No shampoo 5 weeks and waxy

[Minette5]

Good morning,
Hope everyone is well.
I am after some advice / personal stories going no shampoo.
I have done 5 weeks and my hair has become very waxy, I wouldn't need any hair gel to style!!
I did some research online and seems it could be due to being in a hard water area. Near the beginning I did an apple cider vinegar rinse but that didn't do anything. Bit more research and an apple sauce mask is suggested. 2 of them done and again very little change. I also read about brushing your hair more so am doing that now.
As we are in lockdown and I am home with 2 children it doesn't bother me too much in fact it's an ideal time to try it but I'm seeing no progress and its rather frustrating.
Any ideas to help shift the wax or did your hair do this.
Thanks and stay safe.

Have you tried the bar soap on your hair? There is one reccomended on here I bought my hair and scalp love it

Right so I have terrible eczema but I've never tried not washing my hair, that just sounds rank but I work in a dirty environment.

What I do instead is wash my hair with a different shampoo every day.

So i already know that head and shoulders makes me flare up, so I don't use that, tea tree from boots same, and a few others. But if I use the same shampoo every single day, that also sets off my eczema.

Over 7 days I use 7 different shampoo. Not all really expensive either.

@slipperywhensparticus I have tried one but it didn't lather very well. Not sure of the ingredients in that one though as to if it was coconut. Do you know which bar it is? Thanks

@bananabixfloof it's not a case of not washing it, it's simply not using chemicals. Instead using only the natural ingredients put into shampoos etc. I've never needed to wash my hair everyday, like you say alot depends on where you work and your routine, my OH washes everyday as he gets sweaty. Interesting about using all the different shampoos. I do react like that to shampoos but it takes a couple of weeks. You must have a good routine to remember which one to use when. I wanted to cut back on the plastic we are using too so I'd rather not be buying several different shampoos but thanks for sharing your experience.

Well, whatever you do, you’ll be putting ‘chemicals’ on your hair/skin. Even if you’re just using water...I’m guessing what you mean though is that you want to avoid potentially harmful, or aggravating chemicals.

So it sounds like you wants to find something to cleanse rather than put up with your hair being waxy. I guess if you haven’t already you could benefit from researching exactly what ingredients might be problematic and from there try and find a product that would clean hair but not aggravate any skin conditions or damage hair etc. There are plenty of shampoos and cleansers that will clean but don’t have these ingredients. I’m sure there will be some that are also low waste/low packaging etc too. I use New Hair from Hair Story which is a cleanser but it’s very gentle and my hair is in good condition and never feels or looks greasy. You can get refillable metal bottles to cut down on plastics too. I know other brands do shampoo bars etc. Personally I’d rather try some of these cleansers than go without any products.

@swiftier thanks for that. I haven't come across any refillable shampoos locally just the bars so I shall have a little research into that.

Using bentonite clay or Rhassoul clay as a hair mask apparently works well, I’m about to order some from Acala (comes plastic free if that’s what you’re looking for) so if I remember I’ll update you on how it goes. Also if you’ve got straighter hair a boar bristle brush is apparently good for removing dirt and excess oil (I have thick curly hair and wouldn’t risk using one myself). Hard water is the work of the devil though.

@mysteryFrog oo sounds interesting, thanks. Yes an update if you remember would be great. I did read about boar bristle brushes perhaps I should invest. I do have straight hair.
I didn't realise how annoying hard water was until we moved here! Now I understand why people spend money and lose a kitchen cupboard to a water softener.

@Minette5 I found this earlier which you might find interesting! Also proves wrong the people who say you can’t get your hair properly clean without shampoo.

www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2015/05/hair-science-how-well-do-mild-cleansers.html?m=1

Are you ok with conditioner? You can just wash with a silicone free conditioner, that's what I do. And no my hair isn't dirty or greasy!

@mysteryfrog good little article thanks, fascinating to see the hair up close with the results! I might try an oat water rinse tomorrow.
My waxiness has improved since I posted so this may help it along. Thanks again

@clientQ I've rarely used conditioner so have no idea. I found as a teen it would make my hair very knotted. I honestly don't know much about the chemicals in them but again another idea to store in my bag, thanks. I like having a list of things to try when something doesn't work first time.

Two I can think of are moogoo and faith in nature which are silicone free. Basically use it as shampoo, you can use a scalp brush too, really scrub well and rinse

You could use an olive oil soap bar like Oliva. A friend of mine uses it for body and hair and gets them when she's in Greece.

@clientQ an @BloomedAgain thank you

I like using olive oil soap. Also great for washing delicate laundry. It feels very ancient too. The ingredients are generally just saponified olive oil and salt. They are proper cleansing soaps, not greasy as the name would suggest.

Just letting you know I did an oat water wash today and my hair feels very clean and soft!

@mysteryfrog me too! It seems to have helped loads. Although my hair takes ages to dry naturally lol.
@bloomedagain thanks, that's good to know about laundry too as that's another thing that sets off eczema.

caurnie.com/epages/950000822.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950000822/Categories
This is a soap company that makes soap from all natural ingredients . They do cold pressed soap. Their website is rubbish, but they do produce products that are meant to be very good for eczema sufferers . Not sure which one it is tho.
I have used their soap - it doesn’t look great but is lovely to use

I do the curly girl method and just wash my hair in a silicone and sulphate free conditioner. I also use a silicone scalp brush when washing to loosen up dirt etc. I'm using atm faith in nature lavender and geranium conditioner but there's lots ore out there with no nasties in.

I used to wash my hair every day. Sometimes twice, because it would get oily really quickly.
I decided to ditch shampoo and it was the best decision ever.
I washed with rye flour (rye flour and water paste) and apple cider vinegar. The rye flour is supposed to take the grease away. It obviously didnt work as well as a shampoo, but it did help a bit. The apple cider vinegar is more like conditioner, supposed to make your hair softer.
Im not gonna lie, it took ages. 2-3months until my hair wasnt greasy anymore. But in the end it was worth it.
Its been 4 years since i ditched shampoo and my hair is so much nicer and healthier. Before it was very dry at the ends and got greasy on the top very quickly. Now my ends look healthy even months after a trim (no split ends anymore) and its never greasy anymore.

I have curls, so i need some conditioner to keep them hydrated. I usually wash my hair with conditioner once a week and on the other days i put in some leave in conditioner and water to style it.
Once a month i do deep treatment with olive or coconut oil. In order to wash the oil out fully i do use shampoo, but i make sure its a sulfate free one, because they are more gentle on the hair.

Hi OP- my clays arrived today so my hair is currently drying after a clay wash (I used 50:50 bentonite and Rhassoul but you can use them individually too, the Rhassoul is a lot more expensive) I’ll let you know how it looks when it’s dry!

If you decide to buy some I got it from Acala and I do have a discount code which will give you 10% off and gives me reward points apparently, or if you sign up you get a one-off 10% discount code which won’t give me points. Whichever you prefer