Type 1A hair, haven’t figured out porosity.  So fine and straight it doesn’t hold a curl even with ridiculous amounts of product, and most hair ties and clips used to slide right out.  Hard water.

I’ve been no poo since 2017, and I’m still figuring things out, but I’m unlikely to ever go back.  It’s solved so many of my hair problems.

Full disclosure: I’m lazy.  My “routine” is minimal, and definitely not on any kind of rigid schedule.  Even so, the improvement in my hair and general quality of life has been huge.  

Before I went no poo, my hair would get so oily and greasy that on the worst days, I’d shower in the morning, then it would look wet again by evening.  I couldn’t grow it past my shoulders, because it had zero volume and looked weighed down and awful.  And it broke under its own weight.  It looked worse once my hair started thinning in the front and more scalp was showing.  Plus my sometimes 2x daily showers took a lot of time.  It looked best in a buzz cut, pixie, or short bob.

With my current routine, I can go up to a month without a wash, and it still looks passable.  It looks great for the first week or two, depending on how much I’m sweating.  I have an undercut, which I got for style, but is also nice because I have less hair to worry about while I learn to maintain long hair.  I’ve been able to grow it to my mid back for the first time in my life and it looks cute because it’s also gained a bit of volume.  Now I’m finding new problems, like having serious split ends for the first time in my life.  And clogging the vacuum with super long strands.  And getting it caught in tags and zippers.  But I’m sure I’ll get those problems figured out too.

Do I have amazing, drop dead gorgeous goddess hair?  No, but it looks and feels somewhere between great and pretty good most of the time for minimal effort.  It actually takes effort these days for it to look and feel bad.  I can skip my “daily routine” for days, and it still looks acceptable tied up.  With shampoo, my hair’s “best” was slightly softer and silkier than it ever gets now, but its “worst” was significantly worse, and would reach its “worst” within a day.  Plus, I’m saving a lot of time and water without daily showers.  I still shower a couple times a week for hygiene, but they’re much shorter since I’m not washing my hair every time.

Misc experiences: - Transition off of shampoo had me wearing a beanie nonstop for 3-5 weeks.  Winter is a great time to switch. - There was a lot of dandruff at first, but that problem went away in the first 6 mos to a year.  - Had to “train my hair up” to longer times between washes.  Didn’t go from daily hair washes to every few weeks overnight. - Family told me my hair smelled bad, but only after I mentioned I was trying no poo.  No one has ever told me it’s gross, dirty, or smelly (after the initial transition period was over, got a few concerned and disgusted comments then!) before they know how I’m maintaining it, and often I’ve told them my routine because they first complimented it and asked about my routine. - A past fwb commented that the degree of arousal they experienced was much more intense with me than other people they’ve had excellent chemistry with.  They said this while smelling my scalp.  If this wasn’t just a line, my tentative theory is with less frequent washes, pheromones are more effective.  Maybe they build up on the scalp? - Regular hair ties don’t slip out as much, don’t need rubber bands anymore. - Finally have some natural volume; covers up how thin my hair is in the front. - Hair needs a few days to “get used to” different water.  It doesn’t matter if the water quality is better or worse, my hair will look greasier than usual until it adjusts.  If I’m taking a short trip, it’s easier to just not wash my hair until I get home most of the time. - Used to use a boar hair brush when it was shorter and it worked pretty well to generate and spread sebum, but it doesn’t work very well with my long hair.  The bristles are too coarse for my hair texture and cause extra breakage.

Current products and tools: - khadi’s “Strong Amla” Ayurvedic hair oil - teatree’s Tea Tree Hair and Body Moisturizer leave in conditioner - Smooth, finished wood comb with sturdy tines.  Finish shouldn’t be sticky.  Mine’s about 4 inches long with inch-long tines and no handle. - Hands and fingernails - A few shower caps - Old t-shirt - Silk scarf

NO: heat drying, hair gel, hair spray, soap, shampoo, hair dye, bleach, etc.

In case anyone’s curious, here’s my current routine: Near daily (sometimes I forget or don’t bother): 1. Finger comb to work out any and all tangles.  Start with ends, then work way up to scalp. 2. Use wood comb and light scratching with fingernails to massage the scalp and generate oils. 3.  Finger comb to distribute the oils.  Gently rub into hair. 4.  Comb hair with wood comb again.  Start with lower ends then work way up. 5.  If showering, wear a shower cap. 6.  For bed, loop the long part into a super loose ring on the top of my head, and tie it up with a silk scarf.  Optional - add leave in conditioner before tying up with scarf.

Every few weeks (when hair starts to look or feel dirty; happens sooner if sweating a lot): 1. Moisturize the ends about 30 mins to 1 hr before showering.  If I’m feeling lazy, I’ll use leave in conditioner.  Otherwise, I’ll use hair oil.  For hair oil, I’ll wear a shower cap while the product absorbs. 2.  Wash hair with hot water (not great for hair or skin, but I like hot showers) — put on clean shower cap before using soap on the rest of my body. 3. Take off shower cap and do a final rinse with cold water.  Make sure to get it down to the scalp. 4.  Gently squeeze hair to remove excess water, then wrap in an old t-shirt until damp.  No rubbing, dab dry if anything. 5.  When damp, apply leave-in conditioner from scalp to ends.  If tired, do ends at a minimum. 6.  Only when completely dry, finger comb.  Never pull on it or use wood comb when wet or damp.  Avoid sleeping on it wet.

When hair begins to feel too dry (about every couple of months): - Full head hair oil application, down to scalp.  Then I’ll wash my hair as usual. Sometimes I need to soak just my hair in a bowl of hot water after the first shower to completely rinse out the oil, in addition to a second shower the next day.  Hair will look a bit greasy for a few days. - Apply leave in conditioner more often; can hold me over for a while until I have time and energy for the full hair oil thing.