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Gross.

This totally grosses me out. I had a boyfriend who wouldn't wash his hair because he thought shampoo made you go bald.

He was got so greasy when he grew his hair long that I never wanted to touch him. For some reason the fact that he only washed it once a month was some form of pride for him.

Ewwwwwww.....

I read the title and was assuming a treatise on the benefits of "Activia." Relieved - pardon the pun...

These people clearly live in a cool, dry climate and do not have oily hair!

Anyone seen the movie "Friends with Money". Character stops washing her hair. Friends speculate.

I don't use anything at all on my (short, short, SHORT--I know it's not for everyone) hair. I give a good rinse and scrub with water only in every shower. Have been eschewing hair cleaners entirely since college, when I stretched time between hair dyeing sessions (blue, green, purple, pink, red, orange, etc etc etc) by not washing. The habit stuck. Wasn't aware I was in a movement, but am unsurprised to see that some do the same and some deem us immediately gross. Welcome to low-intervention hair to the former group, and thanks for your input to the latter group.

I can see switching from shampoo and conditioner made w/parabens and sulfates to an eco friendly, more natural choice but this is a little to angry hipster for me.

And, for those worried about climate: I found that my (OILY!) hair became less so when left alone, no matter where I lived. And it ain't not hot and sticky in Kansas, Chicago, Iowa, New York City, in the summers. But again, very short hair is a different game than longer hair.

I live in Los Angeles and I gave up shampoo 6 years ago. My naturally curly hair has regained it's natural moisture and shine (and no, it's not greasy looking at all) and I get compliments every day from people who love my healthy curls. I use good conditioning treatment (aveda) and hot water and its squeaky clean. My dandruff that I used to struggle with went away after going without shampoo for less than 2 weeks.

I know it's not for everyone but it's worked wonders for me.

I also stopped using shampoo. When I would read an interview where a professional hairstylist was asked what their best tip to give was, they responded, "don't wash your hair". So I stopped. My hair is awesome! I have wavy hair so I usually had to do something with it. Shampoo strips the natural oils from your hair so not shampooing is something your hair needs to get used to. It takes a couple of weeks but worth it. Now I shampoo with a dime size amount maybe once a week and randomly use conditioner throughout the week.

It's not like you're not cleaning your hair, people. You still scrub your scalp and whatnot. I often go a week without washing mine without any problems so I've thought about going this route. Supposedly it helps curly hair. I'm pretty sure my sis has gone this route and her hair has never looked better. It's also down to her waist, so it is possible with long hair.

Sheesh. Why does everyone assume people would choose to be gross? If you read up on it a bit, you'd find that a lot of people find their hair looks better without the use of shampoo.

Perhaps this is an over-share, but I haven't used shampoo or a hairbrush for about three years. I stopped for purely cosmetic reasons. I have very long and _extremely_ curly hair and I 'shampoo' with conditioner (scrub my scalp and comb through my hair with my fingers to get out tangles) and then rinse, towel dry and I'm good to go! My hair used to be dry and frizzy and now it's all big shiny curls and it smells great. After a lifetime of trying every ridiculous product and serum and who knows what all my hair finally looks great and doesn't just make me angry.

As far as the environmental aspect of my little routine, I'm sure I'm doing more damage than good. Lots of conditioner washing into the water system can't be much better than shampoo, and I do all the combing in the shower, which makes my showers longer and therefore wastes water. But, hey, I look good and that's what counts...right?? Don't burst my bubble. :)

I just feel better with a fresh shampoo. I have short, straight, fine hair that isn't damaged by daily shampooing and doesn't get frizzy, so I see no reason to give it up.

I have long hair that tends to be pretty dry. I haven't given up shampoo totally, but have reduced my hair washing to once a week at most. My hair has never been in better condition, and this has allowed me to discontinue the use of a gazillion other products that I used to depend on to control my formerly not-so-healthy mop.

There's a book called Curly Girl that I read in my hair salon and then had to buy. The author (who has a salon in NYC; I think it's called Deva Curl or Deva Salon or something) swears that shampoo is especially bad for curly hair. I have tried giving it up and it does make my hair look better, but I do like shampoo and haven't gone off it completely.

I wash my hair every third day. More often then that it looks horrible and after 3 days its pretty greasy. I have very fine, straight hair.

