Post: #26

Oh, and do you blow your hair dry or let it dry naturally?

Post: #27

I think blow drying it is unnecessary, just natural dry/towel.

Definitely stick with the water washing regime, even though you might be tempted to slap some shampoo on it after a few days.

Post: #28

No shampoo ever, not even when I get a haircut. I tell the guy I'm not using shampoo and I don't want any product in my hair.

As for the baking soda, yes, remember to sprinkle on top of your head dry, jump in the shower, and rub it through gently.

I've been using baking soda less and less, and there seems to be a diminishing return after 2 weeks, and my hair actually is getting a tad gunked up. You must use baking soda at some point to get rid of extra grease.

Post: #29

(06-01-2013 11:47 PM)basilransom Wrote:  I've been using water only for a couple weeks, and generally really like the results.

But in the 12-24 hours after a shower, my hair is a little gunked up with oil. It'll even look wet when it's actually dry, because of the oil. And the hair will be sort of stiff and bunched up. Within a day after showering, my hair looks great, like the guy below. It's as if the oil settles back down to an even, steady distribution among my hair.

(06-01-2013 09:56 AM)Nascimento Wrote:  

What am I doing wrong? Are there any recommended washing techniques for avoiding this fate? If possible, I'd prefer to continue with only water.

A old tip is to use grass to get rid of grease. Classic soaps have a fat as major compound, and oils will always bond better to other oils.

A old method I used to use to wash my face was the "double oil cleansing method" in which I used a light oil like almond oil to clear it the grease front my pores.

It would work the same with hair: Take coconut oil in a generous maybe tablespoon+ amount and smear it in your hair after you run it under really warm water. Smear it around then take a fresh towel and rub out the excess, rinse it out one more time then dry it off like normal. Your gunk will be gone 100% and all that will be left is a sheen for the thiner coconut oil.

Post: #30

I like the idea of this.

As of today I've given up convential shower gels to experiment.

What natural alternative (if any) can you guys recommend instead of hair wax/gel?

Post: #31

Just ordered a scalp brush and some baking soda.

Samseau, just seen your post on ROK about it. Your hair looks similar to mine at the beginning, so I'm hoping to emulate the results. I imagine the hard part is getting over the first few days, then the first week or two then it's easy sailing.

Post: #32

I am about the most skeptical person when it comes to "natural" remedies for things, but I am under a week in to no shampoo and no body wash and I am thoroughly impressed. I haven't hit the hair with baking soda or coconut oil yet and I don't have a scalp brush either, but I will get to all those soon. I have relatively long hair and the flatness and dryness is gone. No product is needed either. As far as the no body wash, I just scrub my skin with a loofa (sp?) and my skin is as soft as ever. Maybe it is just coincidence or something I don't usually notice, but I got back from the gym last night after sweating my ass off and I didn't notice any stank radiating off of me. I didn't test it with another person's nostrils, but I can usually tell when I smell after working out.

Post: #33

I do a lot of jiu jitsu and grappling. Obviously I am concerned about ringworm and other bacterial skin stuff. I'm also 26 and balding, any advice for me regarding soap?

Post: #34

(06-05-2013 11:19 PM)bounce Wrote:  I do a lot of jiu jitsu and grappling. Obviously I am concerned about ringworm and other bacterial skin stuff. I'm also 26 and balding, any advice for me regarding soap?

Bacterial infections? Wash after every session? Make sure your clothes are clean?
Your body's immune system should take care of you.

Balding and soap?
Samseau, can answer that one!

Post: #35

(06-05-2013 11:19 PM)bounce Wrote:  I do a lot of jiu jitsu and grappling. Obviously I am concerned about ringworm and other bacterial skin stuff. I'm also 26 and balding, any advice for me regarding soap?

Defense Soap.

http://www.defensesoap.com

Post: #36

Ok I've gone 8 days without shampooing. So far so good. No clumping, but I have slightly thinning hair and I'm using Rogaine so I figured that might help. Have not used baking soda yet and wondering how it will react with the Rogaine but we'll see. So far so good! I can't say my hair feels or looks any better but I'm glad I'm not exposing it to that chemical wash every day.

