No ‘Poo Update – 5 Tips and Tricks

By Wednesday, August 21, 2013 3 Permalink 0

It’s been 5 months since I ditched the shampoo and I haven’t looked back! I’ve learned a lot this year, so I figured it was time to share my knowledge with you all. Below are 5 tips that I’ve learned over the 6+ months that I have been shampoo free.


Tip 1

Let’s start with my ingredients. To wash my hair I’m still just using Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar. That’s it! I’m not 100% sure how much I use per wash, but I am still using the same box of baking soda and bottle of vinegar since my last post, so it can’t be much.

Tip 2

Instead of pre-mixing the baking soda with water, I’ve started just pouring the powder into my hand, and adding a bit of water to my palm until the mixture feels ‘silky’. This is the key. Once it is a silky texture, add to your scalp and massage it in. I keep the baking soda usage to my roots, but am sure to cover my scalp and rub it in. I let it sit for a little as I pour a bit of vinegar over the ends of my hair. While that works it’s magic, I’ll wash the rest of my body with Dr. Bronner’s before rinsing my hair out.

Tip 3

If you use too much baking soda on your hair, it will get really shiny, but only in the places you use it. I’ve ended up with some really shiny roots while I was experimenting! On the other hand, if you don’t use enough, your hair has a greasy texture and sometimes look. That ‘silky’ texture mentioned above is key. It might sound weird, but I promise you’ll know it when you feel it.

Tip 4

I now go almost a week in between washing my hair. So what do I do on the off days? Arrowroot powder. In my last post I mentioned that I used to use a lot of dry shampoos. My favorite was always the powder version from Sephora, but it contains a lot of chemicals so I’ve been trying to find a replacement and Arrowroot powder is it! Most recipes use Arrowroot when they need to thicken up a liquid, and it tends to give a little bit of lift to my hair when I use it. I bought a ton of it from Amazon and added it to the containers that used to hold dry shampoo, making it easy to store and distribute to my hair.

Tip 5

Now comes the fun part. Since I also work from home these days, I’ve had plenty of time to play around with all of these Pinterest hairstyles that are all the rage! My general hairstyle is one that involves a headband, bouffant style bump mixed with a chignon of sorts. What makes this even more fun is the fact that I added some purple lowlights to my hair which make for some interesting hairstyles.

That picture was taken 4 days after I’d last ‘washed’ it with baking soda. Bet you would have never guessed, right? Also, my hair dresser said my color is holding up MUCH better than she thought. I’d like to think that is because of the No ‘Poo, but who knows for sure. (Side note: when I get my hair colored, I do let my hair dresser use shampoo and conditioner. I have had my hair dyed two times since going no ‘poo and each time she washes my hair it takes my hair less time to bounce back.)

Have you gone No ‘Poo? Do you have any other Tips or Tricks you’ve learned along the way? Let me know!

3 Comments
  • Simon
    August 28, 2013

    I am so glad you posted your tips, they’re great. My wife is brunette, she uses cocoa as a dry noPoo.

  • Stephanie
    December 7, 2013

    This is great! I’ve been exploring ways to naturalize my beauty routine. A couple of questions:
    1. You mentioned ‘rinsing’ with the vinegar, but do you rinse out the vinegar with water?
    2. For your dry ‘poo with arrowroot, how do you apply? You mentioned using old containers but I have been using the super bad aerosol kind.
    3. Your body wash is Dr. Bronner’s, do you dilute it or use it straight from the bottle?
    Thanks so much!

  • Monika
    December 7, 2013

    Hi Steph! Thanks for reading.
    1) Yes, you rinse out the vinegar with water. I’ve stopped using vinegar altogether as it was stripping the purple out of my hair. I started using coconut oil as a conditioner on the ends and that seems to work better for my hair (but all hair is different!).
    2) Great question! The dry shampoo I was using was the powdered kind. For a cheap hack, you can go to Target and buy a .99 cent bottle of baby powder in the travel aisle and replace the powder with arrowroot instead.
    3) I love Dr. Bronner’s! I pretty much use it straight from the bottle, but in small doses, and mix it with a bit of water as I lather up. The normal Bronner’s causes a bit of tingling that some people don’t like, but the Lavender version is a bit subdued and easier on the skin for some people.

    Hope that helps! Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

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