I began using baking soda and vinegar once a week to clean my scalp 2 years ago and it works very well. Then I work in a tiny amount of almond oil after I towel it dry. My hair has never looked better it's shiny not frizzy and not oily, my curls are more defined. People use baking soda to clean their teeth, their kitchens etc.-- surely its strong enough to clean your scalp. The lack of shampoo has made my hair so much nicer-- I really recommend it.

I've heard many big-name hair professionals and hair models say not to wash more than once a week at the most, and I've heard tales (online) from many who have given up shampoo, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that. I have extremely thick, very curly hair that tends to be dry, so it sounds as though I'd be a good candidate to do either infrequent or no shampooing, but I'm such a clean freak I don't think I could ever do it. It would be one way to save a lot of money on Kiehl's hair products, though.

I have thick, fine, VERY oily straight hair and I could never do this. I go more than 20 hours without a shampoo and it's NASTY. I just can't see this working for me.

A few years ago, I read a blog by a woman who went no-poo, and her hair looked great. So I gave it a go, but it didn't work for me, mostly because I use product to keep my curls TEH BOUNCEE, and said product needs to be washed out. That said, I think the point is not to just let your hair devolve into greasiness, but simply to forgo shampoo in favor of a good warm-water scrub. There's a difference between this and someone who just doesn't wash their hair often enough.

I don't think anyone would advocate this regimen for us smokers.

I remember reading an article about a middle aged woman who decided to forgo ALL body/beauty products as an experiment. This included all makeup, soaps and body washes, and of course shampoo and conditioner. Although she felt ultra gross and greasy at first, what she discovered was that after 3-4 weeks of following this new regime, her oil production had normalized and she was left with the best looking hair and most beautiful skin she had ever had.
It makes sense really..I just don't think most of us are willing to endure the month of nastiness to get to that point.
I don't remember where I read this article..but if someone does know I would love to see the link again!

Also, the scalp produces less oil when it isn't being stripped by cleaners. That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm also a curly locked "no-poo" convert -- when I moved to Houston six months ago, I got a new stylist who turned me onto the DevaCurl product line and the no-poo is fantastic! I only use it every ten days or so, and my hair looks better than ever. How it's going to react to Houston humidity is another story...

I have greasy wog hair if i don't wash but i do choose the "eco friendly" shampoos. Not sure how much that really helps but I suppose it's better than nothing.

Also I wonder are their shampoo bar's that people know of, because the packaging is the part that really gets me...

I have thick wavy hair and used to have to wash it every day as it got too greasy. One summer I did the backpack in Europe thing and couldn't shampoo every day, and since then I haven't needed to. I usually shampoo twice a week or so, but I still shower every day and scrub my head with my fingers. My bad hair days are always the day I shampoo - pretty much guaranteed. Same goes for face washing - the less I wash, the less oily my face is.

I tried the no-poo and apple cider vinegar/ baking soda method a couple of years ago and it did not work for me; my itchy scalp had me scratching like a flea infested mongrel. So now I compromise by using Dr. Bronner's pure castile soaps.

Curly girls, you guys got it right. Before i permanantly straightened my hair, I went down to shampooing maybe twice a week. That's even with my use of hairspray / curl defining gel, etc. I rinsed it everyday, and really only shampooed when the hairspray built up too much.

I now have chemically straightened hair, and although I look better than when I had curly hair, I mourn the loss of my curls. Wet, comb in some curl definer and I was out the door.

Now, I have to wash/rinse, slather the no frizz oil, heat protecting syrum, blowdry and hair spray. This is only the second time I've chemically straightened my hair, and though sooooft as a baby's ass, it's frizzy in the front and a little damaged. It looks good, though, lol.

I want my curly hair back.

Home body! My bad hair day IS the shampoo day. That's why I try to shampoo at night on the weekends.

not using shampoo is a fine idea. in terms of history it's a pretty recent invention.

don't knock it before you try it.

i only shampoo my long hair a couple of times a week. doesn't seem to be an issue and no my hair is not greasy or oily.

anyone here use dry shampoo? i am a fan of this (wavy/curly hair).

My hair is fine and kind of limp so the most I've been able to go without shampooing before it looks awful is about three days (two days seems just about perfect for me). Then again, I've never tried a vinegar rinse in between shampoos.

