Water only washing my hair - 2 years later...

The last time I wrote a post about water only washing my hair,

was six months after I first stopped using products -

that was over 2 years ago I think.

Not much has changed since then,

in that I still wash my hair with only water.

But I did learn a lot over that time,

and ever since we moved a few months ago,

I've met so many new people,

who have been curious about how we manage to do all the things we do with no products,

especially washing our hair with ONLY water.

For those of you who haven't read my first post on WOW hair, a bit of back story...

I have always had long, thick, dry hair - that I have coloured and bleached every colour you can imagine for most of my life,

with little regard for the health of my hair.

I also washed my hair every other day with regular shampoo and conditioner and pretty much had to use heat on my hair to be able to wear it loose without looking like a frizz ball.

I sadly do not have that many pictures of my hair for before and after pics,

because I am usually the one behind the camera,

and yes I know I should be thinking more about these things,

considering that I have a blog and write about these things!

But here are a couple of pictures that I did manage to scrounge up,

and even though they aren't the best,

you can still see quite a difference in the health of my hair.

This is what my hair looked like most of the time before I started my water only journey.

This was after a wash and smoothing products and straightening to get it tame...YIKES

Now the next two pictures were taken between 6 months and a year after ditching all products and following a routine of water only washing and boar bristle brushing.

I also started to colour my hair using henna, instead of conventional dyes.

As well as ditching all heat, and letting my hair dry naturally.

Keep in mind that both of these pictures were taken while I was camping,

meaning my hair was not at it's cleanest.

They also aren't the best quality pics,

taken on an old mobile phone :D

You can definitely see a difference in the texture of my hair!

Other things that happened over the course of that first year, was that my natural curl and wave became more defined.

I always just thought I had bushy, frizzy hair that would never be able to dry naturally and just hang down in waves...

that I would always have to use my straightener to get that effect.

But even after a few weeks I noticed my waves becoming softer and more defined.

After the initial oily/waxy awkward stage, which you can read about here.

My hair started to feel more silky, and heavy in a healthy way.

For the first time that I could remember I could just wash my hair and let it dry without doing anything,

and having it look like long soft waves instead of a thatched roof.

I also realised that once I did the initial few weeks of spreading those oils to the tips of my hair,

that my hair didn't even get dirty anymore, and that I could actually brush my hair clean.

Not that that's what I did - I obviously did and do wash my hair,

but my point is that...

all those old movies and stories about women brushing their hair 100 times with those lovely soft brushes actually started to make sense.

METHOD

I know there is a lot of information out there about water only washing and no poo etc.

But I think to break it down and save all the fuss, it comes down to this...

Stick out those first few weeks - wear a ponytail or a hat or whatever you have to do to get through it, and when it feels like it won't ever change, keep going!

Keep your brushes clean - and I mean CLEAN! If you want to brush your hair clean, and spread oils, it makes sense to have a very clean brush.

Massage your scalp and brush your hair.

This takes time and effort.

If you do it while you are watching TV at night, it doesn't have to feel like a chore.

Still now 3 years later, I give my head a good massage to soften up any sebum,

which if you have read my older post, you will know as the little white bits on your scalp,

which is not dandruff, but basically just hardened oil

(like coconut oil at a colder temp is harder and liquid when it's hot)

and then I brush my hair for ages!

all together, or in sections,

whatever catches my fancy.

But I brush and brush and brush,

until I feel like my hair is clean and any oil that may have been there is spread all throughout my hair.

Although there isn't usually much oiliness,

even on hair washing day,

which for me is usually between day 7-10.

(In the beginning I washed every 3-5 days, during the oily/waxy stage)

I do this with my hair on about day 3/4,

just to give it a bit of life and shine,

and then again really well on hair washing day.

As far as the actual washing of my hair goes,

I wash under warm - NOT hot water, in the shower, and use a wide tooth comb to comb my hair under the stream of water.

This eliminates the need to brush my hair once I get out.

I will also mention that if you have hard water, this method won't work for you,

because hard water will deposit gunk onto your hair and make it dull and lifeless.

I realised this the hard way,

until I got a shower filter.

I also don't fling my hair into a towel like I use to, but rather just squeeze any excess water out over my shoulder,

maybe run my fingers through it to give it some body and leave it alone to dry.

I realise that this method works very differently for everybody,

and that it may not go as smoothly for everyone.

But I'm pretty confident that if you are vigilant with your steps that you can transform your hair, and enjoy natural, healthy hair!

Let's not forget about the endless plastic bottles full of chemicals you will be avoiding!

If you have any questions then leave me a comment or send me a message and I will get back to you.

Good luck!

#WaterOnlyWashing #Natural