Here's Why I Quit Shampoo

I gave up shampoo for 6 weeks and here is what I found out...

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[DrSamBailey]

Have you given up shampoo? If so let me know your experience in the comments! 👉

[JoJoBirdy]

Hi Sam,
I've been a no-poo girl for 6 years now. I'm 62 and find the state of my hair a great indicator of overall health. I only use water, towelling and brushing. It sometimes goes greasy with I'll health; coughs and colds, it reacts with dryness or grease to any poor diet choices I make and, during some of the stressful periods of life; divorce and the scamdemic, it started going grey a few times but the colour has returned each time!
I'm a mid/mousey btown, which goes blonder in the sun and I get a lot of comments on how youthful I look compared to my years 😊
Keep up all your great work. Love and respect to you and Mark both xXx

[davepubliday]

I stopped shampooing and my hair was absolutely fine. But, after a few years of this the city I was living in decided to alter the chemistry of the tap water to protect the old pipes (instead of upgrading to better pipes). I think this changed the ph level and I had to go back to using shampoo. In other words the water you have makes a huge difference.

[dirkdil]

Hard water has calcium and is alkaline which has the effect of drying out your hair. This effect is less pronounced with soft water but still in effect. The scalp reacts with oil secretion to rehydrate. Rinsing your hair with vinegar, an acid, will rebalance the pH level so your scalp can relax. Apple cider vinegar is a live culture of microbes which I too used for hair care. I had a small cut in my scalp and this gave access to the culture to a warm, nutrient dense home. It established itself there and started proliferating. This was worse than a bit of a greasy scalp. It went away when I switched to just white alcohol vinegar. It does the job and is inert. Not as romantic as the beloved but a lot cleaner. Just a heads up....

[peachypie]

A really nice touch is to add 1 drop of rosemary essential oil to a cup of cold water, pour through as a final rinse but don't wash out. Tip your head upside down to brush your hair. Don't forget a relaxing scalp massage, because you're worth it. Great video as always and lovely comments.

[HarryFenton]

I had terrible dandruff until I gave up any form of soap on my hair. Only water for 15 years and no smell, grease or complaints from my wife. Dandruff went within weeks. These things are just a chemical con.

[al]

I stopped using shampoo when I lived in Thailand 4 years ago. It seemed pointless because my head was always sweaty from the motorcycle helmet. I was satisfied with the results and so I continued to use water only, even when I moved back to Europe. I like your message - we should all look to nature and good health. Avoid chemicals in or on the body ✅

[megathy]

I've been using this no-poo process for many years and my hair is always beautiful. I am almost 80 years old, so this is both a thrifty and a healthy treatment. Thanks for spreading the word!❤

[kathrynemason]

I haven't used shampoo for well over a decade and only wash my about once a month. My hair doesn't smell and is not greasy, something it had always been before. I use a natural bristle brush, it's victorian and I love it. I have always plaited my hair and don't get it wet when I shower. I think we humans over complicate life.

[giselafiege]

As a hairdresser of 32plus years. Shampoo is extremely abrasive and over time is one of the causes of hair loss the SLS in all shampoos never rinses out completely and that’s how it start breaking down the cuticle, it’s also what breaks down our clothes also. Yes shampoo is never needed unless we all work in a coal mine or grease pit. 🙌

[ElisabethStuewe]

The best not shampoo hair cleaner is rye flour for blond hair!! Baking soda is relatively harsh on the scalp. Rye flour has almost the same ph level then the scalp . If it’s whole meal sieve the flour first so you are not left with Particles in the hair. But otherwise you mix same amount of water with flour to create a paste and then apply that to your wet hair like shampoo. Leave for 2 min and wash out like usual. You will find that you can extend the need for washing your hair very easily by a week in a short time.
I did it all and tried it all and this is the best feeling I ever had on my hair! Lots of volume it gives too!

