Cleaning Natural Hair using the No Poo Method

The No Poo method has increasingly become popular in the natural hair world. If you are not familiar with the term, it simply means washing your hair with a conditioner opposed to a shampoo. There was a handbook created by Lorrain Massey and Deborah Chiel discussing ways to maintain and grow healthy hair. They came up with a great routine to help new and old naturals cleanse their hair without the use of shampoo. Here is the basic of their routine.

Reasons You Should Not Use Shampoo

The majority of shampoos on the market today contains harsh surfactants such as sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. These ingredients can dry out your hair. Hair needs moisture – especially natural black hair, which is drier than any other type of hair. Importantly, hair needs to retain some natural oil to protect the scalp and hair.

There are a lot of conditioners that contain gentle surfactants opposed to harsh ones found in shampoo. These gentle surfactants can do the same things as the others – remove dirt, excessive oils and debris from your scalp and hair.

If you are truly interested in trying the No Poo method, you should refrain from using silicone’s in your hair. Most silicone’s are unable to be washed out without the use of a harsh shampoo. If you have silicone’s in your hair and you try washing with solely a conditioner you may leave behind oil and dirt on your scalp, which can clog your pores and limit hair growth. You may also experience dull hair and less defined curls.

How to Choose The Best Conditioner for Your Hair

If you are going to remove shampoo from your maintenance routine, it is extremely important to choose a really great conditioner. Here are some ingredients to look for when you are deciding on a conditioner for your hair:

Humectants help hair to retain water; they absorb and lock-in moisture. They’re very essential to naturally curly hair.  Panthenol, vegetable glycerin, glycerol, propylene and honey are only a handful of humectants to look for in conditioner ingredients. Humectants are moisturizers that help make naturally curly hair softer and more manageable. Amino acids and natural aloe-vera are two excellent moisturizers.

Emollients, are often referred to as moisturizers. They help  to soften, hydrate and provide shine to hair. There are a very large selection of them which include jojoba oil and shea butter. Glycerides and liposomes are also commonly used emollients.

Proteins, are good for all chemically treated and damaged hair. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein.  Replacing the protein protects and heals hair. Nonetheless, at times proteins may eventually build-up on individuals with curly hair, particularly on healthier hair. In this instance, you may want to alter back-in-forth using protein-free and protein rich conditioners. The different types of protein consist of keratin, wheat, soy, silk, and amino acids.

How to Wash Using A Conditioner:

• Completely soak your hair with water by rinsing it for around half a minute. Use warm water to help open your scalp pores.

• Next add a dime-sized amount of conditioner to your hand, and then use the pads of your fingertips to massage the conditioner into your scalp; identical to the way you would if you were using a shampoo. Do not scrub too vigorously or mound hair on top of your head to scrub it, this will cause unwanted tangles.

• Repeat until you’ve massaged the conditioner all over. You can also use clawed fingers to get the conditioner into your scalp.

• Rinse the conditioner completely from your hair using warm water. Make sure you still massage gently with your fingertips while doing so, that way any residue will get dissolved by the rubbing.

•  Apply more conditioner to your hand (If you choose you may want to use another conditioner that is richer), rub your palms together and apply the conditioner to the strands of your hair as you’ve generally done before.

•  Make an effort to detangle using your fingertips or perhaps a large wide-tooth comb.

•  For extra moisturizing, leave the conditioner on for 5-10 minutes. When you are ready to rinse, use cool water to help lock the moisture in (cold water closes pores). Rinse all of the conditioner out of your hair and you’re ready to detangle and style as desired.

Clarifying you Hair

You may need to clarify your hair once in awhile to remove residue build-up due to the products you use on your hair.

If your hair feels greasy and you’ve notice a loss in curl definition and shine you may want to clarify your hair. Here are a few options for clarifying your hair:

• Mix ½ cup of apple cider vinegar to 1 quart of warm water

• Mix about 3-part conditioner to 1 part lemon juice

• Use baking soda. 2 table spoons of conditioner and 1 tablespoon of baking soda.

• Use a clarifying conditioner such as Carol’s Daughter Rosemary Mint Clarifying Conditioner or Avalon Organic Lemon Clarifying Conditioner