So, no shampoo is a movement to go without shampoos, typically showering with red cider vinegar and perhaps a small amount of baking soda. Some wash with conditioner only. Due to crazy, medicine-immune scalp issues, I’ve been going no shampoo for the last two months, since my trip to San Francisco (a lot has happened!) The biggest query I get is, “Your hair looks so clean!” Yes, it is, and I don’t use cider vinegar – just scrubbing.
I have chronic dry-scalp, and have just been resigned to deal with it after five years of trying every “dry scalp cure” and shampoo I could find. I actually had tried no-poo before, but with vinegar and baking soda ‘scrub and rinse’ and it didn’t work either. I did, however, learn a lot during this journey, and things finally seem to be returning to normal.
My scalp issues started when I moved in with my then-boyfriend now-husband. We thought that perhaps it was a) dandruff or b) the water. Dandruff shampoos made it worse, especially (as I would learn later) those with sodium laureth sulfate and parabens. Hairdresser, doctor, and dermatologist confirmed it wasn’t dandruff – it was like my scalp had absolutely no oil of its own. The water was plausible – I had moved from one water source to another. Carbon filters didn’t work, and when we moved later, the dryness remained.
So, I moved on to trying products. The best success, I found, was fragrance-free, sulfate-free, paraben-free. Which was very difficult to find. The best success I had was with the vegan-friendly ABBA hair care products. But they were expensive, difficult to find, and didn’t actually cure it – just made it slightly better. If you have the same problem, go for the Moisture Shampoo and Gentle Conditioner. I do really like them, and I’m not paid by the company for this note. :D
But, that said, it was still happening. I resigned myself and went back to whatever was cheap and made my hair look nice – Aussie being my favorite. If you don’t have crazy scalp issues and don’t care about the toxic effects of parabens and sodium laureth sulfate, well… I’m sorry. However, switching around made me really realize that something is wrong with our beauty products.
Allow me to give you a quick overview. Your soap doesn’t normally foam, but people are convinced that foam = clean, so they use Sodium Laureth Sulfate, a known carcinogen and irritant. The justification is that you are in contact with the soap for such a small amount of time that it doesn’t matter. I disagree – a large number of people bathe daily, with showers running (say) 10 minutes each. That is a significant amount of contact over the course of months and years, enough for it to be absorbed by skin in small amounts each time.
Sodium laurel sulfate, a relative of Laureth, raises the incidence of aphthous ulcers (those white, painful things you get in your mouth) and canker sores, and is a known irritant. It’s in shampoos, degreasers, and toothpastes.
Ammonium lauryl sulfate is often found in shampoos and body washes thanks to heavy foaming ability. It causes severe irritation in high doses to skin and eyes, and in smaller doses inhalation or ingestion cause irritation. I wonder if any soap bubbles get in the air? It was not carcinogenic in a 2-year study on rats, but like most beauty products, long-term studies are lacking.
Sodium myreth sulfate is found in soaps and toothpaste. Like other ethoxylates, sodium myreth sulfate may become contaminated with 1.4 dioxane during production (a carcinogen.)
And just because you buy it at Whole Foods, doesn’t mean it isn’t safe – Alba products were shown to contain 1.4-dioxane in toxic levels without being labeled as such. Bumble and Bumble, a brand I normally love (thank you Surf Spray) contains ALL of these plus parabens, which are banned in the EU but not in America due to heavy lobbying. And Abba, that I love? Contains parabens. AUGH. (However, upon researching, some Burt’s Bees products don’t, but and I don’t think Carol’s Daughter does.)
Okay. That said – the sole thing that seems to have helped my dry scalp has been going no shampoo, period. I just scrub – my hair is a little more oily and dense than before, but it also has great shine, and it looks and feels clean. Nothing but water and hands. Think about that, before you start insisting that you must have shampoo to be clean. Try showering with shampoo just once a month, and I think you’ll find your hair is cleaner for longer than you thought.