[evb]

I have used less and less shampoo over the years and now I often don't wash my hair for a week. I am 68, female with lovely long natural silver hair that is fine and, I don't have as much hair as you. When I stop washing, my hair feels thicker and more lovely. I have used a boar bristle brush for years and now also have a wooden bristle brush. I learned about these from the ladies here on YouTube who have waist length hair and who really study the decades old ways of caring for hair. I love the wooden bristles as they also distribute my natural oils effectively and those brushes are very easy to clean. Thank you so much. Your hair is so beautiful. I have always thought I'd love to have natural red hair (I used to color it red when I was a brunette). You are beautiful!

[abigailwhite]

I'm a woman with long hair, and I haven't been using shampoo for quite some time now (maybe a year now, at least), just water mainly (I also swim in the ocean quite a bit...so salt water too!). Years ago, when I first learned about quitting shampoo, I tried the baking soda/vinegar method and used it regularly. It makes your hair feel so soft, right? But take warning! I really over-did it, because eventually it completely ruined my hair! It dried it out and made the ends break, like brittle straw! I actually had to cut it short to start over, which was fairly devastating because I love having long hair. I won't use baking soda now because of that experience. Now I use honey maybe once every couple months as a way of deep cleaning/having luxurious experience. It also can lighten hair which I like, my hair is dark blonde with natural highlights from the sun. Anyway, be careful with that baking soda!

[Foxbrother]

I love it that you made a video about stopping the use of shampoos! I have stopped shampoo 4 years ago! Now I use only avocado seed tea to wash my hair, avocado seed tea that I make myself. And it makes it shiny, clean, flowing, and the scalp feels so nice.

[peachypie]

Sorry folks, should've said, rosemary essential oil rinse is best for brunettes, blondes can use 1 drop of chamomile in a cup of cold water. x

[dianefinlay]

I just went cold turkey. I'm mid sixties and my hair is dry and fluffy despite conditioning. So I had a big talk to myself. I only brush. I have not even used hot water yet as the natural oils are only just now returning. Very mildly itchy scalp easily solved with brushing and now after almost 3 weeks not even that. My hair is definitely better for it. The fluff and dryness has gone. I like the idea of apple cider vinegar so I think I might hot water wash and vinegar rinse once a month. Definitely never going back.

[vic]

Don't forget, the water you have in your area makes a big difference. Hard, soft or in between.

[manie]

My son has been doing this for a couple of years now and he has really long thick hair. He loves it. I’m going to try it out. Thank You for sharing.

[Snowlily]

Im glad the No shampoo worked for you.

I heard of this “revolutionary idea” a few years ago and in fact tried it but it didn’t work out for me. As an Indian, our hair is quite frizzy, also we have a culture of oiling our hair before wash. And vinegar and baking soda were no match for oiled hair.😅

But recently my hair was becoming almost plastic and having to choose between busting my pocket or going no-poo, I obviously took the latter. But the frizzy hair kept temping me to oil. Which I did. But then how could I go no-poo? Well, I did cut my shampoo usage to barely a teaspoon for my waist length hair, but it didn’t work. Horribly itchy scalp with awfully plastic hair. I was done.

Then came the last resort. The grandma resort. My grandmother uses a mix of transitional Indian herbs to clean her hair, and despite being in her 60s her hair are beautifully black (thanks to god). So as a desperate successor, I though why not. So I gave it a go, and the first time was like 50% successful . I was surprised that natural ingredients can actually clean oily hair.

I experimented and got a technique that would clean my oiled hair well.
The herbs are called Reetha (soapnuts), amla (Indian gooseberry), shikakai. Since my hair is oiled, I have to follow a bit long cleaning process (about 10mins) but those who do not oil their hair can easily do with 1-2 rinses.