Post: #37

I'm about 4 or 5 weeks in.

Decided to quit shampoo because my hair always looked like shit. My hair is (or was, when I quit) very oily.

The first few days were hell: all I could think about was washing my hair asap. I also got really bad dandruff, which was not encouraging at all to keep going. Still, I haven't given in.

My regimen is washing my hair everyday with water, preferably cold.

A few days in, my hair and scalp started feeling very dirty and block-ish, as I have curly hair. I tried used baking soda. It kind of worked, felt cleaner, but the dandruff continued.

Days later I used ACV. Same result.

Yesterday I tried Kosko's coconut oil recipe mentioned above. Seems like I had much less flaking today. It's still very early to see if it will be better with the oil, but I'll keep you informed. Also gonna experiment with not washing it all for a few days to see what happens.

Post: #38

I find the posts about people who stop using shampoo and getting dandruff to be very curious.

Dandruff is the result of a dried out scalp. By not using shampoo you should in theory have more oils on your scalp and therefore less dandruff.

Something else must be going on here.

Post: #39

Maybe it's the oils, not getting the right oils and fats in your diet.

Anyway,
Week 2: No Dandruff and washed my hair with baking soda a few days ago.
Didn't really like the residue or "feel" it left on my hair and I didn't really need to use it. I haven't gotten grease chunks and hopefully won't get them.

Few days of heavy work ahead so we'll see.

Post: #40

(06-07-2013 05:46 PM)Samseau Wrote:  I find the posts about people who stop using shampoo and getting dandruff to be very curious.

Dandruff is the result of a dried out scalp. By not using shampoo you should in theory have more oils on your scalp and therefore less dandruff.

Something else must be going on here.

Most have dry scalp but dry scalp is not dandruff.

Dandruff is this stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seborrhoeic_dermatitis

The yeast eat the oil in the scalp in the case of SD, so having an oily scalp makes the dandruff worse.

Post: #41

Question...how many of you guys are Paleo/GlutenFree?

I've read that when you're on the Standard American Diet, your body produces more sebum/sheds skin at a rapid pace, thus the need for shampoo.

The longest streak I've had is 12 days without Wheat. I usually have some crunchy/hard skin on the back of my scalp near the neck, but by the 10th day it was baby soft smooth.

Since then I usually get 3 day streaks, and my scalp is good to the point where it only needs to be washed twice a week.

If I slip up and consume Wheat multiple times in a week, scalp starts flaking again and I gotta go back to washing it every other day.

Post: #42

(06-07-2013 08:20 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

(06-07-2013 05:46 PM)Samseau Wrote:  I find the posts about people who stop using shampoo and getting dandruff to be very curious.

Dandruff is the result of a dried out scalp. By not using shampoo you should in theory have more oils on your scalp and therefore less dandruff.

Something else must be going on here.

Most have dry scalp but dry scalp is not dandruff.

Dandruff is this stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seborrhoeic_dermatitis

The yeast eat the oil in the scalp in the case of SD, so having an oily scalp makes the dandruff worse.

Well, if you've got fungus growing on your head then the no-shampoo challenge isn't going to help you. Get it treated first then try going without shampoo.

Post: #43

ok I'm into week 3 now, hair looks good (to me at least), not really too greasy or clumpy yet, but wondering when that will start.

For the first two weeks I only used water to wash my hair, but I finally bought some baking powder yesterday, and used a little on my hair this am and also as my new 'deoderant'. So far so good.

But now I'm reading the labels on everything, including my toothpaste, soap, lip balm & shaving cream (which is loaded with chemicals (even the high quality Nivea and Ted Baker stuff I bought in London), has tons of bad stuff in it, even if it does provide for an incredibly smooth shave, much better than the aerosol can foaming shaving cream). Gee... u can't get away from this stuff.

