Title : Three Years of Water Only Hair Washing
link : Three Years of Water Only Hair Washing
Three Years of Water Only Hair Washing
Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite environmental subjects- my hair. Think how many bottles of conditioner, dry shampoo, and serum you've disposed of in your lifetime. If you're anything like me, and went through an Avril Lavigne-induced Tigi Bedhead phase in the early 2000s, that's a lot of waste sent to landfill or shipped overseas for recycling. In my case, that was also a ton of chemicals being dumped into our water systems and soil, and a lot of innocent animals suffering so my hair could look good for a day, frizz up, split at the cuticle, and smell. It wasn't worth it, especially since I spent money I should have saved for my divorce and ruined my hair in the process.
When I moved to Paris, I was struck at my new French friends' attitudes towards American beauty routines. Daily shampoos weren't a thing in a country where women still got blowouts weekly, then preserved them. My friends wore caps in the pool and just rinsed their hair after a class at Klay. They also rarely used conditioner, preferring masks twice a month, and were more apt to use clays and oils to enhance, not hide, their naturally fuzzy texture. It was so freeing not having to shampoo everyday, but Paris' hard water still wreaked havoc on my hair, as did an ill-advised Japanese straightening treatment that forced me to chop off most of its length. This was earth-shattering for someone as shallow as me. I was really embarrassed to go out with scarecrow hair when everyone I saw was so beautiful, and ended up staying inside and wasting precious time in the city I love because I felt self conscious.
So three years ago (well, in three months it'll be three years, but I need the content so just go with it) I got fed up and started scrubbing with water every week. That's it. No soap or baking soda or ACV. Three years of mermaid rinsing, scritching, and brushing later, I finally have hair to match my mean girl personality. My hair doesn't shed in handfuls like it once did, and I don't ever need to brush it. My natural curls returned, and I can get a smooth or straight look without heat styling or products. I only wish I'd started sooner.
Hair is like a delicate sweater- it wears out more quickly the more you wash it and loses softness and strength (100% sure I did not come up with this comparison, I think I heard it in a podcast or something). So even if you can't do water washing, it's best to shampoo less frequently, if only for the health of your hair. If you're willing to try no poo methods, I don't recommend using baking soda, which is too alkaline and destroys the keratin in hair, or ACV, which is too acidic and can disrupt the scalp's natural balance. Gram or rye flour, clay, aloe, a shampoo bar, or refillable soap free cleanser like Plaine Products would be my recommendation. I used to tell people to use bar soap, because my husband liked it, but my friends say it's too drying and coats their heads. Bar soap is far more alkaline than a liquid formula, and I routinely make deeply sus life choices, so it makes sense that my advice would be wrong.
Start with little steps, like eliminating one product at a time. My friend and hero Tori said she noticed her split ends disappeared after she stopped using conditioner, and my Parisian friends are very proud of never using it at all- only a little oil from Buly 1803 or Grand Cafe Tortoni before washing (in the US, you can get bulk oils from Refill Revolution). If you must use a conditioner, apply before shampooing so it doesn't weigh hair down. That way you can save water and wash less.
To start water only hair washing, dilute castile soap heavily in a spray bottle or color applicator so it reaches the scalp (I don't recommend buying clarifying shampoo for this purpose- castile soap will strip any silicone products off). After that, you can try either the mermaid method of water washing (dunking it in a basin or bucket, then scrubbing the scalp and running fingers through hair as if with shampoo) or simply scrub in the shower. Most people will need to wash everyday at first. Gradually, with regular brushing and scalp massage, you can ease into every other day, then every week. The type of brush depends on hair texture- plant based bristles for fine hair, wooden pin brushes for thicker hair, and a fine toothed comb for curls seem to work best. Stevie has good tips on training hair to need less washing. Try to avoid dry shampoo as much as possible, because the goal is to let your hair's natural oil production occur uninterrupted. Once hair is coated in sebum, it'll never be dry or smell again.
We're trained to prefer artificial fragrance over the natural non-scent of hair, so it's ok to spray essential oils or perfume when needed (sometimes when I ran out of oil, I used to sleep on a lavender sachet and then, in desperate times, a bar of lavender castile soap- in the morning, I'd wake up with the perfume on my hair). You can also try lemon juice diluted in water in a spray bottle to refresh between cleansing. After working out, swimming, or pollution exposure, rinsing hair should be sufficient for most people to remove sweat, allergens, and odors. Just remember to tie up hair, or protect with a cap or scarf beforehand. You may need to wear braids, a bun, or headbands Blair Waldorf style to work for awhile, but my experience was that no one really noticed any change in my hair except me. Brushing oils through hair, dragging sebum down the cuticle with your fingers, or using cornstarch, cocoa powder, and arrowroot can alleviate greasiness if it's really a problem. I've found that if I push through the oil one or two days, it disappears suddenly by day three (now I don't get greasy hair anymore though).
The transition period varies for everyone. I think water only is suitable for all hair types, because people were water only for thousands of years, and we didn’t evolve to need Garnier Fructis over millennia. However, it’s not a quick fix by any means, typically requiring three months‘ transition. Some people, like my friend Helen, didn’t really have a transition period at all- they just quit cold turkey and their hair looked great automatically. Whatever your hair type, it requires a lot of patience, and you can’t psych yourself out and think someone will criticize your shampoo-free appearance. People for the most part don’t care; my family were the only skeptical ones, but they also thought I couldn’t survive without eating meat or cheese, yet here we are. I even met hairdressers who supported my water only resolve. Shampoo chemically removes flakes, so you'll need to mechanically remove them with your fingertips (not your nails) if they're actual dandruff. If dryness is the issue, try drinking a spoonful of oil each day, or putting oil on your scalp the night before a wash. Eating lots of good fats and maintaining a plant based diet seems to help prevent greasiness, as does limiting sugar, if my Parisian friends are any indicator.
I don't own a hair straightener, blowdryer, brush, or curling iron. I like my hair's natural texture a lot, but it gets messed up after a few days, so heatless styling methods like rag curls work best for me. When my hair is wet I can tie my hair in a bun or twist it and secure with a ponytail holder to get a straight, smooth look. Pin curls are the most effective, but if I do them wrong, I look like Shirley Temple, and sometimes it takes days for them to loosen up. Three years in, that’s the only major issue I’ve encountered, although now that I’m back in America, I psychologically feel compelled to wash more, and it’s making my hair drier than it ever was in Paris (I used to wash once a month- since August, I’ve been washing weekly or biweekly). But there’s no turning back for me now. Like I said, I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time coating my hair and obscuring my natural texture to solve imaginary problems. It’s so nice having one less thing to worry about in the morning, and everytime I toss my hair, it’s a giant, zero waste “told you so” to everyone who thought I was crazy for going water only. I am crazy, but for reasons completely unrelated to my hair.
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