The day I decided to stop using shampoo forever

And ended up with a happily ever after story to tell. Well if wishes were horses we would all have long pony tails (pun intended). 

So six months ago I said goodbye to shampoo after five long and expensive years of trying to find a solution to my hair fall. And I couldn’t have been happier.  The hard water and chemicals and hair colours I had used over the years had wreaked havoc on my mane and it was falling in clumps.     

I visited countless doctor, stocked fancy cleansers at the rate of a few a month, added natural magic potions to my routine, invested in SLS free shampoos. Nothing worked.

Here's what my bathroom shelf looked like.

 

Then I started doing a bit of reading. A lot of organic blogs convinced me ‘No Poo’ was the way to go. For those who came in late ‘No Poo’ means No shampoo. Proponents of this method use a more natural approach to washing their hair – Baking soda being the most popular. Some of them manage to get the ultimate hair Nirvana and just wash with water. For years. And years. 

Well it sounded too good to be true so naturally I had to try it. I decided to replace my shampoo with baking soda. It seemed so cool! Just one ingredient to wash your hair. It was also touted as a great replacement for toothpaste, a skin exfoliator and yeah you could always bake a cake if nothing else worked. Well I tried it for a few weeks and ended up with limp and coarse hair and massive hair fall. Sigh! Maybe I was just not doing something right. But I did not have too many hair left to figure that out. The silver lining? We baked a lot of cakes with the baking soda I had zealously accumulated.

Then it was 4 years of trying it all again. Here’s a snapshot of what I unsuccessfully tried.

Medication: The effect was temporary

Medicated shampoos: Same as above.

Organic shampoos: Cost twice as much and were not really chemical free.

SLS free shampoos: Gave me dandruff

Then one fine day Mom looked at my stash of hair cleansers and declared our extended family can do without any hair care products for the rest of their long and illustrious lives. Then in typical Mom fashion she reminded me I had terrible hair for all the time and money I had spent on it. Then at last came the sane advice,"Just go back to using what you used as a kid and a teenager."

Hearing these words of wisdom my life changed and I lived happily ever after with a head full of long and lustrous hair. Not really! But I am getting there.

Coming soon Part 2: The big reveal - What am I using right now. (It's not shampoo, has no chemicals and gives me mostly good hair days).

Have you tried an all-natural hair washing method? Let me know what has worked for you in the comments section.