Thought I’d share this incase it might help anyone. The process of using these is to take 3 soap nuts (for shoulder length hair), 3 shikakai pods and 2 tablespoons of amla. Then you can either soak these overnight, or boil in 1 litre water for 10mins(on low flame), blend, sieve (using Nut-bag) and then use that water. This is the most effective way of using these. You can make a big batch and freeze or store in fridge for up to 7 days or more(depending on weather).

The number of soap nuts depends upon the length and greasiness of hair. I would recommend starting with 2-3 as everyone’s hair react differently to these. 😊

Some people also recommended to use Neem Leaves for my dandruff so I’ll be trying those soon. Rice water, as I’ve been told is used to clean hair, but personally I’ve only ever used it as a conditioner do I don’t think it’ll clean as well as soap nuts.

Currently I’m looking for a natural leave in conditioner, hair growth oil, and dandruff remedies, so if anyone has any pls share.

[hmeschmmmy]

I’m not a doctor, and this is just my 9 years of experience with this….. Not sure how I found this video (thank you, YouTube), but I gave up shampoo in—I’m pretty sure it was about end of 2013 or beginning of 2014 and have used baking soda and apple cider vinegar ever since (as of today, June 2023). At the time, my medium length (past the shoulders) thick hair did great, and I loved it—no grease, no yuckiness, but I went cold turkey! People commented on how healthy my hair looked.It was soft and thick, and never smelled. The person who cut my hair at the time was fine with not shampooing my hair before cuts, so my hair stayed really nice!
While it was long, I only wetted & scrubbed it every several days when it started to get too crazy (I have naturally wavy hair underneath and it’s pretty flat on top—it’s a little crazy), but did wear it in pony tails most of the time, as my hair is very uncooperative styling-wise. I “washed” it once a week out of a habit I created for myself, then once every 2 weeks a few years later. It just didn’t need washing!! Fast forward to a pixie cut for a few years with wetting it daily because I woke up with crazy hair—scrubbing the scalp lightly, and then regrowing it to about shoulder length now over the last few years—-still no problems with my methods, and I never—not once—experienced any grease or adverse conditions—but I always had dry hair before I started this journey (which is one of the reasons I gave up shampoo!) so dandruff and oil were not an issue in the first place. Still aren’t. (And as long as I don’t shampoo/condition with products, it stays soft.)

I still use about 1 tablespoon of baking soda & warm water (about 8 oz) in a bottle meant for (I think?) washing your nether regions after pregnancy(?)—I bought from Amazon—it has a spout and tiny holes, so it makes it easy to squirt and distribute the mixture into the hair. I scrub my scalp gently all over and leave it while I wash. I follow up with a “rinse” of less than 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar & warm water in a second bottle, which I leave in while I shave, then rinse. I do add essential oils that I like—maybe 1-2 drops of lavender, sometimes tea tree oil or peppermint, ylang ylang, rosemary, frankincense…. But always lavender :-) Currently I wash about once every 2 weeks, but I don’t actually keep track. I try not to use water that is super hot, as I’ve heard that can cause dandruff, and don’t scrub your hair around like you might if you were shampooing—you’ll just get tangles. You just need to massage the dirt out of your scalp, sort of run your fingers through your hair, and rinse. Baking soda solution is for scalp, then let it run down hair and sort of work it through. Vinegar solution is NOT for scalp—more for running down your hair that isn’t right at the scalp, if that makes sense. (You can get it on your scalp, I’m just saying you don’t need to squirt it all over your scalp!). Unfortunately, my current stylist uses shampoo, and I haven’t put my foot down so my hair has had more of a rough texture and has been less soft. I’m going to insist she just rinse me with water and get to cutting from now on! I do use a strong comb to comb out my hair after I “wash”. It was my grandmothers, and it’s made if some strong nylon or something (If it ever breaks I think I’ll die!)—totally old-school. I love it, and it goes right through my hair. No tangles, ever. Some people, I have heard, do NOT have success with this method, but I think that is true for ANYTHING in life. Good luck—it’s worth a try, and it feels, looks, and smells great!🎉