo Tumblr resource: nopooproject.tumblr.com