I won't knock it- if it works for other people, then it works.

@venus_thames: I believe Lush makes a bar shampoo - haven't tried it yet myself, so I can't vouch for it, but their other stuff is great.

I use Deva Curl "Low Poo." It's helped my scalp out tremendously and seems to be a good balance between those harsher shampoos and nothing at all. There's also "No Poo," but I've heard it makes your hair greasy.

I've been thinking about doing this as well, as I've heard some good things about it from some people online. @modkitten also heard some good things about dry shampoo as well. Love to know if anyone else has tried it.

The No-Poo movement has been making its way around the natural (black) hair community for some time now. The sulfates in shampoos aren't worth the damage.

Yeah, like folks have said there's a waiting period where your scalp has to return to normal. At first it keeps secreting oil in preparation for the expected stripping. But it normalizes. My shampoo day was always my more unimpressive day asthetically (fairly thick hair). I wash about every 5-6 days now. Hair looks great (I get lots of compliments, not bad for a hair-lazy busy mom), and I've done this in very humid climates, with near waist-length and with boy-short hair.

Another healthy alternative is to use some pure veggie glycerin soap, with just a bit of baking soda mixed in (use much and it'll strip hair as badly as harsh shampoo). And of course, just finger-scrubbing with warm water as others have mentioned. I've heard that a boar's bristle brush works wonders on hair, esp the infrequently washed hair.

Odd to see this posted at AT, but I'm glad people are talking about it. It's not just a "crunchy-granola" thing.

some of us need to poo, how else can we have bouncin' and behavin' hair?

While I do shampoo my hair every third day or so, I have never worn makeup in my life, and I only wash my face when it has gotten dirty, and I only use moisturizer in the bitter winter when my face is extremely dry.

I have never really had skin problems and have even gotten compliments, and my hair is generally shiny and well-tamed, not oily.

Also, I have honestly found that many men are actually more attracted to women who are not made up than to women who are.

As someone who had dreadlocks for over 5 years, after cutting them off and seeing my curly healthy hair... I no longer believe shampoo is usefull unless when I wet my hair I get that wet dog smell. :)

@katillathehun I've been using the Devachan No-Poo for several years and my (naturally curly) hair is not oily or greasy at all. I'm a complete convert to the Devachan system. I get compliments on my hair all the time, it is quicker to style and is no longer the bane of my existence.

Devachan is big on the difference between "shampooing" and "cleansing." You can cleanse your hair and scalp without the harsh ingredients in your basic shampoo. Whatever the lathering agent is in shampoo is really damaging to your hair and the lather doesn't do anything you couldn't do with your fingers and a vigorous scrubbing. Honestly, I don't see what's "gross" or "dirty" about not wanting to damage your hair and scalp with harsh chemicals that don't actually have any benefit. It's not like I'm not showering or cleaning myself/my hair.

On the friends with money comment...yes, seen it. Great movie. I'm pretty sure the character who stopped washing her hair was suffering from depression as I believe she made a comment like "what's the point, you wash it, it gets dirty again, you wash it again" when friends speculated.

I try and go for as long as I can without shampooing, usually 3 times a week at most. I absolutely hate the way my hair looks clean and hate the time it takes to style.

This may be a dumb question, but does conditioner do damage to your hair? I have read that some people just use conditioner to wash their hair, but my shampoo and conditioner ingredients are basically the same.

hey people, this goes for your skin too. I stopped washing my face with anything other than water and moisturize with e-oil after and it's done wonders for my complexion. Now the only time I get pimples is when I eat a lot of sugar (it happens on occasion:-). Your body responds to its environment so if your hair is really oily it may be BECAUSE you're washing it too much rather than not enough.

There is a huge difference between washing your hair with a product other than shampoo and not washing it at all

The parts of the body where hair grows have more sweat glands and you can easily smell when someone hasn't cleansed their hairy parts - and no-one wants to be smelly!

Most modern shampoos are essentially grease stripping and foaming agents and are very harsh and can be easily replaces with a kinder cleanser

I still have to go the shampoo route though - I have short spiky hair that I apply a generous amount of hard-hold product to every day and which needs washing out at least every other day if not every day

I agree with previous poster-- a bit too angry hipster for me. Dirty scalp smell is just hideous.