So this am I used my electic razor, didn't use too much soap in the shower either. Used some "Burt's Bees" lip balm as the stuff in there seemed mostly natural.

But I'm hitting the gym 5-6 times a week, and walking around in the heat during the day, so I'm sweating a ton, and I don't see myself abandoning soap anytime soon. I know there are a lot of natural options out there, but I'm currently in Russia (in London on a business trip soon though). Any ideas for what I can buy her or potentially in London for soap? Does "L'Occitane" have some good options? We have that here but really expensive and I have some lotion and guess what it's got all sorts of chemicals in it.....

I'm learning quickly that once you start this anti-chemical way of life u quickly discover these bad chemicals are in just about everything.

Post: #44

Akula, olive oil soap is pretty natural I think. You can find it in any healthfood shop in London. Comes in a cube about 3" per side. I used to cut it into quarters for easy handling in the shower.

Post: #45

Lately I haven't been showering as much as I used to, and when I do, I often just used conditioner. The natural scent my body gives off is actually much nicer now, after a few days, than it would have been after even just an hour or 2 a year or so ago. We didn't exactly evolve to take showers, our bodies are pretty good at keeping themselves balanced and healthy. It makes sense to me that if we're producing a lot of oil, it's probably for a good reason. Also explains why so many kids got acne and/or shitty skin - the body goes into overdrive production to make up for the oils that get scrubbed away daily

Post: #46

(06-10-2013 06:22 AM)Acute Angle Wrote:  Akula, olive oil soap is pretty natural I think. You can find it in any healthfood shop in London. Comes in a cube about 3" per side. I used to cut it into quarters for easy handling in the shower.

Cool thanks. Will try to find some when I'm in London, am hoping to get to a Whole Foods when I'm there too.

Post: #47

I will start this after I get a new haircut. So far I have been using less and less amount of shampoo.

I have been using head n shoulders shampoo for more than 10 years, so i suppose if i eliminate it completely from one day to another my head will go into overdrive creating shit.

I've been meaning to do this for a while (even before reading Samseaus article) because I read a reporter doing that, but he was not aware of red-pill-baking-soda-awesomness.

By the way, what do you guys use for your body? Soap, another type of shampoo, more baking soda, coconut oil? I use axe dark temptation and also want to cut on it, even though i get an erection every time I smell it cause it smells fucking great

Post: #48

(06-10-2013 05:02 PM)Wreckingball Wrote:  I have been using head n shoulders shampoo for more than 10 years, so i suppose if i eliminate it completely from one day to another my head will go into overdrive creating shit.

Possibly, but it didn't happen to me so far. I've been using serious anti-dandruff shampoos (H&S, coal tar and salicylate, selenium, antifungal etc.) for many years now. Eight days ago I stopped shampooing and now just rinse with warm water every other day. I expected my scalp to go crazy with itching and flaking, but so far it feels pretty much the same as before, maybe slightly less itchy.

One strange effect: after shampooing my (fairly short) hair used to lie flat on my head, necessitating the use of gel to make it stick up. Now it sticks up on its own.

Post: #49

(06-10-2013 07:34 AM)Akula Wrote:  

(06-10-2013 06:22 AM)Acute Angle Wrote:  Akula, olive oil soap is pretty natural I think. You can find it in any healthfood shop in London. Comes in a cube about 3" per side. I used to cut it into quarters for easy handling in the shower.

Cool thanks. Will try to find some when I'm in London, am hoping to get to a Whole Foods when I'm there too.

The only Whole Foods I know of is in Piccadilly Circus, it's an American brand no?

There's lots of Waitrose stores, which are similar.

Post: #50

(06-11-2013 06:05 AM)Acute Angle Wrote:  One strange effect: after shampooing my (fairly short) hair used to lie flat on my head, necessitating the use of gel to make it stick up. Now it sticks up on its own.

Same I like this effect. Put a little water in and it's like you have gel in there. I am hooked on this no shampoo regiment.