I’ve been meaning to blog about my adventures into the No Poo Method since I first started my alternative hair care routine about a year ago, but I was still in the discovery process, and just never got around to blogging about my bumbling journey!
But now that I have settled into a solid No Poo routine, (with amazing results!) I figured I would share one of my newest No Poo shampoo rinse recipes with you guys!
Why I Went No Poo
I had thoroughly wrecked my hair with dyes and bleaches and all kinds of craziness in my various cosplay pursuits over the years (I have since fallen in love with the effortless perfection of wigs – a lesson I learned far too late to the detriment of my natural hair) and as a result I had dry, frizzy, broken hair that poofed up like some kind of cartoon caricature of a frazzled mad scientist.
Literally NO amount of deep conditioning with commercial cleaners was doing the trick. And the worst part was, the top of my hair where all the new growth was looked like an oil slick.. I’d over-condition to the point of being a grease ball on my scalp and yet my hair would STILL be frizzy and dry and covered in comically crinkly flyaways!
So I was just desperate enough to try this crazy No Poo Method all the crunchy moms were raving about. And you know what? IT WORKED!
I mean, I still had to cut off the REALLY bad portions towards the ends of my hair (I’m told I *could* have saved it, but I found it easier to just lop the ickiness off and focus on the less damaged portions.. trust me, the “best” portions of my hair were still a disaster), but after about a year of experimenting with the No Poo Method, my hair is the strongest, healthiest and softest it’s been since I was a teenager!
So What Is the No Poo Method?
The No Poo Method is essentially throwing out all commercial shampoos and conditioners and simply washing your hair with baking soda and water, generally followed by a rinse with vinegar and water.
The baking soda helps to clean up dirt and grease, while the vinegar brings hair back to a healthy and natural pH. Since hair contains natural oil (called sebum) in its follicles, it has the capacity to keep itself conditioned and healthy without the use of commercial products.
What people don’t realize, is that the frequent washing – combined with some of the harsh chemicals in shampoo – strips away all those natural oils, leaving your hair in bad shape. The hair’s sebaceous oil glands are triggered to release extra sebum when they sense the hair drying out. So by over-washing, you remove your hair’s natural conditioning and send the oil glands into a frenzy to replenish what was lost. This often causes an overproduction of sebum, giving hair that “grease ball” look when you go one day without shampooing, which in turn makes you want to shampoo all over again and creates a vicious cycle.
So by ditching the shampoo for gentler alternatives, such as baking soda and apple cider vinegar, you’ll achieve clean hair without the damage or dependency of daily shampooing.
Why Red Clover Shampoo
This Red Clover Shampoo recipe is essentially the baking soda and water No Poo rinse, but instead of using just plain ol’ water to dissolve the baking soda in, I’m using an herbal red clover tea.
Soooo, yeah. This “shampoo” is essentially just an old fashioned herbal hair rinse! Easy peasy!
Natural herbal hair rinses are gentle and nourishing for the scalp, relying upon the beneficial qualities of botanicals to promote healthy hair and a healthy scalp. Herbal infusions have been used for centuries long before the advent of over the counter shampoos, and have been the go-to method since the dawn of time to naturally soften hair, increase manageability, and restore luster, body and bounce.
Benefits of Red Clover for Hair
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is a wild, leguminous, perennial herb that is native to the meadows of Europe, Western Asia and Africa, and has now been naturalized here in the US of A. The entire plant, from the sweet tasting, tiny pink flowers to the leafy greens are edible and can be used to make sweet herbal tea for therapeutic purposes.
Red Clover is a natural anti-inflammatory, and has been used for centuries to help with many types of skin problems. It is a storehouse of many vitamins, nutrients, and minerals, such as calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, and vitamin C.
When steeped to make a tea or herbal infusion, Red Clover is rich in isoflavones. Red Clover is considered to be one of the richest sources of isoflavones, which are water-soluble chemicals that act like estrogens (known collectively as phytoestrogens). These isoflavones work to make hair strong and help prevent dandruff and scalp irritations.
Red Clover also effectively softens the hair, adds volume and luster, makes hair more manageable… and it just smells GREAT!
I bought salon sized shampoo and conditions just about the same time I learned of this method. I guess I’ll have to wait till I finish it all before I can try this.
If you plan on going No Poo, be aware there is a MAJOR “detox” stage.. for about 3-6 weeks your hair will overproduce oil like cray-cray! So research it a big and plan on wearing lots of beanies during the de-greasing stage, lol! ^_^
I have tried going No Poo for 2 months a couple of years back but caved in to the lure of shampoo advertisements! Ugh. I’d love to give it a shot one more time.
What method did you use? Was it working for you at least? In the past year I have used regular shampoos a couple of times – primarily when I was moving from Florida to California and living on the floor of my parents spare bedroom while we waited to close on our house.. but how greasy it made my hair the next day made me long for the No Poo Method again! lol..
I’m currently having falling hair like crazy. Probably because it’s only been seven months since I gave birth so I’ve been thinking about going no poo cause I think it might help but I’m still doing a bit of research about it. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my blog btw! I don’t do cosplay but I love watching people do it. I went to an art school and during my time, it was cosplay day everyday and there’d be this long table in the cafeteria where cosplayers would sit and do their thing. SO CUTE <3
Oh man girl, I had the falling out hair like CRAZY after I had my little one. I was seriously scared I was going bald! lol!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! I’m excited to keep up with yours! And yeah, we’re a crazy cosplay family, haha.. it’s a fun hobby!
Hey, I was trying to visit your blog, and it says that I don’t have an invitation to read it?! Oh no! What happened???
I’ve been itching to try this method for a while now, but that detox stage scares me as right now, my hair tends to get oily rather quick. You’re right, it is a vicious cycle!
Yeah, the detox stage is a bit of a disaster lol.. I started when I had a 4 week old and showers were hard to come by anyway.. and it was winter so I could just sport a beanie 24/7 lol!
Never heard of this before, but my hair is definitely in need of TLC after years of dying and chemical processes here, too. So, thank you for sharing and so happy you found my blog today. Am following you now 🙂
It’s becoming quite the fad right now… like paleo diets and coconut oil, haha.. and I generally try to NOT jump on these crazy bandwagons, but this one seriously saved my hair! Thank you for stopping by my blog! I really look forward to keeping up with yours!!
I just wrote an essay on red clover! We have some near my house that I like to pick and dry out. I tried going no poo and while it worked for the first 2 weeks, the next month was awful. I had to go back to my shampoo. I used apple cider vinegar and baking soda. It made my hair shiny but my hair just did not look good at all. So I went back to using my home made shampoo.
I am planning on growing Red Clover in my backyard this coming spring.. it’s great for the goats because it helps to flavor their milk! Why don’t you live close to me so we can run a mutual garden of awesome?! hehe..
I just started no-pooing a month ago and already my hair feels a million times better. It is a bit difficult to get red clover here, but if I find some I am totally going to try this!
Also… just as a side note, my sister is way into cosplay and I think it is really cool. I look forward to reading those posts and all your other ones as well! Thanks for stopping by my blog and introducing yourself!
Wow! What a thorough and informative post. I’m always very interested in seeing what natural, or at least more natural, options are out there and I had completely forgotten about the no poo movement for shampoo. I have yet to try it, but this might be something great for me to try over the summer when I don’t have work every single day–hats wouldn’t be allowed, for me, during a detox period at work.
If you end up trying this method, do let me know how it works for you!
Nice article… I try this shampoo… This shampoo is too natural. While I start using it, I found it does not harm my hairs. After apply this my hairs are more smoother.