So anybody with non-curly hair tried no-'poo with good results ?

I wash my hair every other day and use dry shampoo on the day I don't wash. I have very fine, oily hair and an oily forehead since I have bangs. I have to use the dry shampoo or my bangs look really nasty.

I am also a no-poo curly girl. I read the book Curly Girl and since I started not using shampoo my hair is so much better. It used to be dry and I never let it down. Now I let it loose half of the time. It's been great.

And when it gets itchy just mix the conditioner with brown sugar. It's a great scalp exfoliant.

Curly and extremely fine hair:
This post is quite timely because I've been cutting down on how often I shampoo my hair. It used to be every two days but lately it's been twice a week or so. In the middle, I will rinse it out with warm water and conditioner but that's been making it too greasy.
However, yesterday after my workout, I just rinsed it with warm water and it was lovely. Curly, no frizz and not too much grease.
Some of the posts above suggest that if I keep doing this, it might even stop being greasy completely. I'm going to test this out.

Also since I've been using conditioner quite frequently (I also use it to shave), I switched to a biodegradable one from Whole foods. It's ridiculously affordable and free of all the bad stuff.

wait... is this Apartment Therapy? ;-)

i have SUPER short hair, too... but i can't go without a 'poo

I hope I don't start a new topic with this, but I always grew up with the thought that washing your hair every single day was a white people thing. I actually have had (dred)locs for about 5 years now, but I used to have relaxed hair. I've always washed my hair just about every two weeks. Any more than that would be murderous to my hair. I love Carol's Daughter hair products because they're natural. I don't know if I oculd go down to just baking soda, though.
One of my roomates in college had long, curly, blonde hair and reduced shampoos to a couple of times a week and it did wonders for her hair.

It's funny that this post that has nothing to do with apartments has brought on so many comments! But then, anything that can be seen as a "movement" tends to do that.

Thick straight hair, sorta on the dry side, almost shoulder length and I shampoo & condition once a week. Hairdressers I've known have agreed that is the most often I need to do it, and the comments I've gotten on people who like my hair support it. And since I hate drying my hair (thick=water sponge), the habit works for me.

There's a woman at my office who is obviously experimenting with 'no poo' because you can't walk behind her, her scalp stinks. Maybe she's doing it wrong... and her hair still looks like crap, too. Seriously, how do you tell someone to wash your damn hair, you're reeking up the place?

I don't like the smell of unwashed hair... at all. I have really curly, thick hair. Instead of not shampooing, I use a shampoo with a lot of conditioner in it, and then I condition it. Then I use leave in conditioner. Lots of conditioner for good hair. :)

When my hair is bleached (I'm a Manic Panic kind of person) or starts to get long, I shampoo far, far less. Instead, using good conditioner pulls enough oil out with it, without stripping my hair to death. My hair has this crazy wave to it, and if it's dry it's totally unmanageable when it gets past my cheekbones. So I usually keep it short, but when it's long I wash it less and less--and even short I wash it every other day, instead of every day, to fight the frizz. Another option, if you're oily and have long hair, is to only wash your scalp (that's where the oil is, after all) and condition the rest.

i have curls and i only wash with a bit of shampoo once a week. the rest of the time ( 2 times a week) i rinse , add a bit of conditioner and rinse again.

no need to be constantly washing my hair. and my head has never had that stinky smell to it either

the Deva Curl line has been a savior for me.

IMO shampoo is a joke

hmm... I think I'm going to give this a try...although I'm really scared of a stinky scalp!

I use baking soda. It's fantastic! I have oily hair, and using shampoo it was always really greasy by the end of the day. used to get dandruff all the time, too, and I haven't once since I started this. I have short hair, so most of the time all I really need to do is get the product out of it.

I still get my hairdresser to wash it when I get my hair cut every six weeks, but in between, only use baking soda. My hair has never loved me more!

(and as a bonus, my head no longer smells like a giant berry all the time)

I use the Burt's Bees "Shampoo Bar," which is soap, not "shampoo." (Shampoo is detergent). I also rinse with vinegar. This did make a very great (positive) difference in my hair, which had always been dry. I tried baking soda, but it was too drying.

Soaps are not nearly as active as detergents like shampoo in the watershed, which is why I switched.