WOW Hair - Water only washing...

So, you are considering ditching the shampoo and other chemical nasty's that aren't doing your hair any favours?

Then stick with me here, because I have read pretty much every single other post about 'no-poo' and water only washing out there, and have tried it ALL, So I am well versed.

I can confidently say that I've been through it, and I've come out the other side full of knowledge :D

Let me start by saying that I have always had long-thick-dry hair,

I've bleached and coloured my hair for many, many years,

and I have never really been much of a products person...

it's always been the standard routine of shampooing and conditioning every 3 days or so.

But last year on my quest for no products,

I started to think about how maybe having healthy hair isn't about all the fancy products and hours of effort that I always thought it was, and more about just ditching products all together.

Ok, so it was not easy.

The first 6 weeks was a lot of trial and error, and waxy, heavy hair.

No matter what blog you read they will all tell you about that awful transition period,

but most of them will also say that if you can stick out those few weeks you wont be sorry,

and that's exactly what I'm going to say...just stick it out.

Six weeks of ponytails is worth saving your hairs life for good.

Trust.

I started off with the bicarb and apple cider vinegar method and realised straight away that I wasn't going to like it,

over the course of the next 9 days I played around with how to mix both solutions but I just couldn't get anything that was making my hair feel even remotely fine to live with,

so I went back to the drawing board and decided that I would just go cold turkey like everything else and see what happened.

By this stage I had also invested in a boar bristle brush - which is essential, and my advice if you have long, thick hair is to invest in a tangle teezer as well.

As I mentioned before I have very dry hair and never noticed any terrible oiliness until around day 5,

but after the first time I washed my hair with nothing but water I had a strange waxy kind of feeling on my scalp,

which didn't make my hair look oily,

but it didn't feel like I could wear it loose either.

I tried to keep the logic of it all in my mind like a mantra moving forward -

Dirt and sweat are water soluble, remember that the oils will regulate themselves if you give them a chance!

Easier said than done I know,

but here is where the power of your fingers and brushes come in.

What you are aiming to achieve is getting the oils on your scalp all the way down to your dry ends.

Some gross but essential information you'll need to know,

is that the oil on your scalp is called sebum

and just like coconut oil goes solid at a certain temperature,

the same thing will happen to your sebum.

I didn't know this at first and thought I had dandruff or dry scalp.

But dandruff is big yellowish, smelly flakes,

so don't panic if you scratch your head and notice little white bits,

that is your hairs oil!

And it needs to be warmed up and spread through your hair.

So for the first few weeks I spent at least half an hour every night massaging my scalp to heat up the sebum,

and then first brushing my hair gently with the tangle teezer until my hair was so smooth,

before switching to the boar bristle brush.

By the end of the first week my scalp was still oily

(although didn't look dirty in a ponytail)

but the length of my hair was already looking and feeling healthier than it ever had before,

so this made me feel optimistic.

Continuing like this and washing with warm water every 5 days

(if you can't hold out until at least 5 days, then try sprinkle a bit of baby powder or cinnamon or cocoa on your hands and just run it through your hair for an all natural dry shampoo substitute)

my hair slowly started to feel lighter and less waxy near the roots,

and the length of my hair was feeling soft and looking soo shiny from all the natural oils.

Six months later and I have never been happier.

My hair doesn't get oily anymore, but rather starts to look a bit dull,

and that is my signal that my hair is dirty enough to wash.

This usually happens between day 5 - 7.

I make sure to keep my brushes CLEAN, and wash them regularly with vinegar water.

I also massage and brush my hair thoroughly on day 3 to keep the oils spread and my hair soft and silky,

and then again very well on hair washing day.

These brushing sessions are KEY, so don't skip them whatever you do!

Make sure you are washing with luke warm water and not hot or cold water,

and also make sure that if you have hard water in your area that you get a water filter.

Hard water will leave residue in your hair and you won't have any success with water only washing.

Things I found a bit of a struggle:

1.) Trying to untangle my hair after washing it, as there was no satiny smooth feeling from conditioner.

So what I did was to use a wide toothed comb while in the shower, and gently ran it through my hair while the water was on that section.

This worked well and eliminated the need to comb/brush my hair after I got out the shower.

2.) Getting over my hair smelling like... actual hair.

I was so use to my hair smelling of some exotic fruit that it took a while to get use to the smell of, well, just hair,

but if you really need the smelly's,

this is easily rectified with a few drops of essential oils,

or even some lavender sprigs in a bottle of water spritzed on your hair straight out the shower.

3.) Getting use to the different feel of my new hair.

This is hard to explain, but your hair will change and start to feel different near the roots and throughout the length of your hair.

For me it was just heavier in general and wasn't as wispy and floaty anymore.

Don't be scared off by this, it's a good thing.

Give yourself a chance to get use to it.

You realise it's easier to style this way,

and you can tell that in a few more months it will eventually just be thick and silky!

Conclusion

Don't wash your hair with shampoo - just don't - it'll take you back to step one

Don't forget to keep your brushes clean.

Don't skip the massaging and brushing.

Try and make it to at least day 5 before washing in the first few weeks,

I exercise everyday, so I put my hair up in a bun and wear a bandanna type thing and this works great for me.

Just because your head is sweating doesn't mean it's dirty!

If you guys have any questions then drop me a message or get hold of me on my Instagram account.